USA > Ohio > Ashland County > History of Ashland County, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches > Part 46
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99
to the place where he had concealed his spies and they turned their faces homeward. On the homeward trip to Fort McIntosh, Brady and his men had several startling adventures. He returned to Fort Pitt and made due re- port to Genera! Broadhead, and was saluted as a hero.
In 1789 a line of spies and scouts was formed to patrol the borders from Fort Henry, now Wheeling, to Fort Le Bœuff on Lake Erie, of which Samuel Brady was captain. Thomas Sprott, Samuel Sproti, Alexander McConnell, Lewis Wetzel, George Foulks, Adam Poe, Andrew Poe, and some eight or ten other active border hunters were members of the company, which was regu- larly organized. About this time Captain Brady con- cluded to enter the Ohio wilderness and proceed in the direction of Upper Sandusky, in the hope of discovering an encampment of the Indians, who were constantly barrassing the border settlers. In company with George Foulks, Thomas Sprott, Samuel Sprott, McConnell, a young man by the name of Grant, and five or six others, whose headquarters were at Fort McIntosh, Captain Brady ascended Big Beaver to the mouth of the Maho- ning and encamped over night. During the ascent of Beaver, one of the company shot & very fat young bear, a part of which they roasted and cooked for supper. They all eat heartily of the meat, and during the night young Grant was taken suddenly very sick; in the morning he was unable to proceed. After consultation, it was agreed that he should return to Fort Michutosh. He was unable to go alone. Lots were drawn to deter- mine who should accompany him. The task fell upon a young man who was very anxious to continue with the expedition, and he refused to go back. The lot then fell upon Thomas Sprott, very much to his regret, because he was desirous of advancing. He and Grant descended the l'eaver in a canoe, and landed safely at the fort.
Captain Brady and his men continued up the Maho- ning to about the present site of Youngstown, where they left the stream and traveled through the forest in a southwest direction, until they reached Sugar creek, some twelve miles below the present site of Wooster, where they found a camp of Indians, one of which they shot, while another fled into the forest. The escaping Indian appeared to be a chief, and fled across the creek with the fleetness of a deer, and disappeared. From this point they traveled a westerly course until they reached a stream now known as Apple creek, where they found a camp with one man, a woman and a boy, They shot the man and woman, and the boy being some distance from the camp, and hearing the guns, cautiously approached, dodging from tree to tree; and when he had come withio speaking distance, one of Brady's men tokdi him to come in, as his father and mother were safe "The boy became alarmed and attempted to escape; but one of the sharp-shooters shot him through the bowels . as he ran, and so lisabled him that he was easily caught. On examination it was found the wound would be fatal. It was then determined to dispatch him. The poor little fellow understood what was to be his fare, and clang to the legs of one of the scouts, begging him to
-
--- ---
1
COLONEL GEORGE W. URIE
was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, February 22, 1866, and in 1815, when nine years of age, accom. panied his father's family to Ohio, making a home in Orange township, in the present county of Ashland. In his boyhood be was an adept in the sports of the day, jumping, wrestling, running foot races, etc., in which he was able to hold his own with the best. His father was a great deer and bear hunter, and he generally accom. panied him to assist in bringing in the trophies of the chase. In these expeditions he learned the intricate de- tails of woodcraft, and became as expert with the rifle in securing game as his father.
When a young man he learned the trade of millwright, which called him some distance from his home. He also worked at the carpenter trade for more than twenty years -- at that time very hard work, as mechanics were ol liged to go into the woods, cut suitable trees, juggle, score and hew down the timber to a proper size, after which it was hauled by ox teams to the place designed for the building, where it was mortised and framed. Very many of these strongly framed houses and barns are now standing where they were built fifty of sixty years ago, and bid fair to remain another half century.
Colonel Uile possessed strong alitary tastes, and with his commanding figure and erect bearing was a promi- nent character at drill and general muster. Under the old State militia law he passed through the various grades from captain to colonel of a regiment of independent rifles. At the breaking out of the war with Mexico he still commanded this regiment, and made all bis arrange- ments to accompany bis comrades in support of the honor of the American flag, but having recently Focus- ered from a severe attack of sickness, he was advised by
his physician that if he followed his inclination in the matter it would very likely prove fatal to him. He there- fore reluctantly decided to remain at home, and leave the honors that might be won to other officers of the regiment.
In the fall of 1845 be was elected treasurer of Rich- land county, and upon the crection of Ashland county in 1846, he resigned, and was elected the first treasurer of the new county, which office he held two terms.
In IS3; he was seized with a desire to seek a fortune among the gold mines of California, and entered the "golden gate" by way of the isthmus of Panama. Ho remained in California but one year, and finding his golden dreams contained more dross than pure metal, he returned. In 1853 he was elected a member of the State board of equalization from the district composed of Ashland and Richland counties. In 185; he was ap- pointed deputy United States marshal for the northern district of Ohio, and aided in taking the census of 1800. He was elected recorder of Ashland county in 1865, and held the office until 1874, when he was elected mayor of Ashland, which office he held two years.
Colonel Urie has been a resident of Ashland many years. As is evinced by the numerous places of trust he has filled, he has the confidence of the people of the county in which he lives. He was twice married, and by his first wife raised a family of four daughters- Mis. Mary J. Porter, Mrs. Alice A. Beer, Mrs. Fibbie H. An- deison, and Mrs. Sadie 1. Beer. A son died young. Mis. Potter died in September, 18;3.
An extended sketch of the life of Solomon Uifc. father of Colonel George W. Urie, will be found on page ISy of this work.
!
----
189
IUSTORY OF ASHLAND COUNTY, OHIO.
save his life, and take him along. \ blow from a toma- hawk soon silenced his cries, and his body was left as food for wild beasts.
From 1781 to 1791 during the Indian hostilities, Fort Melntosh was the principal headquarters of Brady and his men. Here the Sprotts, McConnells, Wetzels, Poes and Diekinsons often met for consultation. From 1783, the close of the Revolutionary war, until the defeat of Harmar and St. Clair, the border settlements were com- paratively secure from Indian invasion. Brady and his men often passed up the Beaver to the Mahoning, and once or twice to the Cuyahoga where, on one occasion, Brady made a celebrated leap to escape from his pursu- ers. His trips with the spies frequently extended to Fort Laurens on the Tuscarawas.
In 1793-4 Thomas Sprott was employed by the Gov- ernment to carry the mail from Fort Legionville, the winter quarters of General Wayne, to Fort Franklin on the Allegheny. His route was along an old Indian trail, without bridges or means of crossing streams, which he was compelled to wade, many times when flooded with ice. The trip was beset by many dangers, yet he deliv- ered his precious packages promptly.
In 1795, after the treaty of Greenville, Thomas Sprott crossed the Ohio and located a tract of land near the present site of the village of Darlington, in Beaver county, Pennsylvania. About this time he married Mary Woodburn, of Allegheny county, and moved upon his farm, which consisted of four hundred acres. The disastrous defeat of the combined tribes, at Fallen Tim- bers, by General Wayne, and the largc cession of terri- tory made the United States by the tribes at the treaty of Greenville, completely humbled the warlike leaders, and a peace of fifteen years between the Indians and pioneers of Ohio prevailcd.
The transition from Indian scout to the peaceful occu- pation of agriculturist was easy and agreeable to Thomas Sprott. He soon became noted as a quiet and careful farmer. To the day of his death he took great pleasure in narrating the adventures and hairbreadth escapes of Brady and his men, and proudly contended that the great State of Ohio was indebted to such leaders and men for the expulsion of the incrciless savage, who had so often desolated the borders of Pennsylvania and Vir- gina.
. .
Mr. Sprott remained on his farm in Beaver county un- til 1821, when his excellent wife deceased. In 1823 he purchased a farm in Clearcreek township, Richland, now Ashland, county, and with his family, consisting of fom sons and four daughters, located thereon -- James, his oldest son, remaining in Beaver County.
When Mr. Sprott arrived in Clearcreek it was but sparsely settled. The Delawares and a few of the I'y- andlots returned annually to make sugar and bunt. They were then harmless and annoyed no one. Mr. Sprott had but little intercourse with them, and was never div. turbed. He had seen enough of the redskins on the eastern border of the State ; and the sight of a tomahawk and an Indian hunter brought unpleasant memories of the past.
.
In IS39 Mr. Sprott deceased, and according to a de- sire expressed sometime before his death, was buried on a favorite Indian mound a few hundred yards northeast of his residence, where his son William was also buried in 1815. The location of the mound is very striking. It was built upon an upheaval of drift deposited during the glacial period, something over ninety feet high, with a circular base some three hundred yards in diameter. This natural upheaval or deposit of drift was slightly flat- tened on the top, where the Indians erected two mounds, each of which possessed a diameter, at the base, of about twenty-five fect, and a height of about five feet. From the top of this mound a grand view is presented. The observer can take in a landscape of five or six miles, ex- hibiting as fine a valley of land as can be seen on the globe. Here, Thomas Sprott, the brave old scout and pioneer, rests from his toils, with a reputation unsullied, and a consciousness of having done his duty as a citizen, a soldier, and a Christian.
Mr. Sprott raised an excellent family of sons and daughters, who are much scattered: Thomas, jr., aged seventy-two, resides on the old homestead; Samuel, aged seventy-one, resides in Auburn, Indiana; John, aged sixty-seven, resides at Bryan, Ohio; Jane married Colonel Samuel Russell, and resides in Seattle; King county, Washington Territory; Martha resides in Sa- vannah, Ashland county, Ohio; Mary married Samuel Sprott, a cousin, and resides in Leseur City, Minnesota.
SOLOMON URIE
was born in Bedford county, Pennsylvania, near Bloody run, in 1769. He was in Williamson's campaign against the Moravian villages, on the Tuscarawas, in 1782, and was at the massacre of the Christian Moravians, and saw the burning of thei: houses. He was then quite young, but large of his age. Colonel David Williamson was a brother-in-law, and for that reason he was induced to ne- company the expedition. He always disapproved that barbarous act, and often stated to his sons, that William- son yielded a reluctant consent to the perpetration of that dreadful tragedy, being unable to control the vio. lence of his soldiers, who were border volunteers, and had suffered much from Indian raids and depredations.
In the year 18to, Solomon Urie and his brother Thomas went on a hunting excursion across the Ohio and established a camp about midway between the present sites of Cadiz and New Philadelphia. They hunted together some days, and finally, in one of their trips through the forest in search of game, became separated. Thomas, having killed a bear, in the evening was conveying the skin toward the camp, which he had nearly reached, when he was shot and killed by Indians, who had taken possession of it, and were in ambash, watching his arrival. Solomon, at the same tine, was approaching the comm. from another direction, driving before him his horses, which had been beledi and hoppled. When almost in sight of the camp, de heard a double crack of guns, and, fearing his brother
:
:
---
.-
1
£
190
HISTORY OF ASHLAND COUNTY, OHIO.
might have been assailed by Indians, considered it pri- dent to leave his horses and carefully guard against sur- prise. When he came in sight of his camp, he saw two Indians plundering it, while a third was acting as sen. tinel. He raised his rifle to shoot the Indian guard, when his brother's dog began to bark, which pointed out his position to the Indian. Mr. Urie comprehended the position at a glance. There were three Indians. To press forward might be fatal. In his rear was a swamp. To retreat in that direction would be folly. Summon- ing all his energies, he made a bold dash in the direction of the Indian sentinel. The Indian became alarmed : and retreated, dodging behind trees to escape his white assailant. Mr. Urie pressed boldly forward, discovering as he went, the body of his brother Thomas. He suc- cessfully escaped the Indians, who pursued him some miles to the verge of a precipice, down which he plunged, and on descending to the bottom, discovered that he had broken the breach of his gun, the loek be- ing uninjured. The Indians were amazed at the leap, and abandoned further pursuit. Mr. Urie continued his flight in the direction of the Ohio river, and, much to his surprise, came upon a camp formed of Captain Samuel Brady and other hunters. The next morning he and a number of others returned to his late camp and found Thomas covered with the skin of the bear he had shot the day before. The Indians had carried away one of his moccasins and a leggin. His body was pierced with two bullets, and scalped. A grave was dug with wooden shovels, into which his body was deposited, enclosed in a coffin made of puncheons. The Indians had departed with the horses, forty deer, ten bear, and ten beaver skins, and the entire stock of provisions and traps. Mr. Urie offered all the property to his new comrades if they would join him in the pursuit, capture and punishment of the Indians. It was regarded as too hazardous an undertaking, and he was reluctantly compelled to leave the murder of his brother unrevenged for the present.
He returned to his home in Washington county, re- solved to retaliate on the red fiends of the Ohio forests at no distant day. When the war of 1812 was inaug. urated, he and his son Samuel served three months on the borders of Canada, and rendezvoused at Black Rock. In the summer of 1814, Mr. Urie visited Orange township, and located a quarter seetion of land, and a quarter section in Montgomery township, and erected a small cabin and cleared a few acres of ground, and in the fall of 1815 removed to it with his family, which consisted of seven sons -- Samnel, Thomas, David, Solo- mon, John, George W. and James; and two girls- -- Su- sannah and Elizabeth.
In the fall of 1815, he erected a blacksmith shop on his land, being the first one in Orange township, he being a blacksmith and gunsmith by trade. The first winter after his arrival, he killed forty deer, eight large black bears, a great number of wolves, and other game. On one occasion, there being considerable snow on the ground, he took an old horse and rode two or three miles north in the forest, hitched to a sapling, and, proceeding a short distance, shot a fine deer. Returning to the
horse, he rode it through the undergrowth to the deer, tied a rope around its neck, fastened the other end to the tail of the horse, mounted, and rode home, dragging the deer after him. He had reached his cabin but a few minutes, when, as he was engaged in skinning the deer, a gang of hungry wolves, following his trait, appeared in the vicin- ity of his cabin. His dogs set up a furious barking and commenced an attack upon the wolves, when they soon fed into the forest. It was a narrow escape; for they were half famished for food. He was very successful in trapping wolves. He usually made a sort of triangular pen, arranging a large trap, so that the wolf would have to pass over it in reaching a piece of fresh meat which he placed in the narrow end, covering the trap with leaves. Ilaving bent and trimmed a smalt sapling, he fastened the chain of the trap to it in such a manner that when the wolf attempted to back out, it would tread upon the trap, set it off, be caught by the hind legs, and elevated by the sapling. In this way, he captured a great many, a reward being offered for their scalps. Soon after the erection of his shop, Tom Lyons, Jonacake, Catotawa, and other Wyandot and Delaware Indians, came to have their tomahawks and guns repaired. They frequently brought bent gun-barrels to be straightened. Passing the barrel between the logs of his shop, he used sufficient force to spring it back, until the bend wis out, then, taking a bow with a thong of deer sinews, he passed the thong through the barrel, and, springing it until it was tense, he could see whether any kinks were left in the barrel by sighting through the bore; and if any were discovered, he removed them by a wooden mallet, by laying the barrel on the end of a square block and striking on it, oceasionally looking through the bore at a piece of white paper, to see if all the kinks were out. The Indians watched the operation very closely, insisting that he would "spoil gun." After completing the work, Mr. Urie would challenge the Indians to shoot at a mark with him. Being a fine shot, always shooting off-land, "Old Peel," as he called his rifle, was sure to cut the paper. The Indians, being accustomed to shoot with a rest, made poor shots ofhand. When they were about to shoot, Uric, who was always brimfol of fun and tricks, would stand close to his competitor, saying, "Indian stir mush," "Cooza," "No go," when the Indian, becoming very nervous, would miss the mark, and Urie would laugh heartily. In this way, when he bet he won most of their furs and skins.
After the murder of his brother, Mr. Urie never enter- tained a very cordial feeling for the red face; and, on his hunting excursions along the Black river, from 1815 to 1825, though retieent on the subject, it is believed he more than once avenged the death of his brother.
Mr. Urie died in Montgomery township, July ;, 1830, aged nearly sivy two years, and Mrs. Elizabeth Unie, his wife, in June, rss, aged about seventy three years Colonel George W. Crie is the only one of the family in this county. Thomas? and Davids are in lona; and " Thomas I rie died in host, Sept aler 8, 1973, agul eighty -te years.
+ David t'rie dad in Town, March, togg, aged seventy-eight years
!
HISTORY OF ASHLAND COUNTY, OHIO.
James is in Indiana. All the others are gone to their final resting place.
STERLING G. BUSHNELL, SR.,
was born in Hartford county, Connecticut, in 1770, and emigrated to Trumbull county, Ohio. in 1806. He left Connecticut in December, 1805, and journeyed on · sleds with his wife and five children. On the route he was joined by a number of other families. The most of the route was through the forests of eastern and northern New York. He passed directly to Albany, and thence to near Buffalo, on the lake. He and his traveling companions generally camped by the wayside at night, scraping the snow aside and erecting a sort of tent or screen of bed quilts to protect their families against the storms and cold. The forests were infested by large numbers of ferocious wolves. To protect him .. self against these animals, he generally encamped near a dead tree, which he set on fire. When they reached the Hudson, the ice was somewhat weakened by a thaw. Fearing to cross it with his teams, he took the sled and children and hauled it by hand to the western side, leaving his wife and horse to follow. After he had landed, she mounted and followed, and when about midway of the stream, the ice broke with a tremendous roar. He stood appalled at the sight, expecting to see his wife and horse disappear beneath the floating ice. Fortunately, she floated on a large piece of ice which drifted to the western shore, some distance below him. Watching its approach to land, when it touched the bank, she applied I er whip vigorously to the sides of the horse upon which she was seated, and aided by this stimulus, it gave a great leap, fastened upon and as- cended the bank in safety. Great was his joy over the. providential escape. From near the city of Buffalo the whole party kept up the lake shore. By examination they found the icc was sufficiently suong to bear their teams, and hence, followed it until they reached the northwest corner of Pennsylvania, when they learned from an old Indian chief of the Somcos where they were, and the proper route from there to Trumbull county, Ohio. When he arrived at the residence of his brother, William Bushnell, who had preceded him one year, his wife gave birth to a child about two hours after his arrival -- Jonathan Bushnell. Mr. Bushnell resided in Trumbull county aboat fifteen years. His occupations were various. Part of the time he taught school -acted as justice of the peace and county surveyor. In his late residence, he engaged in the mercantile business and carried on a tannery and a farm. He also made two trips to New Orleans, with flat-boats, loaded with the productions of Trombull county- principally butter and cheese. He launched his boat on a small stream emptying into Big Beaver, and passed down it to the Ohio, and thence down the Mississippi, where he sold his commodities at good prices, and returned on horse. back., passing tinough the Indian nations, Chodfan's, Cherokees and Chickasawos, carrying his money in a port. manteau. While crossing a stream, he got his money ---
bank bills -- wet, and stopped with a chief of the Chicka- saros, who entertained him kindly and helped dry his bank bills, and directed him on his way. This venture proved very profitable, and apon returning home, he re- solved to make a second trip loaded as before. In passing down the Ohio, he became ice-bound until the opening of the spring thaw, and when he arrived at New Orleans, his goods were greatly damaged from the climate --- his butter melted and cheese spoiled. The trip proved a failure, and he was ruined financially. He was gone about six months, returning by the Gulf and Atlantic to New York city, and thence by private con- veyance home.
During the war of 18te a regiment was raised in Trumbull county, Richard Hayes being colonel, Sterling G. Bushnell adjutant, and an eminent pioneer preacher, Father Badger, chaplain. This regiment made a forced march up the lake shore to Sandusky, where Sandusky City 'now stands. The regiment was, for some time, at Fort Avery, and near Fort Meigs. While near the mouth of Huron, Adjutant Bushnell assisted in the exchange of prisoners between Malden and Huron. While stationed here he became possessed with the malaria of that region, and was discharged on account of disability, and his widow, forty years afterward, was awarded a pension, which was continued until her decease ..
In May, 1821, he emigrated to near the present site of the town of Hayesville, in Vermillion township. When he arrived he was fifty-one years old. The township was sparsely settled, and be entered upon pioncer life in carnest, purchasing eighty acres of land, upon which his son, Thomas Bushnell, now resides, of Joseph Lake, of Wooster, for forty dollars. It proved to be a fine har- gain. He commenced improvements upon it by the erection of a confortable log cabin, in which he resided for many years.
Being a good mathematician, and a practical surveyor, he soon began to retrieve his southern losses. His ex- perience as a business man gave him an opportunity to acquire a knowledge of legal proceedings in justices' courts, and he soon became expert as a country attorney. Many anecdotes are related of him in his capacity as a lawyer, some of which evince a good deal of shrewdness. On one occasion, three young men, of Vermillion town- ship, went on a little frolic to cat a bee tree on the prem- ises of a watchful farmer. After securing the honey, the secret was divulged to a comrade, who told the farmer of h's loss. A suit was brought to secure the value of the tree, before a justice of the peace. The young men consulted Mr. Bushnel! as to the best method of escape. They related the circumstances said the tree was on a ridge- which fact they had stated. Bushnell desired to learn whether the precise locality had been stated. They said it had not. Mr. Bushnell told them to retmin with part of the honey and comb, and cut another hollow tree on the same ridge in the adjoining township, aod f !! the crevices of a large limb with the comb, and smear it over with honey, and leave the balance to him. The young men agreed to pay him fifteen dollars five each if he would clear them. The trint came, and it was show !!
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.