UNIVERSITY
OF PITTSBURGH
LIBRARY
THIS BOOK PRESENTED BY
Katherine C* Smith
[^ Cy ^-^^<^^L--Ca.~^t^
mSFirnLSlE IDF the BMITISH bktome F(Q)MT STMFlEEE^SdDS'c
'Col. Short. w7w corKrri'Xnded the. regulars componng the forlorn, hope., was crderi,ng 'his men. to leizp the ditch — cut down &ii picJurts. and .yive tlie Ainericans no t/iuaier.'' . vh^i fi" feU -■•c^. 'aVv ivunn.li''l hit'i tin Jiti'!' ■ hoisted Iris handk^^fclrief vn. tin end cflj^ swcrd.aruX bc^^id f.'r iha.t w.-r. fore iTrdrTi'-i ^z'' T?/: .Minied to his enenyi'
Foldout to Book!
SIXTEENTH THOUSAIID.
XTTCT'r^T? Ti^ * T
1% *•'
9
3iOG!(Ar,i;:AL
DboCav,J.i'-<
iTK'r
*. -i 0 ::- ^ '
VIEWS OF TTTE
1
.::.xi:ALV ':■
Price Three Dollars. 1854.
flljTf
(
iCOLLECTON'^
GEfflil
Escfiipnosor
IVJ OF THi ■
"^I
I 1^ I I
SIXTEENTH THOUSAND.
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS
H
9
CO?fTAIXINQ
A COLLECTION OF THE MOST INTERESTING FACTS, TRADITIONS, BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, ANECDOTES, ETC.
KELATIXG TO ITS
GENERAL AND LOCAL HISTOEY :
DESCRIPTIONS OF ITS COUNTIES, PRINCIPAL TOWNS AND
VILLAGES.
ILLUSTRATED BV
180 ENGRAVINGS,
GIVING
VIEWS OF THE CHIEF TOWNS,— PUBLIC BUILDINGS,— RELICS OF ANTI- QUITY,—HISTORIC LOCALITIES,— NATURAL SCENERY, ETC.
bF1ienry~howe.
CINCINNATI:
PUBLISHED BY HENRY HOWE, AT E. MORGAN & CO'S. Price Three Dollars. 1854.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1847,
By J. W. BARBER & H. HOWE,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the District of Conn
CINCINNAll : ]\lorgan ^ (Jverend^ Printers.
XS
PREFACE.
IxTRODUCTOKY to this woi'k, we state some facts of private history.
In the year 1831, Mr. John W. Barbor of New Haven, Ct., prepared a work upon tliat our native city, which coml^ined history, biography and de- scription, and was ilhistrated by engravings connected with its rise, progress and present condition. Its success suggested to him the preparation of one, on a simihir plan, relative to the State. For this object he traA'elled through it, tlom town to town, collecting the matm'ials and taking sketches. After two years of industrious application in this, and in writing the volume, the His- torical Collections of Connecticut was issued, a work which, like its suc- cessors, was derived from a thousand dill'erent sources, oral and published.
As iu the ordinary mode, the circulation of books through "the trade," is so slow in progress and limited in sale, that no merely local work, however meritorious, involving such an unusually heavy outlay of time and expense as that, will pay even the mechanical labor, it, as well as its successors, was circulated by travelling agents solely, who thoroughly canvassed the state, until it ibund its way into thousands of families in all ranks and conditions, — in the retired farm-house equally with the more accessible city mansion.
That book, so novel in its character, was received with great favor, and highly commended by the public press and the leading minds of the state. It is true, it did not aspire to high literary merit : — the dignified style, — the generalization of tacts, — the philosophical deductions of regular history were not there. On the contrary, not the least of its merits was its simplicity of style, its fullness of detail, introducing minor, but interesting incidents, the other, in "its stately march," could not step aside to notice, and in avoid- ing that philosophy which only the scholastic can comprehend. It seemed, in its variety, to have something adapted to all ages, classes and tastes, and the unlearned reader, if he did not stop to peruse the volume, at least, in many instances could derive gratification from the pictorial representation of his native village, — of perhaps the very dwelling in which he first drew breath, and around which entwined early and cherished associations. The book, therefore, reached more minds, and has been more extensively read, than any regular state history ever issued ; thus adding another to the many examples often seen, of the productions of industry and tact, proving of a more extended utility than those emanating fi-om profound scholastic ac- quirements.
This publication became the pioneer of others : a complete list of all, with the dates of their issue, foUoAvs :
1 '36. The Hist. Coll. of Connecticut ; hy John W. Barber. 1^39. " " Massachusetts ; " John W, Barber.
' 1^41. « « New York ; " J. W. Barber and H. Hoice.
1343. " " Pennsylvania ; " Sherman Day.
1844. « « New Jersey; '' J. W. Barber and H. Howe.
1845. « « Virginia; " Henry Howe. 1847. « « Ohio ; " Henry Howe.
4 PREFACE.
From this list it will be perceived that OHIO makes the seventh state work published on the original plan of Mr. Barber, all of which thus far circulated, were alike favorably received in the states to which each respect- ively related.
Early in January, 1846, we, with some previous time spent in preparation, commenced our tour over Ohio, being the fourth state through which we have travelled for such an object. We thus passed more than a year, in the course of which we were in seventy-nine of its eighty-three counties, took sketches of olijects of interest, and every where obtained information by con- versation with early settlers and men of intelligence. Beside this, we have availed ourselves of all published sources of information, and have received about four hundred manuscript pages in communications from gentlemen in all parts of the state.
In this way, we are enabled to present a larger and more varied amount of materials respecting Ohio, than was ever before embodied ; the whole giving a view of its present condition and prospects, with a history of its settlement, and incidents illustrating the customs, the fortitude, the bravery, and the privations of its early settlers. That such a work, depicting the rise and unexampled progress of a powerful state, destined to a controlling influence over the well-being of the whole nation, will be looked upon with interest, we believe : and furthermore expect, that it will be received in the generous spirit which is gratified with honest endeavors to please, rather than in the captious one, that is dissatisfied short of an unattainable perfection.
Whoever expects to find the volume entirely free from defects, has but little acquaintance with the difficulties ever attendant upon procuring such ma- terials. In all of the many historical and descriptive works whose fidelity we have had occasion to test, some misstatements were found. Although we have taken the best available means to insure accuracy, yet from a variety of causes unnecessary here to specify, some errors may have occurred. If any thing materially wrong is discovered, any one will confer a favor by ad- dressing a letter to the publishers, and it shall be corrected.
Our task has been a pleasant one. As we successively entered the va- rious counties, we were greeted with the frank welcome, chai-acteristic of the west. And an evidence of interest in the enterprize has been variously shown, not the least of which, has been by the reception of a mass of valua- ble communications, unprecedented by us in the course of the seven years we have been engaged in these pursuits. To all who have aided us, — to our correspondents especially, some of whom have spent much time and re- search, we feel under lasting obligations, and are enabled by their assistance to present to the public a far better work, than could otherwise have been produced. H. H.
OHIO.
OUTLINE HISTORY *
The territory now comprised within the limits of Ohio was for- merly a part of that vast region claimed by France, between the Alleghany and the Rocky Mountains, first known by the general name of Louisiana. In 1673, Marquette, a zealous French Mis- sionary, accompanied with Monsieur Joliet, from Quebec, with five boatmen, set out on a mission from Mackinac to the unexplored re- gions lying south of that station. They passed down the lake to Green Bay, thence from Fox River crossed over to the Wisconsin, which they followed down to its junction with the Mississippi. They descended this mighty stream a thousand miles to its con- fluence with the Arkansas. On their return to Canada, they did not fail to urge, in strong terms, the immediate occupation of the vast and fertile regions watered by the Mississippi and its branches.
On the 7th of August, 1679, M. de la Salle, the French com- mandant of Fort Frontenac, on Lake Ontario, launched, upon Lake Erie, the Griffin, a bark of about 60 tons, with which he proceeded through the Lakes to the Straits of Michillimackinac. Leaving his bark at this place, he proceeded up Lake Michigan, and from thence to the south west, till he arrived at Peoria Lake, in Illinois. At this place he erected a fort, and after having sent Father Lewis Henne- pin on an exploring expedition. La Salle returned to Canada. In 1683, La Salle went to France, and, by the representations which he made, induced the French Government to fit out an expedition for the purpose of planting a colony at the mouth of the Mississippi. This expedition failed, La Salle being murdered by his own men.
This disaster did not abate the ardor of the French in their great plan of obtaining possession of the vast region westward of the English colonies. A second expedition sailed from France, under the command of M. D'Iberville. This officer entered the mouth of the Mississippi, and explored the river for several hundred miles
• The principal sources from which this outline is derived, are the MSS. of Hon. Thomas Scott, of Chillicothe, Secretary of the Convention which framed the constitution of Ohio • the historical sketch prefixed to Chase's Statutes, and Perkins* Annals of the West.
6 OUTLINE HISTORY.
Permanent establishments were made at different points ; and from this time the French colony west of the Alleghanies steadily in- creased in numbers and strength. Previous to the year 1725, the colony had been divided into quarters, each having its local gover- nor, or commandant, and judge, but all subject to the superior au- thority of the council general of Louisiana. One of these quarters was established north west of the Ohio.
At this period, the French had erected forts on the Mississippi, on the Illinois, on the Maumee, and on the lakes. Still, however, the communication with Canada was through Lake Michigan. Before 1750, a French post had been fortified at the mouth of the Wabash and a communication was established through that river and the Maumee with Canada. About the same time, and for the purpose of checking the progress of the French, the Ohio Company was formed, and made some attempts to establish trading houses among the Indians. The French, however, established a chain of fortifica- tions back of the English settlements, and thus, in a measure, had the entire control of the great Mississippi valley. The English go- vernment became alarmed at the encroachments of the French, and attempted to settle boundaries by negotiations. These availed no- thing, and both parties were determined to settle their differences by the force of arms.
The claims of the different European monarchs to large portions of the western continent were based upon the first discoveries made by their subjects. In 1609, the English monarch granted to the London Company, all the territories extending along the coast for two hundred miles north and south from Point Comfort, and " up into the land, throughout, from sea to sea, west and north-west." In 1662, Charles II. granted to certain settlers upon the Connecticut all the territory between the parallels of latitude which include the present State of Connecticut, from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean. The claims which Massachusetts advanced, during the revolution, to an interest in the western lands, were founded upon a similar charter, granted thirty years afterwards.
When the king of France had dominions in North America, the whole of the late territory of the United States, north-west of the river Ohio, was included in the province of Louisiana, the north boundary of which, by the treaty of Utrecht, concluded between France and England in 1713, was fixed at the 49th parallel of lati- tude north of the Equator. After the conquest of the French pos- sessions in North America by Great Britain, this tract was ceded by France to Great Britain, by the treaty of Paris, in 1763.
The principal ground whereon the English claimed dominion beyond the Alleghanies was, that the Six Nations owned the Ohio valley, and had placed it with their other lands under the protection of England. Some of the western lands were also claimed by the British as having been actually purchased, at Lancaster, Penn., in 1744, at a treaty between the colonists and the Six Nations at that place. In 1748, the "Ohio Company," for the purpose of securing
OUTLINE HISTORY.
the Indian trade, was formed. In 1749, it appears that the English built a trading house upon the Great Miami, at a spot since called Loramie's Store. In 1751, Christopher Gist, an agent of the Ohio Company, who was appointed to examine the western lands, made a visit to the Twigtwees, who lived upon the Miami river, about one hundred miles from its mouth.
Early in 1752, the French having heard of the trading house ou the Miami, sent a party of soldiers to the Twigtwees and demanded the traders as intruders upon French lands. The Twigtwees re- fused to deliver up their friends. The French, assisted by the Ot- tawas and Chippewas, then attacked the trading house, which was probably a block house, and after a severe battle, in which fourteen of the natives were killed and others wounded, took and destroyed it, carrying away the traders to Canada. This fort, or trading house, was called, by the English, PickawiUany. Such was the first British settlement in the Ohio valley, of which we have any record.
After Braddock's defeat, in 1755, the Indians pushed their excur- sions as far east as the Blue Ridge. In order to repel them. Major Lewis, in Jan., 175G, was sent with a party of troops on an expedi- tion against the Indian towns on the Ohio. The point apparently aimed at was the upper ^hawanese town, situated on the Ohio, three miles above the mouth of the Great Kanawha. The attempt proved a failure, in consequence, it is said, of the swollen state of the streams, and the treachery of the guides. In 17G4, Gen. Bradstreet, having dispersed the Indian forces besieging Detroit, passed into the Wyandot country by way of Sandusky Bay. He ascended the bay and river as far as it was navigable for boats, and there made a camp. A treaty of peace was signed by the Chiefs and head men. The Shawnees of the Scioto river, and the Delawares of the Mus- kingum, however, still continued hostile. Col. Boquet, in 1764, with a body of troops, marched from Fort Pitt into the heart of the Ohio country on the Muskingum river. This expedition was con- ducted with great prudence and skill, and without scarcely any loss of life, as treaty of peace was effected with the Indians, who re- stored the prisoners they had captured from the white settlements. The next war with the Indians was in 1774, generally known as Lord Dunmore's. In the summer of that year, an expedition, under Col. M'Donald, was assembled at Wheeling, marched into the Muskin- gum country and destroyed the Indian town of Wapatomica, a few miles above the site of Zanesville. In the fall, the Indians were de- feated after a hard fought battle at Point Pleasant, on the Virginia side of the Ohio. Shortly after this event, Lord Dunmore made peace with the Indians at Camp Charlotte, in what is now Picka- way country.
During the revolutionary war, most of the western Indians were more or less united against the Americans. In the fall of 1778, an expedition against Detroit was projected. As a preliminary step, it was resolved that the forces in the west, under Gen. M'Intosh, should move up and attack the Sandusky Indians. Preliminary to this.
8 OUTLINE HISTORY.
Fort Laurens, so called in honor of the President of Congress, was built upon the Tuscarawas, a short distance below the site of Bolivar, Tuscarawas county. The expedition to Detroit was abandoned and the garrison of Fort Laurens, after suffering much from the Indians and from famine, were recalled in August, 1779. A month or two previous to the evacuation of this fort. Col. Bowman headed an ex- pedition against the Shawanees. Their village, Chillicothe, three miles north of the site of Xenia, on the Little Miami, was burnt. The warriors showed an undaunted front, and the whites were forced to retreat. In the summer of 1780, an expedition directed against the Indian towns, in the forks of the Muskingum, moved from Wheeling, under Gen. Broadhead. This expedition, known as "the Coshocton campaign," was unimportant in its results. In the same summer, Gen. Clark led a body of Kentuckians against the Shaw- nees. Chillicothe, on the Little Miami, was burnt on their approach, but at Piqua, their town on the Mad River, six miles below the site of Springfield, they gave battle to the whites and were defeated. In September, 1782, this officer led a second expedition against the Shawanese. Their towns, Upper and Lower Piqua, on the Miami, within what is now Miami county, were destroyed, together with the store of a trader. ,
There were other expeditions into the Indian country from Ken- tucky, which, although of later date, we mention in this connection. In 178G, Col. Logan conducted a successful expedition against the Mackachack towns, on the head waters of Mad River, in what is now Logan county. Edwards, in 1787, led an expedition to the head waters of the Big Miami, and, in 1788, Todd led one into the Scioto valley. There were also several minor expeditions, at various times, into the present limits of Ohio.
The Moravian missionaries, prior to the war of the revolution, had a number of missionary stations within the limits of Ohio. The missionaries, Heckewelder and Post, were on the Muskingum as early as 1762. In March, 1782, a party of Americans, under Col. Williamson, murdered, in cold blood, ninety-four of the defenceless Moravian Indians, within the present limits of Tuscarawas county. In the June following. Col. Crawford, at the head of about 500 men, was defeated by the Indians, three miles north of the site of Upper Sandusky, in Wyandot county. Col. Crawford was taken prisoner in the retreat, and burnt at the stake with horrible tortures.
By an act of the Parliament of Great Britain, passed in 1774, the whole of the late north-western Territory was annexed to, and made a part of, the province of Quebec, as created and established by the royal proclamation of the 7th of October, 1763. But nothing therein contained, relative to the boundary of the said province of Quebec, was in any wise to affect the boundaries of any other colony.
The colonies having, in 1776, renounced their allegiance to the British king, and assumed rank as free, sovereign and independent States, each State claimed the right of soil and jurisdiction over the district of country embraced within its charter. The charters of
OUTLINE HISTORY.
several of the States embraced large portions of western unappro- priated lands. Those States which had no such charters, insisted that these lands ought to be appropriated for the benefit of all the States, according to their population, as the title to them, if secured at all, would be by the blood and treasure of all the States. Con- gress repeatedly urged upon those States owning western unappro- priated lands, to make liberal cessions of them for the common bene- fit of all.
The claim of the English monarch to the late north-western Ter- ritory was ceded to the United States, by the treaty of peace, signed at Paris, September 3d, 1783. The provisional articles which formed the basis of that treaty, more especially as related to the boundary, were signed at Paris, November 30th, 1782. During the pendency of the negociation relative to these preliminary articles, Mr. Oswald, the British commissioner, proposed the river Ohio as the western boundary of the United States, and but for the indomit- able perseverance of the revolutionary patriot, John Adams, one of the American commissioners, who opposed the proposition, and in- sisted upon the Mississippi as the boundary, the probability is, that the proposition of Mr. Oswald would have been acceded to by the United States commissioners.
The States who owned western unappropriated lands, with a single exception, redeemed their respective pledges by ceding them to the United States. The State of Virginia, in March, 1784, ceded the right of soil and jurisdiction to the district of country embraced in her charter, situated to the north-west of the river Ohio. In Sep- tember, 1786, the State of Connecticut also ceded her claim of soil and jurisdiction to the district of country within the limits of her charter, situated west of a line beginning at the completion of the forty-first point degree of north latitude, one hundred and twenty miles west of the western boundary of Pennsylvania ; and from thence by a line drawn north parallel to, and one hundred and twenty miles west of said line of Pennsylvania, and to continue north until it came to forty-two degrees and two minutes north lati- tude. The State of Connecticut, on the 30th of May, 1801, also- ceded her jurisdictional claims to all that territory called the " West-^ ern Reserve of Connecticift." The States of New York and Massa- chusetts also ceded all their claims.
The above were not the only claims which had to be made prior to the commencement of settlements within the limits of Ohio. Numerous tribes of Indian savages, by virtue of prior possession, asserted their respective claims, which also had to be extinguished. A treaty for this purpose was accordingly made at Fort Stanwix, October 27th, 1784, with the Sachems and warriors of the Mohawks, Onondagas, Senecas, Cayugas, Oneidas, and Tuscarora? ; by the third article of which treaty, the said Six Nations ceded to the United States all claims to the country west of a line extending along the west boundary of Pennsylvania, from the mouth of the Oyounayea. to the river Ohio.
2
lO OUTLINE HISTORY.
A treaty w^as also concluded at Fort Mcintosh, January 21st, 1785, with the Wyandot, Delaware, Chippewa, and Ottawa nations, by which the boundary line between the United States and the Wyan- dot and Delaware nations was declared to begin " at the mouth of the river Cuyahoga, and to extend up said river to the Portage, be- tween that and the Tuscaroras branch of the Muskingum, thence down that branch to the crossing place above Fort Laurens, then westerly to the Portage of the Big Miami, which runs into the Ohio, at the mouth of which branch the fort stood which was taken by the French, in 1752 ; then along said Portage to the Great Miami, or Omee river, and down the south side of the same to its mouth; then along the south shore of Lake Erie to the mouth of the Cuyahoga river, where it began." The United States allotted all the lands contained within said lines to the Wyandot and Delaware nations, to live and hunt on, and to such of the Ottawa nation as lived there- on ; saving and reserving for the establishment of trading posts, six miles square at the mouth of the Miami, or Omee river, and the same at the Portage, on that branch of the Big Miami which runs into the Ohio, and the same on the Lake of Sandusky where the fort formerly stood, and also two miles square on each side of the Lower Rapids of Sandusky river.
The Indian title to a large part of the territory within the limits of Ohio having been extinguished, legislative action on the part of Congress became necessary before settlements were commenced ; as in the treaties made with the Indians, and in the acts of Congress, all citizens of the United States were prohibited settling on the lands of the Indians, as well as on those of the United States. Ordinan- •ces were accordingly made by Congress for the government of the North-western Territory, and for the survey and sale of portions of lands to which the Indian title had been extinguished.
In May, 1785, Congress passed an ordinance for ascertaining the mode of disposing of these lands. Under that ordinance, the first ;seven ranges, bounded on the east by Pennsylvania, and on the :south by the Ohio river, were surveyed. Sales of parts of these were made at New York, in 1787, the avails of which amounted to ^72,974, and sales of other parts of said range were made at Pitts- iburg and Philadelphia, in 1796. The avails of sales made at the former place amounted to $43,446, and at the latter, $5,120. A portion of these lands were located under United States military !land warrants. No further sales were made in that district until the Land Office was opened at Steubenville, July 1st, 1801.
On the 27th of October, 1787, a contract in writing was entered iinto between the Board of Treasury for the United States of Amer- ica, of the one part, and Manassah Cutler and Winthrop Sargeant, as agents, for the directors of the New England Ohio Company of lassociates, of the other part, for the purchase of the tract of land bounded by the Ohio, from the mouth of the Scioto to the intersec- tion of the western boundary of the seventh range of townships then ■surveying ; thence by said boundary to the northern boundary of
OUTLINE HISTORY. 11
the tenth township from the Ohio ; thence by a due west line to Scioto ; thence by the Scioto to the beginning. The bounds of that contract were afterwards altered in 1792. The settlement of this purchase commenced at Marietta, at the mouth of the Muskingum river, in the spring of 1788, and was the first settlement formed within the limits of Ohio. An attempt at settlement within the bounds of Ohio had been made in Apiil, 1785, at the mouth of the Scioto, on the site of Portsmouth, by four families from Redstone, Pa. ; but diffi- culties with the Indians compelled its abandonment.
The same year in which Marietta was first settled, Congress ap- pointed Gen. Arthur St. Clair, an officer of the revolution, Governor; VVinthrop Sargeant, Secretary ; and the Hon. Samuel Holden Par- sons, James Mitchell Varnum, and John Cleves Symmes, Judges ; in, and over the Territory. The territorial government was orga- nized, and sundry laws were made, or adopted, by the Governor and Judges Parsons and Varnum. The county of Washington, having its limits extended westward to the Scioto, and northward to Lake Erie, embracing about half the territory within the present limits of the State, w^as established by the proclamation of the Go- vernor.
On the 15th of October, 1788, John Cleves Symmes, in behalf of himself and his associates, contracted with the Board of Treasury for the purchase of a large tract of land situated between the Great and Little Miami river, and the first settlement within the limits of that purchase, and second in Ohio, was commenced in November of that year, at Columbia, at the mouth of the j^ittle Miami, five miles above the site of Cincinnati.
"A short time after the settlement at Marietta had commenced, an association was formed under the name of the " Scioto Land Com- pany.''' A contract was made for the purchase of a part of the lands included in the Ohio Company's purchases. Plats and descriptions of the land conti^acted for, were, however, made out, and Joel Barlow was sent as an agent to Europe to make sales of the lands for the benefit of the company ; and sales were effected of parts thereof to companies and individuals in France. On February 19th, 1791. two hundred and eighteen of these purchasers left Havre de Grace, in France, and arrived in Alexandria, D. C, on the 3d of May follow- ing. During their passage, two were added to their number. On their arrival, they were told that the Scioto Company owned no land. The agent insisted that they did, and promised to secure to them good titles thereto, which he did, at Winchester, Brownsville, and Charleston (now Wellsburg). When they arrived at Marietta, about fifty of them landed. The rest of the company proceeded to Gallipolis, which was laid out about that time, and were assured by the agent that the place lay within their purchase. Every effort to secure titles to the lands they had purchased having failed, an appli- cation was made to Congress, and in June, 1798, a grant was made to them of a tract of land on the Ohio, above the mouth of the Scioto river, which is called the * Frerich Grant: "
12 OUTLINE HISTORY.
The Legislatare of Connecticut, in May, 1795, appointed a com- mittee to receive proposals and make sale of the lands she had re- served in Ohio. This committee sold the lands to sundry citizens of Connecticut and other States, and, in September of the same year, executed to several purchasers deeds of conveyance therefor. The purchasers proceeded to survey into townships of five miles square the whole of said tract lying east of the Cuyahoga ; they made di- visions thereof according to their respective proportions, and com- menced settlements in many of the townships, and there were actu- ally settled therein, by the 21st of March, 1800, about one thousand inhabitants. A number of mills had been built, and roads cut in vaiious directions to the extent of about 700 miles.
The location of the lands appropriate for satisfying military land bounty warrants in the district appropriated for that purpose, granted for services in the revolutionary war, commenced on March 13th, 1800 ; and the location of the lands granted to the Canadian and Nova Scotia refugees commenced February 13th, 1802. The lands east of the Scioto, south of the military bounty lands, and west of the fifteenth range of townships, were first brought into market, and offered for sale by the United States on the first Monday of May, 1801.
The State of Virginia, at an early period of the revolutionary war, raised two description of troops, State and Continental, to each of which bounties in land were promised. The lands within the limits of her charter, situate to the north-west of Ohio river, were with- drawn from appropriation on treasury warrants, and the lands on Cumberland river, and between the Green and Tennessee rivers on the south-easterly side of the Ohio, were appropriated for these mili- tary bounties. Upon the recommendation of Congress, Virginia ceded her lands north of the Ohio, upon certain conditions ; one of which was, that in case the lands south of Ohio«should be insufficient for their legal bounties to their troops, the deficiency should be made up from lands north of the Ohio, between the rivers Scioto and Little Miami.
In 1783, the Legislature of Virginia authorized the officers of their respective lines to appoint superintendants to regulate the survey of the bounty lands promised. Richard C. Anderson was appointed principal surveyor of the lands of the troops of the continental estab- lishment. An office for the reception of locations and surveys was opened at Louisville, Kentucky, August 1st, 1784, and on the 1st of August, 1787, the said office was open for the reception of surveys and locations on the north side of the Ohio.
In the year 1789, January 9th, a treaty was made at Fort Harmer, between Gov. St. Clair and the Sachems and warriors of the Wyan- dot, Chippewa, Potawatomie, and Sac nations, in which the treaty at Fort Mcintosh was renewed and confirmed. It did not, however, produce the favorable results anticipated. The Indians, the same year, assuming a hostile appearance, were seen hovering round the infant settlements near the mouth of the Muskingum and between
OUTLINE HISTORY. 13
the Miamies, and nine persons were killed within the bounds of Symmes' purchase. The new settlers became alarmed and erected block-houses in each of the new settlements. In June, 1789, Major Doughty, with 140 men, from Fort Harmar, commenced the building of Fort Washington, on a spot now within the present limits of Cin- cinnati. A few months afterwards. Gen. Harmar arrived, with 300 men, and took command of the fort.
Negociations with the Indians proving unavailing, Gen. Harmar was directed to attack their towns. In pursuance of his instructions, he marched from Cincinnati, in September, 1790, with 1,300 men, of whom less than one-fourth were regulars. When near the Indian villages, on the Miami of the lake in the vicinity of what is now Fort Wayne, an advanced detachment of 210, consisting chiefly of militia, fell into an ambush and was defeated with severe loss. Gen. Harmar, however, succeeded in burning the Indian villages, and in destroying their standing corn, and having effected this service, the army commenced its march homeward. They had not proceeded far when Harmar received intelligence that the Indians had returned to their ruined towns. He immediately detached about one-third of his remaining force, under the command of Col. Hardin, with orders to bring them to an engagement. He succeeded in this early the next morning ; the Indians fought with great fury, and the militia and the regulars alike behaved with gallantry. More than one hun- dred of the militia, and all the regulars except nine, were killed, and the rest were driven back to the main body. Dispirited by this severe misfoi'tune, Harmar immediately marched to Cincinnati, and the object of the expedition in intimidating the Indians was entirely unsuccessful.
As the Indians continued hostile, a new army, superior to the former, was assembled at Cincinnati, under the command of Gov. St. Clair. The regular force amounted to 2,300 men ; the militia numbered about 600. With this army, St. Clair commenced his march towards the Indian towns on the Maumee. Two forts, Hamilton and Jefferson, were established and garrisoned on the route, about forty miles from each other. Misfortune attended the expedition almost from its commencement. Soon after leaving Fort Jefferson, a considerable party of the militia deserted in a body. The first regiment, under Major Hamtramck, was ordered to pursue them and to secure the advancing convoys of provisions, which it was feared they designed to plunder. Thus weakened by desertion and division, St Clair approached the Indian villages. On the third of November, 1791, when at what is now the line of Darke and Mercer counties, he lialted, intending to throw up some slight forti- fication for the protection of baggage, and to await the return of the absent regiment. On the following morning, however, about half an hour before sun rise, the American army was attacked with great fury, as there is good reason to believe, by the whole disposable force of the north-west tribes. The Americans were totally de- feated. Gen. Butler and upwards of six hundred men were killed,
14 OUTLINE HISTORY.
Indian outrages of every kind were now multiplied, and emigration was almost entirely suspended.
President Washington now urged forward the vigorous prosecu- tion of the war for the protection of the North-west Territory ; but various obstacles retarded the enlistment and organization of a new army. In the spring of 1794, the American army assembled at Greenville, in Darke county, under the command of Gen. Anthony Wayne, a bold, energetic and experienced officer of the revolution. His force consisted of about two thousand regular troops, and fifteen hundred mounted volunteers from Kentucky. The Indians had col- lected their whole force, amounting to about two thousand men, near a British fort, erected since the treaty of 1783, in violation of its obligations, at the foot of the rapids of the Maumee. On the 20th of August, 1794, Gen. Wayne encountered the enemy, and after a short and deadly conflict, the Indians fled in the greatest confusion, and were pursued under the guns of the British fort. After destroy- ing all the houses and corn fields above and below the British fort, on the Maumee, the victorious army returned to the mouth of Au Glaize, where Wayne erected Fort Defiance. Previous to this ac- tion, various fruitless attempts had been made to bring the Indians to peace. Some of the messengers sent among the Indians for that object were murdered.
The victory of Wayne did not at first reduce the savages to sub- mission. Their country was laid waste, and forts were erected in the heart of their territory before they could be entii-ely subdued. At length, however, they became thoroughly convinced of their in- ability to resist the American arms and sued for peace. A grand council was held at Greenville, where eleven of the most powerful north-western tribes were represented, to whom Gen. Wayne dic- tated the terms of pacification. The boundary established by the treaty at Fort Mcintosh was confirmed and extended westward from Loramie's to Fort Recovery, and thence south-west to the mouth of Kentucky river. The Indians agreed to acknowledge the United States as their sole protector, and never to sell their lands to any other power. Upon these and other conditions, the United States received the Indian nations into their protection. A large quantity of goods was delivered to them on the spot, and perpetual annuities, payable in merchandise, &c., were promised to each tribe who be- came a party to the treaty.
While the war with the Indians continued, of course, but little progress was made in the settlement in the west. The next county that was established after that of Washington, in 1788, was Hamil- ton, erected in 1790. Its bounds included the country between the Miamies, extending northward from the Ohio river, to a line drawn due east from the standing stone forks of the Great Miami. The name of the settlement opposite the Licking was, at this time, called Cincinnati.
At this period, there was no fixed seat of government. The laws were passed whenever they seemed to be needed, and promulgated
OUTLINE HISTORY. 15
at any place where the territorial legislators happened to be as- sembled. In 1789, the first Congress passed an act recognizing the binding force of the ordinance of 1787, and adapting its provisions to the federal constitution. At this period, the judges appointed by the national executive constituted the supreme court of the terri- tory. Inferior to this court, were the county court, courts of com- mon pleas, and the general quarter sessions of the peace. Single judges of the common pleas, and single justices of the quarter ses- sions, were also clothed with certain civil and criminal powers to be exercised out of court.
In 1795, the governor and judges undertook to revise the terri- torial laws, and to establish a system of statutory jurisprudence, by adoptions from the laws of the original States, in conformity to the ordinance. For this purpose they assembled in Cincinnati, in June, and continued in session until the latter part of August. The general court was fixed at Cincinnati and Marietta ; other courts were established, and laws and regulations were adopted for various purposes.
The population of the territory now continued to increase and ex- tend. From Marietta, settlers spread into the adjoining country. The Virginia military reservation drew a considerable number of revolutionary veterans, and others, from that State. The region between the Miamies, from the Ohio far up toward the sources of Mad river, became chequered with farms, and abounded in indica- tions of the presence of an active and prosperous population. The neighborhood of Detroit became populous, and Connecticut, by grants of land within the tract, reserved in her deed of cession, in- duced many of her hardy citizens to seek a home on the borders of Lake Erie. In 1796, Wayne county was established, including all the north-western part of Ohio, a large tract in the north-eastern part of Indiana, and the whole territory of Michigan. In July, 1797, Adams county was erected, comprehending a large tract lying on both sides of Scioto, and extending northward to Wayne. Other counties were afterwards formed out of those already established. Before the end of the year 1798, the North-west Territory contained a population of five thousand free male inhabitants, of full age, and eight organized counties.
The people were now entitled, under the ordinance of 1787, to a change in their form of government. That instrument provided that whenever there were five thousand free males, of full age, in the territory, the people should be authorized to elect representatives to a territorial legislature. These, when chosen, were to nominate ten freeholders of 500 acres, of whom the president was to appoint five, who were to constitute the legislative council. Representatives were to serve two, and councilmen five years. The first meeting of the territorial legislature was appointed on the 10th of September, 1799, but it was not till the 24th of the same month that the two houses were organized for business ; at which time they were ad- dressed by Gov. St. Clair. An act was passed to confirm and give
16 OUTLINE HISTORY.
force to those laws enacted by the governor and judges, whose valid- ity had been doubted. This act, as well as every other which origi- nated in the council, was prepared and brought forward by Jacob Burnet, afterwards a distinguished judge and senator, to whose labors, at this session, the territory was indebted for some of its most beneficial laws. The whole number of acts passed and approved by the governor was thirty-seven. William H. Harrison, then sec- retary of the territory, was elected as delegate to Congress, having eleven of twenty-one votes.
" Within a few months after the close of this session, Connecticut ceded to the United States her claim of jurisdiction over the north- eastern part of the territory ; upon which the president conveyed, by patent, the fee of the soil to the governor of the State, for the use of grantees and purchasers claiming under her. This tract, in the summer of the same year, was erected into a new county by the name of Trumbull. The same congress which made a final arrange- ment with Connecticut, passed an act dividing the North-western Territory into two governments, by a line drawn from the mouth of the Kentucky to Fort Recovery, and thence northward to the terri- torial line. East of this line, the government, already established, was continued ; while west of it another, substantially similar, was established. This act fixed the seat of the eastern government at Chillicothe ; subject, however, to be removed at the pleasure of the legislature."
On the 30th of April, 1802, Congress passed an act authorizing the call of a convention to form a State constitution. This convention assembled at Chillicothe, November 1st, and, on the 29th of the same month, a constitution of State government was ratified and signed by the members of the convention. It was never referred to the people for their approbation, but became the fundamental law of the State by the act of the convention alone ; and, by this act, Ohio be- came one of the States of the Federal Union.
"Besides framing the constitution, the convention had another duty to perform. The act of congress, providing for the admission of the new State into the Union, offered certain propositions to the people. These were, first, that section sixteen in each township, or, where that section had been disposed of, other contiguous and equi- valent lands, should be granted to the inhabitants for the use of schools ; second, that thirty-eight sections of land, where salt-springs had been found, of which one township was situated on the Scioto, one section on the Muskingum, and one section in the United States military tract, should be granted to the State, never, however, to be sold or leased for a longer term than ten years ; and third, that one- twentieth of the proceeds of public lands sold within the State, should be applied to the construction of roads from the Atlantic, to and through the same. These propositions were offered on the con- dition that the convention should provide, by ordinance, that all lands sold by the United States after the thirtieth day of June, 1802, should be exempt from taxation, by the State, for five years after sale
OUTLINE HISTORY. 17
"The ordinance of 1785, had already provided for the appropria- tion of section sixteen to the support of schools in every township sold by the United States ; and this appropriation thus became a condition of the sale and settlement of the western country. It was a consideration offered to induce purchases of public lands, at a time w'hen the treasury was well-nigh empty, and this source of revenue was much relied upon. It extended to every township of land within the territory, except those in the Virginia military reserva- tion and wherever the reserved section had been disposed of, after the passage of the ordinance, Congress was bound to make other equivalent provision for the same object. The reservation of sec- tion sixteen, therefore, could not, in 1802, be properly made the ob- ject of a new bargain between the United States and the State : and many thought that the salt reservations and the twentieth of the proceeds of the public lands were very inadequate equivalents for the proposed surrender of the right to tax. The convention, how ever, determined to accept the propositions of Congress, on their being so far enlai'ged and modified as to vest in the State, for the use of schools, section sixteen in each township sold by the United States, and three other tracts ot land, equal in quantity, respectively, to one thirty-sixth of the Virginia reservation, of the United States military tract, and of the Connecticut reserve, and to give three pei centum of the proceeds of the public lands sold within the State, to be applied under the direction of the legislature, to roads in Ohio. Congress assented to the proposed modifications, and thus completed the compact."
The first General Assembly under the State constitution met at Chilicothe, March 1st, 1803. The legislature enacted such laws as were deemed necessary for the new order of things, and created eight new counties, namely : Gallia, Scioto, FrankHn, Columbiana, Butler, Warren, Green, and Montgomery. The first State officers elected by the assembly were as follows, viz. : Michael Baldwin, Speaker of the House of Representatives; Nathaniel Massie, Speaker of the Senate ; William Creighton, Jr., Secretary of State ; Col. Thomas Gibson, Auditor ; William McFarland, Treasurer ; Return J. Meigs, Jr., Samuel Huntington, and William Sprigg, Judges of the Supreme Court ; Francis Dunlavy, Wyllys Silliman, and Calvin Pease, Judges of the District Courts.
The second General Assembly convened in December, 1803. At this session, the militia law was thoroughly revised and a law was passed to enable aliens to enjoy the same proprietary rights in Ohio as native citizens. At this session, also, the revenue system of the State was simplified and improved. Acts were passed providing for the incorporation of townships, and for the establishment of boards of commissioners of counties.
In 1805, by a treaty with the Indians at Fort Industry, the United States acquired, for the use of the grantees of Connecticut, all that part of the western reserve which lies west of the Cuyahoga. By subsequent treaties, all the country watered by the Maumee and the
3
is
OUTLINE HISTORY.
Sandusky have been acquired, and the Indian title to lands in Ohio is now extinct.
In the course of the year 1805, the conspiracy of Aaron Burr began to agitate the western country. The precise scope of the conspiracy does not distinctly appear. " The immediate object, probably, was to seize on New Orleans and invade Mexico. The ulterior purpose may have been to detach the west from the Ameri- can Union. In December, 1806, in consequence of a confidential message from the governor, founded on the I'epresentations of an agent of the general government deputed to watch the motions of Burr, the legislature passed an act authorizing the arrest of persons engaged in an unlawful enterprise, and the seizure of their goods. Under this act, ten boats, with a considerable quantity of arms, am- munition, and provisions, belonging to Burr's expedition, were seized. This was a fatal blow to the project."
The Indians, who since the treaty at Greenville had been at peace, about the year 1810, began to commit aggressions upon the inhabi- tants of the west. The celebrated Tecumseh was conspicuously active in his efforts to unite the native tribes against the Americans, and to arrest the farther extension of the settlements. His proceed- ings, and those of his brother, ' the Prophet,^ soon made it evident that the west was about to suffer the calamities of another Indian war, and it was resolved to anticipate their movements. In 1811, Gen. Harrison, then governor of Indiana Territory, marched against the town of the ' Prophet,' upon the Wabash. The battle of Tip- pecanoe ensued, in what is now Cass county, Indiana, in which the Indians were totally defeated. This year was also distinguish- ed by an occurrence of immense importance to the whole west. This was the voyage, from Pittsburg to New Orleans, of the first sleainhoat ever launched upon the western waters.
" In June, 1812, the United States declared war against Great Britain. Of this war the west was a principal theatre. Defeat, disaster, and disgrace marked its opening scenes ; but the latter events of the contest were a series of splendid achievements. Croghan's gallant defence of Fort Stephenson ; Perry's victory upon Lake Erie ; the total defeat, by Harrison, of the allied British and savages, under Proctor and Tecumseh, on the Thames ; and the great closing triumph of Jackson at New Orleans, reflected the most brilliant lustre upon the American arms. In every vicissitude of this contest, the conduct of Ohio was eminently patriotic and honor- able. When the necessities of the national government compelled congress to resort to a direct tax, Ohio, for successive years, cheer- fully assumed, and promptly paid her quota out of her State trea- sury. Her sons volunteered with alacrity their services in the field; and no troops more patiently endured hardship or performed better service. Hardly a battle was fought in the north-west, in which some of these brave citizen soldiers did not seal their devotion to their country with their blood.
"In 1816, the seat of the State government was removed to Co-
OUTLINE HISTORY. 19
lumbus, the proprietors of the town having, pursuant to an agree- ment entered into, in good faith, erected the State-house and other public buildings, for the accommodation of the legislature and the officers of state.
"In January, 1817, the first resolution relating to a canal, connect- ing the Ohio river with Lake Erie, was introduced into the legisla- ture. In 1819, the subject was again agitated. In 1820, on the recommendation of Gov. Brown, an act was passed, providing for the appointment of three canal commissioners, who were to employ a competent engineer and assistants, for the purpose of surveying the route of the canal. The action of the commissioners, however, was made to depend on the acceptance by congress of a proposition on behalf of the State, for a donation and sale of the public lands, lying upon and near the route of the proposed canal. In conse- quence of this restriction, nothing was accomplished for two years. In 1822, the subject was referred to a committee of the house of representatives. This committee recommended the employment of an engineer, and submitted various estimates and observations to illustrate the importance and feasibility of the work. Under this act, James Geddes, of New York, an experienced and skillful engi- neer, was employed to make the necessary examinations and sur- veys. Finally, after all the routes had been surveyed, and estimates made of the expense had been laid before the legislature at several sessions, an actA^s passed in Feb., 1825, " To provide for the inter- nal improvement of the State by navigable canals," and thereupon the State embarked in good earnest in the prosecution of the great works of internal improvement."
The construction of these and other works of internal improve- ment, has been of immense advantage in developing the resources of Ohio, which, in little more than half ? century, has changed from a wilderness to one of the most powerfu States of the Union.
COUITIES.
ADAMS.
Adams lies on the Ohio river, about fifty miles east of Cincinnati, and derives its name from John Adams, second President of the United States. It was formed, July 10th, 1797, by proclajnation oi Gov. St. Clair, and covered a large tract of country, being then one ol the four counties into which the N. W. Territory was divided. The land is generally hilly and broken, and, in the eastern part, not fertile. The staples are wheat, corn, pork and oats. Many of the first set- tlers were from Virginia, Kentucky and Ireland. The following is a list of its townships in 1840, with their population :
|
Franklin, |
1,358 |
Meigs, |
1,071 |
Tifiin, |
1,533 |
|
Green, |
1,081 |
Monroe, |
828 |
Wayne, |
858 |
|
Jefferson, |
938 |
Scott, |
916 |
Winchester, |
1,112 |
|
Liberty, |
1,096 |
Sprigg, |
1,984 |
The population of Adams, in 1820, was 10,406; in 1830, 12,278 nnd in 1840, 13,271, or 24 persons to a square mile.
The first settlement within the Virginia military tract, and the only one between the Scioto and Little Miami until after the treaty of Greenville, in 1795, was made in this county, at Manchester, by the then Col., late Gen. Nathaniel Massie. McDonald, in his unpre- tending, but excellent little volume, says :
Massie, in the winter of the year, 1790, detennined to make a settlement in it, that he might be in the midst of liis surveying operations and secure his party trom aanger and exposure. In order to effect this, he gave general notice in Kentucky of his intention, and ofl'ered each of the first twenty-five families, as a donation, one in-lot, one out-lot, and one hundred acres of land, provided they would settle in a town he intended to lay off at his settlement. His proffered terms were soon closed in with, and upwards of thirty families joined him. After various consultations with his friends, the bottom on the Ohio river, op- posite the lower of the Three Islands, was selected as the most eligible spot. Here, he fi.xed his station, and laid off into lots a town, now called Manchester ; at this time a small place, about twelve miles above Maysville, (formerly Limestone,) Kentucky. This little confederacy, with Massie at the helm, (who was the soul of it,) went to work with spirit. Cabins were raised, and by the middle of March, 1791, the whole town was enclosed with strong pickets, firmly fixed in the ground, with block houses at each angle for defence.
Thus was the first settlement in the Virginia military district, asi I the fourth settlement in the bounds of the State of Ohio, effected. Although this settleni.-nt was commenced in the hottest Indian war, it suffered less from depredation, and even interruptions, from the Indians, than any settlement previously made on the Ohio river. This was no doubt owing to the watchfiil band of brave spirits who guarded the place — men who were reared in the midst of danger and inured to perils, and as watchful as hawks. Here were the Beasleys,
23 ADAMS COUNTY.
the Stouts, the Washburns, the Ledoms, the Edgingtons, the Denings, the Ellisons, the Utts, the McKenzies, the Wades, and others, who were equal to the Indians in all the arta and stratagems of border war.
As soon as Massie had completely prepared his station for defence, the whole population went to work, and cleared the lower of the Three Islands, and planted it in corn. The island was very rich, and produced heavy crops. The woods, with a little industry, sup- plied a choice variety of game. Deer, elk, buffalo, bears, and turkeys, were abundant, while the river furnished a variety of excellent fish. The wants of the inhabitants, under these circumstances, were few and easily gratified.
When this station was made, the nearest neighbors north-west of the Ohio, were the in- habitants at Columbia, a settlement below the mouth of the Little Miami, five miles above Cincinnati, and at Gallipolis, a French settlement, near the mouth of the Great Kenhawa.
The station being establislied, Massie continued to make locations and surveys. Great precautions were necessary to avoid the Indians, and even these did not always avail, as is shown by the following incidents, the first of which is derived from the narrative of Israel Donalson, in the American Pioneer, and the others from McDonald's sketches.
I am not sure whether i'. was the last of March or first of April I came to the territory to reside ; but on the night of the 21st of April, 1791, Mr. Massie and myself were sleeping together on our blankets, (for beds we had none,) on the loft of our cabin, to get out of the way of the fleas and gnats. Soon after lying down, I began dreaming of Indians, and con- tinued to do so through the night. Sometime in the night, however, whether Mr. Massie waked of himself, or whether I wakened him, I cannot now say, but I observed to liim I did not kiow what was to be the consequence, for I had dreamed more about Indians that night than in all the time I had been in the western country before. As is common, he made light of it, and we dropped again to sleep. He asked me next morning if I would go with him up the river, .about four or five miles, to make a survey, and that William Lytle, who was then at the fort, was going along. We were both young surveyors, and were glad of the opportunity to practice. Accordingly we three, and a James Tittle, from Kentucky, who was about buying the land, got on board of a canoe, and was a long time going up, the river being very high at the time. We commenced at the mouth of a creek, which from that day has been called Donalson creek. We meandered up the river ; Mr. Massie had the compass, Mr. Lytle and myself carried the chain. We had progressed per- haps one hundred and forty, or one hundred and fifty poles, when our chain broke or parted, but with the aid of the tomahawk we soon repaired it. We were then close to a large mound, and were standing in a triangle, and Lytle and myself were amusing ourselves pointing out to Tittle the great convenience he would have by building his house on that mound, vhcn the one standing with his face up the river, spoke and said, boys, there are Indians ; no, replied the other, they are Frenchmen. By this time I had caught a glimpse of them ; I said they were Indians, I begged them to fire. I had no gun, and from the ad- vantage we had, did not think of running until they started. The Indians were in two small bark canoes, and were close iiuo shore and discovered us just at the instant we saw them ; and before I started to run T saw one jump on shore. We took out through the bottom, and before getting to the hill, came to a spring branch. I was in the rear, and as I went to jump, something caught my foot, and I fell on the opposite side. They were then so close, I saw there was no chance of escape, and did not ofier to rise. Three war- riors first came up, presented their guns all ready to fire, but as I made no resistance they took them down, and one of them gave me his hand to help me up. At this time Mr. Lytle was about a chain's length before me, and threw away his hat ; one of the Indians went forward and picked it up. They then took me back to the bank of the river, and set me down while they put up their stuff, and prepared for a march. While setting on the bank of the river, I could see the men walking about the block-house on the Kentucky shore, but they heard nothing of it. They went on rapidly that evening, and camped, 1 think, on the waters of Eagle creek, started next morning early, it raining hard, and one of them saw my hat was somewhat convenient to keep off the rain, came up and took it off my head, and put it on his own. By this time I had discovered some friendship in a very lusty Indian, I think the one that first came up to me ; I made signs to him that one had taken my hat, he went and took it off the other Indian's head, and placed it again on mine, but had not gone far before they took it again. I complained as before, but my friend shook his head, took down and opened his budget, and took out a sort of blaiiket
ADAMS COUNTY. 23
cap, and put it on my head. AV'e went on ; it still rained hard and the waters were very much swollen, and when my friend discovered that I was timoroois, he would lock his arm in mine, and lead me through, and frequently in open woods when I would gi-t tired, I would do the same thing with him, and walk for miles. They did not n)ake lut carry any thing until Sunday or Monday. They got into a thicket of game, and killed, 1 thhik, two bears and some deer ; they then halted and jerked their meat, eat a large portion, peeled some bark, made a kind of box, tilled it, and put it on me to carry. I soon got tired of it and threw it down: they raised a great lau^i, e.\aniincd my back, applied some bear's oil to it, and then put on the bo.\ again. I went on some distance and threw it down again ; my friend then took it up, threw it over his head, and carried it. It weighed, I thought, at least fifty pounds.
While resting one day, one of the Indians broke up little sticks and laid them up in the form of a fence, then took out a grain of corn, as carefully wrapped up as people used to wrap up guineas in olden times ; this they planted and called out squaw, signifying to me that that would be my employment with the squaws. But, notwithstanding my situation at the time, I thought they would not eat much corn of my raising. On Tuesday, as we were traveling along, there came to us a white man and an Indian on horseback ; they had a long talk, and when they rode off, the Indians I was with seemed considerably alarmed ; they immediately formed in Indian file, placed me in the centre, and shook a war club over my head, and showed me by these gestures that if I attempted to run away they would kill me. We soon after arrived at the Shawanee camp, where we continued until late in the afternoon of the ne.\t day. During our stay there they trained my hair to their own fashion, put a je.wel of tin in my nose, &c., &.c. The Indians met with great formality when we came to the camp, which was very spacious. One side was entirely cleared out for our use, and the party I was with passed the camp to my great mortification, I thinking they were going on ; but on getting to the further end they wheeled short round, came into the camp, sat down — not a whisper. In a few minutes two of the oldest got up, went round, shook hands, came and sat down again ; then the Shawanees rising sinmltaneously, came and shook hands with them. A few of the first took me by the hand ; but one re- fused, and I did not offer them my hand again, not considering it any great honor. Soon after a kettle of bear's oil and some craclins were set before us, and we began eating, they first chewing the meat, then dipping it into the bear's oil, which I tried to be excused from, but they compelled me to it, which tried my stomach, although by this time hunger had compelled me to eat many a dirty morsel. Early in the afternoon, an Indian came to the camp, and was met by his parly just outside, when they forme-d a circle and he spoke, I thought, near an hour, and so profound was the silence, that had they been on a board floor, I thought the fall of a pin might have been heard. I rightly judged of the disaster, for the day before I was taken I was at Limestone, and was solicited to join a party that was going down to the mouth of Snag creek, where some Indian canoes were discovered hid in the willows. The party went and divided, some came over to the Indian shore, and some remained in Kentucky, and they succeeded in killing nearly the whole party.
There was at this camp two white men ; one of them could swear in English, but very imperfectly, having I suppose been taken young ; the other, who could speak good English, lold me he was from South Carolina. He then told me different names which I have for- got, e.xcept that of Ward ; asked if I knew the Wards that lived near Washington, Ken- -ucky. I told him I did, and wanted him to leave the Indians and go to his brothers, and take me with him. He told me he preferred slaying with the Indians, that he might nab the whites. He and I had a great deal of chat, and disagreed in almost every thing. He told me they had taken a prisoner by the name of Towns, that had lived near Washington, Kentucky, and that he had attempted to run away, and they killed him. Bui the truth was, they had taken Timothy- Downing the day before I was taken, in the neighborhood of Blue Licks, and had got within four or five miles of that camp, and night coming on, and it bein/i; very raiiry, they concluded to camp. There were but two Indians, an old chief and his son ; Downing watched his opportunity, got hold of a squaw-a.\e and gave the fatal blow. His object was to bring the young Ii.dian in a prisoner; he said he had been so kind to him he could not think of killing him. But the instant he struck his father, the young man sprung upon his back and confined him so that it was with difficulty he e.xtri- cated himself from his grasp. Downing made then for his horse, and the Indian lor the camp. The horse he caught and mounted : but not being a woodsman, struck the Ohio a Jittle below Scioto, just as a hoat was passing. They would not land for him until he rode several miles and convinced them that he was no decoy, and so close was the pursuit, thai the boat had only gained the stream when the enemy appeared on the shore. He had se- verely wouni<-^d the young Indian ii. the scuffle, but did not know it until I told hijn. Bui
24 ADAMS COUNTY.
to return to my own narrative: two of the party, viz., my friend an<i anotlier Indkn, tiirted back from this camp to do other mischief, and never before had I parted with a friend with the same regret. We left the Shawanee camp about the middle of the afternoon, thej •under great excitement. What detained them I know not, for they had a number of their horses up, and their packs on, from early in the morning. I think they had at least one hundred of the best horses that at that time Kentucky could afford. They calculated on being pursued, and they were right, for the next day, viz., the 28th of April, Major Kenton, with about ninety men, were at the camp before the fires were extinguished ; and I have always viewed it as a providential circumstance that the enemy had departed, as a defeat on the part of the Kentuckians would have been inevitable. I never could get the Indians in a position to ascertain their precise number, but concluded there were sixty or upward, as sprightly looking men as I ever saw together, and well equipped as they could wish for. The Major himself agreed with me that it was a happy circumstance that they were gone. We traveled that evening, I thought, seven miles, and encamped in the edge of a prairie, the water a short distance off. Oar supper that night consisted of a raccoon roasted un- 3ressed. After this meal I became thirsty, and an old warrior, to whom my friend had given me in charge, directed another to go with me to the water, which made him angry ; he struck me, and my nose bled. I had a great mind to return the stroke, but did not. I then determined, be the result what it might, that I would go no farther with them. They tied me and laid me down as usual, one of them lying on the rope on each side of me ; they went to sleep, and I to work gnawing and picking the rope (made of bark) to pieces, but did not get loose until day was breaking. I crawled off on my hands and feet until 1 got into the edge of the prairie, and sat down on a trussuck to put on my moccasins, and bad put on one and was preparing to put on the other, when they raised the yell and took the back track, and I believe they made as much noise as twenty white men could do. Had they been still they might have heard me, as I was not more than two chains' length from them at the time. But I started and ran, carrying one moccasin in my hand ; and in order to evade them, chose the poorest ridges I could find ; and when coming to tree-logs lying crosswise, would run along one and then along the other. I continued on that way until about ten o'clock, then ascending a very poor ridge, crept in between two logs, and being very weary soon dropped to sleep, and did not waken until the sun was almost down ; 1 traveled on a short distance further and took lodging for the night in a hollow tree. I think it was on Saturday that I got to the Miami. I collected some logs, made a raft by peeling bark and tying them together ; but I soon found that too tedious and abandoned it. I found a turkey's nest with two eggs in it, each one having a double yelk ; they made two delicious meals for different days. I followed down the Miami, until I struck Harmar's trace, made the previous fall, and continued on it until I came to Fort Washington, now Cincinnati. I think it was on Sabbath, the tirst day of May ; I caught a horse, tied a piece of bark around his under jaw, on which there was a large tumor like a wart. The bark rubbed that, and he became restless and threw me, not hurting me much, however ; I caught him again, and he again threw me, hurting me badly. How long I lay insensible I don't know ; but when I revived he was a considerable distance from me. I then travel- ed on very slow, my feet entirely bare and full of thorns and briars. On Wednesday, the day that I got in, I was so far gone that I thought it entirely useless to make any further exertion, not knowing what distance I was from the river ; and I took my station at the root of a tree, but soon got into a state of sleeping, and either dreamt, or thought that 1 should not be loitering away my time, that I should get in that day ; which, on reflection, I had not the most distant idea. However, the impression was so strong that I got up and walked on some distance. I then took my station again as before, and the same thoughts occupied my mind. I got up and walked on. I had not traveled far before I thought I could see an opening for the river ; and getting a little further on, I heard the sound of a bell. I then started and ran, (at a slow speed undoubtedly ;) a little further on, I began to verccive that I was coming to the river hill ; and having got about half way down, I heard the sound of an axe, which was the sweetest music I had heard for many a day. It was in the extreme out-lot ; when I got to the lot I crawled over the fence with difficulty, il being very high. I approached the person very cautiously till within about a chain's lengtb, undiscovered, I then stopped and spoke ; the person I spoke to was Mr. William Wood- ward, (the founder of the Woodward High School.) Mr. Woo«iward looked up, hastily cast his eyes round, and saw that I had no deadly weapon ; he then spoke. " In the name of God," said he, "who are you?" I told him I had been a prisoner and had made my escape from the Indians. After a few more questions he told me to come to him. I did so. Seeing my situation, his fears soon subsided ; he told me to sit down on a log and he would go and catch a horse h» bid in the lot, and take me in. He caught hds horse. s®t
ADAMS COUNTY. 25
/
nie on him, but k^pt the bridle in his own hand. When we got into the road, people be- gan to inquire of ]\Ir. Woodward, "who is he — an Indian?" I was not surprised nor offended at the inquiries, for I was still in Indian uniform, bare headed, my hair cut off close, except the scalp and foretop, which they had put up in a piece of tin, with a bunch of turkey feathers, which I could not undo. They had also stripped off the feathers of about two turkeys and hnng them to the hair of the scalp ; these I had taken off the day J left them. I\Ir. Woodward took me to his house, where every kindness was shown me. They soon gave me other clothing ; coming from different persons, they did not fit me very neatly ; but there could not be a pair of shoes got in the place that I could get on, my feet were so much swollen.
In the spring of the year 1793, the settlers at Manchester commenced clearing the out-lots of the town ; and while so engaged, an incident of much interest and excitement occurred. Mr. Andrew Ellison, one of the settlers, cleared a lot immediately adjoining the fort. He had completed the cutting- of the timber, rolled the logs together and set them on fire. The next morning, a short time before daybreak, Mr. Ellison opened one of the gates of the fojt, and went out to throw his logs together. By the time he had finished this job, a number of the heaps blazed up brightly, and as he was passing from one to the other, he observed, by the light of the fires, three men walking briskly towards him. This did not alarm him in the least, although, he said, they were dark skinned fellows ; yet he concluded they were the Wades, whose complexions were very dark, going early to hunt. He continued to right his log-heaps, until one of the fellows seized him by the arms, and called out in broken English, " How do ? how do ?" He instantly looked in their faces, and to his surprise and horror, found himself in the clutches of three Indians. To resist was useless. He there- fore submitted to his fate, without any resistance or an attempt to escape.
The Lidians quickly moved off with him in the direction of Paint creek. When break- fast was ready, Mrs. Ellison sent one of her children to ask their father home ; but he could not be found at the log-heaps. His absence created no immediate alarm, as it was thought he might have started to hunt after the completion of his work. Dinner time arrived, and Ellison not returning, the family became uneasy, and began to suspect some accident had happened to him. His gun-rack was examined, and there hung his rifle and his pouch in their usual place. Massie raised a party, and m'ade a circuit around the place, and found, after some search, the trails of four men, one of whom had on shoes ; and as Elliapn had shoes on, the truth, that the Indians had made him a prisoner, was unfolded. As it wag almost night at the time the trail was discovered, the party returned to their station. Next morning, early preparations were made by Massie and his party to pursue the Lidians. In doing this they found great difficulty, as it was so early in the spring that the vegetation was not of sufficient growth to show plainly the trail of the Indians, who took the precau- tion to keep on hard and high land, where their feet could make little or no impression. Massie and his party, however, were as unerring as a pack of well-trained hounds, and fol- lowed the trail to Paint creek, when they found the Indians gained so fast on them, that pursuit was vain. They therefore abandoned it, and returned to the station.
The Indians took their prisoner to Upper Sandusky, and compelled him to run the gaunt- let. As Ellison was a large man and not very active, he received a severe flogging as he passed along the line. From this place he was taken to Lower Sandusky, and was again compelled to run the gauntlet, and was then taken to Detroit, where he was generously ransomed by a British officer for one hundred dollars. He was shortly afterwards sent by his friend, the officer, to Montreal, from whence he returned home before the close of the summer of the same year.
Another incident connected with the station at Manchester occurred shortly after this time, which, although somewhat out of order as to time, I will take the liberty to relate in this place. John Edgington, Asahel Edgington, and another man, started out on a hunt- ing expedition towards Brush creek. They camped out six miles in a north-east direction from where West Union now stands, and near where Treber's tavern is now situated, on the road from Chillicothe to Maysville. The Edgingtons had good success in hunting, having killed a number of deer and bears. Of the deer killed, they saved the skins and hams alone. The bears, they fleeced ; that is, they cut off r.ll the meat which adhered to the hide without skinning, and left the bones as a skeleton. They hung up the proceeds oi their hunt on a scaffold, out of the reach of the wolves and other wild animals, and return- ed home for pack horses. No one returned to the camp with the two Edgingtons. As it was late in December, no one apprehended danger, as the wmter season was usually a time of repose from Indian incursions. When the Edgingtons arrived at their old hunting camp, they alighted from their horses and were preparing to strike a fire, when a platoon of In lians fired upon them, at ihe distance of not more than twenty paces. Asahel Ed?-
4
29 ADAMS COUNTY.
ington feli to rise no more. John was more fortunate. The sharp crack of the rifles, and the horrid yells of the Indians, as they leaped from their place of ambush, frightened the horses, who took the track towards home at full speed. John Edgington was very active on foot, and now an occasioi offered which required his utmost speed. The moment the Indians leaped from their hiding place, they threw down their guns and took after him. They pursued him screaming and yelling in the most horrid manner. Edgington did not run a booty race. For about a mile the Indians stepped in his tracks almost before the bending grass could rise. The uplifted tomahawk was frequently so near his head, that he thought he felt its edge. Every effort was made to save his life, and every exertion of the Indians was made to arrest him in his flight. Edgington, who had the greatest stake in the race, at length began to gain on his pursuers, and after a long race, he distanced them, made his escape, and safely reached home. This, truly, was a most fearful and well con- tested race. The big Shawnee chief. Captain John, who headed the Indians on this occa- Eion, after peace was made and Chillicothe settled, frequently told the writer of this sketch of the race. Captain John said, that " the white man who ran away was a smart fellow, that the white man run and I run, he run and run, at last, the white man run clear off from me."
The first court in this county was held in Manchester. Winthrop Sargent, the secretary of the territory, acting in the absence of the governor, appointed commissioners, who located the county seat at an out of thp way place, a few miles above the mouth of Brush creek, which they called Adamsville. The locality was soon named, in derision, Scant. At the next session of the court, its members became divided, and part sat in Manchester and part at Adamsville. The governor, on his return to the territory, finding the people in great confusion, and much bickering between them, removed the seat of justice to the mouth of Brush creek, where the first court was held in 1798. Here a town was laid out by Noble Grimes, under the name of Washington. A large log court house was built, with a jail in the lower story, and the governor appointed two more of the Scant party judges, which gave them a majority. In 1800, Charles Willing Byrd, secretary of the territory, in the absence of the governor, appointed two more of the Manchester party judges, which balanced the parties, and the contest was main- tained until West Union became the county seat. Joseph Darlin- ton* and Israel Donalson, were among the first judges of the Com- mon Pleas. These gentlemen, now living in this county, were also members of the convention for forming the constitution of the State, there being, in 1847, only three others of that body living.
West Union, the county seat, is on the Maysville and Zaitesville turnpike, 8 miles from the Ohio at Manchester, and 106 southerly from Columbus. The name was given to it by Hon. Thomas Kirker, one of the commissioners who laid it out in 1804, and one of its earliest settlers. It stands on the summit of a high ridge, many hundred feet above the level of the Ohio. As early as 1815, a ';ewspaper was established here by James Finlay, entitled the Polit- ical Censor. The annexed view shows, on the left, the jail and , market, and in the centre, the court house and county offices. These last stand in a pleasant area, shaded by locusts. The court nouse is a substantial stone building, and bears good testimony to the
*In 1803, Gen. Darlinton was appointed Clerk of Common Pleas and Clerk of the Su- preme Court. The first office he left a few months siuce, and the last he still retains.
ADAMS COUNTY.
21
skill of its builder, ex-Governor Metcalf, of Kentucky, who, com- mencing life as a mason, has acquired the sobriquet of " Stone Hammer." The first court house here was of logs. West Union contains 4 churches : 1 Associate Reformed, 1 Presbyterian, 1 Meth- ndist and 1 Ba})tist ; 2 newspapers, a classical school, and 9 mercan- tile stores. It had, in 1820, a population of 40G ; in 1840, 452.
Public Buildings, West Union.
In the eastern part of this county are considerable beds of iron ore, that have been in use many years ; it is a mineral region, and large hills are composed of aluminous slate. Some years since, a singular phenomenon occurred in this section, described by Dr. Hildreth, in the 29th volume of Silliman's Journal :
A part of the summer of the year 1830 was excessively dry in the south-west portion o Ohio. During the drought, the water all disappeared from Brush creek, which heads among some slaty hills, leaving its bed entirely dry for several weeks. Towards the close of this period, loud and frequent explosions took place from the slate at the bottoin of the creek, throwing up large fragments of rock and shaking the earth violently for some dis- tance. The inhabitants living near its borders became much alarmed, thinking a volcano was breaking out. On examining the spot, large pieces of iron pyrites were found mixed with the slate-stone. The water, which had heretofore protected the pyrites from the at- mosphere, being all evaporated, the oxygen found its way through the crevices of tiie slate to these beds, and acting chemically upon them, new combinations took place, forcing up the superincumbent strata with great violence and noise. When the water again covered he bed of the creek, the explosions ceased.
The barren hills in this part of the county, and of some of the other river counties, remain, in many cases, the property of the General Government. They afford, however, a fine range for the cattle and hogs of the scattered inhabitants, and no small quantity of lumber, such as staves, hoop poles and tanner's bark, which are unscrupulously taken from the public lands. Dr. John Locke, from whose Geological Report these facts are derived, says :
Indeed, there is a vagrant class who are supported by this kind of business. They erec? a cabin towards the head of some ravine, collect the chestnut-oak bark from the neighbor- ing hill tops, drag it on sleds to points accessible by wagons, where they sell it for perhaps §2 per cord to the wagoner. The last sells it at the river to the flat boat shipper, at ^6 per cord, and he again to the consumer at Cincinnati, for $11. Besides this common tres- pass, the squatter helps himself out by hunting deer and coons, and, it is said, occasionally
>^ ALLEN COUNTY.
by taking a sheep era hog, the loss of which may very r;asonably be charged to the vvolvea. The poor families of the hark cutters often exhibit the very picture of improvidence. There begins to be a fear among the inhabitants that speculators may be tempted to purchase up these waste lands and deprive them of their present 'range' and lumber. The speculator must still be a non-resident, and could hardly protect his purchase. The inhabitants have a hard, rough region to deal with, and need all of the advantages which their mountain tract can afford.
Winchester, 12 miles nw. of the county seat, is a thriving town, with 7 stores and about 400 people ; Manchester, 8 sw., has 4 stores and about 250 population ; Jacksonville, 10 ne., has a population of about 200 ; Locust Grove, Rockville, Bentonville, Cherry Fork, Eckmansville and Rome, are small towns having post offices.
ALLEN.
Allen was formed April 1st, 1820, from Indian territory, and named in honor of a colonel of that name in the war of 1812 : it was temporarily attached to Mercer county for judicial purposes. The surface is generally level ; the soil varies from a sandy loam to clay, and is well adapted to grain and grass. The principal crops are wheat, corn, rye and oats, with timothy, clover and flaxseed. The county is well settled for a new one, which arises from the U. S., and State land offices having formerly been within it, and the land, therefore, was taken by actual settlers. The population is of a mixed character, and the southern part has many Germans. The following is a list of its townships in 1840, with their population:
Goshen, 236 Shawanee, 429 Jackson, 570 Union, 669
Marion, 315 Washington, 457 Moulton, 263 Wayne, 404
Perry, 565
Pusheta, 768
The population of Allen, in 1840, was 9,081, or 16 inhabitants to a square mile.
Lima, the countj^ seat, is 95 miles wnw. from Columbus, and was laid off as the seat of justice for the county in the spring of 1831. It is several miles north of the centre of the county, the southern portion of which has been an Indian reservation. The annexed view was taken near the residence of Col. Jas. Cunning- ham, on the Wapakonetta road. The stream shown in the view is the Ottawa river, usually called Hog river — a name derived from the following circumstance : McKee, the British Indian agent, who resided at the Machachac towns, on ]\Iad river, during the incursion of General Logan, in 1786, was obliged to flee with his effects. He had his swine driven on to the borders of this stream , the Indians thereafter called it Koshko sepe, which, in the Shawnee language, signifies Hog river. Lima contains 1 Presbyterian, ),
|
Amanda, |
282 |
|
Auglaise, |
732 |
|
Bath, |
1,382 |
|
Clay, |
435 |
|
Duchaquet, |
692 |
|
German, |
856 |
ALLEN ODUNTY.
29
Methodist, and 1 Bap.ist church ; 6 dry goods and 4 grocery stores, a foundery, 2 newspaper printing offices, and a population estimated at about 500. The town is progressing with the gradual increase of the country.
Lima.
Wapakonetta is 10 miles from St. Mary's, and 12 from Lima, on the Auglaize, and contains 1 Catholic and 1 Methodist church and 3 stores ; it is settled principally by Germans, and in population is somewhat less than Lima. After the Shawnees were driven from Piqua by Gen. Clark, they settled a town here, which they called Wapaghkonetta* By the treaty at the Maumee rapids, in 1817, the Shawnees were given a reservation of ten miles square in this county, within which was their council house at Wapakonetta, and also a tract of twenty-five square miles, which included their set- tlement on Hog Creek ; by the treaty of the succeeding year, made at St. Mary's, 12,800 acres adjoining the east line of the Wapakonetta Reserve were added.
At the village there is a fine orchard, at least sixty years of age, and from its being planted in regular order, it is supposed to have been done by Frenchmen settled among the Indians. The society of Friends, for a number of years, had a mission at Wapakonetta.
From the year 1796 till the formation of the state constitution, Judge Burnet, of Cincinnati, attended court regularly at that place, Marietta and Detroit, the last of which was then the seat of justice for Wayne county. The jaunts between these remote places, through a wilderness, were attended with exposure, fatigue and hazard, and were usually performed on horseback, in parties of two or three or
* John Johnston says " Wapagh-ko-netta : this is the true Indian orthography. It was named after an Indian chief long since dead, but who survived years after my intercourse commenced with the Shawanoese. The chief was somjwhat club-footed, and the word has reference, I think, to that circumstance, although its full import I never could discover. For many years prior to 1829, 1 had mj Indian head quarters at Wapagh-ko-netta. The business of the agency of the Shawano< w, Wyandotts, Senecas and Deiawares, was trans ■ acted there."
311 ALLEN COUNTY.
more. On one of these occasions, while halting at Wapakonetta, he witnessed a game of ball among the people, of which he has given an interesting narration in his letters.
Blue Jacket, the war chief, who commanded the Shawanees in the battle of 1794, at Maumee, resided in the village, but was absent. We were, however, received with kind- ness, by the old village chief, Buckingelas. When we went to his lodge, he was giving audience to a deputation of chiefs from some western tribes. We took seats at his re- quest, till the conference was finished, and the strings of wampum disposed of — he gave us no intimation of the subject matter of the conference, and, of course, we could nc* ask fur it. In a little time he called in some of his young men, and requested them to get up a game of football for our amusement. A purse of trinkets was soon made up, and the wliole village, male and female, were on the lawn. At these games the men played against the women, and it was a rule, that the former were not to touch the ball with their hands on penalty of forfeiting the purse ; while the latter had the privilege of picking it up, running with, and throwing it as far as they could. When a squaw had the ball, the men were allowed to catch and shake her, and even throw her on the ground, if necessary, to extri- cate the ball from her hand, but they were not allowed to touch, or move it, except by their feet. At the opposite extremes of the lawn, which was a beautiful plain, thickly set with blue grass, stakes were erected, about six feet apart — the contending parties arrayed them- selves in front of these stakes ; the men on the one side, and the women on the oth-er. The party which succeeded in driving the ball through the stakes, at the goal of their op- ponents, were proclaimed victors, and received the purse. All things being ready, the old chief went to the centre of the lawn, and threw up the ball, making an exclamation, in the Shawanee language, which we did not understand. He immediately retired, and the con- test began. The parties seemed to be fairly matched, as to numbers, having about a hun- dred on a side. The game lasted more than an hour, with great animation, but was finally decided in favor of the ladies, by the power of an herculean squaw, who got the ball, and in spite of the men who seized her to shake it from her uplifted hand, held it firmly, dragging them along, till she was suificiently near the goal to throw it through the stakes. The young squaws were the most active of their party, and, of course, most frequently caught the ball. When they did so, it was amusing to see the strife between them and the young Indians, who immediately seized them, and always succeeded in rescuing the ball, though sometimes they could not effect their object till their female competitors were thrown on the grass. When the contending parties had retired from the field of strife, it was pleasant to see the feelings of exultation depicted in the faces of the victors ; whose joy was manifestly enhanced by the fact, that their victory was won in the presence of white men, whom they supposed to be highly distinguished, and of great power in their nation. This was a natural conclusion for them to draw, as they knew we were journeying to Detroit for the purpose of holding the general court ; which, they supposed, controled and governed the nation. We spent the night very pleasantly among them, and in the morning resumed our journey.
In August, 1831, treaties were negotiated with the Senecas of Lewiston and the Shawnees of Wapakonetta, by James Gardiner, Esq., and Col. John M'Elvain, special commissioners appointed for this purpose. The terms offered were so liberal that the Indians consented to give up their land and remove beyond the MississippL The Shawnees had at this time about 66,000 acres in this county, and in conjunction with the Senecas about 40,300 acres at Lewiston. The Indians were removed to the Indian territory on Kanzas river, in the Far West, in September, 1832, D. M. Workman and David Robb being the agents for their removal. The latter, Mr. Robb, in a communication respecting the Indians, has given the following interesting facts.
Intemperance to a great extent prevailed among the Indians ; there was, however, as wide a contrast in this respect as with the whites, and some of the more virtuous refused to associate with the others. This class also cultivated their little farms with a degree oi taste and judgment " some of these could cook a comfortable meal, and I have eaten both
ALLEN COUNTY. 81
butter ami a kind of cheese made by them. Many of them were quite ingenious and na- tural rneclianics, with a considerable knowledge of, and an inclination to use tools. One chief had an assortment of carpenters' tools which he kept in neat order. He made plows, harrows, wagons, bedsteads, tables, bureaus, &c. He was frank, liberal and conscientious. On my asking him who taught him the use of tools, he replied, no one ; then pointing up to the sky, he said, " the Great Spirit taught me."
With all their foibles and vices, there is something fascinating in the Indian character, and one cannot long associate with them without having a perceptible growing attachment. Tiie Indian is emphatically the natural man, and it is an easy thing to make an Indian out of a white person, but very difficult to civilize or christianize an Indian. I have known a number of whites who had been taken prisoners by the Indians when young, and without exception, they formed such attachments that, after being with them some time, they could not be induced to return to their own people. There was a woman among the Shawnees, supposed to be near an hundred years of age, who was taken prisoner, when young, in eastern Pennsylvania. Some years after, her friends, through the agency of traders, en- deavored to induce her to return, but in vain. She became, if possible, more of a squaw in her habits and appearance than any female in the nation.
As a sample of their punctuality in performing their contracts, I would state that I have often loaned them money, which was always returned in due season, with a single excep- tion. This was a loan to a young man who promised to pay me when they received their annuity. After the appointed time he shunned me, and the matter remained unsettled until just prior to our departure for their new homes. I then stated the circumstance to one of the chiefs, more from curiosity to see how he would receive the intelligence than with the expectation of its being the means of bringing the money. He, thereupon, talked with the lad upon the subject, but, being unsuccessful, he called a council of his brother chiefs, who formed a circle, with the young man in the centre. After talking to him a while in a low tone, they broke out and vociferously reprimanded him for his dishonest conduct ; but all proved unavailing. Finally, the chiefs, in a most generous and noble spirit, made up the amount from their own purses, and pleasantly tendered it to me.
The Indians being firm believers in witchcraft, generally attributed sickness and other misfortunes to this cause, and were in the habit of murdering those whom they suspected of practising it. They have been known to travel all the way from the Mississippi to VVapakonctta, and shoot down a person in his cabin merely on suspicion of his being a wizzard, and return unmolested. When a person became so sick as to lead them to think he was in danger of death, it was usual for them to place him in the woods alone, with no one to attend except a nurse or doctor, who generally acted as an agent in hurrying on their dissolution. It was distressing to see one in this situation. I have been permitted to do this only through the courtesy of relatives, it being contrary to rule for any to visit them except such as had medical care of them. The whole nation are at liberty to attend the funerals, at which there is generally great lamentation. A chief, who died just previous to their removal, was buried in the following manner. They bored holes in the lid of hia coffin — as is their custom — over his eyes and mouth, to let the Good Spirit pass in and out. Over the grave they laid presents, &,c., with provisions, which they affirmed the Good Spirit would take him in the night. Sure enough ! — these articles had all disappeared in the morning, by the hand of an evil spirit clothed in a human body. There were many funerals among the Indians, and their numbers rapidly decreased : intemperance, and pul- monary, and scrofulous diseases, made up a large share of their bills of mortality, and the number of deaths to the births were as one to three.
A few anecdotes will illustrate the wit and dishonesty of some, and the tragical encoun- ters of others of the Indians. Col. M'Pherson, the former sub-agent, kept goods for sale, for which they often got in debt. Some were slow in making payments, and one in parti- cular was so tardy that M'Pherson earnestly urged him to pay up. Knowing that he was in the habit of taking hides from the tanners, the Indian inquired if he would take hides for the debt. Being answered in the affirmative, he promised to bring them in about four days. The Indian, knowing that M'Pherson had at this time a Hock of cattle ranging in the tore«^t, went in pursuit, shot several, from which he took off the hides, and delivered them punctually according to promise.
While we were encamped, waiting for the Indians to finish their ceremonies prior to emigration, we were much annoyed by an unprincipled band of whites who came to trade, particularly in the article of whiskey, which they secreted from us in the woods. The In- dians all knew of this depot, and were continually going, like beea from the hive, day and night, and it was difficult to tell whether some who lead in the worship passed most of the lime in that employment or in drinking whiskey. While this state of things lasted, the
32 ALLEN COUNTY.
officers could do nothing satisfactorily with them, nor were they sensible of the consequence of continuing in such a course The government was bound by treaty stipulations to maintain them one year only, v/hich was passing away, and winter was fast approaching, when they could not well travel, and if they could not arrive until spring, they would be unable to raise a crop, and consequently would be out of bread. We finally assembled the chiefs and other influential men, and presenting these facts vividly before them, they became alarmed and promised to reform. We then authorized them to tomahawk every barrel, keg, jug, or bottle of whiskey that they could find, under the promise to pay for all and protect them from harm in so doing. They all agreed to this, and went to work that niglit to accomplish the task. Having lain down at a late hour to sleep, I was awakened by one who said he had found and brought me a jug of whiskey : I handed him a quarter of a dollar, set the whiskey down, and fell asleep again. The same fellow then came, stole jug and all, and sold the contents that night to the Indians at a shilling a dram — a pretty good speculation on a half gallon of " whisk," as the Indians call it. I suspected him of the trick, but he would not confess it until I was about to part with them at the end of the journey, when he came to me and related the circumstances, saying that it was too good a story to keep.
One of our interpreters, who was part Indian and had lived with them a long time, re- lated the following tragical occurrence. A company of Shawnees met some time previous to my coming among them, had a drunken frolic and quarrelled. One vicious fellow who had an old grudge against several of the others, and stabbed two of the company succes- sively until they fell dead, was making for the third, when his arm was arrested by a large athletic Indian, who, snatcliing the knife from him, plunged it into him until he fell. He attempted to rise and got on his knees, when the other straddled him, seized him by the hair, lifted up his head with one hand, while with the other he drew his knife across his throat, exclaiming — " lie there, my friend ! I guess you not eat any more hoinmony."
After we had rendezvoused, preparatory to moving, we were detained several weeks waiting until they had got over their tedious round of religious ceremonies, some of which were public and others kept private from us. One of their first acts was to take away the fencing from the graves of their fathers, level them to the surrounding surface, and cover them so neatly with green sod, that not a trace of the graves could be seen. Subsequently, a few of the chiefs and others visited their friends at a distance, gave and received presents from chiefs of other nations, at their head quarters.
Among the ceremonies above alluded to was a dance, in which none participated but the warriors. They threw off all their clothing but their britchclouts, painted their faces and naked bodies in a fantastical manner, covering them with the pictures of snakes and disa- greeable insects and animals, and then armed with war clubs, commenced dancing, yelling and frightfully distorting their countenances : the scene was truly terrific. This was fol- lowed by the dance they usually have on returning from a victorious battle, in which both sexes participated. It was a pleasing contrast to the other, and was performed in the night, in a ring, around a large fire. In this they sang and marched, males and females promis- cuously, in single file, around the blaze. The leader of the band commenced singing, while all the rest were silent until he had sung a certain number of words, then the next in the row commenced with the same, and the leader began with a new set, and so on to the end of their chanting. All were singing at once, but no two the same words. I was told that part of the words they used were hallelujah ! It was pleasing to witness the native modesty and graceful movements of those young females in this dance.
When their ceremonies were over, they informed us they were now ready to leave They then mounted their horses, and such as went in wagons seated themselves, and set out wirth their " high priest" in front, bearing on his shoulders " the ark of the covenant,'' which consisted of a large gourd and the bones of a deer's leg tied to its neck. Just pre \ious to starting, the priest gave a blast of his trumpet, then moved slowly and solemnly while the others followed in like manner, until they were ordered to halt in the evening for encampment; when the priest gave another blast as a signal to stop, erect their tents, and cook supper. The same course was observed through the whole of the journey. When they arrived near St. Louis, they lost some of their number by cholera. The Shaw- nees who emigrated numbered about 700 souls, and the Senecas about 350. Among them was also a detachment of Ottawas, who were conducted by Capt. liollister from the Maumee country.
The principal speaker among the Shawnees at the period of their removal, was Wiwelipea. He v^as an eloquent orator — either grave or gav, humorous or severe, aa the occasion required. At times
ALLEN COUNTY. 33
his manner was so fascinating, his countenance so full of varied expression, and liis voice so musical, tiiat surveyors and other stran- gers passing through the country, listened to him witli delight, al- though the words fell upon their ears in an unknown language. He removed out west with his tribe. The chief Catahecassa, or Black Hoof, died at Wapakonetta, shortly previous to their removal, at the age of 110 years. The sketches annexed of Black Hoof and Blue Jacket, are derived from Drake's Tecumseh.
Among the celebrated chiefs of the Shawanoes, Black Hoof is entitled to a high rank. He was born in Florida, and at the period of the removal of a portion of that tribe to Ohio and Pennsylvania, was old enough to recollect having bathed in the salt water. He v/as present, with others of his tribe, at the defeat of Braddock, near Pittsburg, in 1755, and was engaged in all the wars in Ohio from that time until the treaty of Greenville, in 17'J5. Such was the sagacity of Black Hoof in planning his military expeditions, and such the energy with which he executed them, that he won the confidence of his whole nation, and was never at a loss for braves to fight under his banner. " He was known far and wide as the great Shavvanoe warrior, whose cunning, sagacity, and experience, were only equalled by the fierce and desperate bravery with which he carried into operation his military plans. Like the other Shawanoe chiefs, he was the inveterate foe of the white man, and held that no peace should be made, nor any negociation attempted, except on the condition that the whites should repa?B the mountains, and leave the great plains of the west to the sole occu- pancy of the native tribes.
" He was the orator of his tribe during the greater part of his long life, and v.'as an ex- cellent speaker. The venerable Colonel Johnston, of Piqua, to whom we are indebted for much valuable information, describes him as the most graceful Indian he had ever seen, and as possessing the most natural and happy faculty of expressing his ideas. He was well versed in the traditions of his people ; no one understood better their peculiar relations to the whites, whose settlements were gradually encroaching on them, or could detail with more minuteness the wrongs with which his nation was afflicted. But although a stern and uncompromising opposition to the whites had marked his policy through a series of forty years, and nerved his arm in a hundred battles, he became at length convinced of the mad- ness of an ineffectual struggle against a vastly superior and hourly increasing foe. No sooner had he satisfied himself of this truth, than he acted upon it with the decision which formed a prominent trait in his character. The temporary success of the Indians in several engagements previous to the campaign of General Wayne, had kept alive their expiring hopes ; but their signal defeat by that gallant officer convinced the more reflecting of their leaders of the desperate character of the conflict. Black Hoof was among those who de- cided upon making terms with the victorious American commander ; and having signed the treaty of 1795, at Greenville, he continued faithful to his stipulations during the re- mainder of his life. From that day, he ceased to be the enemy of the white man ; and as he was not one who could act a negative part, he became the firm ally and friend of those against whom his tomahawk had been so long raised in vindictive animosity. He was their friend, not from sympathy or conviction, but in obedience to a necessity which left no middle course, and under a belief that submission alone could save his tribe from destruc- tion ; and having adopted this policy, his sagacity and sense of honor, alike forbade a recurrence either to open war or secret hostility. He was the principal chief of the Shawa- noe nation, and possessed all the influence and authority which are usually attached to that office, at the period when Tecumseh and his brother the Prophet commenced their hostile operations against the United States."
When Tecumseh and the Prophet embarked in their scheme for the recovery of the lands as far south as the Ohio river, it became their interest as well as policy to enlist Black Hoof in the enterprise ; and every effort which the genius of the one, and the cunning of the other, could devise, was brought to bear upon him. But Black Hoof continued faithful to the treaty which he had signed at Greenville, in 1795, and by prudence and influence kept the greater part of his tribe from joining the standard of Tecumseh or engaging on the iide of the British in the late war with England. In that contest he became the ally of the United States, and although he took no active part in it, he exerted a very salutary in- fluence over his tribe. In January, 1813, he visited Gen. Tuppefs camp, at Fort McArthur, and while there, about ten o'clock one night, when sitting by the fire in company with the General and several other officers, some one fired a pistol thjough a hole in the wall of th«
5
84 ALLEN COUNTY.
nut, and shot Black Hoof in the face : the ball entered the cheek, glanced against the bone, and finally lodged in his neck : he fell, and for some time was supposed to be dead, but revived, and afterwards recovered from this severe wound. The most prompt and diligent inquiry as to the author of this cruel and dastardly act, failed to lead to his detection. No doubt was entertained that this attempt at assassination was made by a white man, stimu- lated perhaps by no better excuse than the memory of some actual or ideal wrong, inflioted on some of his own race by an unknown hand of kindred color with that of his intended victim.
Black Hoof was opposed to polygamy, and to the practice of burning prisoners. He is reported to have lived forty years with one wife, and to have reared a numerous family of children, who both loved and esteemed him. His disposition was cheerful, and his conver- sation sprightly and agreeable. In stature he was small, being not more than five feet eight inches in height. He was favored with good health, and unimpaired eye sight to the period of his death.
Blue Jacket, or Weyapiersenwah. — In the campaign of General Harmar, in the year 1790, Blue Jacket was associated with the Miami chief. Little Turtle, in the command of the Indians. In the battle of the 2Uth of August, 1794, when the combined army of the Indians was defeated by General Wayne, Blue Jacket had the chief control. The night previous to the battle, while the Indians were posted at Presque Isle, a council was held, nomuosed of chiefs from the Miamis, Potawatimies, Delawares, Shawanoes, Chippewas, Ottawas and Senecas — the seven nations engaged in the action. They decided against the proposition to attack General Wayne that night in liis encampment. The expediency of meeting him the next day then came up for consideration. Little Turtle was opposed lo this measure, but being warmly supported by Blue Jacket, it was finally agreed upon. The former was strongly inclined to peace, and decidedly opposed to risking a battle under the circumstances in which the Indians were then placed. " We have beaten the enemy," said he, " twice, under separate commanders. We cannot expect the same good fortune always to attend us. The Americans are now led by a chief who never sleeps. The night and the day are alike to him ; and, during all the time that he has been marching upon our v'ilages, notwithstanding the watchfulness of our young men, we have never been able to w.irprise him. Think well of it. There is something whispers me, it would be prudent to listen to his offers of peace." The councils of Blue Jacket, however, prevailed over the better judgment of Little Turtle. The battle was fought and the Indians defeated.
In the month of October following this defeat. Blue Jacket concurred in the expediency of sueing for peace, and at the head of a deputation of chiefs, was about to bear a flag to General Wayne, then at Greenville, when the mis.sion was arrested by foreign influence. Governor Simcoe, Colonel McKee and the Mohawk chief, Captain John Brant, having in charge one hundred and fifty Mohawks and Messasagoes, arrived at the rapids of the Maumee, and invited the chiefs of the combined army to meet them at the mouth of the Detroit river, on the 10th of October. To this Blue Jacket assented, for the purpose of hearing what the British officers had to propose. Governor Simcoe urged the Indians to retain their hostile attitude towards the United States. In referring to the encroachments of the people of this country on the Indian lands, he said, " Children : I am still of the opinion that the Ohio is your right and title. I have given orders to the commandant of Fort Miami to fire on the Americans whenever they make their appearance again. I will go down to Quebec, and lay your grievances before the great man. From thence they will be forwarded to the king your father. Next spring you will know the result of every thing what you and I will do." He urged the Indians to obtain a cessation of hostilities, until the following spring, when the English would be ready to attack the Americans, and by driving them back across the Ohio, restore their lands to the Indians. These councils de- layed the conclusion of peace until the following summer. Blue Jacket was present at the treaty of Greenville, in 1795, and conducted himself with moderation and dignity.
Westminster, Lafayette, Allentown, Gallatin, St. Johns and Uni- opolis are small places, the largest of which, "Westminster, does not contain over 45 dwellings. Fort Amanda, a stockade in the last war, was on a commanding site on the west bank of the Big An- glaise, near the western line of the county, and on the site of an old Ottawa town. It was built by Kentucky ti'oops, and named after some favorite lady of that state.
ASHLAND COUNTY.
85
ASHLAND.
Ashland was formed February 2Gth, 1846, The surface on the south is hilly, the remainder of the county rolling. The soil of the upland is a sandy loam ; of the valleys — which comprise a large part of the county — a rich sandy and gravelly loam, and very pro- ductive. The principal crop is wheat, of which probably no portion of the state, of equal extent, produces more. A great quantity of oats, corn, potatoes, &c., is raised, and grass and fruit in abundance. A majority of the population are of Pennsylvania origin. Its pres- ent territory originally comprised the townships of Vermillion, Montgomery, Orange, Green and Hanover, with parts of Monroe, Mifflin, Milton and Clear Creek, of Richland county ; also the prin- cipal part of the townships of Jackson, Perry, Mohecan and Lake, of Wayne county ; of Sullivan and Troy, Lorain county ; and Ruggles, of Huron county. This tract, in 1840, contained a popu- lation of about 20,000, or 50 inhabitants to a square mile.
Public Buildings in Ashland.
Ashland, the county seat, was laid out in 1816, by William Mon.- gomery, and bore, for many years, the name of Uniontown ; it was changed to its present name in compliment to Henry Clay, whose Keat near Lexington, Ky., bears that name. Daniel Carter, from Butler CO., Pa., raised the first cabin in the county, about the year 1811, which stood where the store of Wm. Granger now is, in Ashland. Robert Newell, 3 miles east, and Mr. Fry, 1^ miles north of the village, raised cabins about the same time. In 1817, the first store was opened by Joseph Sheets, in a frame building now kept as a store by the widow Yonker. Joseph Sheets, David Markley, Sam- uel Ury, Nicholas Shaeffer, Alanson Andrews, Elias Slocum and George W. Palmer were among the first settlers of the place. Ash- land is a flourishing village, 89 miles nw. of Columbus, and 14 from Mansfield. It contains 5 churches, viz : 2 Presbyterian, 1 Episcopal Methodist, 1 Lutheran, and 1 Disciples, 9 dry goods, 4 grocery, 1 \>ook, and 2 drug stores, 2 newspaper printing offices, a flourishing.
36 ASHLAND COUNTY.
classical academy, numbering over 100 pupils of "both sexes, and a population estimated at 1300. The above view was taken in front of the site selected for the erection of a court house, the Methodist church building — seen on the left — being now used for that purpose : the structures with steeples, commencing on the right, are the 1st Presbyterian church, the academy, and the 2d Presbyterian church.
At the organization of the first court of common pleas for this county, at Ashland, an old gentleman, by the name of David Burns, was one of the grand jurors, who, as a remarkable fact, it is said, was also a member of the first grand jury ever empaneled in Ohio. The court met near the mouth of Wegee creek, in Belmont county, in 1795: the country being sparsely settled, he was compelled to travel forty miles to the place of holding court.
Jeromeville, 8 miles se. of Ashland, on Lake Fork of Mohiccan, contains 6 stores and about 500 people. In the late war, it was the only settlement within the present limits of the county, and consisted ■of a few families, who erected pickets for their safety. There was at that time a Frenchman, named Jerome, who resided there and gave name to the locality. He had been an Indian trader, and had taken a squaw for a wife. The people of that nation always be- 'Came more easily domesticated among the Aborigines than the English. From very early times it was the policy of the French government not to allow their soldiers to take wives with them into the wilderness. Hence the soldiers and traders frequently married among the Indians, and were enabled to sustain themselves with far less difficulty.
The Delaware Indians had a settlement at or near Jeromeville, which they left at the beginning of the war. Their chief was old 'Captain Pipe, who resided near the road to Mansfield, one mile south of Jeromeville. When young he was a great warrior, and the implacable foe of the whites. He was in St. Clair's defeat, where, according to his own account, he distinguished himself and slaughtered white men until his arm was weary with the work. He Jiad a daughter of great beauty. A young chief, of noble mien, became in love with her, and on his suit being rejected, mortally poisoned himself with the May apple. A Captain Pipe, whose In- dian name was Tauhangecaupouye, removed to the small Delaware v Reserve, in the upper part of Marion county, and when his tribe sold out, about 20 years since, accompanied them to the far west, where he has since died.
Loudonville 18 s., Rowsburg 9 e., Savannah 7 nw.. Orange 4 e., and Haysville 8 s. of Ashland, are villages having each from 50 to 60 dwellings. At the last is the Haysville Literary Institute : the building is a substantial brick edifice. Sullivan 14 ne., and Perrys- ville 18 sw., have each but a few dwellings.
ASHTABULA COUNTY.
37
ASHTABULA.
|
Ashtabula, |
1711 |
|
Austinburg, |
1048 |
|
Cherry Valley |
, 689 |
|
Conneaut, |
2650 |
|
Denmark, |
176 |
|
Geneva, |
1215 |
|
Harpersfield, |
1399 |
|
Hartsgrove, |
553 |
|
Jefferson, |
710 |
384
Rome, 765
Saybrook, 934
Sheffield, 683
Trumbull, 439
Wayne, 767
Williamsfield, 892
Windsor, 875
Ashtabula was formed June 7, 1807, from Trumbull and Geauga, and organized January 22, 1811. The name of the county was derived from Ashtabula river, which signifies, in the Indian lan- guage, Fish river. For a few miles parallel with the lake shore it is level, the remainder of the surface slightly undulating, and the soil generally clay. Butter and cheese are the principal articles ol export. Generally, not sufficient wheat is raised for home consump- tion, but the soil is quite productive in corn and oats. The follow- ing is a list of its townships, in 1840, with their population.
Andover, 881 Kingsville, 1420 Richmond,
Lenox, 550
Milford, 173
Monroe, 1320
Morgan, 643
New Lyme, 527
Orwell,' 458
Phelps, 530
Pierpont, 639
Plymouth, 706
The population of the county, in 1820, was 7,369 ; in 1830, 14,584; in 1840, 23,724, or 34 inhabitants to a square mile.
This county is memorable from being not only the first settled on the Western Reserve, but the earliest in the whole of northern Ohio. The incidents connected with its early history, although unmarked by scenes of military adventure, are of an interesting nature. They have been well collected and preserved by the Ash- tabula Historical Society. This association, with a praiseworthy industry, have collected nearly a thousand folio pages of manuscript, relating principally to this county. Some of the articles are finely written, and as a whole, give a better idea of the toils, privations, customs and mode of pioneer life than any work that has ever met our notice. From this collection we have extracted nearly all the historical materials embodied under the head of this county.
On the 4th of July, 1796, the first surveying party of the Western Reserve landed at the mouth of Conneaut creek. Of this event, John Barr, Esq., in his sketch of the Western Reserve, in the National Magazine for December, 1845, has given a narration.
The sons of revolutionary sires, some of them sharers of themselves in the great baptism of the republic, they made the anniversary of their country's freedom a day of ceremonial and rejoicing. They felt that they had arrived at the place of their labors, the-^to mnny of them — sites of home, as little alluring, almost as crowded with dangers, as were the levels of Jamestown, or the rocks of Plymouth to the ancestors who 'lad preceded them in the conquest of the seacoast wilderness of this continent. From old l.jmesand friendly and social associations, they were almost as completely e.xiled as were the cavaliers who de- barked upon the shores of Virginia, or the Puritans who sought the strand of Massachusetts. Far away as they were from the villages of their birth and boyhood ; before them the track- less forest, or the untraversed lake, yet did they resolve to cast fatigue and privation and
ao ASHTABULA COUNTY.
peril from their thoughts for the time being, and give to tlie day its due, to patriotism ita awards. Mustering their numbers, they sat them down on the eastward shore of the stream now known as Conneaut, and, dipping from the lake the liquor in which they pledged their country — their goblets some tin cups of no rare workmanship, yet everyway answerable, with the ordnance accompaniment of two or three fowling pieces discharging the required national salute — the first settlers of the Reserve spent their landing-day as became the sons of the Pilgrim Fathers — as the advance pioneers of a population that has
Conneaut,* the Plymouth of the Reserve, in July, 1796.
since made the then wilderness of northern Ohio to " blossom as the rose," and prove the homes of a people as remarkable for integrity, industry, love of country, moral truth and enlightened legislation, as any to be found within the territorial limits of their ancestral New England.
The whole party numbered, on this occasion, fitty-two persons, of whom two were fe- males, (Mrs. Stiles and Mrs. Gunn, and a child.) As these individuals were the advance of after millions of population, their names become worthy of record, and are therefore given, viz. : Moses Cleveland, agent of the company ; Augustus Porter, principal surveyor ; Seth Pease, Moses Warren, Amos Spafford, Milton Hawley, Richard M. Stoddard, sur- veyors; Joshua Stowe, commissary ; Theodore Shepard, physician ; Joseph Tinker, prin- cipal boatman ; Joseph Mclntyre, George Proudfoot, Francis Gay, Samuel Forbes, Elijah Gunn, wife and child, Amos Sawten, Stephen Benton, Amos Barber, Samuel Hnngerford, William B. Hall, Samuel Davenport, Asa Mason, Amzi Atwater, Michael Coffin, Elisha Ayres, Thomas Harris, Norman Wilco.x, Timothy Dunham, George Goodwin, Shadrach Benham, Samuel Agnew, Warham Shepard, David Beard, John Briant, Titus V. Munson, Joseph Landon, Job V. Stiles and wife, Charles Parker, Ezekiel Hawley, Nathaniel Doan, Luke Hanchet, James Hasket, James Hamilton, Olney F. Rice, John Lock, and four others whose names are not mentioned.
On the 5th of July, the workmen of the expedition were employed in the erection of a large, awkwardly constructed log bu'ldiug; locating it on the sandy beach on the east shore of the stream, and naming it " Stow Castle," after one of the party. This became the storehouse of the provisions, &c., and the dwelling-place of the families.
The spot where the above described scene took place, has much altered in the lapse of half a century. One of the party, Amzi At- water, Esq., now living in Portage county, in a communication before us, says :
* The view was constructed from a sketch as the place is now, altered to represent its ancient appearance. The word Conneaut, in the Seneca language, signifies " inanj fish," and was applied originally to the river.
ASHTABULA. COUNTY. 39
It was then a mere tsnnd beach overgrown with timber, some of it of considerable size, which we cut to build the house and for other purposes. The mouth of the creek, like others of the lake streams in those days, was frequently choked up with a sand bar so that no visible harbor appeared for several days. This would only happen when the streams were low and after a high wind either down the lake or directly on shore for several days. I have passed over all the lake streams of this state east of the Cuyahoga and most of those in New York on hard, dry sand bars, and I have been told that the Cuyahoga has been so. They would not long continue, for as soon as the wind had subsided and the water in the streams had sufficiently risen, they would often cut their way through the bar in a different place and form new channels. Thus the mouths of the streams were con- tinually shifting until the artificial harbors were built. Those blessed improvements have in a great nieasure remedied those evils and made the mouths of the streams far more healthy.
Judge James Kingsbury, who arrived at Conneaut shortly after the surveying party, wintered with his family at this place in a cabin which stood on a spot now covered by the waters of the lake. This was about the first family that wintered on the Reserve.
The story of the sufferings of this family has often been told, but in the midst of plenty, where want is unknown, can with difficulty be appreciated. The surveyors, in the prose- cution of their labors westwardly, had principally removed their stores to Cleveland, while the family of Judge Kingsbury remained at Conneaut. Being compelled by business to leave in the fall for the state of New York, with the hope of a speedy return to his family, the Judge was attacked by a severe fit of sickness confining him to his bed until the setting in of winter. As soon as able he proceeded on his return as far as Buffalo, where he hired an Indian to guide him through the wilderness. At Presque Isle, anticipating the wants of his fomily, he purchased twenty pounds of flour. In crossing Elk Creek on the ice, he disabled his horse, left him in the snow, and mounting his Hour on his own back, pursued his way filled with gloomy forebodings in relation to the fate of his family. On his arrival late one evening, his worst apprehensions were more than realized in a scene agonizing to the husband and father. Stretched on her cot lay the partner of his cares, who had followed him through all the dangers and hardships of the wilderness without repining, pale and emaciated, reduced by meagre famine to the last stages in which life can be supported, and near the mother, on a little pallet, were the remains of his youngest child, born in his absence, who had just expired for the want of that nourishment which the mother, deprived of sustenance, was unable to give. Shut up by a gloomy wilderness, she was far distant alike from the aid or sympathy of friends, filled with anxiety for an ab- sent husband, suffering with want and destitute of necessary assistance, and her children expiring around her with hunger.
Such is the picture presented, by which the wives and daughters of the present day may form some estimate of the hardships endured by the pioneers of this beautiful country. It appears that Judge Kingsbury, in order to supply the wants of his family, was under the necessity of transporting his provisions from Cleveland on a hand sled, and that himself and hired man drew a barrel of beef the whole distance at a single load.
Mr. Kingsbury has since held several important judicial and legis- lative trusts, and is yet living in Newberg, about four miles distant from Cleveland. He was the first who thrust a sickle into the first wheat field planted on the soil of the Reserve- His wife was in- terred at Cleveland, about the year 1843. The fate of her child — the first white child born on the Reserve, starved to death for want of nourishment — will not soon be forgotten.
The harbor of Conneaut is now an important point of tranship- ment. It has a pier, with a lighthouse upon it, 2 forwarding houses, and 1 1 dwellings. Several vessels ply from here, and it is a fre- quent stopping place for steamers. Two miles south of the harbor, 22 from Jefferson, 28 from Erie, Pa., is the borough of Conneaut, .•• V -.»..>.... on the west bank of Conneaut creek. It contains 1 Baptist, 1 Presbyterian, 1 Methodist, and 1 Christian church, 11 mercantile
40 ASHTABULA COUNTY.
stores, 1 newspaper printing office, a fine classical academy, Mr. L. W. Savage and Miss Mary Booth, Principals, and about 1000 inhab- itants. East and West Conneaut and South Ridge are small places in this, the township of Conneaut, which once bore the name of Salem.
The first permanent settlement in Conneaut was in 1799. Thomas Montgomery and Aron Wright Bettled here in the spring of 1798. Robert Montgomery and family, Levi an(i John Montgomery, Nathan and John King, and Samuel Bemus and family came the same season.
When the settlers arrived, some twenty or thirty Indian cabins were still standing, which were said to present an appearance of neatness and comfort not usual with this race. The Massauga tribe, which inhabited the spot, were obliged to leave in consequence of the murder of a white man named Williams.
Two young men taken at the defeat of St. Clair, were said to have been prisoners for a considerable time among the Indians of this village. On their arrival at Conneaut they were made to run the gauntlet, and received the orthodox number of blows and kicks usual on such occasions. In solemn council it was resolved that the life of Fitz Gibbon should be saved, but the other, whose name is not recollected, was condemned to be burned. He was bound to a tree, a large quantity of hickory barks tied into faggots and piled around him. But from the horrors of the most painful of deaths he was saved by the interposition of a young squaw belonging to the tribe. Touched by sympathy she interceded in his behalf, and by her expostulations, backed by several packages of fur and a small sum of money, succeeded in effecting his deliverance: an act in the lowly Indian maid which entitles her name to be honorably recorded with that of Pocahontas, among the good and virtuous of every age.
There were mounds situated in the eastern part of the village of Conneaut and an ex- tensive burying ground near the Presbyterian church, which appear to have had no con- nection with the burying places of the Indians. Among the human bones found in the mounds were some belonging to men of gigantic structure. Some of the skulls* were of sufficient capacity to admit the head of an ordinary man, and jaw bones that might have been fitted on over the face with equal facility : the other bones were proportionably large. The burying ground referred to contained about four acres, and with the exception of a slight angle in conformity with the natural contour of the ground, was in the form of an oblong square. It appeared to have been accurately surveyed into lots running from north to south, and exhibited all the order and propriety of arrangement deemed necessary to constitute Christian burial. On the first examination of the ground by the settlers, they found it covered with the ordinary forest trees, with an opening near the centre containing a single butternut. The graves were distinguished by slight depressions disposed in straight rows, and were estimated to number from two to three thousand. On examination in 1800, they were found to contain human bones, invariably blackened by time, which on exposure to the air, soon crumbled to dust. Traces of ancient cultivation observed by the first settlers on the lands of the vicinity, although covered with forest, exhibited signs of having once been thrown up into squares and terraces, and laid out into gardens.
There is a fragment or chip of a tree in the possession of the His- torical Society, which is a curiosity. The tree of which that was a chip, was chopped down and butted off for a saw log, about three feet from the ground, some thirty rods se. of Fort Hill, in Conneaut, in 1829, by Silas A. Davis, on land owned by B. H. King. Some marks were found upon it near the heart of the tree. The Hon. Nehemiah King, with a magnifying glass, counted 350 annualer rings in that part of the stump, outside of these marks. Deducting
* In the spring of 1815, a mound on Harbor street, Conneaut, was cut through for a road. One morning succeeding a heavy rain, a Mr. Walker, who was up very early, picked up a jaw bone together with an artificial tooth which lay near. He brought them forthwith to Mr. P. R. Spencer, at present the Secretary of the Ashtabula Historical So- ciety, who fitted the tooth in a cavity from which it had evidently fallen. The tooth was metallic, probably silver, but little was then thought of the circumstance.
ASHTABULA COUNTY. 41
350 from 1829, leaves 1479, wliich must have been the year M'hen these cuts were made. Tliis was 13 years before the discovery of America, by Columbus. It perhaps was done by the race ot the mounds, with an axe of copper, as that people had the art of harden- ing that metal so as to cut like steel.
The adventure of Mr. Salmon Sweatland, of Conneaut, who crossed Lake Erie in an open canoe, in September, 1817, is one of unusual interest. He had been accustomed, with the aid of a neigh- bor, Mr. Cozzens, and a few hounds, to drive the deer into the lake, where, pursuing them in a canoe, he shot them with but little diffi- culty. The circumstances which took place at this time, are vividly given in the annexed extract from the records of the Historical Society.
It was a lovely morning in early autumn, and Sweatland, in anticipation of iiis favorite sport, had risen at the iirst dawn of light, and without putting on his coat or waistcoat left liis cabin, listening in the mean time in expectation of the approach of the dogs. His patience was not put to a severe trial ere his ears were saluted by the deep baying of the liounds, and on arriving at the beach he perceived that the deer had already taken to the lake, and was moving at some distance from the shore. In the eiithusiasm of the moment he threw his hat upon the beach, his canoe was put in requisition, and shoving from the shore he was soon engaged in a rapid and animated pa:suit. The wind, which had been fresh from the south during the night and gradually increasing, was now blowing nearly a gale, but intent on securing his prize, Sweatland was not in a situation to yield to the dic- tates of prudence. The deer, which was a vigorous animal of its kind, hoisted its flag of defiattce, and breasting the waves stoutly showed thru in a race with a log canoe and a single paddle, he was not easily outdone.
Sweatland had attained a considerable distance from th.e shore and encountered a heavy sea before overtaking the animal, but was not appri/.ed of the eminent peril of his situation until shooting past liim the deer turned towards the shore. lie was however brought to a full appreciation of his danger when, on tacking his finil vessjl and heading towards the land, he found that with his utmost exertions he could make no progress in the desired direction, but was contir^ually drifting farther to s.a. iJe had been observed in his outward progress by Mr. Cousins, who had ariived immediately after the hounds, and by his ov.n family, and as he disappeared fiom sight, considerable apprfhen-sions were entertained for liis safety.
The alarm was soon given in the neighborhood, and it w;:s decided by those competent to judge tb.at his return v>-ould be impossible, and that unless help could be aflbrded he was doomed to peiish at sea. Actuated by those generous impulses that often induce men to peril their own lives to preserve those of others, Messrs. Gilbert, Coiisiiis and Belden took a light boat at the mouth of the creek and proceeded in starch of the wanderer, with the de- terminntioa to make every effort for his relief. They met the deer returning towards the shore nearly exhausted, but the man who was the object of their solicitude was no where to be .seen. They made stretches off shore within probable range of the fugitive for some hours, until they had gained a distance of rive or six miles fiom land, wlien meeting with a sea in which they judged it impossible for a canoe to live, they abandoned the search, re- turned with ditllculty to the shore, and Sweatland was given up for lost.
The canoe in which he was embarked was dug from a large whitewood log, by Major •Tames Brookes, for a fishing boat: it was about fourteen feet in length and rather wide in proportion, and was considered a superior one of the kind. Sweatland still continued to lie off, still heading towards the land, with the faint hope that the wind might abate, or that aid might reach him from the shore. One or two schooners were in sight in course of the day, and he made every signal in his power to attract their attention, but without success. The shore continued in sight, and in tracing its distant outline he could distinguish the spot where his cabin stood, within whose holy precincts were contained the cherished ob- jects of his affections, now doubly endeared from the prospect of losing them forever. As these familiar objects receded from view, and the shores appeared to sink beneath the troubled waters, the last tie which united him in companionship to his fellow-men seemed dissolved, and the busy world, with all its interests, forever hidden from his sight.
Fortunately Sweatland possessed a cool head and a stout heart, which, united with a
6 *
42 ASHTABULA COUNTY.
tolerable share of physical strength and power of endurance, eminently qualified him iot the part he was to act in this emergency. He was a good sailor, and as such would not yield to despondency until the last expedient had been exhausted. One only expedient remained, that of putting before the wind and endeavoring to reach the Canada shore, a distance of about fifty miles. This he resolved to embrace as his forlorn hope.
It was now blowing a gale, and the sea was evidently increasing as he proceeded from the shore, and yet he was borne onwards over the dizzy waters by a power that no human agency could control. He was obliged to stand erect, moving cautiously from one ex- tremity to the other, in order to trim his vessel to the waves, well aware that a single lost stroke of the paddle, or a tottering movement, would swamp his frail bark and bring his adventure to a final close. Much of his attention was likewise required in bailing his canoe from the water, an operation which he was obliged to perform by making use of liis shoes, a substantial pair of stoggies, that happened fortunately to be upon his feet.
Hitherto he had been blessed with the cheerful light of heaven, and amidst all his perils could say, " The light is sweet, and it is a pleasant thing for the eyes to behold the sun," but to add to his distress, the shades of night were now gathering around him, and he was soon enveloped in darkness. The sky was overcast, and the light of a few stars that twinkled through the haze alone remained to guide his path over the dark and troubled waters. In this fearful condition, destitute of food and tlie necessary clothing, his log canoe was rocked upon the billows during that long and terrible night. Wiien morning appeared he was in sight of land, and found he had made Long Point, On the Canada shore. Here he was met by an adverse wind and a cross sea, but the same providential aid which had guided him thus far still sustained and protected him ; and alter being bufieted by the winds and waves for nearly thirty hours, he succeeded in reaching the land in safety.
What were the emotions he experienced on treading once more " ihe green and solid earth," we shall not attempt to inquire, but his trials were not yet ended. He found him- self faint with hunger and exhaus'.ed with fatigue, at the distance of forty miles from any human habitation, whilst the country that intervened was a desert filled with maishes and tangled thickets, from which nothing could be obtained to supply his wants. These diffi- culties, together with the reduced state of his strength, rendered his progress towards the settlements slow and toilsome. On his way he found a quantity of goods, supposed to have been driven on shore from the wreck of some vessel, which, although they afibrded him no immediate relief, were afterwards of material service.
He ultimately arrived at the settlement, and was received and treated with great kind- ness and hospitality by the people. After his strength was sufiiciently recruited, he returned with a boat, accompanied by some of the inhabitants, and brought ofi" the goods. From this place he proceeded by land to Buffalo, where, with the avails of his treasure, he fur- nished himself in the garb of a gentleman, and finding the Traveler, Capt, Chas. Brown, from Conneaut, in the harbor, he shipped on board and was soon on his way to rejoin his family. When the packet arrived off his dwelling, they fired guns from the deck and the crew gave three loud cheers. On landing, he found his funeral sermon had been preached, and had the rare privilege of seeing his own widow clothed in the habiliments of mourning.
The first regular settlement made within the present limits of the county was at Harpersfield, on the 7th of Marcii, 1798. Alexander Harper, Wm. M'Farland and Ezra Gregory, with their families, started from Harpersfield, Delaware county. New York, and after a long and fatiguing journey arrived on the last of June, at their new homes in the wilderness. This little colony of about twenty per- sons, endured much privation in the first few months of their resi- dence. The whole population of the Reserve amounted to less than 150 souls, viz : ten families at Youngstown, three at Cleveland, and two at Mentor. In the same summer three families came to Bur- ton, and Judge Hudson settled at Hudson.
Cut short of their expected supplies of provision for the winter, by the loss of a vessel they had chartered for that purpose, the little colony came near perishing by famine, having at one time been reduced to six kernels of parched corn to each person ; but they were saved by the intrepidity of the sons of Col. Harper, James and William. These young men made frequent journies to Elk Creek, Pa., from which they packed on their backs bags of corn, which was about all the provision the settlers had to sustain life during a long and tedious winter. Some few of their journies were performed on the ice of Lake Erie, whenever it
A:?I1TA1!L'LA COUNTY.
43
was sufficiently strong to bear them, which was seldom. On the first occasion of this kind they were progressing finely on the ice, when theirsled broke through into the water. A third person who happened to be with them at this time e.xclnimed," What shall we do ?" " Let it go," James replied. "No!" exclaimed William, who was of a different trinpornrnent, "you go into the woods and strike a fire while I get the grain." He then with great diffi- culiy secured the grain, by which operation he got completely wet through, and a cutting wind soon converted his clothing into a sheet of ice. He then went in search of his com- panions and was disappointed in finding they had not built a fire. The truth was, they had grown so sleeply with the intense cold as to be unable to strike fire. He soon had a cheer- ful blaze, and then converted himself into a nurse for the other two, who on getting warm were deadlv sick
County Buildings at Jefferson.
Jefferson, the county seat, is 56 miles from Cleveland and 204 ne. of Columbus. It is an incorporated borough, laid out regularly on a level plat of ground, and contains 3 stores, 1 Pres., 1 Bap., 1 Epis- copal, and 1 Methodist Church, and 73 dwellings. The township of the same name in which it is situated, was originally owned by Gideon Granger of Conn. In the spring of 1804 he sent out jMr, Eldad Smith from Suffield in that state, who first opened a bridle path to Austinburg, and sowed and fenced ten acres of wheat. In the summer of the next year, Michael Webster, Jr., and family, and Jonathan Warner, made a permanent settlement. In the fall follow- ing, the family of James Wilson built a cabin on the site of the tavern shown in the view. The court house was finished in 1810 or '11, and the first court held in 1811 ; Timothy R. Hawley, Clerk, Quin- tus F. Atkins, Sheriff.
Ashtabula is on Ashtabula river, on the Buffalo and Cleveland road, 8 miles from JefTei'son. It is a pleasant village, adoi-ned with neat dwellings and shrubbery. The borough contains 1 Presbyte- rian, 1 Episcopal, 1 Methodist, and 1 Baptist church, 10 mercantile stores, and a population estimated at 1200.
The harbor of Ashtabula is 2\ miles from the village at the mouth of the river. It has several forwarding establishments, 20 or 30 houses, the lake steamers stop there, and considerable business is carried on ; about a dozen vessels are owned at this port. The com-
44
ASHTABULA COUNTY.
mercial business of this and Lake county has been much injured by the internal improvement system of the state, which has diverted the back country trade into other channels. When the Erie canal
North Public Square, Ashtabula.
was finished, Northern Ohio felt its invigorating effects, for from the depression of the times after the late war, until the opening of that canal and the commencement of steam navigation on the lake, bu- siness languished and made but little progress. The invigorating effects of that work prompted a spirit in Ohio for similar enterprises. The representatives of this vicinity in the legislature drank deeply of the general enthusiasm, although aware that in any event their constituents would receive but a general benefit.
The prosperity of Ashtabula received a severe shock in the loss of the steamer Washington, destroyed by fire on Lake Erie, off Silver Creek, in June, 1838, by w^hich misfortune about 40 lives were lost. This boat was built at Ashtabula harbor, and most of her stock was owned by persons of moderate circumstances in this place. She was commanded by Capt. N. W. Brown. A passenger who was on board published, a few days after, the following account of this dis- astrous event.
The W. left Cleveland on her passage down from Detroit, June 14th, at 8 A. M., pro- ceeded on her way until Saturday 2 o'clock, A. M., when she arrived in the vicinity of Sil- ver Creek, about 33 miles from Buflalo. The boat was discovered to be on fire, which pro- ceeded from beneath the boilers. The passengers were alarmed, and aroused from their slumbers ; such a scene of confusion and distress ensued as those only of my readers can imagine who have been in similar circumstances. Despair did not however completely possess the mass, until it became evident that the progress of the flames could not be ar- rested. From that moment the scene beggars all description. Suffice it to say, that numbers precipitated themselves from the burning mass into the water ; some of them with a shriek of despair, and others silently sunk beneath the waves ; others momentarily more fortunate swam a short distance and drowned ; others still, on pieces of boards and wood, arrived on the beach ; yet some even of them, sank into a watery grave. The small boat had by this time put off loaded with about 25 souls for the shore. Those arrived safe, picking up one or two by the way.
The writer of this article was one of the number. Other small boats came to our assist- ance, which, together with the Washington's boat, saved perhaps a majority of the passen- gers on board. There is reason to believe that as many as 40 perished. It is impossible to compute the precise number. Many remained on the boat till it was wrapped in one sheet of flame. Of those there is reason to believe that numbers perished in the confla- gration ; while others, half burned, precipitated themselves into the watery element, thus
ASHTABULA COUNTY. 45
suffering the double ngency of death by fire and water. Most of the crew were saved, the Captain among the number, who, during the awful calamity, acted with the utmost de- cision and intrepidity. Indeed, no blame, so far as the writer has been informed, has been attached to any officer or hand on the boat. The utmost e.xertion was used to move her on the shore, until it became necessary to stop the engine in order to let down the Finall boat, which having been done, the fire had progressed so far as to render it iinpo.s.sible to again start the machinery. I give a few particulars of the losses of the paso^ngi-rs. ;\Ir. Shudds is the only survivor of his family of seven. A lady passenger lost three children, a sister and mother. Mr. Michael Parker lost his wife and parents, sister and her child. But I will not further continue the cases of individual bereavement.
Kingsville, 14 miles ne, of Jefferson, contains 1 Baptist, 1 Pres- byterian, and 1 Methodist church ; 3 stores, a woolen factory, and about 400 people. It is a pleasant village and has a public square on wiiich stand the churches. It is surrounded by a fine and intelli- gent agricultural community. At this place is the Kingsville Acad- emy, a thriving institution, in good repute, with about 130 pupils, under the charge of ]Mr. Z. Graves, and supported by the public spirit of the vicinity. The water privileges are good at Kingsville: Conneaut creek runs near the village; on which are several mills and factories, and a branch runs through it, on which, within half a mile, are 5 improved water privileges.
Six miles westerly from Jefferson is Austinburg, a village similar in character to the above. It contains 1 Presbyterian, 1 Congrega- tional, and 1 Free Will Baptist church, and about 300 people. West of the town, on a commanding site, is the Grand River Institute, Rev. Thomas Tenney, Principal. The buildings are spacious and comfortable and the institution flourishing, having a large fund for its support and about 150 pupils of both sexes.
The original proprietors of this township were Wm. Battell, of Torringford, Solomon Rockwell & Co., of Winchester, and Elipha- let Austin, of A'^ew Hartford, Ct. By the instrumentality of Judge Austin, from whom the town was named, two families moved to this place from Connecticut in 1799. The Judge preceded them a short time driving, in company with a hired man, some cattle 150 miles through the woods on an Indian trail, while the rest came in a boat across the lake. There was at this time a few families at Harpers- field ; at Windsor, southwest, about 20 miles, a family or two ; also at Elk creek, 40 miles northeast, and at Vernon, 40 miles southeast, were several families, all of whom were in a destitute condition for provisions. In the year 1800, another family moved from Nor- folk, Conn. In the spring of 1801, there was an accession of ten families to the settlement, principally from Norfolk, Conn. Part of these came from Buffalo by water, and part by land through the wilderness. During that season wheat was carried to mill at Elk creek, a distance of 40 miles, and in some instances one half was given for carrying it to mill and returning it in flour.
On Wednesday, October 24th, 1801, a church was constituted at Austinburg with sixteen members. This was the first church on the Western Reserve, and was founded by the Rev. Joseph Badger, the first missionary on the Reserve, a sketch of whom is in another part of this volume. It is a fact worthy of note, that in 1802, Mr.
46 ASHTABULA COUNTY.
Badger moved his family from Buffalo to this town, in the first wag- on that ever came from that place to the R'eserve. In 1803, Aus- tinburg, Morgan and Harpersfield experienced a revival of religion by which about 35 from those places united with the church at Aus- tinburg. This revival was attended with the phenomena of " bodily exercises^'' then common in the west. They have been classified by a clerical writer as 1st, the Falling exercise ; 2d, the Jerking exercise ; 3d, the Rolling exercise ; 4th, the Riimiing exercise ; 5th, the Dan- cing exercise ; 6th, the Barking exercise ; 7th, Visions and Trances. We make room for an extract from his account of the 2d of the series, which sufficiently characterises the remainder.
It was familiarly called The Jerks, and tlie first recorded instance of its occurrence was at a sacrament in East Tennessee, when several hundred of both sexes were seized with this strange and involuntary contortion. The subject was instantaneously seized with spasms or convulsions in every muscle, nerve and tendon. His head was thrown or jerked from side to side with such rapidity that it was impossible to distinguish his visage, and the most lively fears were awakened lest he should dislocate his neck or dash out his brains. His body partook of the same impulse and was hurried on by like jerks over every obstacle, fallen trunks of trees, or in a church, over pews and benches, apparently to the most im- minent danger of being bruised and mangled. It was useless to attempt to hold or restrain him, and the paroxysm was permitted gradually to exhaust itself. An additional motive for leaving him to himself was the superstitious notion that all attempt at restraint was resisting the spirit of God.
The first form in which these spasmodic contortions made their appearance was that of a simple jerking of the arms from the elbows downwards. The jerk was very quick and sudden, and followed with short intervals. This was the simplest and most common form, but the convulsive motion was not confined to the arms ; it extended in many instances to other parts of the body. When the joint of the neck was atlected, the head was thrown backward and forward with a celerity frightful to behold, and which was impossible to be imitated by persons who were not under the same stimulus. The bosom heaved, the coun- tenance was disgustingly distorted, and the spectators were alarmed lest the neck should be broken. When the hair was long, it was shaken with such quickness, backward and forward, as to crack and snap like the lash of a whip. Sometimes the muscles of the back were afi'ected, and the patient was thrown down on the ground, when his contortions for some time resembled those of a live fish cast from its native element on the land.
The most graphic description we have is from one who was not only an eye witness, but an apologist. He says, " Nothing in nature could better represent this strange and unac- countable operation, than for one to goad another, alternately on every side, with a piece of red hot iron. The exercise commonly began in the head, which would fly backward and forward, and from side to side, with a quick jolt, which the person would naturally labor to suppress, but in vain ; and the more any one labored to stay himself and be sober, the more he staggered, and the more his twitches increased. He must necessarily go as he was in- clined, whether with a violent dash on the ground, and bounce from place to place like a foot -ball, or hop round, with head, limbs and trunk twitching, and jolting in every direction, as if they must inevitably fly asunder. And how such could escape without injury, was no small wonder among spectators. By this strange operation the human frame was commonly so transformed and disfigured, as to lose every trace of its natural appearance. Sometimes the head would be twitched right and left, to a half round, with such velocity, that no*, a feature could be discovered, but the face appeared as much behind as before ; and in the quick progressive jerk, it would seem as if the person was transmuted into some other species of creature. Head dresses were of little account among the female jerkers. Even handkerchiefs bound tight round the head would be flirted off almost with the first twitch, and the hair put into the utmost confusion ; this was a very great inconvenience, to redress which the generality were shorn, though directly contrary to their confession of faith. Such as were seized with the jerks, were wrested at once, not only from under their own government, but that of every one else, so that it was dangerous to attempt confining them or touching them in any manner, to whatever danger they were exposed, yet few were hurt, except it were such as rebelled against the operation, through wilful and deliberate enmity, and refused to comply with the injunctions which it came to enforce."
From the universal testimony of those who have described these spasms, they appear to
ASHTABULA COUNTY. 47
have been wholly involuntary. This remark is applicable also to all the other bodily exer- cises. Wliat demonstrates satisfactorily their involuntary nature is, not only that, as above stated, the twitches prevailed in spite of resistance, and even more for attempts to suppress them ; but that wicked men would be seized with them wliile sedulously guarding against an attack, and cursing every jerk when made. Travellers on their journey, and laborers at their daily work, were also liable to them.
We conclude our sketch of the county with some amusing inci- dents, related in the mss. of the Society ; although trivial in them- selves, they are important in illustration.
There is a stream in Geneva, called " Morse's Slough," and it took its cognomen in this wise. For a time after the Spencers, Austin, Hale, and Morse commenced operations on the lake shore, in the ne. corner of Geneva, they plied their labors there only a week at the time, or as long as a back load of provisions, that each carried, might happen to last. Whatever time of the week they went out, those having families returned on Saturday night to the settlements, and those without, returned whenever out of provisions. The main portion of provisions by them thus transported, consisted of Indian or corn bread : and whoever has been used to the labors of the woods, swinging the a.\e, for instance, from sun to sun, and limited to that kind of diet almost solely, will know that it requires a johnny-cake of no slight dimensions and weight to last an axeman a whole week. It must, in short, be a mammoth of its species ! Such a loaf, baked in a huge Dutch oven, was snugly and tirmly pinioned to the back of James M. I\Iorse, as he, with others, wended his way to the lake shore, intent upon the labors of the week.
The stream was then nameless, but nevertheless had to be crossed, and Morse must cross it to reach the scene of his labors. Although a light man, he had become ponderous by the addition of this tremendous johnny-cake. The ice lay upon the streams, and men passed and re-passed unloaded without harm. Not so those borne down with such incumbrance as distinguished the back of Morse, who was foremost among the gang of pioneers, all marching in Indian file and similarly encumbered. They came to the stream. Morse rushed upon the ice — it trembled — cracked — broke — and in a moment he was initiated into the mysteries beneath, with the johnny-cake holding him firmly to the bottom.
The water and mud, though deep, were not over his head. The company, by aid of poles, approached him, removed the Gloucester hump of deformity from his shoulders, re- lieved him from his uncouth and unenvied attitude, and while he stood dripping and quiv- ering on the margin of the turbid element — amid a shout of laughter they named this stream " Morse's Slough."
A young man by the name of Elijah Thompson, of Geneva, was out hunting in the forest with his favorite dog. While thus engaged, his dog left him as if he scented game, and soon was engaged with a pack of seven wolves. Young Thompson, more an.xious for the dog than his own safety, rushed to the rescue, firing his rifle as he approached, and then clubbing it, made a fierce onset upon the enemy. His dog, being badly wounded and nearly exhausted, could give him no assistance, and the contest seemed doubtful. The wolves fought with desperation ; but the-young man laid about him with so much energy and agility, that his blows told well, and he soon had the satisfaction of seeing wolf after wolf skulk away under the blows which he dealt them, until he remained master of the field, when, with the remains of his rifle — the barrel — on his shoulder, and his bleeding and helpless dog under his arm, he left the scene panling and weary, though not materially injured in the conflict.
Mrs. John Austin, of the same township, hearing, on one occasion, a bear among her hogs, determined to defeat his purpose. First hurrying her little children up a ladder into her chamber, for safety, in case she was overcome by the animal, she seized a rifle, and rushing to the spot saw the bear only a few rods distant, carrying off a hog into the woods, while the prisoner sent forth deafening squeals, accompanied by the rest of the sty in full chorus. Nothing daunted, she rushed forward to the scene with her rifle ready cocked, on which the monster let go his prize, raised himself upon his haunches and faced her. Dropping upon her knees to obtain a steady aim, and resting her rifle on the fence, within tax feet of the bear, the intrepid female pulled the trigger. Perhaps fortunately for her, the rifle missed fire. Again and again she snapped her piece, but with the same result. The bear, after keeping his position some time, dropped down on all fours, and leaving the hogs behind, retreated to the forest and resigned the field to the woman.
The early settlers experienced great difficulty in preserving their swine from the ravages of wild beasts. Messrs. Morgan and Murrain, who, with their wives, dwelt in the same cabin, had with difficulty procured a sow which, with her progeny, occupied a strong pen
48 ATHENS COUNTY.
contiguous to tLe dwelling. During a dark night, their husbands being necessarily absent, the repose of the ladies was disturbed by a very shrill serenade from the pen : arousing from their slumbers, they discovered a large bear making an assault upon the swine. They attempted, by loud screams and throwing fire brands, to terrify the animal ; but not suc- ceedmg, they took an unloaded rifle, and having heard their husbands say that it required just two fingers of powder, they poured liberally into the muzzle, one of them in the mean- while-measuring lengthwise of her fingers, until the full amount was obtained, then driving in a ball they sallied out to the attack. One lady held the light, while the other fired the gun. Such another report, from a tube of equal capacity, is seldom heard. The ladica both fell prostrate and insensible, and the gun flew into the bushes. The bear was doubt less alarmed, but not materially injured.
On the night of the 11th of August, 1812, the people of Conneaut were alarmed by a false report that the British were landing from some of their vessels. A sentinel, placed on the shore, descrying boats approaching, mistook them for the enemy. In his panic he threw away his musket, mounted his horse, and dashing through the settlement, cried with a stentorian voice, " turn out ! turn out ! save your lives, the British and Indians are landing, and will be on you in fifteen minutes !" The people, aroused from their beds, fled in the utmost terror to various places of covert in the forest. Those of East Conneaut had sheltered themselves in a dense grove, which being near the high road, it was deemed that the most perfect silence should be maintained. By that soothing attention mothers know how to bestow, the cries of the children were measurably stilled ; but one little dog, from among his companions, kept up a continual unmitigated yelping. Various means having in vain been employed to still him, until the patience of the ladies was exhausted, it was unanimously resolved, that that particular dog should die, and he was therefore sentenced to be hanged, without benefit of clergy. With the eZasfjcs supplied by the ladies, for a halter, and a young sapling for a gallows, the young dog passed from the shores of time to yelp no more.
Rock Creek, 8 miles s. of Jefferson, contains 2 churches, 2 stores, 1 saw, 1 grist, 1 oil mill, 2 tanneries, and about 60 dwellings. It is on a creek of the same name, which furnishes considerable water. Eagleville is a somewhat smaller manufacturing village, 4 miles sw. of Jefferson, on Mill creek, a good mill stream. Windsor, 20 miles sw. of Jefferson, contains about 40 dwellings. There are other small villages in the county, generally bearing the names of the townships in which they are situated.
ATHENS.
Athens was formed from Washington, March 1, 1805, and derived Its name from Athens, its seat of justice. The surface is broken and hilly, with intervals of rich bottom lands. The hilly lands are covered with a fertile soil, and a heavy growth of trees. The prin- cipal crops are wheat, corn, oats and tobacco. Excellent coaJ abounds, iron ore is found in many places, and quantities of salt are made. The Hocking canal commences at Carrol, on the Ohio canal, in Fairfield county, and follows the river valley to Athens, a distance of 56 miles. The business, now small, is rapidly increasing. The coal trade of this valley is destined to be very great, ere many years. Below are the names of its townships, in 1840, with their population at that time.
|
Alexander, |
1450 |
Carthage, |
737 |
|
Ames, |
1431 |
Dover, |
1297 |
|
Athens, |
1593 |
Elk, |
12G1 |
|
Bern, |
381 |
Lee, |
848 |
|
Brown, |
257 |
Lodi, |
754 |
|
Canaan, |
800 |
Rome, |
8GG |
ATHENS COUNTY. 49
Trimble, 762 Troy, 105G
Vinton, 227 Ward, 345
Waterloo, 741 York, IGOl Population of Athens county, in 1820, was G,342 ; in 1830, 9,778, and in 1840, 19,108, or 30 inhabitants to a square mile.
In Evan's map of the middle British colonies, published in 1755, there is placed on the left bank of the Hocking, somewhere in this region, a town, station or fort, named " French Margarets" Proba- bly Margarets creek, in this county, was named from it. In the county above, (Hocking,) have been found the remains of an old press, for packing furs and peltries, which are yet visible, and attest that French cupidity and enterprise had introduced an extensive trade among the Indians.
Lord Dunmore, in his famous expedition against the Indian towns upon the Scioto, in the autumn of 1774 — ^just prior to the commence- ment of the revolutionary war, descended the Ohio, and landed at the niouth of the Great Hockhocking, in this county. He w^as there during the bloody battle of Point Pleasant — on an air line 28 miles distant — between General Lewis and the Indians. At this place he established a depot and erected some defences, called Fort Gower, in honor of Earl Gower. From that point he marched up the valley of the river, encamping, tradition says, a night successively at Fed- eral creek, Sunday creek, and at the falls of the Hocking. From the last, he proceeded to the Scioto, where the detachment under General Lewis joined him, and the war was brought to a close by a treaty or truce with the hostile tribes. Dunmore, on his return, stopped at Fort Gower, where the officers passed a series of resolu- tions, for which, see Pickaway county, with other details of this expedition.
Colonel Robert Paterson, one of the original proprietors of Cin- cinnati, with a party of Kentuckians, was attacked, near the mouth of the Hocking, by the Indians, two years after the erection of Fort Gower. The circumstances are given under the head of Mont- gomery county.
Athens, the county seat, is situated on a commanding site on the Hockhocking river, 72 miles se. of Columbus. It contains 1 Pres- b3'terian, 1 Cumberland Presbyterian, and a Methodist church, a classical academy, 11 mercantile stores, and by the census of 1840, had 710 inhabitants. It was made the county seat in March, 1805. The Ohio University, the oldest college in Ohio, is situated here, but has temporarily suspended its operations, for the purpose of recovering from pecuniary embarrassment. It was first chartered by the territorial government, and afterwards, in 1804, by the state legislature. It was early endowed by Congress with the two town- ships of Athens and Alexander, containing 46,000 acres of land, which, with the connecting resources, yield an annual income ot
7
50
ATHENS COUNTY.
about $5000. The buildings are substantial and neat, and stand in a /ileasant green. This institution has exerted a most beneficial influ- ence upon the morals and intelligence of this region. Among its graduates are many who do it honor, and it will, doubtless, w'hen
Ohio Vnirersily, at Athens.
again in successful o])eration — as it soon will be — continue its good work.
This county was settled shortly after Wayne's victory. The following named persons are recollected as settling in Athens and vicinity, two or three years subsequent to that event, viz : Solomon Tuttle, Christopher Stevens, Jonathan Watkins, Alvan and Silas Bingham, Henry and David Bartlett, John Chandler, and John and Moses Hewit. On Federal creek, also, were Nathan Woodbury, George Ewing — father of Hon. Thomas Ewing — Ephraim Cutler and Benjamin Brown. The first mill was erected about 1800, on Margarets creek, prior to which some of the settlers were accus- tomed to make tedious voyages, in canoes, down the Hocking, up the Ohio, and 4 miles up the Muskingum, above Marietta, to get their com ground, while others, comprising a majority, depended upon hand mills and hommony blocks.
The annexed vivid sketch of the captivity and escape of Moses Hewit (one of the earliest settlers in this county) from the Indians, is from the history of the Bellville settlement, written by Dr. S. P. Hildreth, and published in the Hesperian, edited by William D. Gallagher.
Moses Hewit was a native of New England, the land of active and enterprising men, and born in Worcester, Massachusetts, in the year 17G7. He removed to the waters ot the Ohio, in 1790, in company with his uncle. Captain John Hewit, soon after the settle- ment of the Ohio Conipany ; at the breaking out of the Indian war, he resided on the island now known by the name of " Blennerhasset," in the block house of Captain Jamea, where he married a cousin, the daughter of Captain Hewit. After his marriage, he lived a short time at the mouth of the Little Kenawha, but as the Indians became dangerous, he ioined the company of settlers at " Neil's station," a short distance above, on the same
ATHENS COUNTY. 51
Stream. At this period, all the settlements on both banks of the Ohio were broken up, Hud the inhabitants retired to their garrisons for mutual defence.
The garrison at tlie middle settlement, in Belprie, was called " Farmer's Castle," and was a strong stockaded defence, with comfortable dwelling houses erected along the margin of the stout palisades wliieh surrountled it. It stood near the bank of the Ohio river, on the waters of which nearly all the intercourse between the stations was conducted in light canoes. At this garrison, Mr. Hewit was a frequent visitor, but not an inmate. Some ol tlie more fearless inhabitants, on the left bank, still continued to live in their own dwellings, considering themselves in a manner protected by the Ohio river, and by the vigilance of the- " spies," who daily scoured the adjacent forests. Mr. Hewit was, at this time, in the ])rime» of life and manhood ; possessed of a vigorous frame, nearly si.x feet high, with limbs of the finest mould, not surpassed by the Belvidere Apollo, for manly beauty. The hands and feet were small in proportion to the muscles of the arms and legs. Of their strength, some estimate may be formed, when it is stated that he could, with a single hand, lift with ease a large blacksmith's anvil, by grasping the tapering horn which projects from its side. To this great muscular strength was added a quickness of motion, which gave to the dash ol his fist tlie rapidity of thought, as it was driven into the face or breast of his adversary. The eye vras coal black, small and sunken, but when e.xcited or enraged, flashed Are like that of the tiger. The face and head were well developed, with such powerful masseter and temporal muscles, that the fingers of the strongest man, when once conhned between his teeth, could no more be withdrawn than from the jaws of a vice.
With such physical powers, united to an unrefined and rather irritable mind, who shall wonder at his propensity for, and delight in, personal combat ; especially when placed in the midst of rude and unlettered companions, where courage and bodily strength were held in unlimited estimation. Accordingly, we find him engaged in numberless personal con- tests, in which he almost universally came off victorious. One instance of his activity and reckless daring took place at Marietta, about the year 1796. In some quarrel at a tavern, the vigor of his arm was laid so heavily upon one of his opponents, that serious apprehen- sions were felt for his life. Complaint was made to the magistrate, and a warrant issued for his apprehension. Of this he had timely notice, and not relishing the inside of a jail at that inclement season of the year, it being in February, he started for the river, intending to cross into Virginia, out of the jurisdiction of the constable. It so happened that the rains on the head waters had raised the river to half bank, and broken up the ice, which completely covered the stream with fragments of all dimensions, so closely arranged that no canoe could be forced through them. Although late in the night, there was yet the light of the moon, and rushing down the bank, with the constable and a numerous posse at his back, he leaped fearlessly on to the floating ice, and springing from fragment to fragment, with the activity of a fox, he reached the opposite shore in safety, about half a mile below the point where he commenced this perilous adventure. The constable, seeing the object of his pursuit afloat on the ice, came to a halt, concluding that, although he had escaped from the penalty of the law, he could not avoid the fate which awaited him, and that he would certainly be drowned before he could gain the shore. But, as fortune is said to favor the brave, he escaped without harm, and his life was preserved for wise and provi- dential purposes.
Sometime in the month of May, 1792, while living at Neil's station, on the Little Ken- awha, Mr. Hewit rose early in the morning and went out about a mile from the garrison in search of a stray horse, little e.xpecting any Indians to be near, having heard of none in that vicinity for some time. He was sauntering along at his ease, in an obscure cattle path, thinking more of his stray animal than of danger, when all at once three Indians sprang from behind two large trees, that stood one on each side of the track, where they had been watching his approach. So sudden was the onset, and so completely was he in their grasp, that resistance was vain, and would probably have been the cause of his death. He therefore quietly surrendered, thinking that in a few days he should find some way of escape. For himself, he felt but little uneasiness ; his great concern was for his wife and child, from whom, with the yearnings of a father's heart, he was thus forcibly separated, and whom he might never see again.
In their progress to the towns on the Sandusky plains, the Indians treated their prisoner, Hewit, with as little harshness as could be expected. He was always confined at night by fastening his wrists and ancles to saplings, as he lay extended upon his back upon the ground, with an Indian on each side. By day his limbs were free, but always marching with one Indian before, and two behind him. As they approached the prairies, frequent halts were made to search for honey, the wild bee being found in every hollow tree, and' often in thj ground beneath decayed roots, in astonishing numbers. This afforded tbeni'
52 ATHENS COUNTY.
many luscious repasts, of which the prisoner was allowed to partake. The naturalization of the honey bee to the forests of North America, since its colonization by the whites, is, in fact, the only real addition to its comforts that the red man has ever received from the destroyer of his race ; and this industrious insect, so fond of the society of man, seems also destined to destruction by the bee-moth, and like the buffalo and the deer, will soon vanish from the woods and prairies of the West.
While the Indians were occupied in these searches, HeM'it closely watched an opportu- nity for escape, but his captors were equally vigilant. As they receded from the danger of pursuit, they became less hurried in their march, and often stopped to hunt and amuse them- selves. The level prairie afforded fine ground for one of their favorite sports, the foot race. In this, Hewit was invited to join, and soon found that he could easily outrun two of them, but the other was more than his match, which discouraged hiin from trying to escape, until a more favorable opportunity. They treated him familiarly, and were much pleased with his hvely, cheerful manners. After they had reached within one or two day's march of their village, they made a halt to hunt, and left their prisoner at their camp, although they had usually taken him with them, as he complained of being sick. To make all safe, they placed him on his back, confining his wrists with stout thongs of raw-hide to saplings, and his legs raised at a considerable elevation, to a small tree. After they had been gone a short time, he began to put in operation the plan he had been meditating for escape, trust- ing that the thickness of his wrists, in comparison with the smallness of his hands, would enable him to withdraw them from the ligatures. After long and violent exertions, he suc- ceeded in liberating his hands, but not without severely lacerating the skin and covering them with blood. His legs were next freed by untying them, but not without a great efibrt, from their elevation.
Once fairly at liberty, the first object was to secure some food for the long journey which was before him. But as the Indian's larder is seldom well stocked, with all his search, he could only find two small pieces of jerked venison, not more than sufficient for a single meal. With this light stock of provision, his body nearly naked, and without even a knife or a tomahawk, to assist in procuring more, he started for the settlements on the Musk- ingum, as the nearest point where he could meet with friends. It seems that the Indians returned to the camp soon after his escape, for that night while cautiously traversing a wood, he heard the cracking of a breaking twig not far from him. Dropping silently on to the ground where he stood, he beheld his three enemies in pursuit. To say that he was not agitated, would not be true ; his senses were wide awake, and his heart beat quick, but it was a heart that never knew fear. It so happened that they passed a few yards to one «ide of him, and he remained unseen. As soon as they were at a sufficient distance, he altered his course and saw no more of therri.
Sufl'ering every thing but death, from tjie exhausting effects of hunger and fatigue, he, after nine days, struck the waters of the Big Muskingum, and came in to the garrison, at Wolf creek mills. During this time he had no food but roots and the bark of the slippery- «lm, after the two bits of venison were expended. When he came in sight of the station, he was so completely exhausted that he could not stand or halloo. His body was entirely naked, excepting a small strip of cloth round the loins, and so torn, bloody and disfigured, ■ty the briers and brush, that he thought it imprudent to show himself, lest he should be taken for an Indian, and shot by the Gentries. It is a curious physiological fact, that fam- ine and hunger will actually darken the skin in the manner mentioned by the prophet Jer- .emiah, when foretelling the fate of the Israelites ; and may be accounted for by the ab- sorption of the bile into the blood, when not used up in the process of digesting the food. In this forlorn state, Hewit remained until evening, when he crawled silently to the gate- way, which was open, and crept in before any one was aware of his being near. As they all had heard of his capture, and some personally knew him, he was instantly recognized iby a young man, as the light of the fire fell on his face, who exclaimed, " here is Hewit." They soon clothed and fed him, and his fine constitution directly restored his health.
The course pursued by Mr. Hewit was in the direction of a favorite and well known itrail, or war path of the Indians, from Sandusky to the settlements on the Muskingum, .and struck that river at a point called " Big Rock," from an enormous block of sandstone that had tumbled out of a cliff and lay on the shore. The line of the trail lay between the waters of the Muskingum and those of the Scioto, crossing some of the branches of both ithese rivers. The war paths of the Indians were generally known to the old hunters, as in times of peace there was considerable intercourse for trade and hunting between the 'borderers and the Indian tribes. After the war was closed, by the masterly campaign of 'Gen. Wayne, the sturdy settlers on the shores of the Ohio, sallied out from their garrisons, where they had been more or less closely confined for five years, and took possession of the
ATHENS COUNTS. 53
various farms, which had fallen to their lots either as " donation lands," or as proprietors in the Ohio Company, some of which had been partially cleared and cultivated belore the commencement of hostilities. During this period, they sulfered from famine, sickness, and death, in addition to the depredations of the Indians. The small-po.Y and i)utrid sore throat, had both visited them in their garrisons, destroying, in some instances, whole fami- lies of children in a few days. The murderous savage without, with sickness and famine within, had made their castles wearisome dwelling places, although they protected them from the to)nahawk, and saved the settlements from being entirely broken up.
In the year 1797, Air. Hewit cast his lot in the valley of the Hockhocking river, ner.r ihe town of Athens, and settled quietly down to clearing his farm. He was by nature en- dowed with a clear, discriminating, and vigorous mind ; and, although his education was very limited, extending only to reading and writing, yet his judgment was acute, and his reasoning powers highly matured by intercourse with his fellow-men. For some years before his death, he was a member of the Methodist church, which has the praise of re- claiming more depraved men than perhaps any other sect, and became a valuable citizen and useful man in society. A short time previous to his decease, which took place in the year 1814, he was appointed a Trustee of the Ohio University, at Athens. At that early time, the duties of a Trustee mainly consisted in leasing out and managing the fiscal af- fairs of the college domain, embracing two townships of land. For this business he was well iitted, and his judgment and good sense, were of real value to the institution, however little he might be qualified to act in literary matters.
The life of Mr. Hewit affords an interesting subject of contemplation. Hundreds of others, who were among the western borderers in early days, allbrd similar e.Kaini)los of reckless daring, and outrageous acts, while surrounded with war, tumult and danger, who, when peace was restored and they returned lo the quiet scenes of domestic and civil life, became some of the most useful, influential, and distinguished men. It shows how much man is the creature of habit ; and that he is often governed more by the character, and the outward example of men around him, and the times in which he lives, than by any innate principle of good or evil, which may happen to predominate within him.
About four miles north of Athens, are mounds and ancient forti- fications with gateways. One of the mounds which was composed of a kind of stone, differing from any in the vicinity, was taken iui the construction of a dam across the Hocking ; there were in it over a thousand perches, and some of the stones weighed two hundred pounds. In the mound were found copper rings and other relics. There are many mounds in some other parts of the county.
Dr. S. P. Hildreth, of Marietta, a gentleman of well-known sci- entific attainments, thus speaks in Silliman's Journal of the fussil re- mains in this region.
The sandstone rocks contain many relics of fossil trees, of that ancient and curious fam- ily, bearing those rare devices and figures on their bark, so artificial in their appearance as to induce a common belief among the ignorant, of their being the work of man before the flood, and buried by that catastrophe in huge heaps of sand, since consolidated into rock. The excavations in sandstone rocks have been, as yet, so few and partial, that but a small lunnber have been brought to light, although the strata through this valley are one vast cemetery of the plants of a former creation. I have seen some specimens fonnd in quarrying stones for a cellar, or in grading a road, and have heard of many more, proving that there is an abundant supply laid up for future geologists, when the country becomes more cultivated, and extensive openings shall be made in the earth. On the heads of Shade river, a few miles sw. of Athens, there is a large deposit of fossil trees, the wood being replaced by a dark ferruginous silex.
The yellow pine is very abundant in the lower part of the Hock- ing valley, and was probably at no very remote period, the prevail- ing growth of this part of the country. On this p hit. Dr. Hildreth also gives the following interesting facts.
Extensive districts in which a pine is not now found, are thickly scattered with pitch pine knots, lying on the surface, the relics of former forests, which some disease, or pro-
54 BELMONT COUNTY.
bably the depredations of insects, had destroyed. In these situations large quantities of pitch and tar were formerly made. In numerous mounds, opened under my direction, the charcoal found about the human bones, which they almost universally contain, and which the aborigines first burned before casting up the mound of earth and stone, as a sacred monument for the dead, is most generally the charcoal of pine wood — leading also to the conclusion, that at their erection, yellow pine was the prevailing tree of the forest, for it is n>t probable they would take the trouble of bringing it from any distance.
By the United States Statistics it appears there were 92,800 bushels of salt produced in the county, and 47 men einployed in the manufacture, in 1840. This has since increased. The princi- pal salt wells now in the county, are those of Ewing, Vinton & Co., Fuller & Walker, and Samuel Denmans, at Chauncey ; Hydes, Perkins & Prudens, near Athens.
jVelsonville, on the Hocking canal, 13 miles above Athens, is a flourishing village, in the heart of the coal region and trade, and contains about 300 people : considerable tobacco is packed here. Chauncey, also on the canal 7 miles above Athens, is a village of about 200 inhabitants, where the manufacture of salt is extensively carried on, together with coal mining ; at one mine the coal is ob- tained by sinking a shaft 120 feet perpendicular. M'Arthurstown, 26 miles vvsvv. of Athens, has about 250 people, and is in a good country. Hockingport, at the mouth of the Hocking, Hocking City, Amesville, Hebardsville, Albany, Millfield, Chesterfield, Savannah and Trimble, are small places.
BELMONT.
Belmont was established, September 7th, 1801, by proclamation of Gov. St. Clair, being the ninth county formed in the N. W. Terri- tory. The name is derived from two French words, signifying a fine mountain. It is a hilly and picturesque tract, and contains much excellent land. The principal crops are wheat, oats, Indian corn and tobacco, of which last, about two million pounds are annu- ally raised. It has about 68,000 sheep, and coal abounds. The fol- lowing are the names of its townships in 1840, with their population.
|
Colerain, |
1389 |
Pultney, |
K47 |
Warren, |
2410 |
|
Flushing, |
1683 |
Richland, |
3735 |
Washington, |
1388 |
|
Goshen, |
1882 |
Smith, |
1958 |
Wayne, |
1734 |
|
Kirkwood, |
2280 |
Somerset, |
1932 |
Wheeling, |
1389 |
|
Mead, |
1496 |
Union, |
2127 |
York, |
1294 |
|
Pease, |
2449 |
Population of Belmont county in 1820, 20,329 ; in 1830, 28,543 ; in 1840, 30,902, or 51 inhabitants to a square mile.
Belmont county was one of the earliest settled within the Stale of Ohio, and the scene of several desperate encounters with the In- dians. About 1790, or perhaps two or three years later, a fort called Dillie's fort was erected on the west side of the Ohio, oppo- site Grave creek.
BELMONT CCUNTY. 55
About 250 yards below this foi"t, an old man named Tate was shot down by the Indians very early in the morning, as he was opening his door. His daughter-in-law and grandson pulled him in and barred the door. The Indians endeavoring to force it open, were kept out for some time by the exertions of the boy and woman. They at length fired through and wounded the boy. The woman was shot from the outside as she endeavored to escape up chimney, and fell into the fire. The boy, who had hid behind some barrels, ran and pulled her out, and returned again to his hiding place. The Indians now effected an entrance, killed a girl as they came in, and scalped the three they had shot. They then went out behind that side of the house from the fort. The boy, who had been wounded in the mouth, embraced the opportunity, and escaped to the fort. The Indians, twelve or thirteen in number, went off unmolested, although the men in the fort had witnessed the transaction and had sufficient force to engage with them.
Captina creek is a considerable stream entering the Ohio, near the southeast angle of Belmont. On its banks at an early day, a sanguinary contest took place known as " the battle of Captina^ Its incidents have often and variously been given. We here relate them as they fell from the lips of Martin Baker, of Monroe, who was at that time a lad of about 12 years of age in Baker's fort.
One mile below the mouth of Captina, on the Virginia shore, was Baker's fort, so named from my father. One morning, in May, 1794, four men were sent over according to the custom, to the Ohio side, to reconnoitre. They were Adam Miller, John Daniels, Isaac M'Cowan, and John Shoptaw. Miller and Daniels took up stream, the other two down. The upper scout were soon attacked by In- dians, and Miller killed ; Daniels ran up Captina about 3 miles, but being weak from the loss of blood issuing from a wound in his arm, was taken prisoner, carried into captivity, and subsequently released at the treaty of Greenville. The lower scout having discovered signs of the enemy, Shoptaw swam across the Ohio and escaped, but M'Gowan going up towards the canoe, was shot by Indians in ambush. Upon this, he ran down to the bank, and sprang into the water, pursued by the enemy, who overtook and scalped him. The firing being heard at the fort, they beat up for volunteers. There were about fifty men in the fort. There being much reluc- tance among them to volunteer, my sister exclaimed, " She wouhinH he a coward.'" This aroused the pride of my brother, John Ba- ker, Avho before had determined not to go. He joined the others, 14 in number, including Capt. Abram Enochs. They soon crossed the river, and went up Captina in single file, a distance of a mile and a half, following the Indian trail. The enemy had come back on their trails and were in ambush on the hill side awaiting their approach. When sufficiently near they fired upon our people, but being on an elevated position, their balls passed harmless over them. The whites then treed. Some of the Indians came behind and shot Capt. Enochs and Mr. Hoffman. Our people soon re-
56 BELMONT COUNTY.
treated, and the Indians pursued but a short distance. On theii retreat my brother was shot in the hip. Determined to sell his life as dearly as possible, he drew off one side and secreted himself in a hollow with a rock at his back, offering no chance for the enemy to approach but in front. Shortly after, two guns were heard in quick succession ; doubtless one of them was fired by my brother, and from the signs afterwards, it was supposed he had killed an Indian. The next day the men turned out and visited the spot. Enochs, Hoffman and John Baker, were found dead and scalped. Enoch's bowels were torn out, his eyes and those of Hoffman screwed out with a wiping stick. The dead were wrapped in white hickory bark, and brought over to the Virginia shore, and buried in their bark coffins. There were about thirty Indians engaged in this action, and seven skeletons of their slain were found long after secreted in the crevices of rocks.
M'Donald, in his biographical sketch of Gov. M' Arthur, who was in the action, says, that after the death of Capt. Enochs, that M'Ar- thur, although the youngest man in the company, was unanimously called upon to direct the retreat. The wounded who were able to walk were placed in front, while M' Arthur with his Spartan Band covered the retreat. The moment an Indian showed himself in pursuit, he was fired upon, and generally it is believed with effect. The Indians were so severely handled, that they gave up the pui- suit. The Indians were commanded by the Shawnee Chief, Char- Isij Wilkeij. He told the author [M'Donald] of this narrative, that the battle of Captina was the most severe conflict he ever witnessed ; that although he had the advantage of the gi'ound and the first fire, he lost the most of his men, half of them having been either killed or wounded.
The celebrated Indian hunter, Lewis Wetzel, was often through this region. Belmont has been the scene of at least two of the da- ring adventures of this far-famed borderer.
While hunting, Wetzel fell in with a young hunter who lived on Dunkard'a creek, and was persuaded to accompany him to his home. On their arrival they found the house in ruins and all the family murdered, except a young woman who had been bred with them, and to whom the young man was ardently attached. She was taken alive, as was found by examining the trail of the enemy, who were three Indians and a white renegado. Burning with revenge, they followed the trail until opposite the mouth of Captina, where the enemy had crossed. They swam the stream and discovered the Indians camp, around the fires of which lay the enemy in careless repose. The young woman was apparently un- hurt, but was making much moaning and lamentation. The young man, hardly able to re- strain his rage, was for firing and rushing instantly upon them. Wetzel, more cautious, told him to wait until day light when there was a better chance of success in killing the whole party. At dawn the Indians prepared to depart. The young man selecting the white rene- gado, and Wetzel the Indian, they both fired simultaneously with flital efl"ect. The young man rushed forward knife in hand to relieve the mistress of his affections, while Wetzel reloaded and pursued the two surviving Indians, who had taken to the woods until they could ascertain the number of their enemies. Wetzel, as soon as he was discovered, discharged his rifle at random in order to draw them from their covert. The ruse took efiect, and taking to his heels he loaded as he ran, and suddenly wheeling about discharged his rifle through the body of his nearest and unsuspecting enemy. The remaining Indian seeing the fate of his companion, and that his enemy's rifle was unloaded, rushed forward with all energy, the prospect of prompt revenge being fairly before him. Wetzel led him on
BELMONT COUNTY.
57
dodging from tree to tree, until his ritle was again ready, when suddenly turning he fired, and his remaining enemy fell dead at his feet. After taking their scalps, Wetzel and hia friend, with their rescued captive, returned in safety to the settlement.
A short time after Crawford's defeat, in 11^2, Wet/el accompanied Thomas Mills, a soldier in that acrion, to obtain his horse, which he had left near the site of St. Clairsville. They were met by a party of about forty Indians, at the Indian .springs, two miles from St. Clairsville, on the road to Wheeling. Uotli i)arties discovered each other at the same mo- ment, when Lewis instantly tired and killed an Indian, while the Indians wounded Ids companion in the Iieel, overtook and killed iiim. Four Indians pursued Wetzel. About half a mile beyond, one of the Indians having got, in the pursuit, within a few steps, Wet- zel wheeled and shot him, and then continued the retreat. In less than a mile farther, a second one came so close to him that, as he turned to fire, he caught the muzzle of his gun, when, after a severe struggle, Wetzel brought it to his chest, and discharging it, his opponent fell dead. Wetzel still continued on his course, pursued by the two Indians. All three were pretty well fatigued, and often stopped and treed. After going something more than a mile, Wetzel took advantage of an open ground, over which the Indians were passing, stopped suddenly to shoot the foremost, who thereupon sprang behind a small sapling. Wetzel fired and wounded him mortally. The remaining Indian then gave a little yell, exclaiming, " No catch that man, gun always loaded." After the peace of 1795, Wetzel pushed for the frontier, on the Mississippi, where he could trap the beaver, hunt the buffulo and deer, and occasionally shoot an Indian, the object of his mortal hatred. He finally died, as he had lived, a free man of the forest.
St. Clairsville.
St. Qairsville, the county seat, is situated on an elevated and romantic site, in a rich agricultural region, on the line of the National road, 11 miles west of Wheeling, and IIG east of Columbus. It contains 6 places for public worship : 2 Friends, 1 Presbyterian, 1 Episcopal, 1 Methodist, and 1 Union, 1 female seminary, 12 mer- cantile stores, 2 or 3 newspaper offices, H. Anderson's map engrav- ing and publishing establishment, and, in 1840, had 829 inhabitants. •Cuming's tour, published in 1810, states that this town " was laid out in the woods, by David Newell, in 1801. On the south side of Newell's plat, is an additional part, laid out by William iMatthews, which \sas incorporated with Newell's plat, 'on the 23d January, 1807, by the name of St. Clairsville." By the act of incorporation, the following officers were appointed until the first stated meeting of the inhabitants should be held for an election, viz. John Patterson,
58
BELMONT COUNTY.
President ; Sterling Jolinston, Recorder ; Samuel Sullivan, Marshall . Groves Wm. Brown, John Brov/n, and Josiah Dillon, Trustees ; William Congliton, Collector; James Colwell, Treasurer, and Robert Griffeth, Town Marshall. The view given was taken from an elevation w^est of the town, near the National road, and Neis- wanger's old tavern, shown on the extreme right. The building in the distance, on the left, shaded by poplars, is the Friend's meeting house ; in the centre is shown the spire of the court house, and on the right, the tower of the Presbyterian church.
St. Clairsville derives its name from the unfortunate but meri- torious Arthur St. Clair. He was born in Scotland, in 1734, and after receiving a classical education in one of the most celebrated universities of his native country, studied medicine ; but having a taste for military pursuits, he sought and obtained a subaltern's appointment, and was with Wolfe in the storming of Quebec. After the peace of 1763, he was assigned the command of Fort Ligonier, in Pennsylvania, and received there a grant of one tliousand acres. Prior to the revolutionary war, he held several civil offices. His military skill and experience, intelligence and integrity were such, that when the revolutionary war commenced, he was ap- pointed Colonel of Continentals. In August, 1776, he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier, and bore- an active part in the tattles of Trenton and Princeton. He was subsequently created a Major General, and ordered to repair to Ticonderoga, where he commanded the garrison, and on the approach of Burgoyne's army, abandoned it. Charges of cowardice, incapacity and treachery were brought against him, in consequence. He was tried by a court martial, who, with all the facts before them, acquitted him, accompanying their report with the declaration, that " Major General St. Clair is ac- quitted, with the highest honor, of the charges against him." Con- gress subsequently, with an unanimous voice, confirmed this sen- tence. The facts were, that the works were incomplete and inca- pable of being defended against the whole British army, and although St. Clair might have gained great applause by a brave attempt at defence, yet it would have resulted in the death of many of his men, and probably the capture of the remainder ; a loss which, it was afterwards believed in camp, and perhaps foreseen by St. Clair, would have prevented the taking of Burgoyne's army. In daring to do an unpopular act, for the public good, St. Clair exhibited a high degree of moral courage, and deserves more honor than he who wins a battle.
St. Clair served, w'ith reputation, until the close of the war. In 1785, while residing on his farm, at Ligonier, he was appointed a delegate to the Continental Congress, and was soon after chosen President of that august body. After the passage of the ordinance for the government of the North-western territory, he was made governor, and continued in the office until within a few weeks of the termination of the territorial form of government, in the winter of 1802-3, when he was removed by President Jefferson.
BELMONT COUNTY. 59
The remainder of the sketch of Gov. St. Clair, we irive in ex- tracts from the Notes of Judge Burnet, who was personally ac- quainted with him. Beside being clearly and beautifully wjitlen, it contains important facts in the legislative history of Ohio.
During the continuance of the first grade of that imperfect goveniment, lie enjoyed the respect and confidence of every class of the people. He was plain and simple in his dress and equipage, open and frank in his manners, and accessible to persons of every rank. In these respects, he exhibited a striking contrast with the Secretary, Colonel Sargent ; and that contrast, in some measure, increased his popularity, which he retained, unimpaired, till after the commencement of the first session of the legislature. During that session, he manifested a strong desire to enlarge his own powers, and restrict those of the Assembly ; which was the more noticed, as he had opposed the usurpations of the legislative council, composed of himself, or in his absence, the Secretary, and the Judges of the General Court ; and liad taken an early opportunity of submitting his views on that subject to the General Assembly
The effect of the construction he gave, of his own powers, may be seen in the fact, that of the thirty bills, passed by the two Houses, during the first session, and sent to him for his approval, he refused his assent to eleven; some of which were supposed to be of much importance, and all of them calculated, more or less, to advance the public interest. Some of them he rejected, because they related to the establishment of new counties; others, because he thought they were unnecessary or inexpedient. Thus more than a third of the fruits of the labor of that entire session was lost, by the exercise of the arbitrary discretion of one man
This, and some other occurrences of a similar character, which were manifest deviations from his usual course, not easily accounted for, multiplied his opponents very rapidly, and rendered it more difficult for his friends to defend and sustain him. They also created a state of bad feeling between the legislative and executive branches, and eventually termi- nated in his removal from office, before the expiration of the territorial government.
The governor was unquestionably a man of superior talents, of extensive information, and of great uprightness of purpose, as well as suavity of manners. His general course, though in the main correct, was in some respects injurious to his own popularity ; but it was the result of an honest exercise of his judgment. He not only believed that the power he claimed belonged legitimately to the executive, but was convinced that the man- ner in which he exercised it, was imposed on him as a duty, by the Ordinance ; and was calculated to advance the best interests of the territory
Soon after the governor was removed from office, he returned to the Legonier valley, poor, and destitute of the means of subsistence ; and unfortunately, too much disabled, by age and infirmity, to embaik in any kind of active business. During his admin- istration of the territorial government, he was induced to make himself personally liable for the purchase of a number of pack-horses and other articles necessary to fit out an expedition against the Indians, to an amount of some two or three thousand dollars, which he was afterwards compelled to pay. Having no use for the money at the time, he did not present his claim to the government. After he was removed from office, he looked to that fund as his dependence for future subsistence ; and, under a full expectation of receiving it, he repaired to Washington City, and presented his account to the proper offi- cer of the treasury. To his utter surprise and disappointment, it was rejected, on the mortifying ground, that, admitting it to have been originally correct, it was barred by the statute ; and that the time which had elapsed, affisrded the liighcst presumption that it had been settled, although no voucher or memorandum to that effect could be found in the department. To counteract the alledged presumption of payment, the original vouchers, showing the purchase, the purpose to which the property was applied, and the payment ot the money, were exhibited. It was, however, still insisted, that as the transaction was an old one, and had taken place before the burning of the war office, in Philadelphia, the lapse of time furnished satisfactory evidence that the claim must have been settled, and the vouchers destroyed in that confiagration.
The pride of the old veteran was deeply wounded, by the ground on which his claim was refused ; and he was induced, from that consideration, as well as by the pressure of poverty ap-d want, to persevere in his efforts to maintain the justice and equity of his demand ; still hoping that presumption would give way to truth. For the purpose of getting rid of his solicitations. Congress passed an act, purporting to be an act for liis relief; but which merely removed the technical objection, founded on lapse of time, by authorizing a settement of his demands, regardless of the limitation. This step seemed
60 BELMONT COUNTY.
necessary, to preserve their own character ; but it left the worn out veteran still at the mercy of the accounting officers of the department, from whom he had nothing to expect^ but disappointment. During the same session, a bill was introduced into the House of Representatives, granting him an annnuity, which was rejected, on the third reading, by a vote of 48 to 50.
After spending the principal part of two sessions, in useless efforts, subsisting, during the time, on the bounty of his friends, he abandoned the pursuit in despair, and returned to the Legonier valley, where he lived several years in the most abject poverty, in the family of a widowed daughter, as destitute as himself. At length, Pennsylvania, his adopted state, from considerations of personal respect, and gratitude for past services, as well as from a laudable feeling of state pride, settled on him an annuity of three hundred dollars, which was soon after raised to six hundred and fifty dollars. That act of beneficence gave to the gallant old soldier a comfortable subsistence for the little remnant of his days which then remained. The honor resulting to the state, from that step, was very much enhanced, by the fact, that the individual on whom their bounty was be'stowed, was a foreigner, and was known to be a warm opponent, in politics, to the great majority of the legislature and their constituents.
He lived, however, but a short time to enjoy the bounty. On the 31st of August, 1818, that venerable officer of the Revolution, after a long, brilliant and useful life, died of an injury occasioned by the running away of his horse, near Greensburgh,in the eighty-fourth year of his age.
Bridgeport, on the west bank of the Ohio, opposite the city of Wheeling, and on the National road, is an important point for the forwarding goods to the West. It contains 1 church, 1 grist and 1 saw mill, 3 stores, 3 forwarding and commission houses, and had, in 1840, 329 inhabitants.
In the spring of 1791, the cabin of Captain Joseph Kirkwood, at this place, was attacked at night by a party of Indians, who, after a severe action, were repulsed. This Captain Kirkwood " was the gallant and unrewarded Captain Kirkwood, of the Delaware line, in the war of the revolution, to whom such frequent and honorable allusion is made in Lee's memoir of the Southern campaigns. The state of Delaware had but one continental regiment, which, at the defeat at Camden, was reduced to a single company. It was there- fore impossible, under the rules, for Kirkwood to be promoted ; and he was under the mortification of beholding inferior officers in the regiments of other states, promoted over him, while he, with all his merit, was compelled to remain a captain, solely in consequence ol the small force Delaware was enabled to maintain in the service He fought with distinguished gallantry through the war, and was in the bloody battles of Camden, Holkirks, Eutaw and Ninety Six."
Captain Kirkwood moved to this place in 1789, and built his cabin on the knoll, about thirty yards west of the present residence of Mr. M'Swords. At the time of the attack on the cabin, there was an unfinished block-house standing on the highest part of the knoll, only a few yards distant. On the night of the attack, a party of fourteen soldiers, under the command of Captain Joseph Biggs, together with Captain Kirkwood and family, were in the cabin. About two hours before day break, the captain's little son Joseph, had occasion to leave the cabin for a few moments, and requested Captain Biggs to accompany him. They were out but a few min- utes, and although unknown to them, were surrounded by Indians. They had returned, and again retired .to sleep in the upper loft.
BELMONT COUNTY. 61
when they soon discovered the roof in a blaze, which was the first intimation they had of the presence of an enemy. Captain K, was instantly awakened, when he and his men commenced pushing off the roof, the Indians at the same time firing upon them, from under cover of the block-house. Captain Biggs, on the first alarm, ran down the ladder into the room below, to get his rifle, when a ball entered a window and wounded him in the wrist. Soon the Indians had surrounded the house, and attempted to break in the door with their tomahawks. Those within braced it with puncheons from the floor. In the panic of the moment, several of the men wished to escape from the cabin, but Captain K. silenced them with the threat of taking the life of the first man who made the attempt, asserting that the Indians would tomahawk them as fast as they left. The people of Wheeling — one mile distant — hearing the noise of the attack, fired a swivel, to encourage the defenders, although fearful of coming to the rescue. This enraged the Indians the more ; they sent forth terrific yells, and brought brush, piled it around the cabin, and set it on fire. Those within, in a measure smothered the flames, first with the water and milk in the house, and then with damp earth, from the floor of the cabin. The fight was kept up about two hours, until dawn, when the Indians retreated. Had they at- tacked earlier, success would have resulted. The loss of the In- dians, or their number, was unknown — only one was seen. He was in the act of climbing up the corner of the cabin, when he was discovered, let go his hold and fell. Seven of those within were wounded, and one, a Mr. Walker, mortally. He was a brave man. As he lay, disabled and helpless, on his back, on the earth, he called out to the Indians, in a taunting manner. He died in a few hours, and was buried the next day, at Wheeling, with military honors. A party of men, under Gen. Benjamin Biggs, of West Liberty, went in pursuit of the Indians, but without success. A niece of Captain Kirkwood, during the attack, was on a visit about twenty miles distant, on Buffalo creek. In the night, she dreamed that the cabin was attacked, and heard the guns. So strong an impression did it make, that she arose and rode down with all