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 28
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"At Fort Wayne was a little village of traders and of persons in the employ of the government, as interpreters, smiths, etc., some of whom were French, of Canadian and Indian descent," writes Rev. Mr. McCoy in his book, published in later years. "The nearest settlements of white people were in the state of Ohio, and nearly one hundred miles distant."
The missionaries were kindly treated by the people of the village, who prepared for them free quarters in the fort building and furnished and plowed two acres of ground for use as a garden.
"I preached to them in my own house every Sabbath," writes the missionary. "On the 29th of May [1820] our school was opened ; I was teacher myself. We commenced with ten English scholars, six French, eight Indians and one negro; the latter, we hoped, would one day find his way to Liberia, in Africa."
The interesting story of the experiences of the McCoys is given in the "History of Baptist Indian Missions," by Rev. Isaac McCoy. Unfortunately, the work is out of print and the only copy in Fort Wayne, as far as the author is aware, is owned by Mrs. Laura G. Detzer, through whose kindness the references here given are made possible.
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The late Mrs. Lucien P. Ferry (Caroline Bourie) was one of the pupils of Rev. Isaac McCoy, being at that time five years of age. Before their departure for a new field in southwestern Michigan, the McCoys established a Baptist church of eleven members, but the organization soon disbanded.
The perils of the life of the frontier are well illustrated by the experience of the McCoy family, by which a daughter of nine years was all but murdered by a fiendish savage, who captured her near
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EVACUATION OF FORT WAYNE
1816 1819
the fort and would have taken her life but for the timely interference of a young friendly Indian and one of the attaches of the missionary school. The child was apparently "struggling in the agonies of
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IN THE WESTERN COUNTRY. 427
Until the Ist of September, the savages about the fort had professed friendship, with a view to get pos- session of it by some stratagem. Captain Rhica. who commanded, was addicted to intoxication, for which. and his other misconduct he was arrested by general Harrison ; but on account of his age he was permitted" to resign. The fort was well prepared to resist a. siege by Indians, as it had plenty of provisions. andi water, and about 70 men with four small field pieces .: It is delightfully situated on an eminence on the south bank of the Miami of the Lake, immediately below the formation of that river by the junction of the St. Ma- rys from the southwest with the St. Josephs . from, the. north. It is well constructed of block houses -und .: picketting, but could not resist a British force, as there are several eminences on the south side, from which it could be commandled by a six or nine pounder.
This is the place, where the Miami Indians . for- merly had their principal town; and here many an unfortunate prisoner suffered death by burning at thic stake. It was here also, that general Harmer suffered his army to be cut up and.defeated in detachments af- ter he had burnt the town in the fall of the year 1790. For more than a century before that time, it had been- the principal place of rendezvous between the Indians of the lakes, and those of the Wabash and Illinois, and had been much resorted about the year '56 and previously, by French traders from Canada. The Miami is navigable for boats from this place to the lake, and the portage to the nearest navigable branch. of the Wabash, is but seven or eight miles, through a level marshy prairie, from which the water runs both. to the Wabash and St. Marys. A canal at some fu- ture day will unite these rivers, and thus render a town at fort Wayne, as formerly, the most conside- mable place in all that country. The corn which had : been cultivated in the fields by the villagers, was & nearly all destroyed by the Indians : the remains -. ..
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WHAT A VERY EARLY HISTORICAL WORK SAID ABOUT FORT WAYNE. This is a photographic reproduction of a page from Captain Robert McAfee's "History of the Late War [1812] in the Western Country." It describes Fort Wayne as it appeared at the time of the publication of the book in 1816. Follow- ing is an explanation of the numbered references: 1-September, 1812. 2-The buildings and palisades of the fort. 3-Maumee river. 4-In the neighborhood of Clay, Washington, Jefferson and other streets of that locality. 5-Kekionga. 6- Little river. 7-McAfee here predicts the Wabash and Erie canal, that did much to "render a town at Fort Wayne," (8) which. indeed, became "the most consid- erable place in all that country."
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THE PICTORIAL HISTORY OF FORT WAYNE
death" when her rescuers reached her side. The father was just reaching home from a horseback ride to Baltimore, whither he had gone to secure financial aid for the mission and school. The mis- sionary, describing the experience, adds that a Miami woman, who was a member of their household, threw herself, while intoxicated, into a fire and burned to death, and that the Miamis, while under the influence of liquor, committed many murders in the Indian villages about the settlement.
FORT WAYNE FROM 1819 TO 1823.
To the description of Fort Wayne at this time as given by Rev. Isaac McCoy, we have chosen to add that given by four other visitors to the settlement between the years 1819 and 1823.
The journal of Thomas Scattergood Teas, of Philadelphia, Penn- sylvania, published for the first time in 1916 in "Indiana as Seen by Early Travelers," edited by Harlow Lindley, secretary of the Indiana Historical Commission, gives an intimate view of life in the village of Fort Wayne in 1821.
"The laws of the United States for preventing the introduc- tion of liquors among the Indians, though very severe, are ineffect- ual," wrote Mr. Teas. "A person might remain in the woods within five or six miles of Fort Wayne for a year without being discovered by any white settler. It has been the custom of the traders to bring whiskey in kegs and hide it in the woods about half a mile from the fort, a short time previous to the paying of the annuity, and, when the Indians came to the fort, to give inform- ation to such of the young men as the traders can confide in, that there is whiskey to be had at those places. These inform their comrades, and as soon as they receive their money they go off in droves to the places appointed, where they frequently buy it at two dollars a pint, till their money is gone, and then pawn their blankets, guns, bracelets and other trinkets till they are sometimes reduced to a state of nudity. In this manner the unprincipled traders evade the laws with impunity, and render all the efforts of the friends of civilization abortive. * There are con- siderable numbers of Indians here of the Pottowattomies, Shawnees, Miami, Utawas and Delaware tribes. Notwithstanding the efforts of the Indian agent to prevent the traders from selling whiskey to them, they still contrive to do it. I have seen as many as fifty drunk during my short stay here. They assemble in groups of ten or twelve, men and women promiscuously, squat on the ground and pass the canteen rapidly around, and sing, whoop and halloo, all laughing and talking at once, with the most horrible contortions of countenance; so that they remind me of Milton's demons. It is not uncommon to see them entirely naked, except a strip of clothing about a foot broad about their middle. This evening six deserters, who had been taken and sent to Green Bay, and discharged after serving their time out, arrived here. They were miserable looking fellows. One of them came to the tavern and offered to barter a roll of tobacco for whiskey, but was refused. They took up their quarters for the night in an empty cabin. * *
"The settlement at this place consisted of about thirty log cabins and two tolerably decent frame houses. The inhabitants
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EVACUATION OF FORT WAYNE
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are nearly all French-Canadians. The fort stands at the lower end of the village and is composed of hewn log buildings about thirty-five feet high, and the intervals between them filled up with a double row of pickets twenty feet high. It is about sixty yards square. There is no garrison kept here, and the barracks are occupied by the Indian agent, the Baptist missionary and some private families. There is a school for the Indian children in the fort, under the auspices of the Baptist Society. It is conducted on the Lancasterian system; the teacher's name is Montgomery. On my arrival, as the school was the principal object of curiosity, I waited on the mission- ary whose name is McKoy [Rev. Isaac McCoy], and requested him to accompany me to it, which he did; and, during my stay in Fort Wayne, treated me with an attention as unexpected as it was grat- ifying. There are about forty scholars. It is pleasing to see the
JAMES BARNETT.
Mr. Barnett's first visit to the old fort was in 1797, two years after the building of the stockade by General Wayne. He came again as a soldier with General Harrison in 1812. His permanent resi- dence dates from 1818. Mr. Barnett built the first brick house in Fort Wayne. The portrait is reproduced from the "History of the Maumee River Basin" (vol. ii).
FRANCIS COMPARET.
In 1820 Francis Comparet came to Fort Wayne and opened an Indian trading post; later he established several manu- facturing industries and was foremost in many of the enterprises of the day. He was one of the contractors whose work on a proposed Fort Wayne-to-Chicago canal created Sylvan Lake at Rome City, Indiana.
order in which the school is kept, and the delight that the scholars seem to take in their studies. There are two boys of the Potto- wattomie tribe, who had been only two weeks at school, who were spelling in words of four letters. As soon as they begin to learn their letters, they are furnished with a slate, and form letters on it in imitation of printed type. About half the scholars were writing, and many of them write a good hand. Their improvement is such as to remove all doubts as to their capacity.
"There is a U. S. reserve of six miles square round the town and the settlers are squatters who pay no tax or rent, and are liable to be ordered off at a minute's warning. The village, before the late war [1812] was much larger than at present. The Indians destroyed all the houses except two which were near the fort, and which were burnt by order of the commandant, to prevent the
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THE PICTORIAL HISTORY OF FORT WAYNE
Indians from setting fire to them when the wind should get towards the fort and burn it. This part of the country possesses great com- mercial advantages, and when it becomes settled, will be a place of great business."
Rev. J. B. Finney, in his book, "Life Among the Indians," tells of visiting the village during the period of the distribution of the annuities to the savages. He writes :
"This was an awful scene for a sober man to look upon. Here were encamped between two and three hundred Indians, and one- third, if not one-half, drunk ; men and women, raving maniacs, sing- ing, dancing, fighting, stabbing and tomahawking one another- and there were the rum-sellers watering their whiskey until it was not strong grog, and selling it for four dollars a gallon, their hired men gathering up all the skins and furs and their silver trinkets, ear-bobs, arm bands, half moons, silver crosses and brooches- giving a gill of grog for a dozen brooches-and their guns, toma- hawks and blankets, till they were literally stripped naked, and three or four were killed or wounded. The reader may set what estimates he pleases, or call him by what name; yet, if there were ever a greater robber, or a meaner thief, or a dirtier murderer than these rum-sellers, he is yet to be seen."
Lest the severe arraignment of the preacher appear unjust, let us compare it with the opinion of Captain James Riley as given in the following year (1820) to Edward Tiffin. Captain Riley prefaces his observations with the statement that he came to the village of Fort Wayne to witness the scenes which he describes. Said he :
"There were at least one thousand whites here, from Ohio, Michigan, New York and Indiana, trading with the Indians. They brought a great abundance of whisky with them, which they dealt out to the Indians freely, in order to keep them continually drunk and unfit for business; their purpose being to get the best of them in trade. Horse-racing, gambling, drinking, debauchery, extrava- gance and waste were the order of the day and night."
But these conditions, as pictured by Captain Riley, prevailed only during the period of the annual distribution of the money sent by the government to be paid to the Indians in accordance with the treaty agreements. It is of interest, then, to quote the words of a man who made a "between-times" visit to the village. We find him, in the person of Major Stephen H. Long, a topographical engineer, who visited the village in 1823. He wrote his impressions in the following forceful words as given in his "Expedition to the Sources of the River St. Peter :"
"At Fort Wayne we made a stay of three days, and to a person visiting the Indian country for the first time, this place offers many characteristic and singular features. The village is small-it has grown under the shelter of the fort, and contains a mixed and apparently very worthless population. The inhabitants are chiefly of [French] Canadian origin, all more or less imbued with the Indian blood. The confusion of tongues, owing to the diversity of Indian tribes which generally collect near a fort, make the traveler imagine himself in a real babel.
"The business of a town of this kind differs so materially from
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EVACUATION OF FORT WAYNE
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that carried on in our cities, that it is almost impossible to fancy ourselves within the same territorial limits, but the disgust which we entertain at the degraded condition in which the white man, the descendant of the European, appears, is perhaps the strangest sensation which we experience. To see a being in whom from his complexion and features we should expect to find the same feelings which dwell in the bosom of every refined man, throwing off his civilized habits to assume the garb of the savage, has something which partakes of the ridiculous as well as the disgusting. The awkward and constrained appearance of those Frenchmen who had exchanged their usual dress for the breech-cloth and blanket was as visible as that of the Indian who assumes the tight body-coat of
THE LAST COUNCIL HOUSE.
A log building known as the council house was destroyed by fire during the siege of Fort Wayne in 1812. A new building, of which the above is a sketch, was erected by Major Vose in 1817, to take its place. The building stood on East Main street, on a lot adjoining the No. 1 fire station, occupied later by the residence of Michael Hedekin. In later years it was used as a schoolhouse. "In one room," said the late Mrs. Lucien P. Ferry, "there were cupboards full of to- bacco. Whenever the boys were unruly . they were shut up in these cupboards until they were almost suffocated." The building was the birthplace of Louis T. Bourie and his wife; it became the prop- erty of Captain John Bourie in 1839 and was torn down in 1856.
Quidiano Agent
SIGNATURE OF DR. WILLIAM TURNER.
Dr. Turner, a son-in-law of Captain William Wells, became Indian agent at Fort Wayne in 1821, succeeding Major Benjamin F. Stickney (Signature from Burton Historical Collection, Detroit).
alexis Coquillands
SIGNATURE OF ALEXIS COQUIL- LARD.
Alexis Coquillard was one of the ear- liest representatives of the American Fur Company to locate at Fort Wayne. He was one of the first settlers of South Bend, Indiana. (Burton Historical Col- lection, Detroit).
the white man. The feelings which we experienced while beholding a little Canadian stooping down to pack up and weigh the hides which an Indian had brought for sale, while the latter stood in an erect and commanding posture, were of a mixed and certainly not of a favorable nature. At each unusual motion made by the white man, his dress, which he had not properly secured, was disturbed, and while engaged in restoring it to its proper place he was the butt of the jokes and jibes of a number of squaws and Indian boys who seemed already to be aware of the vast difference which exists between them and the Canadian fur dealers.
"The village is exclusively supported by the fur trade, which has, however, gradually declined, owing to the diminution of the Indian population. The traders seldom leave the town but have
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a number of Canadians, called engagés, in their service who accom- pany the Indians in their summer hunts, supply them with goods in small quantities, and watch them that they shall not sell their goods [furs] to traders other than their employers. The furs brought in consist principally of deer and raccoon skin. Bear, otter and beaver have become very rare. The skins when brought in are loosely rolled or tied, but they are afterward made into packs which are three feet long and eighteen inches wide after being sub- jected to a heavy pressure in a wedge press. Skins are worth : Deer (buck), $1.25; deer (doe), $1.09; raccoon, $0.50; bear, $3.00 to $5.00. The values are nominal, as the furs are paid for in goods which are passed off on the Indians for more than double the prime cost and transportation. The furs are usually sent down the Mau- mee to Lake Erie and thence to Detroit, where they are for the most part purchased by the American Fur Company."
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CHAPTER XXI-1820-1823.
Platting the Town of Fort Wayne-Allen County Organized.
Dr. Turner, John Hays and Benjamin B. Kercheval, Indian sub-agents at Fort Wayne The first postoffice-Kercheval, and Hanna, postmasters- The American Fur Company-Alexis Coquillard-Francis Comparet, James Aveline, the Ewings, the Hoods, William Rockhill, the Swinneys, Paul Taber and others locate in the village-"Father" Ross-The first secret order, Wayne Lodge of Masons, organized within the fort-Why General Harrison blocked the way against the establishment of a town in 1805- The government decides to sell the land about the fort-The land office- Captain Vance and Register Holman-Allen Hamilton, John T. Barr and John McCorkle-Robert Young surveys the original plat of Fort Wayne- Ewing's tract-Why the original streets run askew-Allen county is organized.
A CHANGE in the management of the Indian agency at Fort Wayne took place in 1820, when Major Benjamin F. Stick- ney was transferred to a post on the lower Maumee and Dr. William Turner1 was named to succeed him. Major Stickney had served with credit during nine strenuous years, and had suffered, as many another efficient officer has done, from the in- trigues of enemies among the Indians and the whites. General Dun- can McArthur, writing from Chillicothe, Ohio, as early as March, 1815, informed the secretary of war, James Monroe, that Colonel Lewis, a Shawnee chief, had placed before him severe criticisms of Stickney's methods. "The Indians are generally displeased with Mr. Stickney as an agent," added General McArthur, "and several of them have requested me to make it known to the president and solicit his removal. He is certainly not well qualified to discharge the duties of an Indian agent."
In May, 1818, Governor Lewis Cass, at Detroit, wrote to Major Stickney as follows :
"By an act of congress, passed April 20, 1818, the agencies at Fort Wayne and Piqua have been consolidated, and John Johnston, Esq., has been appointed agent for the agency thus formed. This new organization has left you out of the service. I do not know what arrangement has been made by the war department for the pro- visional execution of duties at Fort Wayne, nor have I been in- formed whether it is expected that Mr. Johnston should remove from Piqua. It is especially necessary that some person should be charged with the management of Indian affairs at Fort Wayne until the pleasure of the secretary of war can be made known upon the sub- ject. I have to request that you execute the duties of sub-agent at that post."
Major Stickney continued to serve, under this arrangement, through the year 1819, though there appears to have developed a degree of friction between the sub-agent and his superiors. Gov-
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THE PICTORIAL HISTORY OF FORT WAYNE
ernor Lewis Cass, of Michigan, writing in January, 1819, to John C. Calhoun, secretary of war, concerning the situation at Fort Wayne, said :
"I consider him [Major Stickney] a very zealous and honest agent. But circumstances have occurred at Fort Wayne which have had a tendency to injure the usefulness of Mr. Stickney there."
Under these circumstances, Major Stickney removed from Fort
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THE ORIGINAL AREA OF ALLEN COUNTY. The map shows the area of Allen county, as created in 1823, as compared with its present size; even today it is the largest county in Indiana.
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PLATTING FORT WAYNE-COUNTY ORGANIZED
Wayne and settled on the site of Toledo, Ohio. Dr. Turner, the new sub-agent, resigned his office within a few weeks after taking up his duties on account of failing health, and John Hays was appointed in his stead, at a salary of $1,200 per year. Benjamin B Kercheval,2 a young Kentuckian who had been serving as clerk, was appointed sub-agent at a salary of $500. Mr. Kercheval soon succeeded Mr. Hays. The payment of annuities to the Indians in 1820 amounted to $21,121 in cash, in addition to $5,838.40 for mills, materials, superintendents, agents, sub-agents, interpreters and black- smiths.
In 1821, the birth of a daughter to Benjamin B. Kercheval, the Indian sub-agent, and his wife (formerly Maria Forsythe) was an event of such interest to the Indians that they shortly adopted her, with solemn ceremonies, as a member of the Miami tribe. The child,
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THE CHARTER OF WAYNE LODGE OF MASONS.
Herewith is shown a reproduction of a portion of the crumbling, discolored original charter granted to Wayne lodge No. 25, Free and Accepted Masons, November 10, 1823, by the grand lodge of the state. This was the first secret society organized in Fort Wayne. The original charter, framed, hangs on the wall of the lodge room in the Masonic Temple.
Eliza Cass Kercheval, in maturity, married Francis Woodbridge, a Vermont West Pointer. From Fort Wayne, the Kerchevals removed to Detroit, where the family and its descendants became strongly identified with the development of the town and city.
In 1822, the government assigned Richard Whitehouse, black- smith, to serve the needs of the Indians at the agency house.
The national government recognized the growing importance of the town of Fort Wayne in the establishment of the postoffice in 1820. Although Samuel Hanna was in reality the first man to serve as the postmaster of Fort Wayne, another pioneer, Benjamin B. Kercheval, whose commission bore the date of February 4, was the first appointee of Postmaster General Return J. Meigs, of President Monroe's cabinet. Mr. Hanna established the office in his store, after Mr. Kercheval, evidently, had declined to serve.
1820 1823
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THE PICTORIAL HISTORY OF FORT WAYNE
At this time, there was one mail every two weeks from Cin- cinnati, and the only newspaper to find its way to the pioneer village was the Liberty Hall (Cincinnati Gazette).
In 1822, in response to the demands of the town, the govern- ment established regular mail routes between Fort Wayne and Chicago, as well as Ohio villages. Colonel William Suttenfield car- ried the mails to Chicago, and on one trip he made the entire journey on foot. Samuel Bird, a veteran of the Wayne campaign, who helped to build the original fort, carried the Maumee mails, making one trip a week.
The chief industry of the town during these earlier years con- sisted of the trade with the Indian tribes, chiefly in the exchange of goods for furs and peltries. The American Fur Company estab- lished an important branch station here and Benjamin B. Kercheval, Alexis Coquillard and Francis Comparet were its representatives.
Mr. Comparet, who came to the village from Detroit in 1820, was a native of Monroe, Michigan, where he was born in 1798; he made Fort Wayne his permanent place of abode, and the family is identified with much of the early and more modern activities of the village and city.
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