USA > Kentucky > Historical sketches of Kentucky : embracing its history, antiquities, and natural curiosities, geographical, statistical, and geological descriptions with anecdotes of pioneer life, and more than one hundred biographical sketches of distinguished pioneers, soldiers, statesmen, jurists, lawyers, divines, etc. > Part 65
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The early settlement of Mason county was, like that of many other sections of the state, attended with great hardship, danger and suffering ; and being a border county, and one through which the daring and bloody incursions of the Indians of the north were made, the adventurous pioneers who settled it were necessarily exposed to constant and peculiar hazards. And it is to be regretted that so few authentic accounts of the romantic and thrilling adventures of those hardy heroes of the west have been preserved to us by legend or tradition.
As early as 1785, many families came down the Ohio river in boats, landed at Maysville, and continued their route to such parts of the country as pleased them. Among them. Colonel Thomas Marshall, formerly commander of the third Vir- ginia regiment on continental establishment, subsequently colonel of the regiment of Virginia artillery. embarked with a numerons family on board a flat boat. ant descended the Ohio without any incident of note until he passed the mouth of the Kenawha. Here about ten o'clock at night, he was hailed from the northern shore by a man who announced himself as James Girty, the brother of the noto- How, Simon Girty. The boat dropped slowly down within one hundred and nity yards of the shore, and Girty making a corresponding movement on the beach, the conference was kept up for several minutes. He began by mentioning his name, and enquiring that of the master of the boat.
Having been satisfied upon this head, he assured him that he knew him well, respected him highly, &c., &c., and concluded with some rather extraordinary remarks : " He had been posted there." he said, " by the order of his brother Simon, to warn all boats of the danger of permitting themselves to be decoyed
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MASON COUNTY.
ashore. The Indians had become jealous of him, and he had lost that influence which he formerly held amongst them. He deeply regretted the injury which he had inflicted upon his countrymen, and wished to be restored to their society. In order to convince them of the sincerity of his regard, he had directed him to warn all boats of the snares spread for them. Every effort would be made to draw passengers ashore. White men would appear upon the bank ; and children would be heard to supplicate for mercy. But," continued he, "do yon keep the middle of the river, and steel your heart against every mournful application you may receive." The colonel thanked him for his intelligence, and continued his course. He arrived safely at Maysville, and settled in that part of the then county of Fayette which afterwards became the county of Mason. Colonel Marshall was a gentleman of high standing in Virginia. He had been a member of the gen- eral assembly in 1774, and was one of the band of patriots, who with Washing- ton and Henry, resolved to resist the assumptions of the British government at the hazard of all that was dear to men. He attached himself in 1775 to the army. and in the capacity of major was conspicuous for his gallantry in the battle of the Great Bridge on the 9th of December, 1775. He also distinguished himself as colonel in the battles of Brandywine and Germantown.
About the same time, Captain JAMES WARD, lately a highly respectable citi- zen of Mason county, Kentucky, was descending the Ohio, under circumstances which rendered a rencounter with the Indians peculiarly to be dreaded. He. to- gether with half a dozen others, one of them his nephew, embarked in a crazy boat, about forty-five feet long and eight feet wide, with no other bulwark than a single pine plank, above each gunnel. The boat was much encumbered with baggage, and seven horses were on board. Having seen no enemy for several days, they had become secure and careless, and permitted the boat to drift within fifty yards of the Ohio shore. Suddenly, several hundred Indians showed them- selves on the bank, and running down boldly to the water's edge, opened a heavy fire upon the boat. The astonishment of the crew may be conceived.
Captain Ward and his nephew were at the oars when the enemy appeared, and the captain knowing that their safety depended on their ability to regain the mid- die of the river, kept his seat firmly. and exerted his utmost powers at the oar, but his nephew started up at sight of the enemy, seized his rifle, and was in the act of leveling it, when he received a ball in the breast, and fell dead in the bot- tom of the boat. Unfortunately, his oar fell into the river, and the captain, hav- ing no one to pull against him, rather urged the boat nearer to the hostile shore than otherwise. He seized a plank, however, and giving his own oar to another of the crew, he took the station which his nephew had held, and unhurt by the shower of bullets that flew around him, continued to exert himself. until the boat had reached a more respectable distance. He then, for the first time, looked around him in order to observe the condition of the crew.
His nephew lay in his blood, perfectly lifeless ; the horses had been all killed or mortally wounded. Some had fallen overboard ; others were struggling vio- lently, and causing their frail bark to dip water so abundantly, as to excite the most serious apprehensions. But the crew presented the most singular spec- tacle. A captain, who had served with reputation in the continental army. seemed now totally bereft of his faculties. He lay upon his back in the bottom of the boat, with hands uplifted and a countenance in which terror was personi- find. exclaiming in a tone of despair. " Oh Lord ! Oh Lord!" A Dutchman, whose weight might amount to abont three hundred pounds. was anxiously en- gaged in endeavoring to find shelter for his bulky person, which, from the :ow - ness of the gunnels, was a very difficult undertaking. In spite of his utmost efforts. a portion of his posterial luxuriance appeared above the gunnel, and al. forded a mark to the enemy. which brought a constant shower of balls around it.
In vain he shifted his position. The hump still appeared, and the balls stul flew around it, until the Dutchman, losing all patience, raised his head above the gunnel, and in a tone of querulous remonstrance, called out, " oh now ! quit tat tained nonsense, tere, with you ! " Not a shot was fired from the boat. At one time, after they had partly regained the current, Captain Ward attempted to bring his ritle to bear upon them, but so violent was the agitation of the boat, from the furious struggles of the horses, that he could not steady his piece within
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CAPTURE OF MAY'S BOAT.
twenty yards of the enemy, and quickly laying it aside, returned to the oar. The Indians followed them down the river for more than an hour, but having no ca- rots, they did not attempt to board : and as the boat was at length transferred to the opposite side of the river, they at length abandoned the pursuit and disap- prared. None of the crew, save the young man already mentioned, were hart, although the Dutchman's seat of honor served as a target tor the space of an hour, and the continental captain was deeply mortified at the sudden, and, as he said, " unaccountable " panic which had seized him. Captain Ward himself was pro- tected by a post, which had been fastened to the gunnel, and behind which he sat while rowing.
In the early part of 1790, JOHN MAY, from whom the city of Maysville derived its name, and who had frequently before visited Kentucky, embarked at Kelly's station, on the Kenawha river, for Maysville, in company with his clerk, Mr. Charles Johnston, and Mr. Jacob Skyles, also a gentleman of Virginia, who had with him a stock of dry goods for Lexington. They arrived without accident at Point Pleasant, where they were joined by a man named Flinn, and two sisters named Fleming, natives of Pittsburg. After leaving Point Pleasant, when near the mouth of the Scioto, they were awakened at daylight on the morning of the 20th of March, by Flinn. whose turn it was to watch, and informed that danger was at hand. All instantly sprung to their feet, and hastened upon deck without removing their night caps or completing their dress. The cause of Flinn's alarm was quickly evident. Far down the river a smoke was seen. ascending in thick wreaths above the trees, and floating in thinner masses over the bed of the river. All instantly perceived that it could only proceed from a large fire : and who was there to kindle a fire in the wilderness which surrounded them ? No one doubted that Indians were in front, and the only question to be decided was, upon which shore they lay, for the winding of the river, and their distance from the smoke, rendered it impossible at first to ascertain this point. As the boat drifted on, however, it became evident that the fire was upon the Ohio shore. and it was in- stantly determined to put over to the opposite side of the river. Before this could be done, however, two white men ran down upon the beach. and clasping their hands in the most earnest manner, implored the crew to take them on board.
They declared that they had been taken by a party of indians in Kennedy'e bottom, a few days before; had been conducted across the Ohio, and had just ef- fected their escape. They added. that the enemy was in close pursuit of them, and that their death was certain. unless admitted on board. Resolute in their purpose, on no account to leave the middle of the stream. and strongly suspect- ing the supplicants of treachery. the party paid no attention to their entreaties, but "radily pursued their course down the river, and were soon considerably ahead of them. The two white men ran down the bank, in a line parallel with the course of the boat, and their entreaties were changed into the most piercing cries and lamen- tations upon perceiving the obstinacy with which their request was.disregarded. Instantly the obduracy of the crew began to relax. Flinn and the two females, areastomed from their youth to undervalue danger from the Indians, earnestly in- ersted upon going ashore and relieving the white men, and even the incredulity of May began to yield to the persevering importunity of the supplicants. A par- Iny took place. May called to them from the deck of the boat, where he stood in his nightcap and drawers, and demanded the cause of the large fire, the smoke of which had caused so much alarm. The white men positively denied that thera wis any fire near them. This falsehood was so palpable, that May's former aus- parlons returned with additional force, and he positively insisted upon continuing Wir course without paying the slightest attention to the request of the men. This resolution was firmly seconded by Johnston and Skyles, and as vehemently "sposed by Flinn and the Miss Flemings, for, contrary to all established rules of paltry, the females were allowed an equal vote with the males on board of the
l'linn urged that the men gave every evidence of real distress which could be inputred, and recounted too many particular circumstances attending their capture and /grape, to give color to the suspicion that their story was invented for the oc- canion, and added, that it would be a burning shame to them and theirs forever,
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MASON COUNTY.
if they should permit two countrymen to fall a sacrifice to the savages, when so slight a risk on their part would suffice to relieve them. He acknowledged that they had lied in relation to the fire, but declared himself satisfied that it was only because they were fearful of acknowledging the truth, lest the crew should sus- pect that Indians were concealed in the vicinity. The controversy became warm, and, during its progress, the boat drifted so far below the men, that they appeared . to relinquish their pursuit in despair.
At this time, Flinn made a second proposal, which. according to his method of reasoning, could be carried into effect, without the slightest risk to any one but himself. They were now more than a mile below the pursuers. He proposea that May should only touch the hostile shore long enough to permit him to jump out. That it was impossible for Indians (even admitting that they were at hand) to arrive in time to arrest the boat, and even should any appear, they could im- mediately put off from shore and abandon him to his fate. That he was confi- dent of being able to outrun the red devils, if they saw him first, and was equally confident of being able to see them as soon as they could see him. Mav remon- strated upon so unnecessary an exposure ; but Flinn was inflexible, and in an evil hour the boat was directed to the shore.
They quickly discovered. what ought to have been known before. that they could not float as swiftly after leaving the current as while borne along by it. and they were nearly double the time in making the shore, that they had calculated upon. When within reach. Flinn leaped fearlessly upon the hostile bank, and the boat grated upon the sand. At that moment, five or six savages ran up out of breath. from the adjoining wood, and instantly seizing Flinn, began to fire upon the boat's crew. Johnston and Skyles sprung to their arms, in order to return the fire, while May, seizing an oar, attempted to regain the current. Fresh Indiang arrived, however, in such rapid succession, that the beach was quickly crowded by them, and May called out to his companions to cease firing and come to the cars. This was instantly done, but it was too late.
Seeing it impossible to extricate themselves, they all lay down upon their faces, in such parts of the boat as would best protect them from the horses, and await- ed, in passive helplessness, the approach of the conquerors. The enemy. how ever, still declined boarding, and contented themselves with pouring in an inces sant fire. by which all the horses were killed. and which at length began to grow fatal to the crew. One of the females received a ball in her mouth. which had passed immediately over Johnston's head, and almost instantly expired. Skyles. immediately afterwards, was severely wounded in both shoulders, the ball striking the right shoulder blade, and ranging transversely along his back. The fire seem- ed to grow hotter every moment, when, at length May arose and waved his night- cap above his head as a signal of surrender. He instantly received a ball in the middle of the forehead, and fell perfectly dead by the side of Johnston, covering him with his blood.
Now, at last, the enemy ventured to board. Throwing themselves into the water, with their tomahawks in their hands. a dozen or twenty swam to the boat, and began to climb the sides. Johnston stood ready to do the honors of the boat. and presenting his hand to each Indian in succession, he helped them over the side to the number of twenty. Nothing could appear more cordial than the meet- ing. Each Indian shook him by the hand. with the usual salutation of " how de do," in passable English, while Johnston encountered every visitor with an affee- tionate squeeze, and a forced smile, in which terror struggled with civility. The Indians then passed on to Skyles and the surviving Miss Fleming, where the de- monstrations of mutual joy were not quite so lively. Skyles was writhing under a painful wound, and the girl was sitting by the dead body of her sister.
Having shaken hands with all of their captives, the Indians proceeded to scalp the dead, which was done with great coolness, and the reeking scalps were stretched and prepared upon hoops for the usual process of drying, immediately before the eyes of the survivors. The boat was then drawn ashore, and its con- tents examined with great greediness. Poor Skyles, in addition to the pain of his wounds, was compelled to witness the total destruction of his property, by the hands of these greedy spoilers, who tossed his silks, cambric, and broadcloth into the dirt with the most reckless indifference. At length they stumbled upon a keg of whisky. The prize was eagerly seized, and every thing else abandoned.
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TIMOTHY DOWNING.
The Indian who had found it, instantly carried it ashore, and was followed by the rest with tomoultuous delight. A large fire nearly fifty feet long was quickly kindled, and victors and vanquished indiscriminately huddled around it.
On the next morning the Indians arose early and prepared for another encoun- ter, expecting as usual that boats would be passing. It happened that Captain THOMAS MARSHALL, of the Virginia artillery, afterwards a citizen of Mason. and son of Colonel Marshall. in company with several other gentlemen, was descend- ing the Ohio, having embarked only one day later than May. About twelve o'clock on the second day after May's disaster, the little flotilla appeared about a mile above the point where the Indians stood. Instantly all was bustle and activ- ity. The additional oars were fixed to the boat, the savages instantly sprung on board, and the prisoners were compelled to station themselves at the cars, and were threatened with instant death unless they used their utmost exertions to bring them along side of the enemy. The three boats came down very rapidly, and were soon immediately opposite their enemy's. The Indians opened a heavy Lire upon them, and stimulated their rowers to their utmost efforts.
The boats became quickly aware of their danger, and a warm contest of skill and strength took place. There was an interval of one hundred yards between each of the three boats in view. The hindmost was for a time in great danger. Having but one pair of oars, and being weakly manned, she was unable to com- pete with the Indian boat, which greatly outnumbered her both in oars and nien. The Indians soon came within rifle shot, and swept the deck with an incessant fire, which rendered it extremely dangerous for any of the crew to show them- selves. Captain Marshall was on board of the hindmost boat, and maintained his position at the steering oar in defiance of the shower of balls which flew around him. He stood in his shirt sleeves with a red silk handkerchief bound around his head, which afforded a fair mark to the enemy, and steered the boat with equal steadiness and skill, while the crew below relieved each other at the oars.
The enemy lost ground from two circumstances. In their eagerness to over- take the whites, they left the current, and attempted to cut across the river from point to point, in order to shorten the distance. In doing so, however, they lost the force of the current, and soon found themselves dropping astern. In addition to this, the whites conducted themselves with equal coolness and dexterity. The second boat waited for the hindmost, and received her crew on board, abandoning the goods and horses, without scruple, to the enemy. Being now more strongly manned, she shot rapidly ahead, and quickly overtook the foremost boat, which, in like manner, received the crew on board, abandoning the cargo as before, and having six pair of oars, and being powerfully manned, she was soon beyond the reach of the enemy's shot. The chase lasted more than an hour. For the first half hour, the fate of the foremost boat hung in mournful suspense, and Johnson, with agony, looked forward to the probability of its capture. The prisoners were compelled to labor hard at the oars, but they took care never to pull together. and by every means in their power endeavored to favor the escape of their friends.
At length the Indians abandoned the pursuit, and turned their whole attention to the boats which had been deserted. The booty surpassed their most sanguine expectations. Several fine horses were on board, and flour, sugar, and chocolate in profusion. Another keg of whisky was found, and excited the same immeder- ate joy as at first.
Flinn was subsequently burnt by his fiendish captors at the stake, with all the aggravated tortures that savage cruelty could devise. Skyles. after running the gauntlet. and having been condemned to death. made his escape and reached il e white settlements in safety. The remaining Miss Fleming was rescued by on Indian chief, at the very time when her captors had bound her to a stake and were making preparations to burn her alive, and conducted safely to Pittsburg. Johe- ston was ransomed by a Frenchman at Sandusky, at the price of six hundred sil- ver brooches, and returned in safety to his family.
In April, 1791, Colonel TIMOTHY DOWNING. a citizen of Mason county, return- ing from Lexington, where he had been on a trading expedition with two horses, riding one and leading the other, which was laden with cotton goods, was cap- tand near the Blue Licks by a party of Shawanee Indians. They crossed with him into Ohio at Logan's Gap, where he was given in charge to two of the party,
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an old Indian and his son. After two day's traveling, the Indians with Downing encamped for the night. He had been treated very kindly by them during their march, and before supper the old Indian came up to him-" tie to-night, after to- night, no more tie ;" Downing replied-" no tie 'till after supper." This was assented to. The old Indian then directed him to hand a drink of water; and Downing, whilst getting the water, picked up a tomahawk. which he concealed. It had been raining during the day, and the young Indian was busy before the fire, drying a shirt, which had been taken from Downing; and whilst the old Indian, not suspecting any thing, was drinking the water he had handed him, Downing cleft his skull with the tomahawk and pitched him into the fire. It was neces- sary to kill the old Indian, but as they had been kind to him, he did not wish to hurt the young Indian. His object was to take him prisoner. But the instant he struck his father, the young Indian sprung upon his back with the most norri- ble yells, and confined him so that it was difficult to extricate himself from his grasp. It was not more than four or five miles to the main camp, and as soon as Downing was released from his struggles, he made for his horses, and the young Indian, who was badly wounded in the encounter, for the camp. He caught one of his horses and mounted him, and struck off into the woods, hoping that the other horse would follow. But the night was very dark, and he never saw any thing of his second horse. He was a bad woodsman, and before he got far from the scene of his exploits, he heard the eager yells of Indians in hot pursuit of him. But the darkness of the night favored his escape, and he succeeded in eluding his pursuers. A day or two afterwards Kenton, at the head of a party in pursuit of the Indians, came upon the camp whence Downing had escaped, discovered the old Indian, who had been buried with twenty-five yards of the cloth wrapped around him, and found also Downing's shirt, with blood on it. No Indians were to be seen, and the party returned. Kenton took the shirt to Mrs. Downing, who recognized it at once as her husband's, whom she concluded to have been murdered by the Indians. Downing, in the meantime, after travel- ing all night after his escape, found himself on a creek, which he followed to its junction with the Scioto river, and finally struck the Ohio below the mouth of the Scioto, just as a flat boat was passing down. He immediately hailed it, but the boat very prudently made for the Kentucky shore, evidently suspecting an In- dian decoy. He followed it two miles before he could prevail on the owners of it to send a boat to his relief. He finally succeeded ; a man came in a canoe, with his ritle, and told him as he approached that if he saw an Indian, he would shoot him (Downing) dead in his tracks. He was taken on board, landed at Maysville, and rejoiced his family, who were mourning him as dead, by his sud- den return. He resided then where Mr. Robert Downing, of Mason county. now lives, and after reaching an advanced age, died some fifteen or sixteen years ago.
In the month of April, 1792, a number of horses belonging to Captain Luther Calvin of Mason county, were stolen by the Indians ; and, as usual, a strong party volunteered to go in pursuit of the enemy and recover the property. The party consisted of thirty-seven men, commanded by Captains Calvin and Ken- ton, and was composed chiefly of young farmers, most of whom had never yet met an enemy. Captain Charles Ward, late deputy sheriff of Mason county, was one of the volunteers, and was at that time a mere lad, totally unacquainted with Indian warfare. They rendezvoused upon the Kentucky shore, immediately opposite Ripley, and crossing the river in a small ferry boat, pursued the trail for five or six miles with great energy. Here, however, a specimen of the usual caprice and uncertainty attending the motions of militia, was given.
One of the party, whose voice had been loud and resolute while on the kentucky shore, all at once managed to discover that the enterprise was rash. ill advised, and if prosecuted, would certainly prove disastrous. A keen debate ensued, in which young Spencer Calvin, then a lad of eighteen, openly accused the gentle- man alluded to of cowardice, and even threatened to take the measure of his shoulders with a ramrod, on the spot. By the prompt interference of Kenton and the elder Calvin, the young man's wrath was appeased for the time, and all those who preferred safety to honor, were invited instantly to return. The permission was promptly accepted. and no less than fifteen men, headed by the recreant al-
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