History of Belmont and Jefferson Counties, Ohio, and incidentially historical collection pertaining to border warfare and the early settlement of the adjacent portion of the Ohio Valley, Part 149

Author: Caldwell, J. A. (John Alexander) 1n; Newton, J. H., ed; Ohio Genealogical Society. 1n
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Wheeling, W. Va. : Historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 728

USA > Ohio > Jefferson County > History of Belmont and Jefferson Counties, Ohio, and incidentially historical collection pertaining to border warfare and the early settlement of the adjacent portion of the Ohio Valley > Part 149
USA > Ohio > Belmont County > History of Belmont and Jefferson Counties, Ohio, and incidentially historical collection pertaining to border warfare and the early settlement of the adjacent portion of the Ohio Valley > Part 149

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).

*See Common Pleas Journal "A.," page 292.

429

HISTORY OF BELMONT AND JEFFERSON COUNTIES.

FRONTIER REMINISCENCES.

THE HEROIC FEAT OF THE TWO JOHNSON BOYS.

No history of this section of the country would be complete without it recorded the gallant exploit of the two Johnson boys, who, though so youthful, both being under fourteen years of age, purchased their liberty by the most risky stratagem. Henry and John Johnson, for such were their names, came with their parents from Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, and located on Beach Bottom, about three miles above the mouth of Short Creek. The Indians at that time were particularly severe in their depredations upon white settlers, both in the way of steal- ing and committing unmitigated deeds of atrocity.

That we may be authentic, we copy the following statement, prepared some years ago by Henry Johnson, the younger of the two brothers, who afterward lived in Monroe county, Ohio, and published in a Woodsfield paper about 1845 or 1846. In this narrative he says :

"I was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, Febru- ary 4, 1777. When about eight years old, my father, James Johnson, having a large family to provide for, sold his farm, with the expectation of acquiring larger possessions further west. Thus he was stimulated to encounter the perils of a pio- neer life. He crossed the Ohio river and bought some improve- ments on what was called Beach Bottom flats, two and a half miles from the river, and three or four miles above the mouth of Short creek, with the expectation of holding under the Virginia claim. Soon after we reached there, the Indians became trouble- some; they stole horses and killed a number of persons in our neighborhood. When I was between eleven and twelve years old, in the month of October, 1788, I was taken prisoner by the Indians, with my brother John, who was about eighteen months older than I. The circumstances were as follows :

" On Saturday evening we were out with an older brother, and came home late in the evening. The next morning one of us lost a hat, and about the middle of the day, we thought per- haps we had left it where we had been at work, about three- fourths of a mile from the house. We went to the place and found the hat, and sat down on a log by the roadside and com- menced cracking nnts. In a short time we saw two men com- ing toward us from the house. By their dress, we supposed they were two of our neighbors, James Perdue and J. Russell. We paid but little attention to them, until they came quite near us, when we saw our mistake ; they were black. To escape by flight was impossible, had we been disposed to try. We sat still until they came up. One of them said, 'How do, brodder?' My brother then asked them if they were Indians, and they answered in the affirmative, and said we must go with them. One of them had a buckskin pouch, which he gave my brother to carry, and without further ceremony we took up the line of march for the wilderness, not knowing whether we should ever return to our cheerful home; and not having much love for our commanding officers, of course we obeyed orders rather tardily. The mode of march was thus-one of the Indians walked about ten steps before, the other about ten behind us. After traveling some distance, we balted in a deep hollow and sat down. They took out their knives and whet them, and talked some time in the Indian tongue, which we could not understand. My brother and me sat eight or ten steps from them, and talked about kill- ing them that night, and make our escape. I thought, from their looks and actions, that they were going to kill ns ; and, strange to say, I felt no alarm. I thought I would rather die than go with them. The most of my trouble was, that my father and mother would be fretting after us, not knowing what had become of us. I expressed my thoughts to John, who went and began to talk with them. He said that father was cross to him, and made him work hard, and that he did not like hard work ; that he would rather be a hunter and live in the woods. This seemed to please them, for they put up their knives and talked more lively and pleasantly. We became very familiar, and many questions passed between us; all parties were very inquisitive. They asked my brother which way home was, sev- eral times, and he would tell them the contrary way every time, although he knew the way very well. This would make them laugh ; they thought we were lost, and that we knew no better. They conducted us over the Short creek hills in search of horses, but found none; so wo continued on foot until night, when we balted in a hollow, about three miles from Carpenter's fort, and about four from the place where they first took us ; our route being somewhat circuitous, we made but slow progress. As

night began to close in, I became fretful. My brother encour- aged me by whispering that we would kill them that night.

"After they had selected the place of our encampment, one of them scouted round, whilst the other struck fire, which was done by stopping the touch-hole of his gun, and flashing powder in the pan. After the Indian got the fire kindled, he re-primed the gun and went to an old stump, to get some tinder wood, and while he was thus employed, my brother John took the gun, cocked it, and was about to shoot the Indian ; alarmed lest the other might be close by, I remonstrated, and taking hold of the gun, prevented him shooting ; at the same time I begged him to wait till night, and I would help him kill them both, The oth- er Indian came back about dark, when we took our supper, such as it was,-some corn parched on the coals, and some roasted pork. We then sat down and talked for some time. They seemed to be acquainted with the whole border settlement, from Marietta to Beaver, and could number every fort and block- house, and asked my brother how many fighting men there were in each place, and how many guns. In some places, my broth- er said, there were a good many more guns than there were fighting men. They asked what use were these guns. He said the women could load while the men fired. But how did these guns get there? My brother said, when the war was over with Great Britain, the soldiers that were enlisted during the war were discharged, and they left a great many of their guns at the stations. They asked my brother who owned that black horse that wore a bell ? He answered, father. They then said the Indians could never catch that horse. We then went to bed on the naked ground, to rest and study out the best mode of attack. They put us between them, that they might be the better able to guard us. After awhile, one of the Indians, supposing we were asleep, got up and stretched himself on the other side of the fire, and soon began to snore. John, who had been watching every motion, found they were sound asleep. He whispered to me to get up, which we did as carefully as possible. John took the gun with which the Indian had struck fire, cocked it, and placed it in the direction of the head of one of the Indians. He then took a tomahawk, and drew it over the head of the other Indian. I pulled the trigger, and he struck at the same instant ; the blow falling too far back on the neck, only stunned the Indian. He attempted to spring to his feet, uttering most hideous yells, but my brother repeated the blows with such effect that the conflict became terrible, and somewhat doubtful. The Indian, how- ever, was forced to yield to the blows he received on his head, and in a short time he lay quiet at our feet.

"The one that was shot never moved ; and fearing there were others close by, we hurried off, and took nothing with us but the gun I shot with. They had told us we would see Indians about to-morrow, so we thought that there was a camp of In- dians close by ; and fearing the report of the gun, the Indian hallooing, and I calling to John, might bring them upon us, we took our course towards the river, and on going about three- fourths of a mile, came to a path which led to Carpenter's fort, which was situated in what is now Warren township, Jefferson county. My brother here hung up his hat, that he might know where to take off to find the camp. We got to the fort a little before daybreak. We related our adventure, and the next day a small party went out with my brother, and found the the In- dian that was tomahawked, on the ground; the other had crawled off, and was not found till some time after. He was shot through close by the car. Having concluded this narra- tive, I will give a description of the two Indians, They were of the Delaware tribe, and one of them a chief. He wore the badges of his office-the wampum belt, three half-moons, and a silver plate on his breast ; bands of silver on both arms, and his cars ent round and ornameuted with silver; the hair on the top of his head was done up with silver wire. The other Indian seemed to be a kind of waiter. He was rather under size, a plain man. He wore a fine beaver hat, with a hole shot through the crown. My brother asked him about the hat. He said he killed a captain and got his hat. My brother asked him if he had killed many of the whites, and he answered, a good many. He then asked him if the big Indian had killed many of the whites, and he answered, a great many, and that he was a great captain-a chief." * * * * %

It is stated that the place where the Johnson boys killed their Indian captors, is within the limits of what is now section nine, in Wells township, Jefferson county, although similar claims are made for several others places, some of them being Warren township. They were afterward donated that section of land by the government for this service, and subsequently sold it to Captain Robert Kirkwood. On account of its historical inter-

430

HISTORY OF BELMONT AND JEFFERSON COUNTIES.

est, the tract has remained in the possession of the family con- nection ever since, and is now owned by General R. H. K. Whitely, of Baltimore, Maryland.

MICHAEL MYERS, SR.

Was born at Winchester, Virginia, in 1845, and when he was fourteen years of age his father emigrated to what is now Wash- ington county, Pennsylvania, but then Angusta county, Vir- ginia, and located on Pigeon creek, about six miles from the present site of Monongahela City and near to Ginger Hill.

This was soon after the treaty of Fort Stanwix which opened up this part of the country to permanent settlement, but the new settlers found no "downy beds of ease" awaiting them. Amid the vicissitudes of frontier life young Myers grew to manhood, his knowledge ofthe woods and Indian character qualifying him to participate in the stirring scenes that followed.

In the early part of 1774 occurred a circumstance which, if Mr. Myers' own statement is correct, must have had some in- fluence in bringing on the famous "Dunmore war."

The following extract is taken from an article which appeared in the Pittsburgh Gazette in 1850, signed "C." and is believed to be from the pen of Lyman C. Draper :

"THE YELLOW CREEK MURDER AND LOGAN'S SPEECH .- This truly eloquent speech, in which the guilt of the murders near Yellow creek is charged upon Col. Cresap, has given to that occurrence a prominence beyond that of any other of similar character. The writer of this article became early satisfied that great injustice was done a brave man and a patriot in that ad- mirable production * * * and he was led by a desire to ex- culpate one, who in that case at least, was innocent, to collect what evidence he could for that purpose.

"In course of his enquiries he ascertained some two years ago, that there was living in Ohio, a few miles below Yellow creek, a certain Michael Myers, the very man who shed the first blood which led to the killing of the Indians at Yellow creek.

"He then determined to embrace some early opportunity to obtain Myers' statement from himself, although his informant, Mr. Sloan, a respectable and intelligent gentleman and neigh- bors of Myers, had often heard his story, and repeated it to the writer.

"On the 21st of February last, the writer called on Mr. My- ers, in company with his neighbor, Mr. Sloan. He found him a stout, vigorous old man, his memory seemed good, except in the recollection of names ; *

* * he did not remember Lord Dunmore, although he had descended the river as far as Grave creek when that nobleman led the expedition to the Scioto in 1774.

"Myers' account of the Yellow creek affair was as follows :

"In the month of May, 1774, he went across the Ohio near Yellow creek, in company with two other men, to look at the country. They went up the creek two or three miles to a spring, at a place now known as the Hollow Rock, where they concluded to encamp at night. Having spancelled their horse, they turned him loose around the point of the hill, where there was good grazing, and began kindling a fire. Soon after they heard their horses bell tinkling as though he was moving rap- idly. Myers then suspected that a wolf had scared the horse, and taking up his rifle he ran round the point of the hill, until he saw the horse standing still, and an Indian stooping down beside him trying to loosen the spancels. Myers immediately raised his gun and shot the Indian, and as soon as he had load- ed again, he ran up the side of the hill until he discovered a large number of Indians encamped, and one with a gun running toward him, but looking toward the horse, he immediately fired at the second Indian, and without knowing whether he killed him or not, he (Myers) wheeled about and ran towards the spring and the camp, when he found that the other men had be- come alarmed and left before him.

"Next morning several Indians came over to Baker's station to inquire who had killed the two Indians the evening before, but Greathouse, who appears to have been the master spirit, or- dered the men not to tell, and the Indians returned to their en- . campment.

" That afternoon or' the next morning, a large canoe full of Indians was discovered crossing the river; the white men im- mediately seized their rifles and ran down to a point where the canoe would be likely to land, and lying concealed until it came close, fired and killed every person in the canoe but one.

" Such is Myers' narrative, and I have thought it worth pre- servation; of its truth every one can judge for himself. Mr. Sloan has known Myers for about twenty years, and has heard

his statement again and again, without variation, and his ver- sion of Myers' narrative agrees precisely with that of Myers himself to the writer.

" Myers is well known as a veteran Indian fighter ; his story was told without the least shadow of braggadocio, and certainly without any appearance of an effort to exonerate himself from a charge of criminality.

"He spoke of killing the Indians with quite as much indiffer- ance as an experienced hunter would of killing a bear.

"This narrative, if it be relied upon, certainly palliates in some degree the atrocity of the outrage at Yellow creek. * * " C."

In a letter to Mr. Brantz Mayer, Mr. Draper says :

" Myers positively asserts that this affair led the bostile par- ties of Indians to go over next day to Baker's; as it gives the plausible pretext for the story of the squaw who visited Mrs. Baker, and as it is the same that Myers has constantly told to his neighbors, I am inclined to rely on its accuracy. Mr Myers has always sustained a good character; in early times was a captain and served as a Justice of the Peace for many years. Myers admits that he took part in the firing on the Indians who crossed in canoes on the day of the massacre."

After the Revolutionary war was fairly inaugurated the val- ley of the Ohio became the scene of conflict between the red men and the frontier settlers of Pennsylvania and Virginia, and and as it became necessary to send out scouts or spies to keep watch of the Indian movements along that stream. Michael Myers was chosen as one eminently qualified by nature and fit- ted by training to perform that important duty. He was a tall, raw-boned, muscular man, over six feet in height, long limbed and sinewy; of remarkable strength, agility and endurance, he possessed the reputation of being one of the strongest and fleet- est men on the border.

Mr. Myers had a stoppage in his speech, to counteract which he usually prefaced his sentences with the word "auver." From this circumstance he received the nick name of " Auver Mike Myers."

On one occasion his admirers were complimenting him on his strength, and asked him which, he or his friend Lewis Wetzel, excelled in that particular ; to which he replied, " Auver Wetzel could through Auver Mike right into the air." He usually dressed in Indian fashion and was an adept in imitating them in any manner desired.

A part of his duty consisted in patrolling from Mingo Bottom up the west bank of the Ohio to the mouth of Yellow creek, where he would remain over night, cross the river and return by way of the eastern shore or Virginia side the next day. While thus employed, he frequently stopped to drink at a fine spring, about a mile below where Sloan's Station is now situ- ated, known as " Poplar spring," and on one occasion, approach- ing the spring, he found it in possession of " the enemy"-the red men. The question now arose, should be quietly retire and / leave them in peaceable possession or should he obey the in- stinct of the confirmed Indian hater and slay a foe every time an opportunity presented itself?

He did not hesitate long, but raised his rifle, fired, and the largest of the savages fell into the spring. The others hotly pursued the " pale face," but Myers had calculated the difference of speed, and the distance to be run, and by the time he reached the foot of Black's island, five miles above, he had so far out- stripped his pursuers that Captain Brady, who was in waiting for him, had time to convey him across the river before the Indians arrived. When they had secured their canoe, accord- ing to Myers' testimony, Brady averred that he could hit one of the Indians on the opposite shore. Myers expressed his incre- dulity, when Brady raised his rifle, took deliberate aim, and fired, the shot taking effect and one more warrior started on the road to the "happy hunting grounds."

In 1782 Mr. Myers was with Col. Crawford as a scout on his ill-fated expedition to Sandusky and afterwards said that Craw- ford, upon finding the Indian villages on the Upper Sandusky deserted, feared an ambush and counseled retreat, but urged on by Col. Williamson and other officers he marched on to his fate.

Before the days of steamboating on the western waters, com- merce was carried on on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers by means of flat boats. The settlers on the upper Ohio would raise wheat which was turned into flour, and rye which was turned into whiskey, and these commodities shipped to New Orleans and in- termediate points. This business was the principal source from which they derived their revenue.

Mr. Myers entered into this traffic with a will and it is said he made eleven trips to New Orleans on flat boats and returned by

431

HISTORY OF BELMONT AND JEFFERSON COUNTIES.

land through an almost unbroken wilderness. He made his last trip near the close of the last century. He and his brother were stricken down with the yellow fever. His brother died and Mi- chael was robbed of $1600. After this he never visited New Or- leans but confined his visits to Louisville and other points. About the year 1795 Mr. Myers located on section 25, T. 4, R. 1 of the original "seven ranges" surveyed by the government in 1785, and in 1799 he built a log house on the bank of the Ohio, just below the mouth of Croxton's Run. In the year 1801 he built a flat boat at Williamsport-now Monongahela city- loaded his family and goods on it and conveyed them to his new home in Ohio. The boat was turned into a ferry-boat and served many years as such. In 1808 Mr. Myers built a grist mill on Croxton's Run, which by being rebuilt rnn until 1861. About the same time he built a stone house (the first of its kind in this part of Ohio) 30x40 feet, which was kept as a hotel for 40 years. When this hotel was built it was located 100 steps from the river bank-opposite Gamble's Run-the brink of the river bank is now (1879) just three steps from the cellar and ruins of the building.

Mr. Myers died at the advanced age of 107, as recorded on his tombstone at Sugar Grove church, but his age is not positively known as his family records were destroyed during a freshet in the Ohio which inundated his house in the year 1832.

CAPTURE OF THE CASTLEMAN GIRLS.

In the year 1791, there lived in what is now Hancock county, W. Va., a man by the name of Castleman, who was the father of two girls, aged respectively nine and seven years, named Mary and Margaret, These girls, in company with their uncle, a Mr. Martin, went across the Ohio river to a sugar camp, situ- ated at the mouth of Croxton's run, and while engaged in boil- ing sap were surprised by the Indians, who shot Mr. Martin, took Mary and started in a western direction. In the meantime Margaret had hidden in a sycamore tree, but seeing the situa- tion came out and called to her sister to wait for her and started to join them. A young Indian now ran back, picked her up and claimed her as his own.

The Indians followed up Croxton's run, passed where Knox- ville now stands and camped on Yellow creek, on the site now occupied by the Tunnell mill. The second day the Indians killed a bear and the girls ate heartily of the meat, as they had eaten nothing since they left home.

The course of their captors was directed to Sandusky, where the girls were kept as prisoners. Margaret's master some years after sold her to a Frenchman at Detroit and Mary married a half-breed Indian named "Johnny Cake."

After Wayne's treaty the government offered a reward for the delivery of Indian captives, and the father of the girls went to Detroit after his daughters. He found them and induced Mar- garet to return with him to the Ohio valley, but Mary preferred to remain with her tawney friends. Margaret married a man named Jacob Wright, who afterwards owned the land on which his wife when a girl spent her first night in captivity. It ap- pears that Mary was a woman of fine personal appearance, so much so as to attract the attention of the traders about Detroit.

This state of affairs did not suit Mr. Johnny C., and whenever he got his dusky skin full of " firewater "-which was quite fre- quently-he would proceed to emulate the example of his civil- ized brothers when under the influence of the green-eyed mon- ster, by flourishing his scalping knife in very unpleasant prox- imity to his wife's auburn curls. On one occasion, becoming more violent than nsnal, he threw his knife at her which she avoided by springing aside, and deeming her life no longer safe in his company she "left his bed and board" and sought refuge with her friends on Yellow creek. Her Indian spouse followed her and tried to induce her to return, but the romance of life amongst the noble red men having vanished before the reality of her actual experience, she refused and determined to spend the remainder of her life amongst her own people. She after- wards married a man by the name of Wells, but never had any children to either of her husbands. After the death of Mr. Wells she went to live with Mr. Roach at Limavillo, near Al- liance, Ohio, where she died at the advanced age of ninety-seven.

THE SHOCKING EXPERIENCE AND SAD FATE OF THE RILEY FAMILY.

About the year 1783-4 an industrious family by the namo of Riley, consisting of fathor, mother, three sous and two dangh- ters, took up a little piece of land about four miles almost west from Mingo, on the farm at present owned by Mr. Smiley John-

son. While the father and two of the boys were out in a field, at work, a party of red skins came down upon them and stealth- fully massacred the trio. The other boy seeing the state of af- fairs, ran. They seized the mother and tied her to a grape vine (which was subsequently often visited by the curious, down to forty years ago) while they gave chase to the other boy, run- ning him down the hollow to Lagrange. While they were gone the poor woman got lose and ran to the block house that stood at the mouth of Battle Run. The Indians failed to catch the boy, and returning took the two girls prisoner, so far as to what is known as " Ash Spring." One of the girls being very deli- cate here showed signs of exhaustion, when they immediately tomahawked her on the spot, taking the other one on to Detroit, where they sold her to a French trader. The bodies of the father, two sons and daughter were subsequently found and buried beside each other near the spot on which they had resided, their graves, even to this day been kept green and preserved by Mr. Johnson, as he found them over fifty years ago. And such were the risks taken by our noble pioneers who sought to cultivate and extend civilization - a whole family almost annihilated in a few hours, with nothing left to honor their existence but four green mounds, a mother and two children cast, Heaven knows wither, and even a humble stream named to their memory as " Rileys' Run" has changed its name to "Riddell's Run and the past is almost forgotten.'

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History of Belmont and Jefferson Counties, Ohio, and incidentially historical collection pertaining to border warfare and the early settlement of the adjacent portion of the Ohio Valley, Part 149

Author: Caldwell, J. A. (John Alexander) 1n; Newton, J. H., ed; Ohio Genealogical Society. 1n Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Wheeling, W. Va. : Historical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 728

Author: Caldwell, J. A. (John Alexander) 1n; Newton, J. H., ed; Ohio Genealogical Society. 1n
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Wheeling, W. Va. : Historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 728