Commemorative historical and biographical record of Wood County, Ohio : its past and present : early settlement and development biographies and portraits of early settlers and representative citizens, etc. V. 1, Part 6

Author: Leeson, M. A. (Michael A.) cn; J.H. Beers & Co. cn
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 1060

USA > Ohio > Wood County > Commemorative historical and biographical record of Wood County, Ohio : its past and present : early settlement and development biographies and portraits of early settlers and representative citizens, etc. V. 1 > Part 6

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That was a unique sort of government those first settlers had. The governor was the execu- tive branch; the three judges the judicial, and the governor and judges together, the legislative. They adopted from the statutes of the different States, subject to the approval of Congress, such laws as were deemed necessary to their condi- tion. These were mostly derived from Pennsyl- vania, Virginia and Massachusetts. This gov- ernment, in the scope of its legislative authority, greatly resembled the municipal corporations of to-day. The judiciary had more extended powers-original, appellate and final-but as they confined themselves closely to the well- established precedents of the older States, the pio- neers, too busy to indulge in law, the luxury of more wealthy societies, had little cause of com- plaint in that direction.

Gov. St. Clair issued a proclamation establish- ing and defining the limits of Washington county, the first county of the Northwest Territory, and the oldest, of course, in Ohio. `In extent of territory that county was a vast one. It took in all eastern Ohio, from the point where the boundary line of Pennsylvania crosses the Ohio

river, west by south, following the river, to the mouth of the Scioto, thence thirty miles north of Columbus, then east to a point on the Tuscara- was river, then north to Lake Erie, where Cleve- land now is. If a man living on the shore of Lake Erie had wished to have a deed recorded, or procure a marriage license, he would have to go to Marietta, the county seat, on the Ohio. There were no mail routes to send letters by, nor roads either, for that matter. But it was una- voidable, for people were scarce and territory abundant. In the fall of the same year (1788), a settlement was started near where Cincinnati now is, in what is known as the Symmes Purchase. Judge. Symmes and his chief associates in the colony enterprise, were Jerseymen, and this set- tlement was composed largely of people from New Jersey, mingled with others from various parts. As the settlements grew and prospered, others took courage to make a beginning. In the winter of 1790-91 Gen. Nathaniel Massie located a colony of Virginians on the river, above Symmes Colony, at Manchester (now Adams county), which was in the tract reserved and known as the Virginia Military Tract. Great inducements were offered by Massie, and this settlement soon had a permanent foothold.

There were now three centers of settlement on the Ohio river, besides the "Seven Range" settlement, next to Pennsylvania, and a pretty fair start had been made for future growth. In these three, or we may say four central settle- ments, were four almost distinct types of civiliza- tion which then began to exert their influence on the future of the land occupied. Most prominent were the two leading colonies, one from Virginia, the other from Massachusetts; the first, descend- ants of the proud Cavaliers, and their aristocratic associates back to Sir Walter Raleigh; the other the descendants of the Puritans, whose faith, devotion and religious zeal had made them, for freedom's sake, content to live on the bleak, rocky shores of New England. To-day we find, in a degree, the impress and characteristics of those early settlers in the Scioto valley, about Chillicothe; in the valley of the Muskingum around Zanesville, between the two Miamis, north to Hamilton, Dayton and Troy, and in the cos- mopolitan, but energetic, inhabitants of the seven ranges. And if we anticipate dates a little, and go over to the south shore of Lake Erie, where the Connecticut Reserve is dotted over with towns and settlements, churches and schools of the enterprising thrifty New Englanders, we shall find the characteristics of their late homes still more strongly impressed there.

WOOD COUNTY, OHIO.

We have passed now, in chronological order, to the third year, 1791, in the life of the new Territorial Government; its settlements have expanded; the original one, at Marietta, had multiplied into eight minor cummunities.

But while this extension north of the Ohio was going on gradually, portentous clouds had been gathering. The powerful tribes of Indians to the northwest, whose fine hunting grounds the whites were approaching, had been showing much uneasiness. They hovered about the settlements, and regarded the whites with restless, jealous looks and menacing gestures. The aspect was too threatening to longer admit of doubt. They claimed they had been cheated in the purchase; that some tribe, or tribes, got better bargains than others; they wanted a new treaty; they wanted to sell over again.

Fourth Treaty .- To meet this disaffection a meeting of the tribes was called, at Ft. Harmar, opposite Marietta, January 9, 1789, and, as usual, the Iroquois were on hand to sell again; also the Delawares, Chippewas, Ottawas, Wyan- dots, Sauks and Pottawatamies were there, though it is noticeable that the Shawanees were not present. A new peace talk was had, pres- ents made, and the former treaty at Ft. McIntosh confirmed with the assent of all present. This was the fourth Indian treaty the United States had made. It was hoped this would end the dissatisfaction, but it did not. There were some implacable chiefs, with bad advisers, who claimed the treaty had been made without anthority, and further that the whites had no right north of the Ohio. With all this effort of the government to pacify the savages, it was still evident that there was trouble coming. Those Indians who came about the settlements were sullen and uncommunicative, and their actions were so significant that the old border men knew what it meant, and took the precaution to put the forts and block-houses in a state of security from surprise. This state of suspense was ended one winter night, in 1791, when fourteen settlers were found, inhumanly butchered, at a place called Big Bottom, on the Muskingum. One of the murderers was a Mohawk warrior, so it was known that the Iroquois were mixed in the massacre.

The whites then saw they were in for a war, and hurried to their forts for safety. Gen. Harmar, who had conducted the last treaty, took his regulars and such volunteer troops as were at hand, and marched to the head of the Maumee, where the Miami villages were. Here he was outgeneraled and defeated; showing that he had

become too old to successfully make either peace or war. This victory gave the Indians great encouragement, and there was, of course, no use trying to treat with them. Gov. St. Clair now took the field and, as soon as he had an army organized, led his column in the direction of the Maumee Country, whither the Indians were re- treating in force. Much hope was centered in that army. The whole frontier-the nation- was looking for St. Clair to strike a blow that would humble the savages. But it was not to be so. Soon the messengers from the wilderness, northward, brought the startling news of an over- whelming, appalling disaster to St. Clair's army. One morning at daylight, near the line of Darke and Mercer counties, at what has since been Ft. Recovery, the Indians, under the lead of Blue Jacket and Little Turtle, made a savage attack, in which they cut the American army to pieces. inflicting a loss of six hundred men, and taking all its baggage and cannon. The wounded and prisoners were treated with unexampled barbarity. Even the mouths of the dead were filled with earth, as if in derision of the whites' desire for more land.

The Indians were now "insolent with triumph," and demanded that the whites must go south of the Ohio. All efforts to make peace on any other basis failed. All immigration had ceased north of the Ohio, in fact on either side, and the settlers were cooped up in forts and block-houses. Many felt doubts as to what the final result would be. Even the government authorities seemed, for the moment, paralyzed. The settlers were clamorous for vigorous measures and a war of extermination. Four treaties had been made with the savages, and yet peace seemed further off than at any time since the New Government had come into power. Gen. Washington, who was now President, sent an army associate of his, Gen. Anthony Wayne, the . Mad Anthony" of the Revolution, west to organize a new army. Wayne was a man of audacious courage, yet prudent and skillful in generalship. He was rough and sententious in speech, and. with his well-known reckless fighting record, was just such a man as would draw about him the best class of border fighters.

When at last, in the spring of 1794. he turned the head of his column in the direction of the dreaded Maumee Country, the prayers of the Nation followed him. Night and day the sav- ages hung on his flanks, laid ambuscades and planned surprises for " Mad Anthony " and his gallant followers; but this time they were the only ones who met with surprises. At last, in the sul-

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WOOD COUNTY, OHIO.

try days of August, the suspense was broken by the arrival of a messenger at Ft. Washington, on the Ohio, that Wayne had met and overwhelmed the combined tribes, in battle, on the banks of the Maumee, under the very guns of the British Fort Miami; and later, that he had destroyed every shanty, wigwam, cornfeld, and truck patch, from the source of the Maumee to the lake, and built and garrisoned Forts Defiance and Wayne. A glad shout went up, and bene- dictions and thanks followed from the whole peo- ple. The border settlers were fairly mad with joy. " Mad Anthony " had overccine the ague, the swamps, the British and Indians.

This battle, known in history, as " Wayne's Battle," or battle of the "Fallen Timbers," be- cause of the down timber from the effects of a re- cent tornado, began on the north side of the river, about three miles above Maumee, near a sharp hill, known as Presque Isle hill, and ended just below Maumee, at Ft. Miami. In the language of the missionary, J. B. Finley, this was "the last united effort of barbarism to check the swell- ing tide of civilization." Like many other de- cisive battles, the importance of this one is not to be measured so much by the numbers killed as by the results, or the vital issues involved and de- cided. While the tribes lost heavily in this bat- tle, the Wyandot nation losing eleven chiefs, this was not its most decisive feature. Gen. Wayne, in his campaign and fight. had demon- strated to the tribes that a white chief had come among them whom they could not surprise or whip, and fully impressed the savages with the hollowness of the promises of the lying, hypocrit- ical British agents and traders, " that their Great Father, the King of England, would help the In- dians when the time of need came." The war- riors in their flight, to escape from Wayne's vic- torious soldiers, had seen the King's officers skulk into the fort like ground hogs, and close the gates against the Indians, while the Americans contin- ued the slaughter, even under the very muzzles of the British cannon. [This was a critical junc- ture. The relations of England and the United States had been on a strain for some time. Ft. Miami with its British garrison was on American soil, and while Gen. Wayne, at the time was act- ing under very guarded instructions from Presi- dent Washington, there was no doubt that had the English officers shown the least disposition to shelter or protect the savages on that day, that Wayne would have stormed the fort. He was an impetuous, fiery man in battle, and this the English knew, and doubtless the officers in com- mand, in the fort, had a wholesome respect for

him. It was well it was so, for had the flame of war been started there, it might, at that time. have led to serious complications. No doubt President Washington had more anxiety on this point than he had as to the outcome of Wayne's campaign against the Indians. ]

Again Wayne had destroyed all their corn- fields and truck patches, and all manner of shel- ter for winter protection. The pinching hunger and cold could not be quieted with British prom- ises. All these things were arguments that ap- pealed stronger to the savages than the logic of words. It is recorded, too, that the superstitious Indians got an idea that Gen. Wayne was a great medicine man, as well as a warrior, and that through some charm, or conjury, he was endowed with supernatural power that made him invinci- ble in war. They thought the British were afraid of him, or they would have turned their cannon upon him when they saw his men destroy- ing the shanties and out-buildings about the fort. It had, too, in some way, become impressed upon them that Wayne loved to drink firewater, fight, kill and destroy, and that he was only held in check, from day to day, by the commands of his Great Father at Washington. All these stories were afloat years afterward; but this much is known certainly of Indian character, and it is true to a great extent among whites, too, that an Indian has great respect for a fellow who he knows can whip him.

Fifth Treaty .- In the summer of 1795 the Indians assembled at Ft. Greenville, in what is now Darke county, and after many talks and speeches, and where, in skillful diplomacy, Gen. Wayne found a pretty good match in some of the unlettered chieftains, a treaty, which is famous in history as the Greenville Treaty, was signed by twelve tribes, as follows: Delawares, Wyandots. Ottawas, Pottawatamies, Chippewas, Miamis. Piankashaws, Eel Rivers, Weeas, Kickapoos. Shawnees and Kaskaskias. The boundary lines. as defined by this treaty, are best illustrated. so far as Ohio is affected, by the accompanying map, but are nearly the same as those made at Ft. McIntosh, beginning at the mouth of the Cuyahoga; thence up that river to the present north line of Tuscarawas county; thence west. by a little south, to the southwest corner of Mer- cer county, and thence south to the Ohio. All north and west of this line was given over to the savages, under certain conditions, except sixteen blocks, or reservations, and connecting roadways. reserved by the United States. Of these blocks six were on the Manmee river and its tributaries: one at Fort Wayne; one at Defiance; one on i

WOOD COUNTY, OHIO.

the Auglaize; and one at the mouth of the Mau- mee river, each six miles square; one on the St. Mary's, two miles square; and one at the Maumee Rapids, twelve miles square. There were also reservations at Sandusky, Fremont, Detroit, Chicago, Mackinaw and other points. The one at the Rapids of the Maumee, of about 92, 160 acres of land, was about half on the south, or Wood county, side of the river, and was the first land to which the gov- ernment acquired unencumbered title in what is now Wood county. Further, the Indians stipulated that in case they sold all, or any por- tion, of this land. they would sell to no one except the United States, and that no one should

come among them to trade unless such person had a license from the United States. This clause shut out the mischievous English agents and traders. This treaty, the fifth one the United States had made for the same territory with the Indians, annulled any other treaty that conflicted with its stipulations. Thus virtually closed the Indian war, which had desolated the Pennsyl- vania and Virginia border, and, latterly, the land between the Ohio and Lake Erie, more or less, for over forty years, and in which more than five thousand whites had been murdered or taken captive. This does not include the loss in war, or the various military expeditions and skir- mishes.

CHAPTER V.

THE GREENVILLE TREATY-OPENS THE FLOOD-GATES OF IMMIGRATION-BRITISH EVACUATE ALL FORTS IN THE UNITED STATES TERRITORY, INCLUDING FT. MIAMI-WAYNE COUNTY ORGAN- IZED, 1796, WITH DETROIT AS COUNTY SEAT -- WOOD A PART OF WAYNE --- OHIO ADMITTED AS A STATE, 1803.

B Y the Treaty of Fort Greenville, negotiated in 1795, about two-thirds of what is now Ohio was freed from the ownership of the Indians, and the remaining northwestern portion, as well as all the rest of the Northwest Territory, was consigned, indefinitely, to the rule of the savages. But if the outlook was gloomy for the Maumee Country, there was glad sunshine and joy along the Ohio. For four years immigration had been at a standstill, and painful anxiety had reigned in the little settlements, where the inhabitants were shut up in the block-houses, or ventured forth in peril of the tomahawk and knife. The report of Wayne's treaty came like a streak of light in a cloudy sky to them -- a joyful messenger of glad tidings. Peace opened the gates of the forts and started the flow of immigration anew. Virginia again sent her best families into the rich lands between the Miami and the Scioto, and soon the settlements had advanced to Chillicothe, which now became the center of a large population, and later the temporary capital of the North- west. The Jerseymen of Symmes' Purchase had advanced far up the valley of the beautiful Mi-

settlements up the Muskingum and spreading out all over the Ohio Purchase, while the Pennsyl- vanians were sending some strong settlements into the Seven Range Country, adjoining the Keystone State. This was not all. Far up north, on the shore of Lake Erie, next to Pent- sylvania, came another invasion of New England- ers, like the advance guard of a strong army corps. They were from Connecticut, looking up their fine possessions in the Western Reserve. They came across "York State" to the lake at points since known as Buffalo, Erie, Black Rock. Lockport, etc., and came down the lake in boats. The first installment, under the direction of Gen. Moses Cleveland, landed at the mouth of Con- neaut creek. July 4, 1796, and began to lay the foundations of that grand civilization which has, in later years, distinguished the Western Reserve. In September and October the surveying corps had advanced to the Cuyahoga, the Indian bor- der line, and laid out the city of Cleveland; and from that time on the settlement was pushed with New England vigor and perseverance.

In this same year (1796), under the provisions ami. The New Englanders were pushing their , of what is called the Jay Treaty, between the

WOOD COUNTY, OHIO.

U'rited States and England, the latter surrendered up all the posts she had been unjustly holding in United States territory, and, among the rest, Detroit. Gen. Wayne was sent out to take pos- session and garrison the forts. There was quite a settlement at Detroit and vicinity, and at the mouth of the river, largely French, and so Gov. St. Clair proclaimed a new county and named it Wayne, in honor of the old hero, "Mad An- thony." Wayne was the sixth county in the Northwest Territory, and the third in what is now Ohio. Hamilton county was second, formed January, 1790. If Washington and Hamilton were large, they were yet children in comparison with Wayne. Wayne took in all northwestern Ohio to Cleveland, and northwest to Ft. Wayne, Ind .; thence on a line to Lake Michigan, taking in northern Indiana and a part of Illinois, including the site of Chicago; thence north along Lake Mich- igan, including all the land on the rivers flowing into the lake, which would include about half of Wisconsin; thence by a due north line to the Canadian boundary, following the same back by Lake Huron and Detroit river to Lake Erie, and so on to the place of beginning at Cleveland, including all the present State of Michigan. Of this vast territory Detroit was made the county seat. The land in the present bounds of Wood county was included in that great county of Wayne.

If some unfortunate white man had lived here then, his post office address would have been Detroit, Wayne county, Northwest Territory; or if he had been summoned to attend court at the county seat he would have possibly met at the court house in Detroit, some other juryman, from the head of Green bay ( Wisconsin now ). who had been on the road ten days or two weeks getting there, and whose inileage bill would cover five or six hundred miles of travel. Wayne was a vast county, and in the improbable court inci- dent we have drawn, the school boy, or girl, will find a ready answer for the mental question which often occurs: " Why was the country cut up into so many States and counties?" Namely, for the convenience of the people in transacting their business affairs. This same rule follows us down to townships, school districts, and city wards.

As the Maumee Country at the date of which we are speaking (1796) is in peaceable possession of the Indians, and there is nothing passing here to record in its history, now in its third stage, let us go back a little while to the Ohio river. We note a most extraordinary spectacle; the settle. ment of a new domain: the sudden transition from its wilderness state; and under the forms of popular government, by an enlightened people.

Such energy, such zeal and peaceful rivalry had never before been seen. Cabins and new settlements on every side heralded the coming of civilization; and the valleys and hill-tops were noisy with the bustle and marvelous activity of the joyful pioneers. In the language of one en- thusiastic chronicler, people came across the Alle- ghanies like spray flung from the ocean.

In the year 1798, Gov. St. Clair announced that the population of voters was over 5,000. and that under the Ordinance, the Territorial Government could pass to the second stage. that of choosing for itself a legislative body, and a delegate to Congress. This action was taken, and the first legislature of the Northwest Ter- ritory met in Cincinnati in 1799, and elected a delegate to Congress, and a number of new coun- ties were established.

The following year, ISoo, Congress cut the Northwest Territory north and south, about on the line of the Great Miami river, and named the west part Indiana Territory, with its capital at Vincennes. William H. Harrison was governor. At the same time Chillicothe was made the tem- porary capital of the east division. [The capital remained at Chillicothe until ISto, when it was changed to Zanesville until 1812, then back to Chillicothe until 1816, when it was permanently located at Columbus. ] Trumbull county was formed, including, in its bounds, all the Connecti- cut Reserve east of the Cuyahoga river, with county seat at Warren. This indicates that the settlements were also growing in that quarter. So great, indeed, had been the increase in the east division that Congress, believing the popula- tion sufficient to entitle the people of the east part to the honors of statehood, passed an En- abling Act, April, 1802, allowing the voters to choose delegates and form a constitution, all of which was completed on the 29th of November, same year, and the proposed new State nanied Ohio [There never was a Territory of that name. Until her admission as a State, or rather, at the time of her admission, Ohio was simply the east- ern division of the Northwest Territory], after the great river which forms its southern border. with metes and bounds, substantially, as they are to-day, except the strip on the north taken later on from Michigan. This constitution, with the name of the State, boundary lines and other pro- ceedings of the convention, was submitted to Con- gress, and by that body approved, and on Febru- ary 19, 1803, an Act was passed admitting Ohio to the sisterhood of States. | There has been con- siderable discussion as to when Ohio was admit- ted as a State; whether in 1802, or 1803. Inves-

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Commemorative historical and biographical record of Wood County, Ohio : its past and present : early settlement and development biographies and portraits of early settlers and representative citizens, etc. V. 1, Part 6

Author: Leeson, M. A. (Michael A.) cn; J.H. Beers & Co. cn Publication date: 1897 Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers & Co. Number of Pages: 1060

Author: Leeson, M. A. (Michael A.) cn; J.H. Beers & Co. cn
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 1060