USA > Ohio > Allen County > A standard history of Allen county, Ohio : an authentic narrative of the past, with particular attention to the modern era in the commercial, industrial, educational, civic and social development > Part 13
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The diplomatic warfare waged by these untutored aborigine chiefs would have reflected credit upon the statesmanship of an enlightened people. They clung to every vital principle affecting their interests with the same desperate tenancity with which they had fought their last battle at Fallen Timbers.
Colonel Hamtramck's correspondence shows that there were almost daily calls from the Indians at Fort Wayne. On March 5th we read : "A number of Pottawattomie Indians arrived here from Huron River, Michigan. * * * I informed them that I was not the first chief, and invited them to go to Greenville; to which they replied that it was a very long journey, but from the great desire they had to see The Wind (for they called you so) they would go. I asked them for an explana- tion of your name. They told me that on the 20th August last you were exactly like a whirlwind which drives and tears everything before it."
General Wayne was most diplomatic in all his intercourse with the chiefs who called upon him. Almost worshipping bravery the Indians had a wholesome respect for him. On the Ist of January, 1795, he
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sent a message to the petitioning Wyandots at Sandusky that the chiefs of various other tribes would soon visit him at Greenville in the interests of peace, and inviting them to join the others. The Delawares visited Fort Defiance and exchanged a number of prisoners. As word reached General Wayne of the great number of Indian chiefs who were on their way to visit him, a large council house was constructed at Greenville for the deliberations. A great quantity of clothing and other useful articles were obtained for presents, and bountiful supplies were accumu- lated for the feeding and entertainment of large numbers. The chiefs began to arrive the first of June. Each day brought new additions and the general council was opened on June 16th with a goodly attendance. In all more than 1,000 chiefs and sachems gathered together. The tribes represented were the Delawares, Wyandots, Pottawattomies, Shaw- nees, Chippewas, Miami, Eel River, Weas, Piankeshaws, Kickapoos, and Kaskaskias. Half a dozen interpreters were kept busy during the fifty days that the council lasted. The chiefs complained much of the bad faith of the citizens of the "fifteen fires"-so-called because fifteen guns were always fired as a salute, one for each state of the Union.
After smoking the Calumet of Peace, an oath of accuracy and fidelity was administered to the interpreters. The flow of oratory was intermin- able. A large number of belts and strings of wampum were passed by the various tribes during the deliberations. Some of these contained a thousand or more beads of wampum. As many of these beads repre- sent a day's work each, their value to the aborigines was very great. The Indians continued to arrive during all the month of June and even later. Little Turtle was one of the slowest to enter into the spirit of the meeting, but he gradually became one of its warmest participators, making many addresses. On the 7th of August, 1795, the famous Treaty of Greenville was entered into between General Anthony Wayne and the sachems and war chiefs of the participating nations. The boundary lines established by the treaty were as follows: The general boundary line "between the lands of the United States and the lands of the said Indian tribes, shall begin at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River, and run thence up the same, to the portage between that and the Tuscarawas branch of the Muskingum; thence down that branch to the crossing place, above Fort Lawrence (Laurens) ; thence westerly, to a fork of that branch of the Great Miami River running into the Ohio, at or near which fork stood Loramie's store and where commences the portage between the Miami of the Ohio, and St. Mary's River, which is a branch of the Miami, which runs into Lake Erie; thence a westerly course to Fort Recovery, which stands on a branch of the Wabash; thence, south- westerly in a direct line of the Ohio, so as to intersect that river, oppo- site the mouth of the Kentucke, or Cuttawa river." In order to facili- tate intercourse between the whites and Indians, the tribes ceded to the United States several tracts of land, one tract "twelve miles square, at the British fort on the Miami of the Lake, at the foot of the Rapids." This reached down into the heart of the present city of Toledo. Among
. the tracts reserved was "one piece six miles square at the confluence of the Auglaize and Miami rivers." This is now included within the pres- ent city of Defiance.
And the said Indian tribes will allow to the people of the United States a free passage, by land and by water, as one and the other shall be found to be convenient, through their county, along the chain of posts hereinbefore mentioned ; that is to say, from commencement of the port- age aforesaid, at or near Loramie's store, thence along said portage to the St. Mary's, and down the same to Fort Wayne, and thence down the
AntyWayne Wayne
Tar Ke (se Crane)
William Jour
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Payer tah.
SIGNATURES TO THE GREENVILLE TREATY
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Miami to Lake Erie; again, from the commencement of the portage, at or near Loramie's store along the portage, from thence to the river Auglaize, and down the same to its junction with the Miami, at Fort Defiance; again, from the commencement of the portage aforesaid, to Sandusky river, and down the same to Sandusky bay and Lake Erie, and from Sandusky to the post which shall be taken at or near the foot of the rapids of the Miami of the Lake; and from thence to Detroit. And the said Indian tribes will also show to the people of the United States the free use of the harbors and mouths of the rivers, along the lake adjoining the Indian lands, for sheltering vessels and boats, and liberty to land their cargoes where necessary for their safety."
So pleased were the Indians with their treatment by General Wayne that each of the more prominent chiefs desired to have the last word with him. Budk-on-ge-he-las, the great war chief of the Delawares, seemed to voice the sentiments of all when he said :
"Your children all well understand the sense of the Treaty which is now concluded. We experience daily proofs of your increasing kind- ness. I hope we may all have sense enough to enjoy our dawning happi- ness. Many of your people are yet among us. I trust they will be immediately restored. Last winter our king (Te-ta-boksh-he) came forward to you with two (captives) and when he returned with your speech to us, we immediately prepared to come forward with the remain- der, which we delivered at Fort Defiance. All who know me, know me to be a man and a warrior, and I now declare that I will for the future be as trne and steady a friend to the United States as I have heretofore been an active enemy. We have one bad man among us who, a few days ago, stole three of your horses; two of them shall this day be returned to you, and I hope I shall be able to prevent that young man from doing any more mischief to our Father of the Fifteen Fires."
General Wayne did not long survive to enjoy the great reputation earned by him during his famous campaign and equally famous treaty. One of his last acts was to receive, as representing the United States authority, Fort Miami early in 1796, when the British authorities sur- rendered their northern posts in pursuance of a treaty negotiated by Chief Justice Jay. On his passage down Lake Erie he was seized with a violent attack of the gout and died at Fort Presque Isle on the 15th of December, 1796, in the fifty-first year of his age.
The numbers of the Indians present at the Greenville Treaty are given as follows: Wyandots, 180; Delawares, 381; Shawnees, 143; Ottawas, 45; Chippewas, 46; Pottawattomies, 240; Miamis and Eel Riv- ers, 73; Weas and Piankeshaws, 12; Kickapoos and Kaskaskies, 10. The sworn interpreters were Isaac Zane, Abraham Williams, Cabot Wilson, Jacques Lasselle, Christopher Miller, M. Morans, Bt Sans Crainte and William Wells.
The most noted chiefs of this western country participated in the council at Greenville. At the head of the list of Indian signatures, and directly under that of General Wayne, appears that of Tarhe or The Crane, head chief of the Wyandots, the guardians of the Calumet. He was the greatest chief of the Wyandots within historic times. His wis- dom in council, as well as his bravery in war, gave him great influence among all the neighboring tribes. He seems to have reached the position of head chief of this nation after the death of Half King, who disap- pears from history not long after the disastrous Crawford expedition. His humanity was ever marked. In 1790 he saved Peggy Fleming from a band of Cherokee Indians at Lower Sandusky and he is credited with saving a white boy from burning at the same place. He was wounded
Vol. I-6
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HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY
in the Battle of Fallen Timbers and shortly afterwards General Wayne addressed a letter to "Tarhe, and all other Sachems and Chiefs of San- dusky" in which he promises to erect a fortification "at the foot of the rapids at Sandusky" for their protection against the Indian allies of the British.
Of Tarhe, General Harrison wrote: "I knew Tarhe well. My acquaintance with him commenced at the treaty of Greenville, in 1795. His tribe was under my supervision in 1810. All the business I trans- acted with it was through him. I have often said I never knew a better man. *
* * Tarhe was not only the Grand Sachem of his tribe, but the acknowledged head of all the tribes who were engaged in the war with the United States, which was terminated by the treaty of Greenville; and in that character the duplicate of the original treaty,
LITTLE TURTLE
engrossed on parchment, was committed to his custody, as had been the Grand Calumet, which was the symbol of peace. Tarhe had accompanied him throughout his entire Canadian campaign, for he was a bitter oppo- nent of Tecumseh's war policy. He was far in advance of most of his fellows. He was cool, deliberate and firm. He was tall and well pro- portioned, and made a fine appearance. He was affable and courteous as well as kind and affectionate. It is said that all who knew him, whether white or red, deeply venerated the character of the old chief. His attainments seem to have been as a great counselor and wise sachem rather than as a warrior. This surrounded him with a peculiar dignity. Chief Crane died at the Indian village of Crane Town, near Upper Sandusky, in November, 1818, being at that time seventy-six years of age."
The Indian figure which stands out most prominently on the canvas of Northwestern Ohio is Little Turtle, chief of the Miamis. We have seen that his home for a time was along the old Bean Creek, now Tiffin River. This name was not given the chief because of his stature, for he was nearly six feet in height. As a warrior the Little Turtle was
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bold, sagacious and resourceful, and he was not only respected by his people, but their feeling almost approached veneration. When fully convinced that all resistance to the encroaching whites was in vain, Little Turtle brought his nation to consent to peace and to adopt agricultural pursuits. Few indeed are the Indian leaders who accomplished so much abolishing the rite of human sacrifice among their people. He became very popular and highly esteemed by the whites, among whom he was known as a man whose word could be depended upon. Furthermore, he was endowed with unusual wit, enjoyed good company, and was still fonder of good eating. During the presidency of Washington he vis- ited that great man at the capitol, and during his whole life thereafter spoke of the pleasure which, that visit afforded him.
Col. John Johnson speaks of the Little Turtle in the highest terms. He was, says he, "A companionable Indian-Little Turtle was a man of great wit, humor and vivacity, fond of the company of gentlemen, and delighted in good eating. When I knew him he had two wives living with him under the same roof in the greatest harmony; one, an old woman about his own age-fifty-the choice of his youth, who per- formed the drudgery of the house; the other a young and beautiful crea- ture of eighteen who was his favorite; yet it was never discovered by anyone that the least feeling existed between them. The Little Turtle used to entertain us with many of his war adventures." Thirty years after the Treaty of Greenville he died at Fort Wayne, of the gout ( !) which would seem a marvelous fact, did we not remember that the Turtle was a high liver, and a gentleman; equally remarkable was it that his body was borne to the grave with military honors by enlisted troops of his great enemy-the white man. The muffled drum, the funeral salute, announced that a great soldier had fallen, and even enemies paid their mournful tribute to his memory."
CHAPTER VIII
OHIO BECOMES A STATE
The tide of immigration into the territory northwest of the Ohio began with the settlement of Marietta in 1788. After the effects of the Treaty of Greenville began to be felt the stream of immigration increased each year. Prior to this the only white men in the country were strag- gling groups of traders, trappers and hunters-men who were a law unto themselves and set about driving out the Indians. Their dress differed but little from that of the Indian. Boone and Kenton were. men of this type as was Gen. Duncan McArthur, who afterwards became governor of Ohio.
The later immigrants were people of a different type. They were men and women who had been used to civilization. They were attracted by the opportunity to secure cheap lands and better their fortunes. New Englanders settled at Marietta and vicinity. Virginians flocked to the Scioto region. New Jerseyites betook themselves to the Miami country, while people from Connecticut and New York sought the Western Reserve. Northwestern Ohio was still considered Indian country and so avoided by these earlier immigrants, except in isolated instances. Although there was dross among these settlers, the great majority were sturdy men and brave women well worthy to become the founders of a great state.
By the close of 1796, the year following the famous Wayne treaty, it was estimated that the number of white people dwelling within the present limits of the State of Ohio was about five thousand. Most of these were located along the Ohio River and its tributaries, and within fifty miles of that stream. When the Maumee country was first organized in that year, it was made a part of Wayne County, which included all of Mich- igan, as well as a part of Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin. It also extended east to the Cuyahoga River. Detroit was the place for holding court. The original Wayne County-for it must be remembered that the outlines of this division were changed several times-was divided into four townships, of which this basin was in the one named Hamtramck.
Under the provisions of the Ordinance of 1787, a population of "five thousand free male inhabitants of full age" entitled the territory to rep- resentative government. Accordingly Governor St. Clair issued a procla- mation calling for an election in December, 1798, for representatives to the Territorial Legislature, as it was estimated that the population of the entire territory then fulfilled that requirement. It was necessary for a voter to be a freeholder of fifty acres. The man who could not meet this requirement in that day did not deserve the ballot and could not complain of this requirement. The first election in Wayne County was held at Detroit and one or two other places on the first Monday of December, according to the proclamation. The three men elected were Solomon Sibley, Jacob Visgar, and Charles F. Chabert de Joncaire, all from Detroit and vicinity.
The first Territorial Legislature convened at Cincinnati on Septem- ber 16, 1799, and at once selected ten names of citizens who were sent to the President of the United States from whom he was to nominate a legislative council, or senate, for the territory, to be composed of five members. This was the inauguration of representative government in
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the Northwest Territory, and it made Cincinnati the capital of an empire reaching from the Ohio to the Mississippi, and as large as modern Texas.
Cincinnati was then but a straggling and unprepossessing village. It was surrounded by the dense forests of the Miami country. In 1805 it only numbered 960 inhabitants. There were then 53 log cabins, 109 frame, 6 brick and 4 stone houses. Fort Washington was the most substantial building and was still occupied by troops. The moral and social condition was not of the highest type when the assembly convened there. The armies of St. Clair and Wayne had left a military flotsam and jetsam which was neither helpful to the community nor elevating to the morals of the village. "The average soldier was wedded more to the bottle, dicebox and cards than to his arms, drills or discipline." The men elected to the assembly, however, were generally men of high char- acter and acknowledged ability.
The lower house consisted of twenty-two members of whom seven
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MICHIGAN
MICHIGAN
LAKE
DETROIT
LAKE ERIE
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INDIANA
KNOX
COUNTY
HAMILTON COUNTY
WASHINGTON COUNTY
MAP OF WAYNE COUNTY ORGANIZED 1796.
came from the old French settlements of Illinois, Michigan and Indiana. Northwestern Ohio had a single delegate. The Senate, as finally chosen, consisted of Jacob Burnett and James Findlay of Hamilton, Robert Oliver of Washington, David Vance of Jefferson, and Henry Vander- bery of Knox counties. The members of the Legislature were compelled to carry their provisions and blankets, camp at night, swim their horses across streams, and penetrate the gloomy forests guided only by blazed trees and compass. The only roads were bridle paths or Indian trails. Prior to this time Governor St. Clair and three associate judges had exercised all the executive, legislative and judicial powers under the Ordinance of 1787. The Governor not only was commander-in-chief of the military forces, but he appointed all the magistrates and civil officers, and he was the chief executive in the enforcement of law.
William Henry Harrison was selected by the Legislature as the first delegate to Congress from the vast territory northwest of the Ohio River. He received twelve votes in joint ballot of the two houses, on October 3, 1799, while Arthur St. Clair, Jr., son of the Governor, received ten votes. He at once proceeded to Philadelphia and took his seat in Congress, which was in session in that city. No single event of this period of western
CANADA
NE
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history had so far reaching and so beneficial an influence in the future welfare of Ohio as this choice. Harrison at this time was only twenty- six years of age, but he had already established an enviable name for him- self in the army. He instituted measures for the benefit of this territory without delay, and succeeded in opening up lands in small tracts of sections and half sections, which quickly brought thousands of hardy and industrious farmers across the Alleghenies. This far-seeing policy gives him claim to rank among our great statesmen.
The difficulties attending the organization and administration of gov- ernment for so vast a territory were immediately recognized. A com- mittee in Congress reported that there had been but one setting of a court having jurisdiction over crimes, in five years; and the immunity which offenders experienced had attracted to it the vilest and most abandoned criminals, and likewise had deterred useful citizens from making settle-
MICHIGAN
LAKE
HURON
LAKE
CANADA
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1796
JEFFERSON COUNTY
Y FT LAUDERL
KNOX COUNTY
HAMILTON COUNTY
ROSS COUNT
COUNTY
CHILLICOTHEINGTON
VINCENNES
ADAMS COUNTY
LOUI
ren
WASH
OHIO COUNTIES 1799.
ments therein. Lawyers from Cincinnati were compelled to attend court in Detroit. Five or six of them usually traveled together on horseback and took along a pack horse to carry their provisions and personal effects. There were no bridges so that each horse was a tried swimmer. The journey took from eight to ten days through the wilderness. Judge Burnett of Cincinnati in describing a journey wrote as follows: "On the outward journey they took the route by Dayton, Piqua, Loramie, St. Marys, and the Ottawa town on the Auglaize, and thence down this river to Defiance, thence down the Maumee to the foot of the rapids, and thence to and across the River Raisin to Detroit. On their return they crossed the Maumee at Roche de Boeuf by the advice of Black Beard who lived in that neighborhood and with whom the party breakfasted. As a matter of precaution they hired his son to accompany them in the capacity of guide. He led them through a succession of wet prairies over some of which it was impossible to ride, and it was with great difficulty they were able to lead or drive their horses through the deep mud which surrounded them on all sides."
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In an effort to better the situation all that part of the Northwest Territory lying to the westward of a line beginning at the Ohio River, opposite to the mouth of the Kentucky River and then running north to Fort Recovery and then to Lake Huron was eliminated from this terri- tory and created into the Territory of Indiana. By this ordinance Wayne County was reduced to about one-half of its original size. The first post road between Cincinnati and Detroit was established in 1801. For a couple of years, however, on the north end of this route there was not a single postoffice, so that the mail was carried as a military or semi- military express as formerly. It was in 1801 that the first capital building for Ohio was built at Chillicothe, which city had been designated by Congress as the seat of government. This first capitol was of hewn logs, two stories in height and 24 by 36 feet in dimensions. Its grand feature was fifteen glass windows, each containing a dozen small panes of glass, which was indeed a degree of splendor for that day. At the first session
CLEVELAND
WARREN
TRUMBULL & COUNTY 1800- WESTERN RESERVE
WAYNE 1796
RESERVATION
TREATY LINE
JEFFERSON
ESTEVOENVILLE
1797.
ST CLAIRSVILLE
FAIRFIELD (1800.
LANCASTER
1790.
ROSS 1798.
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WASHINGTON
1788.000
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CLEOMONT
.
DATAVIA
ADAMS 1799
MANCHESTER
OHIO COUNTIES 1802.
of the second general assembly held there, Wayne County was again represented wholly by delegates from Detroit.
From the very beginning almost the Governor and Legislature clashed. St. Clair held that he alone had the authority to create new counties and locate county seats, and in this attitude he ran counter to the pet projects of some of the members. So many persons both in and without the assembly, were engaged in laying out county seats that a great rankling ensued. It was the clash of autocracy and democracy. By the time of the second session of the Legislature the contest had reached a white heat. To the arbitrary methods of Governor St. Clair was due the inaug- uration of proceedings to have Ohio admitted as a state. Failing in their efforts to prevent the appointment of the governor, Edward Tiffin, Thomas Worthington, and several others set on foot the movement which finally displaced the disliked governor. These men were adher- ents of the party of Jefferson, who came into office at this opportune time. Edward Tiffin, a physician by profession, stood head and shoul- ders above all the others. Each party used every possible means to fur- ther its interests, but Tiffin took the lead in the assaults upon the Gov- ernor, and the latter found him a foeman worthy his steel. President
BELMONT 1801.
HAMILTON
INDIAN
FIRE LANDS
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Jefferson was anxious for more republican states, and welcomed the opportunity to create another. Congress approved the proposition and, although there had never been a vote of the people to be affected, that body passed an enabling act in April, 1802, thus ending a five years struggle for statehood. There were at that time seven counties in the entire state. The census of 1800 gave the territory a population of 45,028, of whom 3,206 lived in Wayne County, but Wayne lay mostly in what is now Michigan. The majority of these lived in the several French settlements within this county.
On the fourth of March, 1802, a convention of representatives was called to frame a constitution for the proposed State of Ohio. No assembly in any commonwealth ever approached and performed its work with a greater realization of its responsibilities than did this one. In its ranks were men who afterwards rose to the highest distinction. An exceedingly democratic constitution was finally agreed upon and signed with commendable promptness, the entire session continuing but twenty- five days. Ohio was admitted into the galaxy of states on the 19th of February, 1803, being the seventeenth state in numerical order. In reality it was the first actual addition to the original colonies. Vermont (1791) had been cut off from New York, while Kentucky (1792) and Tennessee (1796) had been carved from territory claimed by Virginia. Ohio was admitted by virtue of her rights under the Ordinance of 1787. The first election was held on January 11th, and the premier Legislature under the constitution convened at Chillicothe, on the first Tuesday of March, 1805. Edward Tiffin was elected the first governor without oppo- sition.
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