Historical collections of Ohio in two volumes, an encyclopedia of the state, Volume I, Part 48

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 48

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

The celebrated Indian hunter, Lewis Wetzel, was often through this region. Belmont has been the scene of at least two of the daring adventures of this far- famed borderer, which we here relate. The scene of the first was on Dunkard

308

BELMONT COUNTY.

creek, and that of the second on the site of the National road, two and one-half miles east of St. Clairsville, on the farm of Jno. B. Mechan, in whose family the place has been in the possession of since 1810 :

Fight at Dunkard's Creek .- While hunt- ing. Wetzel fell in with a young hunter who lived or Dunkard's creek, and was persuaded to accompany him to his home. On their arrival they found the house in ruins and all the family murdered, except a young woman who had been bred with them, and to whom the young man was ardently attached. She was taken alive, as was found by examining the trail of the enemy, who were three In- dians and a white renegado. Burning with

Johr Ferren, Photo., St. Clairsville, 1888. THE LEWIS WETZEL SPRING.

revenge, they followed the trail until opposite the mouth of Captina, where the enemy had crossed. They swam the stream, and discov- ered the Indians' camp, around the fires of which lay the enemy in careless repose. The young woman was apparently unburt, but was making much moaning and lamentation. The young man, hardly able to restrain his rage, was for firing and rushing instantly upon them. Wetzel, more cautious, told him to wait until daylight, when there was a better chance of success in killing the whole party. At dawn the Indians prepared to depart. The young man selecting the white renegado and Wetzel the Indian, they both fired simul- taneously with fatal effect. The young man rushed forward, knife in hand, to relieve the mistress of his affections, while Wetzel re- loaded and pursued the two surviving Indians, who had taken to the woods, until they could

ascertain the number of their enemies. Wet- zel, as soon as he was discovered, discharged his rifle at random, in order to draw then from their covert. The ruse took effect, and, taking to his heels, he loaded as he ran, and suddenly wheeling about, discharged his rifle through the body of his nearest and unsus- pecting enemy. The remaining Indian seeing the fate of his companion, and that his enemy's rifle was unloaded, rushed forward with all energy, the prospect of prompt revenge being fairly before him. Wetzel led him on, dodg- ing from tree to tree, until his rifle was again ready, when suddenly turning he fired, and his remaining enemy fell dead at his feet. After taking their scalps, Wetzel and his friend, with their rescued captive, returned in safety to the settlement.

Fight at the Indian Springs .- A short time after Crawford's defeat in 1782, Wetzel accompanied Thomas Mills, a soldier in that action, to obtain his horse, which he had left near the site of St. Clairsville. They were met by a party of about forty Indians at the Indian springs, two miles from St. Clairsville, on the road to Wheeling. Both parties dis- covered each other at the same moment, when Lewis instantly fired and killed an Indian, while the Indians wounded his companion in the heel, overtook and killed him. Four Indians pursued Wetzel. About half a mile beyond, one of the Indians having got in the pursuit within a few steps, Wetzel wheeled and shot him, and then continued the retreat. In less than a mile farther a second one came so close to him that, as he turned to fire, he caught the muzzle of his gun, when, after a severe struggle, Wetzel brought it to his chest, and, discharging it, his opponent fell dead. Wetzel still continued on his course, pursued by the two Indians. All three were pretty well fatigued, and often stopped and treed. After going something more than a mile Wetzel took advantage of an open ground, over which the Indians were passing, stopped suddenly to shoot the foremost, who thereupon sprang behind a small sapling. Wetzel fired and wounded him mortally. The remaining Indian then gave a little yell, exclaiming, "No catch that man ; gun always loaded." After the peace of 1795 Wetzel pushed for the frontier, on the Mississippi, where he could trap the beaver, hunt the buffalo and deer, and occasionally shoot an Indian, the object of his mortal hatred. He finally died, as he had lived, a free man of the forest.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE IN 1846 .- St. Clairsville, the county-seat, is situated on an elevated and romantic site, in a rich agricultural region, on the line of the National road, 11 miles west of Wheeling and 116 east of Columbus, It contains six places for public worship : 2 Friends, 1 Presbyterian, 1 Episcopal, 1 Methodist, and 1 Union ; one female seminary, twelve mercantile stores, two or three news-

309

BELMONT COUNTY.

paper-offices, H. Anderson's map-engraving and publishing establishment, and, in 1840, had 829 inhabitants. Cuming's tour, published in 1810, states that this town " was laid out in the woods by David Newell in 1801. On the south side of Newell's plat is an additional part laid out by William Matthews, which was incorporated with Newell's plat on the 23d of January, 1807, by the name of St. Clairsville." By the act of incorporation the following officers were appointed until the first stated mecting of the inhabitants should be held for an election, viz., John Patterson, President; Sterling Johnston, Recorder ; Samuel Sullivan, Marshal; Groves Wm. Brown, John Brown, and Josiah Dillon, Trustees; William Congli- ton, Collector ; James Colwell, Treasurer, and Robert Griffith, Town Marshal. The view given was taken from an elevation west of the town, near the National road and Neiswanger's old tavern, shown on the extreme right. The building in the distance, on the left, shaded by poplars, is the Friends' meeting-house; in the centre is shown the spire of the court-house, and on the right the tower of the Presbyterian church .- Old Edition.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE, the county-seat, is on the St. Clairsville road, a short line connecting on the north with the C. L. & W. R. R., and on the south with the B. & O. R. R. County officers in 1888: Probate Judge, Isaac H. Gaston; Clerk

Drawn by Henry Howe in 1846.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE.

of Court, William B. Cash ; Sheriff, Oliver E. Foulke ; Prosecuting Attorney, Jesse W. Hollingsworth ; Auditor, Rodney R. Barrett; Treasurer, George Robin- son ; Recorder, John M. Beckett ; Surveyor, Chalkley Dawson ; Coroner, Andrew M. F. Boyd ; Commissioners, William J. Berry, John C. Israel, Morris Cope. Newspapers : Belmont Chronicle, Republican, W. A. Hunt, editor ; St. Clairsville Gazette, Democratic, Isaac M. Riley, editor. Bank : First National Bank, David Brown, president, J. R. Mitchell, cashier. Churches : 1 Methodist Episcopal, 1 Presbyterian, and 1 United Presbyterian. Population in 1880, 1,128. School census 1886, 407 ; L. H. Watters, superintendent.

The village has increased but little in the last forty years. Recently a magnifi- eent court-house has been erected, at an expense of about $200,000. In the spring of 1887 St. Clairsville was visited by the most severe tornado known in Eastern Ohio, which did much damage. Although always small in population, the town has long been regarded, from the eminent characters who have dwelt in the place, as an intellectual centre.

St. Clairsville derives its name from the unfortunate but meritorious Arthur St. Clair. He was born in Scotland, in 1734, and after receiving a classical edu- cation in one of the most celebrated universities of his native country, studied

310

BELMONT COUNTY.

medicine ; but having a taste for military pursuits, he sought and obtained a subaltern's appointment, and was with Wolfe in the storming of Quebec.

After the peace of 1763 he was assigned the command of Fort Ligonier, in Pennsyl- vania, and received there a grant of 1,000 acres. Prior to the Revolutionary war he held several civil offices. His military skill and experience, intelligence and integrity were such that, when the revolutionary war com- menced, he was appointed Colonel of Conti- nentals. In August, 1776, he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier, and bore an active part in the battles of Trenton and Princeton.

He was subsequently created a Major-Gen- eral, and ordered to repair to Ticonderoga, where he commanded the garrison and, on the approach of Burgoyne's army, abandoned it. Charges of cowardice, incapacity and treachery were brought against him in conse- quence. He was tried by a court-martial, who, with all the facts before them, acquitted him, accompanying their report with the declaration, that "Major-General St. Clair is acquitted, with the highest honor, of the charges against him." Congress subsequently, with an unanimous voice, confirmed this sen- tence. The facts were, that the works were

incomplete and incapable of being defended against the whole British army, and although St. Clair might have gained great applause by a brave attempt at defence, yet it would have resulted in the death of many of his men and probably the capture of the remainder ; a loss which, it was afterwards believed in camp, and perhaps foreseen by St. Clair, would have prevented the taking of Burgoyne's army. In daring to do an unpopular aet, for the public good, St. Clair exhibited a high degree of moral courage, and deserves more honor than he who wins a battle.

St. Clair served, with reputation, until the close of the war. In 1785, while residing on his farm, at Ligonier, he was appointed a delegate to the Continental Congress, and was soon after chosen president of that august body. After the passage of the ordinance for the government of the Northwestern Ter- ritory he was made governor, and continued in the office until within a few weeks of the termination of the territorial form of govern- ment, in the winter of 1802-3, when he was removed by President Jefferson.

The remainder of the sketch of Gov. St. Clair we give in extracts from the Notes of Judge Burnet, who was personally acquainted with him. Beside being clearly and beautifully written, it contains important facts in the legislative history of Ohio.

During the continuance of the first grade of that imperfect government, he enjoyed the respect and confidence of every class of the people. He was plain and simple in his dress and equipage, open and frank in his manners, and accessible to persons of every rank. In these respects he exhibited a striking con- trast with the secretary, Col. Sargent ; and that contrast, in some measure, increased lis popularity, which he retained unimpaired till after the commencement of the first session of the legislature. During that session he manifested a strong desire to enlarge his own powers, and restrict those of the assembly ;. which was the more noticed, as he had op- posed the usurpations of the legislative coun- cil, composed of himself, or in his absence, the secretary, and the Judges of the General Court ; and had taken an early opportunity of submitting his views on that subject to the general assembly. .

The effect of the construction he gave, of his own powers, may be seen in the fact that of the thirty bills passed by the two houses during the first session, and sent to him for his approval, he refused his assent to eleven ; some of which were supposed to be of much importance, and all of them calculated, more or less, to advance the public interest. Some of them he rejected because they related to the establishment of new counties ; others, because he thought they were unnecessary or inexpedient. Thus more than a third of the fruits of the labor of that entire session was

lost, by the exercise of the arbitrary discretion of one man. . .

This, and some other occurrences of a sim- ilar character which were manifest deviations from his usual course not easily accounted for. multiplied his opponents very rapidly, and rendered it more difficult for his friends to defend and sustain him. They also created a state of bad feeling between the legislative and executive branches, and eventually termi- nated in his removal from office, before the expiration of the territorial government.

The governor was unquestionably a man of superior talents, of extensive information and of great uprightness of purpose, as well as suavity of manners. His general course, though in the main correct, was in some re- spects injurious to his own popularity ; but it was the result of an honest exercise of his judgment. He not only believed that the power he claimed belonged legitimately to the executive, but was convinced that the manner in which he exercised it was imposed on him as a duty by the ordinance; and was calcu- lated to advance the best interests of the Ter- ritory.

Soon after the governor was removed from office he returned to the Ligonier valley, poor and destitute of the means of subsist- ence, and unfortunately too much disabled by age and infirmity to embark in any kind of active business. During his administration of the territorial government he was induced to make himseif personally liable for the

311

BELMONT COUNTY.

purchase of a number of pack-horses and other articles necessary to fit out an expedi- tion against the Indians, to an amount of some two or three thousand dollars, which he was afterwards compelled to pay. Having no use for the money at the time, he did not present his claim to the government. After he was removed from office, he looked to that fund as his dependence for future subsist- ence, and, under a full expectation of receiv- ing it, he repaired to Washington City, and presented his account to the proper officer of the treasury. To his utter surprise and disappointment it was rejected, on the morti- fying ground that, admitting it to have been originally correct, it was barred by the statute ; and that the time which had elapsed afforded the highest presumption that it had been set- tled, although no voucher or memorandum to that effect could be found in the depart- ment. To counteract the alleged presump- tion of payment, the original vouchers, show- ing the purchase, the purpose to which the property was applied, and the payment of the money, were exhibited. It was, however, still insisted that, as the transaction was an old one, and had taken place before the burn- ing of the war office in Philadelphia, the lapse of time furnished satisfactory evidence that the claim must have been settled, and the vouchers destroyed in that conflagration,

The pride of the old veteran was deeply wounded by the ground on which his elain was refused, and he was induced from that consideration, as well as by the pressure of poverty and want, to persevere in his efforts to maintain the justice and equity of his demand, still hoping that presumption would give way to truth. For the purpose of get- ting rid of his solicitations Congress passed an act, purporting to be an act for his relief, but which merely removed the technical ob-

jection, founded on lapse of time, by author- izing a settlement of his demands, regardless of the limitation. This step seemed neces- sary, to preserve their own character ; but it left the worn out veteran still at the mercy of the accounting officers of the department, from whom he had nothing to expect but disappointment. During the same session a bill was introduced into the House of Repre- sentatives, granting him an annuity, which was rejected, on the third reading, by a vote of 48 to 50.

After spending the principal part of two sessions in useless efforts, subsisting during the time on the bounty of his friends, he abandoned the pursuit in despair and re- turned to the Ligonier valley, where he lived several years in the most abject poverty, in the family of a widowed daughter, as destitute as himself. At length Pennsylvania, his adopted State, from considerations of per- sonal respect and gratitude for past services, as well as from a laudable feeling of State pride, settled on him an annuity of $300, which was soon after raised to $650. That act of beneficence gave to the gallant old soldier a comfortable subsistence for the little remnant of his days which then remained. The honor resulting to the State from that step was very much enhanced by the fact that the individual on whom their bounty was be- stowed was a foreigner, and was known to be a warm opponent, in politics, to the great majority of the legislature and their constitu- ents.

He lived, however, but a short time to enjoy the bounty. On the 31st of August, 1818, that venerable officer of the Revolution, after a long, brilliant and useful life, died of an injury occasioned by the running away of his horse, near Greensburgh, in the eighty- fourth year of his age.

Charles Hammond, long an honored member of the county bar, was born in Maryland, and came to Belmont county in 1801 and was appointed prosecuting attorney for the Northwest Territory. During the war of 1812 he published the Federalist, at St. Clairsville. In 1824 he removed to Cincinnati and attained a high position as editor of the Cincinnati Gazette. He was the author of the political essays signed "Hampden," published in the National Intelligencer in 1820, npon the Federal Constitution, which were highly complimented by Jef- ferson. He died in Cincinnati, in 1840, where he was regarded as the ablest man that had wielded the editorial pen known to the history of Ohio.

" I know of no writer," writes Mansfield, "who could express an idea so clearly and so briefly. He wrote the pure old English-the vernacular tongue, unmixed with French or Latin phrases or idioms. and unperverted with any scholastic logic. His language was like himself-plain, sensible and unaffected. His force, however, lay not so much in this as in his truth, honesty and courage, those moral qualities which made him distinguished at

that day and would distinguish him now. His opposition to slavery and its influence on the government was firm, consistent and powerful. Probably no public writer did more than he to form a just and reasonable anti-slavery sentiment. In fine, as a writer of great ability, and a man of large acquire- ments and singular integrity, Hammond was scarcely equalled by any man of his time.

St. Clairsville is identified with the history of BENJAMIN LUNDY, who has been called the " Father of Abolitionism," for he first set in motion those moral forces

312

BELMONT COUNTY.

which eventually resulted in the overthrow of American slavery. He was of Quaker parents, and was born on a farm in Hardwick, Sussex county, N. J., January 4, 1789. When nineteen years old, working as an apprentice to a sad- dler in Wheeling, his attention was first directed to the horrors of slavery by the constant sight of gangs of slaves driven in chains through the streets on their way to the South, for Wheeling was the great thorough fare from Virginia for transport- ing slaves to the cotton plantations. He entered at this time in his diary : "I heard the wail of the captive; I felt his pang of distress, and the iron entered my soul."

Lundy married, settled in St. Clairsville, working at his trade, and soon began his life- work, the abolition of slavery, finally learning in later years the printer's trade to better effect his purpose.

He formed an anti-slavery society here in 1815 when twenty-six years old, called se the Union Humane Society," which grew

-NOUS EraCON!

BENJAMIN LUNDY.

from six to near five hundred members, and wrote an appeal to philanthropists through- out the Union to organize similar co-operat- ing societies. He had written numerous articles for The Philanthropist, a small paper edited at Mt. Pleasant, in Jefferson county, by Charles Osborne, a Friend, and then sold his saddlery stock and business at a ruinous sacrifice to join Osborne and increase the efficiency of his paper.

In 1819 he removed to St. Louis where the Missouri question-the admission of Mis- souri into the Union with or without slavery -was attracting universal attention, and de- voted himself to an exposition of the evils of slavery in the newspapers of that State and Illinois. In 1822 he walked hack all the way to Ohio to find that Osborne had sold out his paper, when he started another, a monthly, with six subscribers, which he had printed at Steubenville and called the Genius of Univer- sal Emancipation. This was soon removed to Jonesboro, East Tennessee, and in 1824 tr

Baltimore, to which place he walked and held on his way, in the States of South and North Carolina and Virginia, anti-slavery meetings among Quakers and formed aboli- tion societies among them.

In 1828 he visited Boston and by his lectures enlisted Wm. Lloyd Garrison in the abolition cause and engaged him to become his associate editor. By this time Lundy had formed by lecturing and correspondence more than one hundred societies for the " gradual though total abolition of slavery." In the . winter of 1828-29 he was assaulted and nearly killed in Baltimore by Austin Woolfolk, a slave-dealer. He was driven out of Balti- more and finally established his paper in Philadelphia, where his property was burnt in 1838 by the pro-slavery mob that fired Pennsylvania Hall. The following winter he died in La Salle, Illinois, where he was about to re-establish his paper.

In his personal appearance Lundy gave no indication of the wonderful force of character he possessed. He was about five feet five inches in stature, very slenderly built, light eyes and light curly hair and hard of hear- ing. He was gentle and mild and persuasive with pity, not only for the slave, but he ever treated the slave-holders with the kindliest consideration.

Wm. Lloyd Garrison, his co-laborer, wrote of him : " Instead of being able to withstand the tide of public opinion it would at first seem doubtful whether he could sustain a temporary conflict with the winds of heaven. And yet he has explored nineteen of the twenty-four States-from the Green moun- tains of Vermont to the banks of the Missis- sippi-multiplied anti-slavery societies in every quarter, put every petition in motion relative to the extinction of slavery in the District of Columbia, everywhere awakened the slumbering sympathies of the people, and begun a work, the completion of which will be the salvation of his country. His heart is of gigantic size. Every inch of him is alive with power. He combines the meekness of Howard with the boldness of Luther.

"Within a few months he has travelled about 2,400 miles, of which upwards of 1,600 were performed on foot, during which time he has held nearly fifty public meetings. Rivers and mountains vanish in his path ; midnight finds him wending his solitary way over an unfrequented road ; the sun is antici- pated in his rising. Never was moral sub- limity of character better illustrated."

313

BELMONT COUNTY.

This county has the honor of being the first to supply the State with an Ohio- born governor ; this was Wilson Shannon, who was born February 24, 1802, in a cabin at Mount Olivet and the first child born in the township. He was of Irish descent.

The next January his father, George Shannon, went ont hunting one morning. Late in the day, while making his way home through the woods, a heavy snow-storm set in ; he became bewildered and lost his way ; after wandering about in a circle some time that constantly grew less he made unsuccess- ful efforts to start a fire, and being overpow- ered by exhaustion he seated himself close to a large sugar tree in the centre of his beaten circle, where he was found in the morning frozen to death.

Wilson was educated at Athens and Tran- sylvania University, and then studied law with Chas. Hammond and David Jennings at St. Clairsville, and soon became eminent at the bar. In 1838 he was elected governor on the Democratic ticket by 5, 738 votes over Jos. Vance, the Whig candidate ; defeated in 1840 by Mr. Corwin, and in 1843 elected governor the second time. In 1844 was appointed minister to Mexico. In 1852 was sent to Congress, where he was one of the four Ohio Democrats who voted for the Kansas and Nebraska bill. President Pierce later ap- pointed him governor of Kansas, which posi- tion he resigned in 1857 and resumed the practice of law. In 1875, in connection with the Hon. Jeremiah Black, of Pa., he argued

the celebrated Osage land case before the Supreme Court and won the case for the set- tlers.

As a lawyer he was bold, diligent, cour- teous and ever ready to assist the weak and struggling. Possessing a noble presence, in his old age lie was described as a picture of a hardy, hale old gentleman of the olden time. He died in 1877 and was buried at Lawrence, Kansas, where the last twenty years of his life had been passed.

James M. Thoburn, D. D., elected in 1888 . by the Methodists as missionary bishop for India and Malaysia, was born in St. Clairs- ville, O., March 7, 1836. He was graduated at Alleghany College at Meadville, Pa., and began preaching in Ohio at the age of twenty- one. He went to India in 1859 as a mis- sionary, and in conjunction with Bishop Taylor did much to build up the church among the native tribes. He built the largest church in India at Calcutta, and preached for five years at Simyla, the summer capital. He was editor for a time of the Indian Wit- ness, published at Calcutta, and is the author of "My Missionary Apprenticeship ; " "A History of Twenty-five Years' Experience in India,"' and of a volume of "Missionary Sermons."

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Historical collections of Ohio in two volumes, an encyclopedia of the state, Volume I, Part 48

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