Historical collections of Ohio in two volumes, an encyclopedia of the state, Volume I, Part 59

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 59

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would not force him a second time to run the gauntlet. When he broke through their lines he ran at the top of his speed for the council- house, pursued by two or three hundred In- dians, screaming like infernal furies. Just as he had entered the town he was met by an Indian leisurely walking towards the scene of amusement, wrapped in a blanket. The In- dian threw off his blanket ; and as he was fresh, and Kenton nearly exhausted, the In- dian caught him and threw him down. In a moment the whole party who were in pur- suit came up, and fell to cuffing and kicking him at a most fearful rate. They tore off his clothes and left him naked and exhausted. After he had laid till he had in some degree recovered from his exhausted state they brought him some water and something to eat.

The Indian Council .- As soon as his strength was sufficiently recovered they took him to the council-house to determine upon his fate. Their manner of deciding his fate was as follows : Their warriors were placed in a circle in the council-house ; an old chief was placed in the centre of the circle with a knife and a piece of wood in his hands. A number of speeches were made. Kenton, although he did not understand their lan- guage, soon discovered by the animated ges- tures and fierce looks at him, that a majority of their speakers were contending for his destruction. He could perceive that those who plead for mercy were received coolly ; but few grunts of approbation were uttered when the orators closed their speeches. After the orators ceased speaking the old chief, who sat in the midst of the circle, raised up and handed a war-club to the man who sat next the door. They, proceeded to take the deci- sion of their court. All who were for the death of the prisoner struck the war-club with violence against the ground ; those who voted to save the prisoner's life passed the club to his next neighbor without striking the ground. Kenton, from their expressive gestures, could easily distinguish the object of their vote. The old chief, who stood to witness and record the number that voted for death or mercy, as one struck the ground with a war- club made a mark on one side of his piece of wood; and when the club was passed with- out striking he made a mark on the other. Kenton discovered that a large majority were for death.

Sentence of Death being now passed upon the prisoner they made the welkin ring with shouts of joy. The sentence of death being passed there was another question of consid- erable difficulty now presented itself to the consideration of the council ; that was, the time and place, when and where he should be burnt. The orators again made speeches on the subject, less animated indeed than on the trial ; but some appeared to be quite vehe- ment for instant execution, while others ap- peared to wish to make his death a solemn national sacrifice.

Attempt at Escape .- After a long debate the vote was taken, when it was resolved

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that the place of his execution should be Wapatomika (now Zanesfield, Logan county). The next morning he was hurried away to the place destined for his execution. From Chillicothe to Wapatomika they had to pass through two other Indian towns, to wit : Pick- away and Machecheek. At both towns he was compelled to run the gauntlet ; and severely was he whipped through the course. While he lay at Machecheek, being carelessly guarded, he made an attempt to escape. Nothing worse than death could follow, and here he made a bold push for life and free- dom. Being unconfined he broke and run, and soon cleared himself out of sight of his pursuers. While he distanced his pursuers, and got about two miles from the town, he accidentally met some Indians on horseback. They instantly pursued and soon came up with him, and drove him back again to town. He now, for the first time, gave up his case as hopeless. Nothing but death stared him in the face. Fate, it appeared to him, had sealed his doom; and in sullen despair he determined to await that doom, that it was impossible for him to shun. How inscruta- ble are the ways of Providence, and how little can man control his destiny ! When the In- dians returned with Kenton to the town there was a general rejoicing. He was pinioned and given over to the young Indians, who dragged him into the creek, tumbled him in the water, and rolled him in the mud till he was nearly suffocated with mud and water. In this way they amused themselves with him till he was nearly drowned. He now thought himself forsaken by God. Shortly after this his tormentors moved with him to Wapatomika.

An Unexpected Friend .- As soon as he arrived at this place the Indians, young and old, male and female, crowded around the prisoner. Among others who came to see him was the celebrated and notorious Simon Girty. It will be recollected that Kenton and Girty were bosom companions at Fort Pitt, and on the campaign with Lord Dun- more. As it was the custom of the Indians to black such prisoners as were intended to be put to death, Girty did not immediately recognize Kenton in his black disguise. Girty came forward and inquired of Kenton where he had lived. Was answered Ken- tucky. He next inquired how many men there were in Kentucky. He answered he did not know ; but would give him the names and rank of the officers, and he, Girty, could judge of the probable number of men. Ken- ton then named a great many officers and their rank, many of whom had honorary titles without any command. At length Girty asked the prisoner his name. When he was answered Simon Butler (it will be recol- lected that he changed his name when he fled from his parents and home) Girty eyed him for a moment, and immediately recog- nized the active and bold youth who had been his companion in arms about Fort Pitt, and on the campaign with Lord Dunmore. Girty threw himself into Kenton's armus, embraced

and wept aloud over him-calling him his dear and esteemed friend. This hardened wretch, who had been the cause of the death of hundreds, had some of the sparks of humanity remaining in him, and wept like a child at the tragical fate which hung over bis friend. "Well," said he to Kenton, "you are condemned to die, but I will use every means in my power to save your life."

Girty immediately had a council convened, and made a long speech to the Indians to save the life of the prisoner. As Girty was proceeding through his speech he became very animated; and under his powerful eloquence Kenton could plainly discover the grim visages of his savage judges relent. When Girty concluded his powerful and animated speech the Indians rose with one simultaneous grunt of approbation, saved the prisoner's life, and placed him under the care and protection of his old companion, Girty.

More Trouble .- The British had a trading establishment then at Wapatomika. Girty took Kenton with him to the store and dressed him from head to foot, as well as he could wish ; he was also provided with a horse and saddle. Kenton was now free, and roamed about through the country from Indian town to town, in company with his benefactor. How uncertain is the fate of nations as well as that of individuals! How sudden the changes from adversity to prosperity, and from prosperity to adversity !" Kenton being a strong, robust man, with an iron frame, with a resolution that never winced at dan- ger, and fortitude to bear pain with the com- posure of a stoic, he soon recovered from his scourges and bruises, and the other severe treatment he had received. It is thought probable that if the Indians had continued to treat him with kindness and respect he would eventually have become one of them. He had but few inducements to return again to the whites. He was then a fugitive from justice, had changed his name, and he thought it his interest to keep as far from his former acquaintances as possible. After Kenton and his benefactor had been roaming about for some time, a war party of Indians, who had been on an expedition to the neigh- borhood of Wheeling, returned ; they had been defeated by the whites, some of their men were killed, and others wounded. When this defeated party returned they were sullen, chagrined and full of revenge, and determined to kill any of the whites who came within their grasp. Kenton was the only white man upon whom they could satiate their revenge. Kenton and Girty were then at Solomon's town, a small distance from Wapatomika. A message was immediately sent to Girty to return and bring Kenton with him. The two friends met the messenger on their way. The messenger shook hands with Girty, but re- fused the hand of Kenton.

The Second Council .- Girty, after talking aside with the messenger some time, said to Kenton, they have sent for us to attend a grand council at Wapatomika. They hur-

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ried to the town ; and when they arrived there the council-house was erowded. When Girty went into the house, the Indians all rose up and shook hands with him ; but when Kenton offered his hand, it was refused with a scowl of contempt. This alarmed him ; he began to admit the idea that this sudden convention of the council, and their refusing his hand, boded him some evil. After the members of the council were seated in their usual manner, the war chief of the defeated party rose up and made a most vehe- ment speech, frequently turning his fiery and revengeful eyes on Kenton during his speech. Girty was the next to arise and address the council. Hle told them that he had lived with them several years ; that he had risked his life in that time more frequently than any of them ; that they all knew that he had never spared the life of one of the hated Americans ; that they well knew that he had never asked for a division of the spoils ; that ne fought alone for the destruction of their enemies ; and he now requested them to spare the life of this young man on his ac- count. The young man, he said, was his early friend, for whom he felt the tenderness of a parent for a son, and he hoped, after the many evidences that he had given of his attachment to the Indian cause, they would not hesitate to grant his request. If they would indulge him in granting his request to spare the life of this young man, he would pledge himself never to ask them again to spare the life of a hated American.

Again Sentenced to Death .- Several chiefs spoke in succession on this important subject ; and with the most apparent deliberation, the council decided, by an overwhelming major- ity, for death. After the decision of this grand court was announced, Girty went to Kenton, and embracing him very tenderly, said that he very sincerely sympathized with him in his forlorn and unfortunate situation ; that he had used all the efforts he was master of to save his life, but it was now decreed that he must die-that he could do no more for him. Awful doom!

It will be recollected, that this was in 1778, in the midst of the American revolution. Upper Sandusky was then the place where the British paid their western Indian allies their annuities; and as time might effect what his eloquence could not, Girty, as a last resort, persuaded the Indians to convey their prisoner to Sandusky, as there would meet vast numbers to receive their presents ; that the assembled tribes could there witness the solemn scene of the death of the pris- oner. To this proposition the council agreed ; and the prisoner was placed in the care of five Indians, who forthwith set off for Upper Sandusky. What windings, and twistings, and turnings, were seen in the fate of our hero.

Logan, the Mingo Chief .- As the Indians passed from Wapatomika to Upper San- dusky, they went through a small village on the river Scioto, where then resided the cele- brated chief, Logan, of Jefferson memory.

Logan, unlike the rest of his tribe, was humane as he was brave. At his wigwam the party who had the care of the prisoner staid over night. During the evening, Logan entered into conversation with the prisoner. The next morning he told Kenton that he would detain the party that day-that he had sent two of his young men off the night before to Upper Sandusky, to speak a good word for him. Logan was great and good- the friend of all men. In the course of the following evening his young men returned, and early the next morning the guard set off with the prisoner for Upper Sandusky. When Kenton's party set off from Logan's, Logan shook hands with the prisoner, but gave no intimation as to what might prob- ably be his fate. The party went on with Kenton till they came in view of the Upper Sandusky town. The Indians, young and old, came out to meet and welcome the war- riors, and view the prisoner. Here he was not compelled to run the gauntlet. A grand council was immediately convened to deter- mine upon the fate of Kenton. This was the fourth council which was held to dispose of the life of the prisoner.

Peter Druyer .- As soon as this grand court was organized and ready to proceed to busi- ness, a Canadian Frenchman, by the name of Peter Druyer, who was a captain in the British service, and dressed in the gaudy appendages of the British uniform, made his appearance in the council. This Druyer was born and raised in Detroit-he was connected with the British Indian agent department- was their principal interpreter in settling In- dian affairs; this made him a man of great consequence among the Indians. It was to this influential man that the good chief Logan, the friend of all the human family, sent his young men to intercede for the life of Kenton. His judgment and address were only equalled by his humanity. Ilis fore- sight in selecting the agent, who it was most probable could save the life of the prisoner, proves his judgment and his knowledge of the human heart. As soon as the grand council was organized, Capt. Druyer requested permission to address the council. This per- mission was instantly granted. He began his speech by stating, "that it was well known that it was the wish and interest of the Eng- lish that not an American should be left alive. That the Americans were the cause of the present bloody and distressing war-that neither peace nor safety could be expected, so long as these intruders were permitted to live upon the earth." This part of his speech received repeated grunts of appro- bation. He then explained to the Indians, "that the war, to be carried on successfully, required cunning as well as bravery-that the intelligence which might be extorted from a prisoner would be of more advantage, in con- dueting the future operations of the war, than would be the lives of twenty prisoners. That he had no doubt but the commanding officer at Detroit could procure information from the prisoner now before them that would

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be of incalculable advantage to them in the progress of the present war. Under these circumstances, he hoped they would defer the death of the prisoner till he was taken to Detroit and examined by the commanding general. After which he could be brought back, and if thought advisable, upon further consideration, he might be put to death in any manner they thought proper." He next noticed, "that they had already a great deal of trouble and fatigue with the prisoner without being revenged upon him; but that they had got back all the horses the prisoner had stolen from them, and killed one of his comrades ; and to insure them something for their fatigue and trouble, he himself would give them $100 in rum and tobacco, or any other articles they would choose, if they would let him take the prisoner to

Detroit, to be examined by the British gen eral."

Kenton's Release .- The Indians, without hesitation, agreed to Capt. Druyer's proposi- tion, and he paid down the ransom. As soon as these arrangements were concluded, Dru- yer and a principal chief set off with the prisoner for Lower Sandusky. From this place they proceeded by water to Detroit, where they arrived in a few days. Here the prisoner was handed over to the commanding officer, and lodged in the fort as a prisoner of war. He was now out of danger from the Indians, and was treated with the usual attention of prisoners of war in civilized countries. The British commander gave the Indians some additional remuneration for the life of the prisoner, and they returned satisfied to join their countrymen at Wapatomika.

As soon as Kenton's mind was out of suspense, his robust constitution and iron frame in a few days recovered from the severe treatment they had undergone. Kenton remained at Detroit until the June following, when he with other prisoners escaped, and after enduring great privations rejoined their friends.

About the year 1802 he settled in Urbana, where he remained some years, and was elected brigadier-general of militia. In the war of 1812 he joined the army of Gen. Harrison, and was at the battle of the Moravian town, where he displayed his usual intrepidity. About the year 1820 he moved to the head of Mad river. A few years after, through the exertions of Judge Burnet and Gen. Vance, a pen- sion of $20 per month was granted to him, which secured his declining age from want. He died in 1836, at which time he had been a member of the Methodist church about eighteen years. The frosts of more than eighty winters had fallen on his head without entirely whitening his locks. His biographer thus describes his personal appearance and character :

Gen. Kenton was of fair complexion, six feet one inch in height. He stood and walked very erect, and, in the prime of life, weighed about 190 pounds. He never was inclined to be corpulent, although of sufficient fulness to form a graceful person. He had a soft, tremulous voice, very pleasing to the hearer. He had laughing gray eyes, which appeared to fascinate the beholder. He was a pleas- ant, good-humored, and obliging companion.

When excited or provoked to anger (which was seldom the case) the fiery glance of his eye would almost curdle the blood of those with whom he came in contact. His rage, when roused, was a tornado. In his dealing he was perfectly honest; his confidence in man and his credulity were such that the same man might cheat him twenty times, and if he professed friendship he might cheat him still.

The grave and monument of Gov. Vance is in Oakdale cemetery, near that of Simon Kenton. JOSEPH VANCE was born in Washington, Pa., in 1786, of Scotch-Irish stock. In 1805 he came with his father to Urbana, and took an active part in public matters : was a militia officer prior to and during the war of 1812; was member of the State Legislature in 1812 ; member of Congress from 1820 to 1836, and again in 1843; governor in 1837 and in 1851. While acting as a member of the convention to revise the Constitution of the State was stricken with paralysis, and the next year died on his farm, two miles north of Urbana. In politics he was a Whig of the Henry Clay school ; a great friend of public im- provements, and one of the first men in the county to import thoroughbred stock. Beer's " History of Champaign County " says of him :

"In 1827 he advocated the repair and extension of the National road, then called the Cumberland road, through Ohio and other States of the West, and in a speech in Congress in support of a bill before the House, made some hard thrusts at the advocates of State rights. It was at a time when the 'Code' settled such matters, attacks in the House being satisfied in the field. But it was understood

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not only that the general would fight, but that he was a dead shot with the rifle, and nothing more was said about fighting.

Gov. Vance was about five feet ten inches in height, with a large frame inclined to corpulency. He had a large head and forehead, and a strongly marked face. The eyebrows were heavy, and the right eye nearly closed, as though pained by the sunlight. He always wore a standing shirt-collar, loose around the neck, and not always square with his chin, and a small black cravat or neckerchief ticd with a small bow-knot. At home and among his neighbors he was partial to a blouse and jeans pantaloons, and had a great dislike to the fashionable cut of the latter. In his public life he wore, according to the custom of that day, the conventional suit of black cloth.

"To young men whom he met he was pleasant and talkative, and had a happy faculty of describing scenes of public life he had witnessed and the public men he had met, talking in an easy conversational way of the every-day life not often found in the books and papers. As a speaker he had a strong, rich voice, speaking with great earnestness and force, and without the arts of the practised debater, and in the heat of discussion apt to indulge in an argument ad hominem."

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS WARD, regarded as America's first sculptor, was born in June, 1830, in the family homestead, still standing on the southwest border of the town, and occupied by the sisters of the artist. He was well born. His mother's maiden name was MacBeth ; his father was John A. Ward, a farmer, and owner of about 600 acres of land, which he inherited from his father, Col .; William Ward, the first settler and proprietor of the site of Urbana.

In one of the rooms of the mansion is an elaborately carved mantelpiece, in front of which stood the parents of the artist when they were married. Among the curiosities is a plaster bust of a young girl, a niece, which is the first model he ever made-the expression is sweet and soft; a portrait of his mother in basso-relievo, and a plaster statuette ; a model of Simon Kenton in JOHN Q. A. WARD. a hunter's garb, leaning on a rifle. Session's paper on "Art and Artists in Ohio" give these items in regard to him :

He received his first instructions from teachers in the family, then in the village schools, and lastly from John Ogden, a good scholar and worthy lawyer, who is still living in Urbana. An old series of the " Encyclope- dia Britannica " proved a great storehouse of knowledge to him. From childhood he worked images in clay of dogs and other animals, of objects, as men on horseback, etc. The first work of art he ever saw was a copy of a head of Apollo in terra cotta, by Hiram Powers, which was owned by John H. James, of Urbana.

From sixteen to eighteen he suffered from malaria and general ill-health, and was depressed in spirits. At the latter age Mrs. Thomas, a married sister living in Brooklyn, N. Y., said to him, "Quincy, would you

really like to become an artist ?" His reply being a bashful " Yes," he was taken to New York in his eighteenth year, but for many weeks could not muster up courage to enter the door of Henry K. Brown's studio, although he was a friend of his sister's fam- ily. Finally he ventured to timidly ask him if he would take him as an art student. Brown told him to go back home and model something, so that he could see what he could do.

He shot across to New York, bought a copy of the " Venus de Medicis," and lugged home a bag of clay over a distance of two miles, and went to work. He took his clay "Venus" to Brown, and was accepted at once as a student. He worked over six years with his master very hard. He executed a

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wolf's head for a fountain in Mexico, for which Brown paid him $10, the first money he ever earned. In this studio he learned all the minute details of the sculptor's art. The Frenchmen employed to assist in the mechan- ical expert work in connection with the erection of the equestrian statue of " Washington " in Union Square having "struck," Ward told Brown to discharge the whole lot, as they could complete the statue themselves. Ward says he spent more days in the bronze horse's belly than Jonah spent in the belly of the whale.

The greater part of 1857-58 Ward spent in Washington City, modelling busts of John P. Hale, A. H. Stephens, J. R. Giddings and Hannibal Hamlin. He came to Colum- bus early in 1861 with a model of a statue of Simon Kenton, hoping to obtain a commission from the State. While here he executed a bust of Gov. Dennison.

His next effort was the now famous "In- dian Hunter," in Central Park, which had an enormous success from the first. Six copies in bronze, reduced in size, were sold on highly remunerative terms. Then fol- lowed the execution of the principal of Ward's works, in this order: "The Freed- man ;" bust of Dr. Dewey, in marble ; statue, colossal, of Commodore M. C. Perry, in New York; "Seventh Regiment Soldier,' bronze, heroic, in Central Park ; "The Good Samaritan ; " statue of Gen. Reynolds ; "Shakspeare," in Central Park ; "Gen. Is-

rael Putnam, " heroic size, in Hartford; " Wil- liam Gilmore Simms," bust, in Charleston ; "Gen. George H. Thomas," equestrian, in Washington ; "The Pilgrim,"" heroic, in Central Park ; "Washington," bronze and colossal, in Wall street ; " William E. Dodge," in New York.

Mr. Ward has recently finished a colossal statue of "Garfield," which has been placed in Washington City by the army of the Cum- berland. He has also completed the model of a gigantic soldiers' monument for the city of Brooklyn. This last work will probably be the masterpiece of this sculptor. It illus- trates our whole military history from the revolution to the rebellion, including the war of 1812 and the war with Mexico. Wash- ington, Jackson, Scott and Grant appropri- ately represent the four periods. It is by the universal judgment of American artists and art critics Quincy Ward is placed first among American sculptors. H. K. Brown once said that " Ward had more genius than Greenough, Crawford, Powers and all the other American sculptors combined."

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Historical collections of Ohio in two volumes, an encyclopedia of the state, Volume I, Part 59

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