USA > Indiana > Jackson County > Early History Of Jackson County Hardships And Privations Endured And Encountered With The Indiana > Part 5
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The same day, I think it was, of this occur- rence, William Rudick and his brother were hunt- ing in the hills, a few miles, from where Doan was killed, and were fired upon by Indians. One of the bullets struck the breach-pin screw of William's gun, dismounted the barrell from the stock, and glancing, lodged in his arm. They were all grit, however, and the brother returning the fire, wounded one of the Indians, who, with difficulty by the help of his comrades, made good his escape, though pursued for some distance.
The fact of the fight between the Ruddicks and the Indians and the wounding of the Indian, and probably, of Ruddick, I had from Mr. Ketcham and Mr. Findely; and the circumstances of the wound- ing of William Ruddick and the dismounting of his gun from its stock, I have from a recent letter from Mr. Josiah Shewmaker. The killing of Mr. Hays I reserve for my next.
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EARLY JACKSON COUNTY HISTORY
Mr. Thomas Carr was among the very early settlers of our county, and like the most of them "pitched his tent" within easy supporting distance of the Indian trading post at Vallonia, a name most likely given it by some of the early French traders, and probably a modification of the French word vallon, (pronounced vah-long), signifying a dell or little valley, and suggested by its location at the entrance of the dell that lies among the hills, or high rolling ground abutting upon the place from the east.
I have from Mr. George W. Carr Jr., who has been a resident of this city for some years, the following account of his grand-father, Thomas Carr, the personage who is mainly the subject of this missive. Thomas Carr was born in Va., about 1783. His father, John Carr, a native of Ireland, dying when Thomas was quite young, he was brought up by his mother with her four other chil- dren to Mercer Co., Ky., where he was brought up by his maternal uncle, Thomas Ewing, who was a man of some prominence among the early settlers. In 1803 Mr. Carr was married and moved to Clark county, where his sons John Flavel and George Whitefield, named for eminent calvinist preachers, were born, the former in 1805, and the latter in 1807. In 1817, or thereabouts, Mr. Ewing Sr., who was a slaveholder and possessed of considerable means for the times, visited and bought for the use of his children quite a body of land near Vallonia; and here Mr. Carr moved with his fam- ily early in 1811, and entered upon a seven years lease on one of these tracts; but owing to the Indian disturbances of 1812-13, during the most of which time the settlers were forted at Vallonia, he moved his family back to Clark county in the fall of the latter year. His son George W., then only five years old, distinctly remembered to the last of his long life the fact of his playing with other chil- dren outside of the walls of the stockade which was built early in 1814. Mr. Carr returned to his lease in the spring of 1814, planted and raised a crop, and in the fall of that year or the spring of 1815, moved the family to our county. At the expiration of his lease, he moved with his family on January, 1818 into a cabin which he had built
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on a quarter-section of land on Pea ridge which he had entered the previous fall, and here he lived on what was known as the "Carr homestead" till his death in 1847 at the age of about sixty. And here his sons John and George grew to manhood under the hardships and privations of pioneer life; both of them living to achieve in after years success and honorable, well merited distinction in life, the former having repeatedly represented our county in both branches of the legislature, as did the latter from the county of Lawrence, and both having been members of the convention that framed our State constitution, the latter having presided over its deliberations; and in addition to this, each of them having held other responsible positions of public trust. John F. departed this life in April, 1878, at the age of 73, and Geo. W. in May, 1892, at the age of 84 years.
Very Respectfully, John H. Benton.
Written for the Banner at the request of A. J. Miller in criticism of the error of last week.
An article in the Banner of last week states that it was Adam Miller who assisted in rescuing the body of Sturgeon at what is now called Fislar Hill, in 1812. This is not correct. The party con- sisted of Abraham Miller, Richard Beem, Nealy Beem, Thomas Ewing and Joseph Britton.
At the time of this murder Adam Miller was at Detroit, Michigan. In the early summer of 1812, Adam, contrary to the wishes of his Kentucky father, started last and joined the Federal Army, at Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He was soon after sent west to join the division of William Hull in Michi- gan. On the 16th day of August, 1812, General Hull hoisted a flag of truce, and surrendered to the whole of Michigan. For this he was tried by a court-martial on three charges; treason, cowardice and conduct unbecoming an officer. The soldiers who fought under Gen. Hull felt deep- ly this humiliation, and many of them resigned their positions in the army, resolved not to re-
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enlist. Adam Miller deserted and about the mid- winter came to Vallonia. In the early spring of 1813 he went by way of his fathers to the south where he joined the army of General Jackson. During the years 1813 and 1814 Miller was chiefly employed in Jackson's Indiana Campaigns, but on Jan. 8, 1815, he was present at the famous New Orleans surrender. This battle closed the war and Miller came home, but preferring Vallonia to his fathers home in Kentucky, he made Vallonia his residence, where he married a sister of Abraham Miller, thus becoming brother-in-laws. Other- wise Abraham Miller and Adam Miller were not related.
The above is a faithful account of Adam Miller's services concerning the period under con- sideration, as related to me by A. J. Miller, whose father, Abraham Miller, was without any doubt the central figure in that little party that saved for burial the body of the lamented Sturgeon.
Respectfully, C.
Editor's Note-The correction referred to in the forgoing was an error on the part of the composi- tor, who should have set the name ABRAM instead of ADAM. Our historian, Mr. Benton, is not in error.
Thursday, March 2, 1893
Early History of Jackson County
So far as my inquiries have extended as to when the settlement of our county began, which appears to have had its beginning at Vallonia, I have failed to learn with certainty of any whose coming ante- dates the year 1811. And notable among the first arrivals, if not the very first, was that group of sturdy pioneers who had their nativity in what was then Mercer county, Ky., who made their advent in- to the then unbroken wilderness of our county early in the spring of that year, coming as did Durham, and Ewing, and McAfee directly from Ky., or after a sojourn of several years in Clark county, as was the case with Mr. Carr.
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EARLY JACKSON COUNTY HISTORY
And among the sturdy men that encountered the perils and hardships of a pioneer life in Val- lonia settlement, there were few, if any, that were more conspicuous in influence and activity for the general welfare than was Jesse B. Durham, the commandent, as we are told, of the fort erected early in 1812, and which for something like eigh- teen months from the fall of the year, afforded within the enclosure of its ample stockade a place of refuge of the tomahawk and scalping knife of the savage.
Col. Jesse B. Durham, the title by which he was known in after life, a native of Ky., was born March 9, 1788, in or near Perryville, the county seat of Boyle county, then a part of Mercer coun- ty, and on his twenty-second birthday, March 9, 1810, he was united in marriage to a Miss Ewing, Catharine I believe, a daughter of Mr. Samuel Ewing, of Perryville, and a sister of Mrs. John Mc- Afee, all of whom save Samuel Ewing became permanent residents of our county from its initial settlement in 1811.
And here, in or near our ancient town of Val- lonia, was born in January, 1812, their son, Ewing Durham. A distinction generally conceded to him of being the first white child that was born within the present limits of our county. We say, gen- erally, for reason that the claim, as I have hereto- fore stated, was contested by Mr. George W. Hays. Ewing Durham was quite a popular man in his day, and was sheriff of our county from Aug., 1838 to Aug., 1842, and during his sheriffality executed on October 7, 1831, the extreme penalty of the law against James Summers for wife-murder, the only instance of hanging under judicial authority that has occurred in our county.
Although Mr. Durham chose to remain in the settlement, and take his chances with the 23 fam- ilies that took refuge in the fort, rather than to fall back to some place of greater security in the older settlements along the Ohio, as did many others, it appears that his wife and child returned to her former home in Kentucky, on account of the threatening, dreaded hostility of the Indians, and here their son, Harrison, was born to them in
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EARLY JACKSON COUNTY HISTORY
1813. Harrison Durham grew to manhood and old age in our county, the whole of his life, save the first and few of its last years having been spent in or near Vallonia and Brownstown. He died at Mitchell, Ind., in Dec., 1886, at the age of 78, respected and kindly remembered by all who knew him. In the Banner's obituary notice of his life and death, it is related that "as soon as he was old enough for the "journey", his mother returned (from Ky.) to the fort carrying the babe, her hus- band walking". Ewing Durham died at his home in the northern suburb of Vallonia in 1846, at the age of 34 years.
Other children were born to them, Hannibal, who died in early manhood in 1841; John B., who like his father, was of collosal size, suddenly cut off by disease in the prime of life; and a daughter, bearing, if we remember right, her mother's name of Catharine who became the wife of Col. S. T. Wells. Of the family, only two are now living, Miss Elvira Durham, residing in Denver, Colo., and Mr. Samuel Durham, residing in Marion, Iowa, having gone to the state while yet a territory, and as early certainly as 1844, for we remember that at democratic barbecue in Brownstown, Oct. 24, 1844, the band wagon from Salem was made ad- ditionally conspicuous by a pair of enormous elk horns, said to have been sent or brought from Iowa by Samuel Durham, where he was employed in the survey of public lands.
Col. Durham lived a goodly number of years to enjoy the fruits of his sober, industrious, well spent life. We retain .a distinct recollection of having visited his home when a lad of a dozen years, in company with his wife's kinsman, "Lon" Wort, of our enjoyment of an excellent dinner, and of our admiration of the well ordered household, the pictures of the President from Washington to Van Buren on the parlor walls, to the spacious barn teeming with the harvest, the cattle grazing or re- posing in the pasture, and last, though not least, the orchard with its abundance of ripening fruit. And this allusion to the household reminds me that Mrs. Durham was the first lady in our county to own a cooking stove, her niece, Mrs. Dr. Wirt, was
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EARLY JACKSON COUNTY HISTORY
the second, and my mother the third, of which she (my mother) became the delighted proprietress in 1839, if I remember right.
Col. Durham was staunch Presbyterian and an. ardent democrat. He represented the county in the state legislature one term along in the thirties, and until the office of Auditor was created in 1846, and the sale of the school lands, (Sec. 16 of each congressional township) and management of the funds arising therefrom was made part of its duties, he had held for a number of years the office of School Commissioner, having charge this important public interest.
He departed this life in good hope of life eternal in Oct., 1850, at the age of 62 years and 10 months; and the companion of his toils and cares, his privations and prosterity made her departure the same year, though I am not advised as to the month. In conclusion, it is proper that I state that the most of the data on which this letter is based is derived from a recent letter from Mr. Durham, of Iowa, to whom reference herein has been made.
Very respectfully, John H. Benton
Washington, D. C. February 22, 1893.
An Interesting Fact
Washington, D. C., Feb. 24, '93.
Ed. Banner: I send you herewith a copy of a letter just received from Mr. Absaolm Ketcham, a son of the Col. John Ketcham who conveyed to our coun- ty the land on which its county seat is located. Knowing the interest your readers will take in its perusal, and desiring to give it as extended a notice as possible. I send it to the Banner as well as a copy to the Herald for publication.
Very Respectfully, John H. Benton.
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EARLY JACKSON COUNTY HISTORY
The Letter Clear Creek, Monroe Co., Ind. February 16, 1893.
Mr. John H. Benton,
Dear Sir: Your favor of the 6th inst. came safely to hand, and I should have answered at once, but could not give as much information on several points as I hoped to be able to do in a few days. My Father, as you were correctly informed, died in 1864 at the age of 82. When almost an octogen- arian, with intellect as clear and bright as a May mornng, he wrote in his terse style a short history of himself, and connected with it is the informa- tion you desire. I had several hundred copies of his funeral, together with his reminiscences, print- ed, but find that I have from time to time given them all away, and shall have to call on a neigh- bor for a copy, which you will please return to me when done with it. I shall appreciate a paper published in Brownstown, near to or in which my father had such a close race for his life by the savages lying in ambush.
You will find by examination of the county records that my father, though too modest to men- tion it, donated to the county the public square as long as it was used for the county seat. DON'T LET IT BE MOVED.
Very Respt'y yours, A. Ketcham.
Thursday March 9, 1893. Early History of Jackson County
Fifty years ago the name of John Ketcham was as "familiar in the mouths" of the residents of our county "as household words"; for he was then remembered as one of its earliest settlers, a fear- less man whom neither wild beast nor savage could keep back from the extremest confines of civilization; but chiefly was he known and remem- bered as the person who had entered from the Government, and in 1816 had conveyed to the coun-
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ty the land on which its county-seat was located. Until recently we had well nigh despaired on ever arriving at a knowledge of his personal his- tory, and especially that portion of it was con- nected with our county. What we wanted to know was, when did he come to the county and where from; how long did he remain here; what adven- tures, if any, did he encounter during his stay; and what did he know of the Indian depredations and killings of these far off times. But all this, and much more than we had hoped for, is now in our possession through the medium of the pamphlet sent us by his son, to which, reference was made in a recent letter of his in The Banner. Your read- ers will not tire, I am sure with such relations of its contents as I shall, through your kindness, lay before them from time to time. I shall preface, however, what is to be said of the son by a brief sketch of the father which will serve to show that he came of good, sturdy, heroic stock.
Daniel Ketcham,
the father of John, emigrated with his family from Washington County, Md. and settled near Boon's Station, Shelby Co., in May, 1784. Louisville, the point at which they launched from a flat boat, had then but one house and it a block house. Their location was 45 miles east of this; and no less than three men were killed on their farm by the Indians in the course of a few years, and twice they had to seek the protection of the Station from the sav- ages, some six miles distant. In 1792, in his flight from a party of eleven Tawa Indians, his horse was shot under him, and after running a short distance he was overtaken by one of them with brandished tomahawk, who graciously received his proferred hand. The savages at once made a hasty retreat with their plunder and captive; crossed the Ohio at Madison, Ind., and after a stop of several weeks on one of the Miami Rivers, finally reached their village not far, as supposed, from Detroit. Soon after their arrival he was taken through the process necessary to change him from pale-face to Indian for he was to become the adopted son of some widowed mother, who had lost her son. First he was buffetted with blows of the fist from one savage and then another till
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EARLY JACKSON COUNTY HISTORY
pretty well used up. Then after a lapse of a few days, he was blackened, and in a looking glass permitted to take a last look at himself as a pale- face; after which he was tied to a stake as if for burning, in which condition he was addressed in an animated 30 minutes harangue by the chief's daughter, arrayed in gorgeous attire bedecked with 500 silver brooches. Then released and led into the river by two Indian women, who by dint of vigorous rubbing and washing, restored his normal color, and at the same time, as fondly supposed, washed the white man's blood out of his veins. This done he was conducted by them to their tent and formally presented to his future "mamma" whom they found seated in state awaiting his arrival. In the kindness of her motherly heart, softened for the occasion by liberal potations of whisky, she graciously extended her hand for welcome: but in the effort, lost her balance and tumbled sprawling upon the ground in a state of helpless drunkenness. And thus was white man made Indian.
The duties of the adopted son was the drudgery that is the hard lot of all Indian women; revolting of course to his better nature, and to be terminated at the earliest favorable opportunity. So after several months of toilsome servitude he escaped from his hard taskmaster, and after several "hair breadth escapes", aided now and then by French settlers, he finally reached Detroit, and after a brief stay at that place, he found his way to his old home in Md., and from there to his new home and family in Ky.
His devoutly religious Methodist wife, strong in the belief that he would be restored to his fam- ily, had never ceased to offer prayer to that end. And her prophesy to the neighbors that he would be back in time to stack their grain, an art in which he had acquired great proficiency in his na- tive state, was fulfilled; for when the harvest was ended and the grain ready for storage, suddenly, to the great joy of all he made his appearance and soon after the little crops of golden sheaves found their way, under his skillful hands into storm- defying stacks, for they had no barns.
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The biographer, Rev. T. M. Hopkins, formerly of Bloomington, Ind., and pastor of Mr. John Ketcham at the time of his death, to whom we are indebted, through his pamphlet, for the information contained in this sketch, does not give the date of the father or mother's death; but closes his account of them with the remark that, "With such par- entage," we can understand why John Ketcham would be so energetic and resolute as the following history of his own difficulties with the Indians, written by himself, shows him to have been.
This sketch was written late in his life, but contains, no doubt, as accurate statements as if it had been composed immediately after the occur- ance of the events noticed. It is given in his own language and characteristic style.
Mr. Editor, with this quotation I close the present article. In my next and perhaps three or four succeeding articles I shall give Mr. Ketcham's account of himself and the stirring events that occurred during the several years of his residence in our county; and all as given under his own hand and pen.
Very respectfully, John H. Benton.
Washington, D. C., March 3, 1893.
Thursday March 16, 1893. Early History of Jackson County By John H. Benton A brief sketch of Col. Ketcham's personal his- tory preliminary to his reminiscenses of our coun- ty while the Indian was still abroad in the land, will of course be read with interest.
Col. John Ketcham was born in Washington county, Md., September 10, 1782. In May 1784, his father and family settled in Shelby county, Ky., the future family home. In 1802 he was married to Miss Elizabeth Pearcy; and in April, 1811, they moved to Indiana, and settled near the present site of Brownstown, where he established a trading post with the Indians. A fort bearing his name was built on or near the spot where the
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EARLY JACKSON COUNTY HISTORY
Asher Woodmansee house now stands, and was oc- cupied by his son and a few other families during the memorable years 1812 and 1813. In June of the latter year he enlisted as a mounted ranger in the U. S. Service, and "served two whole years." In 1816 he conveyed to the county the "tract of land"-150 acres, at $8 per acre, on which its "seat of justice" was officially located on May 16th, of that year. In 1818, he removed to Monroe county, and in the fall of that year to the farm that thenceforth till the day of his death, February 7th, 1865, at the age of 82 years and five months, was his home. The wife of his early manhood, and nine out of their twelve children, survived him. His son speaking of him says, "He had no sense of fear; was kind even to a fault, and hated a mean action;" and his pastor, in his funeral discourse, that he was "a good peacemak- er," an affectionate husband an indulgent and kind father, a generous neighbor, a loyal and true citi- zen. The pastor relates that in his latter years, "it was his custom to spend much time in the stu- dy of the Bible;" and though residing some dis- tance from the church, he made it a point to be there on "fair days and communion Sabbath"; and that his Sabbath evenings were spent in hearing his son read a sermon to the assembled family, and in hearing them sing his own and their favor- ite hymns.
He held from time to time a number of pub- lic positions, a colonelcy in the State militia, and associate judgeship of his county, and its represen- tative some two or three times in the State legis- lature, and, an honor that seemed to please him most, one of Gen. Jackson's electors. In politics he was we suppose, a democrat; and in religion, we suppose, his mother's denomination was like- wise his, a Methodist.
Very Respectfully, John H. Benton.
Col. John Ketcham
"I propose to give a short history of our In- dian troubles of 1812-1813, in that part of the In- dian Territory commonly called the "Forks," sit-
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uated between the Muscackituck and the Drift- wood fork of White river, called by the Indians Han-gone-hak-qua se poo. In April, 1811, we settled on Section 14, Township 5n, Range 4, east. Said section was made fractional by the Indian boundary line cutting off the n. w. corner. The Indians were numerous and friendly in that part of the territory until after the Tippecanoe battle, which took place Nov. 7th, 1811. The Delaware tribe expressed disapprobation of the battle, and many Indians left our part of the territory then, but not all.
Hinton The First Victim
"We enjoyed peace, but not without fear, April 7, 1812. About two and a half miles above our location there lived three families together- Hinton, Cox and Ruddick. Their horses grazed in what was called the Cherry bottom, five or six miles above. Hinton started in the morning to get a horse for some purpose, but not returning that day his friends went in search of him, and ascer- tained that their horses were all stolen, and that Hinton was murdered or a prisoner. The circum- stance being made known to our neighborhood, we all went in search of the missing man. When we arrived at the Cherry bottom, two men were sent to examine the river shore, the balance were so di- vided as to sweep the bottom on through. He was found shot through the head, stripped and thrown into the river. We laid him on a blanket, tied the corners over a pole and started for home. Night overtaking us, we cut forks and raised the corpse out of the reach of wolves. A proposition was then made to John Ketcham and Noah Wright that if Ketcham would write a letter, and Wright take it to the Governor, then at Charlestown, they should be exempt from helping to bring in and bury the dead-agreed to".
Indians At Ketcham's Home
"Next morning (Sunday) about ten o'clock myself and family were shut up in the house. I was lying on a pallet before the fire when sudden- ly, without speaking, three Indians, each having a gun, pushed open the door and came in. I re-
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quested them to take seats; they placed their guns in the corner and took seats. I took occasion to examine their guns, and found them primed and loaded. It was not common when the Indians called on the whites to have any guns with them. Sometimes they had one, but not loaded. They could speak pretty good English. I asked them. "what news?" They answered "None." I told them of the murder of Hinton and horses stolen. They then observed that three days past seven Winnebago Indians passed their camp going to- ward Cherry bottom. I then let them know that we had sent a man to tell the Governor what was done, and in a little time he would send men to hunt up the bad Indians, etc. I asked them if they would go with me to the burying, they con- sented. My wife objected to my going with them and wept. The oldest sympathized with her and shed tears too. We started, I leading the way. We had proceeded near a mile, they stopped, said "We no go, make white man heap mad;" so we returned, but found nobody at the house. My wife and children had secreted themselves in the bush- es, supposing they would kill me, and return and kill them and plunder the house. The conduct of the three Indians was very suspicious. They had brought skins to trade with me but had hid them some distance from the house, saying nothing about them until after our return. Just as we re- turned, McColough, who had a squaw to wife, and another white man happened to come. Mc. told them if they didn't leave immediately 'every devil of them should be killed.' They returned to their camp, and left in great haste, leaving some of their valuables. They were the last camp of In- dians that left our frontier that season.
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