USA > Ohio > Biographical and historical memoirs of the early pioneer settlers of Ohio, with narratives of incidents and occurrences in 1775 > Part 36
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42
In 1777, the depredations and massacres of the savages were so frequent that the settlement at Grave creek, now consisting of several families, was broken up. It was the frontier station, and lower on the Ohio than any other above the mouth of Big Kenawha. This year the Indians made their great attack on the garrison and settlement of Wheeling. Mr. Williams, with his wife and the Tomlinsons, moved over on to the Monongahela river, above Red Stone old fort. Here he remained until the spring of the year 1783, when he returned with his wife's relations to their plantations on Grave creek. In the year 1784 he had to 31
482
ISAAC WILLIAMS.
remove again from his farm into the garrison at Wheeling. Some time in the spring of the succeeding year he had the following adventure with the Indians.
John Wetzel, a younger brother of Lewis, the noted In- dian hunter and Indian hater, (having killed above thirty of them,) then about sixteen years old, with a neighboring boy of the same age, was in search of horses that had strayed away in the woods on Wheeling creek, where the father of John resided. One of the stray animals was a mare with a young foal, belonging to John's sister ; and she had offered the colt to John as a reward for finding the mare. While on this service they were captured by four Indians, who, having come across the horses in the woods, had taken and placed them in a thicket, expecting that their bells would attract the notice of their owners, and they could then cap- ture them or take their scalps. The horse was ever a fa- vorite object of plunder with the savages, as not only facilitating their own escape from pursuit, but also assisted them in carrying off the spoils. The boys, hearing the well known tinkle of the bells, approached the spot where the Indians lay concealed, and were taken prisoners. John, in attempting to escape, was shot through the arm. On their march to the Ohio, his companion made so much lamenta- tion on account of his captivity, that the Indians killed him with the tomahawk; while John, who had once before been a prisoner, made light of it, and went along cheerfully with his wounded arm.
The party struck the Ohio river early the following morn- ing at a point near the mouth of Grave creek, just below the clearing of Mr. Tomlinson. Here they found some hogs belonging to Mr. Williams, and killing one of them with a rifle shot, put it into a canoe they had secreted when on their way out. Three of the Indians took possession of the canoe with their prisoner, while the other Indian was
483
ISAAC WILLIAMS.
occupied in swimming the horses across the river. It so happened, that Mr. Williams, with Hamilton Kerr, and Ja- cob, a Dutchman, had come down from Wheeling, the eve- ning before, to look after the stock left on the plantation, and passed the night at the deserted cabin of Tomlinson. While at the outlet of Little Grave creek, about a mile above, they heard the report of a rifle shot, in the direction of his plantation. "Dod rot 'em," exclaimed Williams, " a Kentuck boat has landed at the creek, and they are shooting my hogs." Immediately quickening their pace to a rapid trot, they, in a few minutes, were within a short distance of the creek, when they heard the loud snort of a horse. Kerr being in the prime of life, and younger than Williams, reached the mouth of the creek first. As he looked down into the stream, he saw three Indians standing in a canoe; one was in the stern, one in the bow, and one in the middle of the boat. At the feet of the latter lay four rifles and the dead hog; while the fourth Indian was swimming a horse across the Ohio, only a few rods from shore. The one in the stern was in the act of shoving the canoe from the mouth of the creek into the river. Before they were aware of his presence, Kerr shot the Indian in the stern, who fell into the water. The crack of the rifle had barely ceased, when Mr. Williams came on to the bank, and shot the Indian in the bow of the canoe, who also fell overboard; Jacob was now on the ground, and Kerr seizing his rifle, shot the remaining Indian in the waist of the boat. He fell over into the water, but still held on to the side of the canoe, with one hand. The whole process did not occupy more than a minute of time. The canoe, impelled by the impetus given to it by the Indian first shot, had reached the current of the Ohio, and was a rod or two below the mouth of the creek. Kerr had now reloaded his gun, and seeing another Indian, as he thought, laying in the bottom of the canoe, raised it
484
ISAAC WILLIAMS.
in the act of firing, when he called out, "Don't shoot, I am a white man." Kerr told him to knock loose the Indian's hand from the side of the boat, and paddle it to the shore. He said his arm was broken, and he could not. The cur- rent, however, set it near some rocks not far from land, on to which he jumped, and waded out. Kerr now aimed his rifle at the Indian on horseback, who, by this time, had reached the middle of the Ohio. The shot struck near him, splashing the water on to his naked skin. He, seeing the fate of his companions, with the bravery of an ancient Spartan, slipped from the back of the horse, and swam for the aban- doned canoe, in which were the rifles of the four Indians. This was, in fact, an act of necessity, as well as of noble daring, as he well knew he could not reach his country, without the means of killing game by the way. He also was aware, that there was little danger in the act, as his enemies could not cross the creek to molest him. He soon gained possession of the boat, crossed, with the arms, to his own side of the Ohio, mounted the captive horse, which, with the others, had swam to the Indian shore, and with a yell of defiance, escaped into the woods. The canoe was turned adrift, and taken up near Maysville, with the dead hog still in it, which had led to their discovery by the shot, and was the cause of all their misfortunes.
It has been stated that Mrs. Williams, before her mar- riage, acted as housekeeper for her brothers several years; in consideration of which service, Joseph and Samuel made an entry of four hundred acres of land on the Virginia shore of the Ohio river, in that broad, rich bottom, directly opposite to the mouth of the Muskingum river, for their sister; girdling the trees on four acres of land, fencing, and planting it with corn, and building a cabin, in the spring of the year 1773. They spent the summer on the spot, occu- pying their time with hunting during the growth of the crop.
485
ISAAC WILLIAMS.
In this time they had exhausted their small stock of salt and bread-stuff, and lived for two or three months on the boiled meat of turkeys, which then filled the woods, and was used without salt. So accustomed had Samuel become to eating his food without this condiment, that it was some time before he could again relish the taste of it; a fact that has often been verified in others under similar circum- stances; showing that the use of salt is acquired by habit. The following winter the two brothers hunted on the Great Kenawha, where bears and beavers greatly abounded. Some time in March, 1774, they arrived at the mouth of the river on their return, and were detained some days by a remark- ably high freshet in the Ohio river, which, from certain fixed marks on Wheeling creek, is supposed to have been fully equal to that of February, 1832. This year was long known among the borderers as that of Dunmore's war; serving as a date for domestic events, and noted for Indian depredations.
The land entered thus early for Mrs. Williams still re- mains in the possession of her descendants, but was for many years contested, in law, by other more recent claim- ants, like all the Virginia western lands; causing great ex- pense and anxiety to the rightful owners.
The renewed and oft-repeated inroads of the Indians, led Mr. Williams to turn his attention toward a more safe and quiet home than that at Grave creek. Fort Harmer, at the mouth of the Muskingum, having been erected in 1786, and garrisoned by United States troops, he decided on occupying the land belonging to his wife, which embraced a large share of rich alluvions, and was in sight of the fort. The piece opened by the Tomlinsons, in 1773, had grown over with young saplings, but could be easily reclaimed. He visited the spot, and put up a log-cabin in the winter, and
486
ISAAC WILLIAMS.
moved his family thither the 26th of March, 1787, being the year before the arrival of the Ohio Company.
Soon after the removal to his forest domain, his wife gave birth to a daughter; and was the only issue by this marriage. He was now fifty-two years old, so that she might be called the child of his old age. She was named Drusilla; and married Mr. John Henderson; but died when about twenty years old, leaving no children.
Soon after the associates of the Ohio Company had set- tled at Marietta, a very friendly intercourse was kept up between them and Mr. Williams; and as he had now turned his attention more to farming than hunting, he was pleased to see the new openings made in the forest, and the wilder- ness changing into the home of civilized man. From the destructive effect of an untimely frost in September, 1789, the crops of corn were greatly damaged; and where late planted, entirely ruined.
In the spring and summer of 1790, the inhabitants in the new settlements of the Ohio Company, began to suffer from the want of food, especially wholesome bread-stuffs. Many families, especially at Belpre, had no other meal than that made from moldy corn; and were sometimes destitute even of this, several days in succession. This moldy corn com- manded the price of a dollar and a-half, and even two dol- lars a bushel. When ground in their hand-mills, and made into bread, few stomachs were able to digest, or retain it, more than a few minutes. The writer of this article, has often heard Charles Devol, Esq., then a small boy, relate, with much feeling, his gastronomic trials with this moldy meal made into sap-porridge; which, when made of sweet corn meal, and the fresh saccharine juice of the maple, was both a nourishing and a savory dish. The family, then liv- ing at Belpre, had been without food for two days, when his
.
487
ISAAC WILLIAMS.
father returned from Marietta, just at evening, with a scanty supply of moldy corn. The hand-mill was immediately put in operation, and the meal cooked into sap-porridge, as it was then the season of sugar-making. The famished children swallowed eagerly the unsavory mess, which was almost as instantly rejected; reminding us of the deadly pottage of the children of the prophet; but lacking the heal- ing power of an Elijah to render it salutary and nutritious. Disappointed of expected relief, the poor children went sup- perless to bed, to dream of savory food and plenteous meals, not realized in their waking hours.
It was during this period of want, that Isaac Williams dis- played his benevolent feelings for the suffering colonists. From the circumstance of his being in the country earlier, he had more ground cleared, and had raised a large crop of several hundred bushels of good, sound corn. This he now distributed amongst the inhabitants at the low rate of fifty cents a bushel, when at the same time he had been of- fered, and urged to take, a dollar and twenty-five cents for his whole crop, by speculators ; for man has ever been dis- posed to take advantage of the distresses of his fellows. " Dod rot 'em," said the honest hunter, "I would not let them have a bushel." He not only parted with his corn at this cheap rate, the common price in plentiful years, but he also prudently apportioned the number of bushels to the number of individuals in a family. An empty purse was no bar to the needy applicant, but his wants were equally supplied with those who had money, and a credit given un- til more favorable seasons should enable him to discharge the debt.
Capt. Devol, hearing of Mr. William's corn, and the low rate at which he sold it, made a trip to Marietta, directly af- ter the adventure, with the sap-porridge," to procure some of it. The journey was made by land, and in the night,
1
488
ISAAC WILLIAMS.
traveling on the ridges adjacent to the river, as the stream was so swollen by the spring flood, as to prevent the ascent by water in a canoe. He chose to come in the night, on account of danger from the Indians; and the intrepidity of the man, may be estimated, from his traveling this dis- tance, twelve or fourteen miles, alone. He reached Fort Harmer at daylight; and Maj. Doughty, after giving him a warm breakfast, directed two soldiers to set him across the Ohio, in the garrison boat. Mr. Williams treated him with much kindness; and after supplying him with corn, also furnished him with his only canoe, in which to trans- port it to his home. Capt. Devol was unwilling to take it; but he urged it upon him, saying he could soon make an- other. In after years, when Capt. Devol owned a fine farm and mill on the Muskingum river, Mr. Williams used often to visit him, and pass a night or two at his house, which was the temple of hospitality, in the most social and pleasant manner, talking of the trials and sufferings of bygone days.
He retained a relish for hunting to his latest years; and whenever a little unwell, forsaking his comfortable home, would take his rifle, and favorite old dog "Cap," accompa- nied by one of his black servants, retire to the woods, and encamping by some clear stream, remain there drinking the pure water, and eating such food as his rifle procured, until his health was restored. Medicine he never took, except such simples as the forest afforded. The untrodden wilder- ness was to him full of charms; and before the close of the Revolutionary war, he had hunted over a large portion of the valley of the Ohio, sometimes with a companion, but oftener alone, leaving his favorite Rebecca to oversee and take charge of the little plantation, which was never very extensive, until he moved to his new home, opposite the mouth of the Muskingum.
From his sedate manners and quiet habits, the trapping
489
ISAAC WILLIAMS.
of the beaver was a favorite pursuit; and after he was seventy years old, if he heard of the signs of one being seen within fifty miles of his home, would mount his horse with his traps, and not return until he had caught it. This was a great art amongst the hunters of the west, and he who was the most successful in this mystery, was accounted a fortunate man. The proceeds of a few months hunt often realizing three or four hundred dollars to the trapper. He stood high in this branch of the hunter's vocation, and no man could catch more beavers than himself; being eminently qualified for this pursuit, both by disposition and by prac- tice. He was a close observer of nature; taciturn in his manners, and cautious in his movements; never in a hurry, or disturbed by an unexpected occurrence. In many re- spects he was an exact portrait of Cooper's beau ideal of a master hunter, so finely portrayed in the Pioneer, and other backwoods legends.
During the Indian war, from 1791 to 1795, he remained unmolested in his cabin, a view of which is seen in the sketch of Fort Harmer, on the opposite shore of the Ohio, protected, in some measure, by the vicinity of that fort, as well as by the stockade around his dwellings, which shel- tered several families besides his own.
ยท He seldom spoke of his own exploits, and when related, they generally came from the lips of his companions. There was only one situation in which he could be induced to relax his natural reserve, and freely narrate the romantic and hazardous adventures that had befallen him in his hunt- ing and war excursions; and that was when encamped by the evening fire, in some remote spot, after the toils of the day were closed, and the supper of venison and bear meat ended. Here, while reclining on a bed of fresh autumnal leaves, beneath the lofty branches of the forest, with no listeners but the stars and his companion, the spirit of
490
ISAAC WILLIAMS.
narration would come upon him, and for hours he would re- hearse the details of his youthful and hazardous adventures by forest, flood, and field. In such situations, surrounded by the works of God, his body and his mind felt a freedom that the hut and the clearing could not give. In this man- ner the late Alexander Henderson, a man of refined taste, and cultivated manners, has said that he passed some of the most interesting hours of his life, when hunting with Mr. Williams on the head waters of the Little Kenawha.
In person, he was of the middle size, with an upright frame, and muscular limbs ; features firm, and strongly marked; a mild expression of countenance, and taciturn, quiet manners. In his youth he does not appear to have been addicted to the rude sports and rough plays so con- genial to most of the early borderers, but preferred social converse, and an interchange of good offices with his fel- lows. Although he lived at a time and in a situation where he was deprived of all opportunity for religious instruction, yet he appears to have had an intuitive dread of all vicious words or actions. The writer distinctly recollects hearing him reprove a keel-boatman, a class of men whose language was intermingled with oaths, in the most severe manner, for his profanity, as he passed the boat where the man was at work. Like Isaac and Rebecca of old, this modern Isaac and Rebecca were given to good deeds; and many a poor, sick, abandoned boatman, has been nursed and restored to health beneath their humble roof. So intimately con- nected are their names with the early settlers of the Ohio Company, that they deserve to go down to posterity to- gether. Many years before his death, he liberated all his slaves, six or eight in number, and by his will left valuable tokens of his love and good feeling for the oppressed and despised African.
.
Full of days and good deeds, and strong in the faith of a
F
H.P. Gengembre Lith.
Print. by Onken, Cincinnti.
THE MANSION OF BLENNERHASSETT.
491
HARMAN BLENNERHASSETT.
blessed immortality, Mr. Williams resigned his spirit to Him who gave it, the 25th of September, 1820, aged eighty- four years, and was buried in a beautiful grove, on his own plantation, surrounded by the trees he so dearly loved when living.
HARMAN BLENNERHASSETT AND MRS. MARGARET BLENNER- HASSETT .*
HARMAN BLENNERHASSETT, Esq., was a descendant of a noble family of Ireland, in the county of Cork. He was born in Hampshire, England, in the year 1767, while his parents were there on a visit. The family residence was Castle Conway, in the county of Kerry, to which they shortly after returned, He was educated with great care, and when a boy attended the Westminster school, celebrated for its classical excellence, completing his studies at Trinity College, Dublin, whose honors he shared in company with his relative, the celebrated T. A. Emmitt. They read law together at the King's Inn Courts, Dublin; were admitted to the bar on the same day in the year 1790, and between
* These celebrated individuals, although not attached to the Ohio Company settlers, yet came into the territory so early as to be ranked among its pioneers. They fill so large and interesting a space in the history of this region, and did so much for the pecuniary benefit of the country of their adoption, that they deserve a place amongst the settlers of Washington county.
492
HARMAN BLENNERHASSETT.
them existed ever after the warmest friendship. Having spent some time in traveling in France and the Netherlands, he returned and practiced at the bar in Ireland. Expecting, however, to fall heir to a large estate in a few years, he made but little effort to excel in the law, rather cultivating his taste for the sciences, music, and general literature.
At the death of his father, in 1796, he became possessed of a handsome fortune; but on account of the troubles in Ireland, in which he became politically involved, he sold the estate to his cousin, Lord Ventry, and went to England, where he soon after married Miss Agnew, daughter of the lieutenant-governor of the Isle of Man, and granddaughter of Gen. Agnew, who fell at the battle of Germantown. Lord Kingsale, and Admiral De Courcey, of the navy, both married sisters of Mr. Blennerhassett; who, expressing rather freely his republican principles, in opposition to his relations, finally concluded to visit the United States, and make that country his future home, where he could utter his sentiments, and enjoy the benefits of freedom, undisturbed by spies or informers.
Before sailing for America, he visited London and pur- chased a large library of classical and scientific books, with a philosophical apparatus, embracing various branches, and arrived in New York in 1797. By the aid of his letters, wealth, and his own personal and literary merit, he became acquainted with some of the first families in the city .* Amongst others of his newly acquired friends, was Mr. Jo- seph S. Lewis, a rich merchant of Philadelphia, who became his business agent, and for many years his firm friend. Mr. Blennerhassett named his youngest son Joseph Lewis, in token of his regard for him. He was finally a considerable loser by this connection, and after Mr. Blennerhassett's
* See Whig Review, 1844. Article by Mr. Wallace.
493
HARMAN BLENNERHASSETT.
failure, and the destruction of his house and property, became the owner of the island.
His stay in New York was of only a few months' contin- uance; when, hearing of the rich valleys and beautiful country on the Ohio river, he crossed the mountains, and after spending a few weeks in Pittsburg, took passage for Marietta, in the fall of the year 1797. Here he passed the winter, examining the vicinity of that place for a spot on which to make his permanent residence. He finally decided on purchasing a plantation on an island in the Ohio river, fourteen miles below the mouth of the Muskingum, within the jurisdiction of the state of Virginia. The situation was wild, romantic, and beautiful; and as it was chiefly in a state of nature, a few acres only being cleared, he could reclaim it from the forest, adorn and cultivate it to his own taste. Its location also gave him the privilege of holding colored servants as his own property, which he could not do in the Northwest Territory. The island was, moreover, near the settlement of Belpre, composed chiefly of very intelli- gent and well-educated men, disbanded officers of the American army, whose society would at any time relieve him of ennui. The island itself was a picture of beauty, as well as all of its kind, at that early day, before the hand of man had marred its shores. The drooping branches of the willow laved their graceful foliage in the water, while the more lofty sycamore and elm, with their giant arms, protected them from the rude blasts of the storm, and gave a grandeur and dignity to these primitive landscapes, now only to be seen in the remoter regions of the west.
The island at present known as "Blennerhassett's," was then called "Backus's," who had owned it since 1792. It is said to have been located by Gen. Washington, as he owned a large tract of land immediately below, called " Washington's bottom," entered by him in the year 1770.
494
HARMAN BLENNERHASSETT.
It was first surveyed in May, 1784, on a land warrant, issued in 1780, and a patent made out by Patrick Henry, governor of Virginia, in 1786, to Alexander Nelson, of Richmond, Va .; who was a member of a mercantile firm in Philadelphia. By a bill in chancery, of the High Court of Virginia, pro- cured by Mr. Blennerhassett, to perfect his title, it appears that Elijah Backus, of Norwich, Conn., bought of James Her- ron, of Norfolk, Va., in the year 1792, two islands in the Ohio river; the principal one being the first below the mouth of the Little Kenawha, then in the county of Monongalia, containing two hundred and ninety-seven acres, for the sum of two hundred and fifty pounds, Virginia currency, or about eight hundred and eighty-three dollars and thirty-three cents. This island is of a very peculiar form, narrow in the middle, and broad at both extremities.
In March, 1798, Mr. Blennerhassett purchased the upper portion, containing about one hundred and seventy acres, for the sum of four thousand, five hundred dollars, and soon after moved, with his wife and one child, on to his new pur- chase, living in a large old block-house, standing about half a mile below the upper end of the island, built in the time of the Indian war, by Capt. James. Here he resided while conducting the improvements near the upper end of the island, and building his island mansion, which was com- pleted in 1800. A good deal of labor and heavy expense was necessary in preparing the ground for his buildings and the gardens. It was covered, at this spot, with forest trees, which had to be removed, and stumps eradicated, so as to leave a smooth, level surface, with extensive landings up and down the banks on both sides of the river, for conveni- ent access to and from the island. Boats of various sizes were also to be procured, and a company of eight or ten black servants purchased, as waiters, grooms, watermen, &c. His outlays, when the improvements were completed,
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.