The pictorial history of Fort Wayne, Indiana : a review of two centuries of occupation of the region about the head of the Maumee River, Vol. I, Part 25

Author: Griswold, B. J. (Bert Joseph), 1873-1927; Taylor, Samuel R., Mrs. The story of the townships of Allen County
Publication date: 1917
Publisher: Chicago : R.O. Law Co.
Number of Pages: 760


USA > Indiana > Allen County > Fort Wayne > The pictorial history of Fort Wayne, Indiana : a review of two centuries of occupation of the region about the head of the Maumee River, Vol. I > Part 25


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 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89


The story of the experiences of the left wing of Harrison's army is a continuous narrative of suffering and disaster. Weary, cold and suffering from disease, Winchester's men dragged them- selves and their stores through the snows until they reached the site of the battle of Fallen Timber. To the northward, on the American side of the Detroit river, opposite Malden, was the village of French- town, now Monroe, Michigan. From this place came messengers with the alarming information that the Indians were planning the massacre of the inhabitants of the town. Winchester acted prompt-


218


THE PICTORIAL HISTORY OF FORT WAYNE


ly, after calling a conference of his officers, and dispatched Colonel William Lewis, with 550 men, to the scene of the expected trouble. Colonel John Allen, with a force of 110 men, followed. In the face of overwhelming numbers, Colonels Allen and Lewis pushed for- ward, met and dispersed a body of British and Indian troops, which fell back across the River Raisin, which empties into Lake Erie at Monroe. Here they fortified themselves as well as possible and summoned aid from General Winchester. The commander responded at once in person, accompanied by 250 men.


For a long period Winchester, who had shared the privations of the soldiers, now received a warm invitation to make himself com- fortable at the home of Colonel Francis Navarre, a short distance from the camp of the soldiers. "Habituated to an easy, luxurious life," says Dr. Slocum, "the general had been for many weeks in the midst of forest wilds, privations and suffering, and now had headquarters in a comfortable house as the guest of a man with similar tastes in a social way, and with well stocked cellar. * * He was under the magic spell of security and peace, which, like the


COLONEL RICHARD M. JOHNSON.


Colonel Johnson, who was in tempor- ary command of Fort Wayne, during a period following the siege of the fort in 1812, and who led in the raid to drive the troublesome savages from the region of northern Indiana, was one of Ken- tucky's most famous statesmen. Born near Louisville in 1781, he became a prominent lawyer, and was elected as a representative in congress for a period of twelve years, beginning in 1807. On the breaking out of the war of 1812 he raised and commanded a regiment of mounted Kentucky riflemen for service on the frontier, which served under Harrison and Winchester. He was seri- ously wounded in the battle of the Thames, October 5, 1813. In 1819, Col- onel Johnson was chosen a United States senator from Kentucky and served ten years, after which he was returned to the house of representatives and was regularly re-elected until he became the vice-president of the United States dur- ing the administration of Martin Van Buren. He died in 1850. The portrait is reproduced from Harper's Encyclope- dia of American History, by permission of Harper and Brothers.


MAJOR JOSEPH JENKINSON.


Major Joseph Jenkinson, commandant of Fort Wayne in 1813 and 1814, was the grandfather of Attorney Joseph James Jenkinson and Miss Emma Jenkinson, of Fort Wayne. The original picture, a miniature by an unknown artist, is in the possession of a grandson, E. W. Cor- win, of New Jersey. Moses Vail Jen- kinson, father of Miss Emma Jenkin- son, and a member of the Fort Wayne bar from 1848 until his death in 1856, was a son of Major Jenkinson. Isaac Jenkinson was a nephew of the com- mandant. Among the persons who ac- companied Major Jenkinson to Fort Wayne was Ephriam, a slave, who is mentioned in the major's letter repro- duced in this work, and of whom the commandant speaks as having brought him so "completely under" that "he bounces at the word." The locking of the negro in the guard house and giving him "two whippings, the last of which was a very hard one," are revelations of character which contrast strangely with the gentle phraseology of the remainder of the letter.


L


219


BRITISH ARMY SENT AGAINST FORT WAYNE


1812 1813


brief calm preceding the disastrous burst of the tempest, lulled to inactivity."


Alas! The morning of January 22, 1814, brought the fatal storm. Before they were aware of the situation the American troops found themselves surrounded by the enemy in such numbers that defense was impossible. Against the six cannon of the British, they had none to repel an attack. With the opening of the fire of the enemy, the destruction of life was terrible. Four hundred in all were sacrificed. Five hundred and forty-seven prisoners, including General Winchester, were taken. It was the misfortune of many to be required to walk a distance of 500 miles over the frozen ground to Fort Niagara, to be exchanged.


DEATH OF COLONEL JOHN ALLEN.


Colonel Allen-whose name is commemorated in that of the county of which Fort Wayne is the seat of government-tried to rally his men, though severely wounded. An Indian chief found him in an exhausted condition, seated on a log. As soon as he came near the colonel, he drew his gun across his lap and told him in the Indian language to surrender and he should be safe. Another savage having, at the same time, advanced with a hostile appear- ance, Colonel Allen, by one stroke of his sword, laid him dead at his feet. A third Indian near by had, then, the honor of shooting one of the first and greatest citizens of Kentucky.


Following this disaster the British carried forward its plan of the siege of the American stronghold, Fort Meigs, on the south bank of the Maumee, nearly opposite the present Maumee City, Ohio.


Meanwhile, Colonel Richard Menter Johnson, of Kentucky, who had been allowed to leave his seat in the national house of representatives to enter actively into the campaign in the west, had secured permission to rid the territory of northern Indiana of the savages who were still exhibiting a warlike spirit in the neighborhood of the western posts.


General Harrison had already addressed a letter to Secretary of War James Monroe-January 11, 1813-concerning the situation about Fort Wayne, in which he said :


"The southwardly direction of Lake Michigan running deep into our country, approaches Fort Wayne. * *


* The facility of attacking Fort Wayne by an Indian force collected at Chicago, aided by the British artillery from Mackinac, may be seen by the Indians of that quarter, and it would have been attempted last fall if there had been time enough."


Four months later -- May 23, 1813-Harrison addressed the new secretary of war, John Armstrong, from his headquarters at Cin- cinnati, saying :


"I am persuaded that a demonstration in the direction of Fort Wayne by a body of mounted men would be attended by very happy effects. I am not entirely at ease on the subject of the garrisons in that direction. The enemy, if they understood their business (wanting provisions as they do) will certainly make an attempt to carry some of our weak posts where we have large deposits. Colonel Johnson's corps will make all safe in that quarter."


220


THE PICTORIAL HISTORY OF FORT WAYNE


Included with his instructions to Colonel Johnson, General Harrison commissioned the Kentuckian to assume command of Fort Wayne on his arrival here. Captain Robert McAfee, who led a company in this expedition, gives the following interesting account of the undertaking, as far as it relates to the story of Fort Wayne :


COLONEL R. M. JOHNSON PROTECTS FORT WAYNE.


"On the 5th [ of July, 1813] the regiment marched towards Fort Wayne, with a view to protect some boats loaded with flour and bacon, which had been sent down the St. Mary's by General Wingate of the Ohio militia. A heavy rain having fallen, the St. Mary's was found impassable at Shane's Crossing.2 On the next day, by felling trees into it from both banks, a rude bridge was


1


B


N - Z


STEMARY'S


w -*


--- E


ERIVER


L. E. & W. R.R.


S


GULDLIN


PAPE


AVE.


PLAYGROUNDS B


MICHAEL


6


NICKEL PLATE


R.R.


BRIDGES


ROSS ST.


(HIGH BANK)


JACKSON STB


VAN BUREN ST


WEST


SUPERIOR


ST.


B


FULTON ST


8


FAIRFIELD


AVE.


WHERE MAJOR JENKINSON'S MEN WERE MASSACRED.


The sketch and the map indicate the scene of the massacre of a party of the troops of Major Jenkinson, in 1813, while guiding their flatboat around the bend in the St. Mary's river at the present Guldlin playground. A-Where the boat, loaded with men and provisions, was attacked by the Indians secreted in the bushes. B-Guldlin playground. C-Turnverein Vorwaerts building, formerly the Hugh McCulloch home. D-Residences facing on West Superior street.


C


KUNLAND


AVE


1


1812 1813 BRITISH ARMY SENT AGAINST FORT WAYNE . 221


constructed, over which the men passed with their baggage, while their horses were crossed by swimming. The rest of the way to Fort Wayne was found very difficult, all the flats and marshes being covered with water, and the roads very miry. They arrived [at Fort Wayne] on the 7th and found all the boats had reached the fort in safety but one, which had stuck on a bar in sight of the fort. While the boatmen were endeavoring to get her off, a party of Indians fired and killed two of them, and the other, attempt- ing to swim over the river, was drowned. Colonel Johnson with his staff and a few men had just arrived at the fort and stripped their horses. As soon as they could make ready, they mounted and crossed to the boat. The Indians fired upon the advance and then retreated. The spies being of the opinion that the party of Indians was much stronger than that with the colonel, he deferred the pursuit till the regiment all arrived. He then took a strong detachment and pursued them about ten miles, when a rainy night coming on he returned to the fort."


The second day after the arrival of Colonel Johnson's troops3 at Fort Wayne, the regiment marched to the northwest and sur- rounded the rebuilt village of Five Medals which was found de- serted. During a march of two hundred miles in five days in an almost constant rain, no savages were found, and the troops returned to Fort Wayne. Here the regiment remained a few days and then proceeded down the Maumee with an escort of provisions for Fort Winchester.


Thereafter, Colonel Johnson was an active participant in the campaigns of the lower Maumee.


The heavy loss of life which accompanied the British sieges of Fort Meigs was due largely to the personal leadership of Tecumseh and "The Prophet." The siege of Fort Stephenson, the defense of which post, at the site of the present Fremont, Ohio, was in charge of Major George Croghan, was soon followed by Perry's famous victory on Lake Erie. The decisive battle of the Thames, on Cana- dian soil, which brought death to the great Tecumseh,4 proved to be the final event of the war in the west. General Harrison, after appointing General Lewis Cass governor of Michigan, returned to his family in Cincinnati, where he retained quarters until he re- signed his commission in May, 1814.


NOTES ON CHAPTER XVIII.


(1) Among the government employes at Fort Wayne at this time was Louis- ianau, a French blacksmith, who was sent to establish a shop within the outer stockade. He is the first man, whose name has been preserved, to send the musical notes of the anvil over the neighborhood of the fort. The remains of this shop were discovered while workmen were excavating for the basement of the Judge W. W. Carson residence, later the home of the late Henry C. Hanna, on East Berry street. (2) Anthony Shane (Chesne), for whom Shane's Crossing is named, was Johnson's guide during this expedition. Shane, previous to Wayne's treaty, had been an enemy of the Americans, but his loyalty thereafter was proven in many acts of service. The government


gave him 640 acres of land on the St. Mary's river in the treaty of 1817. His wife, an Indian, was converted to Chris- tianity at Fort Wayne through the min- istry of Rev. Isaac McCoy. Shanes- ville, on the original Shane property, located in Mercer county, Ohio, was known as Shane's Crossing, and now bears the name of Rockford.


(3) The officers in command of John- son's regiment were: Richard M. John- son, colonel; James Johnson, lieutenant colonel; First battalion, Duval Payne, major; Robert B. McAfee, Richard Mat- ron, Jacob Elliston, Benjamin Warfield, John Payne, Elijah Craig, captains. Second battalion, David Thompson, major; Jacob Stucker, James Davidson, S. R. Combs, W. M. Price, James Cole- man, captains. Staff: Jeremiah Kert-


.


222


THE PICTORIAL HISTORY OF FORT WAYNE


ley, adjutant; B. S. Chamber, quarter- master; Samuel Theobalds, judge advo- vate; L. Dickinson, sergeant major; James Suggett, chaplain and major of spies; Dr. Ewing, surgeon; Drs. Coburn and Richardson, surgeon's mates.


(4) Peter Navarre thus describes the death of Tecumseh: "Colonel [Richard Menter] Johnson, under whose com- mand I fought, was wounded and had his horse killed under him. While he was down, Tecumseh sprang from a tree to tomahawk and scalp him, and I fired upon him. He fell, and the war cry of Tecumseh was heard no more." The claim of Navarre is disputed by other witnesses. "It is the general im- pression that Tecumseh was killed by Colonel Richard Menter Johnson, later


vice-president of the United States," said the late John P. Hedges, of Fort Wayne. "There is no doubt that he met his death by the hand of a private soldier by the name of King, a member of Captain Fairfield's company of Ken- tucky militia." John P. Hedges, who later became a prominent citizen of Fort Wayne, visited Fort Wayne first in 1812, previous to the arrival of Har- rison's army, and was present at the burial of Chief Little Turtle. He was then twenty-one years of age and em- ployed as chief clerk by John H. Platt, government contractor to supply the forts with provisions. In September, 1812, he returned with Harrison's army of relief, and then accompanied the troops on their Maumee campaign.


1


CHAPTER XIX-1813-1815.


Jenkinson and Whistler, Commandants-Rebuilding of Fort Wayne.


Major Jenkinson in command of Fort Wayne-A savage attack on his con- voy-Major Whistler succeeds Major Jenkinson-The Suttenfields and the Bouries-The residents of the fort-How the Fourth of July was cele- brated in 1814-Whistler declares the fort was "an ill-constructed thing at the first"-Purposes to rebuild the stockade-When John Kinzie's scalp was valuable-Hostile chiefs plan attack on the forts-Whistler fears for "The poor devils" in the Indian camps-"No whiskey, no soap" -Whistler rebuilds the fort-John W. Dawson's observations concerning the building and reconstruction of Wayne's and Hunt's forts-Description of the fort buildings and surroundings.


T URNING attention once more to conditions about the war- troubled fort at the confluence of the St. Mary's and the St. Joseph rivers we find the few settlers there gathered under the protection of the fort emerging from the effects of the conflict with a determination to begin the upbuilding of a village and the establishment of homes and places of trade and industry. None was inclined to venture far into the wilderness because of the uncertain attitude of the savages; indeed, many atrocities of the period made it advisable to consider well the safety of life and person. None but brave hearts could endure the dangers of the frontier in the years following the final war in the west.


The year 1813 brought the assignment of Major Joseph Jen- kinson, stationed at Newport, Kentucky, to the command of Fort Wayne. The descendants of Major Jenkinson became prominent factors in the development of the town of Fort Wayne. From Miss Emma Jenkinson, the present-day representative of the family, a granddaughter of Major Jenkinson, much valuable information, handed down from the early days of the preceding century, has been obtained.


"My grandfather," says Miss Jenkinson, "must have been a gallant gentleman, with mild blue eyes and fastidious as to dress. He was a merchant, living in Franklin, Ohio, and he had heard much of the beauty and vivacity of Sallie Vail, whose father owned a large grist mill near Middletown, Ohio. In keeping with the cus- tom of those days, Mr. Vail kept an inn for the accommodation of man and beast. Joseph Jenkinson rode down one Sunday evening to view the landscape and, incidentally, to see the charming Sallie. He ordered an elaborate meal of fried chicken, hot biscuit, mashed potatoes and the like. Sallie resented the serving of a spread of such proportions, having, perhaps, a more pleasing way to spend her time, but she must have succumbed to the charming manner of the future military man, for, before he left that night, he had made an engagement to return the next Sunday. They were married a few months later."


223


224


THE PICTORIAL HISTORY OF FORT WAYNE


Major Jenkinson was the father of the late Moses Vail Jenkin- son, an active member of the legal fraternity during the early days of Fort Wayne's development.


The wife of Major Jenkinson did not accompany him to Fort Wayne. He brought three companies of militia. When they reached the St. Mary's river; near the present Decatur, Indiana, they procured pirogues and flatboats for the transportation of their goods to Fort Wayne, while most of the troops followed the trails bordering the river.


The march was conducted with precaution for fear of lurking savages, and the journey proved uneventful until the boats reached the point in the St. Mary's river which may be described as the sharp bend north of the present building of the Turnverein Vor- waerts, formerly the Judge Hugh McCulloch mansion, on West Superior street, in Fort Wayne. The river was swollen at the time and the swift current carried the boats around the present Guldlin playground so swiftly as to cause much anxiety on the part of the commandant lest there be loss of life or goods. He remained at the treacherous spot, therefore, to direct the operation of handling the boats. Before the last boat arrived, however, the commandant, leaving a subordinate to direct the work of the men in charge of. the remaining craft, returned to the fort, some distance to the eastward. Suddenly the men at the fort were startled by the rapid discharge of firearms toward the west. Hastening to the scene of the bend in the river, they were horrified to find the dead bodies of the men of the last boat, who had been shot from ambush and scalped by Indians secreted in the underbrush. Several weeks afterward the major was informed by a friendly Indian that the savages in hiding were at times within the distance of a few feet of the com- mandant as he directed the handling of the boats. They had with- held their attack until but a small number of men was left at the bend, for fear of being overwhelmed by a force larger than their own.


The major's period of military service at Fort Wayne was brief. He chose to return to Kentucky, where he was appointed adjutant of the Forty-eighth regiment of the state militia. The original commission, signed by Governor Slaughter, is in the pos- session of Miss Emma Jenkinson.


MAJOR JOHN WHISTLER.


In 1814, the command of Fort Wayne was given to Major John Whistler, of the First United States infantry, transferred from Newport, Kentucky. Major Whistler was not a stranger at Fort Wayne. As a lieutenant he had accompanied Wayne on his western campaign, and was here to assist in the building of the original fort. He remained as a special officer to oversee the maintenance of the forts of the region. Later, his wife joined him, and it was during this period that George Washington Whistler was born, in 1800. This son rose to fame in the topographical service of the government. His death occurred in Russia, in 1849, while he was superintending the construction of the Trans-Siberian railroad. A


1813 1815


JENKINSON AND WHISTLER COMMANDANTS


225


son of George Washington Whistler-James Abbott McNeill Whis- tler-became one of the world's best-known artists.


Following Major John Whistler's early experience at Fort Wayne he was transferred to Detroit, and from there to the site


A


THE CHIEF RICHARDVILLE MONU- MENT.


The monument raised over the burial place of Chief Jean Baptiste de Richard- ville, in the present Cathedral square (the south half of which was used orig- inally for a burial ground), was, at the time of the removal of the bodies to the Catholic cemetery in the southwestern part of the city, taken to the new bury- ing ground, although the body of the Miami chief was allowed to remain in its original grave. Later, the monument was removed to the present Catholic cemetery, northeast of Fort Wayne. The small shaft of white marble was erected by the chief's daughters, Catherine, La- Blonde and Susan. While standing in the old cemetery, on the bank of the St. Mary's river, directly south from the Pennsylvania tracks, the monument be- came marred by sportsmen, who used it for a target in order to carry away its chips as souvenirs. It was removed to its present site by a granddaughter, Mrs. Archangel Engelmann, of Huntington, Indiana (daughter of Catherine, the wife of Chief LaFontaine). One panel bears the inscription: "Here Rest the Remains of John B. Richardville, Principal Chief of the Miami Tribe of Indians. He Was Born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, About the Year 1760, and Died in August, 1841."


ยท The resting place of the body of Rich- ardville is described as a spot "just at the edge of the Cathedral, between the forward side door and the first buttress of the wall."


MRS. LUCIEN P. FERRY.


Mrs. Caroline Bourie-Ferry, widow of Lucien P. Ferry, died in Fort Wayne in 1914, shortly after the observance of her one hundredth birthday. At that time she lived with her daughter, Mrs. Eu- dora P. Boyles, though she had resided for a considerable period with her grand- daughter, Miss Minnie Orvis (now Mrs. John O'Brien) at Decatur, Indiana. She was born at Detroit in 1814, and was brought to Fort Wayne by her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Louis Bourie.


MRS. LAURA SUTTENFIELD.


Mrs. Suttenfield was born in Boston in 1795. Her death occurred in Fort Wayne in 1886, following, a residence here of seventy-two years. She lived within the palisades of the fort for a period.


226


THE PICTORIAL HISTORY OF FORT WAYNE


of Chicago, where he built Fort Dearborn and became its command- ant.


The year 1814, which marks the return of the Whistlers, brings into the narrative also the names of other families which have remained inseparable from the story of Fort Wayne-notably those of the Bouries and the Suttenfields. The introduction of the wife and two daughters of Major Whistler into the life of the garrison, as well as the women of the Suttenfield and Bourie families, together with the return of the women refugees who had been kept under the protection of their friends in the Ohio settlements during the period of strife, introduces into the story a feature which remains to the end-the element of the established family circle.


The troops of Major Whistler came to Fort Wayne by way of the St. Mary's river. Among the officers was William Sutten- field, given the title of colonel, who was accompanied by his wife and baby boy, William F. Suttenfield. Colonel and Mrs. Suttenfield already had figured in many thrilling and romantic episodes. Val- uable recollections of the early fort days have been preserved as a result of the good memory of Mrs. Suttenfield, which she retained to the time of her death in 1886, at the age of ninety-one years.


Mrs: Suttenfield (Laura Taylor) was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Israel Taylor, of Boston, where she was born in 1795. A sister of Mrs. Suttenfield (Eliza Taylor) became the wife of Judge Samuel Hanna. Laura Taylor met William Suttenfield, a dashing young military officer, at Detroit, when she was sixteen, and that meeting resulted in their elopement the same year. Previous to this, Laura had accompanied her father on a business trip to Mackinac. On their return they were captured by British officers and held as prisoners for a time. The Suttenfields lived for two years in the home of Colonel John Johnston, at Upper Piqua, Ohio, after which, in 1813, they went to Newport, Kentucky, where Colonel Suttenfield joined Whistler's troops. It was not the first visit of Colonel Suttenfield to Fort Wayne. In 1811 he was in Colonel Johnston's employ, in charge of a pack train hauling military and Indian stores from Upper Piqua to the fort.


Colonel Suttenfield, although he lived within the stockaded post at the beginning, was the first to erect, in 1814, a log house at Fort Wayne, following the siege. It stood near the corner of the present Columbia and Barr streets. This building, re-located and made a part of Washington hall in later years, was destroyed by fire in 1858.


To William Suttenfield and wife on November 29, 1816, was born a daughter, Jane. In later years Jane Suttenfield became the wife of Myron F. Barbour, one of the earliest teachers of Fort Wayne, and later prominent in business affairs.


The Bouries made their permanent settlement here in 1814, although Louis Bourie had been engaged in business at this spot thirteen years before. Previous to that time he was a well-to-do farmer and trader at Detroit, his property extending in a narrow strip through the present business section of that city. Coming to Fort Wayne in 1801, he was granted a license to "trade with the Pottawattomie nation at Cour de Serf [Coeur de Cerf-Elk's Heart-probably on the Elkhart river]." He then transferred his




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.