Collins historical sketches of Kentucky. History of Kentucky: Vol. II, Part 66

Author: Collins, Lewis, 1797-1870. cn; Collins, Richard H., 1824-1889. cn
Publication date: 1874
Publisher: Covington, Ky., Collins & Co.
Number of Pages: 1654

USA > Kentucky > Collins historical sketches of Kentucky. History of Kentucky: Vol. II > Part 66

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There is one singular weakness in this latter statement-which proves, if it proves any thing, that Col. Johnson killed a conspicuous chief; perhaps the gaily dressed Pottawatomie, but not Tecumseh. The latter was noted for the plainness of his dress, for avoiding to a great extent, the gaudy ornaments in which most Indians so greatly delighted. He entered the battle of the Thames dressed in the ordinary deer-skin garb of his tribe.

Again : There was no custom in war more faithfully and religiously observed, usually at the hazard of all the lives necessary to accomplish it, than the carrying off from the scene of battle of their dead chiefs, for burial. Black Hawk declares that Tecumseh's body was carried off; the two Winnebago chiefs assert that it was carried into the thick woods, and there buried; Clark, the British soldier, declares what he must have seen to enable him to say so, that his body was " carried away during the engagement ;" and Peter Navarre says that, by order of Gen. Harrison, he and his companion buried it. But adding to the mystery, and most unaccountable of all, is the fact that Gen. Harrison-in his first brief official report to the U. S. secretary of war, of Oct. 5, 1813, on or near the field of battle, and in his full detailed report, four days later, Oct. 9, 1813, from his headquarters at Detroit-does not mention or even remotely allude to the death of Tecumseh, the most extraordinary and important result of the battle, and that which, far more than the remark- able defeat of the British general Proctor, ensured peace and tranquillity to the whole northwestern border, for the present at least. Indeed, there was no certainty, and no general conviction, that Tecumseh's voice was hushed in death until some days after the battle. If Gen. Harrison ordered Peter Na- varre to bury the body, he must even then have been ignorant that it was the body of Tecumseh.

But Col. Charles S. Todd-one of the aids of Gen. Harrison, and U. S. in- spector general during the war of 1812-thus explains the reticence of the commander : "I am authorized by several officers of Gen. Harrison's staff, who were in the battle of the Thames, to state most unequivocally their belief, that the general neither knew nor could have known the fact of the death of Te- cumseh, at the date of his letter to the war department. It was the uncer- tainty which prevailed as to the fact of Tecumseh's being killed, that prevented any notice of it in his report. On the next day after the battle, Gen. Harri- son, in company with Commodore Perry and other officers, examined the body

* Lossing's Field Book of War of 1812, page 556.

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of an Indian supposed to be Tecumseh ; but from its swollen and mutilated condition, he was unable to decide whether it was that chief or a Pottawat- omie who usually visited him at Vincennes, in company with Tecumseh ; and I repeat most unhesitatingly, that neither Commodore Perry nor any officer in the American army, excepting Gen. Harrison, had ever seen Tecumseh previously to the battle ; and even though he had recognized the body which he examined to be that of the celebrated chief, it was manifestly impossible that he could have known whether he was killed by Johnson's corps, or by that part of the infantry which participated in the action. No official or other satisfactory report of his death, was made to him by those engaged on that part of the battle ground where he fell. It was not until after the return of the army to Detroit, and after the date of Gen. Harrison's dispatches. * that it was ascertained from the enemy, that Tecumseh was certainly killed; and even then the opinion of the army was divided as to the person by whose hands he fell. - Some claimed the credit of it for Col. Whitley, some for Col. John- son; but others, constituting a majority, including Gov. Shelby, entertained the opinion that he fell by a shot from David King, a private in Capt. David- son's company, from Lincoln county, Kentucky. In this state of the case, even had the fact of Tecumseh's death been fully ascertained, at the date of Gen. Harrison's letter, it would have been manifestly unjust, not to say im- practicable, for the commander-in-chief to have expressed an opinion as to the particular individual to whose personal prowess his death was to be attri- buted."

The proof that Tecumseh fell by the hand of the old Indian fighter, Col. Wm. Whitley, is contained chiefly in a letter of Abraham Scribner, Greenville, Ohio, dated Sept. 8, 1840, and another dated Feb. 24, 1841, of Col. Ambrose Dudley, of Cincinnati. The latter says : "The morning after the battle of the Thames, in company with several other persons, I walked over the ground, to see the bodies of those who had been slain in the engagement. After pass- ing from the river a considerable distance, and the latter part of the way along what was termed a swamp, viewing the slain of the British army, we came to a place where some half a dozen persons were standing, and three dead Indians were lying close together. One of the spectators remarked, that he had witnessed that part of the engagement which led to the death of these three Indians and two of our troops, whose bodies had been removed the evening before for burial. He proceeded to point out the position of the slain as they lay upon the ground, with that of our men. He said old Col. Whitley rode up to the body of a tree, which lay before him, and behind which lay an Indian : he (the Indian, ) attempted to fire, but from some cause did not suc- ceed, and then Whitley instantly shot him. This Indian was recognized by one of the persons present as Tecumseh; the next Indian was pointed out as having killed Whitley; then the position of another of our troops who killed that Indian, and the Indian who killed him, with the position of the man who shot the third Indian-making three Indians and two Americans who had fallen on a very small space of ground. From the manner of the narrator, and the facts related at the time, I did not doubt the truth of his statement, nor have I ever had any reason to doubt it since. The Indian pointed out as Tecumseh, was wearing a bandage over a wound in the arm, and as it was known that Tecumseh had been slightly wounded in the arm the day before, while defending the passage of a creek, my conviction was strengthened by this circumstance, that the body before us was that of Tecumseh."

We have presented at considerable length, much of it in full, the statements and opinions as to who killed Tecumseh. No inconsiderable portion of it is contradictory, claiming as facts statements or positions which are at variance with each other, and of which no explanation has yet been given. In our view, it is conclusive that Col. Johnson did not kill Tecumseh, that David King might have done it, but that Col. Whitley probably did kill him. The whole narrative and testimony reminds us of the speech of Gen. Lewis Cass, in the

* Early on the 7th, Gen. Harrison left the army under the command of Gov. Shelby, and returned to Detroit. His report of the battle was dated on the 9th. The army did not reach Sandwich, opposite Detroit, until the 10th.

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senate of the United States, in the winter of 1853-54, and the sequel to it. In the gallery was a large delegation of Indians, among them some fine-looking men. Cass was earnestly and eloquently advocating a measure in which the Indians were interested, and used their presence quite happily to enforce his points. Gen. Sam. Houston, of Texas, broke the effect of his speech some- what, by playfully suggesting-" Now, general, tell us who killed Tecumseh !" The general resumed, and pointedly and with some power told the story-as soberly as though he did not suspect that Houston was quizzing him. Two hours later, he met in the library an old friend* from Ohio-who stoutly up- braided him for want of sincerity in thus ascribing to Col. Johnson glory which was only proximately his. Gen. Cass pleasantly replied, " It is of no sort of consequence now, who killed Tecumseh. Let Col. Johnson have the credit of it."

The Razor Straps .- A gentleman * who traveled with several hundred mounted Kentuckians from headquarters at Franklinton (now Columbus), Ohio, through Maysville to Lexington, Ky .- when they were returning home after the battle of the Thames-says they informed him that Tecumseh was not in the battle; they all believed it, and had not heard of his death. They told him of strips of skin for razor straps having been cut by somebody from the body of an Indian chief, but all denied having any. It was a mortifying fact, too disgraceful to be acknowledged or justified. If any in the regiments thus traveling together were guilty, they were ashamed to have it known.

Presentiments .- Col. Wm. Whitley, on the night before the battle, occupied the same tent with an old neighbor and friend-to whom he told his presenti- ment that he would be killed in the coming engagement, and urged him, but in vain, to have his scalp taken back to his wife, Esther, in Kentucky. He fell in the action, and was buried in his blanket on the bank of the Thames. [See sketch under Whitley county. ] The biographer of Tecumseh records a similar presentiment; he, too, entered the battle of the Thames with a strong conviction that he should not survive it. The retreat of Proctor was against his judgment, and he deemed further flight disgraceful-yet had little hope of victory in the impending action. Col. Whitley was 64, but Tecumseh only 43 years of age.

The Forlorn Hope spoken of above was composed of 20 men. The command was given by Col. Johnson to his old friend Col. Wm. Whitley, who thus ad- dressed his Spartan band : "Boys, we have been selected to second our colonel in the charge; act well your part; recollect the watch-word- Victory or Death !" Lieut. Logan ; a young printer named Mansfield; Joseph Taylor ; Benj. Chambers, a member of the Kentucky legislature ; Dr. Samuel Theo- bald; Robert Payne; Wm. Webb ; Garret Wall, forage-master ; Eli Short, assistant deputy quarter master; made 10 of the band. The names of the other 10 we have not ascertained. The five last named, and Col. Johnson, survived the terrible ordeal; most, if not all, of the other 15 were killed in the charge or died of wounds.

JOSH BELL COUNTY.

JOSH BELL county-the 112th in order of formation-was organized in May, 1867, and named after Joshua F. Bell, of Dan- ville, Ky. It was formed from part of Knox and Harlan counties, and in 1870-71 a portion of Whitley county, about 45 voters, known as the South American district, was cut off and added to it. It is bounded N. by Clay county, E. by Harlan, s. by Lee county, Virginia, and Claiborne county, Tennessee, and w. by Whitley and Knox counties, Ky. It is very mountainous ; the

* Wmn. A. Adams, Esq., formerly of Columbus, Ohio, now ( Feb. 15, 1873), of Newport, Kentucky.

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river and creek bottoms, the coves and north side of the mount- ains afford some rich and productive soil, the ridges and south side of the mountains are thin lands. White oak, black oak, poplar, sugar tree, maple, black and white walnut, beech, lynn, sycamore, dogwood, elm, and chestnut exist in abundance ; and on the south side of Pine mountain quantities of the yellow and black pine are to be found. The mountains produce good graz- ing for cattle and sheep ; the latter do well without feeding all winter. The products are corn, wheat, rye, oats, and small quantities of tobacco. The country abounds in timber ; there are a few saw mills near Pineville, but for want of water they are at a stand-still the greater part of the year. Some of the finest banks of coal in the world are in this county ; one on Clear creek is 14 feet thick. The county is watered by part of the Cumberland river, and by small streams emptying into it-Right fork, Left fork, Caney fork, Stony fork, and Turkey, Straight, Four Mile, Browning's, Hause's, Yellow, Big Clear, Little Clear, and Big Run creeks. The Wilderness turnpike road extends through the s. w. part of the county.

Pineville, the county seat, 16 miles E. of Barboursville and 14 miles N. of Cumberland Gap, is situated on the west bank of the Cumberland river, on a very narrow strip of land where the river breaks through Pine mountain ; hence its name. The mountains rise very high on both sides (east and west) of the village, and are almost perpendicular, with large cliffs or rocks overhanging. Immediately bordering on this town northwest is Cumberland Ford, one of the oldest settlements in this part of the country, said to have belonged originally to Gov. Shelby, and been bought from him by James Renfro, whose family owned it for several generations. During the civil war the house and fences were destroyed by the Federal army, but have since been rebuilt, and the place is now in a fine state of cultivation. This was consid- ered the most desirable site for a town, but it was opposed by the owner, who, instead, gave an acre of ground for it, a level piece of land on the side of the mountain, where a large frame court house was built, and around which the town has grown. Pine- ville has now 4 stores, 3 hotels, 2 mechanics' shops, 4 lawyers, 1 doctor, and 1 good school ; and there are a grist mill and a flour mill in the county.

STATISTICS OF JOSH BELL COUNTY.

When formed. See page 26 | Tobacco, hay, corn, wheat. .pp. 266, 263 Population in 1870.

·P. 258

Horses, mules, cattle, hogs .p. 268

whites and colored. .p. 260 Taxable property in 1870. p. 270

towns .. .p. 262 Land-No. of acres, and value of .... p. 270 Latitude and longitude .. .p. 257

white males over 21. .. p. 266

children bet. 6 and 20 yrs. p. 266

Distinguished citizens. see Index.

MEMBERS OF THE LEGISLATURE FROM JOSH BELL COUNTY.

Senate .- None resident in the county.

House of Representatives .- Hugh H. York, 1869-71; W. H. Evans, 1871-73.

Change of Name .- Among the earliest acts of the Kentucky legislature, in January, 1873, was one cutting off the too familiar prefix of Josh. Hereafter

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this county ascends in the alphabetical scale to B, as plain BELL county, and loses forever the singularly undignified name of Josh Bell county.

Mound .- In the large bottom at Cumberland Ford is a mound, 10 or 15 feet high, and 100 feet in circumference. Bones, pots, and other curiosities have been dug from it. It has evidently been a burying-ground of the Indians, or of some earlier and extinct race.

An Image .- In the winter of 1869, L. Farmer, of Pineville, was hunting a fox (that had caught his turkey) among the cliff's that surround Pineville, and found a wooden image of a man, about two feet high, in a sitting posture, with no legs. It looked as though it might have been made by the Indians centuries ago. It is a good imitation of a man, and is made of yellow pine. Some of its features, part of its nose and ears, are obliterated by time, al- though found in a place where it was kept entirely dry. One ear is visible, with a hole pierced in it as though once ornamented with jewelry. It is a great curiosity to travellers. The oldest inhabitants can tell nothing about it.

The Clear Creek Springs, 4 miles southwest of Pineville, are valued highly for their medical properties. The water has a taste similar to powder, and is thought to be peculiarly adapted to the cure of old sores and ulcers.

Cumberland Gap is known in history as the point through which eastern and interior Kentucky was first entered and explored. The Lebanon or Knox- ville branch of the Louisville and Nashville railroad is surveyed to run through Pineville and Cumberland Gap, to meet the railroad from Bristol on the Vir- ginia and Tennessee side. The former is already finished to Livingston sta- tion, 70 miles from the lowest defile in the Cumberland range of mountains, Cumberland Gap-the only place for many miles through which wagons can penetrate into Virginia. As a point of great military importance, it was eagerly seized and persistently held, by turns, by both the contending armies in the war of the rebellion, and was at last abandoned by both. Through this gap, the lamented Gen. Zollicoffer invaded Kentucky with his little army, shortly before his repulse at Wild Cat. One mile south of Pineville he threw up his fortifications, and first planted his cannon. The state road from Frank- fort to the state of Tennessee, the Wilderness turnpike, crosses at the Cum- berland Ford, and passes out of the state at Cumberland Gap.

The Pine Mountain Cliff's, near Pineville, consisting of almost interminable heaps of limestone, rise to the height of 1,300 feet. In this vicinity is a cave of considerable magnitude.

The Southeastern Corner of Kentucky is at the "Seven Pines," and was ascertained by the remarkably accurate boundary survey of 1859 to be 1,696,578 feet from 'the western initial point on the boundary line between Tennessee and Kentucky, at the Mississippi river-or 38 feet more than 321} miles; which is, of course, the exact length of the southern boundary of Kentucky. The Virginia and Tennessee corner is not coincident with the southeastern corner of Kentucky, but 8,309 feet in a northeasterly direction therefrom; it is given in the official report of that survey as a portion of the boundary line between Kentucky and Tennessee; but of course is a small portion of the eastern, not southern, boundary of our state.

John Findlay-whom many have been accustomed to regard (but incorrectly) as the first adventurer into the wilds of Kentucky, because of his obscure visit in 1767, and his piloting Daniel Boone and others in 1769-is the least known of all who early " spied out the land." The following court order is preserved among the early records of Washington county, Virginia :

" John Findlay making it appear to the satisfaction of the court of Wash- ington county that he, upon the 20th day of July, 1776, received a wound in the thigh in the battle fought with the Cherokee Indians near the Great Island [in Holston river, East Tennessee, near Kingsport, a few miles south of the Virginia line]; and it now appears to the said court that lie, in consequence of the said wound, is unable to gain a living by his labor as formerly ; There- fore, his case is recommended to the consideration of the General Assembly of the commonwealth of Virginia."

In the fall of 1793, in Powell's Valley, Virginia, not far from Cumberland Gap, lived in one house two brothers named Henry and Peter Livingston, with

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their families. The two men had gone out into the field to work, unarmed and unsuspicious of danger, when * "the Indians broke into the house and killed their mother, an old wonan, and a negro child, and took the two Mrs. Livingstons, all the children, a negro fellow and a negro boy prisoners, and moved off with such other plunder as they fancied. As the children were running along before their mother, she made signs to them to take a path that turned off to a neighbor's house, and the Indians permitted them to run off unmolested, only retaining the two women and the negroes. Knowing that the Indians must pass either through Russell or Lee to gain the wilder- ness, expresses were instantly sent to both these counties. The court was in session when the express reached the court house, and it immediately ad- journed, and a party was organized upon the spot, under the command of Capt. Vincent Hobbs, to waylay a gap in Cumberland mountain called the Stone gap, through which it was supposed the Indians would most probably pass. On his arrival at the gap, Hobbs discovered that Indians had just passed through before him; he therefore pursued with eagerness, and soon discovered two Indians kindling a fire; these they instantly dispatched,-and finding some plunder with them which they knew must have been taken out of the Livingstons' house, they at once came to the conclusion that these two had been sent forward to hunt for provision, and that the others were yet behind with the prisoners.

" The object of Hobbs now was to make a quick retreat, to cover his own sign, if possible, at the gap, before the Indians should discover it, and perhaps kill the prisoners and escape. Having gained this point, he chose a place of ambuscade; but not exactly liking his position, he left the men there, and, taking one with him by the name of Van Bibber, he went some little distance in the advance to try if he could find a place more suited to his purpose. As they stood looking round for such a place, they discovered the Indians com- ing on with the prisoners. They cautiously concealed themselves, and each singled out his man. Benje, having charge of the young Mrs. Livingston, led the van, and the others followed in succession; but the Indian who had charge of the elder Mrs. Livingston was considerably behind, she not being able to march with the same light, elastic step of her sister. When the front came directly opposite to Hobbs and Van Bibber they both fired, Ilobbs killing Benje and Van Bibber the next behind him. At the crack of the gun the other men rushed forward, but the Indians had escaped into a laurel thicket, taking with them a negro fellow. The Indian who had charge of the elder Mrs. Livingston tried his best to kill her; but he was so hurried that he missed his aim. Her arms were badly cut by defending her head from the blows of his tomahawk. The prisoners had scarcely time to recover from their surprise before the two Livingstons, who heard the guns and who were now in close pursuit with a party of men from Washington, came rushing up and received their wives at the hands of Hobbs with a gust of joy. Four Indians were killed and five had escaped, and it appears they were separated into parties of three and two. The first had the negro fellow with them; and, by his account, they lodged that night in a cave, where he escaped from them and got home.

"In the meantime a party of the hardy mountaineers of Russell collected, and proceeded in haste to waylay a noted Indian crossing-place high up on the Kentucky river. When they got there, they found some Indians had just passed. These they pursued, and soon overtook two, whom they killed. They immediately drew the same conclusion that Hobbs had done, and has- tened back to the river, for fear those behind should discover their sign. Shortly after they had stationed themselves, the other three made their ap- pearance; the men fired upon them, two fell and the other fled, but left a trail of blood behind him, which readily conducted his pursuers to where he had taken refuge, in a thick canebrake. It was thought imprudent to follow him any farther, as he might be concealed and kill some of them before they could discover him. Thus eight of the party were killed and the other per- haps mortally wounded.

* From Letter of Benj. Sharp, in American Pioneer, ii, 467-8.

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"The state of Virginia presented Capt. Hobbs with one of the finest rifles that could be manufactured, as a token of respect for his skill and bravery in conducting this pursuit and killing Benje."

Swift's Silver Mine .- In 1854-5, while making geological investigations in the southeast part of Kentucky, as part of the official survey ordered by the state, Prof. David Dale Owen examined the supposed location of the notorious Swift mine, on the northwest side of the Log mountain, only a few miles from Cumberland Ford, then in Knox, now Josh Bell or rather Bell county. "The Indians are said, in former times, to have made a reservation of 30 miles square, on a branch of the Laurel fork of Clear creek. Benjamin Herndon, an old explorer, and a man well acquainted with the country, guided him to the spot where the ore was supposed to be obtained by the Indians, and after- wards by Swift and his party. It proved to be a kidney-shaped mass of dark- grey argillaceous iron-stone, containing some accidental minerals sparingly disseminated, such as sulphuret of zinc and lead-which proved, on examina- tion, to be a hydrated silicate of alumina. This ore originated in a thick mass of dark bituminous argillaceous shale, with some thin coal interstratified, that occurs about 500 to 600 feet up in the Log mountain."*

Judge John Haywood, who emigrated from North Carolina at an early day to Tennessee, and years after, in 1823, wrote its civil and political history from its earliest settlement up to the year 1796, says of this locality :f " Cum- berland mountain bears N. 46° E .; and between the Laurel mountain and the Cumberland mountain, Cumberland river breaks through the latter. At the point where it breaks through, and about 10 miles north of the state line, is Clear creek, which discharges itself into the Cumberland, bearing northeast till it reaches the river. It rises between the great Laurel hill and Cumber- land mountain ; its length is about 15 miles. Not far from its head rises also the South fork of the Cumberland, in the state of Ky., and runs westwardly. On Clear creek are two old furnaces, about half way between the head and mouth of the creek-first discovered by hunters in the time of the first settle- ments made in this country. These furnaces then exhibited very ancient appearances ; about them were coals and cinders-very unlike iron cinders, as they have no marks of the rust which iron cinders are said uniformly to have in a few years. There are also a number of the like furnaces on the South fork, bearing similar marks, and seemingly of a very ancient date. One Swift came to East Tennessee in 1790 and 1791; and was at Bean's Station, on his way to a part of the country near which these furnaces are. He had with him a journal of his former transactions-by which it appeared that in 1761, 1762, and 1763, and afterwards in 1767, he, two Frenchmen, and some few others, had a furnace somewhere about the Red Bird fork of Kentucky river-which runs towards Cumberland river and mountain, north- east of the mouth of Clear creek. He and his associates made silver in large quantities, at the last mentioned furnaces ; they got the ore from a cave about three miles from the place where his furnace stood. The Indians becoming troublesome, he went off; and the Frenchmen went towards the place now called Nashville. Swift was deterred from the prosecution of his last journey by the reports he heard of Indian hostility, and returned home-leaving his journal in the possession of Mrs. Renfro. The furnaces on Clear creek, and those on the South fork of Cumberland, were made either before or since the time when Swift worked his. The walls of these furnaces, and horn buttons of European manufacture found in a rock house, prove that Europeans erected them. It is probable therefore that the French-when they claimed the country to the Alleghenies, in 1754 and prior to that time, and afterwards up to 1758-erected these works. A rock house is a cavity beneath a rock, jutted out from the side of a mountain, affording a cover from the weather to those who are below it. In one of those was found a furnace and human bones, and horn buttons supposed to have been a part of the dress which had been buried with the body to which the bones belonged. It is probable that the French who were with Swift, showed him the place where the ore was."

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Collins historical sketches of Kentucky. History of Kentucky: Vol. II, Part 66

Author: Collins, Lewis, 1797-1870. cn; Collins, Richard H., 1824-1889. cn Publication date: 1874 Publisher: Covington, Ky., Collins & Co. Number of Pages: 1654

Author: Collins, Lewis, 1797-1870. cn; Collins, Richard H., 1824-1889. cn
Publication date: 1874
Publisher: Covington, Ky., Collins & Co.
Number of Pages: 1654