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 26
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In 1831, when local government was first established in Allen County, there was an agreement entered into by the Shawnees that they would immediately quit the country. It was in accordance with the treaty made at the rapids of the Maumee in 1817, and while the Shawnee long ago became a vanishing quantity, the war whoop and feathers no longer in evidence in Allen County, the story of how he was deprived of his happy hunting grounds by the invading forces of civilization, will always strike a sympathetic chord; there was always poetry in the movement of the Indian, and when pageants are enacted the children of civilization always stand ready to deck themselves in buckskins and feathers.
A writer of the period relates that when the Shawnees were about to leave Allen County for the reservations, there were tribal religious cere- monies, dances and other weird amusements; the hunting grounds and the graves of their fathers were dear to them, and there was an unusual spectacle enacted in the wilderness days of Allen County history. It was a sad ceremony as they carefully removed all traces of the resting places of their dead by leveling the sward above each lowly mound, all this under the surveillance of government representatives hurrying them on to the reservations. With a blast from the trumpet of their appointed leader, the Shawnees started on their journey through an uninhabited forest, and through the open prairies encountering the successive changes and going so far that they felt it would be ages before they were again molested by the whites, in the onward march of civilization.
When the procession of the Shawnees moved from Allen County, their high priest was in front like the leader of the Israelites of old, bear- ing the Ark of Covenant consisting of a large gourd and the leg bone of a deer tied about his neck and leading the way; while they had entered into an agreement to evacuate the territory, when. it came to pulling up stakes and leaving their familiar haunts it was a serious matter. A Welshman relates that when the parent stock of the Welsh community located in Allen County, camping on the banks of Pike Run, the broad land was an unbroken, swampy wilderness inhabited by the stillness of the ages and broken only by the war whoop of the Indians, and the howl of the wild beasts of the forest. This same Welshman who wielded the pen of a ready writer, adds : "Allen County was once the hunting ground of the Wyandottes, Ottawas, Delawares and Shawnees who roamed
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through the dense forest in absolute freedom; while in 1817, they had disposed of their land it was not until 1832 they were transported to the reservations west of the Mississippi."
Platform speakers have charged deportation as the crime of the war countries recently, and it does not require any undue stretch of the imagination to gain some conception of the injustice perpetrated upon the American Indians. The migration of the Shawnees-the most pow- erful tribe in Allen County-began in August and from that date the white settlers rapidly filled up the country. David Robb and D. M. Workman, the government agents who came to dispossess the Shaw- nees, were unrelenting and forced them to leave the country. For a few years there were red men and white men in the Allen County wilder- ness together-savagery and civilization clinging to the same landmarks in local history.
It is said that of all the Shawnees in Allen County, Pht ( Pe-Aitch-Ta) was the most widely known and honored-that he was a natural leader among the tribes in Western Ohio. The biggest shortage in the world
PHT'S CABIN IN SHAWNEE
today is leadership, and Pht was a potent sachem in the councils of his friends. Through his influence the Shawnee Council House was built in 1831, and after withstanding the ravages of half a century it was destroyed, and here the warriors met and plotted together when the mat- ter of deportation was pressing hard upon them. With the government reservations in prospect, and the hunting grounds of their fathers in retrospect, the Shawnees were in need of a meeting place where they might discuss the outlook together. The spirit of Pht could not bow to the mandates of the United States Government, and while his people were facing the reservations this intrepid leader crossed the River of Death into the Hunting Grounds of the Great Spirit. It broke his heart when he knew he must leave the haunts of his youth; his rude coffin was made from puncheons, and all his valuables were buried with him.
Pht was a leader in tribal difficulties, and the world has always wel- comed men with initiative. However, after a long illness superinduced from the dread of the future, he was buried in the garden near his cabin, the grave being made for him by his wife and daughter. Before quitting the country they leveled the mound in order to conceal his rest-
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ing place. While the name of Pht will not soon perish from earth, in the morning of this second century of local history the Allen County citizen is unable to locate the spot-the grave of the last chieftain of the Shawnees. While for a few years the white settlers had lived in peace with the Shawnees, Pht was sagacious and recognized in their increasing numbers the final overthrow of the tribal government. He had seen the end from the beginning, and a sensitive nature always suf- fers from such things. The settlers looked upon the Shawnee chieftain with admiration-they regarded him as a man who would have dis- tinguished himself in any community and in any nationality.
The warriors of the tribes had always gathered at the domicile of Pht, the Council House not always a reality-and finally they had met with him there, and there was dignity in their deliberations when plotting against the encroachments of civilization. Shawneetown was an Indian village on the site of the Allen County Children's home in Shawnee, and the Council House is well remembered by many Allen County citizens of today. In 1880, it was in the line of a destructive storm. The Indian significance of the name Pe-Aitch-Ta seemed prophetic-Falling Tree very aptly describing this stalwart Shawnee, as he reached the end of his earthly journey. In the poem describing the burial of Moses is the line: "The angels of God upturned the sod, and laid the dead man there," but in the case of this leader that sad office was performed by his wife and daughter.
While Pht was the recognized leader, Quilna was the business man of the Shawnees. His name was a household word among the settlers. His home was open to them and in emergencies he would supply them with pottage. When they needed corn they could get it from Quilna. However, he was always recognized as a crafty Indian. One day a settler named Breese bargained a hog to Quilna in exchange for a deer. It was to be a doe-young and fat, and when Quilna finally killed it he hung it up in the woods; he left it there until putrefaction began, and when the settler objected to the carcass, Quilna pretended not to under- stand it. He argued the question, saying: "He fat." Breese admitted it. Quilna said : "He doe," and the settler agreed with him. "He young," was Quilna's next defense, when Breese cleared up matters by saying : "Yes, I'll admit all that you say, but I do not want the deer; it does not smell good; it is spoiled," and when the situation finally dawned upon Quilna, he replied : "Ah, me know-he too dead," and there was no bar- gain between them. While venison was a wilderness luxury, and culinary delicacy, the settler had sanitary standards the Indians knew nothing about, and Quilna lost out in the deal with Breese, because cleanliness was not next thing to godliness with him.
Quilna was always friendly with the boys among the settlers. They would accompany him on hunting trips, and he would always take care of them. He was called the pathfinder of the Shawnees. He often served as guide for settlers, and for travelers through the wilderness country. The emissaries of the British Government were not without their influence among the Shawnees when they were facing the reserva- tions. Unfortunately, the government agents showed them no mercy and they were in need of sympathy. It was a memorable epoch, and each tribe had different methods of expressing themselves. While some surrendered in despair to the inevitable, others plunged into dissipation and in dispossessing them, the government agents resorted to various subterfuges. While the squaws always performed the labor, they were assured that President Andrew Jackson would make them rich in a new and better country, where they would be free from toil and privations.
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The reservations were described to the Shawnees as consisting of 100,000 acres of unbroken forest with wild animals unmolested; they could feast on buffalo, elk, deer and other game, and thus they were buoyed up for what awaited them-the loss of their possessions in Allen County. It is said the influence brought to bear upon the unsuspecting Shawnees was winked at by the United States Government. While deer were plentiful in Allen County, the Shawnees had exchanged venison for salt with the settlers, and they had been inspired with a degree of con- fidence in the white man's story. Their acquaintance with the Indian traders had been satisfactory, and when they were deported Peter Loramie and Anthony Madore-two Frenchmen established among the Shawnees-went with them to the reservations. Francis Deuchoquette, who was a French interpreter, and who is said to have been the first white man in the vicinity of Fort Amanda after it was abandoned as a garri- son, incurred the displeasure of the government agents because of his friendly interest in the Shawnees. He knew the Indian tongue and
COUNCIL HOUSE OF SHAWNEES-HOG CREEK TRIBE
volunteered his services in their favor. The Indian Commissioner, Gardner, repulsed him, and he started to Washington in the interest of the Shawnees.
The white settlers also remembered Deuchoquette because of his inter- est in them. He died en route to Washington where he hoped to secure justice for the Indians, and was buried by the wayside amid the lamenta- tions of the Shawnees accompanying him. An old account says he died at Cumberland, Maryland, in 1831 (while en route to Washington). C. C. Marshall, an early mail service man, said of him: "In 1831, I became acquainted with Francis Deuchoquette, the old Frenchman who had lived a long time among the Shawnees. Beside his interest in the tribe, he interceded for the lives of Knight, Crawford and others." Deuchoquette Township in Auglaize County bears the name of this Frenchman, who manifested so much interest in the Shawnees.
When the settlers were locating in Allen County, the government representatives sent to remove the Shawnees told them the white men would pasture their lands, and there would always be trouble, while if
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they went to the reservations there would never be any more difficulties. The English Government always had the Shawnees and other tribes in suspense, assuring them that in time they would retrieve their lost terri- tory. Finally, the trumpet sounded three times, and they began their journey of 800 miles to the nearest reservation. Their alliances with the British had stirred up bitter hatred, and they were a most unhappy peo- ple as they wended their way toward the land of the setting sun. In later years a group of homesick Shawnee squaws visited Allen County, but when they witnessed the changes they were content to go again.
INDIANS INCREASING IN NUMBERS
The Society of the American Indians held its 1920 annual meeting in St. Louis. The City of Chicago is the home of about 100 full-blood American Indians, with many tribes represented among them. The writer was priviliged to attend one of their meetings in January, 1920, when buffalo sandwiches were served to guests. The Indians appeared in costume, and engaged in the war dances of their fathers. Many tribes were represented, and there were reservation Indians at the meeting. Some of them were touring the country in vaudeville, and were in Chi- cago for the meeting. The American Indians in Chicago are organized as a branch of the Chicago Historical Society, the secretary of which appeared in costume. Many people have been interested as collectors of Indian costumes. The program at the meeting was given by the reserva- tion Indians. The decorations were limbs from the trees in the forest, and a wigwam is a permanent feature. A white child was christened with the Indian sacrament, and the customs of the past were revived again. The educated American Indians are opposed to the present bureau system, and they are urging that their affairs be placed under the laws of the different states containing the reservations. They are interested in agriculture and in live stock production, and they desire to manage their own business without supervision or governmental restrictions. In this Chicago meeting, the Indians seemed refined and intelligent in their understanding of governmental things.
WHO'S WHO IN ALLEN COUNTY
In Virginia-the Old Dominion, great emphasis is placed upon the first family idea-the first families of Virginia, but since 1848, the site of the first settlers in Allen County has been in Auglaize County. The blockhouse at Fort Amanda lay idle after it ceased to be a military post late in 1814, until three years later when settlers began locating in the ter- ritory. The settlers in the vicinity of Fort Amanda were from Dayton. Strange as it may seem, the first settlers of Allen County are now credited to Auglaize County. It is urged by some that Francis Deucho- quette never lived in the area once within the bounds of Allen County. Again the statement is made that he was the first white' man located in Allen County. In 1817, Peter Diltz came from Dayton and occupied one of the blockhouses in the palisade at Fort Amanda. However, he did not become a permanent citizen.
It is little wonder that the settlers chose the vicinity of Fort Amanda. It is rich in historic interest, and there is no spot in Allen or any sur- rounding county with background so varied with both war and romance. Fort Amanda has the honor of being first in many things; great human interest attaches to the use of the word first; who is not thrilled at the first cry of the new-born babe; the first tottering steps of the child; the
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HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY
first short trousers on the boy ; the first long skirts on the girl; the first day at school; the first consciousness of strength; the first blush of beauty ; the dawn of love; the first earnings of labor; the accumulation of capital; the first sermon, client or patient; the first battle, the first sorrow -- in short, the opening incidents in every life produce a thrill distinctively their own, and mayhap out of proportion to that belonging to a thousand greater things, but finally men and women everywhere unite in saying :
"There are gains for all our losses, There is balm for all our pain, But when from youth the dream departs, It takes something from our hearts, And it never comes again."
-- Stoddard.
The best an historian can do is to approach accuracy, and while there are sins of commission they cannot be worse than the sins of omission in writing history. It is the mission of the true historian in Allen County as well as in the rest of the world, to delve into the great past in an effort to unravel the tangled threads in the history of all the yesterdays. History is well defined as the record of transactions between different people at different periods of time, and some one has said that not to know what happened before one was born is to remain always a child. It is said by another : "The roots of the present lie deep in the past, and the past is not dead to him who would know how the present comes to be what it is," and most people of today are interested in the firelight stories of other days, when told by men and women of preceding genera- tions-stories heard at mother's knee-the traditions handed down from father to son, and time was in Allen County when "word of mouth" had greater significance than it has today.
It seems that the military occupation of Fort Amanda was in 1812, and that the abandoned garrison afforded shelter for the first Allen County settlers. While Peter Diltz was only temporarily located at Fort Amanda, he remained long enough to construct some cabin homes in the community.
THE DAUGHTER OF ALLEN COUNTY
Andrew Russell, who is reputed to have opened the first farm in Allen County, arrived at Fort Amanda in the spring of 1817 from Day- ton. He also found shelter in the blockhouse there. On July 13, 1817, occurred the birth of a daughter whose name-Susannah Russell-will live in history, the Daughter of Allen County. In 1828, Russell died at Fort Amanda. On September 20, 1817, a son was born to the first resi- dent of Fort Amanda, Peter Diltz. He was christened Francis Diltz. In 1821, the Diltz family returned to Dayton. While Susannah Russell is recognized as the first white child born within the limits of Allen County the site of her birth is now in Auglaize County. She became the wife of C. C. Marshall, a goverment service man carrying United States mail between Piqua and Fort Defiance; she died in 1871, at the age of fifty- four years, in Delphos. William Van Ausdall was another Dayton man to locate about that time at Fort Amanda.
CENTENNIAL LOG CABIN IN LIMA PUBLIC SQUARE
In commemoration of the treaty made with the Shawnees at the Rapids of the Maumee which resulted finally in their evacuation of Allen County, and of the first settlement in 1817 at Fort Amanda, a log cabin
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HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY
was constructed 100 years later in the Lima public square, as a monu- ment to the civilization of the past in Allen County. This unique monu- ment was an object of much attention from Lima visitors. On Labor Day, 1917, it was placed on trucks and removed to a permanent place in Lincoln Park where it stands as a voice from the past in Allen County history. The logs were donated by public spirited citizens, the moving spirit in its erection being Dr. George Hall. While this cabin was in the Lima puble square all visitors saw it, and visitors today hear its history from their friends-a tribute to the citizenship of long ago.
Within the bounds of the Allen County of today are some who are descended from the settlers at Fort Amanda, although it was several years before there were white people in what is now Allen County. The great English premier, Disraeli, once said: "Youth is a blunder ; man- hood a struggle ; old age a regret," and with that thought uppermost, it matters little about who came first in any community. Births, marriages
. PRIDE
OF
FLOUR
LIMA
SHARM HEATFLOUR
IN THE LIMA PUBLIC SQUARE, 1917-NOW IN LINCOLN PARK
and deaths make up the sum of living, and while a woman always remem- bers dates by the births of her children, the law of association governing her in such things-unless the barn is burned, or some dreadful fatality overtakes the family, a man seldom remembers anything about it.
IN THE WAKE OF JOHNNY APPLESEED
It is popularly understood that John Chapman, known to posterity as "Johnny Appleseed," was in Northwestern Ohio prior to the building of Fort Amanda, and a paragraph in the souvenir program when the monu- ment was unveiled, reads: "Three-quarters of a mile north from the monument on the William Bice farm until recent years, was an interest- ing relic of early days. It was an apple tree which probably grew from seed planted by 'Johnny Appleseed,' that strange pioneer character who wandered about strewing apple seed wherever he found fertile soil." John Chapman was born in 1775 in Boston, and died in 1845 in Fort Wayne.
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HISTORY OF ALLEN COUNTY
In his Allen County reminiscences, S. C. Mccullough says that when in 1835 he visited the Sunderland farm in Amanda Township, some trees were pointed out to him that were planted by John Chapman, an old man who traversed the Auglaize and Ottawa rivers, seeking alluvial soil in which to plant orchards. Mr. Mccullough writes: "That he was here about 1812 is manifested in the number, variety and age of the trees which sprung from the seeds planted by him along Wayne's trace," and the story goes that he visited cider mills in Pennsylvania for his sup- ply of seeds. Whenever he located loam along a stream, he would clear a spot and plant his apple seeds there. When settlers took up the land, he would come again and bargain with them about the trees.
"Johnny Appleseed" was an eccentric character; when he entered a house he would always recline on the floor ; he would ask if the family desired some news direct from heaven. He was often barefoot because he was improvident, depending largly upon the generosity of the settlers for clothing. He thought it was wrong to kill wild animals for food, and he was always kindly treated by the Indians. One time a traveling evangelist inquired about the barefoot Christian going through the North- west Territory to heaven, when the object of the inquiry-John Chap- man, lying on a pile of timber with his feet in the air, answered: "Here he is," and it seems the whole countryside knew the man, and was familiar with his eccentricities. Since the man who plants a tree is regarded as a benefactor, John Chapman must have entered into his reward; there is no doubt but what this eccentric character paid his respects to Allen County.
SOME 1920 CITIZENS OF ALLEN COUNTY
It is a significant fact that in the 1920 edition of Who's Who in America, there are 1,731 Ohio names, since Ohio has produced some of the great men of the nation, the statement does not provoke question. Only men and women who have accomplished things worth while are listed in Who's Who in America, and ambitious, designing persons can- not buy space in the publication. However, the "density of genius" does not always indicate the place of one's birth, and some Allen County prod- ucts may be listed from other parts of the world. In the Allen County section are just three names: John Davison, educator; James H. Half- hill, lawyer, and B. F. Welty, congressman. While the list is corrected from year to year-members of Congress always being given, perhaps fewer persons are familiar with Who's Who than will read the names in The Centennial History of Allen County.
CHAPTER XVII
WHEN ALLEN BECAME AN ORGANIZED COUNTY
While the Shawnees were an ambitious tribe, and the Council House was ahead of the courthouse in Allen County, after June 6, 1831, all busi- ness was transacted within its own limits, and in time there was com- plete county organization. For eleven years Allen had been associated in a business way with Mercer County. Indeed, Amanda Township was organized under authority granted in Mercer County.
In the United States, many of the states are divided into townships of perhaps five, six, seven or ten miles square, and the inhabitants of such townships are invested with certain powers for regulating their own affairs, such as repairing roads and providing for the poor ; the township is subordinate to the county.
When Amanda became an organized township in 1830, through the action of Mercer County officials, there were thirteen electors and twelve of them were at the meeting. Samuel Washburn and Allen Martin were the local representatives present. Samuel Washburn was of the Fort Amanda community. A scout traveling through Allen County then did not mention many settlers. Samuel Baxter located in Amanda Town- ship in 1828, and he was active in establishing local government. He had two sons: Curtis and Smith. While this pioneer resident died in 1832, the wife-Mrs. Keziah Creaman Baxter-survived him by twenty years.
When the Baxters located in Amanda, they found half a dozen fam- ilies: Carr, Miller, Harter, Sunderland, Kephart, Harris, Washburn, and some of these names are still heard in the community. Other early families were: Adams, Berryman, Burnfield, Crozier, Clawson, Durham, Hearst, Hire, Hoak, Heland, Johnson, Baber, Moorman, Post, Russell, Tone, Sutton, Bice, Stewart, Vance, Whetstone, Winans and Woollery. After the cycle of a century, it is natural that the names of the pioneers should appear on tombstones rather than in directories. The 1920 census shows 1,078 residents of Amanda Township.
While Southworth and Conant are neighborhood centers there was once an Amanda and a Hartford, and they speak of a Tawa as an Indian center, without locating it definitely. When Amanda was platted in 1832, its promotors were ambitious that it should become the seat of gov- ernment in Allen County. Today Amanda relies upon its agriculture.
A WORD OF EXPLANATION
In the pages of this Centennial History, the purpose is to write every- thing in terms of Allen County. While the townships and towns will pass in review, "I am the vine and ye are the branches," is the relation sustained between Allen County and its integral parts, the air and the water being the same in the different communities. The trees, the streams and the wild life of the forest know nothing of boundaries, and yet in a general way everything is given locality. There is so much repetition in the description of the different townships in detail, and space is used otherwise in these pages.
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