USA > Ohio > Champaign County > History of Champaign County, Ohio, Its People, Industries and Institutions, Volume I > Part 64
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This is the only tent of the Knights of the Maccabees in the county, and, although not strong, maintains an active organization and bids fair to prosper.
FRATERNAL ORDER OF EAGLES.
Tecumseh Aerie, Fraternal Order of Eagles, was organized at Urbana on February 15, 1905, with seventy-nine charter members. The first officers were: C. F: Guyselman, worthy president ; Charles H. Murphy, worthy vice-president ; John D. McCarthy, chaplain; George Mott, secretary ; Frank McCracken, treasurer; William Schief, conductor; Fred Nagel, inside guard; John Downey, outside guard; D. G. Sweeney. Frank Shadley and Fred Brat- ton, trustees. The present officers are: Charles Barton, past president ; C. Sexton, president ; Ivan Printz, vice-president; F. Mehling, chaplain; William Kearns, secretary; Henry Sticksel, treasurer; C. Freight, master of arms; D. Riley. inside guard; M. A. Welsh, outside guard: P. Reams, W. Patrick and O. Downey, trustees.
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KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN EAGLE.
Lodge No. 91. Knights of the Golden Eagle, was organized at St. Paris, April 11, 1902, with a charter membership of nearly fifty. The member- ship has fallen off until there are only about thirty in good standing. The officers or 1917 are the following: William Dick, noble chief ; Elmer Perk, past chief; Earl Glaick, high priest: C. M. Zerkle, master of records and seals : George Brown, keeper of exchequer : J. H. Slusser, clerk of exchequer.
INDEPENDENT ORDER OF FORESTERS.
Urbana Court, Independent Order of Foresters, was instituted on Janu- ary 27, 1913, by F. M. Harris assisted by J. D. Clark. Twenty members were initiated and the first officers included the following : Ralph L. Squires, chief ranger ; David Brown, vice-chief ranger; S. L. Richards, past chief ranger: C. H. Duncan, court deputy ; Dr. D. H. Moore, court physician ; Mason Arrowsmith, financial secretary: Owen G. McCoy, recording secre- tary ; Mrs. Edith Brunotte, treasurer : Louis Wichterman, orator: Mrs. Edith Sanford, superintendent juvenile court : Samuel Pass, organist ; W. R. Long, senior woodward; J. S. Eichelberger, junior woodward; B. F. Casey, senior beagle: Budd Sanford, junior beagle. About forty members comprised the membership. The lodge was discontinued after a few months.
PLUMBERS' UNION.
A plumber's union was organized at Urbana, .April 17, 1917, and the following organization was perfected: Sherman Beverly, president; Dan Kelley, vice-president : Joseph Heatherman, financial secretary and treasurer ; John McGrath, recording secretary. The society meets twice each month in Printer's Hall, in the Warnock building.
COLORED SECRET SOCIETIES.
Golden Square Lodge No. 23. Free and Accepted Masons (colored), was organized as Goff lodge. at Urbana, in 1866. The officers at that time were: G. W. Guy, master: Lemuel King, senior warden; D. L. Johnson, junior warden: Henry Ford, treasurer; Ezra Byrd. secretary; W. Hawkins, senior deacon: Napoleon Rector, tyler; James Carter, steward. The officers for the current year are: Henry Dudley, master; Henry Ousley, senior
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warden; Pearl Clark, junior warden; Ben Dickerson, secretary; William Allen, treasurer. The membership of the order at present is fifteen; but at one time it had forty members in good standing. Meetings are held once each month over Power's store, on north Main street.
Benjamin Lodge No. 1771, Grand United Order of Odd Fellows (col- ored), was organized at Urbana, August 14, 1876. The following were the charter members : W. N. Allen, J. H. Anderson, Thomas Andrews, James Artice, Albert Andrews, James Bethel, W. O. Bowles, Ira Burns, James T. Myers, James Stewart, Jesse Byrd, Joseph Byrd, James Carty, H. T. Clark, Lewis Cleveland, Charles Corwin. Reuben Davis, C. L. Gant, S. Gaitwood, G. H. Guy, John W. Jones, George Lewis, James Slaughter, W. A. Stillgess, W. Lucas, Thomas Oliver, Thomas Washington, T. Stewart, Levi Stanhope and Thomas Roberts. When the lodge was first organized, the officers were : J. H. Anderson, election secretary ; Thomas Andrews, noble grand; James Stewart, vice-grand: James Stewart, noble father; Thomas Washington, past noble father; W. O. Bowles, permanent secretary ; Charles Gant, treasurer ; James R. Myers, Thomas Oliver and James Carty, trustees. The lodge owns its own home, a two-story frame building on the corner of East Market and Locust streets, the original cost of which was twelve hundred dollars. Its membership now numbers sixty. In 1917, the lodge was served by the fol- lowing officers: Alfred Boyd, permanent secretary ; M. Stanhope, election secretary ; Harry Artice, past noble grand; J. H. Slaughter, noble grand; Walter Dale, vice-grand; John W. Myers, noble father; Harry Duncan, past noble father : W. E. Dale, Albert Williams and Albert Otey, trustees.
Urbana Patriarchy No. 47, Grand United Order of Odd Fellows (col- ored), was established on July 9, 1887, with fifteen charter members. The first officers consisted of the following: Alfred Boyd, most venerable patri- arch; J. Slaughter, right venerable patriarch; D. C. Lowery, venerable patri- arch; S. W. Moose, worthy patriarch prelate: S. C. Pierson, worthy patriarch recorder : George Lewis, worthy patriarch treasurer ; S. Gatewood, patriarch; J. H. Boswell, patriarch shepherd; George Wilson, patriarch keeper. The present officers include the following: John Kennedy, most venerable patri- arch; Alfred Boyd, right venerable patriarch: Albert Otey, venerable patri- arch; B. G .. Dickerson, worthy patriarch prelate: Homer Otey, worthy patri- arch recorder ; I. W. Boyd, worthy patriarch treasurer; A. C. Becks, patriarch; Albert Williams, patriarch shepherd; Walter Dale, patriarch keeper. The patriarchs include John Cleveland, A. D. Delaney, H. T. Clark, Charles Pennie, William Stillgess and J. T. King. The present membership of the order is twenty-four.
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The Grand United Order of Odd Fellows (colored), at Mechanicsburg, was organized about 1897. The order has always enjoyed an active exist- ence and has a membership at the present time of twenty-eight members. The lodge owns its own building and is in a prosperous condition. The chief officers include the following: Arthur Green, noble grand; W. Philips, treasurer ; Harry Philips, secretary ; Frank Vickery, James Waugh and Frank Braem, trustees.
Dumas Lodge, No. 35. Knights of Pythias (colored), was organized at Urbana, in 1897 with sixty charter members. The first officers were Lewis Schief, chancellor commander; Jones Slaughter, vice-chancellor commander; William Steward, master of exchequer; W. F. Hill, master of work; William Riggs, master of finance; S. C. Pearson, keeper of records and seals. The officers for 1917 are: William Dickerson, chancellor commander; Emslie Armfield, vice-chancellor commander ; Harry Douglas, keeper of records and seals; H. F. Allen, master of finance; Jones Douglas, master of exchequer; William Brooks, master of work; W. T. Hill, J. W. Waugh and A. C. Waldron, trustees. The present membership is forty-three.
The Court of Calantha, a ladies auxiliary to Dumas Lodge (colored), at Urbana, was organized in 1898. The court, while not strong, still maintains an active existence and is a valuable adjunct to the order.
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CHAPTER XXIX.
MILITARY ANNALS.
The military history of Champaign county finds its beginning in the forepart of the last century. In fact, if the Indian troubles are considered, the opening of the county in 1805 may very properly be taken as the begin- ning of the military history of the county. But years before that time, the whites and Indians were battling for the supremacy of the Mad River valley. There is not a school boy who has not heard of Tecumseh and the Prophet, his one-eyed brother, and both of these Indians tramped the valley of Mad river. The story of the Indians and their connection with the county is shrouded in more or less tradition, and such facts as have been preserved concerning their connection with the county is given in the township his- tories. It is necessary to state, however, that all of the preparedness of a military nature which was engaged in by the pioneers of the county was due to their fear that the Indians might make a descent on the county.
GENERAL HARMAR'S EXPEDITION.
Perhaps the earliest as well as the most complete record of military move- ments affecting this region is that covering the daily movements of Gen. Josiah Harmar's expedition against the Indians in the fall of 1790, as recorded in a manuscript journal kept by Capt. John Armstrong, of the Reg- ulars, as follows :
September 30, 1790-The army moved from Fort Washington (Cincinnati) at half past 10 o'clock, a. m .; marched about seven miles, N. E. course; hilly, rich land. Eu- camped on a branch of Mill Creek.
October 1st-Took up the line of march at half past 8 o'clock. Passed through a level rich country, watered by many small branches, waters of Mill Creek. At 2 o'clock balted one hour and at 4 o'clock halted for the evening on small branch of Mill Creek, having marched about eight miles; general course, a little to the westward of north.
October 2nd-Moved forty-five minutes after 7 o'clock; marched about ten miles, a northwest course. The first five miles of this day's march was over a dry ridge to a lick ; then five miles through a low swampy country to a branch of the waters of the Little Miami, where we halted one hour; and forty-five minutes after 1 o'clock moved on for five miles a N. E., E. and 8. E. course and encamped in a rich and exten- sive bottom on Muddy Creek, a branch of the Little Miami. The day's march, fifteen miles, and one mile from Col. Hardin's command.
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October 3rd-The army at 8 o'clock passed Col. Hardin's camp and balted at Turtle Creek, about ten yards wide, where we were joined by Col. Hardin's command. Here the line of march was formed-two miles.
October 4th-The army moved at half past 9 o'clock ; passed through a rich country (some places broken) a N. E. course, and at 3 o'clock crossed the Little Miami, about forty yards wide: moved up it one mile, a north course to a branch called Sugar Creek ; encamped nine miles.
October 5th-The army moved from Sugar Creek forty-five minutes after nine o'clock; marched through a level country a N. E. course up the Little Miami, having it often in view. The latter part of this day's march, through low glades or marshy land. Halted at 5 o'clock on Glade Creek, a very lively clear stream-ten miles.
October 6th-The army moved ten minutes after 9 o'clock. The first five miles the country was brush and somewhat broken. Reached Chillicothe, an old Indian village, re-crossed the Little Miami; at half past 1 o'clock halted one hour and en- camped at 4 o'clock on a branch-nine miles a N. E. course.
October 7th-The army moved at 10 o'clock; the country brushy four miles, and a little broken until we came to the waters of the Great Miami. Passed through several low prairies and crossed the Pickaway fork or Mad River, which is a clear lively stream, about forty yards wide; the bottom extensive and very rich. Encamped on a small branch about one mile from the former; our course the first four miles north, then northwest-nine miles.
October 8th-The army moved at half past nine o'clock; passed over rich land, in some places a little broken. Passed several ponds and through one small prairie, a N. W. course-seven miles.
October 9th -- The army moved at half past nine o'clock; passed through a level rich country, well watered; course N. W. Halted half past 4 o'clock, two miles south of the Great Miami-ten miles.
October 10th -- The army moved forty-five minutes after nine o'clock; crossed the Great Miami. At the crossing there is a handsome high prairie on the S. E. side; the river about forty yards wide two miles further, a N. W. course. Passed through a large prairie. Halted on a large branch of the Great Miami at half past three o'clock; the country level and rich; the general course N. W .- ten miles.
October 11th-The army moved at half past nine 'clock ; marched a northwest course, seven miles to a branch where French traders formeris had a number of trading houses; thence a N. course four miles to a small branch, and encamped at 5 oclock. The country we passed over is very rich and level-eleven miles.
October 12th-The army moved at half past nine o'clock; our course a little to the west and northwest. Crossed a stream at seven miles and a half, running north- east, on which there are several old camps and much dendened timber, which con- tinues to the river Auglaize, about a mile. Here has been a considerable village, some houses still standing. The strenm is a branch of the Oml ( Maumee) River, and is about twenty yards wide. From this village to our encampment our course was a little to the north of west. Rich, level land-fourteen miles.
October 13th-The army moved at 10 o'clock. Just before they marched a prisoner was brought in, and Mr. Morgan from Fort Washington joined us. We marched to the west of northwest four miles to a small stream, through low, swampy land; then a course a little to the north of west, passing through several small prairies and open woods to an Indian village on a pretty stream. Here we were joined by a detachment from Fort Washington, with amunition-ten miles.
October 14th-At half past ten in the morning Col. Hardin was detached for the
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Miami village, with one company of regulars and six hundred militia, and the army took up its line of march at 11 o'clock. A northwest course four miles; a small branch; the country level ; many places drowned land in the winter season-ten miles.
October 15th-The army moved at 8 o'clock, north-west course two miles, a small branch, then north a little west; crossing a stream, three miles a northwest course. The army halted at half past one o'clock on a branch running west-eight miles.
October 16th-The army moved at forty-five minutes after 8 o'clock. marched nine miles and halted fifteen minutes after 1 o'clock. Passed over a level country, not very rich. Col. Hardin with his command took possession of the Miamitown yesterday (15th). at 4 o'clock, the Indians having left It just before-nine miles
October 17th-The army moved at fifteen minutes after 8 o'clock, and at 1 o'clock crossed the Maumee River to the village. The river is about seventy yards wide; a fine transparent stream. The river St. Joseph, which forms the point on which the village stood, is about twenty yards wide, and when the waters are high. navigable a great ways up it.
On the 18th I was detatched with thirty men under the command of Col. Trotter. On the 19th Col. Hardin commanded in lieu of Col. Trotter. Attacked about one hun- dred Indians, fifteen miles west of the Miami village, and from the dastardly conduct of the militia the troops were obliged to retrent-I lost one sergeant and twenty-one out of thirty men of my command. The Indians on this occasion gained a complete victory, having killed in the whole near one hundred men, which was about their own number. Many of the milltia threw away their arms without firing, ran through the federal troops and threw them in disorder. Many of the Indians must have been killed. as I saw my men bayonet many of them. They fought and died hard.
On the morning of the 19th the main body of the army under Gen. Harmar, having destroyed the Miami village, moved about two miles to a Shawnee village called Chillicothe, where on the 20th the general published the following order :
"Camp at Chillicothe, one of the Shawnee towns on the Omee ( Maumee) river, October 20, 1790.
"The party under the command of Captain Strong is ordered to burn and destroy every house and wigwam in the village, together with all the corn. etc., which he can collect. A party of one hundred men (militia) properly officered, under the command of Col. Hardin, is to burn and destroy effectually this afternoon the Plekaway town with all the corn, etc., which he can find in it and its vicinity.
"The cause of the detachment being worsted yesterday was entirely owing to the shameful, cowardly conduct of the milltia who ran away and threw down their guns without firing scarrely a single gun. In returning to Fort Washington, If any officer or men shall presume to quit the ranks, or not to march in the form that they are ordered, the general will most assuredly order the artillary to fire on them. He hopes the check they received yesterday will make them In future obedient to ordera,
"JOSIAH HARMAR. Brig. Gen."
EARLY ACTIVITIES OF MILITIA.
While the county was not organized until 1805 there were several hun- dred settlers in the county when it came into existence, all of whom had been enrolled in the militia of either Greene and Franklin counties, from which Champaign was set off. Congress had passed an act in 1792 which provided
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that every able-bodied citizen between the ages of eighteen and forty-five should be enrolled in a militia company. The act also provided that they should arm themselves and appear for regular drill and annual musters. This was in the days when the Indian was everywhere west of the Alleghenies and when the fear of England was not much less alarming than the fear of the Indian himself. It did not take an act of Congress to compel the pioneers of Ohio to arm themselves; a rifle was as necessary to a well-regulated house- hold as the ax, and as essential.
BLOCKHOUSES.
It will probably never be known how many blockhouses were erected in Champaign county prior to and during the War of 1812, but it is certain that there were at least half a dozen. There was one even in the town of Urbana. During all of the Indian struggles in which Champaign county, as a county, took a part its limits extended from a mile south of Springfield to the Green- ville Treaty line in Logan county. A number of blockhouses were in that part of Champaign county which is now included in Logan to the north or Clark to the south. But as far as is known there was not a white man killed by an Indian within the present limits of Champaign county, although there were some killed in parts of Logan and Clark counties which were attached to Champaign until 1817. When the Big Four railroad was being built through the southeastern corner of the county the right-of-way happened to lead through a gravely hill near the present station of Catawba in the south- eastern part of Union township. Upon opening this hill there was found a big pile of bones and, according to Professor Moses, an eminent scholar then connected with the University of Urbana, they were human bones and, more- over, the bones of whites. He estimated that there were the remains of at least one hundred human skeletons in the hill, and that they had been there only a comparatively short time. It was his conjecture that they were the remains of a party of whites who had been waylaid and killed by the Indians and buried there. However, there is no way of determining who these whites were, if they were white, or what they were doing in this part of the country.
THE WAR OF 1812.
The definite beginning of Champaign's participation in national military affairs began with the declaration of war by the United States against Great Britain on June 18, 1812. Prior to this time, a year or so earlier, the settlers
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of the county had premonitions that something was going to happen. It was well known, of course, that Tecumseh and his followers had met defeat at the battle of Tippecanoe in November, 1811, and it was also well known that the Indians who were left in the Northwest were largely in the employ of the British government. The Indians had no legal right to remain south of the Greenville Treaty line after 1795, but this did not keep them from making annual hunting trips in that region whenever they so desired. If the British had left them alone the Americans would not have had any trouble with them, but the British furnished them with guns and plenty of ammunition, and furthermore promised to restore their land to them.
Congress had passed an act in January, 1812, providing for an increase in the regular army to twenty-five thousand man and President Madison was also authorized to accept volunteers to the number of fifty thousand. It was this act which furnished the basis for the call of Governor Meigs, of Ohio, for three regiments. There were to be raised for the period of the war and were to be used as a defense against the Indians or the British, or both, if it chanced that they united forces. The next question was who was to have charge of this army which was to be raised in the West, and, as fate would have it, probably a poorer choice could not have been made. With the United States to choose from, the President chose a man whose name to this day is a synonym for cowardice.
HULL'S SURRENDER.
It will probably never be known why William Hull was chosen to lead the volunteer forces that were to be collected from the states in the North- west. It is true that he had an honorable record in the Revolutionary War and that he was Governor of Michigan Territory at the time of his selection as head of the army in the West. However, he was an old man and in his dotage, seventy years old, and, without the fire of youth, it was impossible for him to cope with the situation. It was this old man who was appointed brigadier-general of the Army of the Northwest, and his career from the time he took charge of the army on May 25, 1812, until he surrendered his whole army to the British on August 16, 1812, was such that it brought nothing but disgrace on his head. It may be said here that Congress inves tigated his surrender and that Hull defended himself against the charges on the ground that the militia refused to obey orders. He even found it neces- sary to use the bayonets of his regulars against his insubordinate recruits. For instance, no fewer than one hundred and eighty of his recruits had enthu-
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siastically started on to Canada, but hung back because, as they said, they were not obliged to serve outside of the United States. And here comes the really pathetic part of the story, and the English did not intend it as a joke, either. They added the crowning insult to this ill-fated expedition of Hull's by sending all of the United States regulars as prisoners of war to Montreal, while they permitted all the recruits, that is, the volunteers, to go back home. Evidently, the British had no fear of these recruits. It is not known how many of them were from Champaign county, but there were a number.
FACT AND FICTION IN WAR OF 1812.
The part which Champaign county and Urbana played in the War of 1812 has been told and retold; fact and fiction have become hopelessly and inextricably confused, until it is nearly impossible to follow the course of events, as they affected this county. Certain facts are well defined and can easily be verified from the official record, but many other so-called facts belong to the realm of tradition and, while they are fit material for the novel- ist, they are not proper subject matter for the historian.
Ohio was fortunate in having a patriotic Governor and one who gave the President valuable assistance luring the war. He took charge of the volunteers who gathered at Urbana and made his headquarters in the village for at least two weeks during May and June, 1812, and remained here until the regulars reached the village under command of General Hull. Return Jonathan Meigs was an able man and proved his mettle in no uncertain manner before the war closed, but in the fore part of 1812 he did not seem to realize the necessity for action. Apropos of his tardiness in taking the initiative, a letter of Edward Tiffin, of Chillicothe, to United States Senator Worthington at Washington shows the feeling which Tiffin had for the governor at the time the letter was written, April 16, 1812.
Gov. Meigs passed through here with two young greenhorns with him on their way to U'rhana. The public will soon have a complete opportunity to observe we want a very different man for governor in trying times, Volunteers, I am informed, can not be obtained. No wonder when you reflect on the talents, etc., of the adjutant- general, major-generals, etc. We want some one to infuse life, spirit and discipline into our militia.
While the governor may have been accused of inaction at the beginning of the war, certainly his subsequent record during its progress was such as to meet with the approval of the most critical enemies he had. Governor Meigs had come to Urbana during the first two weeks in April in order to make pro-
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vision for establishing a depot of supplies in the town, which, at that time, was the farthest town north along the western side of the state, and on a direct line between Cincinnati and Detroit. The three regiments of Ohio were commanded by Duncan McArthur, James Findlay and Lewis Cass, colonels of the first, second and third regiments, respectively.
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