Historical collections of Ohio in two volumes, an encyclopedia of the state, Volume I, Part 106

Author: Howe, Henry, 1816-1893
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Cincinnati : Published by the state of Ohio
Number of Pages: 1006

USA > Ohio > Historical collections of Ohio in two volumes, an encyclopedia of the state, Volume I > Part 106

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The abundance of the "shellbark" hick- ory in the woods at that day (a very few of which still remain) was a source of profit as well as pleasure. Many thousands of bushels were annually gathered by the Indians, pur- chased by the traders and shipped to eastern markets.

Rev. Isaac Van Tassel, the head of the mission, was one of the kindest and purest of men, always just and generons. His wife, the daughter of Rev. Badger (one of the earliest missionaries of the West), was equally well fitted by her universal kindness of heart and manner to aid her husband in this noble work. Elder Coe was one of the active workers and became a great friend of the In- dians ; they in return gave him their full confidence and from his exceeding kindness called hita the "Tender Heart." Mr. Thomas Mackelrath, one of the teachers, was always kind to us; Miss Riggs, one of the "old maid" teachers, was as kind to us as any mother could be, too good and noble a woman to remain an "old maid," which I believe she did.

Mr. Van Tassel removed to a farm near Bowling Green, where he died about 1850. Mrs. Van Tassel survived her husband many years, dying in Maumee City a few years ago, the last survivor of the mission teachers. The kind-hearted old man, "Uncle Coe," as my father called him, died many years before Mr. Van Tassel. When the mission broke up, in 1835 or 1836, many of those still living returned to their homes in the East.

Dayton Riley .- Prominent in my memory of the characters of that time was Dayton Riley, a brother of the well-known William Riley, who was taken in Algiers and was a slave of the Arabs for a number of years. This man Dayton Riley wandered into this wilderness country about the time of the founding of the mission, and being a carpen- ter and handy at all work, was employed and

made his home at the mission until it broke up. He followed the life of a trapper and hunter, and after a hard and weary season of trapping would find his way back to the mis- sion to rest and recruit his failing strength during his declining years. He became somewhat dissipated, as most of his occupa- tion do sooner or later, but lived to quite an advanced age.

Waseon and Ottokee were noble red men. Finer or more perfect specimens of the hu- man physique, or of natural mental ability, are seldom found anywhere. Ottokee, the older of the two brothers (or half brothers, as they really were), was a man six feet high, weighing about two hundred pounds, and when speaking on the floor of the Council Lodge was as dignified and as noble in de- meanor as a Clay or Webster, and had as much force and eloquence as their limited language would permit.

Wa-se-on (which signifies far off) was not so fleshy, but had a heavy frame and was quite as large a. man as his older brother Ottokee, yet not so great an orator, but a very intelligent man and a good speaker.

There were two other brothers of this fam- ily named No-tin-no (or the calm) and Wa- sa-on-quet. The latter was at one time the head chief of the Ottowas of the Maumee valley, but through dissipation and debauch- ery, consequent upon his intercourse with the white traders, he was "broken" of his office and reduced to a private member of the tribe. He was one of the most eloquent speakers I ever heard. He died from the effects of whiskey soon after being removed west of the Mississippi.

No-tin-no, the oldest of the four brothers, was living the last I knew of him. He was a good speaker, but not as eloquent as either of his brothers. These men were the sons of the noted Ottawa chief, O-to-sah, if I re- member correctly, by different mothers. No two of them, I think, were full brothers, polygamy being a legalized institution among all the Indian tribes with which I have been personally acquainted.

Aw-pa-to-wa-jo-win, or "half way," was about half way from the mouth of the river to Fort Defiance, and also half way from De- troit to Fort Wayne, the then two principal trading points of the country. The presid- ing chief of this village was an old man whose active life had long since passed but who was always received in the councils of the tribe with great respect. His name was Kin-jo-a-no. This chief had but one son, a very intelligent young man, whose name was Muc-cut-a-mong. He was killed, however, while yet a young man, by the hand of his own cousin (Pe-way) at one of the corn- dances held by this tribe.

There were many other noted chiefs of these tribes inhabiting at this time the val- leys of the Maumee, Auglaize, St. Maries and St. Joseph. Among them were Char- low, Shaw-wun-no, Pe-ton-i-quet, Nac-i-che- wa, Oc-que-nox-ie, the latter chief having his village on the Auglaize. This man was

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FULTON COUNTY.

a natural-born savage, and really the only Indian I was ever much afraid of when a. boy, for he was ugly either drunk or sober, and always manifested a desire or disposition to take somebody's scalp. He had great influence with the tribe, especially in their councils of war. All the other chiefs and head men that I came in contact with, with- ont a single exception (when not crazed and maddened by whiskey, or "fire-water), were kind-hearted, generous and always honor- able.

The very last speech made by an Indian in the country in council was made by Ottokee at a treaty or council with the United States government agents, for the purpose of their removal West. Many did not come into the council and consent to be removed, but re- mained in the deep forests of the Maumee and Anglaize valleys for a few years, wander- ing from place to place and camping wher- ever they found a white man who was kind enough to allow them to do so.

Ottokee and Waseon were among the last to remove from this county, having gone west in the spring of 1838. These chiefs lived but a few years in their new homes and died comparatively young, Waseon being not over forty-five years old.

The lands which were assigned to these Indians, and to which they were removed, lie upon the Osage river in Kansas, about sixty miles south of Kansas City and not far from the flourishing village of Ottawa.

The old block-house is gone ! It took fire from the chimney on Monday, May 20, 1879, and was burued down. One by one the relics of a past generation pass away, and this was almost the last one of any note in north- western Ohio.

The land was purchased of the United States government, and the post established in the year 1831 or '32. It was put up as an Indian trading house, used as a magazine, or in the French trader's parlance a store and fort, for the safety of the trader and the pro- tection of his furs and goods. They were usually built of hewn logs of great size, as this one was, and when completed with heavy split puncheons for roof, made a building that was a perfect protection against the assault of any ordinary band of drunken Indians or their more vicious associates, renegade white men and half-breed Indians, who were often ugly from a too free use of the white man's Schoo-ta-ne-be or fire-water, which was al- ways furnished them by the less sensitive or unscrupulous trader.

Indian Trading House .- In the spring of 1832 my father engaged two white men, whose names I have forgotten, to build an "Indian Trading House," as such buildings were called at that day on the frontier. The house was located near the site of the village of the chief Winameg, furnished a stock of Indian goods early in the winter, and a regu- lar Indian trading establishment opened.

A young man by the name of Wilkinson, nephew of old Capt. Dave Wilkinson, the veteran captain of the Lakes, was put in

charge, as the French frontiersman would say, the Boorzwa of the concern, my father judging that I was a little too wild to be at the head, and might shut up the block-house, mount my pony and ride away to some Indian village where a big dance was going on, and say, as my old friend Frank Holister said on such occasions, that it was a poor store that couldn't tend itself sometimes.

Indian Goods .- The stock of Indian goods mainly consisted of red and green blankets, with the pure white marked with broad black stripes across the end, and always of British manufacture, Turkey red calicoes and Merri- mac blue, with a few light patterns, blue and green English broadcloths, large cotton hand- kerchiefs and shawls (used almost entirely for the head as turbans), guns, tomahawks, butcher-knives, powder, lead shot and lead balls, brass trinkets, rings, beads, wampum, small bells to ornament the sides of leggings, silver brooches, rings for the nose and ears, with Turkish vermilion to paint the face. Fine saddles and highly ornamented bridles, trimmed with silver-plated bits, tinsel and colored leathers, were great articles of trade.

The Fur Trade. - Many of the roving traders sold whiskey to the Indians; but as a rule the principal traders did not sell it to them, for it destroyed the ability of the In- dian to make much of a hunt, and of course was not in the interest of the trader whose aim was the procuring of furs and skins, which mainly constituted the trade.

Bear, wolf, otter, mink, muskrat, raccoon, fisher, the red cross and silver-gray fox were the principal furs taken, the beaver having nearly all disappeared. The last beaver caught in the county was taken on the Little St. Jo- seph, near the present village of Pioneer, in 1837, by a Pottawatomie chief named Me- te-ah, for which I paid in goods twenty dol- lars, it being a very large one, and the last that had been taken for many years.

The prices of these furs at that time were $3 to $4 for bear, the same for otter, 40 cents for rat, 30 cents for mink, 50 cents for fox, $2 for fisher, coon 25 cents, deer-skins 75 cents to $1.25, wolf 25 cents, silver-gray fox from $25 to $75. In exchange for these we sold blankets (according to size) from $2 to $6, Turkey calicoes 75 cents to $1 per yard, blue 50 cents to 75 cents, and all other goods at about the same rates. Lead was 50 cents and powder $1 per pound.

We had a very good trade for a year or two at this post, and then the general govern- ment began to agitate the removal of the Indians. The business of the old house was changed to a country tavern, and was patron- ized solely by the white man. The dusky form of the Indian was seen no more about the spring and the camping ground, and his familiar whoop and drunken song were no more heard passing the old post, for he had taken up his line of march toward the setting sun.

The Old Council Elm .- This noble old tree, a monarch of the forest, has a history connected with the incidents of the Maumee

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FULTON COUNTY.

valley. The tree was a white elm, standing on a beautiful spot on the north bank of the river, being four or five feet in diameter, and fifty feet to the first limb. It was crowned with an immense top that covered with its shade a number of square rods of beautiful green sward. The spot where it stood being at a point very near and overlooking the "Grand Rapids " (the grandest of the entire succession of rapids from Fort Meigs), and within sound of its never ceasing murmur, it was selected long ago by the Indians as a favorite council ground, and consequently this tree became known in the early days by the traders and settlers as the "Council Elm. "

It was destroyed by a severe storm in July, 1879. While the canal basin and dam were being constructed at Grand Rapids, young Jackson, at that time a very young man, was the Assistant Engineer of the Public Works of Ohio, in charge of this part of the public work. He was somewhat ac- quainted with the tradition and more recent history and was a great admirer of the noble old tree, and loved to sit under its cooling shade and enjoy the cool breeze during his leisure hours. On one occasion one of the workmen kindled a fire on the roots of the old tree; the young engineer, highly incensed, first put out the fire, and then calling up the man who had built it, gave him to under- stand that any future aggressions upon the old elm would cause the perpetrator such chastisement as he would not readily forget. This Jackson was well able and ready to give, for he had without doubt some of the "Old Hero's" blood in his veins, as I have often heard him express himself in strong language, using "By the Eternal" with the variations, and woe be to him who fell under his dis- pleasure, for cause.

The once large and populous village of Kin- jo-a-no, or Ap-a-to-wa-jo-win, was situated at the foot of the Grand Rapids, nearly a mile below the old elm, and as the tree was isolated from the noise and turmoil of an In- dian village, it was frequently selected as the couneil-ground for many important gatherings of the chiefs and head men of the Ottawas and Pottawatomies.

The great council which impressed me most was the last council of any importance ever held under its spreading branches.

Bad White Men .- It was some time after the lands had been ceded to the general gov- ernment, the Indians still retaining posses- sion of the lands.

After the treaties had been made the val- 'ey renegade white hunters and trappers, whiskey-sellers, and bee-hunters (for the hol- low trees were filled with wild honey) de- stroyed the Indians' traps, often stole their horses, and run them far out of the reach of their owners.

I was then a mere boy, but all my sympa- thies were with the much abused Indians, and I was rather in hopes that some dark night these intruders and renegades would be wiped out. But the better and wiser counsels of

Wa-se-on, Ottokee, Pe-ton-i-quet, Nac i-che- wa, and other noted chiefs prevailed, and the Indians bore their wrongs with a grace and patience unparalleled among civilized people.

Uncle Peter Menard, my father, and Col. George Knaggs, being great friends of the Indians, were importuned to intercede for them with the government agent, that these abuses might be stopped and redress made for losses already inflicted.

The Indian Council .- Col. Jackson, the kind-hearted agent, was ready to co-operate with his friends in giving the redress asked for, promised that the matter should be laid before the authorities at Washington, and called a council to be held under the big elm.

Some days previous to the day set for the council the Indians began to arrive; by the morning of the council-day the chiefs and head men were nearly all present in the vil- lage, and at ten o'clock the assembled braves were ready for the grand smoke and talk with the white chief, O-ke-maw-wa-bush-ke. It was a warm day, and all enjoyed the shade of the old tree. Seated upon a log sat the dignified Col. Jackson, and on his left Uncle Peter Menard and my father. The Indians composing the council sat on the ground in a semicircle in front of the white men, and the younger warriors and hunters not admitted to the charmed circle sat in groups under the shade of the old elm, silent but interested spectators. Although a boy, I had been chosen by Col. Jackson to act as interpreter ..

Speech of Ottokee .- At a signal from the agent that the council was convened the head chief, Ottokee, lit the pipe of kinnekanick ; it was passed from mouth to mouth, the white men participating in the ceremony, and it was not until several pipesful of the fra- grant weed had been exhausted that the council was ready to proceed with the "big talk." Col. Jackson then said that "his ears were open, and he would listen to the words of the chiefs." After a few minutes of perfect silence Ottokee rose to his feet-a noble specimen of a native orator-and, with the dignity of a prince, his arms folded across his breast, he commenced the delivery of the great speech of the occasion. He portrayed in glowing colors the situation of his people, the faith they had kept with their white brothers and with their great father, the President of the United States; that they believed his words when he said he would protect them in their rights while remaining in their old homes from the intrusions of white men until he should be ready to move them to their new homes west of the great river (Mississippi), but he was so far away that he could not see or hear his red children when they called to him in their distress. They had called many times to have him drive away the bad white men, but he did not hear them.

The Great Father is good, but the white men fill his ears, and he cannot hear the red men call. My white brother sitting before me is the half-brother of the Great Chief at

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FULTON COUNTY.

the Big House, and he has heard us and now listens to what we say. The bad white men have killed our deer, trapped our otter and mink, have stolen our horses and abused our women, have camped on our land and call 'it their own, and when we tell them to go they hold up their rifles and say they will shoot. What must we do? We have waited many, many moons, very long, for our Great Father to drive these bad men from our land, but he has not done it, and if we drive them he will be angry with us. He has women, he has children ; will he let bad men abuse them ? No! he will not! Our Great Father is a great chief ; he was at the great river when our British brothers from across the big water tried to take the country away from him, but he would not let them land. Our Father is a great chief; he is brave; will he protect his red children? I have spoken," he con- cluded ; "my brother will speak."

Col. Jackson answered this speech by say- ing that his heart was good and his ears were open, and he would let the President hear all the words of the great chief, Ottokee. "Let the other chiefs speak," he said. "I will listen."

Speech of Nack-i-che-wah .- One after an- other the chiefs rose in their places and spoke much in the same spirit as Ottokee, some more vehement than others, some with mod- eration ; all, with one exception, counselling peace. Nack-i-che-wah, the most active of the chiefs, and the greatest orator of his tribe, or his nation, or in fact of the neigh- boring tribes, was more bold and outspoken. He said they had listened to the sweet words of the Great Father and believed them, but they were like the singing bird : sweet while you listened, but it flew away ; it did not come back, and you heard its voice no more, and did not answer when you called it to come back. Our Great Father had sent his chief to tell us his words of honey; our ears were open, we heard what he said, and we believed them, but our Father has for gotten his words, and his red children are sorrowful. Shall we, too, forget that we signed the paper, ton-ga-nun-me-gwan, and draw the tomahawk and drive these dogs of pale-faces from our hunting-grounds ?

We have called to the Great Father many times and he does not hear us. Are his ears closed to the complaints of his red children ? I have done.

So earnest the manner of speaking and so deep the interest that all felt on this momen- tous occasion, no one had taken notice of time, and it was late in the afternoon when the last speaker took his seat amid the mo- notonous guttural sounds of acquiescence in the arguments presented by the chiefs in their defence of the rights of their usually qniet people.

Col. Jackson, the agent, then arose to his feet and in a very dignified manner spoke to the Indians. He said the President, the: Great Father, had a big heart and he loved his red children, that his ears were open and he heard the complaints of his people, but the pale faces were as many as leaves upon the trees, and he must listen to all, and he could not answer all at the same time. He had many, many more red children to listen to, who must be heard, his ears were open and all should be heard in their time.

" My white brother," he said, referring to my father, who was acting secretary for the council, "has taken the words of the Great Chiefs and put them on the paper; they will be sent to the Great Father and he will read them ; his heart is good and he will answer his red children. He will pay them for the losses of their horses and their traps and the killing of their game. I will call the chiefs together when his word comes back and tell them what he says. Have my brothers any- thing more to say ?"

A murmuring sound of satisfaction, "Wa- ho," went through the council, and Ottokee answered that his people were satisfied with their brother's words and that they were done. Col. Jackson took his seat, the tomahawk pipe of kinnekanick was again lighted and passed around, and after all, both white men and Indians, had participated the council broke up and the Indians repaired to the ad- joining village where they partook of a boun- tiful feast of beef, pork, and corn prepared for them by the order of the agent, a custom always adopted by the government, when holding treaties or councils with the Indians.

The council broke up with perfect under- standing and good feeling among all the In- dians present, with a perfect reliance that government would remunerate them for the losses they had sustained and drive the.in- truders from their lands, and for once the government kept its word with the Indians.

FAYETTE, near the border line of Ohio and Michigan, is surrounded by a fine farming section. It is on the W. St. L. & P. and L. S. & M. S. Railroads. Newspaper : Record, Independent, Lewis & Griffin, publishers. Churches : 1 Methodist Episcopal, 1 Disciple, and 1 Christian Union. Bank of Fayette, C. L. Allen, cashier. Industries : 2 saw, 1 planing, and 1 grist mill, 1 creamery, and 2 novelty manufacturing establishments. Population in 1880, 579. Is the seat of the Fayette Normal Music and Business College, a growing institu- tion.

DELTA, on L. S. & M. S., 35 miles west of Toledo, surrounded by a fine agri- cultural country. Newspapers : Atlas, Independent, E. L. Waltz, editor ; Ara- lanche, Republican, J. H. Fluhart, editor. Churches : 1 Presbyterian, 1 Meth-

FULTON COUNTY.

odist Episcopal, 1 United Brethren, 1 Free Methodist. Bank of Delta, William E. Ramsey, cashier. Industries : Delta Oval Wood Dish Company, 1 grist, 2 saw, and 1 planing mill, brick and tile works, 3 wagon and carriage shops, large pearlash factory, 1 cheese, 1 washing machine, and 1 broom factory. Popu- lation in 1880, 859.

ARCHBOLD is 8 miles west of Wauseon, on the L. S. & M. S. Railroad. It has newspaper : Herald, Non-partisan, W. O. Taylor, editor. Churches : 1 Catholic, 1 German Reformed, 1 German Lutheran, and 1 Methodist Episcopal. Popula- tion in 1880, 635. School census 1886, 260.

GALLIA.

GALLIA COUNTY was formed from Washington, April 30, 1803. The word Gallia is the ancient name of France, from whence it was originally settled. The surface is generally broken, excepting in the eastern part, and on the Ohio river and Kiger creek, where it is more level and the soil fertile. Much of the county is well adapted to wheat, and a great part covered with a sandy loam. Area, 430 square miles. In 1885 the acres cultivated were 69,775; in pasture, 86,973 ; woodland, 48,880; lying waste, 6,298 ; produced in wheat, bushels, 44,552 ; oats, 84,035 ; corn, 654,383; tobacco, pounds, 153,325; butter, pounds, 461,471.

School census 1886-pupils, 5,359 ; teachers, 260. It has 41 miles of railroad.

TOWNSHIPS AND CENSUS.

1840.

1880.

TOWNSHIPS AND CENSUS.

1840.

1880.

Addison,

692

1,440

Huntington,

972

1,758

Cheshire,

791

2,030

Morgan,

744

1,465

Clay,

745

1,507

Ohio,

626

1,429

Gallipolis,

1,413

5,227

Perry,

973

1,329

Green,

1,047

1,532

Raccoon,

1,610

1,821

Greenfield,

639

1,209

Springfield,

991

1,782

Ģuyan,

342

2,277

Walnut,

423

1,892

Harrison,

688

1,426

Wilkesville,

738

The population of the county was, in 1820, 7,098; in 1830, 9,733; in 1840, 13,445 ; in 1860, 20,453; in 1870, 22,743 ; in 1880, 25,178, of whom 22,763 were Ohio-born ; 2,470 Virginia ; 505 Pennsylvania ; 323 German Empire; 398 England and Wales ; 92 Ireland ; 27 France.

The first settlement in Gallia county was at Gallipolis. It was settled in 1791, by a French colony sent out under the auspices of the "Scioto Company." This was an association formed in Paris, the project of Col. William Duer, of New York, Secretary of the United States Board of Treasury, a large operator and a man of speculative turn. He was of English birth and had been a member of the Continental Congress. While Dr. Manasseh Cutler was negotiating for the passage of the ordinance of the Ohio Company's Purchase Mr. Duer went to him and proposed to connect with it an ontside land speculation and colonization scheme. The passage of the ordinance seemed hopeless without Duer's influence

669

GALLIA COUNTY.

and as he offered generous conditions Cutler acceded. With his influence its suc- cess was certain. The matter, however, was to be kept a profound secret. The generous conditions on the part of Duer to the Ohio Company for permitting the contract to be made under cover of its petition was a loan of $143,000 in securi- ties, to enable it to complete the first payment to the Board of Treasury, many shareholders of the Ohio Company having failed to respond promptly to the call.

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Historical collections of Ohio in two volumes, an encyclopedia of the state, Volume I, Part 106

Author: Howe, Henry, 1816-1893 Publication date: 1907 Publisher: Cincinnati : Published by the state of Ohio Number of Pages: 1006

Author: Howe, Henry, 1816-1893
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Cincinnati : Published by the state of Ohio
Number of Pages: 1006