Historical collections of Ohio in two volumes, an encyclopedia of the state, Volume II, Part 18

Author: Howe, Henry, 1816-1893
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Cincinnati : Published by the state of Ohio
Number of Pages: 916

USA > Ohio > Historical collections of Ohio in two volumes, an encyclopedia of the state, Volume II > Part 18

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).

CHARLES GRANDISON FINNEY was born in Warren, Conn., August 29, 1792, and died at Oberlin, Ohio, August 16, 1875. As a young man he began the study of law, but having been converted in 1821, was licensed to preach in the Presbyterian church. He was a very successful evangelist. In 1835 he accepted the professorship of theology at Oberlin. From 1851 to 1866 he was president of Oberlin, during which period he spent three years as a revivalist in England, and gained a very great reputation for eloquence. His "Lectures on Revivals" was translated into several foreign languages.

JOHN MERCER LANGSTON was born in Louisa county, Va., December 14, 1829. At the age of six he was emancipated from slavery. Appleton's "Cyclopædia of Amer- ican Biography " says of him : "He was graduated at Oberlin in 1849, and at the the- ological department in 1853. After studying law he was admitted to the bar of Ohio in 1854, and practised his profession there until 1869, during which time he was clerk of sev- eral townships in Ohio, being the first colored man elected to an office of any sort by pop- ular vote. He was also a member of the Board of Education of Oberlin. In 1869 he was called to a professorship of law in How- ard University, Washington, D. C., and became dean of the faculty of the law de- partment, and active in its organization,

remaining there seven years. He was ap- pointed by President Grant a member of the Board of Health of the District of Columbia. and was elected its secretary in 1875. In 1877-85 he was United States Minister and Consul-General in Hayti. On his return to this country he was appointed president of the Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute in Petersburg, which office he now (1887) holds. In addition to various addresses and papers on political, biographical, literary and scientific subjects, Mr. Langston is the author of a volume of select addresses entitled 'Freedom and Citizenship,' Washington, 1883.''

CHAS. CARROLL PARSONS was born in Ely- ria in 1838 ; graduated at West Point in 1861. In the war he took command of a battery, "Parsons' battery," which was famous in both Union and Confederate armies, and many stories are told of his courage and dar- ing. In one instance he remained with his guns until dragged from them by the order of Gen. McCook.

After the war he was chief of artillery in Gen. Hancock's Indian expedition. Later he took orders in the Protestant Episcopal church. He died September 7, 1878, at Memphis, during the yellow-fever epidemic, from overwork in his heroic ministrations as nurse and clergyman.

STEVENSON BURKE, so eminent as a law- yer, jurist, president of many railways and other corporations, passed his early youth and manhood in this county, where he was admitted to the bar in 1848, and is now re- siding in Cleveland. From penury he fought his way to such success that few great cases have been tried in Northern Ohio within the last twenty-five years in which he has not been engaged. He possesses untiring pow- ers of application, executive capacity, with genial, winning ways.

Lorain is on Lake Erie, at the mouth of the Black river, on the N. Y. C. & St. L. and C. L. & W. Railroads. It is eight miles from Elyria, thirty miles from Sandusky, and twenty-eight from Cleveland. City officers : Mayor, Otto Braun; Clerk, John Stack ; Treasurer, T. F. Daniels; Marshal, H. Osgood ; Street Commissioner, James White. Newspaper : Lorain Times, Independent, Thomas G. Chapman, editor. Churches : one Methodist, one Congregational, one Disciples, one German Evangelical, one German Lutheran, one Catholic, and one Baptist. Bank : First National, David Wallace, president, T. F. Daniels, cashier.

Manufactures and Employees .-- The United Brass Co., brass goods, 310 hands ; Lorain Iron Foundry, castings, 6; C. L. & W. R. R. Shops, railroad cars, 36; C. L. & W. R. R. Repair Shop, railroad repairs, 90; Lorain Lumber and Manu- facturing Co., planing mill, 5; Williams, Barrows & Co., flour, etc., 6 .- State Reports, 1887. Population, 1880, 1,595. School census, 1888, 1,059. Capital invested in manufactures, $105,000. Value of annual product, $130,000 .- Ohio Labor Statistics, 1888.

Lorain, as a village, is comparatively new ; but, being at the mouth of Black river, the point has long been an important one. The harbor here is one of the best on the lake. For over three miles the stream exceeds a width of 200 feet, with an average depth of about fifteen feet, sufficient for the largest craft on the lake. It has long been an important point for shipbuilding. In 1836 was formed here an association called the " Black River Steamboat Association." Up

136

LORAIN COUNTY.

to 1876 the number of steamboats, brigs, schooners, barks and sloops built here had aggregated 125, besides many scows-beginning with the "General Hunting- ton," built in 1819. The place was first called Black River. In 1836 the village was incorporated as Charleston, and was growing into importance as a shipping point for grain, when the Cleveland & Toledo and other railroads diverted its trade, and the place fell into ruin. In 1874 it was reincorporated under its present name, having obtained railroad connections and giving evidence of a returning life.

GRAFTON is about eight miles southeast of Elyria, on the C. C. C. & I. and C. L. & W. Railroads. It has churches : one Presbyterian, one Methodist, and one Catholic, and about 700 population.

LA GRANGE is on the C. C. C. & I. Railroad, seven miles easterly from Wel- lington, and has about 500 inhabitants. School census, 1888, 156.

LUCAS.

LUCAS COUNTY, named from the Hon. Robert Lucas, Governor of Ohio from 1832 to 1836, was formed in June, 1835. The surface is level, a portion of it covered by the black swamp, and the northern part a sandy soil.

Area about 440 square miles. In 1887 the acres cultivated were 67,552; in pasture, 8,659 ; woodland, 22,789; lying waste, 2,662; produced in wheat, 223,061 bushels ; rye, 35,900 ; buckwheat, 3,834 ; oats, 338,045; barley, 14,034; corn, 582,549 ; broom-corn, 600 lbs. brush ; meadow hay, 13,622 tons; clover hay, 5,779 ; flaxseed, 1,604 bushels ; potatoes, 156,618 bushels ; butter, 412,986 lbs .; sorghum, 766 gallons; maple sugar, 75 lbs .; honey, 4,835 lbs .; eggs, 298,618 dozen; grapes, 640,289 lbs .; wine, 25,126 gallons; apples, 90,136 bushels ; peaches, 3,036 ; pears, 2,913; wool, 26,837 lbs .; milch cows owned, 4,968. School census, 1888, 30,401 ; teachers, 372. Miles of railroad track, 256.

TOWNSHIPS AND CENSUS.

1840.

1880.

TOWNSHIPS AND CENSUS.

1840.

1880.

Adams,

1,511

Spencer,

686

Amboy,

452

Springfield,

443

705

Chesterfield,

301

Swan Creek,

494

Clinton,

353

Swanton,

658

German,

452

Sylvania,

426

1,421

Gorham,

352

Toledo (City),

50,137

Monclova,

1,031

Washington,

2,712

Oregon,

264

2,321

Waterville,

755

1,925

Port Lawrence,

2,335

Waynesfield,

1,290

2,036

Providence,

160

1,164

Wing,

145

Richfield,

204

1,070

York,

435

Royalton,

401

Population of Lucas in 1840, 9,392; 1860, 25,831; 1880, 67,377, of whom 37,283 were born in Ohio; 4,263 in New York; 1,599, Pennsylvania ; 762, Indiana ; 237, Virginia ; 225, Kentucky; 8,267, German Empire ; 3,284, Ireland ; 1,688, British America ; 1,338, England and Wales ; 419, France ; 213, Scotland, and 73, Sweden and Norway. Census of 1890, 102,296.

137

LUCAS COUNTY.

BATTLE OF THE FALLEN TIMBERS.

This region of country-the Maumee valley-has been the theatre of important historical incidents. The greatest event, Wayne's victory, or " the battle of Fallen Timbers," was fought August 20, 1794, within the limits of this county.

On the 28th of July, Wayne having been joined by General Scott, with 1,600 mounted Kentuckians, moved forward to the Maumee. By the 8th of August the army had arrived near the junction of the Auglaize with that stream, and commenced the erection of Fort Defiance, at that point. The Indians, having learned from a deserter of the approach of Wayne's army, hastily abandoned their headquarters at Auglaize, and thus defeated the plan of Wayne to surprise them, for which object he had cut two roads, intending to march by either. At Fort Defiance, Wayne received full information of the Indians, and the assistance they were to derive from the volunteers at Detroit and vicinity. On the 13th of August, true to the spirit of peace advised by Washington, he sent Christian Miller, who had been naturalized among the Shawanese, as a special messenger to offer terms of friendship. Impatient of delay, he moved forward, and on the 16th met Miller on his return with the message, that if the Americans would wait ten days at Grand Glaize (Fort Defiance) they-the Indians-would decide for peace or war. On the 18th the army arrived at Roche de Bœuf, just sonth of the site of Waterville, where they erected some light works as a place of deposit for their heavy baggage, which was named Fort Deposit. During the 19th the army labored at their works, and about eight o'clock on the morning of the 20th moved forward to attack the Indians, who were encamped on the bank of the Maumee, at and around a hill called " Presque Isle," about two miles south of the site of Maumee City, and four south of the British Fort Miami. From Wayne's report of the battle we make the following extract :

The legion was on the right, its flank covered by the Maumee : one brigade of mounted volunteers on the left, nnder Brig. - Gen. Todd, and the other in the rear, under Brig .- Gen. Barbee. A select battalion of mounted volunteers moved in front of the legion, commanded by Major Price, who was directed to keep sufficiently advanced so as to give timely notice for the troops to form in case of action, it being yet undetermined whether the Indians would decide for peace or war.

After advancing about five miles, Major Price's corps received so severe a fire from the enemy, who were secreted in the wood and high grass, as to compel them to re- treat. The legion was immediately formed in two lines, principally in a close thick wood, which extended for miles on our left, and for a very considerable distance in front ; the ground being covered with old fallen timber, probably occasioned by a tornado, which rendered it impracticable for the cavalry to act with effect, and afforded the enemy the most favorable covert for their mode of war- fare. The savages were formed in three lines, within supporting distance of each other, and extending for near two miles at right angles with the river. I soon discovered, from the weight of the fire and extent of their lines, that the enemy were in full force in front, in possession of their favorite ground and endeavoring to turn our left flank. I therefore gave orders for the second line to

advance and support the first ; and directed Major-General Scott to gain and turn the right flank of the savages with the whole force of the mounted volunteers by a circuit- ous route ; at the same time I ordered the front line to advance and charge with trailed arms, and ronse the Indians from their coverts at the point of the bayonet, and when up, to deliver a close and well-di- rected fire on their backs, followed by a brisk charge, so as not to give them time to load again.

I also ordered Captain Campbell, who com- manded the legionary cavalry, to turn the left flank of the enemy next the river, and which afforded a favorable field for that corps to act in. All these orders were obeyed with spirit and promptitude ; but such was the impetuosity of the charge by the first line of infantry, that the Indians and Canadian militia and volunteers were drove from all their coverts in so short a time that, although every possible exertion was used by the officers of the second line of the legion, and by Generals Scott, Todd and Barbee, of the mounted volunteers, to gain their proper positions, but part of each could get up in season to participate in the action ; the enemy being drove, in the course of one hour, more than two miles through the thick woods already mentioned, by less than one-half their numbers. From every account the enemy amounted to two thousand combatants. The troops actually engaged against them were

138

LUCAS COUNTY.

short of nine hundred. This horde of savages, with their allies, abandoned themselves to flight, and dispersed with terror and dismay, leaving our victorious army in full and quiet possession of the field of battle, which ter- minated under the influence of the guns of the British garrison. .

The bravery and conduct of every officer belonging to the army, from the generals down to the ensigns, merit my highest appro- bation. There were, however, some whose rank and situation placed their conduct in a very conspicuous point of view, and which I observed with pleasure, and the most lively gratitude ; among whom I must beg leave to mention Brigadier-General Wilkinson and Colonel Hamtramck, the commandants of the right and left wings of the legion, whose brave example inspired the troops. To those I must add the names of my faithful and gallant aides-de-camp, Captains De Butt and T. Lewis, and Lieutenant Harrison, who, with the Adjutant-General, Major Mills, rendered

the most essential service by communicating my orders in every direction, and by their conduct and bravery exciting the troops to press for victory.

The loss of the enemy was more than that of the federal army. The woods were strewed for a considerable distance with the dead bodies of Indians and their white auxil- iaries, the latter armed with British muskets and bayonets.

We remained three days and nights on the banks of the Maumee, in front of the field of battle, during which time all the houses and corn-fields were consumed and destroyed for a considerable distance, both above and below Fort Miami, as well as within pistol- shot of the garrison, who were compelled to remain tacit spectators to this general devasta- tion and conflagration, among which were the houses, stores and property of Colonel McKee, the British Indian agent and princi- pal stimulator of the war now existing between the United States and the savages.

The loss of the Americans in this battle was 33 killed and 100 wonnded, in- cluding 5 officers among the killed, and 19 wonnded.

One of the Canadians taken in the action estimated the force of the Indians at abont 1,400. He also stated that about seventy Canadians were with them, and that Col. McKee, Capt. Elliott and Simon Girty were in the field, but at a respectful distance, and near the river. When the broken remains of the Indian army were pursued under the British fort, the soldiers conld scarcely be restrained from storming it. This, independent of its results in bringing on a war with Great Britain, would have been a desperate measure, as the fort mounted ten pieces of artillery, and was garrisoned by four hundred and fifty men, while Wayne had no armament proper to attack such a strongly fortified place. While the troops remained in the vicinity, there did not appear to be any communication between the garrison and the savages.

The gates were shut against them, and their rout and slaughter witnessed with apparent unconcern by the British. That the Indians were astonished at the lukewarmness of their real allies, and regarded the fort, in case of defeat, as a place of refuge, is evident from various circumstances, not the least of which was the well-known reproach of Tecumseh, in his celebrated speech to Proctor, after Perry's victory. The near approach of the troops brought forth a letter of re- monstrance from Major Campbell, the British commandant, to General Wayne. A sharp correspondence ensued, but without any especial results. The morning before the army left, General Wayne, after arranging his force in such a manner as to show they were all on the alert, advanced with his numerous staff and a small body of cavalry to the glacis of the British fort, reconnoitring it with great deliberation, while the garrison were seen with lighted matches, prepared for any emergency. It is said that Wayne's party overheard one of the British subordinate officers appeal to Major Campbell for permission to fire upon the cavalcade, and avenge such an insulting parade under his majesty's guns ; but that officer chided him with the abrupt exclamation, "Be a gentleman ! be a gentleman !" On the 27th Wayne's army returned to Fort Defiance, by easy marches, laying waste the villages and corn-fields of the Indians, for about fifty miles on each side of the Maumee : this was done with the hope that the fear of famine would prove a powerful auxiliary in producing peace.

Jonathan Alder, who was at this time living with the Indians, has given in his MS. autobiography the Indian account of the battle of Fallen Timbers. He says, after describing the attack on Fort Recovery and the retreat to Defiance :

139

LUCAS COUNTY

We remained here (Defiance) about two weeks, until we heard of the approach of Wayne, when we packed up our goods and started for the old English fort at the Maumee rapids. Here we prepared ourselves for battle, and sent the women and children down about three miles below the fort ; and as I did not wish to fight, they sent me to San- dusky, to inform some Wyandots there of the great battle that was about to take place. I remained at Sandusky until the battle was over. The Indians did not wait more than three or four days, before Wayne made his appearance at the head of a long prairie on the river, where he halted, and waited for an opportunity to suit himself. Now the Indians are very curious about fighting ; for when they know they are going into a battle they will not eat anything just previons. They say that if a man is shot in the body when he is entirely empty, there is not half as much danger of the ball passing through the bowels as when they are full. So they started the first morning without eating anything, and moving up to the end of the prairie, ranged themselves in order of battle at the edge of the timber. There they waited all day without any food, and at night returned and partook of their suppers. The second morn- ing they again placed themselves in the same position, and again returned at night and supped. By this time they had begun to get weak from eating only once a day, and con- cluded they would eat breakfast before they again started. So the next morning they began to cook and eat. Some were eating, and others, who had finished, had moved for- ward to their stations, when Wayne's army was seen approaching. Soon as they were within gunshot, the Indians began firing upon them ; but Wayne, making no halt, rushed on upon them. Only a small part of the Indians being on the ground they were obliged to give back, and finding Wayne too strong for them, attempted to retreat. Those who were on the way heard the noise and sprang to their assistance. So some were running from and others to the battle, which created great confusion. In the meantime the light horse had gone entirely around, and came in upon their rear, blowing their horns and closing in upon them. The Indians now found that they were completely surrounded, and all that could made their escape, and the balance were all killed, which was no small number. Among these last, with one or two exceptions, were all the Wyandots that lived at Sandusky at the time I went to inform them of the expected battle. The main body of the Indians were back nearly two miles from the battle-ground, and Wayne had taken them by surprise, and made such a slaughter among them that they were entirely discour- aged, and made the best of their way to their respective homes.

Explanations .- The map shows about 8 miles of the country along each side of the Maumee, in- cluding the towns of Perrysburgh, Maumee City aud Waterville.

Proctor's Encampment

Maumee k

Mrt Miami

Maumee City

Perrysburg

FORT MEIGS

.Wayne's Battle Ground

Rapids

Presvise Isla

Maumee

Waverville

Roche de Bout.

A A

PLAN ILLUSTRATING THE BATTLES OF THE MAUMEE.

Just previous to the battle of the Fallen Tim- bers, in August, 1794, Wayne's army was encamped at a locality called Roche de Bœuf, a short dis- tance above the site of Waterville. The battle commenced at the Presque Isle Hill. The routed Indians were pursued to even under the guns of the British Fort Miami.

Fort Meigs, memorable for having sustained two sieges in the year 1813, is shown on the east side of the Maumee, with the British batteries on both sides of the river, and above the British fort, the position of Proctor's encampment. For a more full delineation of this last, see Wood County.

140

LUCAS COUNTY.

We insert below some anecdotes of the battle, the first three of which are derived from a published source, and the last second-hand from Gen. Harrison.

At the time Capt. Campbell was endeavor- ing to turn the left flank of the enemy three Indians, being hemmed in by the cavalry and infantry, plunged into the river and endeav- ored to swim to the opposite side. Two negroes of the army, on the opposite bank, concealed themselves behind a log to intercept them. When within shooting distance, one of them shot the foremost through the head. The other two took hold of him to drag him to shore, when the second negro fired and killed another. The remaining Indian being now in shoal water, endeavored to tow the dead bodies to the bank. In the meantime the first negro had reloaded, and, firing upon the survivor, mortally wounded him. On ap- proaching them. the negroes judged from their striking resemblance and devotion that they were brothers. After scalping them they let their bodies float down the stream.

Another circumstance goes to show with what obstinacy the conflict was maintained by individuals in both armies. A soldier who had got detached a short distance from the army met a single Indian in the woods, when they attacked each other-the soldier with his bayonet, the Indian with his tomahawk. Two days after, they were found dead ; the

soldier with his bayonet in the body of the Indian-the Indian with his tomahawk in the head of the soldier.

Several months after the battle of Fallen Timbers a number of Potawatamie Indians arrived at Fort Wayne, where they expressed a desire to see " The Wind," as they called Gen. Wayne. On being asked for an explana- tion of the name, they replied, that at the battle of the 20th of August he was exactly like a hurricane, which drives and tears every- thing before it.

General Wayne was a man of most ardent impulses, and in the heat of action apt to forget that he was the general-not the sol- dier. When the attack on the Indians, who were concealed behind the fallen timbers, was commenced by ordering the regulars up, the late General Harrison, then aide to Wayne, being lieutenant with the title of major, ad- dressed his superior-" General Wayne, I'm afraid you'll get into the fight yourself, and forget to give me the necessary field orders." "Perhaps I may," replied Wayne, "and if I do, recollect the standing order for the day is, charge the d -- d rascals with the bayo- nets !"

That this Indian war was in a great measure sustained by British influence admits of ample proof. That they lent their aid in this campaign and battle is fully confirmed in the extract given from a letter from General Harrison to Hon. Thomas Chilton, dated North Bend, February 17, 1834 :

That the Northwestern and Indian war was a continuation of the Revolutionary contest is susceptible of proof. The Indians in that quarter had been engaged in the first seven years of the war as the allies of Great Brit- ain, and they had no inclination to continue it after the peace of 1783. It is to British influence that their subsequent hostilities are to be attributed. The agents of that govern- ment never ceased to stimulate their enmity against the government of the United States, and to represent the peace which had been made as a temporary truce, at the expiration of which "their great fathers would unite with them in the war, and drive the long knives from the lands which they had so unjustly usurped from his red children." This was the cause of the detention of the posts of Detroit, Mackinaw and Niagara so long after the treaty of 1783. The reasons assigned for so doing deceived nobody after the failure of the negotiation attempted by General Lincoln, Governor Randolph and Colonel Pickering, under British mediation voluntarily tendered.

The bare suggestion of a wish by the British authorities would have been sufficient to induce the Indians to accept the terms proposed by the American Commissioners. But at any rate the withholding the supplies with which the Indians had been previously

furnished would have left no other alternative but to make peace. From that period, how- ever, the war was no longer carried on "in disguise." Acts of open hostility were com- mitted. In June, 1794, the Indians assem- bled at the Miami of the Lake, and were completely equipped out of the King's store, from the fort (a large and regularly fortified w(k) which had been built there in the preceding spring, for the purpose of sup- porting the operations of the Indians against the army of General Wayne. Nor was the assistance limited to the supply of provisions and munitions of war. On the advance of the Indians they were attended by a captain of the British army, a sergeant, and six matrosses, provided with fixed ammu- nition, suited to the calibre of two 'eld- pieces which had been taken from General St. Clair and deposited in a creek near the scene of his defeat in 1791. Thus attended, they appeared before Fort Recovery (the ad- vanced post of our army), on the 4th of July, 1794, and having defeated a large detachment of our troops, encamped under its walls, and would probably have succeeded in taking the fort if the guns which they expected to find had not been previously discovered and re- moved. In this action Captain Hartshorn, of the First Sub-legion, was wounded by the Indians, and afterwards killed in a struggle

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 II, Part 18

Author: Howe, Henry, 1816-1893 Publication date: 1907 Publisher: Cincinnati : Published by the state of Ohio Number of Pages: 916

Author: Howe, Henry, 1816-1893
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Cincinnati : Published by the state of Ohio
Number of Pages: 916