Century history of Delaware County, Ohio and representative citizens 20th, Part 9

Author: Lytle, James Robert, 1841- [from old catalog] ed
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: Chicago, Biographical publishing company
Number of Pages: 926

USA > Ohio > Delaware County > Century history of Delaware County, Ohio and representative citizens 20th > Part 9

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Soon after their arrival the settlers be- gan the erection of a stockade fort, which oc- cupied their time until the winter of 1791. During the early years of the settlement, how- ever, the Indians were friendly, no hostilities being experienced. One of the pioneers de- scribes the progress of the colony during its first year as being all that could be expected. arrivals coming faster than provision could be made for them. By the close of the year 1790 eight settlements had been made within the Ohio Company's purchase, two at Belpre, one at Newbury, one at Wolf Creek, one at Duck Creek, one at the month of Meigs' Creek, one at Anderson's Bottom, and one at Big Bot- tom.

Not long after the grant of lands was made to the Ohio Company, John Cleves Symmes, of New Jersey, contracted with the Treasury Board for the purchase of a large tract of land lying between the Great and Lit- tle Miami Rivers. The terms of his purchase were similar to those of the Ohio Company. In July. 1788, he got together thirty people and eight four-horse wagons who started for the West. After meeting with Mr. Stites and a company from Redstone, Pa., they pro- ceeded, under his leadership, to the mouth of the Little Miami, where they arrived before the Ist of January, 1789, and located on a

HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY

tract of 10,000 acres which Stites had pur- chased from Symmes. This settlement, which they named Columbia and which was located about five miles above the site of Cincinnati. was the second settlement within Ohio terri- tory.

In 1788 Mathias Denman purchased of Symmes a tract of land opposite the Licking River, and, in company with Robert Patterson and John Filson, to each of whom he sold a third interest in his purchase, projected the lo- cation of a town on the present site of Cincin- nati. There is some uncertainty as to the ex- act time when a settlement was first made here. but it seems to have been late in 1788 or early in 1789. Symmes himself had contemplated building his main town at North Bend, near the mouth of the Great Miami. The fact, however, that this point, as well as Columbia, suffered severely during a great flood which occurred in 1789, while Losantiville, as Cin- cinnati was then called, escaped, had much to do with the fact that the latter soon out- stripped the others' in its growth. Ensign Luce, who had been commissioned by General Harmar to establish a fort, decided that North Bend was not a suitable location for that pur- pose, and, contrary to the wishes of Symmes, selected Losantiville. Fort Washington was thus established here. About the Ist of Janu- ary. Governor St. Clair organized the county of Hamilton and constituted Cincinnati its seat of justice. The settlement at once began an active growth, outstripping that of all the others in the Ohio Valley.

At the time Dr. Cutler secured the grant of lands for the Ohio Company, he likewise secured a large additional tract, as he him- self writes. "for private speculation, in which many of the prominent characters in America are concerned : without connecting this specu- lation, similar terms and advantages could not have been obtained for the Ohio Company." A company was at once formed known by the name of The Scioto Land Company, which contracted with Cutler and Sargent on behalf of the Ohio Company for a tract of land west and north of the Ohio Company's purchase. Joel Barlow was sent to Europe, as the agent

of the company, to make sales of the lands thus contracted for. He sold parts of the land to companies and individuals in France. It de- veloped, however, that the lands which Barlow had presumed to sell were included within the Ohio Company's purchase, and that the pur- chasers were without title. In ignorance of this fact, however, two hundred and eighteen of these purchasers sailed from Havre de Grace, in France, on the 19th day of Febru- ary. 1791, and arrived in Alexandria, D. C., on the 3rd of May following. On their ar- rival they proceeded to Marietta, where fifty of them landed. the remainder going to the present site of Gallipolis, which the agent of the campany assured them was within their purchase. Prior to their arrival General Put- nam had had the site cleared and buildings erected for their reception. As before stated. however, the lands to which alone they could lay any claim, were still farther to the West. Moreover, the Scioto Land Company, by hav- ing failed to make good the payments on its contract, forfeited its title to the land which it had purchased, thus leaving the settlers then- selves without any vestige of title. These set- tlers, unlike the hardy pioneers who came, from New England, were little accustomed to toil or to the privations of frontier life. Their condition was pitiable in the extreme and many gave up in despair, some seeking homes in the East and a few returning to France. Every effort to secure titles to the lands on which they had settled having failed, they petitioned Con- gress for assistance and in June, 1798, a grant was made to them of land on the Ohio above the mouth of the Scioto River. The tract in- cluded 24,000 acres and is known as the French Grant.

During the progress of the various cam- paigns against the Indians, conducted succes- sively by General Harmar, General St. Clair. and General Wayne, and of which some ac- count will be given later, the settlement of Ohio was interrupted to a large extent. Prior to the treaty made with the Indians by Gen- eral Wayne in 1795, however, a start had been made in several counties, in addition to those in Washington and Hamilton counties already

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mentioned. The settlement at Gallipolis has already been described. There were also small settlements in Adams, Belmont and Morgan Counties. They were block-house settlements and were in a continual state of defence. The first was settled in the winter of 1790-91 by General Nathaniel Massie, near where the town of Manchester now is. This was the first settlement within the bounds of the Vir- ginia Military District and the fourth in the State. In spite of the dangers due to the hos- tility of the Indians, it continued to grow and. in two years after peace was declared. Adams County was constituted by order of Governor St. Clair.

During the Indian war a settlement was commenced near the present town of Bridge- port in Belmont County, by Captain Joseph Belmont, a noted officer of the Revolutionary War. Shortly afterwards a fort, called Dil- lie's Fort, was built on the Ohio, opposite the mouth of Grave Creek. In 1794 a company of men located on the present site of Hamilton in Butler County. The town was first laid out under the name of Fairfield. These were about all the settlements begun prior to the close of the Indian War and they were, for the most part, of a temporary character and main- tained only at constant risk and great loss of life. With the termination of the war. how- ever, and the cessation of Indian hostility emi- gration took a new impetus, and from that time the growth of the State's population was constant and vigorous.

Early in the spring of 1796 the first set- tlement was begun in Montgomery County. The town of Dayton was laid out in Novem- ber of 1795. It was within the tract originally covered by Symmes' purchase. Judge Symmes, having been unable to pay for his purchase, the land reverted to the government and the settlers found themselves without title. Con- gress, however, came to their aid. permitting them to enter their lands at the regular gov- ernment price.

It was likewise in 1796 that the first settle- ments were made in the Western Reserve. The mouth of the Cuyahoga River had always been considered an important place in the

West and destined to become a great commer- cial mart. A corps of surveyors laid out the town of Cleveland in September, 1796. It was named in honor of General Moses Cleave- land. the agent of the land company which had made large purchases in the Western Re- serve along the Cuyahoga River. Mahoning County was settled about the same time, as were also the counties of Ashtabula, Ross, Licking, Madison, Trumbull, and Warren. In a sketch of such a limited character as this we cannot pursue the history of the individual set- tlements further. It was not long until the set- tlers had penetrated to every portion of the State, clearing the land, starting industries of various kinds. and preparing the way for the marvelous prosperity which has ever since characterized the history of the Common- wealth.

INDIAN WARS.

Ohio has had its full share of conflict with the various tribes of Indians which were the original possessors of its soil. Being the first State in the vast region northwest of the Ohio River within whose limits settlement by the English was begun, it naturally became the scene of the early struggles through which the savage tribes were subdued and the land made possible of habitation for the white man. While we have given, in tracing the deriva- tion of the title to the lands, the various Indian treaties which formed a link in that title, we have reserved for statement, here, a brief ac- count of the wars which led up to the making of these treaties, or their enforcement. With regard to the wars which took place prior to the organization of the government of the territory, we quote the concise account given in Howe's History :

"After Braddock's defeat in 1755 the In- dians pushed their excursions as far east as the Blue Ridge. In order to repel them, Major Lewis, in January, 1756, was sent with a party of troops on an expedition against the Indian towns on the Ohio. The point apparently aimed at was the upper Shawanese town, situ- ated on the Ohio, three miles above the mouth

HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY

of the Great Kanawha. The attempt proved a failure, in consequence, it is said, of the swollen state of the streams and the treachery of the guides. In 1764, General Bradstreet. having dispersed the Indian forces besieging Detroit, passed into the Wyandot country by way of Sandusky Bay. He ascended the bay and river as far as it was navigable for boats, and there made a camp. A treaty of peace was signed by the chiefs and head men. The Shawnees of the Scioto River and the Dela- wares of the Muskingum, however, still con- tinued hostile. Colonel Boquet, in 1764. with a body of troops, marched from Fort Pitt into the heart of the Ohio country on the Mus- kingum River. This expedition was con- ducted with great prudence and skill and with scarcely any loss of life. A treaty of peace was effected with the Indians, who re- stored the prisoners they had captured from the white settlements. The next war with the Indians was in 1774, generally known as Lord Dunmore's. In the summer of that year an expedition under Colonel McDonald was as- sembled at Wheeling, marched into the Mus- kingum country, and destroyed the Indian town of Wapatomica, a few miles above the site of Zanesville. In the fall the Indians were defeated after a hard-fought battle at Point Pleasant, on the Virginia side of the Ohio. Shortly after this event Lord Dunmore made peace with the Indians at Camp Charlotte, in what is now Pickaway County.

"During the Revolutionary War most of the western Indians were more or less united against the Americans. In the fall of 1778 an expedition against Detroit was projected. As a preliminary step it was resolved that the forces in the West, under General McIntosh, should move up and attack the Sandusky In- dians. Preliminary to this, Fort Laurens, so called in honor of the President of Congress. was built upon the Tuscarawas, a short dis- tance below the site of Bolivar, Tuscarawas County. The expedition to Detroit was aban- doned, and the garrison of Fort Laurens, after suffering much from the Indians and from famine, was recalled in August, 1779. . 1 month or two previous to the evacuation of

this fort Colonel Bowman headed an

expedition against the Shawnees. Their village, Chillicothe, three miles north of the site of Xenia, on the Little Mi- ami, was burned. The warriors showed an undaunted front and the whites were forced to retreat. In the summer of 1780 an expedition directed against the Indian towns in the forks of the Muskingum, moved from Wheeling under General Broadhead. This expedition. known as the 'Coshochton campaign,' was unimportant in its results. In the same sun- mer General Clark led a body of Kentuckians against the Shawnees. Chillicothe, on the Little Miami, was burnt on their approach, but at Piqua, their town on the Mad River, six miles below the site of Springfield, they gave battle to the whites and were defeated. In September, 1782, this officer led a second expedition against the Shawnees. Their

towns, Upper and Lower Piqua, on the Miami, within what is now Miami County, were de- stroyed, together with the store of a trader

"There were other expeditions into the In- dian country, which although of a later date, we mention in this connection. In 1786 Col- onel Logan conducted a successful expedition against the Mackachack towns, on the head waters of Mad River, in what is now Logan County. Edwards, in 1787, led an expedition to the head waters of the Big Miami, and, in 1788. Todd led one into the Scioto Valley. There were also minor expeditions at various times into the present limits of Ohio.

"The Moravian missionaries, prior to the war of the Revolution, had a number of mis- sionary stations within the limits of Ohio. The missionaries, Heckewelder and Post, were on the Muskingum as . early as 1762. In March, 1782, a party of Americans, under Colonel Williamson, murdered, in cold blood, ninety-four of the defenceless Moravian In- (lians, within the present limits of Tuscarawas County. In the June following, Colonel Craw- ford, at the head of about 500 men, was de- feated by the Indians three miles north of the site of Upper Sandusky, in Wyandot County. He was taken prisoner and burnt at the stake with horrible tortures."

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Although by the various treaties which we have heretofore mentioned, the English had secured title to the lands northwest of the Ohio, yet the Indians did not take kindly to the coming of the white settlers, and it was not long after their arrival that they began to show themselves hostile. That they were instigated. in some measure, by the British, cannot be doubted. Much could be traced to the malicious influence of the British superin- tendent of Indian affairs, Colonel MeKee, his assistant, Captain Elliott, and the notorious white renegade. Simon Girty. A treaty con- firming the former one made at Fort McIn- tosh, was made with the Indians at Fort Har- mar in the year 1789. It had little effect. how- ever, in staying Indian hostilities. In 1790 a company of 36 men went from Marietta to a place on the Muskingum known as Big Bot- tom. In view of the apparent unfriendliness of the Indians, the postponement of the set- tlement was advised by General Putnam and others. Moreover proper precautions were not taken against possible attacks. In an un- guarded moment these settlers were set upon by the Indians and twelve of them killed. The settlers throughout the new territory immedi- ately became alarmed and block-houses were erected for their protection. In 1789 Fort Washington was built within the present limits of Cincinnati, and a few months later General Harmar arrived with 300 men and assumed command. It was determined by Governor St. Clair and General Harmar to send an expedition against the Maumee towns and se- cure that part of the country. While St. Clair was forming his army and arranging for this campaign three expeditions were sent out against the Miami towns. One against the Miami villages, not far from Wabash, was led by General Harmar. With about fourteen hundred men, of whom less than one-fourth were regulars, he marched from Cincinnati in September, 1790. When near the Indian vil- lages an advanced detachment fell into ambush and was defeated with severe loss. General Harmar, however, succeeded in burning the Indian villages and destroying their standing corn, after which he commenced the return to

Cincinnati. Having received intelligence. however, that the Indians were returning to their ruined towns, he detached about a third of his remaining force, with orders to bring the Indians to an engagement. In the en- gagement which followed, more than one hun- dred of the militia were killed and all but nine of the regulars, the remainder being driven back to the main force. The expedition served little purpose other than to make the Indians, if anything, bolder than before. An army under Charles Scott was sent against the Wabash Indians. Nothing was accom- plished save the destruction of towns and standing corn. In July another army under Colonel Wilkinson, was sent against the Eel River Indians. It became entangled in ex- tensive morasses on the river and accomplished no more than the other expeditions which had preceded it.

ST. CLAIR'S DEFEAT.

Encouraged by the meager success of the whites in these expeditions, the chiefs of the Miamis, Shawnees and the Delawares now be- gan the formation of a confederacy among all the tribes of the northwest territory, which. they conceived, would be strong enough to expel the whites beyond the Ohio. While they were making ready. however. Governor St. Clair was engaged in the organization of a new army. He gathered together a force consisting of 2.300 regulars and 600 militia. It was his purpose to establish a chain of forts from the Ohio, by way of the Miami and Maumee Valleys, to the lakes. The plan was favored by Washington and General Knox. then secretary of war. It was said that a spirit of idleness, drunkenness and insubordination characterized the army at this time and had much to do with the defeat which followed later. On September 17. the army began its march and moved to a point on the Great Miami, where Fort Hamilton was established. the first in the chain mentioned above. The army then proceeded forty-four miles further on and erected Fort Jefferson, about six miles south of the present town of Greenville, in

HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY

Darke County. On the 24th of October it again began its march through the wilderness, marshy and boggy and infested with savage foes. By the 3rd of November a stream was reached which St. Clair supposed to be a branch of the St. Mary of the Maumee, but which in reality was a tributary of the Wabash. The point was on what is now the line between Darke and Mercer Counties. The army had been so far depleted by desertion at this time that only about 1,400 men were left. St. Clair sent the first regiment, under Major Hamtramck, to pursue the deserters and secure the advancing convoys of provisions which it was feared the deserters intended to plunder. When they halted on the banks of the stream before mentioned, it encamped in two lines and threw up some slight fortifi- cations against the Indians who were known to be in the neighborhood. On the next morning. about half an hour before sunrise, it was at- tacked furiously by the Indians. The evil ef- fects of the insubordination before mentioned and the lack of sufficient drill were now made manifest. The army was thrown into hope- less confusion. It is probable that the whole disposable force of the tribes in the North- west participated in the attack on St. Clair's army at this time. After losing about 800 men it began its retreat, which was a disgrace- ful, precipitate flight. After reaching Fort Jefferson it proceeded, by way of Fort Hamil- ton, back to Fort Washington.

This defeat was one of the worst ever suf- fered by an American army at the hands of the savage tribes, outrivaling even Braddock's de- feat in this regard. It left the entire frontier exposed to the onslaughts of the savages, who were determined now, more than ever before, to exterminate the whites entirely. Execra- tions were heaped upon St. Clair who led the army to its terrible defeat. Under a more forceful commander, perhaps the result might have been different, yet the defeat was due. not alone to the inefficiency of St. Clair, but to the general demoralization of the soldiers whose insubordination we have before men- tioned.

Plans were immediately formed for another campaign against the Indians. General Wayne, whose bravery and ability, as well as his experience during the Revolution, rendered him peculiarly well fitted for the task, was called to take command of the army which was raised. He immediately began the work of drill and organization.

Meanwhile efforts were being made by the United States to conciliate the Indians and avoid the necessity of warfare. The Iroquois were induced to visit Philadelphia, and were partially secured from the confederacy which we have before mentioned. Five independent embassies were sent among the western tribes in an effort to win them over and prevent war. All the embassadors were slain, however, ex- cept Putnam, who succeeded in reaching the Wabash Indians and effecting a treaty which was later rejected by Congress on account of its terms. A great council of the Indians, in which were represented all the tribes of the Northwest, and many others, assembled at Auglaize during the autumn of 1792, and pre- pared an address to the President wherein they agreed to abstain from hostilities until they could meet with the whites at the rapids of the Maumee in the following spring for a con- ference. The President appointed commis- sioners who, in accordance with the arrange- ment, met the representatives of the tribes at the appointed place. The Indians, however, would consent to nothing save the Ohio Riiver as the boundary of their lands. This being out of the question for the whites, the negotia- tions came to an end.

WAYNE'S CAMPAIGN AND BATTLE OF FALLEN TIMBER.

Nothing was now left save war. General Wayne, on being informed of the termination of the efforts at securing a treaty, immediately began active preparations for a campaign against the Indians. Pending the negotiations with the Indians he had been sending out scouts and spies on errands of discovery and he had his plans by this time practically ma-

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tured. All his information showed plainly that the Indians were receiving constant aid and encouragement from the British. He had spent the winter of 1793-94 at a fort which he had built on a tributary of the Great Miami, and which he called Greenville. The present town of Greenville is near the site of the fort. On the 26th of July, 1794, General Scott, with 1,600 mounted men from Kentucky, joined General Wayne at Greenville, and two days later the entire army moved forward, reaching the junction of the Auglaize and Maumee on the 8th of August, where they erected Fort Defiance. As Wayne's army moved north- ward the Indians abandoned their towns and collected their entire force, amounting to about two thousand men, near a British fort, erected in violation of the treaty of 1783, at the rapids of the Maumee. Before attacking the Indians, however, Wayne made still another attempt to conciliate them. He sent Christo- pher Miller, who had been naturalized among the Shawnees, and taken prisoner by Wayne's spies, as a messenger of peace. Miller returned with the message that if the Americans would delay for ten days the Indians would, within that time, decide the question of war or peace. Knowing the Indian character, however, Wayne determined to move forward. On the 18th of August, having marched forty-one miles from Auglaize, and being now near to the enemy, a fortification was erected which they called Fort Deposit. They remained here until the 20th, when they again took up their March. After having proceeded about five miles the foe was encountered. In striking contrast with the condition of St. Clair's army at the time it had suffered its crushing defeat, the army was now well disciplined and fully able to cope with the enemy. The conflict which ensued was one of the fiercest in the history of Indian warfare. The Indians were completely routed and many of them were slain, while the American loss was compara- tively slight. This celebrated engagement is what is familiarly known as the battle of Fal- len Timber. It was fought almost under the walls of the British fort. When the com- mander of that fort demanded an explanation

of Wayne as to why he had fought so near and in evident hostility to the British, Wayne replied, not only by telling him he had no rights in the country, but by also marching for- ward and devastating the Indian country.

While the Indians were not immediately subdued by the crushing defeat received from Wayne, yet it went a long way towards break- ing the strength of their hostility. Recogniz- ing, at length, that opposition to the encroach- ments of the whites was useless, and that their ultimate subjugation was only a matter of time, they were willing to sue for peace. They arranged to meet General Wayne in June, 1795, at Greenville and form a treaty. This plan was carried out and the Greenville treaty, which marked the close of the Indian wars in the West, was the result.

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Century history of Delaware County, Ohio and representative citizens 20th, Part 9

Author: Lytle, James Robert, 1841- [from old catalog] ed Publication date: 1908 Publisher: Chicago, Biographical publishing company Number of Pages: 926

Author: Lytle, James Robert, 1841- [from old catalog] ed
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: Chicago, Biographical publishing company
Number of Pages: 926