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 13
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we tried every expedient to hasten our journey without nunting, even to boiling green plums and nettles. These, at first, under sharp appetites, were quite palatable, but soon became bitter and offensive. At iast, in traversing the head waters of Licking, we espied several buffalo, directly in our track. We killed one, which supplied us bountifully with meat until we reached our homes.
View at Piqua, the birth-place of Tecumseh.
The view given was taken near the residence of Mr. John Keifer. The hill, shown on the left in the engraving, was the one upon which stood the fort, previously mentioned. About twenty-five years since, when the hill was first cleared and cultivated by Mr. Keifer, charred stumps were found around its edge, indicating the line of the stockade, which included a space of about two acres ; the plow of Mr. Keifer brought up various relics, as skeletons, beads, gun- barrels, tomahawks, camp kettles, &c. Other relics led to the sup- position that there was a store of a French trader destroyed at the time of the action at the south-western base of the hill. When the country was first settled, there were two white oak trees in the village of Boston, which had been shot off some fifteen or twenty feet from the ground, by the cannon balls of Clarke; their tops showed plainly the curved lines of the balls, around which they had sprouted bush-like ; these trees were felled many years since by the Bostonians for fuel. There is a tradition here, that during the ac- tion, the Indians secreted their squaws and children in "the cliffs" about a mile up the stream from the fort. The village of Boston, we will observe in digression, was once the competitor with Spring- field for the county seat ; it never had but a few houses, and now has three or four only : one of them is shown on the right of the view, beyond which, a few rods only, is Mad river.
We subjoin a sketch of the life of Tecumseh, derived from Drake's memoir of this celebrated chief:
Puckeshinwa, the father of Tecumseh, was a member of the Kiscopoke, and Methoa- taske, the mother, of the Turtle tribe of the Shawanoe nation ; they removed from Florida to Ohio about the middle of the last century. The father rose to the rank of a chief, and fell at the battle of Point Pleasant, in 1774. After his death, his wife returned to the south, where she died, at an advanced age. Tecumseh was born at Piqua, about the year 1768, and like Napoleon, in his boyish pastimes, showed a passion for war; he was the acknowledged leader among his companions, by whom he was loved and respected, and over whom he exercised an unbounded influence ; it is stated that the first battle in which he was, occurred on the site of Dayton, between a party of Kentuckians under Col.
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Benjamin Logan, and some Shawanoes. When about 17 years of age, he manifested sig- nal prowess, in an attack on some boats on the Ohio, near Limestone, Ky. The boats were all captured, and all in them killed, except one person, who was burnt alive. Te- cumseh was a silent spectator, never having before witnessed the burning of a prisoner ; after it was over, he expressed his strong abhorrence of the act, and by his eloquence per- suaded his party never to burn any more prisoners.
From this time his reputation as a brave, and his influence over other minds, increased, and he rose rapidly in popularity among his tribe ; he was in several actions with the whites prior to Wayne's treaty, among which was the attack on Fort Recovery, and the bat- tle of the Fallen Timbers. In the summer of 1795, Tecumseh be- came a chief; from the spring of this year until that of 1796, he resided on Deer Creek, near the site of Urbana, and from whence he removed to the vicinity of Piqua, on the Great Miami. In 1798, he accepted the invitation of the Delawares, then residing in part on White river, Indiana, to remove to that neighborhood with his followers. He continued in that vicinity a number of years, and gradually extended his influence among the Indians.
In 1805, through the influence of Laulewasikaw, the brother of Tecumseh, a large number of Shawanoes established themselves at Greenville. Very soon after, Laulewasikaw assumed the office of a prophet ; and forthwith commenced that career of cunning and pretended sorcery, which enabled him to sway the Indian mind in a wonderful degree.
Throughout the year 1806, the brothers remained at Greenville, and were visited by many Indians from different tribes, not a few of whom became their followers. The Pro- phet dreamed many wonderful dreams, and claimed to have had many supernatural revela- tions made to him ; the great eclipse of the sun which occurred in the summer of this year, a knowledge of which he had by some means attained, enabled him to carry convic- tion to the minds of many of his ignorant followers, that he was really the earthly agent of the Great Spirit. He boldly announced to the unbelievers, that on a certain day, he would give them proof of his supernatural powers, by bringing darkness over the sun ; when the day and hour of the eclipse arrived, and the earth, even at mid-day, was shrouded in the gloom of twilight, the Prophet, standing in the midst of his party, significantly pointed to the heavens, and cried out, " did I not prophecy truly ? Behold ! darkness has shrouded the sun !" It may readily be supposed that this striking phenomenon, thus adroitly used, produced a strong impression on the Indians, and greatly increased their belief in the sa- cred character of their Prophet.
The alarm caused by the assembling of the Indians still continu- ing, Gov. Harrison, in the autumn of 1807, sent to the head chiefs of the Shawanoe tribe, an address, in which he exhorted them to send away the people at Greenville, whose conduct was foreshadow- ing evil to the whites. To the appeal of the governor, the prophet made a cunning and evasive answer; it made no change in the measures of this artful man, nor did it arrest the spread of fanati- cism among the Indians, which his incantations had produced.
In the spring of 1808, Tecumseh and the prophet removed to a tract of land on the Tippecanoe, a tributary of the Wabash, where the latter continued his efforts to induce the Indians to forsake their vicious habits, while Tecumseh was visiting the neighboring tribes and quietly strengthening his own and the prophet's influence over them. The events of the early part of the year 1810, were such as. to leave but little doubt of the hostile intentions of the brothers
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the Prophet was apparently the most prominent actor, while Tecum seh was in reality the main spring of all the movements, backed, it is supposed, by the insidious influence of British agents, who sup- plied the Indians gratis with powder and ball, in anticipation, per- haps, of hostilities between the two countries, in which event an union of all the tribes against the Americans was desirable. By various acts the feelings of Tecumseh became more and more evi- dent ; in August, he having visited Vincennes to see the governor, a council was held, at which, and a subsequent interview, the real position of affairs was ascertained.
Governor Harrison had made arrangements for holding the council on the portico of his own house, which had been fitted up with seats for the occasion. Here, on the morn- ing of the fifteenth, he awaited the arrival of the chief, being attended by the Judges of the Supreme Court, some officers of the army, a sergeant and twelve men, from Fort Knox, and a large number of citizens. At the appointed hour, Tecumseh, supported by forty of his principal warriors, made his appearance, the remainder of his followers being encamped in the village and its environs. When the chief had approached within thirty or forty yards of the house, he suddenly stopped, as if awaiting some advances from the governor ; an interpreter was sent, requesting him and his followers to take seats on the portico. To this Tecumseh objected-he did not think the place a suitable one for holding the conference, but preferred that it should take place in a grove of trees-to which he pointed-standing a short distance from the house. The governor said he had no objec- tion to the grove, except that there were no seats in it for their accommodation. Tecuni- seh replied, that constituted no objection to the grove, the earth being the most suitable place for the Indians, who loved to repose upon the bosom of their mother. The governor yielded the point, and the benches and chairs having been removed to the spot, the confer- ence was begun, the Indians being seated on the grass.
Tecumseh opened the meeting by stating, at length, his objections to the treaty of Fort Wayne, made by Governor Harrison, in the previous year ; and in the course of his speech boldly avowed the principle of his party to be that of resistance to every cession of land, unless made by all the tribes, who, he contended, formed but one nation. He admitted that he had threatened to kill the chiefs who signed the treaty of Fort Wayne, and that it was his fixed determination not to permit the village chiefs, in future, to manage their af- fairs, but to place the power with which they had been heretofore invested, in the hands of the war chiefs. The Americans, he said, had driven the Indians from the sea-coast, and would soon push them into the lakes ; and, while he disclaimed all intention of making war upon the United States, he declared it to be his unalterable resolution to take a stand, and resolutely oppose the further intrusion of the whites upon the Indian lands. He con- cluded, by making a brief but impassioned recital of the various wrongs and aggressions inflicted by the white men upon the Indians, from the commencement of the revolution- ary war down to the period of that council ; all of which was calculated to arouse and inflame the minds of such of his followers as were present.
The governor rose in reply, and in examining the right of Tecumseh and his party to make objections to the treaty of Fort Wayne, took occasion to say that the Indians were not one nation, having a common property in the lands. The Miamis, he contended, were the real owners of the tract on the Wabash, ceded by the late treaty, and the Shawanoes had no right to interfere in the case ; that upon the arrival of the whites on this continent, they had found the Miamis in possession of this land, the Shawanoes being then residents of Georgia, from which they had been driven by the Creeks, and that it was ridiculous to assert that the red men constituted but one nation ; for, if such had been the intention of the Great Spirit, he would not have put different tongues in their heads, but have taught them all to speak the same language.
The governor having taken his seat, the interpreter commenced explaining the speech to Tecumseh, who, after listening to a portion of it, sprung to his feet and began to speak with great vehemence of manner.
The governor was surprised at his violent gestures, but as he did not understand him, thought he was making some explanation, and suffered his attention to be drawn towards Winnemac, a friendly Indian lying on the grass before him, who was renewing the priming of his pistol, which he had kept concealed from the other Indians, but in full view of the governor. His attention, however, was again directed towards Tecumseh, by hearing
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General Gibson, who was intimately acquainted with the Shawanoe language, say to lieu- tenant Jennings, " those fellows intend mischief ; you had better bring up the guard." At that moment, the followers of Tecumseh seized their tomahaws and war clubs, and sprung upon their feet, their eyes turned upon the governor. As soon as he could disengage him- self from the armed chair in which he sat, he rose, drew a small sword which he had by his side, and stood on the defensive. Captain G. R. Floyd, of the army, who stood near him, drew a dirk, and the chief Winnemac cocked his pistol. The citizens present were more numerous than the Indians, but were unarmed ; some of them procured clubs and brick-bats, and also stood on the defensive. The Rev. Mr. Winans, of the Methodist church, ran to the governor's house, got a gun, and posted himself at the door to defend the family. During this singular scene, no one spoke, until the guard came running up, and appearing to be in the act of firing, the governor ordered them not to do so. He then demanded of the interpreter an explanation of what had happened, who replied that Te- cumseh had interrupted him, declaring that all the governor had said was false, and that he and the Seventeen Fires had cheated and imposed on the Indians. The governor then told Tecumseh that he was a bad man, and that he would hold no further communication with him ; that as he had come to Vincennes under the protection of a council-fire, he might return in safety, but that he must immediately leave the village. Here the council terminated.
The undoubted purpose of the brothers now being known, Gov. Harrison proceeded to prepare for the contest he knew must ensue. In June of the year following, (1811,) he sent a message to the Shawanoes, bidding them beware of hostilities, to which Tecumseh gave a brief reply, promising to visit the governor. This visit he paid in July, accompanied by 300 followers, but as the Americans were prepared and determined, nothing resulted, and Tecumseh proceeded to the south, as it was supposed, to enlist the Creeks in the cause.
In the meanwhile, Harrison took measures to increase his regular force ; his plan was to again warn the Indians to obey the treaty of Greenville, but at the same time to prepare to break up the prophet's establishment, if necessary. On the 5th of October, having received his reinforcements, he was on the Wabash, about 60 miles above Vincennes, where he built Fort Harrison. On the 7th of Novem- ber following, he was attacked by the Indians at Tippecanoe, and defeated them. Peace on the frontiers was one of the happy results of this severe and brilliant action.
With the battle of Tippecanoe, the prophet lost his popularity and power among the Indians, he having, previously to the battle, promised them certain victory.
On the first commencement of the war of 1812, Tecumseh was in the field, prepared for the conflict. In July, there was an assem- blage at Brownstown of those Indians who were inclined to neu- trality. A deputation was sent to Malden to Tecumseh to attend this council. "No," said he indignantly, "I have taken sides with the king, my father, and I will suffer my bones to bleach upon this shore, before I will recross that stream to join in any council of neu- trality." He participated in the battle of Brownstown, and com- manded the Indians in the action near Maguaga. In the last he was wounded, and it is supposed that his bravery and good conduct led to his being shortly after appointed Brigadier General in the service of the British King. In the seige of Fort Meigs, Tecumseh behaved with great bravery and humanity. (See Wood co.)
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Immediately after the signal defeat of Proctor, at Fort Stephen- son, he returned with the British troops to Malden by water, while Tecumseh, with his followers, passed over by land, round the head of Lake Erie, and joined him at that point. Discouraged by the want of success, and having lost all confidence in Gen. Proctor, Te- cumseh seriously meditated a withdrawal from the contest, but was induced to remain.
When Perry's battle was fought, it was witnessed by the Indians from the distant shore. . On the day succeeding the engagement, Gen. Proctor said to Tecumseh, " my fleet has whipped the Americans, but the vessels being much injured, have gone into Put-in Bay to refit, and will be here in a few days." This deception, however, upon the Indians was not of long duration. The sagacious eye of Tecumseh soon perceived indications of a retreat from Malden, and he promptly inquired into the matter. Gen. Proctor informed him that he was only going to send their valuable property up the Thames, where it would meet a reinforcement, and be safe. Tecumseh, however, was not to be deceived by this shallow device ; and remonstrated most urgently against a retreat. He finally demanded, in the name of all the Indians under his command, to be heard by the general, and, on the 18th of September, delivered to him, as the representative of their great father, the king, the following speech :---
" Father, listen to your children ! you have them now all before you.
" The war before this, our British father gave the hatchet to his red children, when our old chiefs were alive. They are now dead. In that war our father was thrown upon his back by the Americans ; and our father took them by the hand without our knowledge ; and we are afraid that our father will do so again at this time.
" Summer before last, when I came forward with my red brethren and was ready to take up the hatchet in favor of our British father, we were told not to be in a hurry, that he had not yet determined to fight the Americans.
" Listen ! when war was declared, our father stood up and gave us the tomahawk, and told us that he was then ready to strike the Americans; that he wanted our assistance, and that he would certainly get our lands back, which the Americans had taken from us.
" Listen ! you told us at that time, to bring forward our families to this place, and we did so ; and you promised to take care of them, and they should want for nothing, while the men would go and fight the enemy ; that we need not trouble ourselves about the ene- my's garrisons ; that we knew nothing about them, and that our father would attend to that part of the business. You also told your red children that you would take good care of your garrison here, which made our hearts glad.
" Listen ! when we were last at the Rapids, it is true we gave you little assistance. It is hard to fight people who live like ground-hogs.'
" Father, listen ! our fleet has gone out ; we know they have fought ; we have heard the great guns ; but we know nothing of what has happened to our father with one arm. Our ships have gone one way, and we are much astonished to see our father tying up every thing and preparing to run away the other, without letting his red children know what his intentions are. You always told us to remain here and take care of our lands ; it made our hearts glad to hear that was your wish. Our great father, the king, is the head, and you represent him. You always told us you would never draw your foot off British ground ; but now, father, we see that you are drawing back, and we are sorry to see our father do- ing so without seeing the enemy. We must compare our father's conduct to a fat dog, that carries his tail on its back, and when affrighted, drops it between its legs and runs off.
" Father, listen ! the Americans have not yet defeated us by land ; neither are we sure that they have done so by water ; we, therefore, wish to remain here and fight our enemy, should they make their appearance. If they defeat us, we will then retreat with our father.
" At the battle of the Rapids, last war, the Americans certainly defeated us ; and when we returned to our father's fort at that place, the gates were shut against us. We were afraid that it would now be the case ; but instead of that, we now see our British father preparing to march out of his garrison.
" Father, you have got the arms and ammunition which our great father sent for his red children. If you have an idea of going away, give them to us, and you may go and wel- come, for us. Our lives are in the hands of the Great Spirit. We are determined to de- fend our lands, and if it be his will, we wish to leave our bones upon them."
Tecumseh entered the battle of the Thames with a strong conviction that he should not survive it. Further flight he deemed disgraceful, while the hope of victory in the im pending
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action, was feeble and distant. He, however, heroically resolved to achieve the latter or die in the effort. With this determination he took his stand among his followers, raised the war-cry and boldly met the enemy. From the commencement of the attack on the Indian line, his voice was distinctly heard by his followers, animating them to deeds worthy of the race to which they belonged. When that well-known voice was heard no longer above the din of arms, the battle ceased. The British troops having already surrendered, and the gallant leader of the Indians having fallen, they gave up the contest and fled. A short distance from where Tecumseh fell, the body of his friend and brother-in-law, Wasegoboah, was found. They had often fought side by side, and now, in front of their men, bravely bat- tling the enemy, they side by side closed their mortal career.
" Thus fell the Indian warrior Tecumseh, in the 44th year of his age. He was of the Shawanoe tribe, five feet ten inches high, and with more than the usual stoutness, possessed all the agility and perseverance of the Indian character. His carriage was dignified, his eye penetrating, his countenance, which even in death, betrayed the indications of a lofty spirit, rather of the sterner cast. Had he not possessed a certain austerity of manners, he could never have controlled the wayward passions of those who followed him to battle. He was of a silent habit ; but when his eloquence became roused into action by the reiterated encroachments of the Americans, his strong intellect could supply him with a flow of ora- tory that enabled him, as he governed in the field, so to prescribe in the council. Those who consider that in all territorial questions, the ablest diplomatists of the United States are sent to negotiate with the Indians, will readily appreciate the loss sustained by the lat- ter in the death of their champion. Such a man was the unlettered sav- age, Tecumseh, and such a man have the Indians lost forever. He has left a son, who, when his father fell, was about seventeen years old, and fought by his side. The prince regent, in 1814, out of respect to the memory of the old, sent out as a present to the young , Tecumseh, a handsome sword. Unfortunately, however, for the Indian cause and country, faint are the prospects that Tecumseh the son, will ever equal, in wisdom or prowess, Te- cumseh the father."
It is stated by Mr. James, a British historian, that Tecumseh, after he fell, was not only scalped, but that his body was actually flayed, and the skin converted into razor-straps by the Kentuckians. Amid the great amount of conflicting testimony relating to the circum- stances of Tecumseh's death, it is extremely difficult, if not impossi- ble, to ascertain the precise facts. It is, however, generally be- lieved that he fell by a pistol-shot, fired by Col. Richard M. Johnson of Kentucky, who acted a most prominent part in this battle.
Springfield, the county seat, is 43 miles w. of Columbus, on the National road, and on the line of the railroads connecting Cincinnati with Sandusky city. It was laid out in 1803, by James Demint. It is surrounded by a handsome and fertile country, is noted for the morality and intelligence of its inhabitants, and, by many, is consid- ered the most beautiful village within the limits of Ohio. The east- ern fork of Mad river washes it on the north, a stream described " as unequalled for fine mill seats, its current very rapid, and the water never so low in the driest season as to interfere with the mills now upon it." Through the place runs the Lagonda, or Buck creek, a swift and unfailing mill stream. Within a range of three miles of the town are upwards of twenty mill seats. Springfield suffered much during the era of speculation, but is now prospering, and from its nat- ural advantages, is destined to hold a prominent place among the manufacturing towns of the state. The engraving shows its appear- ance as viewed from the National road, a quarter of a mile east ; the main street appears in front, on the left the academy, and on the right the court house, and one of the churches. The view is from a familiar position, but the village, like many other beautiful towns,
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: is so situated that no drawing from any one point can show it to advantage. /
East View of Springfield.
Several of the first settlers of Springfield still remain in and around it; among them may be mentioned the names of John Humphreys, David Lowry and Griffeth Foos, the last of whom oc- cupied the first house built in the town as a tavern.
The Ohio Conference of the Methodist Episcopal church has a flourishing high school at Springfield, for both sexes. A lyceum has been in successful operation about fourteen years, and the pub- lic libraries of the town comprise about 4000 volumes. Spring- field contains 1 Presbyterian, 1 Methodist Episcopal, 1 Methodist Protestant, 1 Episcopal, 1 Associate Reformed Presbyterian, 1 Bap- tist, 1 Lutheran, 1 Universalist, and 1 African Methodist church ; 2 or 3 printing offices ; 3 drug, 1 book, 1 hardware, and 15 dry good stores ; 1 paper, 1 oil, and 3 flouring mills ; 1 cotton, 1 woolen, and 1 sash factory ; 1 foundery and machine shop ; and in 1830, had a population of 1080; in 1840, 2094; in 1846, 2952 ; and in 1847, about 3500.
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