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 5
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After we had rendezvoused, preparatory to moving, we were detained several weeks waiting until they had got over their tedious round of religious ceremonies, some of which were public and others kept private from us: One of their first acts was to take away the fencing from the graves of their fathers, level them to the surrounding surface, and cover them so neatly with green sod, that not a trace of the graves could be seen. Subsequently, a few of the chiefs and others visited their friends at a distance, gave and received presents from chiefs of other nations, at their head quarters.
Among the ceremonies above alluded to was a dance, in which none participated but the warriors. They threw off all their clothing but their britchclouts, painted their faces and naked bodies in a fantastical manner, covering them with the pictures of snakes and disa- greeable insects and animals, and then armed with war clubs, commenced dancing, yelling and frightfully distorting their countenances: the scene was truly terrific. This was fol- lowed by the dance they usually have on returning from a victorious battle, in which both sexes participated. It was a pleasing contrast to the other, and was performed in the night, in a ring, around a large fire. In this they sang and marched, males and females promis- cuously, in single file, around the blaze. The leader of the band commenced singing, while all the rest were silent until he had sung a certain number of words, then the next in the row commenced with the same, and the leader began with a new set, and so on to the end of their chanting. All were singing at once, but no two the same words. I was told that part of the words they used were hallelujah! It was pleasing to witness the native modesty and graceful movements of those young females in this dance.
When their ceremonies were over, they informed us they were now ready to leave They then mounted their horses, and such as went in wagons seated themselves, and sei out with their " high priest" in front, bearing on his shoulders " the ark of the covenant," which consisted of a large gourd and the bones of a deer's leg tied to its neck. Just pre vious to starting, the priest gave a blast of his trumpet, then moved slowly and solemnly while the others followed in like manner, until they were ordered to halt in the evening for encampment, when the priest gave another blast as a signal to stop, erect their tents. and cook supper. The same course was observed through the whole of the journey. When they arrived near St. Louis, they lost some of their number by cholera. The Shaw- nees who emigrated numbered about 700 souls, and the Senecas about 350. Among them was also a detachment of Ottawas, who were conducted by Capt. Hollister from the Maumee country.
The principal speaker among the Shawnees at the period of their removal, was Wiwelipea. He was an eloquent orator-either grave or gay, humorous or severe, as the occasion required. At times
33
ALLEN COUNTY.
his manner was so fascinating, his countenance so full of varied expression, and his voice so musical, that surveyors and other stran- gers passing through the country, listened to him with delight, al- though the words fell upon their ears in an unknown language. He removed out west with his tribe. The chief Catahecassa, or Black Hoof, died at Wapakonetta, shortly previous to their removal, at the age of 110 years. The sketches annexed of Black Hoof and Blue Jacket, are derived from Drake's Tecumseh.
Among the celebrated chiefs of the Shawanoes, Black Hoof is entitled to a high rank. He was born in Florida, and at the period of the removal of a portion of that tribe to Ohio and Pennsylvania, was old enough to recollect having bathed in the salt water. He was present, with others of his tribe, at the defeat of Braddock, near Pittsburg, in 1755, and was engaged in all the wars in Ohio from that time until the treaty of Greenville, in 1795. Such was the sagacity of Black Hoof in planning his military expeditions, and such the energy with which he executed them, that he won the confidence of his whole nation, and was never at a loss for braves to fight under his banner. " He was known far and wide as the great Shawanoe warrior, whose cunning, sagacity, and experience, were only equalled by the fierce and desperate bravery with which he carried into operation his military plans. Like the other Shawanoe chiefs, he was the inveterate foe of the white man, and held that no peace should be made, nor any negociation attempted, except on the condition that the whites should repass the mountains, and leave the great plains of the west to the sole occu- pancy of the native tribes.
" He was the orator of his tribe during the greater part of his long life, and was an ex- cellent speaker. The venerable Colonel Johnston, of Piqua, to whom we are indebted for much valuable information, describes him as the most graceful Indian he had ever seen, and as possessing the most natural and happy faculty of expressing his ideas. He was well versed in the traditions of his people ; no one understood better their peculiar relations to the whites, whose settlements were gradually encroaching on them, or could detail with more minuteness the wrongs with which his nation was afflicted. But although a stern and uncompromising opposition to the whites had marked his policy through a series of forty years, and nerved his arm in a hundred battles, he became at length convinced of the mad- ness of an ineffectual struggle against a vastly superior and hourly increasing foe. No sooner had he satisfied himself of this truth, than he acted upon it with the decision which formed a prominent trait in his character. The temporary success of the Indians in several engagements previous to the campaign of General Wayne, had kept alive their expiring hopes ; but their signal defeat by that gallant officer convinced the more reflecting of their leaders of the desperate character of the conflict. Black Hoof was among those who de- cided upon making terms with the victorious American commander ; and having signed the treaty of 1795, at Greenville, he continued faithful to his stipulations during the re- mainder of his life. From that day, he ceased to be the enemy of the white man ; and as he was not one who could act a negative part, he became the firm ally and friend of those against whom his tomahawk had been so long raised in vindictive animosity. He was their friend, not from sympathy or conviction, but in obedience to a necessity which left no middle course, and under a belief that submission alone could save his tribe from destruc- tion ; and having adopted this policy, his sagacity and sense of honor, alike forbade a recurrence either to open war or secret hostility. He was the principal chief of the Shawa- noe nation, and possessed all the influence and authority which are usually attached to that office, at the period when Tecumseh and his brother the Prophet commenced their hostile operations against the United States."
When Tecumseh and the Prophet embarked in their scheme for the recovery of the lands as far south as the Ohio river, it became their interest as well as policy to enlist Black Hoof in the enterprise ; and every effort which the genius of the one, and the cunning of the other, could devise, was brought to bear upon him. But Black Hoof continued faithful to the treaty which he had signed at Greenville, in 1795, and by prudence and influence kept the greater part of his tribe from joining the standard of Tecumseh or engaging on the side of the British in the late war with England. In that contest he became the ally of the United States, and although he took no active part in it, he exerted a very salutary in- fluence over his tribe. In January, 1813, he visited Gen. Tupper's camp, at Fort McArthur, and while there, about ten o'clock one night, when sitting by the fire in company with the General and several other officers, some one fired a pistol through a hole in the wall of the
5
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ALLEN COUNTY.
nut, and shot Black Hoof in the face : the ball entered the cheek, glanced against the bone, and finally lodged in his neck : he fell, and for some time was supposed to be dead, but revived, and afterwards recovered from this severe wound. The most prompt and diligent inquiry as to the author of this cruel and dastardly act, failed to lead to his detection. No doubt was entertained that this attempt at assassination was made by a white man, stimu- lated perhaps by no better excuse than the memory of some actual or ideal wrong, inflicted on some of his own race by an unknown hand of kindred color with that of his intended victim.
Black Hoof was opposed to polygamy, and to the practice of burning prisoners. He is reported to have lived forty years with one wife, and to have reared a numerous family of children, who both loved and esteemed him. His disposition was cheerful, and his conver- sation sprightly and agreeable. In stature he was small, being not more than five feet eight inches in height. He was favored with good health, and unimpaired eye sight to the period of his death.
BLUE JACKET, OR WEYAPIERSENWAH .- In the campaign of General Harmar, in the year 1790, Blue Jacket was associated with the Miami chief, Little Turtle, in the command of the Indians. In the battle of the 20th of August, 1794, when the combined army of, the Indians was defeated by General Wayne, Blue Jacket had the chief control. The night previous to the battle, while the Indians were posted at Presque Isle, a council was held, composed of chiefs from the Miamis, Potawatimies, Delawares, Shawanoes, Chippewas, Utta was and Senecas-the seven nations engaged in the action. They decided against the proposition to attack General Wayne that night in his encampment. The expediency of meeting him the next day then came up for consideration. Little Turtle was opposed to this measure, but being warmly supported by Blue Jacket, it was finally agreed upon. The former was strongly inclined to peace, and decidedly opposed to risking a battle under the circumstances in which the Indians were then placed. " We have beaten the enemy," said he, " twice, under separate commanders. We cannot expect the same good fortune always to attend us. The Americans are now led by a chief who never sleeps The night and the day are alike to him; and, during all the time that he has been marching upon our wllages, notwithstanding the watchfulness of our young men, we have never been able to surprise him. Think well of it. There is something whispers me, it would be prudent to listen to his offers of peace." The councils of Blue Jacket, however, prevailed over the better judgment of Little Turtle. The battle was fought and the Indians defeated.
In the month of October following this defeat, Blue Jacket concurred in the expediency of sueing for peace, and at the head of a deputation of chiefs, was about to bear a flag to General Wayne, then at Greenville, when the mission was arrested by foreign influence. Governor Simcoe, Colonel McKee and the Mohawk chief, Captain John Brant, having in charge one hundred and fifty Mohawks and Messasagoes, arrived at the rapids of the Maumee, and invited the chiefs of the combined army to meet them at the mouth of the Detroit river, on the 10th of October. To this Blue Jacket assented, for the purpose of hearing what the British officers had to propose. Governor Simcoe urged the Indians to retain their hostile attitude towards the United States. In referring to the encroachments of the people of this country on the Indian lands, he said, " Children: I am still of the opinion that the Ohio is your right and title. I have given orders to the commandant of Fort Miami to fire on the Americans whenever they make their appearance again. I will go down to Quebec, and lay your grievances before the great man. From thence they will be forwarded to the king your father. Next spring you will know the result of every thing what you and I will do." He urged the Indians to obtain a cessation of hostilities, until the following spring, when the English would be ready to attack the Americans, and by driving them back across the Ohio, restore their lands to the Indians. These councils de- layed the conclusion of peace until the following summer. Blue Jacket was present at the treaty of Greenville, in 1795, and conducted himself with moderation and dignity.
Westminster, Lafayette, Allentown, Gallatin, St. Johns and Uni- opolis are small places, the largest of which, Westminster, does not contain over 45 dwellings. Fort Amanda, a stockade in the last war, was on a commanding site on the west bank of the Big An- glaise, near the western line of the county, and on the site of an old Ottawa town. It was built by Kentucky troops, and named after some favorite lady of that state.
35
ASHLAND COUNTY.
ASHLAND.
119668
ASHLAND was formed February 26th, 1846. The surface on the south is hilly, the remainder of the county rolling. The soil of the upland is a sandy loam ; of the valleys-which comprise a large part of the county-a rich sandy and gravelly loam, and very pro- ductive. The principal crop is wheat, of which probably no portion of the state, of equal extent, produces more. A great quantity of oats, corn, potatoes, &c., is raised, and grass and fruit in abundance. A majority of the population are of Pennsylvania origin. Its pres- ent territory originally comprised the townships of Vermillion, Montgomery, Orange, Green and Hanover, with parts of Monroe, Mifflin, Milton and Clear Creek, of Richland county ; also the prin- cipal part of the townships of Jackson, Perry, Mohecan and Lake, of Wayne county ; of Sullivan and Troy, Lorain county ; and Ruggles, of Huron county. This tract, in 1840, contained a popu- lation of about 20,000, or 50 inhabitants to a square mile.
Public Buildings in Ashland.
Ashland, the county seat, was laid out in 1816, by William Mont- gomery, and bore, for many years, the name of Uniontown; it was changed to its present name in compliment to Henry Clay, whose seat near Lexington, Ky., bears that name. Daniel Carter, from Butler co., Pa., raised the first cabin in the county, about the year 1811, which stood where the store of Wm. Granger now is, in Ashland. Robert Newell, 3 miles east, and Mr. Fry, 1} miles north of the village, raised cabins about the same time. In 1817, the first store was opened by Joseph Sheets, in a frame building now kept as a store by the widow Yonker. Joseph Sheets, David Markley, Sam- uel Ury, Nicholas Shæffer, Alanson Andrews, Elias Slocum and George W. Palmer were among the first settlers of the place. Ash- land is a flourishing village, 89 miles Nw. of Columbus, and 14 from Mansfield. It contains 5 churches, viz : 2 Presbyterian, 1 Episcopal Methodist, 1 Lutheran, and 1 Disciples, 9 dry goods, 4 grocery, 1 book, and 2 drug stores, 2 newspaper printing offices, a flourishing
36
ASHLAND COUNTY.
classical academy, numbering over 100 pupils of both sexes, and a population estimated at 1300. The above view was taken in front of the site selected for the erection of a court house, the Methodist church building-seen on the left-being now used for that purpose : the structures with steeples, commencing on the right, are the 1st Presbyterian church, the academy, and the 2d Presbyterian church.
At the organization of the first court of common pleas for this. county, at Ashland, an old gentleman, by the name of David Burns, was one of the grand jurors, who, as a remarkable fact, it is said, was also a member of the first grand jury ever empaneled in Ohio. The court met near the mouth of Wegee creek, in Belmont county, in 1795: the country being sparsely settled, he was compelled to travel forty miles to the place of holding court.
Jeromeville, 8 miles SE. of Ashland, on Lake Fork of Mohiccan, contains 6 stores and about 500 people. In the late war, it was the only settlement within the present limits of the county, and consisted of a few families, who erected pickets for their safety. There was at that time a Frenchman, named Jerome, who resided there and gave name to the locality. He had been an Indian trader, and had taken a squaw for a wife. The people of that nation always be- came more easily domesticated among the Aborigines than the English. From very early times it was the policy of the French government not to allow their soldiers to take wives with them into the wilderness. Hence the soldiers and traders frequently married among the Indians, and were enabled to sustain themselves with far less difficulty.
The Delaware Indians had a settlement at or near Jeromeville, which they left at the beginning of the war. Their chief was old Captain Pipe, who resided near the road to Mansfield, one mile south of Jeromeville. When young he was a great warrior, and the implacable foe of the whites. He was in St. Clair's defeat, where, according to his own account, he distinguished himself and slaughtered white men until his arm was weary with the work. He had a daughter of great beauty. A young chief, of noble mien, became in love with her, and on his suit being rejected, mortally poisoned himself with the May apple. A Captain Pipe, whose In- dian name was Tauhangecaupouye, removed to the small Delaware Reserve, in the upper part of Marion county, and when his tribe sold out, about 20 years since, accompanied them to the far west, where he has since died.
Loudonville 18 s., Rowsburg 9 E., Savannah 7 Nw., Orange 4 E., and Haysville 8 s. of Ashland, are villages having each from 50 to 60 dwellings. At the last is the Haysville Literary Institute : the building is a substantial brick edifice. Sullivan 14 NE., and Perrys- ville 18 sw., have each but a few dwellings.
37
ASHTABULA COUNTY.
ASHTABULA.
ASHTABULA Was formed June 7, 1807, from Trumbull and Geauga, and organized January 22, 1811. The name of the county was derived from Ashtabula river, which signifies, in the Indian lan- guage, Fish river. For a few miles parallel with the lake shore it is level, the remainder of the surface slightly undulating, and the soil generally clay. Butter and cheese are the principal articles of export. Generally, not sufficient wheat is raised for home consump- tion, but the soil is quite productive in corn and oats. The follow- ing is a list of its townships, in 1840, with their population.
Andover,
881
Kingsville,
1420
Richmond, 384
Ashtabula,
1711
Lenox,
550
Rome,
765
Austinburg,
1048
Milford,
173
Saybrook,
934
Cherry Valley, 689
Monroe,
1326
Sheffield, 683
Conneaut,
2650
Morgan,
643
Trumbull,
439
Denmark,
176
New Lyme,
527
Wayne,
767
Geneva,
1215
Orwell,
458
Williamsfield, 892
Harpersfield,
1399
Phelps,
530
Windsor,
875
Hartsgrove,
553
Pierpont,
639
Jefferson,
710
Plymouth,
706
The population of the county, in 1820, was 7,369 ; in 1830, 14,584; in 1840, 23,724, or 34 inhabitants to a square mile.
This county is memorable from being not only the first settled on the Western Reserve, but the earliest in the whole of northern Ohio. The incidents connected with its early history, although unmarked by scenes of military adventure, are of an interesting nature.
They have been well collected and preserved by the Ash- tabula Historical Society. This association, with a praiseworthy industry, have collected nearly a thousand folio pages of manuscript, relating principally to this county. Some of the articles are finely written, and as a whole, give a better idea of the toils, privations, customs and mode of pioneer life than any work that has ever met our notice. From this collection we have extracted nearly all the historical materials embodied under the head of this county.
On the 4th of July, 1796, the first surveying party of the Western Reserve landed at the mouth of Conneaut creek. Of this event, John Barr, Esq., in his sketch of the Western Reserve, in the National Magazine for December, 1845, has given a narration.
The sons of revolutionary sires, some of them sharers of themselves in the great baptism of the republic, they made the anniversary of their country's freedom a day of ceremonial and rejoicing. They felt that they had arrived at the place of their labors, the-to many of them-sites of home, as little alluring, almost as crowded with dangers, as were the levels of Jamestown, or the rocks of Plymouth to the ancestors who had preceded them in the conquest of the seacoast wilderness of this continent. From old homes and friendly and social associations, they were almost as completely exiled as were the cavaliers who de- barked upon the shores of Virginia, or the Puritans who sought the strand of Massachusetts. Far away as they were from the villages of their birth and boyhood ; before them the track- less forest, or the untraversed lake, yet did they resolve to cast fatigue and privation and
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ASHTABULA COUNTY.
peril from their thoughts for the time being, and give to the day its due, to patriotism its awards. Mustering their numbers, they sat them down on the eastward shore of the stream now known as Conneaut, and, dipping from the lake the liquor in which they pledged their country-their goblets some tin cups of no rare workmanship, yet every way answerable, with the ordnance accompaniment of two or three fowling pieces discharging the required national salute-the first settlers of the Reserve spent their landing-day as became the sons of the Pilgrim Fathers-as the advance pioneers of a population that has
Conneaut,* the Plymouth of the Reserve, in July, 1796.
since made the then wilderness of northern Ohio to " blossom as the rose," and prove the homes of a people as remarkable for integrity, industry, love of country, moral truth and enlightened legislation, as any to be found within the territorial limits of their ancestral New England.
The whole party numbered, on this occasion, fifty-two persons, of whom two were fe- males, (Mrs. Stiles and Mrs. Gunn, and a child.) As these individuals were the advance of after millions of population, their names become worthy of record, and are therefore given, viz .: Moses Cleveland, agent of the company ; Augustus Porter, principal surveyor ; Seth Pease, Moses Warren, Amos Spafford, Milton Hawley, Richard M. Stoddard, sur- veyors ; Joshua Stowe, commissary ; Theodore Shepard, physician ; Joseph Tinker, prin- cipal boatman ; Joseph McIntyre, George Proudfoot, Francis Gay, Samuel Forbes, Elijah Gunn, wife and child, Amos Sawten, Stephen Benton, Amos Barber, Samuel Hungerford, William B. Hall, Samuel Davenport, Asa Mason, Amzi Atwater, Michael Coffin, Elisha Ayres, Thomas Harris, Norman Wilcox, Timothy Dunham, George Goodwin, Shadrach Benham, Samuel Agnew, Warham Shepard, David Beard, John Briant, Titus V. Munson, Joseph Landon, Job V. Stiles and wife, Charles Parker, Ezekiel Hawley, Nathaniel Doan, Luke Hanchet, James Hasket, James Hamilton, Olney F. Rice, John Lock, and four others whose names are not mentioned.
On the 5th of July, the workmen of the expedition were employed in the erection of a large, awkwardly constructed log building; locating it on the sandy beach on the east shore of the stream, and naming it " Stow Castle," after one of the party. This became the storehouse of the provisions, &c., and the dwelling-place of the families.
The spot where the above described scene took place, has much altered in the lapse of half a century. One of the party, Amzi At- water, Esq., now living in Portage county, in a communication before us, says :
* The view was constructed from a sketch as the place is now, altered to represent its ancient appearance. The word Conneaut, in the Seneca language, signifies " many fish," and was applied originally to the river.
39
. ASIITABULA COUNTY.
It was then a mere sand beach overgrown with timber, some of it of considerable size, which we cut to build the house and for other purposes. The mouth of the creek, like others of the lake streams in those days, was frequently choked up with a sand bar so that no visible harbor appeared for several days. This would only happen when the streams were low and after a high wind either down the lake or directly on shore for several days. I have passed over all the lake streams of this state east of the Cuyahoga and most of those in New York on hard, dry sand bars, and I have been told that the Cuyahoga has been so. They would not long continue, for as soon as the wind had subsided and the water in the streams had sufficiently risen, they would often cut their way through the bar in a different place and form new channels. Thus the mouths of the streams were con- tinually shifting until the artificial harbors were built. Those blessed improvements have in a great measure remedied those evils and made the mouths of the streams far more healthy.
Judge James Kingsbury, who arrived at Conneaut shortly after the surveying party, wintered with his family at this place in a cabin which stood on a spot now covered by the waters of the lake. This was about the first family that wintered on the Reserve.
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