History of St. Clair County, Michigan, containing an account of its settlement, growth, development and resources, its war record, biographical sketches, the whole preceded by a history of Michigan, Part 7

Author:
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago, A.T. Andreas & Co.
Number of Pages: 818

USA > Michigan > St Clair County > History of St. Clair County, Michigan, containing an account of its settlement, growth, development and resources, its war record, biographical sketches, the whole preceded by a history of Michigan > Part 7

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During his sojourn in the Northwestern Territory, it was Tecumseh's upper- most desire of life to confederate all the Indian tribes of the country, against the whites, to maintain their choice hunting-grounds. All his public policy converged toward this single end. In his vast scheme he comprised even all the Indians in

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the Gulf country,-all in America west of the Alleghany mountains. He held, as a subordinate principle, that the Great Spirit had given the Indian race all these hunting-grounds to keep in common, and that no Indian or tribe could cede any portion of the land to the whites without consent of all the trices. Hence, in all his councils with the whites he ever maintained that the treaties were null and void.

When he met Harrison at Vincennes in council the last time, and, as he was invited by the General to take a seat with him on the platform, he hesitated ; Har- rison insisted, saying that it was the " wish of their Great Father, the President of the United States that he should do so." The chief paused a moment, raised his tall and commanding form to its greatest height, surveyed the troops and crowd around him, fixed his keen eyes upon Gov. Harrison, and then turning them to the sky above, and pointing toward heaven with his sinewy arm in a manner indicative of supreme contempt for the paternity assigned him, said in clarion tones : " My Father ? The sun is my father, the earth is my mother, and on her bosom I will recline." He then stretched himself, with his warriors on the green sward. The effect was electrical, and for some moments there was perfect silence.

The Governor, then, through an interpreter, told him that he understood that he had some complaints to make and redress to ask, etc., and that he wished to investigate the matter and make restitution whenever it might be decided it should be done. As soon as the Governor was through with this introductory speech, the stately warrior arose, tall, athletic, manly, dignified and graceful, and with a voice at first low, but distinct and musical, commenced a reply. As he warmed up with his subject his clear tones might be heard, as if " trumpet-tongued," to the utmost limits of the assembly-the most perfect silence prevailed, except when his warriors gave their guttural assent to some eloquent recital of the red-men's wrong and the white man's injustice. Tecumseh recited the wrongs which his race had suffered from the time of the massacre of the Moravian Indians to the present ; said he did not know how he ever again could be the friend of the white man ; that the Great Spirit had given to the Indian all the land from the Miami to the Mississippi, and from the lakes to the Ohio, as a common property to all the tribes in these borders, and that the land could not and should not be sold without the consent of all ; that all the tribes on the continent formed but one nation; that if the United States would not give up the lands they had bought of the Miamis and the other tribes, those united with him were determined to annihilate those tribes; that they were determined to have no more chiefs, but in future to be governed by their war- riors ; that unless the whites ceased their encroachments upon Indian lands, the fate of the Indians was sealed ; they had been driven from the banks of the Dela- ware across the Alleghanies, and their possessions on the Wabash and the Illinois

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were now to be taken from them; that in a few years they would not have ground enough to bury their warriors on this side of " Father of Waters ; " that all would perish, all their possessions taken from them by fraud or force, unless they stopped the progress of the white man westward ; that it must be a war of races in which one or the other must perish ; that their tribes had been driven toward the setting sun like a galloping horse (ne-kat-a-kush-e-ka-top-o-lin-to).

. The Shawnee language, in which this most eminent Indian statesman spoke, excelled all other aboriginal tongues in its musical articulation ; and the effect of Tecumseh's oratory on this occasion can be more easily imagined than described. Gov. Harrison, although as brave a soldier and general as any American, was over- come by his speech. He well knew Tecumseh's power and influence among all the tribes, knew his bravery, courage and determination, and knew that he meant what he said. When Tecumseh was done speaking there was a stillness throughout the assembly which was really painful; not a whisper was heard, and all eyes were turned from the speaker toward Gov. Harrison, who after a few moments came to himself, and recollecting many of the absurd statements of the great Indian orator, began a reply which was more logical, if not so eloquent. The Shawnees were attentive until Harrison's interpreter began to translate his speech to the Miamis and Pottawatomies, when Tecumseh and his warriors sprang to their feet, brand- ishing their war-clubs and tomahawks. "Tell him," said Tecumseh, addressing the interpreter in Shawnee, " he lies." The interpreter undertook to convey this message to the Governor in smoother language, but Tecumseh noticed the effort and remonstrated, " No, no; tell him he lies." The warriors began to grow more excited, when Secretary Gibson ordered the American troops in arms to advance. This allayed the rising storm, and as soon as Tecumseh's " He lies" was literally interpreted to the Governor, the latter told the interpreter to tell Tecumseh he would hold no further council with him.

Thus the assembly was broken up, and one can hardly imagine a more exciting scene. It would constitute the finest subject for a historical painting to adorn the rotunda of the capitol. The next day Tecumseh requested another interview with the Governor, which was granted on condition that he should make an apology to the Governor for his language the day before. This he made through the inter- preter. Measures for defense and protection were taken, however, lest there should be another outbreak. Two companies of militia were ordered from the country, and the one in town added to them, while the Governor and his friends went into council fully armed and prepared for any contingency. On this occasion the con- duct of Tecumseh was entirely different from that of the day before. Firm and intrepid, showing not the slightest fear or alarm, surrounded with a military force four times his own, he preserved the utmost composure and equanimity. None

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would have supposed that he could have been the principal actor in the thrilling scene of the previous day. He claimed that half the Americans were in sympathy with him. He also said that whites had informed him that Gov. Harrison had purchased land from the Indians without any authority from the Government ; that he, Harrison, had but two years more to remain in office, and that if he, Tecumseh, could prevail upon the Indians who sold the lands not to receive their annuities for that time, and the present Governor displaced by a good man as his successor, the latter would restore to the Indians all the lands purchased from them. The Wyan- dots, Kickapoos, Pottawattomies, Ottawas and the Winnebagoes, through their respective spokesmen, declared their adherence to the great Shawnee warrior and statesman. Gov. Harrison then told them that he would send Tecumseh's speech to the President of the United States and return the answer to the Indians as soon as it was received. Tecumseh then declared that he and his allies were determined that the old boundary line should continue ; and that if the whites crossed it, it would be at their peril. Gov. Harrison replied that he would be equally plain with him and state that the President would never allow that the lands on the Wabash were the property of any other tribes than those who had occupied them since the white people first came to America; and as the title to the lands lately purchased was derived from those tribes by a late purchase, he might rest assured that the right of the United States would be supported by the sword. "So be it " was the stern and haughty reply of the Shawnee chieftain, as he and his braves took leave of the Governor and wended their way in Indian file to their camping ground. Thus ended the last conference on earth by the chivalrous Tecumseh and the hero of the battle of Tippecanoe. The bones of the first lie bleaching on the battlefield of the Thames, and those of the last in a mausoleum on the banks of the Ohio; each struggled for the mastery of his race, and each no doubt was equally honest and patriotic in his purposes. The weak yielded to the strong, the defenseless to the powerful, and the hunting-ground of the Shawnee is all occupied by his enemy.

Tecumseh, with four of his braves, immediately embarked in a birch canoe, descended the Wabash, and went on to the South to unite the tribes of that country in a general system of self-defense against the encroachment of the whites. His emblem was a disjointed snake, with the motto " Join or die !" In union alone was strength.

Before Tecumseh left the Prophet's town at the mouth of the Tippecanoe River, on his excursion to the South, he had a definite understanding with his brother and the chieftains of the other tribes in the Wabash country, that they should preserve perfect peace with the whites until his arrangements were completed for a con- federacy of the tribes on both sides of the Ohio and on the Mississippi River; but 5

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it seems that while he was in the South engaged in his work of uniting the tribes of that country some of the Northern tribes showed signs of fight and precipitated Harrison into that campaign which ended in the battle of Tippecanoe, and the total rout of the Indians. Tecumseh, on his return from the South, learning what had happened, was overcome with chagrin, disappointment, and anger, and accused his brother of duplicity and cowardice ; indeed, it is said, he never forgave him to the day of his death. A short time afterward, on the breaking out of the war with Great Britain, he joined Proctor, at Malden, with a party of his warriors, and was killed at the battle of the Thames, October 5, 1813, by a Mr. Wheatly, as we are positively informed by Mr. A. J. James, now a resident of La Harpe township, Hancock County, Illinois, whose father-in-law, John Pigman, of Coshocton County, Ohio, was an eye-witness. Gen. Johnson has generally had the credit of killing Tecumseh.

THE BLACK HAWK WAR.

The excitement which this war caused throughout the settlements of Michigan was such as would appear incomprehensible at the present time. Macomb County was no exception to the general rule, although her French citizens maintained a dignified equanimity.

On the morning of May 10, 1832, the news of Black Hawk's advance reached Col. J. D. Davis' camp at Plymouth, and was carried thence into the homes of Macomb by a dozen of busy gossipers. At each village the number of Indians was increased by these faithful couriers until, at length, when the news reached Mt. Clemens, it was to the effect that Black Hawk and 80,000 warriors were encamped at that moment on Pigeon Prairie.

The men liable to military service in the county were called out, but on learn- ing that the seat of war was several hundred miles west, that the reports were entirely exaggerated ; that the Sacs and Foxes were scattered or slain, then, and only then did the white warriors of Macomb return to their homes.

THE TOLEDO WAR.

The convention to form a State Constitution met on the second Monday in May, 1835, in the city of Detroit, performing their duties and adjourning the 24th of the same month. In giving their boundaries they made the southern the same as recognized by the ordinance of 1787, and as understood when the Territory was formed. The constitution framed by the convention was submitted to the people and by them approved, after which it was sent to Congress for its action, not doubting but Michigan would be admitted as a State as soon as Con- gress assembled.

To this boundary Ohio entered her protest by her delegation in Congress, and

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by her State Legislature and Executive, and at once organized her civil powers through and over the disputed territory, which was about six miles wide on the Indiana line, and eight or nine miles at the Maumee River. Congress rejected the application on the 15th of June, 1836, and submitted a proposition to the people of the Territory July 25 of the same year, fixing the southern boundary where it now is, and in consideration therefor the following grants were to be made :

1st. Section 16 of every township for the use of schools.

2d. Seventy-two sections for a State University.

3d. Five sections to build a State Capitol.

4th. Twelve salt springs, with six sections of land to each, for the general uses of the Territory.

5th. Five per cent. of net proceeds of public lands, when sold, for public roads and canals.

6th. Alteration of northern boundaries so as to include the upper peninsula.

While this question of boundary was pending in Congress, great excitement sprang up among the people on both sides, so great, indeed, as to lead to what was known as the Toledo War.

To get a clear insight into the ways and methods by which the first pioneers of the country managed questions affecting their local interests, we can do no bet- ter than to adopt, in these pages, the story of each participant, and from these draw our own conclusions as to the right. Michigan says: The approaching organization of the State Government invested the disputed question with pressing importance, and hostilities on the disputed territory soon became active. In Feb- ruary, 1835, the Legislature of Ohio passed an act extending the jurisdiction of that State over the territory in question, organized townships and directed them to elect officers in April following. It also directed Gov. Lucas to appoint .three commissioners to survey and re-mark the Harris line, and named April 1 as the time when the work should commence. Gov. Mason anticipated this action of the Ohio Legislature by an act of the Legislative Council making it a criminal offense, punishable by a heavy fine, or by imprisonment, for any one to attempt to exercise any official functions, or to accept any office within the jurisdiction of the Territory of Michigan by virtue of any authority not derived from said Territory or from the United States. Gov. Mason directed Gen. Brown, then in command of the militia of the Territory, to hold himself in readiness to take the field should Ohio attempt to carry out the instructions of her Legislature. On the 31st of March, Governor Lucas, with his commissioners, and Gen. Bell of the Ohio militia, arrived at Perrys- burg, on their way to commence the survey and re-marking of the Harris line. Here they proceeded to muster a force of 600 volunteers, who were organized and went into camp at Fort Miami to await the Governor's orders.

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In the meantime Gov. Mason with Gen. Brown had raised a force from eight to twelve hundred strong, and were in possession of Toledo. When Gov. Lucas observed the determined bearing of the Michigan braves, and took note of their numbers, he found it convenient to content himself for a time " with watching over the border." Several days were passed in this exhilarating employment, and just when he had made up his mind to do something rash, two Commissioners arrived from Washington, on a mission of peace. They remonstrated with Gov. Lucas and reminded him of the consequences to himself and State if he attempted to gain possession by force. After several conferences with both Governors the Commis- sioners submitted the following propositions for their consideration : 1st. That the Harris line should be run and re-marked pursuant to the act of the Legislature of Ohio, without interruption. 2d. The civil elections under the laws of Ohio hav- ing taken place throughout the disputed territory, the people therein should be left to their own government, obeying the one jurisdiction or the other as they might prefer, without molestation from either side until the close of the next session of Congress.

Gov. Lucas accepted the proposition at once, and disbanded his forces, regard- ing the proposition as coming from the President, through the Commissioners, and under his control. Gov. Mason, on the other hand, refused to accede to the arrangements, declined to compromise rights or surrender jurisdistion, but partially disbanded his forces, holding a sufficient number in readiness to meet any emer- gency that might arise. Gov. Lucas now supposed his way clear, and that he could re-mark the Harris line without molestation, and he accordingly ordered the Commissioners to proceed with the work.

In the 'meanwhile President Jackson had referred the matter to Attorney General Butler, as to his authority over the contending parties, and the validity of the act of the Ohio Legislature and the act of the Legislative Council under which the respective parties were claiming authority.

The report of the Attorney General was decidedly in favor of Michigan. The weak point in Ohio's claim was a violation of the act of 1805 creating that Terri- tory, and in subsequent acts passed for her government.

Notwithstanding this, Gov. Lucas proceeded to run the line, commencing at the northwest corner of the disputed tract. Gov. Mason and Gen. Brown had kept a watchful eye, and when the surveying party got within the county of Lucas, the under-sheriff of that county, armed with a warrant, and supported by a posse, sud- denly made his appearance and succeeded in arresting a portion of the party. The rest, including the Commissioners, took to their heels and were soon beyond the disputed territory. Arriving at Perrysburg, they reported their valor and escape from the overwhelming attack of Gen. Brown, and their missing comrades all

69.

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killed or taken prisoners, to Gov. Lucas, he in turn reporting to the President. The President thereupon sent a copy to Gov. Mason, and asked for a state- ment of facts from the officers engaged in the transaction. Accordingly, the under- sheriff made a very amusing report, setting forth the fact that it was a civil process, issued by a Justice of the Peace, that under it he had arrested nine persons, without bloodshed or trouble, and closing with the statement that the Commissioners had made very good time, that they had reached Perrysburg with nothing more serious than the loss of hats and their clothing, like Gov. Marcy's breeches, without the patch.

This summary breaking up of the surveying party created intense excitement throughout Ohio. An extra session of the Legislature was called, a law was passed against the abduction of any of ber citizens, making it a penal offense punishable by not less than three nor more than seven years in the penitentiary. They also passed an act organizing the county of Lucas, fixing the county-seat at Toledo, and directing the court for the county to be held at any convenient house therein. They accepted the propositions of the President's Commissioners, and made an appropriation of $600,000 to carry these laws into effect over the disputed ter- ritory.

It was evident that Ohio was aroused-that her State pride had been wounded. The idea that the young Territory of Michigan, with her stripling Governor, should . successfully defy the great State of Ohio, with a million of inhabitants and her aged Governor, was one that the people could not endure with patience or equanimity.

In the meantime the authorities of Michigan were active in sustaining their authority on the disputed ground. Prosecutions for holding office under Ohio were conducted with great vigor ; for a long time the people of Monroe county were kept busy assisting the sheriff in executing his processes and making arrests in Toledo. Suit after suit was commenced, and each was the breeder of a score of others. The officers of Ohio made feeble attempts to retaliate, but were generally unsuccessful. Sometimes these arrests were attended with danger, al- ways with great difficulty. An instance is related of Major Stickney's arrest, which created great amusement at the time. He and his family fought valiantly, but were overpowered by numbers. He was requested to mount a horse, but flatly refused. He was put on by force, but he would not sit there. Finally, two men were detailed to walk beside him and hold his legs, while a third led the horse. After making half the distance in this way, they tied his legs under the horse and thus got him in jail. An attempt was made to arrest his son, Two Stickney. A scuffle ensued, in which the officer was stabbed with a knife, but the wound did not prove dangerous, and it is believed that this was the only blood shed during the war. The officer let go his hold, and Stickney fled to Ohio. He was indicted

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by the grand jury of Monroe County, and a requisition was made on the Governer of Ohio for his rendition, but the Governor refused to give him up.

On one occasion an officer attempted to arrest a man in the night. The man had but a moment's warning, and sought safety in flight. He reached the Maumee River, threw himself on a saw log, and with hands and feet paddled him- self in safety to the other shore.

A very pious man was elected a justice of the peace, and fled to the woods, where he lived many days in a sugar shanty. It was currently reported, and generally believed by the Ohio partisans, that a miracle had been wrought in his behalf,-that "robin red-breasts " brought him his daily food and drink. The belief in this miracle strengthened the cause of Ohio in many quarters very mate- rially.

The report of the stabbing by Two Stickney and the statement that Gov. Lucas was protecting him made great impression on the mind of the President. Both sides were becoming more importunate, and after investigating the difficulties fully he recommended to Gov. Mason that no obstruction should be made to the re-marking of the Harris line, that all prosecutions under the Territorial act of February should be discontinued, and no others commenced until the next session of Congress. This recommendation had no effect on Gov. Mason. He was deter- mined to protect his Territory and her jurisdiction at all hazards. Prosecutions went on as before. When the President became aware of this he superseded Gov. Mason as Secretary of Michigan, and appointed Charles Shaler, of Pennsylvania, as his successor. He also advised Gov. Lucas to refrain from any jurisdiction over the Territory pending the action of Congress. This check by the President was a great blow to Gov. Lucas. The eyes of the country were upon him, and he felt it incumbent on him to perform some act of jurisdiction in order to save himself from the imputation of having backed down. A happy thought struck him at an oppor- tune moment. The Legislature of Ohio had organized a county and ordered court to be held at Toledo on the 7th of September. To hold this court in the face and eyes of the military force of Gov. Mason and the recommendation of the President to abstain therefrom would be a grand achievement,-an act of jurisdiction greater than the re-marking of the Harris line. With him this was the thing to be done, and calling to his aid the Adjutant General of the State, they devised a plan, and it was put into his hands to manage. He called out a regiment to protect the judges in the discharge of their duty. The judges met on Sunday, the 6th of Sep- tember, at Maumee, a few miles from Toledo. They were to proceed to Toledo the next morning, under the escort that had been provided for them, and hold court. Some time during the evening a scout who had been sent out by the colonel of the regiment returned from Toledo and reported that 1,200 men under command of

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Gen. Brown, were in Toledo ready to demolish court, soldiers and all, in case of an attempt to open it. This report turned out to be false, but it immediately subdued all the valor of the judges, as well as that of the regiment that was to escort them. But it would not do to back out,-the honor and the dignity of the State must be main- tained ; besides, they would be laughed if they did not hold court. But the judges hesitated at undertaking so daring an exploit. The colonel of the regiment finally came to the Governor's assistance. He upbraided the judges for their cowardice and hesitation, and proposed to take the honor of the State into his own keeping. Stepping in front of his regiment, he called for volunteers for a hazardous under- taking. A few brave men answered the call. The trembling judges placed them- selves under the charge of this " forlorn hope," and at three o'clock on Monday morning, Sept. 7. 1835, they sneaked into Toledo, hunted up & school-house, held court about two minutes, and then ran for dear life back to Maumee.

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History of St. Clair County, Michigan, containing an account of its settlement, growth, development and resources, its war record, biographical sketches, the whole preceded by a history of Michigan, Part 7

Author: Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Chicago, A.T. Andreas & Co. Number of Pages: 818

Author:
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago, A.T. Andreas & Co.
Number of Pages: 818