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A Story of Early Coledo By JOHN FI. DOYLE
Gc 977.102 T57d 1195075
M. L
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02279 9818
GENEALOGY 977.102 T57D
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John H. Doyle
A STORY of EARLY TOLEDO,
Historical Facts and Incidents of the Early Days of the City and Environs.
By JOHN H. DOYLE
C. S. VAN TASSEL, Managing Publisher Home Office, Bowling Green, Ohio
Copyright 1919 By John H. Doyle
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1195075
PUBLISHER'S INTRODUCTION
Within the following pages Judge Doyle has un- questionably given the public one of the most val- uable collections of historical facts and incidents ever compiled on Toledo and its environs. It is not the quantity but quality of the material that counts. Indeed, it would have been much easier to expand this document to three times its size in words, than to have put the same in the condensed form he has; for he has given a prodigious lot of in- formation in a small package. A hearty reception is sure to be given the work and the publisher only adds that he finally prevailed upon the Judge to allow a biographical sketch of himself to accompany the volume as a most fitting testimonial.
BIOGRAPHY
John Hardy Doyle, of Toledo, Lawyer and former Judge of the Court of Common Pleas and of the Supreme Court of Ohio, was born in Monday Creek Township, Perry County, Ohio, on the 23rd of April, 1844. Through both of his par- ents Judge Doyle is of Irish descent.
His father moved in early manhood to Providence, now part of Lucas County, and while residing there married. In 1843 the family moved to Perry County, where Judge Doyle was born, and in 1848 moved back to Toledo. The father died here in 1852 and the mother in 1894.
John H. Doyle received his general education in the Toledo public schools and at Dennison University in Gran- ville, Ohio. During the winter of 1862-63 he discontinued his studies with a view to entering the military service of the United States as second lieutenant of Company A, Sixty-seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, his appointment being conditioned upon his securing twenty recruits for the service; but before completing his task he was stricken with typhoid fever and was consequently obliged to forego his ambition for a military career. He then studied law under the preceptorship of Edward Bissell, a notable member of the Toledo bar. Being admitted to practice on his twenty- first birthday, he accepted a partnership offer from Mr. Bissell and became a member of the law firm of Bissell and Gorrill, and the abstracting firm of Bissell, Gleason & Com- pany. He soon made his mark in his profession and achieved a reputation as one of its rising men in northwestern Ohio. Among the famous cases he conducted is the River Tract 6 case, mentioned at the close of the history, where he successfully defended the title of the residents on the tract, and the now celebrated case of Comptore vs. The Wabash Railroad Co., where, after 30 years of litigation, his client collected over $900,000 on bonds not secured by mortgage.
In 1879, when thirty-five years old, he received the unanimous endorsement of the Republican members of the
Lucas county bar for the office of judge of the Court of Common Pleas of the Sixth Judicial District. He was nom- inated unanimously by the judicial convention, was elected by a large majority, and, assuming the position, discharged its duties with distinguished ability as long as he continued in it. At the Republican state convention of 1882 he re- ceived the nomination for judge of the Ohio Supreme Court, but his candidacy chanced in a Democratic year and he was defeated with the rest of the party ticket. In the same year, however, a vacancy occurred on the supreme bench, and Judge Doyle was appointed for the unexpired term by Governor Foster. He was again nominated by his party for the same office and again suffered defeat on account of continued Democratic ascendancy in the state.
Retiring from the Supreme Court upon the expiration of his term, on February 9, 1884, he returned to the practice of law in Toledo, as senior member of the firm of Doyle & Scott, in which his associate was Alexander W. Scott. In 1885 Charles T. Lewis was admitted to partnership, and from that time the firm name was Doyle, Scott & Lewis, until Mr. Scott's death in 1895, when it was changed to Doyle & Lewis, the present style. Since concluding his service as supreme judge, he has adhered without interrup- tion or distraction to his profession, uniformly refusing both nominations and appointments to office. The position of judge of the United State District Court for the northern district of Ohio was twice offered him-by Presidents Mc- Kinley and Taft,- but in each instance the honor was de- clined. At the age of over seventy Judge Doyle is pursuing his profession with unabated vigor, in the enjoyment of a very extensive and valuable practice and with a reputation as one of the ablest, most accomplished, and most successful members of the bar of Ohio.
His especial characteristics are industry, rapidity as a worker, and great promptitude in mastering the essentials of a case. In his early experience as a lawyer he accustomed himself to quick analysis and the collocation and citation of the really pertinent authorities with as little waste of time as possible upon irrevelant or minor aspects and materials. He thus acquired the habit of proceeding almost immedi-
ately with the preparation of his cases, to the exclusion of preliminaries generally, or at least their reduction to a minimum; and at the present day it is questionable whether there is another lawyer at the Ohio bar who is his equal in respect of ease and alacrity of preparation. As a judge he displayed very similar traits. "Judge Doyle," says Harvey Scribner ("Memoirs of Lucas County and the City of Toledo," Volume I, page 405), "was an ideal common pleas judge; he followed and comprehended the bearings and com- petency of evidence at all stages of the trial. His rulings were prompt and almost always correct." It was his uni- form practice to prepare for his own information very thor- ough briefs of the law and authorities governing cases as they developed before him; and the singular advantage of such a policy and method to the interests of the righteous and correct administration of the law can very readily be understood. His elevation to the supreme bench by guber- natorial appointment was in recognition entirely of his high judicial qualifications, and his service under that appoint- ment was able and creditable to an eminent degree.
For nearly seventy years a resident of Toledo, Judge Doyle is an authority-perhaps the foremost authority now living-on the early history of that community and north- western Ohio generally. He has written and privately pub- lished various monographs and papers of local historical interest. Throughout life he has been a student of history in its broadest aspects, and has taken especial interest and satisfaction in reflections upon many subjects and questions. He is the author of some forty monographs and papers of more or less formality on miscellaneous topics-historical, literary, legal, etc.,-which have been given to the public as voluntary and entirely unrecompensed lectures on special occasions. He has devoted a portion of his time to the in- struction of students in St. John's Law School on the sub- ject of constitutional law.
In politics he has been a consistent Republican from early life, and at various times has participated somewhat actively in campaigns as a speaker. But he has never accepted a nomination for office except as judge.
He is a member of the Toledo Club, Toledo Commerce
Club, Toledo Country Club, Toledo Yacht Club, Toledo Trans- portation Club, Lawyers' Club of New York, Ohio Society of New York, Union Club of Cleveland, and Columbus Club of Columbus. He has served at various times as president of the Toledo, Ohio, State, and National bar associations.
On October 6, 1868, he married Alice Fuller Skinner, a descendant of Governor Roger Wolcott, of Connecticut, and Oliver Wolcott, signer of the Declaration of Independ- ence. Mrs. Doyle is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Colonial Dames, and the Daugh- ters of Colonial Governors. To Judge and Mrs. Doyle three children were born: Mrs. Elizabeth D. Scott, who has a daughter, Grace Isabel Scott; Mrs. Grace D. Graves, wife of Charles L. Graves, whose children are John Graves, Angeline Graves, and Charles Graves; and Helen Genevieve, now deceased, who married Judge John S. Pratt, and is survived by one child, Alice Pratt.
During the present war on Europe Judge Doyle has prepared and delivered a series of war lectures, under the titles: "Some Things We Ought to Know," "The Legal and Moral Relations of the United States to the Present War," "The League of Nations and the Freedom of the Seas," some of which are printed. They have received the most flatter- ing comments and notices and have been characterized as among the ablest papers on the subjects.
THE PUBLISHER.
AUTHOR'S PREFACE
Some time ago, the Toledo Chamber of Com- merce, by its trustees, requested the writer to pre- pare a narrative of some of the important events in the early history of Toledo and vicinity, for the purpose of having a record for future use, of inci- dents that depended on the memory of those now living, or on records that might be lost, if not thus preserved. What follows is the writer's compliance with this request. It is not intended to include in this narrative any part of the history which is not fairly included in the phrase, "The early history of Toledo."
It will not be possible to give specific credit to the publications, documents or records which I have examined, and to some extent appropriated. I have used every material that was useful, and the recitals of facts not of record and from memory, I have taken great pains to have accurate. That the his- tory is incomplete is apparent. That it supplements any previous written record is also apparent.
A condensed narrative of some of the principal events in the history of that part of the Maumee Valley, adjacent to and including Toledo, is all that is claimed. I claim no originality of thought or re- search. I am merely a compiler and not a historian, having put together in a single paper facts related by others in many papers.
Many of the facts related are of older date than the birth of any persons now living. They are re- corded in many records, documents, narratives and archives accessible to any one having the patience
to search for them. To a moderate extent I have done this out of personal interest in the subject.
I am not going back to the prehistoric man, the glacial period or the mound builders, nor quite as far back as the discovery of America, or the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers.
3 1833 02279 9818
CHAPTER I Early History of the Valley
Between the settlements of the Dutch and Eng- lish, up the Hudson river, and later into interior New York and the territory now occupied by Ohio, was the Iroquois confederacy, and the Iroquois claimed to control Ohio as their hunting grounds.
Some early French maps show the lake region to be inhabited by the Iroquois to the east, the Eries in the central part, and the Miamis to the west, in- cluding this valley, with the Shawnees immediately south, but as late as 1744 a French geographer fur- nished a map for "Charlevoix's New France," a work published that year, with words printed along the shore of the lake, which translated read, "All this shore is nearly unknown."
The word "Miami" as it is now pronounced was in the Indian "Mee-ah-Mee" and very early in the known historical period these Miamis were found here by the Wyandottes of Montreal, with evidences that they had occupied the valley for a long time.
Some of the same people or nation were found on the banks of two rivers emptying into the Ohio, and to distinguish them, this was called the Miami of Lake Erie, and the others the Big and Little Mi- ami of the Ohio. Our word Maumee is simply a corruption of the word Miami.
So far as we have any authentic knowledge of the subject, the earliest white settlers of Ohio were parties sent out about 1680 by Count de Frontenac, the French governor of Canada, for the purpose of
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erecting posts or stores for occupancy and trade. One of these parties built a stockade a short distance this side of what is now Maumee, which was main- tained as a trading post for many years, until it was moved to the head of the river, where Fort Wayne now is. This stockade is supposed to have been located about where the British in 1794 built the strong fortification known as Fort Miami.
MISSIONARIES APPEAR. - Jesuit mission- aries appeared in the lake region early in the seven- teenth century, but their location is lost in the mist of geographical uncertainty. Moravian missionaries appeared as early as 1762, but they suffered massacre or were driven away. All these preceded the first important settlement of the state at Marietta in 1788.
While authentic records of these settlements exist they show that they were not permanent, and prior to 1794 and the battle of "Fallen Timbers" the Indians had substantially complete possession and control of the valley for an unknown number of centuries.
It was their favorite hunting ground, the earthly paradise of the great nations which inhabited it, con- trolled it, fought for it, and finally departed from it with broken spirits and saddened hearts.
Our struggle with the Indians who were con- stantly urged to hostilities by the British located in Canada prior to 1792 need not be detailed.
In April, 1792, President Washington appointed General Anthony Wayne major general of the army, with special reference to operating against the In- dians of the northwest, but before proceeding to
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hostilities he appointed a commission to negotiate a treaty of peace and boundaries with the north- west tribes. These commissioners were Benjamin Lincoln, Beverly Randolph and Timothy Pickering.
COMMISSIONERS' DUTIES. - They were clothed with authority to settle boundary disputes, and terms of peace. They had special instructions to secure the confirmation of a treaty entered into at Fort Harmer in 1789, in which territory including this valley was ceded to the United States. They were authorized as a part of the terms of settlement to yield certain territory and places granted for trad- ing posts by former treaties. The commissioners went first to Niagara, where they had a meeting with - Governor Simcoe of Canada, for the purpose of se- curing his co-operation in removing the prejudices then existing with the Indians against the United States, and received his affirmative assurances of such co-operation. A meeting was later held at the foot of the rapids of the Maumee at which Colonel Butler, a British superintendent of Indian affairs, Governor Simcoe, Captain Brandt, about fifty chiefs from different nations, and the three commissioners, were present. The question of a convention, or meeting, of representatives of the Indian nations and the commissioners for holding a treaty was dis- cussed, but without success. At this meeting were chiefs and leading men from the Wyandottes, Dela- wares, Shawnees, Miamis, Pottowatomies, Ottawas, Chippewas and others, who in a very able and skil- fully prepared paper, signed by all the chiefs, de- manded that the Ohio river should be the boundary
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line between them and the whites, which closed all negotiations, and General Wayne at once com- menced the organization and equipment of his army, with full knowledge that in the coming strug- gle the Indians would have the support of the British in moral and substantial ways.
Conclusive evidence exists that Governor Sim- coe and his Canadian associates, if not his British superiors, were not only advising and influencing the Indians to refuse to treat with the United States, but promising British support in the impending conflict.
INDIANS TAKEN PRISONERS. - In June, 1794, two Pottowatomies were taken prisoners, and their examination is a matter of public record, in which they stated that their nation received an invi- tation from the British to join them in war with the United States. That this invitation was extended on the first of the last moon, being brought to the Pottowatomies by three chiefs, a Delaware, a Shaw- nee, and a Miami. The message advised them that the British were then at Roche de Bœuf, on their way to war against the States. That the number of British there was about 400 with two pieces of artil- lery and a militia company from Detroit. That they had made fortifications around the house and store of Colonel McKee, where they had supplies, cloth- ing, provisions, and ammunition, which they would furnish the Indians if they would join them.
They further said that on May 1, 1794, Indians had joined the British at Roche de Bœuf, from the Chippewas, Wyandottes, Shawnees, Tawas, Dela-
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wares and Miamis. That Governor Simcoe had the previous winter sent messages to the Pottowatomees urging war, and repeated it in May from Roche de Bœuf.
Roche de Bœuf is on the north side of the Mau- mee river, a few miles from Waterville in Lucas county. General Wayne, having this information, started his forward movement to the seat of war. In July Colonel Scott, with 1,600 mounted Ken- tuckians, joined him at Greenville. The army reached the junction of the Auglaize and Maumee rivers, where General Wayne built Fort Defiance in July, 1794.
WAYNE ADDRESSES INDIANS .- From Fort Defiance, on the 13th of August, 1794, he addressed a message to the Indians, in a last effort to secure peace, informing them that some Indian prisoners would be held as hostage for the safety of his mes- sengers. He closed his message in these words:
"Brothers, be no longer deceived or led astray by the false promises and language of the bad men at the foot of the rapids. They have neither power nor inclination to protect you. No longer shut your eyes to your true interest or happiness, nor your ears to this overture of peace, but in pity for your innocent women and children come and pre- vent the further infusion of your blood. Let them experience the kindness and friendship of the Unit- ed States and the invaluable blessings of peace and tranquillity."
The Indians answered, asking ten days to con- sider, but the General, understanding the purpose
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of that, immediately marched down the river, reach- ing Roche de Bœuf on August 18th, and about five miles from there was fought the battle of "Fallen Timbers." The British had invaded our domain and built Fort Miami. The Indians were encamped, be- fore the battle, on Swan creek in the rear of that fort, with Little Turtle, a noted Miami chief and warrior, in command of about 2,000 picked warriors from the Miamis, Wyandottes, Pottowatomies, Delawares, Shawnees, Chippewas, Ottawas and Senecas. The army of Wayne, known as the "Continental Legion," consisted of about the same number of men. Before the battle it is related that Little Turtle called his chiefs together and made this speech to them:
"We have beaten the enemy twice under sepa- rate commanders. We cannot expect the same good fortune always. The Americans are now led by a chief who never sleeps. The night and day are alike to him, and during all the time that he has been marching on our villages, notwithstanding the watchfulness of our young men, we have never been able to surprise him. Think well of it. There is something whispers to me it would be prudent to listen to his offers of peace."
The hot-headed chiefs reproached him, inti- mating a lack of courage, and he said no more but prepared for battle. Where the forces met, the pres- ence of a large amount of fallen timber, the result of a recent tornado, prevented the advance of the American cavalry and furnished a formidable pro- tection to the enemy.
An impetuous and irresistible charge drove the Indians and a few Canadians and Detroit militia
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from the field and resulted in a signal victory for General Wayne's forces.
REPLY TO CAMPBELL .- While occupying the field of victory, Wayne discovered this Fort Miami with a British garrison commanded by a Scotchman, Major William Campbell. After the battle Campbell, by letter, demanded why Waync had taken post within reach of the guns of his fort. Wayne replied by saying that if Campbell was en- titled to any answer at all, "The most full and satis- factory one was answered from the muzzles of his small arms yesterday morning against the horde of savages in vicinity of your post," and added:
"But had it continued until the Indians were drawn under the influence of the post and guns you mention it would not much have impeded the pro- gress of my victorious army, as no such post was established at the commencement of the present war between the Indians and the United States."
A warm correspondence followed, but its only effect was that Wayne's forces destroyed everything of the enemy that was destructible, within the vicin- ity of the fort, even to the point within reach of its guns.
This short account of the battle of "Fallen Tim- bers" is given as an introduction to the treaty of Greenville, the battles of the War of 1812, the build- ing of the canal and the war with Michigan over the boundary question, and their influence on the loca- tion of what was even then prophesied would be a great metropolis at the head of the lake.
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AN INTERESTING CHARACTER. - An in- teresting character connected with these events was Captain William Welles. When he was twelve years old and an inmate of the family of Hon. Nathaniel Pope, in Kentucky, he was captured by some In- dians of the Miami nation and brought to this vicin- ity. He grew up as a member of the tribe, bearing the Indian name of "Black Snake." He became very influential in the tribe and married the sister of the famous chief Little Turtle .* In the battle be- tween the Indians and whites, under Generals Har- mer and St. Clair, he fought with the Indians under Little Turtle, but always disturbed by recollections of his early boyhood, and his white associates. When Wayne's army approached he determined to join his white brethren, and taking Little Turtle to the banks of the Maumee river, said to him: "I leave your na- tion for my own people. We have long been friends. We are friends yet until the sun reaches that point (pointing). Then we are enemies. Then if you wish to kill me you may. If I want to kill you, I may." He then bade him farewell, crossed the river, joined Wayne's army and became captain of its scouts or guides. He had three daughters and one son by his Indian wife. One of these daughters be- came the wife of Judge Wolcott of Maumee, who was a descendant of the Connecticut family of that name, so prominent in Colonial and Revolutionary events.
After the treaty of Greenville Captain Welles with his family settled at "Old Orchard," near the confluence of the St. Marys and St. Joseph rivers,
*It is a disputed question whether Welles married a sister or a daughter of Little Turtle. See Waggoner's "History."
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where the government granted him a preemption of 320 acres of land. His achievements and adven- tures are detailed in a number of historical records of the locality and period.
In June, 1795, the chiefs of the Indian nations began to assemble at Greenville. On July 15th there was a council at which were present the chiefs of the Wyandottes, Delawares, Ottawas, Pottowato- mies, Chippewas, Miamis and Wabash. General Wayne presented the terms of a treaty for their con- sideration and on July 30th the same was approved by the unanimous vote of the tribes and nations present, represented by 1,130 chiefs and leading men.
TERMS OF TREATY. - The terms of that treaty I must pass, except that after defining the boundary lines and other matters, there were certain reservations to the United States, among which were one of twelve miles square at the foot of the rapids of the Miami of Lake Erie, and one of six miles square at the mouth of the river for military and commercial purposes.
The twelve-mile square reservation came down the river far enough to include the mouth of Swan creek, and what is now part of the city of Toledo, including the business portion of the city, to a point near Madison Avenue. It included both banks of the river and its center was supposed to be on Big Island at the foot of the rapids this side of Maumee.
After this treaty and in 1796 the British govern- ment surrendered its posts within the limits of the United States, including Fort Miami, at the foot of the rapids of the Maumee.
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There was substantial peace in the valley after the treaty of Greenville until the War of 1812 broke out between the United States and England.
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