USA > Ohio > Historical collections of Ohio, containing a collection of the most interesting facts, traditions, biographical sketches, anecdotes, etc., relating to its general and local history : with descriptions of its counties, principal towns, and villages > Part 12
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82
CHAMPAIGN COUNTY.
The last named, Capt. Arthur Thomas, lived on King's creek, three miles from Urbana. He was ordered, in the war of 1812, with his company, to guard the public stores at Fort Findlay. On his return.
1181
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J.RUT REYNOLDS
Public Square, Urbana.
himself and son lost their horses, and separated from the rest of the company to hunt for them. They encamped at the Big Spring, near Solomonstown, about 5 miles north of Bellfontaine, and the next morning were found killed and scalped. Their bodies were brought into Urbana, by a deputation of citizens. On the 4th of July, two months previous to this event, " The Watch Tower," the first newspaper in the county was commenced at Urbana ; its pub- lishers were Corwin & Blackburn.
Urbana was a point where the main army of Hull concentrated, ere leaving for Detroit. They encamped in the eastern part of the town, on the home-lot of Judge Elisha C. Berry. In the last war it was a general rendezvous for troops, before starting for the north. They encamped in various parts of the town. Quite a number of sick and disabled soldiers were sent here, some of whom died : the old court house was used as a hospital.
The celebrated Simon Kenton was here at an early day. Judge Burnet in his letters, states, that when the troops were stationed at Urbana, a mutinous plan was forined by part of them to attack and destroy a settlement of friendly Indians, who had remcved with their families within the settlement under assurance of protection. Kenton remon- strated against the measure, as being not only mutinous, but treacherous and cowardly. He contrasted his knowledge and experience of the Indian character with their ignorance of it. He vindicated them against the charge of treachery, which was alledged as a justifi- cation of the act they were about to perpetrate, and reminded them of the infamy they would incur by destroying a defenceless band of men, women and children, who had placed them- selves in their power, relying on a solemn promise of protection. He appealed to their hu- manity, their honor and their duty as soldiers. Having exhausted all the means of per- suasion in his power, and finding them resolved to execute their purpose, he took a rifle and declared with great firmness that he would accompany them to the Indian encamp- ment, and shoot down the first man who dared to molest them ; that if they entered his camp they should do it by passing over his corpse. Knowing that the old veteran would redeem his pledge, they abandoned their purpose, and the poor Indians were saved. Though he was as brave as Cesar, and reckless of danger when it was his duty to expose his per-
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CHAMPAIGN COUNTY.
son ; yet he was mild, even tempered, and had a heart that could bleed at the distresses of others.
There were several Indian councils in Urbana, at an early day, which were usually held in a grove near the burying ground: dis- tinguished Shawnee and Wyandot chiefs were generally present. Before the settlement of the town, in the spring of 1795, Tecumseh was established on Deer creek, near the site of Urbana, where he engaged in his favorite amusement of hunting, and remained until the succeeding spring. His biographer gives some anecdotes of him, which occurred within the present limits of the county.
While residing on Deer creek, an incident occurred, which greatly enhanced his reputa- tion as a hunter. One of his brothers, and several other Shawanoes of his own age, pro- posed to bet with him, that they could each kill as many deer, in the space of three days, as he could. Tecumseh promptly accepted the overture. The parties took to the woods, and at the end of the stipulated time, returned with the evidences of their success. None of the party, except Tecumseh, had more than twelve deer skins; he brought in upwards of thirty-near three times as many as any of his competitors. From this time he was generally conceded to be the greatest hunter in the Shawanoe nation.
In 1799, there was a council held about six miles north of the place where Urbana now stands, between the Indians and some of the principal settlers on Mad river, for the adjust- , ment of difficulties which had grown up between these parties. Tecumseh, with other Shawanoe chiefs, attended this council. He appears to have been the most conspicuous orator of the conference, and made a speech on the occasion, which was much admired for its force and eloquence. The interpreter, Dechouset, said that he found it very difficult to translate the lofty flights of Tecumseh, although he was as well acquainted with the Shawanoe language, as with the French, which was his mother tongue.
Some time during the year 1803, a stout Kentuckian came to Ohio, for the purpose of exploring the lands on Mad river, and lodged one night at the house of Capt. Abner Barrett, residing on the head waters of Buck creek., In the course of the evening, he learned, with apparent alarm, that there were some Indians encamped within a short distance of the house. Shortly after hearing this unwelcome intelligence, the door of Captain Barrett's dwelling was suddenly opened, and Tecumseh entered with his usual stately air : he paused in silence, and looked around, until at length his eye was fixed upon the stranger, who was manifesting symptoms of aların, and did not venture to look the stern savage in the face. Tecumseh turned to his host, and pointing to the agitated Kentuckian, exclaimed, " a big baby ! a big baby !" He then stepped up to him, and gently slapping him on the shoulder several times, repeated, with a contemptuous manner, the phrase, " big baby ! big baby !" to the great alarm of the astonished man, and to the amusement of all present.
On the 22d of March, 1830, a severe tornado, proceeding from the sw. to the NE., passed over the northern part of Urbana. It demolished the Presbyterian church and several dwellings, and materially injured the Methodist church. Two or three children were carried high in air, and killed; boards, books and various fragments were conveyed many miles.
Urbana' is a beautiful town, and has, in its outskirts, some elegant private residences. The engraving is a view in its central part, taken from near Reynold's store. The court house and Methodist church are seen in the distance. The building on the left, now occupied as a store by Wm. M'Donald, was, in the late war, Doo little's tavern, the head quarters of Governor Meigs. The one in front, with the date "1811," upon it, and now the store of D. & T. M'Gwynne, was then a commissaries office, and the building where Col. Richard M. Johnson was brought wounded from the battle of the Thames, and in which he remained several days, under a sur- geon's care. Urbana contains 1 Associate Reformed, 1 Presbyterian,
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CLARKE COUNTY.
I Baptist, and 1 Methodist church, 2 newspaper printing offices, 1 woollen factory, 1 foundery, 2 machine shops and 20 mercantile stores. In 1840, Urbana had 1070 inhabitants, which is far below its present population.
Mechanicsburg, 10 miles E. of Urbana, on the Columbus road and head waters of Little Darby, is a flourishing village, containing 5 or 6 stores, 2 churches, 1 saw and 2 flour mills, a woollen fac- tory, and had, in 1840, 258 inhabitants. Addison, 16 sw., St. Paris, 10 w., Westville, 4 w. of Urbana, and Woodstock and Lewisburg. in the NE. part of the county, are villages containing each from 3G to 60 dwellings. Middletown, Carysville, Millerstown, Middleburg and Texas are small places.
CLARK.
CLARK. was formed March 1, 1817, from Champaign, Madison and Greene, and named in honor of Gen. George Rogers Clarke. The first settlement in Clarke, was at Chribb's station, in the forks of Mad river, in the spring of 1796. The inhabitants of Moore- field, Pleasant, Madison, German and Pike are principally of Vir- ginia extraction ; Mad river, of New Jersey ; Harmony, of New England and English; and Greene, of Pennsylvania origin. This county is very fertile and highly cultivated, and is well watered by Mad river, Buck and Beaver creeks, and their tributaries, which furnish a large amount of water power. Its principal products are wheat, corn and oats. The following is a list of its townships, in 1840, with their population.
Bethel, 2033
Madison, 1115
Pike,
1437
German, 1667 Mad river, 1339
Pleasant, 1092
Greene, 1059
Moorefield, 1073
Springfield, 4443
Harmony, 1645
The population of the county, in 1820, was 9,553 ; in 1830, 13,074, and in 1840, 16,882, or 43 inhabitants to a square mile.
The old Indian town of Piqua, the ancient Piqua of the Shaw- nees, and the birth place of TECUMSEH, was situated on the north side of Mad river, about five miles west of Springfield, and occu- pied the site on which a small town, called West Boston, has since been built. Drake'e life of Tecumseh, says.
The principal part of Piqua stood upon a plain, rising fifteen or twenty feet above the river. On the south, between the village and head river, there was an extensive prairie- on the northeast, some bold cliffs, terminating near the river-on the west and northwest, level timbered land ; while on the opposite side of the stream, another prairie, of varying width, stretched back to the high grounds. The river sweeping by in a graceful bend --- the precipitous, rocky cliffs-the undulating hills, with their towering trees-the prairies, garnished with tall grass and brilliant flowers-combined to render the situation of Piqua both beautiful and picturesque. At the period of its destruction, Piqua was quite populous. There was a rude log hut within its limits, surrounded by pickets. It was, however, sacked
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CLARKE COUNTY.
and burnt on the 8th of August, by an army of one thousand men, from Kentucky, after a severe and well-conducted battle with the Indians who inhabited it. All the improvements of the Indians, including more than two hundred acres of corn and other vegetables then growing in their fields, were laid waste and destroyed. The town was never after re-built by the Shawnees. Its inhabitants removed to the Great Miami river, and erected another town, which they called Piqua, after the one that had just been destroyed ; and in defence of which they had fought with the skill and valor characteristic of their nation.
The account appended of the destruction of Piqua by General George Rogers Clarke, was published twenty years since, in Brad- ford's notes on Kentucky.
On the 2d of August, 1780, Gen. Clarke took up the line of march from where Cin- cinnati now stands, for the Indian towns. The line of march was as follows :- the first division, commanded by Clarkc, took the front position ; the centre was occupied by ar- tillery, military stores and baggage ; the second, commanded by Col. Logan, was placed in the rear. The men were ordered to march in four lines, at about forty yards distant from each other, and a line of flankers on each side, about the same distance from the right and left line. There was also a front and a rear guard, who only kept in sight of the main army. In order to prevent confusion, in case of an attack of the enemy, on the march of the army, a general order was issued, that in the event of an attack in front, the front was to stand fast, and the two right lines to wheel to the right, and the two left hand lines to the left, and form a complete line, while the artillery was to advance forwards to the centre of the line. In case of an attack on either of the flanks or side lines, these lines were to stand fast, and likewise the artillery, while the opposite lines whecled and formed on the two extremes of those lines. In the event of an attack being made on the rear, similar order was to be observed as in an attack in front.
In this manner, the army moved on without encountering any thing worthy of notice until they arrived at Chillicothe, (situated on the little Miami river, in Greene county,) about 2 o'clock in the afternoon, on the 6th day of August. They found the town not only abandoned, but most of the houses burnt down and burning, having been set on fire that morning. The army encamped on the ground that night, and on the following day cut down several hundred acres of corn ; and about 4 o'clock in the evening, took up their line of march for the Piqua towns, which were about twelve miles from Chillicothe, [in Clarke county.] They had not marched more than a mile from Chillicothe, before there came on a very heavy rain, with thunder and lightning and considerable wind. Without tents or any other shelter from the rain, which fell in. torrents, the men were as wet as if they had been plunged into the river, nor had they it in their power to keep their guns dry. It was nearly dark before the rain ceased, when they were ordered to encamp in a hollow square, with the baggage and horses in the centre-and as soon as fires could be made, to dry their clothes, &c. They were ordered to examine their guns, and be sure they were in good order, to discharge them in the following manner. One company was to fire, and time given to re-load, when a company at the most remote part of the camp from that which had fired, was to discharge theirs, and so on alternately, until all the guns were fired. On the morning of the 8th, the army marched by sunrise, and having a level, open way, arrived in sight of Piqua, situated on the west side of the Mad river, about 2 o'clock, P. M. The Indian road from Chillicothe to Piqua, which the army followed, crossed the Mad river about a quarter of a mile below the town, and as soon as the advanced guard crossed into a prairie of high weeds, they were attacked by the Indians, who had concealed themselves in the weeds. The ground on which this attack, as well as the manner in which it was done, left no doubt but that a general engagement was intended. Col. Logan was therefore ordered, with about four hundred men, to file off to the right, and march up the river on the east side, and to continue to the upper end of the town, so as to prevent the Indians from escaping in that direction, while the remainder of the men, under Cols. Lynn, Floyd and Harrod, were ordered to cross the river and encompass the town on the west side, while Gen. Clarke, with the troops under Col. Shaughter, and such as were attached to the artillery, marched directly towards the town. The prairie in which the Indians were concealed, who commenced the attack, was only about two hundred yards across to the timbered land, and the division of the army destined to encompass the town on the west side, found it necessary to cross the prairie, to avoid the fire of a concealed enemy. The Indians evinced great military skill and judgment, and to prevent the west- ern division from executing the duties assigned them, they made a powerful effort to turn their left wing. This was discovered by Lloyd and Flynn, and to prevent being outflanked,
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CLARKE COUNTY.
extended the line of battle west, more than a mile from the town, and which continued warinly contested on both sides until about 5 o'clock, when the Indians disappeared every where unperceived, except a few in the town. The field piece, which had been entirely useless before, was now brought to bear upon the houses, when a few shot dislodged the Indians which were in thein.
A nephew of Gen. Clarke, who had been many years a prisoner among the Indians, and who attempted to come to the whites just before the close of the action, was supposed to be an Indian, and received a mortal wound ; but he lived several hours after he arrived among them.
The morning after the battle, a Frenchman, who had been taken by the Indians a short tinie before, on the Wabash, and who had stolen away from them during the action, was found in the loft of one of the Indian cabins. He gave the information, that the Indians did not expect that the Kentuckians would reach their town on that day, and if they did not, it was their intention to have attacked them in the night, in their camp, with the tomahawk and knife, and not to fire a gun. They had intended to have made an attack the night before, but were prevented by the rain, and also the vigilance evinced by the Kentuckians, in firing off their guns and re-loading them, the reasons for which they con- prehended, when they heard the firing. Another circumstance showed that the Indians were disappointed in the time of their arriving ; they had not dined. When the men got into the town, they found a considerable quantity of provisions ready cooked, in large kettles and other vessels, almost untouched. The loss on each side was about equal-each having about 20 killed.
The Piqua town was built in the manner of the French villages. It extended along the margin of the river for more than three miles; the houses, in many places, were more than twenty poles apart. Col. Logan, therefore, in order to surround the town on the east, as was his orders, marched fully three miles, while the Indians turned their whole force against those on the opposite side of the town ; and Logan's party never saw an Indian during the whole action. The action was so severe a short time before the close, that Simon Girty, a white man, who had joined the Indians, and who was made a chief among the Mingoes, drew off three hundred of his men, declaring to them, it was folly in the extreme to continue the action against men who acted so much like madmen, as General Clarke's men, for they rushed in the extreme of danger, with a seeming disregard of the consequences. This opinion of Girty, and the withdrawal of the three hundred Mingoes, so disconcerted the rest, that the whole body soon after dispersed.
It is a maxim among the Indians, never to encounter a fool or a madman, (in which terms they include a desperate man,) for they say, with a man who has not sense enough to take a prudent care of his own life, the life of his antagonist is in much greater danger than with a prudent man.
It was estimated that at the two Indian towns, Chillicothe and Piqua, more than five hundred acres of corn was destroyed, as well as every species of eatable vegetables. In consequence of this, the Indians were obliged, for the support of their women and children, to employ their whole time in hunting, which gave quiet to Kentucky for a considerable time.
The day after the battle, the 9th, was occupied in cutting down the growing corn, and destroying the cabins and fort, &c., and collecting horses. On the 10th of August, the army began their march homeward, and encamped in Chillicothe that night, and on the 11th, cut a field of corn, which had been left for the benefit of the men and horses, on their return. At the mouth of the Licking, the army dispersed, and each individual made his best way home.
Thus ended a campaign, in which most of the men had no other provisions for twenty- five days, than six quarts of Indian corn each, except the green corn and vegetables found at the Indian towns, and one gill of salt ; and yet not a single complaint was heard to escape the lips of a solitary individual. All appeared to be impressed with the belief, that if this army should be defeated, that few would be able to escape, and that the Indians then would fall on the defenceless women and children in Kentucky, and destroy the whole. From this view of the subject, every man was determined to conquer or die.
The late Abraham Thomas, of Miami county, was in this cam- paign against Piqua. His reminiscences, published in 1839, in the Troy Times, give some interesting facts omitted in the preceding. It also differs, in some respects, from the other, and is probably the most accurate.
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CLARKE COUNTY.
In the sunnner of 1780, Gen. Clarke was getting up an expedition, with the object of destroying some Indian villages on Mad river. One division of the expedition, under Col. Logan, was to approach the Ohio by the way of Licking river; the other, to which I was attached, ascended the Ohio from the falls in boats, with provisions and a six-pound can- non. The plan of the expedition was for the two divisions to meet at a point in the Indian country, opposite the mouth of Licking, and thence march in a body to the interior. In ascending the Ohio, Daniel Boone and myself acted as spies on the Kentucky side of the river, and a large party, on the Indian side, was on the same duty ; the latter were surprised by the Indians, and several killed and wounded. It was then a toilsome task to get the boats up the river, under constant expectation of attacks from the savages, and we were much rejoiced in making our destination. Before the boats crossed over to the Indian side, Boone and myself were taken into the foremost boat, and landed above a small cut in the bank, opposite the mouth of Licking. We were desired to spy through the woods for Indian signs. I was much younger than Boone, ran up the bank in great glee, and cut into a beech tree with my tomahawk, which I verily believe was the first tree cut into by a white man, on the present site of Cincinnati. We were soon joined by other rangers, and hunted over the other bottom : the forest every where was thick set with heavy beech and scattering underbrush of spice-wood and pawpaw. We started several deer, but seeing no sign of Indians, returned to the landing. By this time the men had all landed, and were busy in cutting timber for stockades and cabins. The division, under Col. Logan, shortly crossed over from the mouth of Licking, and after erecting a stockade, fort and cabin, for a small garrison and stores, the army started for Mad river. Our way lay over the uplands of an untracked, primitive forest, through which, with great labor, we cut and bridged a road for the accommodation of our pack horses and cannon. My duty, in the march, was to spy some two miles in advance of the mnain body. Our progress was slow, but the weather was pleasant, the country abounded in game ; and we saw no Indians, that I recollect, until we approached the waters of Mad river. In the campaigns of these days, none but the officers thought of tents-each man had to provide for his own comfort. Our meat was cooked upon sticks set up before the fire ; our beds were sought upon the ground, and he was the most fortunate man, that could gather small branches, leaves and bark to shield him from the ground, in moist places. After the lapse of so many years, it is difficult to recollect the details or dates, so as to mark the precise time or duration of our movements. But in gaining the open country of Mad river, we came in sight of the Indian villages. We had been kept all the night before on the march, and pushed rapidly towards the points of attack, and surprised three hundred Indian warriors, that had collected at the town, with the view of surprising and attacking us the next morning. At this place, a stockade fort had been reared near the village, on the side we were approaching it, but the Indians feared to enter it, and took post in their houses.
The village was situated on a low prairie bottom of Mad river, between these cond bank and a bushy swamp piece of ground, on the margin of the river: it could be approached only from three points. The one our troops occupied, and from up and down the river. Gen. Clarke detached two divisions to secure the two last named points, while he extended his line to cover the first. By this arrangement, the whole body of Indians would have been surrounded and captured, but Col. Logan, who had charge of the lower division, be- came entangled in the swamp, and did not reach his assigned position before the attack commenced. The party I had joined was about entering the town, with great impetuosity, when Gen. Clarke sent orders for us to stop, as the Indians were making port holes in their cabins, and we should be in great danger, but added, he would soon make port holes for us both ; on that, he brought his six-pounder to bear on the village, and a discharge of grape shot scattered the materials of their frail dwellings in every direction. The Indians poured out of their cabins in great consternation, while our party, and those on the bank, rushed into the village, took possession of all the squaws and papooses, and killed a great many warriors, but most of them at the lower part of the bottom. In this skirmish, a nephew of Gen. Clarke, who had some time before run away from the Monongahela settlements, and joined the Indians, was severely wounded. He was a great reprobate, and, as said, was to have led the Indians in the next morning's attack ; before he expired, he asked forgiveness of his uncle and countrymen. During the day, the village was burned, the growing corn cut down ; and the next morning we took up the line of march for the Ohio. This was a bloodless victory to our expedition, and the return march was attended with no unpleasant occurrence, save a great scarcity of provisions. On reaching the fort, on the Ohio, a party of us immediately crossed the river for our homes, for which we felt an ex- treme anxiety. We depended chiefly on our rifles for sustenance ; but game not being within reach, without giving to it more time than our anxiety and rapid progress permitted,
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