USA > Indiana > Allen County > Fort Wayne > History of Fort Wayne, from the earliest known accounts of this point, to the present period. Embracing an extended view of the aboriginal tribes of the Northwest, including, more especially, the Miamies with a sketch of the life of General Anthony Wyane; including also a lengthy biography of pioneer settlers of Fort Wayne. Also an account of the manufacturing, mercantile, and railroad interests of Fort Wayne and vicinity > Part 2
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46
The conflict closed about half-past eleven o'clock ; and being no longer obstructed, the insurgents began a march toward Princeton ; and Wayne, then stationed in the neighborhood of Morristown, at some risk, deter- mined to follow them and endeavor to bring them again to order. In a con- ciliatory and dignified manner, overtaking the main body at Vealtown, he at once began to open negotiations with some of the non-commissioned officers in whom he placed most confidence ; and it was not long before he succeeded in convincing them that, in order to succeed in their demands, a change in their course and demeanor would be of the first necessity-that without such a course of order on the part of the agrieved, nothing what- ever could be effected-urging the necessity of organizing a board or ap- pointing a committee among them to set forth the grievances, and by "a full and clear statement of their demands "-pledging himself to become a zealous advocate in their behalf, in " so far as the claims made should be founded in justice or equity."
These suggestions had the desired effect; the committee was duly ap- pointed, and the march towards Princeton was again begun, but in a man- ner much more orderly than before.
Such was the power and force of character of the good man and valiant soldier after whom our thriving city is named; and may it ever emulate his example.
As early as 1777-8, the British government having determined to direct *Hazard's " Register of Pennsylvania."
XIV.
HISTORY OF FORT WAYNE.
some formidable operations against the industrial relations of the South, in the carly part of April, 1781, Washington despatched Lafayette, " with twelve hundred regular infantry to Virginia ; and not long after, gave to the remains of the Pennsylvania line (about eleven hundred, commanded by Wayne, )a similar destination." We find Gen. Wayne engaging the Brit- ish at Green Spring, driving the enemy's pickets, and advancing in person to within some " fifty yards of the whole British army drawn up in order of battle, and already pushing forward flank-corps to envelope him." Deter- mining to make up in boldness what he seemed to have lost or was about to lose in a too near approach to the enemy's lines, he made a bold and sud- den move upon the enemy, and then retreated, which gave the British com- mandant to infer that it was an effort to draw his forces into ambush, which made so decided an impression in this direction, " that all pursuit of the American corps was forbidden."
By some this movement was deemed rash ; but Washington, in a letter to the General, said : " I received, with the greatest pleasure, the account of the action at Green Spring." Gen. Greene said : " the Marquis gives you great glory for your conduct in the action at Jamestown ; and I am sensible that you merit it. O that I had but had you with me a few days ago ! Your glory and the public good might have been greatly advanced."
On the first day of January following this movement, by order of Gen. Greene, Gen. Wayne was sent " to reinstate, as far as might be possible, the authority of the Union within the limits of Georgia, with one hundred regular dragoons, three hundred undisciplined Georgia militia, and about the same number of State cavalry."
Though greatly inadequate to the end desired, yet Wayne is said to have uttered no complaint or objection, but resolutely moved forward on his mission, bringing to bear his usual boldness and wisdom, sufficient, with this small force, to push " the enemy from all his interior posts," and to " cut off Indian detachments marching to his aid ; " intercepted the forays of the enemy's main body, and on the land side, penned him up, in a great degree, within the narrow limits of the town of Savannah ; and all in the " short space of five weeks."
In a letter to Gen. Greene, bearing date Feb. 28, 1782, Wayne said : "The duty we have done in Georgia was more difficult than that im- posed upon the children of Isreal; they had only to make bricks with straw, but we have had provision, forage, and almost every other aparatus of war, to procure without money ; boats, bridges, &e., to build without material, except those taken from the stump; and, what was more difficult than all, to make whigs out of tories. But this we have effected, and wrested the country out of the hands of the enemy, with the exception only of the town of Savannah. How to keep it without some additional force, is a matter worthy of consideration."
The British troops having evacuated Savannah about the 12th of July, Wayne, by order of General Greene, with the troops under his command, was recalled to South Carolina. In the letter, addressed to General Wayne, re- calling him from Georgia, Greene thus wrote : " I am happy at the approach- ing deliverance of that unfortunate country ; and what adds to my happiness,
#In a letter to a friend the General said : " In the five weeks we have been here, not an officer or soldier with me has once undressed, except for the purpose of changing his linen. The actual force of the enemy at this moment is more than three times that of mine. What we have been able to do has been done by maneuve ng rather than by force."
XV.
BIOGRAPHY OF GEN. ANTHONY WAYNE.
is, that it will reflect no small honor upon you. I wish you to be persuaded, that I shall do you ample justice in my public accounts to Congress and the Commander-in-chief. I think you have conducted your command with great prudence and with astonishing perseverance ; and, in so doing, you have fully answered the high expectations I ever entertained of your military abilities, from our earliest acquaintance."
Soon after the evacuation of Savannah, Charleston was given up by the British, which, after a treaty of peace, and an absence of seven years from his family, Wayne again returned to his homestead in Chester county, Pennsyl- vania, truly one of the most remarkable men of his day, crowned, as he well deserved, with the blessings of a whole nation of free men, and noble women.
But his well known abilities, and the high esteem in which he was held by his fellow-citizens, soon brought him before the public again, but in another capacity from that of a soldier. He was now elected a member of the Coun- cil of Censors ; and soon after this event he was honered with a seat in the Convention " called to revise and amend the Constitution of the State ; " in the discharge of which duties he acquitted himself with marked ability, and much to the satisfaction of the people.
At the close of these duties, declining any further services of a civil or po- litical nature, prefering to lead a life of retirement rather than one of public distinction of any kind ; and thus, principally employed in the pursuits of ag- riculture, was his time passed until, by the wish of Washington and the voice of the people, in the early part of 1792, Wayne was again called to the service of his country, and " appointed to the command of the legion and army of the West," the result of causes which the reader will find detailed in Chapters X, XI, and XII, of this volume.
At the close of his labors in the west, returning to the east, " plaudits and thanks, public and private," were showered upon him ; and "Congress, then in session, unanimously adopted resolutions highly complimentary to the General and the whole army."
The year following the treaty of Greenville, (1796), being appointed sole commissioner to treat with the northwestern Indians, and also " receiver of the military posts given up by the British government, General Wayne again returned to the west ; and, after a prompt and faithful discharge of the duties attached to these new functions, while descending Lake Erie from Detroit, he was attacked by the gout," where he soon after died ; and, at his own re- quest, (having previously been removed to the block-house) he was buried at the foot of the flag-staff of the garrison, with the simple inscription of " A. W." upon the stone that served to remind the inmates and the stranger of the burial place of the patriot, the hero, the soldier, and the man of true courage and remarkable foresight, ANTHONY WAYNE.
For thirteen years the remains of Wayne continued to repose beneath this simple head-stone, at the foot of the old flag-staff of Erie, when, in 1809, his son, Col. Isaac Wayne, desiring to remove the bones of his valiant father to the family burial place, in the cemetery of St. David's Church, in Chester county, Pennsylvania, the body was disinterred, still in a fine state of preser- vation, and removed as above, where a monument was raised to his memory by the " Pennsylvania State Society of the Cincinnati," on which the visitant may still read on the north and south front thereof, the following inscription ;
" NORTH FRONT :- Major-general ANTHONY WAYNE was born at Waynesbor- ough, in Chester county, State of Pennsylvania, A. D., 1745. After a life of honor and usefulness, he died in December, 1796, at a military post on the
1
XVI.
HISTORY OF FORT WAYNE.
shore of Lake Erie, Commander-in-chief of the Army of the United States. His military achievements are consecrated in the history of his country, and in the hearts of his countrymen. His remains are here deposited.
" SOUTH FRONT :- In honor of the distinguished military services of MAJOR- GENERAL ANTHONY WAYNE, and as an affectionate tribute of respect to his memory, this stone was erected by his companions in arms, the Pennsylva- nia State Society of the Cincinnati, July 4th, A. D., 1809, thirty-fourth anni- versary of the Independence of the United States ; an event which'constitutes the most appropriate enlogium of an American soldier and patriot."
The accompanying portrait of General Wayne is from an old painting of him, and is doubtless very accurate, and will no doubt be highly prized by every citizen of Fort Wayne and lover of his country into whose hands it should chance to fall.
Why a monument has not long ago been erected, on the site of the old fort, to the memory of this heroic and worthy man, including also Major Hamtramck, and the valiant soldiery under their command, I know not ; but feel that, though so long forgotten or neglected, the work will yet be per- formed by the people of the city of Fort Wayne and county of Allen ; thus enabling the stranger visiting the historic scenes of our city and adjacent lo- calities to behold, instead of the old garrison,-whose only remains among us consists in a few plainly-wrought canes, in the possession of a few of our eiti- zens, preserved as mementoes of the fort so long over-looking the confluence of the St. Mary and St. Joseph,-a substantial and appropriate monument to the memory of ANTHONY WAYNE and the brave men who dared to follow him to this ancient stronghold, that the then infant and enfeebled settlements of the west might enjoy peace and safety, and our beautiful country be ena- bled to march steadily on, as she has, to her present condition of growth and. prosperity.
-
-
Lith. Chas. Shober & Co. Chicago,lil.
CITY of FORT WAYNE from the Fort Wayne College.
HISTORY OF FORT WAYNE,
From the Earliest Known Accounts of this Point to the Present Period. -
" I watch the circle of the eternal years, And read forever in the storied page One lengthened roll of blood and wrong and tears- One onward step of Truth from age to age." " The eternal surge
Of Time and tide rolls on, and bears afar Our bubbles ; and the old burst-new emerge, Lashed from the foam of ages ; while the graves Of empires heave but like some passing waves."
CHAPTER I .- PRELIMINARI.
Primitive traces-Situation, general appearance of the City, and quality of the Sail in the region-The " glorious gate"-Its early advantages both to the Indians and the Whites-The Key to the Northwest-Early occupation by the French, English, and Americans-For centuries doubtless the home of the Red Man-It's prowl nenee and early discovery by the French-The best route to the Mississippi-First Settlement at Vincennes-This point evidently visited before Vincennes-La Salle's journey afoot-His journal to Frontenac-Best route-D'Aubry's expedition -Early settlements-Appearance in 1794-English and French Settlements- Early missionaries-Efforts of the French-La Salle's voyage-New France- French trading posts-First Mission among the Miamies-Their territory-Indian liberality-Hennepin-The missionaries and Miamies-La Barre's remonstranici- Illinois Indians -- Feuds of the Iroquois, Miami, and Illinois tribes-Traders a! . 1 squaws-Kaskaskia -- Trade and traffic-Dest points -- French Voyageurs and Ouia- tenons -- French militia arrive here-French fort-Capt. d'Vincennes-The Laglish fort-Traeed by Wayne in 1794 -- A NOTE-Conclusive evidence.
O WRITE of the past-to preserve the historic records of a former age-to cull the good and the true of any time-to grender green again the memories and relations of carly day ... even though blood and carnage had marked the fields and the foof-prints of the periods gone with gory redness, and made the rivers and rivulets to run crimson with the blood of the slain -:: but to perform a common duty to a common linmanity !
HISTORY OF FORT WAYNE:
The primitive traces and early evidences of barbaric and civil- ized life in this part of the State of Indiana are many and various ; and the present site of the City of Fort Wayne, with contiguous localities, is fully and fairly entitled to HISTORIC GROUND !
Situated upon a point of land, the most elevated in the State, Fort Wayne is very appropriately called the SUMMIT CITY. The general face of the country surrounding is rolling and somewhat uneven, with here and there a considerable promontory, overlooking the beautiful streams and valleys in the region. With strong impregnations of iron and sulphur, the soil is variously composed . of the most valuable elements; admirably adapted both for farming and building purposes,-consisting of the loamy, sandy, clayey qualities. Embodying much of the romantic and picturesque in vature, the surrounding aspects and scenery of the place never fail to awaken the liveliest admiration and curiosity of the stranger ; while the general appearance of the city, itself, at the present pe- riod, with its numerous fruit and shade trees; handsome dwellings and yards-beautiful shrubbery, and well cultivated gardens, in seasons of verdure and flowers, is over one of exceeding pleasant- ness and beauty, alike to the habitant and the momentary sojourner.
.
From a very early period, with the Indians, it was a " glorious gate " "through which all the good words of" their " chiefs had to pass from the north to the south, and from the east to the west. "* At a later period in the history of events in America-in the strug- gle between barbarism and civilization-it became at once the pivotal point upon which the most important relations of the country turned, both for the advancing civilization of the time and the barbaric force against which it had to contend-THE KEY, IN FACT, TO THE GREAT NORTHWEST !
Early occupied as a military point of great importance, alike to the French, the English and our own Government, each, in turn, establishing and maintaining a military post here, as a means by which to attain and exercise an extended control over the destinies and resources of the new world, "questions of infinite reach, involy- ing dominion, race, language, law and religion, have hung upon the petty display of military power at the junction of these rivers."t
Here the red man had lived, doubtless, for centuries before the first civilized settlement in America had begun,-his squaws culti- vating the maze and performing the common hardships of life, while he hunted the buffalo and wild game of the forest and prairie ; * Little Turtle.
+ Jesse L. Williams, Esq.
NOTE: Indge Law, in his interesting Address, "The Colonial History of Vincennes," (Ind.) page 10, says : " It is a singular fact, yet no less true, that the Wabash was known and navigated by the whites long before the Ohio was known to exist. Indeed. all the maps-and I have seen two before the year 1730-call the Ohio at its conflu- ence with the Mississippi, 'Quabache,' The reason is obvious, when one reflects tor a single instant, that the whole course of travel to the Mississippi was either by the Illi - anis or the Wabash. The only communication with the Mississippi WAS BY THE FRENCH in the latter part of the 17th and early in the 18th century, and was from the Lakes. The priest and the soldier were the only travelers. They ascended the Maumee, cross. ed the Pomage, and descended the Wabash to this Post."
€
.
This POINT VISITED BEFORE VINCENNES.
speared the lish in the beantiful streams gliding by ; leisurely bask- ed in the sunshine; devoted himself to plays and games ; hud- dled about the wigwam and the camp-fire ; or went forth to secure the trophies and honors of war.
Being situated at the head and terminus of two considerable streams, (the St. Joseph and Maumee), the one flowing from the region of Lake Michigan and the other into Lake Erie, direct from and into points near to and from which the carly coyageurs, missionaries, and traders sought so earnestly to extend their efforts and discov- pries-together with the fact, at an early period, of a strong rela- tionship * and doubtless frequent intercourse between, the tribes along those lakes and the Miamies of this part of their extended territory,-it is not probable that this point could have long escaped their attention. And, as will be seen in subsequent pages, there exists the strongest evidence that the early French missionaries, explorers and traders, from Canada, had visited the junction of these rivers as carly as 1680 to 1682-'3-and the probability is very strong that they were here at a much earlier period.
Judge Law, in his able Address, concerning the first settlement of Vincennes by the French, concludes it to have been about the year 1710 or 1711 ; and thinks it most probable in the first of the two years mentioned, "inasmuch," says le, "as the Fort must have been built and garrisoned before an application was made for a missionary." Now, the advantages of navigation, the nearness of this point to the Lakes, the extensive openings of this region, t and the fame it seems to have so long enjoyed as a "glorious gate," give to it a claim priori to that of the establishment of a Post and Mission at Vincennes. And it is not improbable, that a temporary mission was established here before or soon after the eventful year of 1682.
In the early part of 1680, LaSalle, having penetrated the west to a point, which is now known as Peoria, Ill., where he built a fort, which he called Crevecoeur, (Broken Heart,) because of his former misfortunes, and soon finding himself without supplies and neces- sary materials for the completion of a vessel he had then begun at thie foot of Lake Peoria, in the month of March, of that year, deter- mining upon a plan to hasten the needed supplies, with but three attendants, he set out a-foot towards Lake Erie, "following along the water-shed, or divide, which seperates the streams that flow into the Ohio river from those which flow into Lake Erie," and reached *The Mascoutens, says Gallatin, dwelling about Lake Michigan were a branch of the Miamies.
"The following, from the "daily journal of Wayne's campaign," will show the ap- parance of this point, on the arrival of the army here, in 1794:
"CAMP MIAMI VILLAGES, IFTH SEPTEMBER, 1794 .- The army halted on this ground at, 5 o'clock, p. m., being 47 miles from Fort Defiance and 14 from our last encampment : there are nearly 500 acres of cleared land lying in one hody on the rivers St. Joseph, St. Mary's and the Miami; there are fine points of land contiguous to those rivers alt joining the cleared land. The rivers are navigable for small crafts in the summer, and in the winter there is water sufficient for large boats, the land adjacent fortile and wed timbered, and from every appearance it has been one of the largest settlements made by the Indians in this country.
4.
HISTORY OF FORT WAYNE.
his destination in safety ; * which makes it quite evident, together with the fact of his having spent the Autumn of 1679 in the erection of a fort at the month of the St. Joseph's river, sounding the chan- nel of that stream, and establihsing there "a depot for supplies and goods," that he was by no means unacquainted, at an early period of his efforts, with this region of the north-west.
The reputed rival as well as co-laborer of La Salle, Louis Henne- pin, a Franciscan friar, of the Recollect variety, and said to have been very ambitious as a discoverer, as also daring, hardy, ener- gotic, with other peculiarities closely allied thereto, as early as 1663-4 speaks of the "Hohio," and of a route from the Lakes (northern) to the Mississippi by the Wabash, the account of which he had heard, and which was explored in 1676. In Hennepin's volume of 1698, is a journal, says the best accounts, said to be that sent by La Salle to Count Frontenac, in 1682 or 1683, which men- tions the route by the Maumee and Wabash as the most direct to the great western river, (Mississippi:)+ which makes it quite evi- {lent that this region was not only carly visited, but that the route lead- ing through this immediate vicinity, was often very early traversed by explorers, missionaries and fur-traders. And, in view of the navigable streams concentrating at this point; the vast amount of Inr that must annually have been accumulated here; the great number of Indians dwelling at this locality, and in the region, -- that these adventurous and zealous spirits should have early selected this as a favorable and most advantageous site, not only for the prosecution of the labors of the missionary and the accumu- lation of fur by the trader, but for the early establishment of a military post, seems most reasonable indeed, and requires bnt little conjecture to arrive at a somewhat definite conclusion as to the truthfulness of the question considered.
Not only did the earliest of the French voyageurs and explorers consider this the most direct route to the great western river, Missis- sippi, but those of a later period seem to have universally regarded the route by the Miami or Omee villages, at this point, as the best. Says J. W. Dawson, Esq., in his researches : "By reference to carly history, we find that, in 1716, among the routes of travel established by the French, was one from the head of Lake Erie, (now Manhat- tan, or its inore successful rival, Toledo,) up the Maumee river to the site of Fort Wayne, thence by portage to the head of Little River, across the marsh now crossed by the Toledo, Wabash and Western railroad; thence by Little River to the Wabash, about nine miles below Huntington ; thence down the Wabash to the Ohio ; and thence to the Mississippi." And as late as 1759 the same route is favored. Says the same researches : "The next interesting reference to Fort Wayne, is in 1759, and advises us of a most distinguished expedition fitted ont by M. d'Aubry, commandant at Illinois. The
*" Western Annals." pages 62 and G3.
+" States and Territories of the Great West," pages 63 and 69.
BEST ROUTE TO THE MISSISSIPPI.
French having exhausted their supplies in Pennsylvania, and unable to withstand the British, it was conceived by M. d'Aubry to rein- force his brethern. Accordingly, a levey of 400 men, and 200,000 lbs. of flour was raised at Kaskaskia,* and started from there to Venango, Pa. Ft. Du Quesne (Pittsburgh,) was abandoned, and hence the reinforcement could not go thence by the Ohio river. So he proceeded with his force down to the Mississippi; thence down that river to the mouth of the Ohio ; then up the Ohio to the mouth of Wabash; then up the Wabash, to the month of Little River ; then up that stream to the portage ; and then to Ft. Miami, (Ft. Wayne,) where they embarked stores and all on the Maumee; then down the Maumee and along the shore of Lake Erie to Pres- que'Isle ; then across the portage to Le Bocuff; then down French Creek, to Venango, Pa."
From the founding, by the French, of the city of Quebec, in Canada, in 1608, to 1763, for a period of more than one hundred and fifty years, the governments of France and Great Britain, (the latter having begun a settlement at Jamestown, in Virginia, as early as 1607,) were most energetic and resolute rivals in many civil, military, and often sanguinary contests as to territorial limits colonel establishments, and the general trade and commerce of the new world of North America.t
In 1634, the missionaries, Breboeuf and Daniel, joining a party of Hurons, on their return from Quebec, after crossing the Ottowa river, established a mission near a bay of Lake Huron, where they are said daily to have rang a bell, calling the natives of the region to prayer, and who also " performed all those kindly offices which were calculated to secure the confidence and affection of the tribes on the Lake shores."
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.