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 27

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 27


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The late George W. Brackenridge thus described the appearance of the fort in 1830:


"Timbers of the old fort were standing in 1830. They were about a foot square, eight or ten feet high, pointed at the top. The stump of the flagpole was also in front of the two blockhouses which occupied the high ground at the east end of Main street, north side -both built of hewed logs. These buildings were two stories high, consisting of two large rooms below, same above, both lengthwise north and south. The one farthest from the street was taken down when the canal was dug. The other stood many years afterward, occupied by tenants. A blockhouse for storing arms and ammuni- tion with an all-round over-jet second story, stood about seventy- five feet west of the two aforementioned."


Writing of 1838, John W. Dawson says :


"A common road ran down along the canal and across the old fort ground, between the old well and the only building of the fort then standing. This building stood on the vacant ground [now Old Fort Park] ; it was two-story, and had been changed from a shed to a conical roof. It had been used originally for officers' quarters. A broken pole stood in the center of the parade ground, on which the Federal flag had been originally hoisted. The pickets which had enclosed the ground had nearly all been removed, yet the line where they stood was marked. A post at the gateway at the south- west corner of the stockade on the alley between Berry and Wayne


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THE PICTORIAL HISTORY OF FORT WAYNE


street, was standing. These pickets and the logs which had com- posed the other buildings within the pickets, had all been removed by the people for building purposes."


The last of the buildings was torn down in 1852. Early in that year enough of the original stockades and buildings remained to arouse a vigorous but ineffectual protest against their final destruc- tion. In that year Dr. G. W. Bowen, writing in the Laurel Wreath, a local publication, gave utterance to his sentiments in verse. The title of the poem was, "Spare Wayne's Fort." The opening stanza follows :


Why tear it down and spare it not? Are other days so soon forgot? Are other scenes no more to be Brought back to sweet, blessed memory ? And must those walls that served so well To shield at night from savage foe That daring band, be leveled low ? The silent truth forbid to tell !


NOTE ON CHAPTER XIX.


.


(1) John H. Piatt, the first man to hold a government contract to supply goods to the soldiers of Fort Wayne, was Cincinnati's earliest banker and a successful merchant. He lost a for- tune in the enterprise. As a result of his persistent efforts to secure the ful- fillment of his demands on the govern- ment he was arrested and placed in prison in Washington, D. C., where he died in 1822 without sufficient funds to give his remains a decent burial. Mr. Piatt, in 1814, appointed as his assist- ant Andrew Wallace. His contract


was purchased later by Robert, Hugh, Glen and Jacob Fowler, who held it until 1817, when Major William P. Rathbone, of New York, succeeded them. Andrew Wallace was the father of Mrs. Katherine Lewis, widow of Major Samuel Lewis. In July, 1916- ninety-four years after the death of John H. Piatt-the heirs brought suit against the national government for the payment of the sum of $517,501. The supreme court, several years be- fore, had awarded Piatt's estate a judg- ment for $131,508.


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CHAPTER XX-1816-1819


The Evacuation of Fort Wayne-Wild Gatherings of Savages.


Richardville becomes the most wealthy Indian in the west-Major Vose suc- ceeds Major Whistler in command of Fort Wayne-Religious services in the fort-Dr. Trevitt and Lieutenant Clark-Vose builds the council house-The beginning of decisive canal activity-James Barnett and Samuel Hanna-The fort is abandoned by the troops-Lonely situation of the pioneers-Captain Riley's prophecy concerning Fort Wayne-Rev. Isaac McCoy braves the perils of western travel and establishes the first Protestant mission and the first school-The voyage from Terre Haute- Rev. Mr. Finney's account of the annuity distribution to the Indians- Unprincipled traders-Rumsellers described as "robbers, thieves and murderers"-Scenes of debauchery-Major Long's unkind description of the "worthless population" of Fort Wayne.


A S THE RISING SUN dispels the darkness and the gloom of the night, so the dawn of the year 1816 gave to the gladdened vision of the pioneers the banishment of the menacing cloud of savage warfare. The new year of peace brought to the troops and the families under their charge the true joy of living. This well-founded feeling of security and comfort was not based upon the standards of today, for few could endure now in comfort the life measured by the service and convenience typified by the tallow dip and the open fire, the ox-cart and the pirogue.


The national government realized the permanent return of peace, and already had removed from the other western posts the troops stationed there for the protection of the pioneers who were now coming to the westward in ever-increasing numbers. But the time was not yet arrived when the Washington authorities consid- ered it wise to remove the military protection from the head of the Maumee. The Indians still thronged here in large numbers. Their periods of gathering to receive their annuities brought hundreds to the little settlement and here, ofttimes, they remained for several weeks. Normally, they were inoffensive, but their fondness for in- toxicants rendered them dangerous in the extreme.


At this time, there was no settlement nearer than St. Mary's, in Ohio, and between Fort Wayne and Fort Dearborn no white man had ventured to establish his abode.


Traffic over the rivers, however, showed a steady increase over former years, and the portage was a busy pathway of commerce. Chief Jean Baptiste Richardville, who was granted a license to trade at Fort Wayne, nearly monopolized the traffic over the famous Maumee-Wabash carrying-place, and his immense business finally gave him the reputation of being the wealthiest of the western Indians. His riches were estimated at $200,000, treasured in cash. Richardville's iron-bound safe, the first to be seen in this part of America, is still a treasured relic on display in the court house at


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THE PICTORIAL HISTORY OF FORT WAYNE


Fort Wayne. It is the property of Leslie W. Hills. The chief estab- lished a place of business on the present Columbia street and also on his reserve on the Wabash river southwest of Fort Wayne.


As early as 1805, Governor William Henry Harrison, in a letter to Henry Dearborn, Secretary of War, referring to Richardville's. transactions, said :


"Richardville * * generally procures his goods on the British side of the lakes, and the duties have always been exacted from him by the collector of Detroit, contrary, in my opinion, to the treaty with Great Britain. He has appealed to me for redress. If you think as I do, I must beg your interference to relieve him from duties in future."


THE LAST COMMANDANT OF FORT WAYNE.


The westward movement of the settlers brought about the transfer of Major Whistler from Fort Wayne to St. Louis, in 1816. The government authorities assigned to the command of Fort Wayne Major Josiah N. Vose, of the Fifth United States infantry, who was destined to be the final commandant of the post at the head of the Maumee. During a period of about three months, however-from February 15 to May 31, 1917-before Major Vose assumed his new duties, the garrison was under the command of First Lieutenant Daniel Curtis, of the Third infantry, who had served with credit dur- ing the siege of 1812, and from whose pen has come one of the best accounts of that perilous experience.


Major Vose was a citizen of Manchester before his assignment to the west. He was commissioned a captain in the Twenty-first infantry in April, 1812, and promoted to major during the war. In 1842, he received the commission of colonel. His death occurred at New Orleans Barracks, in Louisiana, in 1845.


A notable characteristic of Major Vose was his strict adherence to Christian living and his conduct of religious services for his officers and men. Concerning this feature of his character, Colonel John Johnston, who knew him well, said in a letter written in 1859, that Major Vose was the only commandant of the fort who publicly professed Christianity. It was his constant practice "to assemble his men on the Sabbath day and read the Scriptures to them and talk with them in a conversational way about religion. The conduct of such a man," added Colonel Johnston, "can only be appreciated by persons familiar with the allurements and temptations of military life."


With Major Vose came Dr. Trevitt, assigned to the post as sur- geon's mate, and Lieutenant James Clark.


One of the early acts of the new commandant, in 1817, was the erection of a new council house to replace the one burned during the siege of 1812. It was a two-story log structure, which stood for many years. Latterly it was used as a school house and for residence purposes.


The garrison in 1817 consisted of fifty-six men.


In common with the people of the remaining portions of Indiana, the citizens of Fort Wayne rejoiced in the transformation of their territory into a state on April 29, 1816. The new governor- Jonathan Jennings-inaugurated at Corydon, the first capital of


239


the state, launched out at once upon a state-wide plan of internal improvements, a policy which was soon to meet with a co-operative response at Fort Wayne, where the first real work in the fulfillment of the scheme-the construction of the great Wabash and Erie canal -was begun.


The first state legislature assembled at Corydon in November. At the time of the creation of the state of Indiana, in 1816, all of northeastern Indiana was included in Knox county, of which Vin- cennes was the seat of government. In 1818, Randolph county was organized, with Winchester as the county seat. Fort Wayne was included in this latter subdivision.


Fort Wayne was alive with interest looking to the rapid and permanent rise of the new state to a place of prominence in the union. Attention seemed to turn instinctively to the construction of a canal to connect the Maumee and the Wabash-a waterway which should supplant the centuries-old portage. In his first mes- sage to the legislature, Governor Jennings urged a prompt consider- ation of the establishment of canals, and especially the proposed


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INDIAN RESERVATIONS IN ALLEN COUNTY.


The outline map of Allen county shows the location of the several reserv- ations granted to the Indians and whites by the United States at the time of the treaties of October, 1818, and October, 1826. The reservations are as follows, the numbers corresponding to the figures of the map: 1-Pipe-ne-way. 2-Jack Hackley. 3-Joseph Park. 4-Ann Hackley. 5-John B. Bourie. 6, 7, 8, 9- Chief Jean Baptiste de Richardville and Joseph Richardville, his son. 10-Maria Christiana DeRome. 11-LaGros. 12-Captain William Wells. 13-John B. Bourie. 14-Eliza C. Kercheval. 15-LaVenture. 16-James Knaggs. 17-Old Raccoon. 18-Chopine. 19-Ne-ah-long-quah. 20-Wa-pa-se-pah. 21-To-pe-ah. 22-Branstetter. 23-Seek. 24, 25, 26-Chief Francis LaFontaine. 27-Josette Beaubien. 28-The son of George Hunt. 29-White Loon.


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THE PICTORIAL HISTORY OF FORT WAYNE


connection between the Maumee and the Wabash rivers. Benjamin F. Stickney, the Indian agent at Fort Wayne, through a letter to De Witt Clinton, of New York, giving convincing facts with refer- ence to the proposed waterway, brought an enthusiastic response from Clinton-considered as the "father" of the Erie canal-who said : "I have found a way to get into Lake Erie [by the construc- tion of a canal between the Hudson river and Lake Erie], and you have shown me how to get out of it. You have extended my project six hundred miles."


In 1816, two years earlier than Stickney's observations, ap- peared the book by Captain Robert McAfee, of Kentucky, the "His- tory of the Late War in the Western Country," in which the author declared that "a canal, at some future day, will unite these rivers [the Maumee and the Wabash] and thus render a town at Fort Wayne as formerly the most considerable place in all that country."


On the 17th of June, 1843, thirty-one years after his first visit, Captain McAfee wrote to friends in Fort Wayne: "My recollection of the condition in which we found that place [Fort Wayne] in September, 1812, when General Harrison's army relieved it from the attacks of the Indians who had burnt and plundered every house outside of the fort, are yet fresh in my mind. * Being * strongly impressed at that time with the admirable locality of the place, I then predicted (and so entered in my journal which I now have before me) that a canal at no very remote period would unite the waters of the lakes with those of the Ohio and Mississippi."


Early in the year 1818, James Barnett (born in Pennsylvania in 1785) came to Fort Wayne and decided to cast his lot among the few who were establishing themselves about the fort. He had visited the place in 1797, as a trader, and, later, in 1812, he had come as the captain of a company serving under General Harrison. His activity and enterprise were soon to incite that degree of confi- dence which was necessary to the upbuilding of a town in the wilderness. The wife of James Barnett (Nancy W. Hanna) was a sister of Judge Samuel Hanna. Mr. and Mrs. Barnett were married at Troy, Ohio, in 1824.


THE EVACUATION OF FORT WAYNE.


The year 1819 witnessed an important and significant change at Fort Wayne-the departure of the troops and the abandonment of the fort as a military stronghold. The evacuation took place on the 19th of April. Fort Wayne was the last of the Indiana posts to be maintained by the government. At the close of their service, the garrison consisted of Major J. N. Vose, one post surgeon, two captains, one first lieutenant, five sergeants, four corporals, four musicians (two fifers, one snare drummer and one bass drummer), and seventy-four artillerymen and privates-ninety-six men in all. The order for the evacuation caused no little excitement in the settlement, and when the day of the departure came, the few settlers who comprised the village felt a loneliness which was overcome only through the performance of the duties which came upon them as pioneers and founders of an enlightened community. Major Vose and his troops went to Detroit by way of the Maumee, in pirogues.


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EVACUATION OF FORT WAYNE


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They took from the fort its equipment of "heavy" armament, includ- ing one six- and one twelve-pounder cannon.


The fort buildings, vacated by the military, now came under the control of the civil authorities, represented by the Indian agent, Major Stickney, who leased the former quarters of the soldiers to such families and individuals as desired them. Even at this period, the shelter of the stockade brought a feeling of security, and the fort was not without its convenient firearms and supply of ammu- nition. The provision of these comfortable living quarters served also to attract many travelers, some of whom remained to stamp their names and characters upon the history of the village and the town.


SURVEY OF THE OLD FORT GROUNDS.


Upon the abandonment of the fort by the soldiers, the govern- ment sent Captain James Riley, a civil engineer, to Fort Wayne, to survey the lands about the old fort belonging to the United States, preparatory to the sale of a portion of the military reservation to the settlers. Already, it was a recognized truth that a city of im-


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HISTORIC SPOTS IN SPY RUN.


The dotted lines indicate the present streets in Spy Run district. The map shows the slough which extended across the lower portion of the district in for- mer years. The bridge which crossed the slough at Spy Run avenue, according to George Keever, 341 Randolph street, who remembers it well, was a longer struc- ture than the iron bridge which spans the St. Mary's at Spy Run avenue today. The map shows the location of the house of Jack Hackley, grandson of Captain William Wells, the location of the Wells house where Little Turtle died, and the old Hackley burying ground, where Captain James Hackley and Rebekah Hackley (daughter of Captain Wells) were buried. The Wells house was a double log cabin. It stood at the rear of No. 1410 Spy Run avenue. The Hack- ley house was a small brick building.


CYRUS TABER.


The first addition to the original plat of Fort Wayne was the county addition; the second was Taber's addition, which included a portion of the military tract. Cyrus Taber, owner of the property, was the son of Paul Taber, who arrived from the east with his family in 1819. Cyrus Taber became active in the upbuilding of the town, and his name figures strongly in local affairs up to the time of his re- moval to Logansport. A brother, Sam- uel, became one of the earliest settlers of Marshall county. A sister, Lucy, was the wife of Thomas W. Swinney. Paul Taber, the father, died in 1826. The por- trait is from a daguerreotype loaned by the daughter of Cyrus Taber, Mrs. Hol- man Hamilton.


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portance would one day grace these choice lands at the head of the Maumee. From Captain Riley's reports to his superior, Edward Tiffin, surveyor-general, we have a comprehensive picture of Fort Wayne of that day. Said he :


"At every step in this country, every unprejudiced mind will more and more admire the movements and achievements of the army, conducted by this veteran and truly wise and great com- mander [General Wayne]. By occupying Fort Wayne, the com- munication between Lake Erie and the Ohio, through the channels of the Maumee and the Wabash (which is the shortest and most direct route from Buffalo to the Mississippi river), was cut off or completely commanded.


"The country around Fort Wayne is very fertile. The situation is commanding and healthful, and here will arise a town of great importance which must become a depot of immense trade. The fort is now only a small stockade. No troops are stationed here, and less than thirty dwelling houses, occupied by French and American families, form the settlement. The departure of the fort soldiers has left the little band of residents here extremely lonely. But as soon as the land has been surveyed and offered for sale, I have no doubt but that inhabitants will pour in from all quarters to this future thoroughfare between the east and the Mississippi river.


"This is a central point, combining more natural advantages to build up and support a town than I have seen in the western country."


This letter of Captain Riley, which also contained a strong recommendation for the careful survey of a canal route connecting the Maumee and the Wabash, became a part of the official records of the surveyor-general's office, and through this channel found its way into the congressional debates concerning the Wabash and Erie canal. It appears, however, that the first man to bring the canal project to the attention of congress was Peter Buell Porter, a New York congressman. Captain Riley's faith in the development of the region is shown in the fact that he platted the town of Will- shire, Ohio, and there built the first dam to be placed across the St. Mary's river.


While in this vicinity, Captain Riley surveyed a route for the canal between the two rivers. The captain's final visit to Fort Wayne was made in 1827, at which time the Wayne lodge of Masons gave him assistance on account of a serious illness. Some time after- ward, he published his interesting "Narratives," a work now out of print. He died on shipboard, in 1840, while nearing the port of St. Thomas in the West Indies, and was buried at sea.


Among those sturdy, intelligent men who found their way to the settlement in 1819 and remained as a builder of a state and of his own fortune was Samuel Hanna, pioneer merchant, judge, legis- lator, canal builder, railroad builder, banker and foremost leader in all branches of public enterprise. Born in Scott county, Kentucky, in October, 1797, and later removing with his parents to Dayton, Ohio, he came to Fort Wayne from St. Mary's, Ohio, where he had been engaged in supplying goods during the Indian treaties of the preceding year. He was twenty-two years of age. He built at once a log house on the site which later became the northwest corner


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1816 1819


of Barr and Columbia streets, where now stands the oldest brick building in Fort Wayne-erected also by Samuel Hanna at a later period. Here, having formed a partnership with his brother-in-law, James Barnett, a trading post was opened. Much of the goods which came from the east were purchased from Abbott Lawrence, at Boston; the shipments were made by water to New York, thence up the Hudson river and across to Buffalo, and from there to Fort Wayne by way of Lake Erie and the Maumee.


Great throngs of the Indians, many of whom had sunk to a low degree of degradation because of the liquor furnished to them by unprincipled whites, gathered about the fort seeking food and cloth-


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SAMUEL HANNA.


"Judge Hanna belonged to the higher type of the pioneer class of men. He was a planter and builder, more than a legislator. He had the hope, the cour- age, the forethought, the fertility of re- source, the unfaltering purpose and will that characterize planters of colonies and founders of cities. He was more than a statesman, for he had in him the ele- ments and powers of the men who build cities and found states."-From an ad- dress by Joseph K. Edgerton on the day following the death of Judge Hanna, June 11, 1866.


FRANCIS S. AVELINE.


The name of Francis S. Aveline is best remembered in connection with the Ave- line hotel, which he erected during the war period and which remained a leading place of entertainment for nearly half a century. Mr. Aveline came to Fort Wayne with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. James Aveline, in 1820. He was born in 1814 at Vincennes, Indiana. With Francis Com- paret, he built the large reservoir now known as Sylvan lake, at Rome City, Indiana, and was the contractor and builder of some of the most important earlier structures in Fort Wayne. His demise, in 1865, was the direct result of grief on account of the death of his son, Captain Frank Aveline, who was killed in the Chattanooga campaign.


ing while awaiting the period of the annual consignment of money to be paid them for their lands.


During the year 1818, treaties with the Miamis held at St. Mary's, Ohio, represented by Governor Jennings, Governor Cass and Benjamin Park, United States commissioners, gave to the United States much valuable ground about Fort Wayne. Among those to whom parcels of land were reserved for residence purposes or be- cause of the nation's recognition of their services, were the follow- ing: Chief Jean Baptiste Richardville, Joseph Richardville, Joseph Richardville, Jr., Francis LaFontaine, the son of George Hunt; Little Turtle (Mishe-no-quah), Josette Beaubien, Eliza C. Kercheval (daugh-


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ter of Benjamin B. Kercheval), James Knaggs, John B. Bourie, Joseph Parke, Ann and Jack Hackley, the children of Maria Christina De- Rome and LaGros. The Little Turtle here referred to was a slightly known Miami called the "Little Little Turtle" to distinguish him from the famous Miami leader.


With renewed confidence and self-reliance since the removal of the protecting troops, the year 1820 brought marked advance- ment in the development of the village. The year brings to the pages of history the names of Rev. and Mrs. Isaac McCoy, the first Protestant missionaries to the Indians and the founders of the first school of the settlement. The MeCoys, sent by the Baptist mission- ary convention, after a severe experience in the vicinity of the present city of Terre Haute, were induced to settle at Fort Wayne through the advice of Colonel John Johnston and of Dr. William Turner. With their family of seven children, and accompanied by an Indian boy, a hired attendant and Mr. Lykins, a teacher, they rode on horseback from Fort Harrison (near Terre Haute) to Fort Wayne. At one point in the wilderness a party of drink-crazed Indians attacked the missionary while he was separated from the other members of the party, but his life was saved by a half-breed, Louis Godfrey. Chief Richardville then met and conveyed the party to Fort Wayne in safety. The missionaries drove a herd of fifteen head of cattle and forty-three hogs the entire distance from Terre Haute to Fort Wayne. The goods of the family were brought on flatboats on the Wabash, and portaged across to the St. Mary's.




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