History of Coshocton County, Ohio, its past and present, 1740-1881, Part 12

Author: Hill, Norman Newell, jr., [from old catalog] comp; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-; Graham, A. A., & co., Newark, O., pub. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Newark, Ohio, A. A. Graham & co.
Number of Pages: 854

USA > Ohio > Coshocton County > History of Coshocton County, Ohio, its past and present, 1740-1881 > Part 12

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even-handed justice, to the poor and to the rich, to the guilty and to the innocent, without respect of persons; none to be punished without a trial of their peers, and then in pursuance of the laws and evidence in the case.

" Although this seene was exhibited thus early in the settlement of the West, few ever equaled it in the dignity and exalted chiaraeter of its princi- pal participators. Many of them belonged to the history of our country in the darkest, as well as the most splendid, period of the Revolutionary war."

Many Indians were gathered at the same time to witness the (to them) strange spectaele, and for the purpose of forming a treaty, though how far they carried this out, the Pioneer does not relate.

The progress of the settlement was quite satis- factory during the year. Some one writing a letter from the town says:

"The progress of the settlement is sufficiently rapid for the first year. We are continually ereet- ing houses, but arrivals are constantly coming faster than we can possibly provide convenient covering. Our first ball was opened about the middle of December, at which were fifteen ladies, as well accomplished in the manner of polite cireles as any I have ever seen in the older States. I mention this to show the progress of society in this new world, where, I believe, we shall vie with, if not excel, the old States in every accom- plishment necessary to render life agreeable and happy."

The emigration westward at this time was, indeed, exceedingly large. The commander at Fort Harmar reported 4,500 persons as having passed that post between February and June, 1788, many of whom would have stopped there, had the associates been prepared to receive them. The settlement was free from lndian depredations until January, 1791, during which interval it daily increased in numbers and strength.

Symmes and his friends were not idle during this time. He had secured his contract in October, 1787, and, soon after, issued a pamphlet stating the terms of his purchase and the mode he intended to follow in the disposal of the lands. Ilis plan was, to issue warrants for not less than one-quarter section, which might be located anywhere, save on reservations, or on land previously entered. The loeator could enter an entire section should he de- sire to do so. The price was to be 60; cents per aere till May, 1788; then, till November, $1; and

*"Carey's Museum," Vol. 4

HISTORY OF OHIO.

after that time to be regulated by the demand for land. Each purchaser was bound to begin im- provements within two years, or forfeit one-sixth of the land to whoever would settle thereon and remain seven years. Military bounties might be taken in this, as in the purchase of the associates. For himself, Symmes reserved one township near the month of the Miami. On this he intended to build a great city, rivaling any Eastern port. He offered any one a lot on which to build a house, providing he would remain three years. Conti- nental certificates were rising, owing to the demand for land created by these two purchases, and Con- gress found the burden of debt correspondingly lessened. Symmes soon began to experience diffi- enlty in procuring enough to meet his payments. He had also some trouble in arranging his boundary with the Board of the Treasury. These, and other causes, laid the foundation for another city, which is now what Symmes hoped his city would one day be.

In January, 1788, Mathias Denman, of New Jersey, took an interest in Symmes' purchase, and located, among other traets, the sections upon which Cincinnati has since been built. Retaining one-third of this purchase, he sold the balance to Robert Patterson and John Filson, each getting the same share. These three, about August, agreed to lay out a town on their land. It was designated as opposite the mouth of the Lieking River, to which place it was intended to open a road from Lexington, Ky. These men little thought of the great emporium that now covers the modest site of this town they laid out that summer. Mr. Filson, who had been a schoolmaster, and was of a some- what poetic nature, was appointed to name the town. In respect to its situation, and as if with a prophetie perception of the mixed races that were in after years to dwell there, he named it Los- antiville,* " which, being interpreted," says the " Western Annals," " means ville, the town; anti, opposite to; os, the mouth; L, of Licking. This may well put to the blush the Campus Martius of the Marietta scholars, and the Fort Solon of the Spaniards."

Meanwhile, Symmes was busy in the East, and, by July, got thirty people and eight four-horse wagons under way for the West. These reached Limestone by September, where they met Mr. Stites, with several persons from Redstone. All

came to Symmes' purchase, and began to look for homes.

Symmes' mind was, however, ill at rest. He could not meet his first payment on so vast a realm, and there also arose a difference of opinion be- tween him and the Treasury Board regarding the Ohio boundary. Symmes wanted all the land be- tween the two Miamis, bordering on the Ohio, while the Board wished him confined to no more than twenty miles of the river. To this proposal he would not agree, as he had made sales all along the river. Leaving the bargain in an unsettled state, Congress considered itself released from all its obligations, and, but for the representations of many of Symmes' friends, he would have lost all his money and labor. His appointment as Judge was not favorably received by many, as they thought that by it he would acquire unlimited power. Some of his associates also complained of him, and, for awhile, it surely seemed that ruin only awaited him. But he was brave and hope- ful, and determined to succeed. On his return from a visit to his purchase in September, 1788, he wrote Jonathan Dayton, of New Jersey, one of his best friends and associates, that he thought some of the land near the Great Miami " positively worth a silver dollar the aere in its present state."

A good many changes were made in his original contract, growing out of his inability to meet his payments. At first, he was to have not less than a million acres, under an act of Congress passed in October, 1787, authorizing the Treasury Board to contract with any one who could pay for such traets, on the Ohio and Wabash Rivers, whose fronts should not exceed one-third of their depth.

Dayton and Marsh, Symmes' agents, contracted with the Board for one traet on the Ohio, begin- ning twenty miles up the Ohio from the mouth of the Great Miami, and to run back for quantity be- tween the Miami and a line drawn from the Ohio, parallel to the general course of that river. In 1791, three years after Dayton and Marsh made the contract, Symmes found this would throw the purchase too far back from the Ohio, and applied to Congress to let him have all between the Mi- amies, running back so as to include 1,000,000 acres, which that body, on April 12, 1792, agreed to do. When the lands were surveyed, however, it was found that a line drawn from the head of the Little Miami due west to the Great Miami, would inelude south of it less than six hundred thousand acres. Even this Symmes could not pay for, and when his patent was issued in September, 1794, it

*Judge Burnett, in his notes, disputes the above acconot of the origin of the city of Cincinnati. Ile says the name "Losantiville " was determined on, hut oot adopted, when the town was laid out. This version is probably the correct one, and will be found fully given in the detailed history of the settlements.

HISTORY OF OHIO.

gave him and his associates 243,540 acres, exclu- sive of reservations which amounted to 63,142 acres. This tract was bounded by the Ohio, the two Miamis and a due east and west line run so as to include the desired quantity. Symmes, how- ever, made no further payments, and the rest of his purchase reverted to the United States, who gave those who had bought under him ample pre- emption rights.

The Government was able, also, to give him and his colonists but little aid, and as danger from hos- tile Indians was in a measure imminent (though all the natives were friendly to Symmes), settlers were slow to come. However, the band led by Mr. Stites arrived before the 1st of January, 1789, and locating themselves near the mouth of the Little Miami, on a tract of 10,000 acres which Mr. Stites had purchased from Symmes, formed the second settlement in Ohio. They were soon afterward joined by a colony of twenty-six persons, who assisted them to erect a block-house, aud gather their corn. The towu was named Columbia. While here, the great flood of January, 1789, oc- curred, which did much to ensure the future growth of Losantiville, or more properly, Cincin- nati. Symmes City, which was laid out near the mouth of the Great Miami, and which he vainly strove to make the city of the future, Marietta and Columbia, all suffered severely by this flood, the greatest, the Indiaus said, ever known. The site of Cincinnati was not overflowed, and hence attracted the attention of the settlers. Denman's warrants had designated his purchase as opposite the mouth of the Licking; aud that point escap- ing the overflow, late in December the place was visited by Israel Ludlow, Symmes' surveyor, Mr. Patterson and Mr. Denman, and about fourteen oth- ers, who left Maysville to "form a station and lay off a town opposite the Licking." The river was filled with iee "from shore to shore;" but, says Symmes in May, 1789, " Perseverance triumphing over difficulty, and they lauded safe on a most de- lightful bank of the Ohio, where they founded the town of Losantiville, which populates consid- erably." The settlers of Losantiville built a few log huts and block-houses, aud proceeded to im- prove the town., Symmes, noticing the location, says: "Though they placed their dwellings in the most marked position, yet they suffered nothing from the freshet." This would seem to give ere- dence to Judge Burnett's notes regarding the origin of Cincinnati, who states the settlement was made at this time, and not at the time mentioned when

Mr. Filson named the town. It is further to be noticed, that, before the town was located by Mr. Ludlow and Mr. Patterson, Mr. Filson had been killed by the Miami Indians, and, as he had not paid for his one-third of the site, the claim was sold to Mr. Ludlow, who thereby became one of the origi- nal owners of the place. Just what day the town was laid out is not recorded. All the evidence tends to show it must have been late in 1788, or early in 1789.

While the settlements on the north side of the Ohio were thus progressing, south of it fears of the Indians prevailed, and the separation sore was kept open. The country was, however, so torn by internal factions that no plan was likely to suc- eced, and to this fact, in a large measure, may be credited the reason it did not secede, or join the Spanish or French faction, both of which were intriguing to get the commonwealth. During this year the treasonable acts of James Wilkinson came into view. For a while he thought success was in his grasp, but the two governments were at peace with America, and discountenaneed any such efforts. Wilkinson, like all traitors, relapsed into nonentity, and became mistrusted by the govern- ments he attempted to befriend. Treason is al- ways odious.

It will be borne in mind, that in 1778 prepa- rations had been made for a treaty with the Indi- ans, to secure peaceful possession of the lands owned in the West. Though the whites held these by purchase and treaty, yet many Indians, especially the Wabash and some of the Miami In- dians, objected to their occupation, claiming the Ohio boundary as the original division line. Clarke endeavored to obtain, by treaty at Fort Harmar, in 1778, a confirmation of these grants, but was not able to do so till January, 9, 1789. Rep- resentatives of the Six Nations, and of the Wyan- dots, Delawares, Ottawas, Chippewas, Pottawato- mies and Sacs, met him at this date, and confirmed and extended the treaties of Fort Stanwix and Fort McIntosh, the one in 1784, the other in 1785. This secured peace with the most of them, save a few of the Wabash Indians, whom they were compelled to conquer by arms. When this was accomplished, the borders were thought safe, and Virginia proposed to withdraw her aid in sup- port of Kentucky. This opened old troubles, and the separation dogma came out afresh. Virginia offered to allow the erection of a separate State, providing Kentucky would assume part of the old debts. This the young commonwealth would not

HISTORY OF OHIO.

do, and sent a remonstrance. Virginia withdrew the proposal, and ordered a ninth convention, which succeeded in evolving a plan whereby Ken- tucky took her place among the free States of the Uniou.

North of the Ohio, the prosperity continued. In 1789, Rev. Daniel Story, who had been ap- pointed missionary to the West, came out as a teacher of the youth and a preacher of the Gospel. Dr. Cutler had preceded him, not in the capacity of a minister, though he had preached ; hence Mr. Story is truly the first missionary from the Prot- estant Church who came to the Ohio Valley in that capacity. When he came, in 1789, he found nine associations on the Ohio Company's purchase, comprising two hundred and fifty persons in all ; and, by the close of 1790, eight settlements had been made: two at Belpre (belle prairie), one at Newbury, one at Wolf Creek, one at Duck Creek, one at the mouth of Meigs' Creek, one at Ander- son's Bottom, and one at Big Bottom. An ex- tended sketch of all these settlements will be found farther on in this volume.

Symmes had, all this time, strenuously endeav- ored to get his city-called Cleves City-favorably noticed, and filled with people. He saw a rival in Cincinnati. That place, if made military head- quarters to protect the Miami Valley, would out- rival his town, situated near the bend of the Miami, near its mouth. On the 15th of June, Judge Symmes received news that the Wabash Indians threatened the Miami settlements, and as he had received only nineteen men for defense, he applied for more. Before July, Maj. Doughty arrived at the "Slaughter House " --- as the Miami was sometimes called, owing to previous murders that had, at former times, occurred therein. Through the influence of Symmies, the detach- ment landed at the North Bend, and, for awhile, it was thought the fort would be erected there. This was what Symmes wanted, as it would secure him the headquarters of the military, and aid in getting the headquarters of the civil gov- ernment. The truth was, however, that neither the proposed city on the Miami-North Bend, as it afterward became known, from its location-or South Bend, could compete, in point of natural advantages, with the plain on which Cincinnati is built. Had Fort Washington been built elsewhere, after the close of the Indian war, nature would have asserted her advantages, and insured the growth of a city, where even the ancient and mys- terious dwellers of the Ohio had reared the earthen

walls of one of their vast temples. Another fact is given in relation to the erection of Fort Wash- ington at Losantiville, which partakes somewhat of romance. The Major, while waiting to decide at which place the fort should be built, happened to make the acquaintance of a black-eyed beauty, the wife of one of the residents. Her husband, notic- ing the affair, removed her to Losantiville. The Major followed; he told Symmes he wished to see how a fort would do there, but promised to give. his city the preference. He found the beauty there, and on his return Symmes could not prevail on him to remain. If the story be true, then the importance of Cincinnati owes its existence to a trivial circum- stance, and the old story of the ten years' war which terminated in the downfall of Troy, which is said to have originated owing to the beauty of a Spartan dame, was re-enacted here. Troy and North Bend fell because of the beauty of a wo- man; Cincinnati was the result of the downfall of the latter place.

About the first of January, 1790, Governor St. Clair, with his officers, descended the Ohio River from Marietta to Fort Washington. There he es- tablished the county of Hamilton, comprising the immense region of country contiguous to the Ohio, from the Hocking River to the Great Miami; appointed a corps of civil and military officers, and established a Court of Quarter Ses- sions. Some state that at this time, he changed the name of the village of Losantiville to Cin- cinnati, in allusion to a society of that name which had recently been formed among the officers of the Revolutionary army, and established it as the seat of justice for Hamilton. This latter fact is certain; but as regards changing the name of the village, there is no good authority for it. With this importance attached to it, Cincinnati began at once an active growth, and from that day Cleves' city declined. The next summer, frame houses began to appear in Cincinnati, while at the same time forty new log cabins appeared about the fort.

On the 8th of January, the Governor arrived at the falls of the Ohio, on his way to establish a government at Vincennes and Kaskaskia. From Clarkesville, he dispatched a messenger to Major Hamtramck, commander at Vincennes, with specehes to the various Indian tribes in this part of the Northwest, who had not fully agreed to the treaties. St. Clair and Sargent followed in a few days, along an Indian trail to Vincennes, where he organized the county of Knox, comprising all the

HISTORY OF OHIO.

country along the Ohio, from the Miami to the Wabash, and made Vincennes the county seat. Then they proceeded across the lower part of Illi- nois to Kaskaskia, where he established the county of St. Clair (so named by Sargent), comprising all the country from the Wabash to the Mississippi. Thus the Northwest was divided into three coun- ties, and courts established therein. St. Clair called upon the French inhabitants at Vincennes and in the Illinois country, to show the titles to their lands, and also to defray the expense of a survey. To this latter demand they replied through their priest, Pierre Gibault, showing their poverty, and inability to comply. They were confirmed in their grants, and, as they had been good friends to the patriot cause, were relieved from the expense of the survey.

While the Governor was managing these affairs, Major Hamtramck was engaged in an effort to con- ciliate the Wabash Indians. For this purpose, he sent Antoine Gamelin, an intelligent French mer- chant, and a true friend of America, among them to carry messages sent by St. Clair and the Govern- ment, and to learn their sentiments and dispositions. Gamelin performed this important mission in the spring of 1790 with much sagacity, and, as the

French were good friends of the natives, he did much to conciliate these half-hostile tribes. He visited the towns of these tribes along the Wabash and as far north and east as the Miami village, Ke-ki-ong-ga-St. Mary's-at the junction of the St. Mary's and St. Joseph's Rivers (Fort Wayne).

Gamelin's report, and the intelligence brought by some traders from the Upper Wabash, were con- veyed to the Governor at Kaskaskia. The reports convinced him that the Indians of that part of the Northwest were preparing for a war on the settle- ments north of the Ohio, intending, if possible, to drive them south of it; that river being still consid- ered by them as the true boundary. St. Clair left the administration of affairs in the Western counties to Sargent, and returned at onee to Fort Washing- ton to provide for the defense of the frontier.

The Indians had begun their predatory incur- sions into the country settled by the whites, and had committed some depredations. The Kentuck- ians were enlisted in an attack against the Scioto Indians. April 18, Gen. Harmar, with 100 regulars, and Gen. Scott, with 230 volunteers, marched from Limestone, by a circuitous route, to the Scioto, accomplishing but little. The savages had fled.

CHAPTER VII.

THE INDIAN WAR OF 1795-HARMAR'S CAMPAIGN-ST. CLAIR'S CAMPAIGN-WAYNE'S CAMPAIGN-CLOSE OF THE WAR.

A GREAT deal of the hostility at this period was directly traceable to the British. They yet held Detroit and several posts on the lakes, in violation of the treaty of 1783. They alleged as a reason for not abandoning them, that the Ameri- cans had not fulfilled the conditions of the treaty regarding the collection of debts. Moreover, they did all they could to remain at the frontier and en- joy the emoluments derived from the fur trade. That they aided the Indians in the conflict at this time, is undeniable. Just how, it is difficult to say. But it is well known the savages had all the ammunition and fire-arms they wanted, more than they could have obtained from American and French renegade traders. They were also well supplied with clothing, and were able to prolong the war some time. A great confederation was on the eve of formation. The leading spirits were

Cornplanter, Brant, Little Turtle and other noted chiefs, and had not the British, as Brant said, "encouraged us to the war, and promised us aid, and then, when we were driven away by the Amer- icans, shut the doors of their fortresses against us and refused us food, when they saw us nearly con- quered, we would have effected our object."

MeKce, Elliott and Girty were also actively en- gaged in aiding the natives. All of them were in the interest of the British, a faet clearly proven by the Indians themselves, and by other traders.

St. Clair and Gen. Harmar determined to send an expedition against the Maumee towns, and so- cure that part of the country. Letters were sent to the militia officers of Western Pennsylvania, Virginia and Kentucky, calling on them for militia to co-operate with the regular troops in the cam- paign. According to the plan of the campaign,

HISTORY OF OHIO.

300 militia were to rendezvous at Fort Steuben (Jeffersonville), march thence to Fort Knox, at Vincennes, and join Maj. Hamtramck in an expe- dition np the Wabash ; 700 were to rendezvous at Fort Washington to join the regular army against the Maumee towns.

While St. Clair was forming his army and ar- ranging for the campaign, three expeditions were sent out against the Miami towns. One against the Miami villages, not far from the Wabash, was led by Gen. Harmar. He had in his army ahont fourteen hundred men, regulars and militia. These two parts of the army could not be made to affili- ate, and, as a consequence, the expedition did little beyond bnrning the villages and destroying corn. The militia would not submit to discipline, and would not serve under regular officers. It will be seen what this spirit led to when St. Clair went on his march soon after.

The Indians, emboldened by the meager snecess of Harmar's command, continued their depreda- dations against the Ohio settlements, destroying the community at Big Bottom. To hold them in check, and also punish them, an army under Charles Scott went against the Wabash Indians. Little was done here but destroy towns and the standing corn. In July, another army, under Col. Wilkin- son, was sent against the Eel River Indians. Be- coming entangled in extensive morasses on the river, the army became endangered, but was finally extricated, and accomplished no more than either the other armies before it. As it was, however, the three expeditions directed against the Miamis and Shawanees, served only to exasperate them. The burning of their towns, the destruction of their corn, and the captivity of their women and chil- dren, only aronsed them to more desperate efforts to defend their country and to harass their in- vaders. To accomplish this, the chiefs of the Miamis, Shawances and the Delawares, Little Turtle, Blue Jacket and Bnckongahelas, were en- gaged in forming a confederacy of all the tribes of the Northwest, strong enongh to drive the whites beyond the Ohio. Pontiac had tried that before, even when he had open allies among the French. The Indians now had secret allies among the Brit- ish, yet, in the end, they did not succeed. While they were preparing for the contest, St. Clair was gathering his forces, intending to erect a chain of forts from the Ohio, by way of the Miami and Maumee valleys, to the lakes, and thereby effect- nally hold the savages in cheek. Washington warmly seconded this plan, and designated the

junction of the St. Mary's and St. Joseph's Rivers as an important post. This had been a fortification almost from the time the English held the valley, and only needed little work to make it a formid- able fortress. Gen. Knox, the Secretary of War, also favored the plan, and gave instructions con- cerning it. Under these instructions, St. Clair organized his forces as rapidly as he could, although the numerons drawbacks almost, at times, threat- ened the defeat of the campaign. Through the summer the arms and accouterments of the army were put in readiness at Fort Washington, Many were found to be of the poorest quality, and to he badly out of repair. The militia came poorly armed, under the impression they were to be pro- vided with arms. While waiting in camp, habits of idleness engendered themselves, and drunken- Dess followed. They continued their accustomed freedom, disdaining to drill, and refused to submit to the regular officers. A bitter spirit broke out between the regular troops and the militia, which none could heal. The insubordination of the mi- litia and their officers, caused them a defeat after- ward, which they in vain attempted to fasten on the busy General, and the regular troops.

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History of Coshocton County, Ohio, its past and present, 1740-1881, Part 12

Author: Hill, Norman Newell, jr., [from old catalog] comp; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-; Graham, A. A., & co., Newark, O., pub. [from old catalog] Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Newark, Ohio, A. A. Graham & co. Number of Pages: 854

Author: Hill, Norman Newell, jr., [from old catalog] comp; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-; Graham, A. A., & co., Newark, O., pub. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Newark, Ohio, A. A. Graham & co.
Number of Pages: 854