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Gc 977.1 W52 s 1911992
M. L
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02399 4145
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A SHORT
HISTORY OF OHIO.
By A. W. WEST. Principal High School, Miamisburg, Ohio. AND J. L. HUNT, Principal Grammar School, Germantown, Ohio.
A Brief Sketch of the Leading Events in the History of Ohio, and an Outline of its Civil Government. Many Val- uable Facts and Statistics are Appended.
A CENTERRIAL SOUVENIR. -
Copyrighted, 1888.
DAYTON, OHIO: PRESS OF UNITED BRETHREN PUBLISHING HOUSE. 1888.
1911992
A SHORT HISTORY OF OHIO.
Antiquities.
There are more than ten thousand ancient earth-works found within the territorial limits of Ohio. They are of great antiquity. The Indians had no tradition of their ori- gin. These remains are usually divided by archæologists into three general classes ; namely, mounds, effigies, and inclosures. A good example of the mound is situated on the bank of the Great Miami River, near Miamisburg. It is symmetrical in form, and has a height of sixty eight feet. In this class of mounds are usually found one or more skele- tons. Such mounds were constructed, not only as places of burial and sacrifice, but as places of observation.
Perhaps the most notable effigy within the State is situ- ated near Brush Creek, in Adams County. It represents a ¿ serpent, more than a thousand feet long, in the act of swal- lowing, or ejecting, an oval figure. Such mounds are sup- posed to have been the special objects of adoration and wor- ship of their builders.
The best example of inclosure within the State is Fort Ancient, in Warren County It is situated on a plain, two hundred and thirty feet above the Little Miami River. Its embankments are nearly four miles in length, and inclose one hundred acres. This class of works was, doubtless, constructed in most cases, as places of defense.
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Mound Builders.
The prehistoric people who constructed these mounds, we call Mound Builders. We have neither written record nor tradition of their origin or destiny. The only means by which we may arrive at a knowledge of these people, is the study of their numerous and remarkable remains. That the Mound Builders were a people of common habits, customs, religion and government, is proven by the number, great extent and uniformity of their works.
Ohio Indians.
The Indian tribes of Ohio possessed the character com- mon to the North American Indian. Very little was known of the Ohio Indians before the year A. D. 1750. At this time, some knowledge of them had been obtained from In- dian traders, and from explorers. The principal Indian tribes occupying the Ohio territory at that time, were the Wyandots or Hurons, Delawares, Shawanese, Miamis, Min- goes, Ottawas and Chippewas. The Wyandots occupied principally the region of the Sandusky River ; the Dela- wares, the valleys of the Tuscarawas and Muskingum Riv- ers ; the Shawanese, the valleys of the Scioto and Mad Riv- ers ; the Miamis, the valleys of the Great and Little Miami Rivers, and the Mingoes occupied places on the Ohio River, also, on the Scioto River. The Ottawas were confined to the region of the Maumee and Sandusky Rivers, and the Chip- pewas lived on the southern shore of Lake Erie.
French Exploration and Settlement of the Northwest Territory.
The Northwest Territory was the name given to that great stretch of country lying northwest of the Ohio River, now constituting the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan
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and Wisconsin, and that part of Minnesota east of the Mis- sissippi. French missionaries and explorers were first to penetrate this region, on the southern shores of the Great Lakes, in the early part of the seventeenth century. Their object was the conversion of the Indian to Christianity, and the extension of the empire of France by exploration and settlement. Leaving the French posts in Canada, Mar- quette and Joliet discovered the Upper Mississippi in 1673. La Salle discovered the Ohio River in 1669. Reaching it from one of its upper tributaries, he and his companions dropped down the river to the "Falls" at Louisville. In April, 1682, La Salle reached the Mississippi River from the outlet of Lake Ontario, after making the third attempt. He sailed to its mouth, giving to the world the first written ac- count of the "Father of Waters." France claimed the en- tire Mississippi Valley by right of discovery and settlement, and continued to exercise this right for more than a hundred years. La Salle tried to secure this vast domain to France, by erecting a chain of forts from the mouth of the Missis- sippi to Canada. Before England had taken steps to secure the Mississippi Valley by settlement, flourishing French set- tlements had been established at Detroit, Peoria, Kaskaskia, Vincennes and New Orleans; besides some forty or fifty forts had been erected in various parts of the country. La Salle named the country watered by the Mississippi and its tributaries, Louisiana, in honor of his "Grand Monarch," Louis XIV.
English Right of Possession.
England claimed possession, not only of the Northwest Territory, but of all territory lying west of the coast line ex- plored by the Cabots, in 1497 and 1498. This right was re- affirmed in all her grants to the colonies, as these grants
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extended from "ocean to ocean." Besides possessing this title of discovery, the English had acquired large portions of the Ohio Valley by treaty with the Iroquois or Six Nations.
The First Ohio Land Company.
The first "Ohio Land Company" was organized in Vir- . ginia, in 1748, by some of the Washingtons and Lees, to- gether with some London merchants, for the purpose of es- tablishing settlements west of the Alleghanies. They re- ceived a grant of half a million acres, to be located prin- cipally on the south side of the Ohio River, between the Kanawha and Monongahela. In 1750, this company sent out Christopher Gist to survey their land, and to make explora- tions in the Ohio Territory. Gist was the first white man of Anglo-Saxon descent to visit in an official capacity the country now comprised within the limits of Ohio. Crossing the Ohio River at or near the present site of Pittsburgh, he continued his journey westward to the Tuscarawas River, which he descended to its junction with the Walhonding. From this point he continued his course westward, crossing the Scioto, and finally reaching the English trading post, Pickawillany, established in 1749, on the Great Miami River, at the mouth of Loramie's Creek. Gist made his way to the Ohio River, which he descended to the "Falls." He re- turned through Kentucky to his home in Virginia.
Pickawillany.
Pickawillany is called "the first point of English settle- ment in Ohio." It was built in 1749. George Croghan and Andrew Montour made liberal presents to the Miamis in be- half of Pennsylvania, who, in return, gave them permission to erect a trading-house at the mouth of Loramie's Creek, in the present county of Shelby, for the benefit of Indian trad-
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ers frequenting this region. This stockade was of brief duration, for in 1752, the French, assisted by the Chippewas and Ottawas, attacked the traders and their Indian allies, killing fourteen of the garrison, chiefly Miamis, and carry- ing off many prisoners to Canada.
Other Events Preceding the French and In- dian War.
Indian Treaty.
In 1744, certain lands on the Ohio had been obtained by purchase of the Iroquois, at a council held at Lancaster, Pennsylvania. This treaty being held in distrust by the Western Indians, Virginia sent three commissioners to treat with the Indians at Logstown, a small trading post situated on the north side of the Ohio, seventeen miles below Pitts- burgh. In June, 1752, a full confirmation of the Lancaster treaty was obtained, and also permission to construct a fort at the forks of the Ohio.
Movements of the French.
The French were active in maintaining possession of the Ohio Valley. Plates of lead, bearing French inscriptions, were buried at the mouths of the principal tributaries of the Ohio in the summer of 1749. English traders were ex- pelled from the country, and the Governor of Pennsylvania was warned to encroach no further on French territory. The French had established themselves in considerable numbers at Presque Isle, Le Boeuf and Venango, in readiness to repel any encroachment of the English.
Washington's Journey.
Desiring to avert hostilities, Governor Dinwiddie, of Vir- ginia, sent Major George Washington, then a young man
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of twenty-two, on an important diplomatic mission to the French commandant at Fort Le Boeuf. The message de- manded reparation for losses inflicted on English traders, and declared the rights of the colonists to the disputed terri- tory. With three attendants, Washington left Williamsburg, October 31st, 1753, and after a journey of over four hundred miles, reached the French Post of Venango, December 4th. Learning the intentions of the French at this place, he re- sumed his journey to Fort Le Boeuf, the headquarters of Saint Pierre, the chief commander. Receiving a written answer to Dinwiddie's remonstrance, he retraced his jour- ney, exposed to hostile Indians and the snows of winter, and after the lapse of eleven weeks he again stood in the presence of the Governor. Washington noted carefully the extensive preparations of the French for military operations. These preparations confirmed the answer of Saint Pierre, declaring his intentions to possess the Ohio Valley.
Fort Duquesne.
In March, 1754, the Ohio Company sent Captain Trent, with a party of thirty-three men, to build a fort on the site of Pittsburgh. While they were building this fortification, Captain Contrecoeur, with one thousand Frenchmen, in sixty bateaux and three hundred canoes, floated down the Alleghany and took possession of this fort, naming it Fort Duquesne.
French and Indian War.
The capture of the English fort, at the source of the Ohio, was immediately followed by a nine years' conflict, between the French and English, known as the "French and Indian War." This war decided that the vast central valley should bear for all coming time the impress of the English, instead
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of the French civilization. By the Peace of Paris, signed February 18th, 1763, France ceded to England all claim to the Ohio Valley. Other territorial changes were also made.
Pontiac's War.
At the close of the French and Indian War, the English colonists pressed eagerly into the Ohio Valley. New settle- ments were planned by the Ohio Land Company. Instead of withdrawing from the territory, the French lingered among the Indian tribes, keeping alive the hatred of these tribes for the English. Pontiac, an Ottawa chief, conceiving the plan of exterminating all the frontiersmen west of the Alleghanies at one stroke, united the tribes from Canada to the Carolinas into one vast confederacy for this purpose. The success of the formation of this confederacy, the har- mony of its action, and the all but successful execution of its designs, marks Pontiac as one of the greatest Indian war- riors. The English occupied forts at Michilimackinac, De- troit, Presque Isle, Le Boeuf, Venango, on the Maumee and on the Wabash, at Sandusky, Fort Pitt, Niagara, and other stations inferior to these. In the spring of 1763, these posts were secretly invested with fierce savages. No warning had been given. The frontiersmen had been betrayed by tokens of peace and friendship. Suddenly, along the entire fron- tier, the posts and settlements of the English were attacked. Over two hundred pioneers were murdered, and nine forts fell into the hands of the savages. Extermination of the frontiersmen was narrowly averted. Detroit was closely besieged for eight months. Michilimackinac was taken by stratagem, and half of its garrison murdered. Fort Miami was taken by the same artful means. Presque Isle, Fort Le Boeuf and Venango fell into the hands of the savages. Fort
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Pitt was besieged for several months, until relieved by an expedition led by Colonel Bouquet. The relief of Fort Pitt, and the failure to capture Detroit and Niagara disheartened the Indians. Knowing that their attempt to exterminate the whites would be followed by severe retaliation, the tribes quickly withdrew from the confederacy. The original feuds prevailed. Pontiac was deserted by all, save a few faithful followers. Pontiac went to the tribes in Illinois. After living among them several years, he met his death at the hands of an Indian while endeavoring to form a new conspiracy against the whites.
Moravian Missions. Early Missions.
In 1761, Rev. Christian Post and James Heckewelder were first to attempt the founding of a Moravian mission among the Delaware Indians of the Muskingum Valley. Ten years later, Rev. David Zeisberger founded a Moravian station called Schönbrun, situated on the Muskingum, two or three miles from the present town of New Philadelphia. In the same year, a second mission was established a few miles below the former, called Gnadenhütten. From time to time other missions were formed among the Indian tribes of Eastern Ohio. They were centers, where pious men taught the "children of the forest" the rules of civilized life.
Perils of the Moravians.
At the time of the Revolution, the situation of the Mora- vian missions was rendered very unfavorable to the growth of these peaceable communities. Situated midway between the hostile Wyandots and the frontier settlements of West- ern Pennsylvania and Virginia, also between the British posts in the Northwest and the American military nost at the
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"Forks of the Ohio," now Pittsburgh, they were subjected to many wrongs from these hostile parties. They were charged by the Indian tribes with friendship for the pio- neers, and by the pioneers with complicity with Indian incursions on the frontier settlements; by the colonists with sympathy for the English, and by the English with being spies for the colonists. The crisis soon came.
Removal to Sandusky.
In 1781, Captain Elliott, a British emissary, forced the re- moval of these Christian Indians to the banks of the San- dusky. There they made a settlement called "Captive's Town." After a winter of great hardship, about one hun- dred and fifty of their number were permitted to return to their former homes to gather corn for the subsistence of the mission.
Massacre of Moravians.
In March, 1782, a force of about ninety men under com- mand of Captain David Williamson, was collected together at Mingo Bottom, three miles below the present city of Steubenville, for the purpose of punishing the Indians for atrocities then recently perpetrated on the whites. They resolved to hold the "Christian Indians" responsible for these outrages. Marching to their former homes on the Upper Muskingum, there they found parties of these exiles, who had returned, gathering corn in their own fields. Dis- arming more than ninety of these Indians and imprisoning them in two well guarded houses, the work of death began. But two of this number escaped. This massacre has been characterized as "the most disgraceful event in the history of the country."
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Subsequent Missions.
After the massacre of the Moravians, in March, 1782, no mission existed in the Ohio territory until 1786, when Rev. James Heckewelder and others established a mission on the Cuyahoga River. It was mainly composed of the remnant of those who had lived on the Muskingum. Missions con- tinued to exist within the present limits of the State in a more or less precarious condition until 1824, when by the retrocession of their lands, in the Tuscarawas valley, to the general Government, the Moravian missions among the Ohio Indians ceased to exist.
The distinguished Moravian missionaries, Heckewelder and Zeisberger are regarded as among the founders of Ohio, so eminent were they and so long were they connected with its history.
Bradstreet's Expedition.
In the summer of 1764, Colonel Bradstreet, with an army of nearly twelve hundred men, sailed up Lake Erie to the re- lief of Detroit, then besieged by Pontiac. After relieving this post, he sent a detachment to take possession of Macki- nac. Treaties were concluded with the Indians, by which their lands became a part of the royal domain.
Bouquet's Expedition.
While Colonel Bradstreet was relieving Detroit, Colonel Bouquet was preparing to invade the country of the Ohio Indians fron Pennsylvania. He organized an army at Car- lisle, consisting of six hundred English regulars and Vir- ginians. Leaving Fort Pitt, he had almost reached the In- dian villages on the Muskingum, when he was met by about fifty chiefs and warriors of the Delawares, Shawanese and Senecas, who sued for peace. Colonel Bouquet demanded
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a return of all prisoners, which they promised to make. After another conference in October, the Indians promised a return of captives in twelve days. At the forks of the Mus- kingum, on the day appointed, was witnessed the surrender of over two hundred captives. Another pledge was given, and hostages taken for its fulfillment, that all other pris- oners held by these tribes, such as could not be brought in on so short notice, would be surrendered the next spring. In the following May, about one hundred additional prisoners were surrendered at Fort Pitt. A treaty of peace was con- cluded, after which the Ohio frontier was comparatively free from Indian warfare for about ten years.
McDonald's Expedition.
In the spring of 1774, some Indian atrocities were perpe- etrated on the frontier settlements. War soon resulted from the mutual hatred existing between the Indian and the en- croaching pioneer. The kindred of Logan, the Mingo Chief, had been murdered under circumstances of great per- fidy by a party of about thirty men, commanded by Daniel Greathouse. War could not be averted. Lord Dunmore authorized Colonel Angus McDonald to recruit a force west of the Alleghanies for the purpose of moving against the Indians. The combined force, after joining with that of Captain Michael Cresap, numbered four hundred. They penetrated the Indian country to a point midway between the present towns of Zanesville and Coshocton. This expe- dition resulted in a few skirmishes with the Indians, and the burning of some of their towns. Nothing substantial was accomplished.
Lord Dunmore's War.
Desiring to make a campaign against the Indians, Governor
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Dunmore organized an army of fifteen hundred men, princi- pally from the northern counties of Virginia. Colonel An- drew Lewis enlisted some twelve hundred men in the south- ern counties. These two armies were to form a junction at the mouth of the Great Kanawha. Bancroft says, "These armies were composed of noble Virginians, who braved danger at the call of a royal governor, and poured out their blood to win victory for western civilization." Crossing the Ohio River near Marietta, Governor Dunmore dispatched a messenger to Colonel Lewis, then encamped at the mouth of the Kanawha, commanding him to join the main army near the Indian towns on the Scioto, Denver Nach funchal si 1.6 @yan
Battle of Point Pleasant.
Early on the morning of the Ioth of October, 1774, when the division of Colonel Lewis was making preparations to march, they were suddenly attacked by a thousand Shawa- nese, led by the chiefs, Cornstalk and Logan. This battle continued all day. The Indians were repulsed, but the Vir- ginians lost in killed about seventy-five, and in wounded about twice that number. The next day after the battle, Colonel Lewis went in rapid pursuit of the Indians in the direction of their villages on the Scioto.
Treaty at "Camp Charlotte."
A treaty was concluded at "Camp Charlotte," with the principal chiefs on the Scioto. The Indians, who had just returned from their defeat at the battle of Point Pleasant, were eager for peace. After the conclusion of the treaty, Governor Dunmore withdrew his forces, greatly to the dis- pleasure of Colonel Lewis, who was anxious to prosecute the war. For the purpose of protecting the frontier settlements,
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small forces were left at the mouth of the Kanawha, at Fort Henry (now Wheeling), and at the "Forks of the Ohio."
Logan's Speech.
Logan, the Mingo Chief, would not appear in the council at "Camp Charlotte." He alone refused to recognize peace. Dunmore, being anxious to obtain his recognition of the treaty, sent Colonel John Gibson to "Chilicothe town," across the Scioto, where Logan usually staid when not on the "war-path." It was on the occasion of this interview that Logan expressed himself in those eloquent and pathetic words which have made his name famous. Logan's kindred had been murdered, and as he thought by a party of whites led by Michael Cresap. It has been proven that Michael Cresap, a gallant soldier and a pure patriot, was in no way connected with this outrage. Speaking to Colonel Gibson, Logan says: "I appeal to any white man to say if he ever entered Logan's cabin hungry, and he gave him no meat; if he ever came cold and naked, and he clothed him not. During the course of the last long and bloody war, Logan re- mained idle in his cabin, an advocate for peace. Such was my love for the whites, that my countrymen pointed as they passed, and said, 'Logan is the friend of the white man.' I even thought to have lived with you, but for the injuries of one man. Colonel Cresap, the last spring, in cold blood and unprovoked, murdered all the relations of Logan, not even1 sparing my women and children. This called on me for re- venge. I have sought it. I have killed many. I have fully glutted my vengeance. For my country, I fully rejoice at the beams of peace. But do not harbor the thought that mine is the joy of fear. Logan never felt fear. He will not turn on his heel to save his life. Who is there to mourn for Logan? Not one!"
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British Allies.
Six months previous to the treaty at Camp Charlotte, oc- curred the battle of Lexington. British emissaries were early dispatched to the tribes of the northwest to enlist their aid in the royal cause. Congress attempted the estab- lishment of treaty relations with these tribes. They sus- tained a doubtful neutrality with both contending parties dur- ing the year of 1776. But English influence prevailed, and the Indian tribes of the Northwest became allies of the British. Congress sought to avoid war with the Indians in this crisis. Encroachment on Indian territory was forbidden . It was not until 1778 that an expedition was planned against these Indians and Detroit, the stronghold of the . British in the northwest.
General McIntosh's Expedition.
(1778.) General McIntosh, in command of about one thousand men, left Fort Pitt with the object of marching against Detroit, and the Indian towns on the Sandusky. Reaching the Tuscarawas, he erected a stockade, which he called Fort Laurens, at the present town of Bolivar, in Tus- carawas County. This was the first substantial stockade erected on Ohio territory. Colonel Gibson and about one hundred and fifty men were left to defend this post. The expedition returned to Fort Pitt. The garrison was not properly supported, and harassed by the Indians, they were compelled to abandon Fort Laurens in 1779.
Colonel Bowman's Expedition.
(1779.) To retaliate for atrocities then recently committed in Kentucky by Ohio Indians, Colonel John Bowman, with one hundred and sixty men, marched against the Shawanese villages, on the Little Miami River, within the present limits
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of Greene County. Crossing the Ohio near the present city of Cincinnati, they reached the strongest of these villages at the end of the second day's march. The troops were divided into two divisions, one of which was commanded by Colonel Benjamin Logan. They attempted a surprised attack, but, "from some unexpected cause, there was no efficient co-operation between the two wings of the Ken- tucky army, and consequently but little success." One Indian village was destroyed and a portion of the growing crops. Nine of Colonel Bowman's men were killed. The chief, Blackfish, was wounded. The Kentuckians made a hasty retreat to their homes beyond the Ohio. This ex- pedition emboldened the Indians to further depredations on the whites.
Colonel Clark's Expedition.
In July and August, 1780, Colonel George Rogers Clark, in command of about one thousand Kentuckians, crossed the Ohio at the mouth of the Licking and marched against the Indians on the Little Miami. Arriving at "Old Chilli- cothe," on the banks of the Little Miami, they found this village had been burned in anticipation of their approach. Proceeding to Piqua, an Indian town on Mad River, they were attacked by a party of Indians in ambush. Twenty Kentuckians were killed. The Indians were repulsed; their town and crops destroyed. The expedition returned to Ken- tucky, where it was disbanded. During the preceding win- ter Colonel Clark made an expedition* against the British
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