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Gc 977 H54c 1657261
M. G
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01715 4763
Sketches of History
CONTRIBUTIONS
TO THE
EARLY HISTORY OF THE NORTH-WEST, 1
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INCLUDING THE
MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO.
BY
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SAMUEL P. HILDRETH, M. D.
1
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1
CINCINNATI: PUBLISHED BY POE & HITCHCOCK. R. P. THOMPSON, PRINTER. 1864.
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1
1657261
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1864,
BY POE & HITCHCOCK,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.
1
ADVERTISEMENT.
THE following sketches of pioneer life and times were written by the late Samuel P. Hil- dreth, M. D., and by him given some years since to Hon. Elisha Whittlesey, first Con- troller of the Treasury. On Mr. Whittlesey's death they came by bequest into the possession of T. B. Tait, of Ashtabula county, Ohio, by whom they were sent to our Agents for pub- lication. They relate mainly to scenes and .. incidents in North-Eastern Ohio, and include a brief account of the Moravian Mission.
The author, Dr. Hildreth, was himself a pio- neer and the historian of pioneers. He was a native of Methuen, Essex county, Massachu- setts. In 1806 he commenced the practice of medicine at Marietta, when the place contained 3
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ADVERTISEMENT.
but six hundred inhabitants, and continued it fifty-five years. In 1861, as he said, "I laid it entirely aside, and am now waiting the time of my departure with resignation and hope." He died at his home in Marietta, July 28, 1863, aged eighty years.
The reader will find these pages entertaining and instructive. Some of the events recorded have occurred within the life-time and memory of those yet living, and a few of the actors or witnesses of these scenes still survive. One of them, Joseph Kelly, died since these pages were in the printers' hands. A daughter of the missionary Heckewelder yet lives in Pennsyl- vania, having reached a ripe old age. Doubtless others whose stories are given, are yet with us; but one by one the aged pioneers are passing away, and we welcome this volume to perpetuate their names and deeds to those who enjoy the fruit of their labors.
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CINCINNATI, AUGUST, 1864.
THE EDITOR.
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PREFACE.
ON the appearance of a new book before the public every reader has the right to inquire the object of the writer in presenting it. In this instance the author's only plea is the desire of preserving from utter loss a few of the many interesting events connected with the carly history of this country, which in a few brief years would have been entirely forgotten. They are at present tolerably fresh in the memories of some of the actors themselves, but are fast fading away before the touch of time. Another object was to compare past things with present, and thus better enable the generation of these days to appreciate the- trials and sufferings of those who inhabited this now beautiful land when it was covered with 5
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6
PREFACE.
vast forests, and tenanted by savages and wild beasts. The achievements of these men ought not soon to be forgotten. And last, not least, was a desire to bring to the light the trials and sufferings of the Moravian missionaries and their Indian converts in Ohio. Very few of ' the present inhabitants even know that such a mission ever existed, and still fewer are ac- quainted with the particular events connected therewith. Copious extracts have been taken from Loskiel's history, to whom I am indebted for the facts relating to the mission, and many of them in his own language.,
With these brief remarks the following pages are presented to the rising generations of the West, accompanied with the wish that they may afford to them as much satisfaction in the reading as they have to me in the writing.
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CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
SUMMER RAMBLINGS.
PAGE.
1. FACTS GATHERED
15
2. A VENERABLE PIONEER
16
3. A STORY OF OLDEN TIMES
21
CHAPTER II.
LEWIS WETZEL.
1. EARLY TRAINING
24
2.'A SINGULAR ENCOUNTER 26
3. RECOGNITION AND RECONCILIATION
29
4. TELLING A SAVAGE BY HIS TRACKS
30
5. THEORY TESTED
30
6. THE PURSUIT
32
7. THE ENEMY OVERTAKEN
33
8. SKILLFUL AND SUCCESSFUL ATTACK
34
9. DEATH OF WETZEL
36
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CHAPTER III.
BORDER SETTLEMENTS.
1. OLD FORT M'INTOSH
37
2. BRADY'S HILL
40
7
8
CONTENTS.
3. TRAPPING EXCURSION
PAGE.
43
4. NEW CONNECTICUT 46
5. RAVENNA
48
. 6. BRADY'S POND 49
7. BRADY'S LEAP
50
CHAPTER IV.
INCIDENTS ON THE BORDER.
. 1. FALLS OF THE CUYAHOGA 56
2. INDIAN FISHERIES 58
3. JOSEPH KELLY, OR THE LOST SON
59
4. TREATY WITH THE INDIANS
67
5. INDIAN TACT
68
6. CUYAHOGA FALLS
70
7. TUSCARAWAS
71
S. FORT LAURENS
71
9. SIEGE OF FORT LAURENS
73
10. RELIEF OF THE GARRISON 73 1
CHAPTER V.
THE MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO.
1. SCHOENBRUNN AND THE MORAVIAN MISSIONARIES 76
2. MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE
77
3. JOHN HECKEWELDER
80
4. EPIDEMIC DISEASE
81
5. MIGRATIONS OF THE CHRISTIAN INDIANS 82
6. LOSKIEL'S NARRATIVE
83
7. INCIDENTS ON THE ROUTE
86
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CONTENTS.
PAGE.
8. LIVING ASHES
88
9. REMOVAL TO GNADENHUTTEN 89
10. PROCEEDINGS OF 1774 91
11. RELIEF OBTAINED
94
12. TRANSACTIONS OF 1775
94
13. A NEW TOWN BUILT BY THE DELAWARES
95
1
14. TRANSACTIONS OF 1776
96
15. NEW STATION ESTABLISHED 96
16. INDIAN BAPTISM
98
CHAPTER VI.
THE MORAVIAN MISSIONS-CONTINUED.
1. TRANSACTIONS OF 1777 100
2. TRIALS OF THE MISSIONARIES
101
3. SCHOENBRUNN ABANDONED
102
4. THE DELAWARES CONCLUDE TO FIGHT
102
5. ALARMS OF THE CHRISTIAN INDIANS 103
6. ENGAGEMENT BETWEEN THE HURONS AND WHITES
104
7. PROGRESS OF THE MISSION
104
8. CRUELTY OF THE INDIANS
105
9. REMOVAL FROM GNADENHUTTEN
106
10. EFFORTS OF THE BRITISH.
106
11. PRESERVATION OF THE MISSION 107
12. TRANSACTIONS OF 1779
108
13. PLOTS AGAINST THE MISSIONARIES
108
14. KINDNESS OF COLONEL GIBSON
109
15. SALEM BUILT
110
16. CHEERING APPEARANCE OF THE CHURCH
111
17. ADDITIONAL MISSIONARIES
112
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CONTENTS.
1 PAGE.
18. BIRTH OF THE FIRST WHITE CHILD ..
114
19. TRANSACTIONS OF 1781 115
20. ATTACK ON THE MISSIONARIES
115
21. INTERFERENCE OF A SORCERER
117
22. FURTHER AGGRESSIONS
118
23. CONDUCT OF BELIEVING INDIANS
121
24. MAGNANIMITY OF AN INDIAN FEMALE
122
25. EXILE OF THE MISSIONARIES
123
26. SEVERITIES OF THE JOURNEY
125
27. SANDUSKY CREEK
126
28. THE MISSIONARIES ORDERED TO DETROIT 127
29. SUFFERINGS DURING THE WINTER.
128
· CHAPTER VII.'
THE MORAVIAN MISSIONS-CONTINUED.
1. VISIT OF THE HURONS 130
2. FURTHER TROUBLES OF THE MISSION
131
3. MASSACRE AT GNADENHUTTEN
132
4. DEPARTURE OF THE MISSIONARIES
134
5. DISPERSION OF THE CHRISTIAN INDIANS 134
6. NEW GNADENHUTTEN
135
7. NEWS OF PEACE
138
8. TRANSACTIONS OF 1784
138
9. FAMINE AT NEW GNADENHUTTEN
139
10. PROGRESS OF NEW GNADENHUTTEN
141
11. TRANSACTIONS OF 1785 142
12. RAVAGES OF THE WOLVES
142
13. PROCEEDINGS AT NEW GNADENHUTTEN 143
14. THE CHIPPEWAS ORDER THEM AWAY 144
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CONTENTS. 11
15. DEPARTURE FROM NEW GNADENHUTTEN
PAGE.
145
16. THE TRAVELERS LEAVE DETROIT
146
17. TROUBLES OF THE JOURNEY
147
18. SETTLEMENT OF PILGERRAH
148
19. REMARKS
148
>
20. PROCEEDINGS AT PILGERRAH
149
21. DEPARTURE OF MR. HECKEWELDER
150
22. SICKNESS OF THE MISSIONARIES
150
23. TRANSACTIONS OF 1787
151
24. REMOVAL FROM PILGERRAH
153
25. GREAT STORM
154
26. FINE FISH
154
27. MORE TRIALS AND DISAPPOINTMENTS
155
28. REMOVAL TO PETTQUOTTING.
156
29. CONVERSION OF A NOTED SAVAGE
157
30. MISSION HISTORY SINCE 1787
158
CHAPTER VIII.
CONTINUATION OF BORDER HISTORY.
1. STORY OF SILVER HEELS
161
2. LOGAN'S SPRING
167
3. FIRST SETTLEMENT AT MARIETTA
170
CHAPTER IX.
PIONEER BIOGRAPHY.
11. ISAAC WILLIAMS
179
2. STORY OF JOHN WETZEL
183
3. BIOGRAPHY CONTINUED
187
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. 12 ·
CONTENTS.
PAGA.
4. FAMINE AMONG THE COLONISTS 189
5. SIMPLE HABITS
193
6. HAMILTON KERR
194
CHAPTER X.
LEGENDS OF BORDER HISTORY.
1. LEGEND OF CARPENTER'S BAR
199
CHAPTER XI.
MISCELLANEOUS SCRAPS.
1. DESCRIPTION OF FORT HARMAR 215
2. ESCAPE OF R. J. MEIGS, ESQ 220
3. DESCRIPTION OF CAMPUS MARTIUS 227
4. CHARACTER OF THE PIONEERS
232
5. THE FIRST PREACHER IN OHIO 233
CONTRIBUTIONS
TO THE
EARLY HISTORY OF THE NORTH-WEST.
13-14
1
CONTRIBUTIONS
TO THE
EARLY HISTORY OF THE NORTH-WEST.
CHAPTER I.
SUMMER RAMBLINGS.
FACTS GATHERED.
/ FOR a number of years past it has been my practice, during the vernal months, to make rambling excursions into distant and remote parts of the Western settlements, for the double purpose of amusement and the collection of useful facts in relation to geology, and to the early history of the country. There is a fresh- ness and youthfulness over the face of the earth . during this season of the year which is gratify ing to the senses, and highly promotive of cheer- fulness and kindly affections.
During these 15
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EARLY HISTORY OF THE NORTH-WEST.
periods I have been enabled to gather up many interesting facts connected with the early settle- ment of the "near West," especially that por- tion of it lying east of the Muskingum River. It is only in this way that some few of "the thousand and one adventures," and sufferings of that brave and hardy race of men, who first settled on the western side of the Alleghanics, can be preserved from the oblivion to which they are rapidly hastening. The period of human life is so short, that most of the actors in and the cotemporaries of those events have already passed away ; a few, however, are still living.
,
A VENERABLE PIONEER.
Only a few days since I saw and conversed with one of these venerable and aged pioneers- Peter Anderson-who had resided on the banks of the Ohio for sixty-six years, or since the year A. D. 1770. He was then a boy of twelve or fourteen years of age, and lived with his
17
A VENERABLE PIONEER.
parents near the Ohio River, a few miles above the present town of Wellsburg, in Virginia. At that time their nearest neighbor was ten miles distant, and the next nearest, thirty miles. The first year the family lived in a hut con- structed of the bark of trees, and it was. only in the second year that a force sufficient to raise the walls of a log one could be collected.
Within the life of this man what changes have passed over the face of the West, and that of the United States generally! We were then feeble colonists, and the vassals of a for- eign power-now a great and independent nation. The whole region, from Fort Pitt to the Missis- sippi, was covered with one continued forest, and the red man not only claimed the right to, but possessed unlimited control over this vast region. The canoe of the savage navigated its numerous and mighty rivers; the wild beasts of the forest tenanted the wild domain-within the brief life of a single individual, how vast the changes that have taken place! The steam- 1 2
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18 EARLY HISTORY OF THE. NORTH-WEST.
boat, like a Leviathan, dashing the waters from her bows, and causing even the earth to tremble · on the adjacent shores as she moves, now navi- gates those streams over which the light barge of the savage once silently glided. The forests, then filled with the buffalo, the deer, the bear, and the wolf, have fallen before the ax of the woodman; and lowing herds and bleating flocks cover the fields opened to cultivation.
Mighty cities and innumerable villages, with their attendant spires and piles of massive build- ings, now cover the ground once occupied by the lowly hut of the Indian; and in all this wide space, so lately teeming with wild game, from Fort Pitt to the Mississippi, the hunter with difficulty finds a single victim for his rifle; and where he once lived in plenty on the spoils of the chase, would now starve with no other resource. Even the fishes, apparently so safely protected by the element in which they move from the depredation of man, have partaken of the general destruction of the aboriginal races,
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A VENERABLE PIONEER. 19
and the waters, which in early days were filled and teeming with the finny tribes, are now nearly deserted and desolate. From a cause as yet unexplained, even the molluscous ani- mals are nearly or quite extinct in the Mus- kingum River, from above Zanesville to its mouth. In the months of May and June, 1836, the river was partially covered with the floating bodies of clams, uniones and anadontæ, that had died in their oozy beds, and, as the specific gravity changed by incipient putrefaction, had risen to the surface, leaving the empty shell open on the bottom of the river. Some disease more fatal than the cholera has attacked this secluded race; perhaps indueed by the change in their element, from the mixture of salt water and bittern, draining from the numerous salt wells on the shores of the river. Even a slight change in the ingredients of our atmosphere induces in man disease and death.
Four millions of whites now occupy the an- cient domains of the savages of the eastern
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20
EARLY HISTORY OF THE NORTH-WEST.
portion of the valley of the Mississippi. How little the present inhabitants know or dream of the privations and sufferings of the pioneers of this fair valley! For more than thirty years they lived in almost continual contests with the aboriginals. Every tree they felled, every rod they plowed, and every hour they trav- ersed the forest in search of game, was at the hazard of life and limb. If they visited the mill, or attended a neighboring meeting to hear the preaching of an itinerant minister of the Gospel, it was with the trusty rifle in their hands; and he who lay down in peace and apparent safety, was often awakened by the yell of the savage; the morning sun rose on the smoking ruins of his hut and the reeking · limbs of his murdered family. But, as the old proverb hath it, "the back is fitted to the burden." These heroes were men of steel, whose courage no dangers could appall, and whose perseverance no difficulties could ob- struct. Even the females were equally hardy
21
A STORY OF EARLY TIMES.
and gifted with fortitude fitted to the emerg- ency. To preserve the remembrance of these days from the oblivion to which they are hast- ening, I have recorded a few of the feats of individuals, whose names are only known in the vicinity of the spots where the events took place, and to a few of the descendants of the old inhabitants, whom the unceasing tide of emigration has not yet swept away to the re- gions of the "far West.' -
A STORY OF EARLY TIMES.
In the month of May, in the year 1835, as I was gliding along the smooth waters of the Ohio, between the town of Steubenville and the mouth of Beaver River, the site of old Fort M'Intosh, in one of those beautiful inventions of modern days, a steamboat, the following story of early times was narrated by a passenger, who received it from an old settler, intimately acquainted with the hero of the adventure. This region and the settlements at Wheeling were
22
EARLY HISTORY OF THE NORTH-WEST.
for many years the western frontier, and more individual prowess was displayed, and more blood . shed, within a space of forty miles square, than in any other portion of the valley of the Ohio of equal extent. Many powerful tribes - of savages lived on the north-west side of the Ohio River within a few days' march, and the Mingoes, a vindictive race, possessed the rich alluvion, commencing a short distance below the present town of Steubenville, for many miles along the banks of the river, till within a few years of this time. These lands still retain the name of "the Mingo Bottoms." Within this district the family of Logan, the celebrated Indian chief, were murdered in cold blood by a party under Captain Greathouse, at Baker's Bottom, opposite the mouth of Yellow Creek, near the upper portion or north-east extremity of the present State of Virginia. The particu- - lars of this odious and much-contested transac- tion have been recently published, as related by Henry Jolly, Esq., who is so kindly and honor-
23
A STORY OF EARLY TIMES.
ably mentioned in some of the communications of Mark Bancroft to the "Casket," published in Philadelphia. But I must return to the promised narrative.
24
EARLY HISTORY OF THE NORTH-WEST.
CHAPTER II.
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LEWIS WETZEL. -
EARLY TRAINING.
AMONG the heroes of border warfare Lewis Wetzel held no inferior station. Inured to hardships while yet in boyhood, and educated in all the various arts of woodcraft-from that of hunting the beaver and the bear to that of the wily Indian-he became in manhood one of the most celebrated marksmen of the day. His form was erect, and of that hight best adapted to activity, being very muscular and possessed of great bodily strength. His frame was warmed by a heart that never palpitated
* This story and two others of Samuel Brady were recently published in the American Journal of Science; but so few readers have access to that work in the West that it was thought best to republish them here.
mt alk
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EARLY TRAINING.
25
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with fear, and animated by a spirit that quailed not, nor became confused in the midst of danger and death.
From constant practice he could bear pro- longed and violent exercise, especially that of running and walking, without fatigue; and had also acquired the art of loading his rifle when moving at full speed through the forests, and wheeling on the instant could discharge a bullet with unerring aim, the distance of eighty or one hundred yards, into a mark not larger than a shilling. This art he has been known, more than once, to practice with success on his savage foes. A celebrated marksman in those days was estimated by the other borderers in the same way that a knight templar or a knight of the cross was valued by his cotemporaries who excelled in the tournament or the charge, in the days of chivalry. Challenges of skill often took place, and marksmen frequently met by appointment, who lived at the distance of fifty miles or more from each other, to try the
26
EARLY HISTORY OF THE NORTH-WEST.
accuracy of their aim, on bets of considerable amount.
A SINGULAR ENCOUNTER. -
Wetzel's fame had spread far and wide through the adjacent settlements as the most - expert rifleman of the day. In the Spring of the year A. D. 1784, it chanced that a young man, a few years younger than Wetzel, who lived on the waters of Dunkard's Creek, a tributary of the Monongahela River, heard of his fame; and as he was also an expert woods- man and a first-rate shot-the best in his set- tlement-he became very desirous of an oppor- tunity for a trial of skill. So great was his anxiety that he very early one morning, shoul- dered his rifle, and, whistling his faithful dog to his side, started for the neighborhood of Wetzel, who then lived near the forks of Wheeling Creek, a distance of fifteen or twenty miles, although the two streams rise in the vicinity .of each other.
27
Light
A SINGULAR ENCOUNTER.
When about half-way on his journey a fine buck started up just before him. He leveled his rifle with his usual accuracy, but the deer did not fall dead in his tracks, although mor- tally wounded. His stout dog soon seized him and brought him to the ground; but while in the act of so doing another dog sprang from the forest upon the same deer, and his master made his appearance at the same time from behind a tree, and with loud voice claimed the deer as his property; having, as he said, been brought down by his shot, and seized by his dog.
It so happened that they had both fired at the same instant and at the same deer-a fact which may very well happen where two active men are hunting on the same ground, although one of them may fire at fifty yards and the other at double that distance. The dogs, feel- ing a similar spirit to that of their masters, soon quit the deer, which was already dead, and fell to worrying and tearing each other.
28
EARLY HISTORY OF THE NORTH-WEST.
In separating the dogs the stranger hunter happened to strike that of the young man. The old adage, "Strike my dog, strike me," arose in full force; and without further cere- mony, except a few hasty oaths, he fell upon the stranger hunter and hurled him to the ground. This was no sooner done than he found him- self turned, and under his stronger and more powerful antagonist.
Perceiving that he was no match at this play, he appealed to the trial by rifle, saying it was too much like dogs for men 'and hunters to fight in this manner. The stranger assented to the trial, but told the young man that before he proceeded to put it to the test he had better witness what he was able to do with that weapon; saying that he was as much superior in the use of the rifle as he was in bodily strength. In proof, he bid him place a mark the size of a dollar on the side of a huge poplar that stood beside them, from which-he would start with his rifle unloaded, and running a hundred yards
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£
29
RECOGNITION AND RECONCILIATION.
at full speed he would load it as he ran, and, wheeling, discharge it instantly to the center of the mark. The feat was no sooner proposed than performed; the ball striking the center of the diminutive target.
RECOGNITION AND RECONCILIATION.
Astonished at his skill, his antagonist now inquired his name. "Lewis Wetzel, at your service," answered the stranger. Forgetting his animosity, the young hunter seized him by the hand with all the ardor of youthful admira- tion, and at once acknowledged his own inferi- ority. So charmed was he with Wetzel's frank- ness, skill, and fine personal appearance, that he insisted on his returning with him to the Dunkard settlement, that he might exhibit his dexterity to his own family, and to the hardy backwoodsmen, his neighbors. Nothing loth to such an exhibition, and pleased with the energy of his new acquaintance, Wetzel agreed to accompany him; shortening the way with
T
, 30
EARLY HISTORY OF THE NORTH-WEST.
their mutual tales of hunting excursions, and hazardous contests with the common enemies of the country.
TELLING AN INDIAN BY HIS TRACKS.
Among other things, Wetzel stated his man- ner of distinguishing the footsteps of a white man from those of an Indian, although covered with moccasins and intermixed with the tracks of the savages. He had acquired this tact from closely examining the manner of placing the feet; the Indian stepping in parallel lines, and first bringing the toe to the ground, while the white man almost invariably first touches the heel to the earth, and places the feet at an angle with the line of march.
THEORY TESTED.
An opportunity they little expected soon gave him a chance of putting his skill to the trial. On reaching the young man's home, which they did late in the afternoon, they
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31
1
THEORY TESTED.
found the dwelling a smoking ruin, and all the family murdered and scalped except & young woman, who had been brought up by his parents, and to whom the young man was tenderly attached. She had been taken away alive, as was ascertained by examining the trail of the savages.
Wetzel soon discovered, by a close inspection of the footmarks, that the party consisted of three Indians and a renegade white man-an occurrence not uncommon in those early days, when for crime, or the baser purpose of revenge, the white outlaw fled to the savages, and was adopted on trial into their tribe. As it was late in the day, the nearest help still at some considerable distance, and as there were only four to contend with, they decided on imme- diate pursuit. And, moreover, as the deed had very recently been done, they hoped to over- take them in their camp that night, or perhaps before they could cross the Ohio River ; to which the Indians always retreated after effect-
32
J
EARLY HISTORY OF THE NORTH-WEST.
-
ing a successful foray, considering themselves in a manner safe from pursuit when they had crossed to its right bank, at that time wholly occupied by the Indian tribes.
THE PURSUIT.
. Ardent and unwearied was the pursuit; the one to recover his lost love, and the other to assist his new friend, and take revenge for the slaughter of his countrymen-slaughter and re- venge being at that period the daily business of the borderers. Wetzel followed the trail of the retreating savages with the unerring sa- gacity of a blood-hound, and just at dusk traced them to the Ohio, some miles below Wheeling, nearly opposite the mouth of Captina Creek. Much to their disappointment, they soon found that the Indians had crossed the river by con- structing a raft of logs and brush-their usual manner of passing a stream when at a distance from their villages. By carefully examining " the signs" on the opposite shore, Wetzel
33
THE ENEMY OVERTAKEN.
directly discovered the fire of the Indian camp, in a hollow way, a few rods from the river.
THE ENEMY OVERTAKEN.
Lest the noise of constructing a raft should alarm the Indians, and give notice of the pur- suit, the two hardy adventurers determined to swim the stream a few rods below. This they easily accomplished, being both excellent swim- mers. Fastening their clothes in a bundle on the tops of their heads, with their rifles and ammunition above, they reached the opposite shore in safety. After carefully inspecting their arms, and putting every article of attack or defense in its proper place, they crawled very cautiously to a position which gave them a full view of their enemies; who, believing themselves safe from pursuit, were carelessly reposing around the fire, thoughtless of the fate that awaited them. They soon discovered the young woman, alive and seated by the fire, but making much moaning and complaint; while
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