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 39
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Logan took no part in the old French war, which ended in 1760, except that of a peace maker, and was always the friend of the white people until the base murder of his family, to which has been attributed the origin of Dunmore's war. This event took place near the mouth of Yellow creek, in this county, about 17 miles above Steubenville. The circumstances have been variously re- lated. We annex them as given by Henry Jolly, Esq., who was for a number of years an associate judge on the bench of Washing- ton county, in this state. The facts are very valuable, as coming from the pen of one who saw the party the day after the murder ; was personally acquainted with some of the individuals, and fa- miliar with that spot and the surrounding region .* He says:
I was about sixteen years of age, but I very well recollect what I then saw, and the information that I have since obtained, was derived from (I believe) good authority. In the spring of the year 1774, a party of Indians encamped on the northwest of the Ohio near the mouth of the Yellow creek. A party of whites, called " Greathouse's party," lay on the opposite side of the river. The Indians came over to the white party, consisting, I think, of five men and one woman, with an infant. The whites gave them rum, which three of them drank, and in a short time they became very drunk The other two men and the woman refused to drink. The sober Indians were chal- lenged to shoot at a mark, to which they agreed; and as soon as they had emptied their guns, the whites shot them down. The woman attempted to escape by flight, but was also shot down; she lived long enough, however, to beg mercy for her babe, telling them that it was a kin to themselves. The whites had a man in the cabin, pre-
* This statement was written for Dr. S. P. Hildreth, by Mr. Jolly, and published in Silli- man's Journal, for 1836.
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JEFFERSON COUNTY.
pared with a tomahawk for the purpose of killing the three drunken Indians, which was immediately done. The party of men then moved off for the interior settlements, and came to " Catfish camp" on the evening of the next day, where they tarried until the day following. I very well recollect my mother feeding and dressing the babe ; chirruping to the little innocent, and its smiling. However, they took it away, and talked of sending it to its supposed father, Col. George Gibson, of Carlisle, Pa., " who was then, and had been for many years a trader among the Indians." The remainder of the party at the mouth of Yellow creek, finding that their friends on the opposite side of the river were massa- cred, attempted to escape by descending the Ohio ; and in order to prevent being discovered by the whites, passed on the west side of Wheeling island, and landed at Pipe creek, a small stream that empties into the Ohio a few miles below Grave creek, where they were over- taken by Cresap, with a party of men from Wheeling .* They took one Indian scalp, and had one white man (Big Tarrener) badly wounded. They, I believe, carried him in a lit- ter from Wheeling to Redstone. I saw the party on their return from their victorious cam- paign. The Indians had for some time before these events, thought themselves intruded upon by the " Long Knife," as they at that time called the Virginians, and many of them were for war. However, they called a council, in which Logan acted a conspicuous part. He admitted their grounds of complaint, but at the same time reminded them of some ag- gressions on the part of the Indians, and that by a war they could but harrass and distress the frontier settlements for a short time ; that " the Long Knife" would come like the trees in the woods, and that ultimately they should be driven from the good lands which they now possessed. He therefore strongly recommended peace. To him they all agreed ; grounded the hatchet, and every thing wore a tranquil appearance ; when behold, the fu- gitives arrived from Yellow creek ; and reported that Logan's father, brother and sister, were murdered ! Three of the nearest and dearest relations of Logan, had been massa- cred by white men. The consequence was, that this same Logan, who a few days before was so pacific, raised the hatchet, with a declaration that he would not ground it until he had taken ten for one ; which I believe he completely fulfilled, by taking thirty scalps and prisoners in the summer of 1774. The above has often been related to me by several per- sons who were at the Indian towns at the time of the council alluded to, and also when the remains of the party came in from Yellow creek. Thomas Nicholson in particular, has told me the above and much more. Another person (whose name I cannot recollect) in- formed me that he was at the towns when the Yellow creek Indians came in, and that there was great lamentation by all the Indians of that place. Some friendly Indian advised him to leave the Indian settlements, which he did. Could any rational person believe for a moment, that the Indians came to Yellow creek with hostile intentions, or that they had any suspicion of similar intentions on the part of the whites, against them ? Would five men have crossed the river, three of them become in a short time dead drunk, while the other two discharged their guns, and thus put themselves entirely at the mercy of the whites ; or would they have brought over a squaw with an infant pappoos, if they had not reposed the utmost confidence in the friendship of the whites ? Every person who is at all acquainted with Indians knows better ; and it was the belief of the inhabitants who were capable of reasoning on the subject, that all the depredations committed on the frontiers, by Logan and his party, in 1774, were as a retaliation for the murder of Logan's friends at Yellow creek. It was well known that Michael Cresap had no hand in the massacre at Yellow creek.t
During the war which followed, Logan frequently showed his magnanimity towards prisoners who fell into his hands. Among them was Maj. Wm. Robinson, of Clarksburg, Va., from whose de- claration, given in Jefferson's Notes, and information orally commu-
* Cresap did not live at Wheeling, but happened to be there at that time with a party of men, who had, with himself, just returned from an exploring expedition down the Ohio, or the purpose of selecting and appropriating lands (called in the west, locating lands) long the river in choice situations ; a practice at that early day very common, when Vir- nia claimed both sides of the stream, including what is now the state of Ohio .- S. P. H. t A brother of Capt. Daniel Greathouse, said to have been present at the massacre, was killed by the Indians the 24th March, 1791, between the mouth of the Scioto and Lime- stone, while emigrating to Kentucky in a flat boat, with his family. He seems to have made little or no resistance to the Indians, who attacked him in canoes. They probably knew who he was, and remembered the slaughter of Logan's family, as he was taken on shore, tied to a tree, and whipped to death with rods .- S. P. H.
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JEFFERSON COUNTY.
nicated by his son, Col. James Robinson, now living near Coshocton, these facts are derived.
On the 12th of July, 1774, Major Robinson, then a resident on the west fork of Monongahela river, was in the field with Mr. Colburn Brown and Mr. Helen, pulling flax, when they were surprised and fired upon by a party of eight Indians, led by Logan. Mr. Brown was killed and the other two made prisoners. On the first alarm, Mr. Robinson started and ran. When he had got about 50 yards, Logan called out in English, "Stop, I won't hurt you !" "Yes, you will," replied Robinson, in tones of fear. "No, I won't," rejoined Logan, " but if you don't stop, by - I'll shoot you." Robinson still continued his race, but stumbling over a log, fell and was made cap- tive by a fleet savage in pursuit. Logan immediately made himself known to Mr. Robinson and manifested a friendly disposition to him, told him that he must be of good heart and go with him to his town, where he would probably be adopted in some of their families. When near the Indian village, on the site of Dresden, Muskingum county, Logan informed him that he must run the gauntlet, and gave him such directions, that he reached the council-house without the slightest harm. He was then tied to a stake for the purpose of being burnt, when Logan arose and addressed the assembled council of chiefs, in his behalf. He spoke long and with great energy, until the saliva foamed from the sides of his mouth. This was followed by other chiefs in opposition, and rejoinders from Logan. Three separate times was he tied to the stake to be burnt, the councils of the hostile chiefs prevailing, and as often untied by Logan and a belt of wampum placed around him as a mark of adoption. His life ap- peared to hang on a balance ; but the eloquence of Logan prevailed, and when the belt of wampum was at last put on him by Logan, he introduced a young Indian to him, saying, "this is your cousin, you are to go home with him and he will take care of you."
From this place, Mr. Robinson accompanied the Indians up the Muskingum, through two or three Indian villages, until they arrived at one of their towns on the site of New Comerstown, in Tusca- rawas county. About the 21st of July, Logan came to Robinson and brought a piece of paper, saying that he must write a letter for him, which he meant to carry and leave in some house, which he should attack. Mr. Robinson wrote a note with ink, which he man- ufactured from gun-powder. He made three separate attempts before he could get the language, which Logan dictated, sufficiently strong to satisfy that chief. This note was addressed to Col. Cresap, whom Logan supposed was the murderer of his family. It was afterwards found, tied to a war club, in the cabin of a settler who lived on or near the north fork of Holston river .* It was doubtless left by Lo- gan after murdering the family. A copy of it is given below, which on comparison with his celebrated speech, shows a striking similar- ity of style.
* See letter of Judge Innes, in the Pioneer, Vol. I, p. 14.
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JEFFERSON COUNTY.
CAPTAIN CRESAP :
What did you kill my people on Yellow creek for ? The white people killed my kin, at Conestoga, a great while ago; and I thought nothing of that. But you killed my kin again on Yellow creek and took my cousin prisoner. Then I thought I must kill too; and I have been three times to war since ; but the Indians are not angry ; only myself.
July 21st, 1774.
CAPTAIN JOHN LOGAN.
Major Robinson, after remaining with the Indians about four months, returned to his home in Virginia. In 1801, he removed to Coshocton county, and settled on a section of military land, on the Muskingum, a few miles below Coshocton, where he died in 1815, aged 72 years. His son resides on the same farm.
Dunmore's war was of short duration. It was terminated in No- vember of the same year, within the present limits of Pickaway county, in this state, under which head will be found a copy of the speech which has rendered immortal the name of Logan.
The heroic adventure of the two Johnson boys, who killed two Indians in this county, has often and erroneously been published. One of these, Henry, the youngest is yet living in Monroe county, in this state, where we made his acquaintance in the spring of 1846. He is a fine specimen of the fast vanishing race of Indian hunters, tall and erect, with the bearing of a genuine backwoodsman. His narrative, recently published in a Woodsfield paper, here follows :
I was born in Westmoreland county, Pa., on the 4th day of February, 1777. When I was about eight years old, my father having a large family to provide for, sold his farm with the expectation of acquiring larger possessions farther west. Thus he was stimulated to encounter the perils of a pioneer life. He crossed the Ohio river and bought some im- provements on what was called Beach Bottom flats, two and a half miles from the river, and three or four miles above the mouth of Short creek. Soon after he came there, the Indians became troublesome. They stole horses and various other things, and killed a number of persons in our neighborhood.
When I was between eleven and twelve years old, I think it was the fall of 1788, I was taken prisoner with my brother John, who was about eighteen months older than I. The circumstances are as follows: On Saturday evening we were out with an older brother, and came home late in the evening; one of us had lost a hat, and John and I went back the next day to look for it. We found the hat, and sat down on a log and were cracking nuts. After a short time, we saw two men coming down from the direction of the house ; from their dress we took them to be two of our neighbors, James Perdue and J. Russell. We paid but little attention to them till they came quite near us. To escape by flight was now impossible, had we been disposed to try it. We sat still until they came up to us. One of them said, " how do brodder ;" my brother then asked them if they were Indians, and they answered in the affirmative, and said we must go with them. One of them had a blue buckskin, which he gave my brother to carry, and without further cere- mony, we took up the line of march for the wilderness; not knowing whether we should ever return to the cheerful home we had left ; and not having much love for our command- ing officers, of course we obeyed martial orders rather tardily. One of the Indians walked about ten steps before, and the other about the same distance behind us. After travelling some distance we halted in a deep hollow and sat down. They took out their knives and whet them, and talked some time in the Indian tongue, which we could not understand. I told my brother that I thought they were going to kill us, and I believe he thought so too ; for he began to talk to them, and told them that his father was cross to him and made him work hard, and that he did not like hard work, that he would rather be a hunter and live in the woods. This seemed to please them, for they put up their knives and talked more lively and pleasantly to us. We returned the same familiarity, and many questions passed be- tween us; all parties were very inquisitive. They asked my brother which way home was, and he told them the contrary way every time they would ask him, although he knew the way very well: this would make them laugh ; they thought we were lost and that we knew no better.
They conducted us over Short creek hills in search of horses, but found none ; so we
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JEFFERSON COUNTY.
continued on foot. Night came on, and we halted in a low hollow, about 3 miles from Carpenter's fort, and about 4 from the place where they first took us. Our route being somewhat circuitous and full of zigzags, we made headway but slowly. As night began to close in around us, I became fretful ; my brother encouraged me, by whispering to me that we would kill the Indians that night. After they had selected the place of encampment, one of them scouted round the camp, while the other struck fire, which was done by stop- ping the touch-hole of the gun and flashing powder in the pan. After the Indian got the fire kindled, he re-primed the gun and went to an old stump to get some dry tinder wood for fire ; and while he was thus employed, my brother John took the gun, cocked it, and was about to shoot the Indian ; but I was alarmed fearing the other might be close by, and be able to overpower us; so I remonstrated against his shooting and took hold of the gun and prevented the shot. I, at the same time, begged him to wait till night and I would help him to kill them both. The Indian that had taken the scout came back about dark. We took our suppers, talked some time and went to bed on the naked ground to try to rest, and study out the best mode of attack. They put us between them, that they might be the better able to guard us. After a while one of the Indians, supposing we were asleep, got up and stretched himself down on the other side of the fire, and soon began to snore. John, who had been watching every motion, found they were sound asleep, and whispered to me to get up. We got up as carefully as possible. John took the gun which the Indian struck fire with, cocked it and placed it in the direction of the head of one the Indians ; he then took a tomahawk and drew it over the head of the other ; I pulled the trigger and he struck at the same instant ; the blow, falling too far back on the neck, only stunned the Indian ; he attempted to spring to his feet, uttering most hideous yells. Al- though my brother repeated the blows with some effect, the conflict became terrible and somewhat doubtful. The Indian, however, was forced to yield to the blows he received upon his head, and, in a short time, he lay quiet and still at our feet. After we were satis- fied that they were both dead, and fearing there were others close by, we hurried off, and took nothing with us but the gun I shot with. We took our course towards the river, and in about three quarters of a mile we found a path which led to Carpenter's fort. My brother here hung up his hat, that we might know on our return where to turn off to find our camp. We got to the fort a little before daybreak. We related our adventure, and a small party went back with my brother and found the Indian that was tomahawked ; the other had crawled away a short distance with the gun. A skeleton and a gun were found, some time after, near the place where we had encamped.
The last blood shed in battle between the whites and Indians in this part of the Ohio country, was in Jefferson county, in August, 1793. This action, known as "Buskirk's battle," took place on the farm of Mr. John Adams, on what was then known as Indian Cross creek now as Battle-Ground run. The incidents given below were published in a Steubenville paper, a few years since.
A party of twenty eight Indians having committed depredations on this side of the river, a force of thirty eight Virginians, all of them veteran Indian fighters, under Capt. Bus- kirk, crossed the river to give them battle. And although they knew they were in the vicin- ity of the enemy, they marched into an ambuscade, and but for a most singular circum- stance, would have been mowed down like pigeons. The whites marched in Indian file with their captain, Buskirk, at their head. The ambush quartered on their flank, and they were totally unsuspicious of it. The plan of the Indians was to permit the whites to ad- vance in numbers along the line before firing upon them. This was done, but instead of each selecting his man, every gun was directed at the captain, who fell with thirteen bullet holes in his body. The whites and Indians instantly treed, and the contest lasted more than an hour. The Indians, however, were defeated, and retreated towards the Musk- ingum with the loss of several killed, while the Virginians, with the exception of their captain, had none killed and but three wounded.
STEUBENVILLE is on the Ohio river, 22 miles above Wheeling, 35 below Pittsburg and 147 E. by N. from Columbus. It derives its name from a fort, called Fort Steuben, erected on its site as early as 1789. It stood on High street, near the site of the female semi- nary. It was built of block-houses connected by palisade fences,
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JEFFERSON COUNTY.
and was dismantled at the time of Wayne's victory, previous to which it had been garrisoned by U. S. infantry, under the command of Col. Beatty, father of the Rev. Dr. Beatty, of Steubenville. On the opposite side of the river then stood a block-house.
OH H
Steubenville Female Seminary.
The town was laid out in 1798, by Bezaleel Wells and the Hon. James Ross of Pennsylvania, from whom Ross county, in this state, derived its name. Mr. Ross, who has attained high honor, is yet living ; but Mr. Wells died poor, after having been at one time con- sidered the most wealthy person in eastern Ohio. On the 14th of February, 1805, the town was incorporated and the following officers appointed : David Hull, president ; John Ward, recorder ; David Hog, Zacheus A. Beatty, Benj. Hough, Thos. Vincents, John Eng- land, Martin Andrews and Abm. Cazier, trustees ; Samuel Hunter, treasurer ; Matthew Adams, assessor ; Charles Maxwell, collector, and Anthony Beck, town marshall.
Steubenville is situated upon a handsome and elevated plain, in the midst of beautiful scenery. The country adjacent is rich and highly cultivated, affording the finest soil for wheat and sheep. Messrs. Bezaleel Wells and Dickerson introduced the merino sheep at an early day, and established in the town, in 1814, a woolen Inanufactory, which laid the foundation for the extensive manufac-
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KNOX COUNTY.
tures of the place. Steubenville contains about 30 mercantile stores, 2 printing offices, (1 daily newspaper,) 1 Episcopal, 2 Presbyterian, 3 Methodist, 1 Catholic, 1 Baptist, 1 Associate Reformed, 1 New Jerusalem and 1 church for persons of color, 1 bank, 5 woolen, 1 paper, 1 cotton and 2 glass manufactories, 1 iron foundery and nu- merous other manufacturing and mechanical establishments. In the vicinity are 7 copperas manufactories. From 800 to 1000 hands are employed in these various establishments, and over a million bush- els of coal annually consumed, which is obtained from inexhaustible coal beds in the vicinity, at 3 cents per bushel. The town is very thriving and rapidly increasing. Its population in 1810, was 800 ; in 1820, 2,479 ; in 1830, 2,964 ; in 1840, 4,247, and in 1847, about 7,000.
Much attention is given to the cause of education in Steubenville. There are 5 public and 4 select schools, a male academy and a fe- male seminary. The male institution, called "Grove academy," is flourishing. It is under the charge of the Rev. John W. Scott, has 3 teachers and 80 scholars. The female seminary is pleasantly sit- uated on the bank of the Ohio, commanding an extensive view of the river and the surrounding hills. It is under the charge of the Rev. Charles C. Beatty, D. D., superintendent, and Mrs. Hetty E. Beatty, principal. It was first established in the spring of 1829, and now receives only scholars over twelve years of age. It is in a very high degree flourishing, having a widely extended reputation. The establishment cost nearly $40,000, employs from 10 to 12 teach- ers and usually has 150 pupils, the full number which it can accom- modate.
Mount Pleasant, 21 miles sw. of Steubenville, is a large and flour- ishing village, containing 4 churches, beside 2 Friends meeting houses, 8 or 10 stores, a female seminary, and by the census of 1840. had 666 inhabitants ; and now has about 1000. Richmond, 11 NW. of S., has 5 stores, a classical academy for males, 2 churches, 1 Friends meeting house and about 500 inhabitants. Smithfield, 14 sw. of S., has about the same number of stores, churches and inhabi- tants, as Richmond. The following are names of villages in Jeffer- son, with their population in 1840: Warren 209, Knoxville 166, Springfield 138, Tiltonville 137, Portland 113, Wintersville 107, New Trenton 103, New Somerset 98, New Amsterdam 85, New- burgh 75, York 54 and Monroesville 49.
KNOX.
KNOX was named from General Henry Knox, a native of Boston, general in the war of the revolution, and secretary of war in Wash- ington's administration. It was formed from Fairfield, March 1st, 1808. The north and east part is hilly-the central west and south part, undulating or level. The bottom lands of the streams are very
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MARKET STREET, STEUBENVILLE.
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KNOX COUNTY.
rich, particularly those of Vernon river, which stream affords abun- dance of water power. The principal productions are wheat, Indian corn, oats, tobacco, maple sugar, potatoes and wool. The following is a list of its townships in 1840, with their population.
Berlin,
1100
Harrison,
833
Miller,
977
Bloomfield,
1252
Hillier,
1012
Monroe,
1258
Brown,
1204
Howard,
999
Morgan,
912
Butler,
647
Jackson,
994
Morris,
1077
Chester,
1297
Jefferson,
994
Pike,
1216
Clay,
1304
Liberty,
1205
Pleasant,
888
Clinton,
920
Middlebury,
1002
Union,
1098
Franklin,
1343
Milford,
1157
The population of Knox, in 1820, was 8,326, in 1830, 17,125, and in 1840, 29,584 ; or 48 inhabitants to a square mile.
The early settlers of the county were mainly from the middle states, with some of New England origin. In 1805, Mount Vernon was laid out, and named by the proprietors of the soil, who were Joseph Walker, Thos. B. Paterson and Benj. Butler, from the seat of Washington. At this time, the county was thinly settled. Two years after, the principal settlers were, as far as their names are recollected, the Rileys, Darlings, Shriplins, Butlers, Kritchfields, Welkers, Dials, Logues, and De Witts, on Vernon river. In other parts of the county, the Hurds, Beams, Hunts and Dimick, Kerr, Ayres, Dalrymple, Houck, Hilliard, the Youngs, Mitchells, Bryants, Knights and Walkers. In the spring of 1807, there were only three families living on the plat of Mount Vernon, viz. : Benjamin Butler, tavern-keeper, from Penn., Peter Coyle, and James Craig. The early settlers of the village were, beside those named, Joseph and James Walker, Michael Click, David and Wm. Petigrue, Samuel Kratzer, Gilman Bryant, and Rev. James Smith, who came in 1808, and was the first Methodist clergyman.
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