USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > A chapter in the history of Cleveland > Part 2
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The various Indian tribes of the north and west had been requested to meet Gen. Anthony Wayne (Mad Anthony), as the representative of the United States, at Greenville on the 16th of June, 1795, for the purpose of making a treaty of peace, and to this treaty meeting, Messrs. McNiff, Askwith, and Ruland were sent for the purpose of looking after this land, and in order to get the Indian grant accepted by the govern- ment if possible. If it should be found impossible to get the matter before the meeting in a favorable manner, then all parties were to attempt to get certain rights conceded by our government to the Indians, as the right of tribal owner- ship of the lands they occupied, the right of repelling further advances of the Americans on these tribal possessions, and the right of conveying these lands to whoever the tribes thought fit, upon receiving sufficient compensation. £ It ap- pears that the Indians from Detroit did not set off for Green- ville until about the first of July, and they were then accom- panied by John Askin, Jr., who understood their language perfectly, and whom they requested to accompany them in order to assist them in protecting their rights.
*For copy of this deed, see Appendix.
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The fatherly letter of instruction of the senior Askin, on the departure of his son, urged him to see that, by the pro- posed treaty, the Indians remained sole masters of their lands, with the right to dispose of them as they wished, and the right to confirm such sales as they have already made. "This," he says, "will secure, in my opinion, a lasting peace between the Indians and the States, which I apprehend will never be the case should the States lay a claim to the Indian lands, or force them to a sale, for when what they get is expended, and their successors in want, they will prob- ably have recourse to violent means, though they should not succeed." It was thus the duty of the younger Askin, not only to look after the interest of the syndicate in the convention, but also to see that the Indians were not im- posed upon, either by the men representing the government, or others who might be attracted there by the prospect of plunder.
It was from Detroit, as the centre of the intrigue, that the strings were pulled to set the figures in motion. McNiff, Ruland, and Askwith had been sent in advance to Fort Greenville, John Askin, Jr., had, later, been dispatched with the Indians, and now John Askin, Sr., urged Alexander Henry to hasten to Philadelphia, then the seat of the Federal Government, to obtain the confirmation of their deed from Congress, and he adds, "I hope you have not lost any time to get there. If we should be so fortunate as to get the lands confirmed we will be once more on our legs, I mean myself. Indeed I have the greatest doubt in the world that the Americans and Indians, even jointly, can take these lands from us."
The younger Askin had left Detroit on the 2nd of July with a detachment of chiefs of the Chippewa Indians. He reached Fort Defiance on the 11th, where he received a cool reception from Major Thomas Hunt, who was there in charge. On the 19th they reached Fort Adams, on the 20th Fort
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Recovery, and the next day, July 21st, 1795, they arrived at Fort Greenville,* and found the various Indian tribes and the representatives of the United States already in session. General Wayne had intercepted some letters directed to Askin, and from his knowledge of their contents deemed Askin an unsafe person to be associated with the Indians at this particular time, and so ordered his arrest and confine- ment in Fort Jefferson,* and would not permit him to have intercourse with any one, either in person or by letter. He was kept in confinement until, at the special intercession of the Indians, he was set at liberty and dined with General Wayne on the 8th of August, but by this time the treaty was over and the Indians had dispersed for their homeward jour- ney. Askin's trip was an entire failure. He had not been permitted to take any part in the deliberations, and the object he had in accompanying the Indians is not mentioned in the official report of the proceedings of the treaty.
The treaty of peace which was finally concluded between the United States and the Indians provided, among other things, that the eastern boundary line of the Indian lands should be the Cuyahoga River;} that all the lands east of that river should be the property of the General Government, to bu disposed of as Congress might direct; that the Indians should retain the exclusive ownership and control of the lands west of that river (except certain military posts), and if the Indians wished to dispose of any of these lands they could sell them to the United States and to no other person.
Meanwhile Henry proceeded to New York, where he received letters from his confederates showing that they had failed to accomplish anything at the Indian treaty. Feeling now in great doubt about the ultimate success of the enter- prise, he submitted the deeds to Alexander Hamilton for his inspection and opinion. Mr. Hamilton's opinion .did not
*Fort Greenville was built at the place still called Greenville, ninety-two miles west of Columbus.
Fort Jefferson was five miles south of Greenville.
Fort Recovery is in Darke county, and is the name of a modern village.
Fort Defiance is in Defiance county, on the Maumee, now called Detiance.
Fort Industry is site of present Toledo.
+The Cuyahoga was the line for only a limited distance. The line crossed the portage on which Akron stands and then took to the Southern waters.
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tend to reassure him, as he declared the deed to be in- valid for several reasons : First, the premises were described as being situated in Upper Canada, and could not therefore be in the United States; second, it was a deed of gift, and the Indians could not alienate lands in that way; and thirdly, no lands could be purchased from the Indians except with leave of the President. Robert Morris was also con- sulted in the matter, but he declined to take an interest in it because the matter had not been brought before the treaty. Almost in despair lest their enterprise should turn to be a total failure, the confederates tried to keep the Indians in good nature so that they would not repudiate their deed. They opened a formal account with the Cuyahoga Purchase, where they entered the accounts of all the items for goods given to the Indians, and all other expenses. They held a council with the Indians on the 2nd of May, 1796, and harangued them on the subject of this purchase and on the great love which they bore to their red brothers, and, so far as the Indians them- selves went, it seemed as if the title would not be contested. New deeds were obtained for some of the lands, in order, if possible, to strengthen those already obtained. Whether it was required, it certainly was deemed necessary to obtain the signatures to these deeds when the Indians were sober. We find frequent references to this sobriety in the deeds, and when these new deeds were to be executed, which was on the 30th of May, 1796, McNiff wrote the following note to Mr. Askin :
"SIR :- The Little Otter, with other chiefs and warriors, twenty in number, are now at my house waiting for Mr. Ruland, in order to put the finishing hand to all their con- veyances. They are all perfectly sober, the chiefs request a little rum for themselves and young while waiting for Ruland. You will please send two bottles and charge it to the company's account, but not to the Cuyahoga."
The Askins, Ruland, and Henry, were not the only per- sons who claimed to hold lands by these precarious Indian titles. The plan of purchasing from the Indians had been
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going on for some time and there were many interested parties. President Washington was very industrious in cir- culating letters of advice among the Indians urging them not to make any more deeds to individuals. Every string that the purchasers could pull was pulled. Congress was petitioned, and was even attempted to be bribed. Not only were Alexander Hamilton and Robert Morris approached on the subject, but the matter was laid before the best legal minds of the country for their advice. Brockholst Living- ston, then of Elizabethtown, New Jersey, but one of the foremost lawyers of New York, wrote a long letter of advice on the subject suggesting: Ist. That the owners, who claimed to be British subjects at the surrender of Detroit in 1796, make application as British subjects through the · British minister to the President. 2nd. That they apply to Congress for a confirmation of the title. 3rd. That they settle on the land and then submit the matter to a judicial decision before a court of the United States. The third plan Mr. Livingston thought would be the best, though attended with some risk to the settlers. "I think," he writes, " Con- gress had no right to say that the Indians shall grant no lands without their permission. They have acknowledged them as independent nations. They make treaties and settle boundary lines with them as such; it is, therefore, interfering with their sovereignty to declare that they shall not grant their own lands." ·
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Acting under this advice John Askin, Jr., was sent to take actual possession of the tract, and he built or occupied a hut on the west side of the Cuyahoga River a little back of where it emptied into the lake .* Here young Askin resided
*The writer is speaking of the family of James Kingsbury, an adventurer on his own account; it is the spring of 1797.
"When the surveyors under Mr. Pease returned to their work in the spring, the family came with them to Cleveland, as their permanent home. On the west side of the river, at a point which cannot now be used with certainty, but probably near where Centre and Main streets cross, there was a dilapidated house. The old settlers think it was erected by the French, but it was more probably done by the English, who were here soon after the peace of 1763. It was a better building than the French were in the habit of putting up in such remote places. It had been a comfortable and capacious log store- house. Very likely the French had built a cabin near the mouth of the river, which had disappeared."-Whittlesey's History of Cleveland, page 225.
There is a letter in possession of the Western Reserve Historical Society from Alex- ander Henry to Oliver Phelps and Henry Champion. Directors of the Connecticut Land Co., dated April 1, 1797, giving notice to the Company of the claim of title by Askin and bis partners, and stating that Mr. John Askin and his family now reside on this tract at the River Cuyahoga, in order to secure possession.
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with his family for some time; Askwith died, as we have seen, leaving a badly encumbered estate, and other shares in the enterprise changed hands so that Ebenezer Allen, Isaac Todd and James McGill came to have interests. Henry refused to spend any more money to advance the project, and in December, 1798, Askin proposed to reimburse him for his outlay on his conveying his interest to other parties, but, desperate as the situation was, Askin advised him not to sell out, but to advance his portion of the expenses and take his chances with the others. The next year a new character appeared on the scene in the person of the Connecticut Land Company. The Connecticut Land Company were anxious to remove any question regarding their ownership of the Re- serve, which they were already surveying, dividing into lots, and placing on the market, and they wished to extinguish the Indian title, so that purchasers would feel secure from molestation, and so that the Indians might be removed from these lands. They appointed Samuel Huntington, after- wards the second Governor of Ohio, to go west and ascertain the most practicable method of attaining the ends sought for. I have been unable to find any evidence that Governor Huntington visited the Reserve earlier than 1801, but two years prior to that date he came to Detroit and attempted to see Mr. McNiff on this subject. It is very probable that he was not over anxious to see any of the parties to the syndi- . cate, for, not being able to see McNiff, he wrote a-letter to the elder Askin regretting that the short time at his disposal did not permit him to make a call, and stating that his object in visiting the West was to be able to point out to the Com- pany the best way to extinguish the Indian title. If Governor Huntington had been very anxious to see Mr. Askin, the visit would have taken but a few moments, as at this time Mr. Askin either lived within the city pickets, not more than five minutes walk from any side, or else he lived directly fronting the common on the east, a distance of three or four
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short blocks. It is more probable that the Governor's visit was among the Indians themselves, and that its object had been accomplished, and he was now on his return home and did not care to see Mr. Askin.
Ebenezer Allen was more of a schemer than the others, and having removed sometime before this to the River Tranche, or Thames of the present day, he proposed, in 1800, that all parties convey the land to Capt. Joseph Brant, a chief of the Six Nations, and the most influential Indian in the North-West. Brant was to put them in possession of the ' tract, and give them security to reconvey the premises to them when the proper time came. A man by the name of Augustus Jones was the person who acted as go-between with Brant, and he succeeded in getting Brant to agree to meet the Indian chiefs at Detroit about the first of May, 1801, for the purpose of considering the matter. There is no doubt that Brant was a very skillful diplomat for an Indian, and he refused to commit himself to the project. The intention was that, if the sale to Brant was carried out, the share of . McGill, Henry, and the two Askins would pass to Brant and his Indians and they would become partners with Allen and Ruland. This plan was a failure, and seems to have entirely discouraged all parties, for I find no other efforts made looking towards making an actual sale to the Land Company or any other negotiations had by the parties for several
years. Their private correspondence during this period, which I have, makes no mention of these lands. The Connecticut Land Company were going forward with their surveys and selling their lands, but as yet the Indian claim to that' part west of the Cuyahoga River had not been ex- tinguished. In September, 1804, William Dean proposed to the Fire Lands Co .* to obtain a release of the Indian title for $20,000, and his proposition was accepted.
Of course these proceedings were entirely unknown to the Detroit parties, but the efforts of Dean to perform his *The full name of this company was The Proprietors of the Half Million Acres of Land lying south of Lake Erie called Sufferers' Land.
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part of the contract soon became known to them, and early in the year 1805 the hopes of the proprietors were again raised by a circumstance which is best told by one of the letters of the senior Askin: "I now begin to hope that all the money I laid out in Indian lands is not lost. The United States has given to the people of New London the pre-emp- tion right of a large tract, say 500,000 acres, in consideration of what they suffered by fire in the late troubles. This tract I, jointly with several others, purchased of the Indians, and in which tract Mr. Todd and you (James McGill) hold an equal share with me. A Mr. Dean is arrived at Detroit some time . ago, one of several commissioners employed by the inhabit- ants of New London to purchase the native right, but he finds that the Indians have sold it to me and others; he there- fore has told Mr. Brush that he will pay ten thousand dollars if we will get them, the Indians, to sign a deed to their com- pany and pay the expenses; this is not more than about two sols the acre, and as the government of the United States has nothing to do in this business without our concurrence and assistance, the inhabitants of New London will never be able to prevail on the Indians to sell to them a second time, for what with our own influence, joined with that of Captain McKee, we mean to prevent the Indian chiefs ever meeting them in council, unless they give us what's fair, and then at our expense (out of what we receive) we mean to make a large present and get the nation to whom the lands belong to agree to a transfer from us to the purchasers, or to give them a new grant. The lawyers say we now have an opportunity of getting something handsome, as the offer is between indi- vidual and individual and the United States cannot inter- fere."
The reply to this letter urged Askin not to be too extrav. agant in his demands, "as that may prevent any arrangement, and it's better not to lose the opportunity of getting some- thing." Major Dean departed from Detroit without calling
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upon Mr. Askin, and the latter said he thought Mr. Dean had neither money nor letters of credit, and he even doubted whether he was one of the commissioners as he claimed to be; even the offer of a thousand dollars for a deed of surren- der would have been accepted by the proprietors.
There was an attempt made to hold an Indian council and make a treaty at Cuyahoga in 1805, but Askin, with the aid of Capt. Alexander McKee, his son-in-law, an Indian interpre- ter, succeeded in prevailing on the most influential chiefs not to visit the treaty council, and the representatives of the Reserve were compelled to call a new council, to be held at Swan Creek, and to this the Indians agreed that Mr. Elijah Brush, a Detroit lawyer, and also a son-in-law of Mr. Askin, should go, nominally as the agent of the Indians, but in reality to look out for the interests of Cuyahoga Purchase.
This treaty council was held on July 4, 1805, at Fort Industry (the present site of Toledo), and by its terms the Indians surrendered all title to lands within the Reserve. At the same time they made a formal transfer to the Connecticut Land Company, and to the Proprietors of the half million acres of land lying south of Lake Erie called Sufferers' Land, of all of the lands claimed by them, thus making a transfer of the lands they had formerly conveyed to Askin and his partners, and thus finally extinguishing their last hopes of obtaining anything from the Cuyahoga Purchase.
The United States Commissioner on this occasion was Charles Jouett, a son-in-law of Dodemede, and the represen- tative of the Connecticut Land Co. was Henry Champion, while Isaac Mills represented the Fire Lands Co. In Askin's diary I find the following as the final entries regarding this matter:
"Tuesday, June 18, 1805. Mr. Brush and Mr. Smith, the interpreter, came here and dined, consulted on the Indian matter. Received a letter and answered it, from Major Deane.
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"Wednesday, June 19. John (his son) came from Malden and went over the river (to Detroit) with Charles (another son) to meet the Little Otter. The Little Otter and many other chiefs assembled with Mr. Brush and Jonny at my house and held a council. They dined, I made them a pres- ent, and they went away.
"Thursday, June 20. Went to Capt. McKee's to meet the Indians, and dined there.
"Friday, June 21. Sent James (son) with papers and letters for Mr. Brush at Capt. McKee's; also Tom (a negro slave) to go to the foot of the rapids with Mr. Brush. Tom returned; also James. Mr. Brush got Capt. McKee's Harry to go with him and went with the Indian chiefs and Mr. Curry to Swan Creek.
"Wednesday, July 3. James went over the river and came back at night and said that Mr. Curry had come from the council and told him that all was settled and that the land purchasers were to pay $33,000.
"Monday, July 8. Received a letter from Mr. Brush saying that he came home yesterday.
"Saturday, July 13. Mr. Brush called and told me what he had done in the Cuyahoga Purchase and showed amount of expenses."
Mr. Brush's report of the result of the treaty is short and pointed and a fitting finale to the entire transaction. It is as follows:
"DETROIT, 8 July, 1805.
DEAR SIR :- I arrived here last evening exhausted with fatigue from the disagreeable to Swan Creek, the particulars of which I bave not'time now to relate, but the first leisure moment I shall go over and see you. I have not, however, succeeded so well as I had reason some days before I left there to expect, owing entirely to the invincible opposi- tion I met with from Jouett, who behaved more like a savage than a Christian. Ihave, however, brought 600 dollars, which is all that could be had. I send Joe over on purpose to beg some celery plants from Mrs. Askin, as many as she can well spare, which I will set out this evening.
Adieu, God bless you.
E. BRUSH.
JOHN ASKIN, EsQ."
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Grand River, Aug 30 1800
2 is a considerable time wine I fish was made acquainted with the
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· land Offame you are engaged in Paturly you more fully informed me yourself in a conversation we had . soder ation, before I can with any propacity engage in it. I think it masary that we should the fully acquainted with the conditions of your agreement for which purpose MM Yours, now with off for your quarter and I hope you will release to give him every mentary information_ when he returns, and i have an explanation of hour of our nation , but as 9 hours
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already hint I think it advisable that you Should go then the agreement again and get the Wyraboth, and other Indreams to agree that theme may be no future discontents or unabonifico_ when this whats all be butthen it will - Then be proper for aone to get it confirmed and sour prople may then bell down on
Jam
your very hunde &
For Brand
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John Astrin, som. E.f.
JOSEPH BRANT -whose Indian name was Thavendanegea - a full-blooded Indian and a war chief of the Mohawk tribe, was born in 1742. According to Stone he was not only a distinguished war chief, but a statesman and the associate of the chivalry and nobility of England. He died November 24, 1807.
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APPENDIX.
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DEED OF CESSION, CONNECTICUT TO THE UNITED STATES.
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. "To all who shall see these presents, we, William Samuel Johnson and Jonathan Sturges, the underwritten delegates for the State of Connecticut, in the Congress of the United States, send greeting. Whereas the general assembly of the State of Connecticut, on the second Thursday of May, in the year of our Lord, 1786, passed an act in the words follow- ing, viz :
'Be it enacted by the governor, council and representa- tives in general court assembled, and by the authority of the same, that the delegates of this state, or any two of them who shall be attending the Congress of the United States, be, and they are hereby directed, authorized and fully empowered in the name and behalf of this state to make, execute and deliver under their hands and seals, an ample deed of release and cession of all the right, title, interest, jurisdiction and claim of the State of Connecticut to certain western lands, beginning at the completion of the 4Ist degree of north lati- tude, 120 miles west of the western boundary line of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, as now claimed by said com- monwealth, and from thence by a line to be drawn parallel to, and 120 miles west of the said west line of Pennsylvania, and to continue north until it comes to 42 degrees and 2 minutes north latitude, whereby all the right, title, interest, jurisdic- tion and claim of the State of Connecticut, to the lands lying west of the said line to be drawn as afore-mentioned, 120 miles west of the western boundary line of the commonwealth
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of Pennsylvania, as now claimed by said commonwealth, shall be included, released and ceded to the United States in Congress assembled, for the common use and benefit of the said States, Connecticut inclusive.' And whereas the said "' William Samuel Johnson and Jonathan Sturges, were, on the 2d Thursday of May, A. D., 1785, elected delegates to represent the State of Connecticut, according to the law of said State, in the Congress of the United States, for the term of one year from the first Monday of November, in the year 1785, which election remains in force, and the said Wil- liam Samuel Johnson and Jonathan Sturges are the lawful delegates of said State in the Congress of the United States. Now therefore, know ye, that we, the said William Samuel. Johnson and Jonathan Sturges, by virtue of the power and authority to us committed by the said act of the general assembly of Connecticut, before recited, in the name, and for, and on behalf of the said State of Connecticut, do by these presents assign, transfer, quit claim, cede and convey to the United States of America, for their benefit, Connecticut in- clusive, all the right, title, interest, jurisdiction and claim which the said State of Connecticut hath, in and to the before- mentioned and described territory or tract of country, as the same is bounded and described in the said act of assembly, for the uses in the said recited act of assembly declared.
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