USA > Ohio > Contributions to the early history of the North-west, including the Moravian missions in Ohio > Part 3
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JOSEPH KELLY, OR THE LOST SON. ' 61
and children. The mother of little Joseph was an agonized spectator of the scene, and of the escape of another son, two years older, who, although in the same field, happened to see the Indians sooner, and reached the garrison. Two Indians seized Joseph, one by each hand, and, tossing him over the fence, hurried, or rather flew, with him through the woods, out of reach of the shot from the men in the garrison- among whom was Peter Anderson, a noted ranger and woodsman. As soon as the Indians reached a place of safety, they mustered their party, who were scattered about in the forest on different sides of the fort, and amounted to thirty warriors, assembled on purpose to take the garrison of Belleville, and destroy the in- habitants. .
Having a prisoner now in their possession, they proceeded to question him as to the num- ber in the fort. This they accomplished by the aid of a renegade white man, with red hair and a freckled face, who had joined the Indians.
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EARLY HISTORY OF THE NORTH-WEST.
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When asked by this white savage, whose fea- tures he perfectly remembers to this day, after the lapse of forty-five years, how many men there were in the fort, little Joseph, with won- derful presence of mind, or the whim of the moment, answered "that it was full of men with guns, at least as many as a hundred." This answer, from the well-known innocence and simplicity of childhood, intimidated the In- dians, and probably saved the garrison, as they soon after crossed the river, and commenced a retreat to their town near the Sandusky Bay. This they reached after a few days of tedious marching, and placed their prisoner in the coun- cil-house, according to custom, till the warriors and old men had decided on his fate.
In this instance the decision was on the side of mercy; for little Joseph was adopted into the family of an old veteran warrior, who now had no children, but had, in different engage- ments, lost five sons by the hands of white men. The old warrior's name was "Mishalena," and
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JOSEPH KELLY, OR THE LOST SON.
Mr. Kelly says he was one of the most kind- hearted and benevolent men he has ever met with in his whole life, as well as of the most noble and commanding appearance. His wife's name was "Petepsa," a thick-set, burly old woman, with her hair always at sixes and sevens. After losing five sons, these untu- tored natives of the forest adopted the child of their mortal enemies, and treated him as their own! What a lesson to the professors of Christianity !
Petepsa was naturally ill-natured and diffi- cult to please, and treated him, as she probably always did her own children, rather harshly. But he was always well fed when they had any thing to eat, and carefully nursed when sick, as he was in the Summer of 1794, with a severe attack of dysentery. He distinctly recollects that Petepsa gave him as a medi- cine the decoction of a very bitter herb, which he has since ascertained from the taste was eupatorium perfoliatum, or "Indian sage"-
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known also by the names of "thoroughwort" and "boneset"-a very effectual remedy for bowel complaints.
Little Joseph soon became reconciled to his situation, although his thoughts often returned at night, while lying on his bear-skin bed before the wigwam fire, to his kind-hearted mother, and his little brothers and sisters. But time and habit gradually accustomed him to his new acquaintances, and old friends were nearly for-, gotten in the attachments he had now formed for his new ones. Whether covered by a red, black, or white skin, the human heart is the same, and meets a kindred feeling in all that wear "the human face divine." In childhood our affections are like the softened wax, and are easily molded to suit the circumstances . around us. The sports of the young Indian boys, who treated him as a brother, attracted his attention ; and he directly became as expert in the use of the bow and arrow, and as active in foot-races, ball, etc., as the best of them.
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JOSEPH KELLY, OR THE LOST SON. 65
His appetite being good, and possessing a vig- orous frame, their food and cooking were fully as acceptable to his palate as that of his former home.
In this way four years passed off, during which time the war still continued, and with almost unvaried success on the side of the In- dians. During this period the armies of Har- mar and St. Clair had been defeated, and de- struction and desolation threatened the whole of the frontier settlements. At length "Mad Anthony," that "thunderbolt of war," turned the tide of battle, and gave the Indians a signal defeat. The near approach of his army drove the Indians, consisting of women and children, and a few old men, in great haste from the village in which little Joseph was then living, near the mouth of the River Auglaize. So unexpected was the advance of General Wayne that they had no time to take any provisions, and only a few kettles and blankets, but hurry- ing into their canoes pushed off down the Mau-
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mee into the vicinity of Detroit. It was in the month of August, 1794, and Mr. Kelly re- members well with what regret they left their , fine fields of corn, which he had assisted to cultivate, already fit for roasting ears, the beans, and the squashes, with large patches of water-melons.
It was just at evening when they abandoned their village surrounded by plenty : the next morning sun rose upon its ruins.' That night the American army destroyed all their crops; cutting down and wasting the corn, and burn- ing the dwellings where their forefathers had lived for many, many years. The suffering from hunger and cold the following Winter was very great, but borne by the Indians with philosophical equanimity, The poor savage will cease to suffer from the wrongs of the white man only when he ceases to exist. A few brief years, and the whole aboriginal race will have vanished from the valley of the Mississippi beyond the mountains.
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TREATY WITH THE INDIANS
TREATY WITH THE INDIANS.
At the treaty of Greenville, in 1795, it was stipulated that all white prisoners living with the Indians should be restored. Colonel Meigs, father of the late governor, was acting at the treaty, and being well acquainted with the circumstances of the captivity of Joseph-he living in Marietta at that time-made daily inquiries after him from every new Indian face that he could see; but for a long time without success. It seems that young Kelly, and a boy named "Bill," from Kentucky, whose family had all been killed, were kept back, from the reluct- ance their present parents felt to part with them-having become greatly attached to the boys, considering them as their own. At length he heard of a boy of a similar age on the River Raisin, several days' march from Greenville, and obtained an order from General Wayne to send out a party of six men and an Indian guide, for the express purpose of bringing them
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in. Little Joseph parted from his Indian par- ents with nearly as much regret as he had formerly done from his white ones; and poor Mishalena and Petepsa were now left in their old age like two ancient forest trees, around whose roots no green shoot appears.
Directly after reaching Greenville, and Col- onel Meigs had got him into his possession, he started with a party by land, in February, " across the swamps for Marietta; so anxious was this good and kind-hearted man to restore the lost Joseph to the arms of his sorrowing and widowed mother. A young Indian guided the travelers, without deviation, through the trackless forests, and struck the Muskingum River at "Big Rock," twenty-four miles above Marietta, and near the settlement of "Wolf Creek Mills."
INDIAN TACT.
As a specimen of Indian tact in pursuing a course through the wilderness, Mr. Kelly
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INDIAN TACT.
says, that one cloudy and snowy day the party became a little bewildered in a thick beech woods. Colonel Meigs produced his compass, and, setting it, insisted their course lay east. The Indian, after examining the trees a few minutes, pointed to the south-east. The Colonel still sticking for the authority of the compass, was unwilling to proceed. The Indian at length became vexed, and shouldering his rifle, mut- tered in broken English, "dam' compass," and . pursued his own course. In a short time it proved him to be right and Colonel Meigs in the wrong. They reached "Campus Martius," the stockaded fort at Marietta in safety ; and the fervent and oft-repeated prayer of the widowed mother was at length answered in the restoration of her "lost son."*
*NOTE .- While these pages are passing through the press- midsummer, 1864-Joseph Kelly, whose captivity is here mentioned, departed this life at Marietta, aged eighty years. He was a native of Plainfield, Massachusetts, and was brought by his father to Marietta, when four years old, in the Spring of 1789. In 1790 the family removed to Belleville, West Va.,
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CUYAHOGA FALLS.
But to return to the Falls of the Cuyahoga. The location of this spot is more favorable for manufactures than any other in Ohio. The fall is so great that the water can be used over and over again, in turning machinery, before it reaches the foot of the descent. The advantage of two railroads and canals in the vicinity will facilitate the transport of the raw materials and the distribution of the manufactured articles to all parts of the West. The center of a fertile and healthy region will add all the facilities of agriculture to feed the artisans. Several vil- lages have sprung up on both sides of the falls, and the foundations of wealth are already laid. To this add the water-power on the Little
where he was captured. He remained with the Indians till the Winter of 1795-6, nearly five years, when he was released. He had lost the English language, and left his Indian parents with regret. He arrived in Marietta in March, 1796, and was, as the narrative records, restored to his mother .- EDITOR.
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FORT LAURENS.
Cuyahoga, and that of the Akron, and no spot can combine more advantages.
TUSCARAWAS.
In passing down south from the summit level at Akron, the canal traverses some fine ponds, which are used both for transportation and for feeders. These were once stocked with the half- reasoning beaver, which, like the. tribes of abo- rigines, have disappeared at the approach of the white man. Several branches flow from these ponds, which soon uniting form that beautiful stream, the Tuscarawas. It takes its name from a powerful tribe of Indians who once resided on its borders.
FORT LAURENS.
The canal proceeds down the valley of this river, and after crossing the northern boundary of Tuscarawas county, passes through the ruins of old Fort Laurens, one flank of which rested on the river. It was named by the builders in
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honor of Colonel Laurens, of South Carolina, then a prisoner in the Tower of London, and one of the most patriotic men of that day. In the eleventh edition of the Ohio Gazetteer, the township in which the ruins are located is called Lawrence, as if named for Captain Lawrence, of the United States Navy, which has probably been done by mistake.
The ditch and parapets are yet plainly seen, covering about an acre of ground, but the stout wooden walls were long since burned by the Indians in whose territory it was seated. The fort stood on an elevated plain near the right bank of the river, a little below Sandy Creek, which puts in on the opposite shore, and was built in the Autumn of the year 1778, by a detachment of a thousand mnen from Fort Pitt and vicinity, under the command of General M'Intosh. A garrison of one hundred and eighty men was left in the fort for the pro- tection of the frontier, under the order of Colonel Gibson.
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SIEGE OF FORT LAURENS.
SIEGE OF FORT LAURENS.
As soon as the Indians were aware of its erection they besieged it with an army of eight hundred warriors, and as they could not carry it by assault, were determined to subdue it by famine. For this purpose they closely encircled it for six weeks, in the beginning of Winter, suffering no one to go out or to enter into the fort. By this time the stores of the garrison were nearly exhausted, and famine stared them in the face. The Indians suspecting their con- dition, and being still more destitute themselves, proposed to Colonel Gibson, that if he . would give them a barrel of flour and some tobacco, they would raise the siege, thinking by this to learn the state of their stores. The flour was rolled out and the Indians departed.
RELIEF OF THE GARRISON.
Soon after a detachment from Fort M'Intosh brought a supply of provisions. Although the
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main body of Indians left them, yet small par- ties still continued to linger around the fort, watching for stragglers. Some time in January, - 1779, during very severe cold weather, a party of men, seventeen in number, were ordered out very early in the morning to bring in fire-wood, which was cut for the use of the garrison before the army left in the Fall. The men had been out for several preceding mornings, and no signs of Indians being seen for some time they were not very careful. The wood lay near an ancient tumulus or mound, not far from the walls of the garrison, behind which a party of Indians lay concealed. As the soldiers passed round on one side of the mound, a part of the Indians came behind them on the other side, and inclosed the wood party, killing and scalp- ing the whole of them. My informant, Henry Jolly, Esq., was acquainted with some of the men, and assisted in burying them when he came on with the relief from Fort M'Intosh, in the Spring following.
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RELIEF OF THE GARRISON.
The garrison suffered so much from constant attacks, and the difficulty and hazard of keep- ing up a fort in the enemy's country at a dis- tance of seventy miles from the frontiers was so great, that finally the Americans concluded to abandon it. This was done in August, 1779; and Henry Jolly, then an ensign in the Conti- nental army, and now living near Columbus, Ohio, was the last man who left the walls of Fort Laurens.
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CHAPTER V.
THE MORAVIAN MISSIONS IN OHIO.
SCHOENBRUNN AND THE MORAVIAN MISSIONARIES.
As we proceed south along the Ohio Canal, near the center of the county of Tuscarawas, and not far from the site of the present town of New Philadelphia, we reach that ancient seat of missionary labor-Schoenbrunn, or "Beauti- ful Spring." From the writings of Loskiel this region has become in a manner classic ground. It was the spot selected by David Zeisberger, the Moravian missionary, for a-station as early as the 3d of May, in the year 1772. A strip of country, extending for twenty miles along the wide alluvial lands of the Tuscarawas, was formally ceded to the Christian Indians, at that time living in Fredericstadt, on the Big Beaver, by the Delaware tribe, among whom was White
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MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE.
Eyes, a celebrated warrior. This Indian al- ways remained a firm friend of the missionaries to the day of his death, which took place in 1780, at Pittsburg, where he died of the small- pox.
The whole history of the missionaries, and that of their Christian converts, seems to have been a continued series of persecutions. They had been driven from their stations on the Sus- quehannah River, to one on the Alleghany, and from that to Fredericstadt on the Big Beaver. A brief sketch of, these holy men, and their labors, as connected with the border history of the West, can not fail to be interesting.
MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE.
The Moravians commenced their missions among the North American Indians as early as the year 1742. One of their first establish- ments for the spread of the Gospel was among the Mohegan Indians, at a place called Sheko- meko, within the boundaries of the colony of
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EARLY HISTORY OF THE NORTH-WEST.
New York, not far from Poughkeepsie. 1 Here the missionaries were greatly persecuted by the whites, who maliciously accused them and the Christian Indians of being in a league with the French, who at that period held extensive pos- sessions in America.
In 1746, David Zeisberger, and Frederic Post, who had been on a visit to the Iroquois In- dians to perfect their knowledge of the native languages, were arrested at Albany on their return and thrown into prison in New York, where they remained nearly two months. Zeis- berger was a man of low stature, but full of zeal for the cause of. Christ, and animated like St. Paul with undaunted courage. He personally established nearly all the missionary stations in the valley of the Ohio, traversing the wilder- ness on foot, braving the dangers of flood, famine, and the hatred of hostile savages often displayed in the most threatening manner.
How wonderful to reflect upon the persever- ance and zeal of such men as Zeisberger, Hecke-
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MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE.
welder, and their `brethren-self-supported and fed by the labor of their own hands-their bodies a living sacrifice on the altar of mis- sions! At that day no societies existed for the support of missionaries as at this period of the Church. The love of missions and the spread of the Gospel was their only help. Amid the wilderness, and far removed from civilized so- ciety, they received no aid from Government as most missionaries now do. Their only protector was God, and their faith in the cause they had espoused. Sir William Johnson, I find, often lent them the assistance of his powerful influ- ence over the savage nations, in recommending them to their friendship. -
Even then, as now, a large portion of the dif- ficulty in Christianizing the Indians arose from the cupidity of white men in trafficking with them in rum-that spirit of the fire. Wherever they met with Indians free from its influence, they were generally ready to listen to the mes- sage of the missionary ; and not only to listen,
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but to believe. Their teachings were not only conformed to the doctrines of Christianity, but also to schools and the arts of civilized life; so that in a few years they always created around them most of the comforts to be found i in the white settlements.
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JOHN HECKEWELDER.
. John Heckewelder, with whom I was per- sonally acquainted, commenced his missionary career with Frederic Post, in the year 1762, at a station one hundred miles west of Fort Pitt, on the heads of the Tuscarawas, among the Delaware Indians, for the express purpose of learning their language. This mission failed, and he returned to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He next joined the mission at San-gun-to-ut-en- uenk, or "the Town of Peace," generally known by the name of Friedenstadt, above the falls of Beaver. He was a man of mild manners and pleasing address, whose heart overflowed with " the milk of human kindness." In disposition
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EPIDEMIC DISEASE.
he was more like the apostle John, while his companion, Zeisberger, partook of the spirit of St. Paul, but equally devoted and faithful in his Master's service.
This mission was established by the latter missionary, the third of May, A. D. 1770, by the removal of a number of families of Chris- tian Indians from a station near the head of the Alleghany River. They made the journey by water in sixteen canoes, ascending the Beaver with great labor and difficulty, to a place above the falls on the right bank of the stream.
EPIDEMIC DISEASE.
About this period, and for a year or two pre- vious, a fatal epidemic disease prevailed among the Indians in this quarter of the country. It was most probably a bilious remittent fever, such as has since appeared at intervals of twenty or thirty years in the western country. Loskiel speaks of the measles and small-pox as prevailing occasionally, so that this disease
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was something else, and very likely an epidemic fever. The neighboring Indians pretended to believe it was sent as a punishment by the Great Spirit, on account of their forsaking the religion of their fathers.
MIGRATIONS OF THE CHRISTIAN INDIANS.
As the country on the Susquehanna River gradually filled up with white settlers, the mis- sions above Wilkesbarre, and in the vicinity of what is now Bradford county, Pennsylvania, at Friedenshutten, became daily more and more molested and incommoded by the traders and wicked persons persuading the Christian In- dians to leave the care of the teachers, and return to their former evil practices. Under all these discouragements it was thought best to remove the mission across the Alleghany Mountains, to Fredericstadt, on the Beaver River. The following quaint but very inter- esting narrative of the journey from Loskiel will give a faint view of the patience and suf-
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LOSKIEL'S NARRATIVE.
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ferings of the Indian converts, in their migra- tion through the wilderness, at this early day. It was more brief than that of the ancient Israelites, but borne with far more equanimity.
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LOSKIEL'S NARRATIVE.
"June 11, 1772 .- All being ready for the journey, the congregation met for the last time at Friedenshutten, when the missionary re- minded them of the great favors and bless- ings received from God in this place, and then offered up praises and thanksgiving to Him, with fervent supplication for his peace and pro- tection on the journey. The company consisted of two hundred and forty-one persons, and had dwelt at this spot since the year 1765." -
Brother Ettwein conducted those who went by land, and brother Rothe those by water, who were the greater number. The tediousness of this journey was a practical school of patience for the missionaries. The fatigue also attend- ing the emigration of a whole congregation,
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with all their goods and cattle, in a country like North America, can hardly be conceived by any one who has not experienced it, much less can it be described in a proper manner.
The land travelers had seventy head of oxen and a still greater number of horses to care for, and sustained incredible hardships in forcing a way for themselves and their beasts through very thick woods and swamps of great extent, being directed only by a small path, and that hardly discernible in some places; so that it appears almost impossible to conceive how one man could work his way and mark a path through such close thickets and immense woods. It happened that when they were thus rather creeping than walking through the thick woods it rained almost incessantly. In one part of the country they were obliged to wade thirty- six times through the windings of the River Munsy, besides suffering other hardships. How- ever, they attended to their daily worship as .regularly as circumstances would permit, and
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LOSKIEL'S NARRATIVE.
frequently had strangers among them, both In- dians and white people, who were particularly attentive to the English discourses delivered by brother Ettwein.
The party which went by water were every night obliged to seek a lodging on shore, and suffered much from the wet. Soon after their departure from Friedenshutten the measles broke out among them, and many fell sick, especially the children. The attention due to the sick necessarily increased the fatigue of the journey. The many falls and dangerous rapids in the Susquehanna River occasioned immense trouble and frequent delays. How- ever, by the mercy of God they passed safe up the west arm of the river to Great Island, where they joined the land travelers the 29th of June, and now proceeded all together by land.
When they arrived at the mountains they met with great difficulties in crossing them ; for, not having horses enough to carry all their baggage, most of them were obliged to carry
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some part. In one of the valleys they were suddenly caught in a most tremendous storm" of thunder and lightning, with violent rain. During a considerable part of the way the rattlesnakes kept them in constant alarm. As they lay, in great numbers, either near or in the path, brother Ettwein trod upon one with fifteen rattles, which so frightened him that, according to his own account, he could hardly venture to step forward for many days after, and every rustling leaf made him dread the approach of a rattlesnake. These venomous creatures destroyed several of the horses by . their bite, but the oxen were favored by being driven in the rear.
INCIDENTS ON THE ROUTE.
In one part of the forest the fires and storms had caused such confusion among the trees that the wood was almost impenetrable. Sister Rothe with her child fell several times from her horse, and once with her foot entangled in the
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INCIDENTS ON THE ROUTE.
stirrup; another time she fell into a deep mo- "rass. Some persons departed this life during the journey, among them a poor cripple, ten or eleven years old, who was carried by his mother in a basket on her back. When he perceived his end approaching he begged most earnestly to be baptized. His request was granted; soon after which he ended a life of misery, and departed rejoicing.
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