USA > Indiana > Knox County > Vincennes > Historical sketches of Old Vincennes, founded in 1732 : its institutions and churches, embracing collateral incidents and biographical sketches of many persons and events connected therewith > Part 11
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In 1797 Captain Harrison resigned his WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. commission in the army and was appointed Secretary of the Northwest Ter- ritory, and ex-officio Lieutenant-Governor, General St. Clair being Governor. At that time no one could purchase tracts of land in less quantity than 4,000 acres, and Harri- son, in spite of violent opposition, had the law rescinded
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for the benefit of poor settlers who had hitherto to pur- chase their lands second-handed, often at exorbitant prices.
In 1800 the Northwest Territory was divided, the east- ern portion embraced in the State of Ohio, and called the Territory of Ohio; and the western portion, including that region which is now the States of Indiana, Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin, but then called Indiana Terri- tory. Harrison, then at the age of twenty-seven, was ap- pointed Governor of Indiana Territory, and immediately after also Governor of Upper Louisiana by John Adams, President. When he was appointed Governor there were but three white settlements embraced in his jurisdiction, one on the Ohio river at the Falls, Vincennes on the Wa- bash, and a French setttlement on the Kaskaskia river. IIe arrived at his seat of government, Vincennes, January, 1801, his Secretary, John Gibson, having preceded him and entered upon the formation of a Territorial Govern- ment.
Governor Harrison's services were invaluable to the Washington Government, and during his administration, thirteen treaties were made with the Indians, and all of them were confirmed by Congress. His administration had been so clean and satisfactory to the powers that be, that he received reappointments by Jefferson and Madison.
During Governor Harrison's administration of the Ter- ritory, that which gave him the most renown was the vic- tory he gained over the Indian Confederacy, headed by Tecumseh and his brother Ollimacheca, the Prophet, at the battle of Tippecanoe, which occurred November 7, 1811,* about seventy-nine miles above Vincennes near the site of LaFayette.
* The episode leading up to this battle will be found rela ed in the chapter re- lating to llarrison's mansion.
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In 1812 he was appointed by President Madison Com- mander-in-Chief of the Northwestern army, with orders to retake Detroit, which had recently ignominiously been sur- rendered by General Hull. Upon this appointment he resigned the office of Governor and set about raising an army to accomplish his orders. Before he was ready to advance, General Winchester had taken the initiative against orders, and was defeated, with a loss of his whole command, in killed and captured, amounting to about 1,000 mon.
This premature attack and disaster following it delayed the advance on Detroit, and on account of the swamps to be crossed to reach it, General Harrison, who had now been appointed Commander-in-Chief of the army, suggested that the attack be delayed until the winter, or, if sooner, by water, which was done; and on the 10th of September, Commander Perry, with his gallant squadron, met the Brit- ishi fleet and at the close of a heroic struggle found the American navy victorious. General Harrison now crossed the lake, took possession of Sandwich, the British retreating before him, and sent a brigade which seized Detroit. The British and Indian allies retreated, but made a stand on the banks of the Thames river, but this was of short dura- tion, and General Proctor's forees surrendered : but the Indians fought longer, before retreating, leaving their great Chief, Tecumseh, slain on the battlefield. This great battle gave peace to the Northwestern frontier, victory again perching on American arms, and Harrison receiving the plaudits of his countrymen.
Soon after this, owing to want of harmony between the Secretary of War and himself, General Harrison resigned
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his commission, much to the regret of President Madison. He, however, remained in his country's service as com- missioner, to treat with the Indians, until 1816, when he was chosen a Representative to Congress from Ohio. Charges having been made, by some of his enemies, of cor- ruption, in relation to the commissariat of the army, a com- mittee of investigation was appointed, who completely vin- dicated his character, and paid a high compliment to his patriotism, honesty and devotion to public service. In 1819 he was elected to the United States Senate from Ohio, where he ably served his State. In 1828 President John Quincy Adams appointed him Minister of the Republic of Colombia, but upon the inauguration of General Jackson, a bitter foe of Harrison, in 1829, General Harrison was recalled, when he returned to private life at North Bend, Ohio.
General Harrison was accused of being pro-slavery, but he replied to the accusation as follows :
"From my earliest youth, and to the present moment, I have been an ardent friend of human liberty. At the age of eighteen I became a member of an abolition society established at Richmond, Va., the object of which was to ameliorate the condition of slaves and procure their free- dom by every legal means. The obligations which I then came under I have faithfully performed. I have been the means of liberating many slaves, but never placed one in bondage. I was the first person to introduce into Congress a proposition that all the country above Missouri should never have slavery admitted into it."
In 1836 the friends of General Harrison advocated his claims for the presidency, but the opposition to the de-
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mocracy was divided and Martin Van Buren was elected ; but at the close of Van Buren's administration General Harrison was the unanimous choice of the Whig party, and he was triumphantly elected to the presidency. He entered upon his duties with the brightest prospects of a successful administration, having selected an able Cabinet, with Daniel Webster as Secretary of State; but in one short month he was stricken with pleurisy, and after a brief ill- ness he died April 4, 1841, honored and beloved by his countrymen. His remains were interred at North Bend, Ohio.
GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR.
President Zachary Taylor, tradition has it, once lived here early in the nineteenth century, and occupied the Benjamin Parke cottage, just south of Governor Harrison's residence, corner Hart and Water streets, and it may have been true, as he is said to have participated in the battle of Tippecanoe. History* tells that he was stationed at Fort Harrison (Terre Haute) in 1812.
He was born in Virginia, but came to Kentucky in his infancy, his father settling on a farm near Louisville. His ancestry were distinguished patriots. He was the grand- son of Zachariah Taylor, son of James Taylor, the second, who was born in 1674, and died in 1729. His grand- father's sister, Frances Taylor, was the mother of Presi- Cent James Madison, as the writer learns from his family tree of genealogy in his possession. He received such odu- cation as the country schools afforded, but early developed a patriotic feeling and a desire to fight the Indians, who
"Abbott's History Presidents United States, p. 300.
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were often making raids into the State. His father, Richard Taylor, succeeded in getting him a commission as Lienten- ant in the United States Army. He was first stationed in New Orleans. Having risen to the office of Captain, he was assigned to Fort Harrison, a fort General Harrison had hastily constructed while on his way (at Terre Haute) to the Prophet's town, near Lafayette, to engage the head of Tecumseh's confed- "eracy and overthrow it. The year follow- ing the building of the fort it was attacked by Indians, but Captain Taylor nobly defend- ed his position and beat back his assail- ants; and for his gal- lant conduct was pro- moted to the office of Major. At the termi- nation of the war with England the army was curtailed, and he GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. was reduced in office to that of Captain, when he resigned. But he was re- stored to his majorship and sent to Fort Crawford, on Fox River, which empties into Green Bay. During his service there he was appointed Colonel, and subsequently participated in the Black Hawk War, one episode of which is worth recording. He had in his force a large number of militia who had volunteered for service in Illinois only-
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Black Hawk having crossed Rock River, then supposed to be the dividing line of the State-and they declined to go further, and a council of war was held; many speeches were made, when finally Taylor was called on for his opinion. He gravely rose and said: "Gentlemen and fel- low-citizens, the word has been passed on to me from Washington to follow Black Hawk, and to take you with me as soldiers. I mean to do both. There are the flatboats drawn up on the shore ; there are Uncle Sam's men drawn up behind you on the prairie." The argument was con- clusive, and, in a few hours, they were all across the river and in hot pursuit of their foe.
In 1836 he was sent to Florida to assist in subduing the Seminoles. The war was long and bloody, but he came out conqueror. In May, 1838, he was commissioned General. After two years of hard, wearisome service in the Ever- glades, and at his request, he obtained a command embrac- ing Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia, with headquarters at Fort Jessup, in Louisiana, in 1840. In the spring of 1845 Congress passed the aet annexing Texas to the Union. This brought on the war with Mexico over a boundary question, and General Taylor was called into active service. The first serious encounter with the Mexi- cans was in the battle of Palo Alto, when he met an army of 3,000, who were aiding an attack on Fort Brown. With a less mumber Taylor, after a day's battle, forced the enemy to retire, but they took up a position three miles distant, at a place called Resaca de la Palma. Here he won an- other victory, and Fort Brown was relieved. After these battles the title of Brevet Major-General was conferred on him. His next victory was at Monterey, where the Mexi-
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can General, Ampudia, capitulated after severe fighting. General Scott, shortly after this, assumed command of all the American forces in Mexico, and Taylor was left at Monterey with only about 5,000 troops for the garrisoning of the surrounding posts. But in February this army was raised to 6,000 and a forward movement made. Fifty miles south of Monterey he received word that Santa Anna was advancing on him, near the village of Buena Vista, with 20,000 troops. Santa Anna sent an aide with a flag of truce, demanding his surrender. General Taylor's reply was, "General Taylor never surrenders ;" and, as he rode along his ranks, he said: "I intend to stand here not only so long as a man remains, but so long as a piece of a man is left." The battle then commenced, February 22, 1847, and lasted ten hours. The night following the enemy re- treated. American loss, 700 in killed and wounded ; Mexi- cans, 2,000.
These battles of Palo Alto, Resaca de la Palma, Mon- terey and Buena Vista brought General Taylor imperish- able renown, and such popularity that he was given the presidential chair in 1850 by a grateful people; but he prematurely died in July of the same year. His remains were interred at Frankfort, Ky.
TECUMSEH.
The war chief, Tecumseh, may well be rated as one of the foremost leaders of his race. He was a chief actor on battlefields from Louisiana to Canada, and his fame was cocval with the Northwestern country. His warwhoop was as magic to his fellow-countrymen who dared to follow where he led. He was a member of the Shawnee tribe, and
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tradition gives the coast of the Gulf of Mexico as the home of his ancestry ; but in the evolution of time the tribe be- came denizens in the Lake Region, at the head of the Wa- bash River. In the early exploration and settlement of this part of the Western Continent his tribe was found the most implacable the whites had to contend with. They, in many ways, seemed to be in advance of the surrounding Indians, and their skill and strategy were superior in battle, and foes not easily placated in peace or conquered in war.
Nothing of Tecumseh's boyhood is known, nor how soon he visited the village Che-pe-ko-ke, of the Pinkeshaws; but the probability is that it was at an early day, as this was a large trading post. His brother, the Prophet, exer- cised such influence over the tribes in this region, in a spiritual way, that Tecumseh gained additional favor thereby, and occupied as high a position in the temporal affairs of the adjacent tribes as the Prophet did in spirit- ual matters. Being thus exalted with his race, he sought to form a confederation of all the tribes with a view of beating back the eneroachments of the whites and annul- ing the treaties that had been made, from time to time, and especially those entered into between Governor Har- rison and themselves. His plans were deep-laid ones, and, had a consolidation of the tribes, North and South, been consummated before the Prophet's forces were attacked, in his absence on his federating mission, disaster might have occurred to the whites in all this country.
His visit to General Harrison, in the summer of 1811, on which occasion he denied the right of the separate tribes to make treaties, and intimated that they were held to be void by the Indians, and that they would not live up to
[12]
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them, convinced Harrison of his danger, and he immedi- ately commenced perfecting plans to circumvent Tecumseh and the Prophet. Having received additional troops in the fall of 1811, he started for the Prophet's headquarters, up the Wabash, determined to force a settlement, by treaty or battle. The result of this campaign was the battle of Tip- pecanoe, on November 7, when the Prophet's and Tecum- seh's power was broken, and the proposed alliances with other tribes in the South were frustrated. After this dis- aster Tecumseh returned to his tribe in the northern part of the State, but the prestige of his warriors, left after the battle, was gone, and his scheme of confederation was aban- doned; but for several years afterward he gave trouble to adjacent settlements. Being disgusted, he quitted the northern part of the State, and allied himself to the tribes in Michigan, and joined hands with the English, whose headquarters were at Detroit.
After Commodore Perry's notable victory over the Brit- ish fleet in a naval battle on Lake Erie, on the 10th of Sep- tember, 1814, General Harrison crossed the lake, took pos- session of Sandwich, the British forces retreating, Proctor leading the English and Tecumseh the Indians. They made a stubborn stand on the banks of the River Raison, but the battle was short and decisive, Proctor surrendering the English forces, but the Indians, under Tecumseh, re- treated ; but, after a little longer fighting, they fled, leaving their chief slain on the field.
It seems the irony of fate that the two greatest Indian warriors of the time, the Prophet and Tecumseh, his brother, should meet complete disaster under the leader- ship of General William Henry Harrison. The question
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who killed Tecumseh has ever been an unsolved conun- drum.
Among the Kentucky troops at the battle when he was killed was Colonel Richard M. Johnson, who elaimed to have been the slayer of the great Indian hero; but many of his comrades doubted his claim, and said that the fight was so fast and furious, of the pell-mell fashion, that it would have been impossible to positively know the soldier who did the deed. The writer knew well and conversed with an intelligent gentleman who was engaged in the bat- tle who doubted the accuracy of Johnson's elaim. Never- theless he got the credit of it, and was elevated to the viec- presideney, by the euphonious refrain, during the can- vass of the presidential election, of "Rumpsy-dumpsy, Old Diek Johnson killed Tecumseh." The writer heard often the catchy phrase in his boyhood days, which no doubt exer- cised a potent influence upon many voters.
In after years similar phrases, as "Tippecanoe and Tyler too" and "Old Rough and Ready," were made to do good service in presidential campaigns.
Had Tecumseh been surrounded by other environments, where education and civilization exert noble and elevating influences, he might have been a benefactor to his race and his memory cherished coeval with time. He was astute, brave, broad in intellect, and not devoid of noble impulses. As it is, he was known to his race only as a brave and heroic leader, and to the white man as a dauntless, intrepid, and astute warrior, fitly ranking with Osceola, Black Hawk and other famed Indians. And yet, if his memory is perpetuated, it must be by his foes who will not with- hold such praise as is justly due him.
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JOHN DUFFIELD HAY.
The subject of this sketch was a notable character in old Vincennes. He was born in Dauphin County, Pennsyl- vania, in 1775; settled in this town in 1803, and engaged in the mercantile business, which he continued until he died, November 5, 1840. He was married in 1804 to Miss Sarah Harvey, of Maryland. In 1813 he was postmaster of Vincennes, and Recorder of the County of Knox. On January 29, 1814, he met the misfortune of having his house and store burned, with all the records of the Re- corder's office, the postoffice, and three children. In this conflagration, besides his family loss, goods and valuables to the amount of $20,000 were consumed. To make the dis- aster more horrible, an explosion of three hundred pounds of gunpowder in the cellar occurred, killing one man and injuring another so that he subsequently died of his inju- ries, and doing great damage to adjacent property.
He was a volunteer captain in the army with Governor Harrison, and was aide-de-camp to the commander-in-chief in 1812. IIe was in the battle of Tippecanoe, and I will here record a letter written by him just after his return home from the battle, as a historical contribution of that memorable event. It was written to his father, Colonel William Hay, of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania:
"Vincennes, November 20, 1811.
"Dear Father-On the 15th of October last I was ordered to join a troop of cavalry to which I belonged. It was then with the army on its march against the hostile Indians np the Wabash. I set out, and in three days overtook the army
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on the 21st at Fort Harrison, eighty miles north of this place. Eight days after my arrival the army took up the line of march, and on the 6th day of this month we got in sight of the Prophet's town. The Indians, seeing our ap- proach, sent out a flag of truce, and begged of the Governor, who was commander-in-chief, to retire to a creek one-half mile back, and they would meet him in council the next day. IIe did so, and we encamped for the night on the ground which they had pointed out. Our troops consisted of one regiment of United States troops, 450 strong; three troops of horse, amounting to 120 men ; two companies of mounted riflemen and about 300 militia on foot. The enemy were said to be 700 warriors. The night was dark and rainy. At half past four in the morning the Indians commenced their attack by shooting down our sentinels, after which they raised the warwhoop and made a violent onset ; they attempted to force our lines. Our men one and all behaved with great spirit. The battle lasted four hours and five minutes. It is said to be the hardest battle that has been fought since the revolution. We had fifty-four men killed and 125 wounded, together with a great many horses. During the action the Indians drove off forty-six head of beef cattle, which was all we had. At daylight the Indians retreated and left us to bury our dead and to take care of the wounded, which took up a whole day. We had the satisfaction of finding in and around our camp fifty-four Indians killed and saw trails of blood where a great number had been carried off during the action. On the 8th we reconnoitered the town of the Indians and found they had fled and left an immense quantity of corn, beans, kettles, guns, and a variety of other things, all of which
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we destroyed, except what was necessary for the army. We then burned the town, which consisted of about two hun- dred houses. On the 9th we took up the line of march for home, and arrived at this place on the 17th, safe, and sound, and unhurt.
"I never in my life felt so grateful to Providence as the morning after the battle. A great many balls passed very near me; they appeared to be like a shower of hail. Sev- eral men were shot about me and a great many of my in- timate acquaintances were killed on the spot. The yells of the savages and the groans of the dying were truly dis- tressing.
"I am in haste, our town is quite in a bustle and I have not time to add more. JOHN D. HAY."
When the Presbyterian Church was organized here in 1806 he became one of its first elders.
Subsequent to the loss of his children he was blessed with three other children-Mary Ann, born in 1815, who married Doctor Joseph Maddox, a physician of Vincennes, each of whom died early; Nancy Ann, born in 1817, mar- ried Jolin W. Maddox, the latter a prominent merchant (succeeding his father-in-law) and a stanch church mem- ber, dying in March, 1879; and George Duffield Hay, who was a prominent merchant in Vincennes many years, but who removed to Philadelphia, where he died in September, 1895, leaving one son, Henry Gurley Hay, a prominent banker and financier of Cheyenne, Wyo. The relict of Mr. Maddox died in February, 1902, aged eighty-five years, in Chester, Pa., leaving only one daughter, Mrs. Sarah Hay Vance, relict of the late Reverend Joseph Vance (who was
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a worthy pastor of Vincennes Presbyterian Church for many years), now a resident of Cheyenne, Wyo.
The old Hay building stood on the corner of First and Main streets, the site of the old American Hotel, which gave way to the La Plante Hotel of today.
NATHANIEL EWING.
Nathaniel Ewing, the subject of this sketch, was born April 10, 1772, in Pennsylvania. His grandfather, Na- thaniel Ewing, was born in Colerain County, Ireland, and emigrated to America to escape persecution in 1725. Ilis father emigrated to Pennsylvania and died there in 1785. His son, Nathaniel Ewing, followed farming and trading on the Ohio and Wabash rivers, and his first trip to Vin- cennes, with a pirogue loaded with apples, salt, etc., was made in 1788, when he was only sixteen years old, and he finally settled here in 1807, having received the appoint- ment of Receiver of the Land Office at this place, which office he efficiently held through several administrations, and until the year 1824.
He was elected president of the first bank established in Vincennes. It was a private institution, but, subse- quently, it was adopted with four other banks, and given a charter by the Legislature. Like many similar institutions in the early days of the State, this bank went into liquida- tion in 1824.
Mr. Ewing was engaged, during his early career, in poli- tics, having been elected to the Legislature, and was a mem- ber when the Territory became a State in 1816. In the controversy upon the slavery question, which was then
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much discussed, he espoused the cause of freedom. After retirement from office, in 1824, to his farm, Mont Clair, he spent the remainder of his days quietly until his death. August 6, 1846.
NATHANIEL EWING.
Mr. Ewing was a notable figure in business and social life here, in the first years of the past century, and occupied
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a leading position as a successful financier. He married Miss Ann Breading on October 1, 1793. Eight children were the result of the union. His eldest daughter, Mary, married Doctor William Carr Lane, of St. Louis; Caroline married Doctor Geo. W. Mears, who settled at Indianapo- lis: Rachel, who married Daniel Jencks, of Terre Haute; Harriet married James Farrington, of Terre Haute, and Sarah married the Honorable John Law, who was a prominent attorney and member of Congress from this town. His sons were George W. Ewing, who became a prominent attorney and banker ; William L. Ewing, a mer- chant, who, in early life, emigrated to St. Louis, and be- eame a prominent and successful financier; and James, who occupied the old family mansion until his death. He was the grandfather of our fellow-citizen, the Honorable W. L. Ewing, ex-Mayor of St. Louis, but now occupying, during the summer months, the old family residence, Mont Clair, which has been in possession of the family for nearly a century. It is situated four miles east of the city, is a most beautiful suburban home, and gains in picturesque beauty under the skillful hand of its present occupant, with the passing years, and presents an ideal site, embowered with forest trees and carpeted with swards of blue grass for pienieing in the summer days.
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