History of Ashland County, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 10

Author: Hill, George William, b. 1823; Williams Bros
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: [Cleveland] Williams
Number of Pages: 896

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HISTORY OF ASHLAND COUNTY, OHIO.

verely, by saying "he had just behaved like a Dutch- man," and told him when strangers came to their camp the ought to give them the best they had. Smich ad- mitting he had done wrong, Tontileaugo said "he must learn to behave like a warrior, and do great things, and never be found in such little actions " Indian hospital- ity was proverbial among the Ohio tribes; and while Williamson and his men were preparing to murder the poor Moravians at Gnadenlutten, they were engaged in cooking and getting breakfast for his volunteers. Could the contrast be greater? When white men or Indians were invited to their feasts, or to accept shelter or nour- ishment within their cabins, they were sure of protection, and a fair division of food. In fact, when the members of one tribe visited another, it was regarded as a suitable occasion for feasting and good cheer, until all their sup- plies of provisions had been consumed. In this respect they surpassed most of our own race. If a white man or an Indian refused to eat with them when invited, it was interpreted as a symptom of displeasure, or, that those refusing were angry and disliked those who had in- vited them to eat. No Indian was allowed to pass the camp of a hunter without being invited to eat and re- fresh himself, and to do otherwise was regarded a shame, and an evidence of excessive meanness. If all the food had been consumed prior to a request for it, the statement of that fact was always deemed an honorable apology. While it was deemed excusable among Indians to carry off the property of the "Long Knives," in war, no Indian was allowed to steal from another. This rule was adhered to with much severity until they learned to " cheat, swear and steal, from their white neighbors.

An Indian never forgot an injury nor a benefit. When Simon Kenton had been captured, and thrice condemned by the Shawnees to be burned, Logan, whose kindred had been cruelly murdered by the Baker party on the Ohio river, approached him while the Indians were evinc- ing their anger and menacing his life, and told him to fear not, for he would arrange the matter and save his life. He was always as humane as he was brave. The next morning he told Kenton he would send two young men to Upper Sandusky to speak a good word for him. When the young men returned Kenton wis taken by them a prisoner to Upper Sandusky. Logan was then on the Scioto. Before leaving, Logan shook hands with Kenton, but gave no intimation of his fate. When he and his guards arrived at Upper Sandusky, the Indians, young and old, came out to welcome the warriors, and view the prisoner. He was again compelled to run the gauntlet. A grand council was immediately held. This was the fourth time his life was suspended in the balance. When it was organized, Peter Druyer, a Frenchman, then a captain in the British service, made his appearance in the council. He was British agent and interpreter in In- dian affairs. It was to him Logan had sent Kenton for protection. He addressed the council in behalf of Ken- ton. He urged that Kenton he sent to Detroit, where he would be useful to the British in giving information of the movements of the whites in Ohio and Kentucky. lie then offered them one hundred dollars in rum and tobacco.

The Indians agreed, and Kenton was sent to Detroit, where he was detained and exchanged as a prisoner of war." The character of Logan only serves to illus. trate the acts of hundreds of others who interfered to save white men from impending death by torture at the stake. These instances of Indian fidelity are rarely cx- celled by the white race. When we consider how often the untutored children of the forest were deceived and wronged by bad white men, we do not marvel that their resentments were carried to the utmost severity. We would not apologize for, nor attempt to extenuate, any of their extreme cruelties, but must admit that, while their mode of torturing prisoners seemed unnecessarily cruel, it was their law of retaliation against implacable enemies. While we condemn the practice of burning helpless cap- tives, what must we say concerning those Christian denom- inations that have felt it to be their duty to roast each other at the stake because of a difference of opinion on creeds, or assumed powers of enchantment, denomi- nated witchcraft?

INDIAN THEOLOGY.

Had the aborigines of Ohio a theology? We believe they had. James Smith relates a conversation he had with his elder Indian brother, Tecaughretanego, concern- ing the Great Spirit, and his dealings with the red men of the forest. After hunting two days without eating, Smith returned late in the evening, faint and weary. Tecaughretanego asked him what success. Smith told him not any. This Indian brother had prepared him a kind of soup from some fox and wildcat bones which lay about the camp, and which the ravens and buzzards had picked. He told him he was much refreshed. His In- dian brother then handed him his pipe and pouch, and told him to take a smoke. After doing so, he informed Smith that he had something of importance to tell him, if he was now composed and ready to hear it. Being willing to hear him, Tecaughrctanego proceeded thus:

He said the reason he deferred his speech, was because few men are in a right humor to hear good talk when they are extremely hungry, as they are generally fretful and discomposed, but as I appeared now to enjoy calmness and serenity of mind, he would now communicate the thoughts of his heart, and those things I knew to be true.

"Brother -as you have lived with the white people, you have not had the same advantage of knowing that the Great Being above feeds his people, and gives them their meat in due season, as we Indians have, who are frequently out of provisions, and yet are wonderfully supplied. and that so frequently that it is evidently the hand of the great Ov ..- neeve (God) that doeth this. Whereas, the white people have com- mouly large stocks of tame cattle, that they can kill when they please, and also their barns and cribs filled with grain, and therefore have not the same opportunity of sering and knowing that they are supported by the ruler of heaven and earth.

"Brother. .. I know that ; ou ate now afraid that we will all perish with hunger, but you have no just reason to fear this.

"Brother-I have been young, but am now obl; I have been fre- quently under the like circumstances that we now are, and that some time or other in almost every year of my life, yet I have hitherto been supported, and my wants supplied in time of need.

" Brother-Owneryo (God) sometimes suffers is to be in wint, il order to teach us our dependence upon Hon, and to let us know that we are to love and serve him; and likewise to know the worth of that that's we receive, and to make it more thankful.

" Brother be assured that you will be supplied with food, and that just in the right time; but you must contante diligent in the use wi

" Howe's History of Olito, page 311.

HISTORY OF ASHLAND COUNTY, OHIO.

trans. Go to sleep, and rise early in the morning and go a hunting: lw strong, and exert yourself like a man, and the Great Spirit will di- net your way."+

These are sentiments worthy a philosopher; and Te- raughretanego but uttered the prevailing idea of the Wyandots and Ddlawcares concerning the existence of God and his overruling providence. At this time this great Indian was over sixty years of age, very much coppled, and unable to hunt ; and depended npon the goodness of the Great Spirit to feed him and his little son. Smith arose early the next morning and pro- reeded slowly about five miles and saw deer, but the crust of the snow made a great noise and they fled be- fore he came in reach of them. Keeping up his cour- age he soon discovered buffalo tracks, and hastening into a small glade he killed a very large cow ; kindled a fire; roasted some of the meat; abated his hunger ; made haste and packed up all the meat he could carry and returned to the cabin of his Indian brother. When they were all refreshed, Tecaughretanego delivered a speech upon the necessity and pleasure of receiving the necessary supports of life with thankfulness, knowing that Owaneeyo (God) is the great giver. Such a speech from an Indian may be thought by those who are unac- quainted with them altogether incredible. But when we reflect that the person who thuis discoursed was no ordinary Indian, but in his sphere as great as Socrates among the educated Greeks, we are not surprised that he should deliver such a discourse upon patience, forti- tude and faith.

*Frost and Drakes' Indian Captivities.

CHAPTER XVII. TREATIES AND SURVEYS.

A Brief Discussion of the Indian Policy of William Penn, and the United States. - Perfidy upon ail Sides.

IN the year 1758, the French surrerdered to the British authorities Fort DuQuesne, and, with it, fell French dominion in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Michi- gan. In September, 1760, the -French governor, Vau- drueil, surrendered the fort at Detroit to Major Robert Rogers, who left an English garrison to hold and defend it. The French never regained their possessions in Ohio, although they intrigued, through Pontiac and his savage allies, for their recovery.

In 1768, a treaty was held by Sir William Johnson, at Fort Stanwix, in central New York, in which the Indian title to the lands between the Alleghanies and the east eru boundaries of Ohio, was extinguished, and came under the jurisdiction of Pennsylvania. By this treaty. the colonists of Virginia were greatly gratified, by having their territory extended beyond the Ohio: although the Sharonces, Miamis, and many of the Wyandots, resisted the extension of the territorial dominion of Virginia,

and it required many sanguinary campaigns to subdue their opposition. The Indians of Ohio continued to make incursions upon the frontiers of Pennsylvania and Virginia, often capturing many prisoners, and killing the helpless pioneer settlers. To soften their hostility, and obtain their good will, it was thought best to send agents among them, to hold talks and make presents.

In 1775, congress organized an administration of In- dian affairs, and Captain James Wood proceeded to the territory of Ohio, by authority of the general assembly of Virginia, to invite a council at Fort Pitt, formerly Fort DuQuesne. In the meantime, Governor Hamilton, of Canada, used al! his arts, through secret agents, to enlist the Indian tribes in the cause of Great Britain. Captain Wood found much difficulty in inducing the Ohio savages to meet him in council at Fort Pitt, but finally succeeded. Congress appointed Franklin, Hen- ry, and Wilson, commissioners, to meet the Indians at Fort Pitt. The conference, in effect, accomplished nothing.

About that time Colonel George Morgan, a gentleman of undoubted courage, discretion and experience, was appointed Indian agent, and by his influence the hostil- ity of the Ohio tribes was neutralized, and the horrors of impending invasion averted during the dreary years of the revolution. Morgan personally visited nearly all the hostile tribes, and finally brought about a conference - at Fort Pitt, in October, in which nearly all the tribes were divided in their support of the British, and agreed to abstain from hostility against the border settlements. By presents, false representations, and intrigue in 1779, British influence had so far triumphed with all the west- ern tribes except the Delawares and a few Wyandots, that it held the ascendency until- 1783, when the tribes were humbled by the colonial forces, being abandoned by the British, who were compelled to retire before the victorious legions of the colonists. In 1784, a new treaty with the Six Nations took place at Fort Stanwix, at which those tribes were informed that Great Britain had yielded by treaty, to the United States, all claims to the country south and west of the great northern rivers and lakes, as far as the Mississippi, making no reservation in favor of any Indian nation, but leaving their tribes to seek for peace with the United States upon such terms as miglit be deemed reasonable and just. The chiefs of those powerful tribes expressed much surprise at the conduct of the British authorities, claiming that they had risked all for their great father, the British king. There were many chiefs from. the Wyandots, Delawares, Ottawas, Sharonces and other western tribes present at the con- ference. That treaty extinguished the claims of the Six Natioys to all the lands west of the Ohio, and defined their future possessions in northern New York and Penn- sylvania. In 1775, the treaty of Fort McIntosh was held, and the li randots, Dehnivares, Chipperoas and Of- Fracas were represented. By that treaty those tribes ac- knowledged themselves and all their tribes, to be under the protection of the United States. The boundary be- tween those tribes was fixed by the commission. Cit. . zens of the United states were prohibited from settling

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HISTORY OF ASHLAND COUNTY, OINIO.

on their lands; many persons having crossed fiom Penn- sylvania into Ohio, were ordered to return and vacale their improvements.

While upon this topic, the reader will pardon a short digression upon the Indian policy of our fathers. The character of William Penn has been panegyrized alike by orator, poet, and painter. The picture has been sadly overdrawn, and William Penn placed in a false light. Let us examine his policy. It is asserted that he made a treaty with the Indians under a great elm at Shackamaxon, in which he made an ostentatious pur- chase of the lands of the aborigines. West, the painter, has drawn an imaginary picture of the scene, and the features of Penn, and the red men of the forest surround- ing him. He is represented as purchasing their lands for a few yards of British broadcloth, a few beads and other tinsels. * Thus millions of acres of land were purchased for a few hundred dollars, and a homiletic snivel upon war and conquest delivered. History presents no au- thentic evidence of such a treaty ! It is simply a myth drawn from Qual:er tradition, and never had any real existence. f That Penn had a talk with the Indians of Shackamaxon, now Philadelphia, and that he distributed a few presents in cloth, and discoursed on the wicked- ness of war, is doubtless true. All such sales to Penn, or any other party were void. But admitting they could enter into a contract. The consideration offered them for their lands was a fraud upon its face.

These criticisms may be regarded as too severe, by the friends of the old Quaker, but to show the superficial charity of the Penns in their Indian policy, we will add a few more facts of history. A son of William Penn, John, governor of Pennsylvania, in 1764, by proclama- tion, offered a premium for Indian captives and scalps. "For the capture of any male above ten years, one hun dred and fifty dollars, or for his scalp, being killed, one hundred and thirty-four dollars; and for every female cap- tured, one hundred and thirty dollars, or for the scalp of such female killed, fifty dollars."i Thus the fine theo- ries of the good William were disregarded in the first gen- eration of Penns. And because the Indians resented the loss of their lands, the venality and cruelty of the whites, Governor Penn proposed to hunt them, like wolves, by offering a price for their scalps ! This was the occasion of the relentless Indian incursions, that desolated west- ern Pennsylvania in later years.

When Lord Calvert purchased the right of occupation of the aborigines of St. Mary's, in Maryland, for a con. sideration which seems to have given general satisfaction, he carefully cultivated their friendship, and perfect amity prevailed. He gave the Indians in exchange for the lib- erty of occupying their land, axes, hoes and clothing, thereby endeavoring to introduce among them the first rudiments of civilization -- the implements of agricul- ture. $ Yet, we have no Wests painting fine pictures of him, and his new-made aboriginal friends.

* Chalmer's Annals, page 207. 1 Clarkson's Biography of Pennsylvania.

#Sce Craig's History of Pittsburgh, page 97.

$ Bozman's " History of Maryland," volume 1L., page 569.

So, when Great Britain deserted her Indian allies in Ohio, Michigan, and the northwest, she did a cowardly thing. Her pretended ownership of their soil fell to the ground, and the United States were finally compelled to admit that the Indians were the owners of the soil, and obtained the same by conquest, treaty, and purchase, al- though the remuneration fell far below the just value of their lands. In 1786 the treaty at Fort Finney, at the junction of the Miami river with the Ohio, was held, and resulted in placing the Shatenees and other tribes under the protection of the United States, and admitting their sovereignty over all the land over which the Indians roamed.

Under her colonial charter, Virginia had claimed all the lands between the thirty-fourth and forty-fifth degrees of north latitude, which included all the territories of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan. . \ counter-claim to a part of the territory northwest of the Ohio was set up by Connecticut. Other colonies com- plained that Virginia was about to take possession of nearly all the western territory, while the twelve remain- ing colonies had assisted in wresting it from the common enemy; and urged that those territories should be con- sidered as common property, and sold as prescribed by Congress, for the common benefit, to be erected into free States for admission into the Union. In 1784, in order to settle all disputes concerning the territory west of Ohio, Virginia authorized her delegates in Congress to make a deed of cession to the United States of the ter- ritory in dispute, asking indemnity for her expenses of subduing the British posts in said territory. On the twenty-riinth of April, 17844, Congress accepted the Ces- sion, and the States subsequently endorsed the same, with a stipulation prohibiting slavery. In 1786 Connec- ticut also ceded to the United States her claims on the lands lying in northern Ohio, for the common benefit.

On the thirteenth of July, 1787, Corgress passed the celebrated ordinance organizing the territory of the Ohio, now constituting five of the most prosperous Scares west of the Ohio river. The territory was organized under the ordinance, and General Arthur St. Clair was ap. pointed governor of the Northwestern territory, on the fifth of October, 1787." The intrusion of settlers had forced a public system of survey and sale of land upon the attention of Congress as early as May, 1785. . In ordinance prescribing the mode of survey and sale of western lands was passed. It provided that a corps of surveyors -- one from cach State, and appointed by Con- gress-should be placed under the direction of Thomas Hutchins, geographer of the United States, and instructed to divide the territory into townships of six miles square, by lines running due north and south, ard others cross. ing these at right angles, as far as practicable. The first line running north and south was to begin at the Ohio river, at a point due north from the western termination of the southern boundary of Pennsylvania: the first line running cast and west was to begin at the same point and extend through the territory. The townships, whole or

" Taylor's history of Ohr.

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HISTORY OF ASHLAND COUNTY, OHIO.

fractional, were to be numbered from: south to north -- the ranges of townships progressively westward. The townships were to be subsequently divided into thirty-six sections, each containing a mile square, or six hundred and forty acres. The survey has since been carried to half sections, quarter sections, and eighths, and in some cases to sixteenths. Jackson, Perry, Mohican and Lake townships are in the fifteenth range from the western boundary from Pennsylvania; and flanover, Green, Ver- million, Montgomery and Orange in the sixteenth range, while Mifflin, Milton and Clearcreek are in the seven- teenth range of townships. Ruggles, Troy and Sullivan were surveyed out of the Connecticut Western Reserve, and do not range with the sectional survey of this county. It was provided that where the survey of seven ranges of townships had been completed, plots should be returned to the board of the treasury, and the Secretary of War was to reserve, by lot, one-seventh pait for the use of the late continental army, and so of every subsequent seven ranges, when surveyed and returned. Lots eight, eleven, twenty-six and twenty-nine, in each township, were re- served to the United States for future sale; lot sixteen, for the maintenance of public schools within the town- ships.

The Connecticut Western Reserve is situated in the northeast quarter of the State, between Lake Erie on the north, Pennsylvania east, the parallel of the forty-first degree of north latitude south, and Sandusky and Seneca counties on the west. It extends one hundred and twenty miles from east to west, and is about fifty miles wide. It contains about three million eight hun- dred thousand acres. It is surveyed into townships of five miles square cach. About five hundred thousand acres of the west end was set apart by the State of Con- necticut to sufferers by fire during the revolution. These lands were donated in 1792. The townships being five miles square were subdivided into four quarters, and. these into lots of from fifty to five hundred acres each to suit the purchaser. Hanover, Green, Mifflin and Milcon townships were surveyed by James Hedges, dep- uty United States surveyor, and a citizen of Virginia, in 1807. Vermillion, Montgomery, Lake, Mohican and Perry were surveyed by Jonathan Cox, deputy surveyor, under Mansfield Ludlow in 1807. Clearcreek, Orange and Jackson townships were surveyed by Mansfield Lud- low in 1807. The three northern townships, Ruggles, Troy and Sullivan, being part of the Western Reserve and "gore," were surveyed about the time that territory was divided into townships. At the period when these surveys took place, the territory now constituting the limits of Ashland county had not a single pioneer with- in it; but was used as a free hunting ground by the Wyandots, Ottavoas, Delawares, Mohegans and Mingus. The first land office for the entry and purchase of lands was established at Canton, Ohio, soon after the survey was completed; and a majority of the lands of this county were entered at that office. Subsequently an office was established at Wooster, Ohio, where the più- neers purchased the remaining lands of the county, sub- ; ject to entry. .

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE SURVEY .- AN ADVENTURE.

Notes of the Surveyors -- A Description of the Timber, the Quality of the Lands, the Size and Direction of Streams. -- The Indian Villages. -... \n Adventure with Two old Chiefs, Pipe and Armstrong.

HAVING access to the field notes and observations of the surveyors, by whom the sectional subdivisions of this county were made (now in possession of the county surveyor), we find many topics noted, worthy of preser- vation, and of deep interest to the people who now occupy the lands alluded to by the surveyors. The names of the parties accompanying these surveys, are not mentioned in the field-notes. The surveyors seem to have carried tents, and encamped during the nights and rainy days, doing their own cooking, after the :nan- ner of hunters and soldiers. Their provisions were purchased, generally, at the village of Clinton, Knox county, and carried through the forests on pack-horses, requiring two or three days to perform the journey.

The distance traveled, in making the surveys, varied from six to eighteen miles, depending much on the na- ture of the forests and the marshes, per day. In pass- ing, the sectionai lines were blazed, and the corners marked by trees or posts; and the character of the soil, and the kind of timber, carefully noted, as well as the number, size, and direction, of the brooks, creeks, and other streams, to enable the purchaser of the lands to ascertain the value of the soil, of which he was to become possessed.

Range fifteen, composed of Lake, Mohican, Perry, and Jackson townships, was first run. The lands along the east range line. in Lake. Mohican, and the south part of Perry, are described as generally level and the timber much burnt by fire, with barrens, and a few scat- tering trees. This was the work of the Indians, in pursuit of game. In Lake township, the range line, or eastern boundary, was surveyed by William Ludlow, in 1806; and the sectional subdivisions were made in March and April, 1857, by Jonathan Cox, deputy United States surveyors. In the sectional survey, we find that Lake township had been pretty much ah barned over, and that the principal timber was small white oak. burr oak, hickory, dogwood, and hazel. The surveyors continued their work on Sundays, the same as other days.

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History of Ashland County, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 10

Author: Hill, George William, b. 1823; Williams Bros Publication date: 1880 Publisher: [Cleveland] Williams Number of Pages: 896

Author: Hill, George William, b. 1823; Williams Bros
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: [Cleveland] Williams
Number of Pages: 896