Historical collections of Ohio in two volumes, an encyclopedia of the state, Volume I, Part 153

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

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"The first time I ever saw that spring," said the old gentleman, " my brother, James Reed and myself, had wandered ont of the valley in search of land, and finding it very good, we were looking about for springs. About a mile from this we started a bear, and separated to get a shot at him. I was travelling along, looking about on the rising ground for the bear, when I came suddenly upon the spring ; and being dry, and more rejoiced to find so fine a spring than to have killed a dozen bears, I set my rifle against a bush and rushed down to the bank and laid down to drink. Upon putting my head down, I saw reflected in the water, on the opposite side, the shadow of a tall Indian. I sprang to my rifle, when the Indian gave a yell, whether for peace or war I was not just then sufficiently master of my faculties to determine ; but upon my seizing my rifle, and facing him, he knocked up the pan of his gun, threw out the priming, and extended his open palm toward me in token of friendship. After putting down our guns, we again met at the spring, and shook hands. This was Logan -the best specimen of humanity I ever met with, either white or red. He could speak a little English, and told me there was another white hunter a little way down the stream, and offered to guide me to his camp. There I first met your father. We remained together in the valley a week, looking for springs and selecting lands, and laid the foundation of a friend- ship which never has had the slightest interruption.

We visited Logan at his camp, at Logan's Spring, and your father and he shot at a mark for a dollar a shot. Logan lost four or five rounds, and acknowledged himself beaten. When we were about to leave him, he went into his hut, and brought out as many deer-skins as he had lost dollars, and handed them to Mr. Maclay-who refused to take them, alleging that we had been his guests, and did not come to rob him-that the shooting had been only a trial of skill, and the bet merely nominal. Logan drew himself up with great dignity, and said : ' Me bet to make you shoot your best-me gentleman, and me take your dollar if me beat.' So he was obliged to take the skins, or affront our friend, whose nice sense of honor would not permit him to receive even a horn of powder in return.

"The next year," said the old gentleman, "I brought my wife up and camped under a big walnut tree, on the bank of Tea creek, until I had built a cabin near where the mill now stands, and have lived in the valley ever since. Poor Logan " (and the big tears coursed each other down his cheeks) "soon after went into the Allegheny, and I never saw him again. " Yours, R. P. MACLAY."

Mrs. Norris, who lives near the site of Logan's spring, is a daughter of Judge Brown ; she confirmed the above, and gave Mr. Day the following additional in- cidents, highly characteristic of the benevolent chief, which we take from that gentleman's work :

Logan supported his family by killing deer, dressing the skins, and selling them to the whites. He had sold quite a parcel to one De Yong, a tailor, who lived in Ferguson's valley, below the gap. Tailors in those days

dealt extensively in buckskin breeches. Logan received his pay, according to stipulation, in wheat. The wheat, on being taken to the mill, was found so worthless that the miller refused to grind it. Logan was much cha-

JEFFERSON COUNTY.

grined, and attempted in vain to obtain re- dress from the tailor. He then took the matter before his friend Brown, then a magis- trate ; and on the judge's questioning him as to the character of the wheat, and what was in it, Logan sought in vain to find words to express the precise nature of the article with which the wheat was adulterated, but said that it resembled in appearance the wheat it- self. "It must have been cheat," said the judge. "Yoh !" said Logan, "that very good name for him." A decision was awarded in Logan's favor, and a writ given to Logan to hand to the constable, which, he was told, would bring him the money for his skins. But the untutored Indian-too uncivilized to be dishonest-could not comprehend by what magic this little paper would force the tailor, against his will, to pay for the skins. The judge took down his own commission, with the arms of the king upon 1t. and explained to him the first principles and operations of civil law. "Law good," said Logan ; "make rogues pay." But how much more simple and efficient was the law which the Great

Spirit had impressed upon his heart-to do as he would be done by !

When a sister of Mrs. Norris (afterwards Mrs. Gen. Potter) was just beginning to learn to walk, her mother happened to express her regret that she could not get a pair of shoes to give more firmness to her little step. Logan stood by, but said nothing. Ile soon after asked Mrs. Brown to let the little girl go up and spend the day at his cabin. The cautious heart of the mother was alarmed at such a proposition ; but she knew the delicacy of an Indian's feelings-and she knew Logan, too-and with secret reluctance, but apparent cheerfulness, she complied with his request. The hours of the day wore very slowly away, and it was nearly night, when her little one had not returned. But just as the sun was going down, the trusty chief was seen coming down the path with his charge; and in a moment more the little one trotted into her mother's arms, proudly exhibiting a beautiful pair of moccasons on her little feet-the pro- duct of Logan's skill.

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 seventeen 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 Washington 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 familiar 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 infor- mation 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," Jay 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 challenged 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 hez babe, telling them that it was akin to them- selves. The whites had a man in the cabin, prepared 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 ; chir- ruping to the little innocent, and it 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 massacred, attempted to escape by de- scending 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 overtaken by Cresap, with a party of men from Wheeling.t They took one Indian scalp, and had one white man

# This statement was written for Dr. S. P. Hildreth, by Mr. Jolly, and published in Silliman's Journal, for 1836.

t 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, for the purpose of select- ing and appropriating lands (called in the West, locating lands) along the river in choice situations : a practice at that early day very common, when Virginia claimed both sides of the stream, including what is now the State of Ohio .- S. P. Hildreth.

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(Big Tarrener) badly wounded. They, I be- lieve, carried him in a litter from Wheeling to Redstone. I saw the party on their return from their victorious campaign. 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 harass 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 everything wore a tranquil appearance ; when behold, the fu- gitives arrived from Yellow creek, and re- ported that Logan's father, brother, and sis- ter were murdered ! Three of the nearest and dearest relations of Logan had been mas- sacred by white men. The consequence was, that this same Logan, who a few days before was so pacific, raised the hatchet, with a dec- laration 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

persons 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 Yel- low creek. Thomas Nicholson, in particular, has told me the above and much more. An- other person (whose name I cannot recollect) informed 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 Yel- low 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 pappoose, if they had not reposed the utmost confidence in the friendship of the whites ? Every person who is at all acquainted with Iodians knows bet- ter ; and it was the belief of the inhabitants who were capable of reasoning on the sub- ject, 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 .*

During the war which followed, Logan frequently showed his magnanimity towards prisoners who fell into his hands. Among them was Maj. Wm. Robin- son, of Clarksburg, Va., from whose declaration, given in "Jefferson's Notes," and information orally communicated 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 the 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 fifty 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 captive 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 gentlet, 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 as- sembled council of chiefs in his behalf. He spoke long and with great energy,

* 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 Limestone, while emigrating to Kentucky in a flat-hoat, 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. Hildreth.

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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 counsels 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 appeared to be hanging 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 Tuscarawas 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 manufactured from gunpowder. He made three separate attempts before he could get the language, which Logan dictated, sufficiently strong to satisfy that chief. This note was ad- dressed 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 Logan after murdering the family. A copy of it is given below, which, on comparison with his celebrated speech, shows a striking similarity of style.

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. I have been three times to war since then ; but the Indians are not angry ; only myself.

July 21, 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 seventy-two years. His son resides on the same farm.

Dunmore's war was of short duration. It was terminated in November 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 ac- quaintance 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 backwoods- man. His narrative will be found in Monroe county.

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. Buskirk, crossed the river to give them battle. And, although they knew they were in the vicinity of the enemy, they marched into an ambuscade, and but for a most singular cir- cumstance 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 advance in numbers along the line before firing upon them. This was done, but in- stead of each selecting his man every gun was directed at the captain, who fell with

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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 Muskingum with the loss of several killed, while the Virginians, with the excep- tion of their captain, had none killed and but three wounded.

STEUBENVILLE IN 1846 .- Steubenville is on the Ohio river, 22 miles above Wheeling, 36 below Pittsburg and 147 east by north from Columbus. It de- rives 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 seminary. It was built of block houses connected by palisade fences, and was dismantled at the time of Wayne's victory, previous to which it had been garrisoned by United States 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.

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 considered 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 England, Martin Andrews and Abm. Cazier, trustees ; Samuel Hunter, treasurer; Matthew Adams, assessor ; Charles Maxwell, collector, and Anthony Beck, town marshal.

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 intro- duced the merino sheep at an early day, and established in the town, in 1814, a woollen mannfactory, which laid the foundation for the extensive manufactures 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 woollen, 1 paper, 1 cotton and 2 glass manufactories, 1 iron foundry and numerous other manufacturing and mechanical establishments. In the vicinity are 7 copperas manufactories. From 800 to 1,000 hands are employed in these various establishments, and over a million bushels 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 five public and four select schools, a male academy and a female seminary. The male institution, called "Grove academy," is flourishing. It is under the charge of the Rev. John W. Scott, has three teachers and eighty scholars. The female seminary is pleasantly situated on the bank of the Ohio, commanding an exten- sive 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 ten to twelve teachers and usually has 150 pupils, the full number which it can accommodate .- Old Edition.

The Steubenville Seminary, which the year of its foundation had but seven pupils, and at the time of the issue of our first edition 150, had gone on increas- ing its educational facilities, so that it has since had 250 pupils in one year, has graduated over 4,500, and at a reunion, held in 1873, more than 700 alumni were present.

In 1856 Dr. and Mrs. A. M. Reid succeeded Dr. and Mrs. Beatty, and in

Drawn by Henry Howe in 1846.

MARKET STREET, STEUBENVILLE.

₹

Davison Fillaon, Photo., Steubenville, 1886.

STEUBENVILLE FROM THE WEST VIRGINIA SHOEE.

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1863 they in turn were succeeded by Dr. and Mrs. J. W. Wightman, the present principals.

This school is remarkable for its age, its widespread educational, moral and religious influence. It has sent missionaries to all quarters of the globe, many of whom are still engaged in the good work.

The coal mines at Steubenville are among the deepest in the State, Rush Run Shaft being 261 feet ; Miugo Shaft 250 feet, and the Market street shaft 225 feet.

The Perils of the Coal Miner, who works down deep iu the bowels of the earth, are such that those engaged in coal-mining become imbued with a spirit of heroism and self-sacrifice that finds strong expression in times of danger. The greatest peril of the miner is that caused by the explosion of fire-damp, a highly combustible and explosive gas generated by the coal. Notwithstanding the pre- cautions taken to avoid them, these explosions are constantly occurring in mining regions, with more or less loss of life, under the most horrifying conditions.

Thus it was at the rolling mill shaft at Steubenville, about 7 o'clock on the morning of June 5, 1865, when the surrounding neighborhood was startled by a loud rumbling noise, the rattling of windows and the visible shaking of the ground.

The miners were on a strike at the time, and but nine men were in the mine ; of these Thomas Sweeny and Patrick Burke escaped with but slightinjury ; Frederick Hazeler was seriously injured but recovered. Wm. Cowan was fatally burned and a few days later died of his injuries ; John Douglas, James Riley, James Cowan, Wm. Millhizer and Lynch were killed.

On the morning of the 23d of February, 1868, the large building known as Wallace factory, located near the shaft of the " High Shaft" mine at Steubenville, was discovered on fire. It became a question of great moment if it were possible to save the build- ing over the coal-mine from destruction. There were at this time about one hundred men and boys in the mine who must be got ont ere the building burned or be lost. Some of them were not only 225 feet under- ground, but three-quarters of a mile away from the bottom of the shaft. Under the direction of Superintendent James H. Blinn, volunteers fought heroically to save the building, while others entered the mine to warn the miners of the danger. Wm. Dixon and Hugh Sutherin, track layers in the mine, did noble service at imminent risk of losing their lives. The hoisting cages were kept running at their highest speed until all the miners were at last safe above ground. An instance of filial devotion displayed on this occasion is related by Mr. Wm. Smithwaite, from whose writings this article is abridged.

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Historical collections of Ohio in two volumes, an encyclopedia of the state, Volume I, Part 153

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