USA > Ohio > Defiance County > History of Defiance County, Ohio. Containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, etc.; military record; portraits of early settlers and prominent men; farm views, personal reminiscences, etc > Part 17
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At Fort Defiance, a revolt in the Kentucky regi- ment of Col. Allen took place, which from its honor- able termination as well as from motives of historical fidelity, requires to be mentioned:
Soon after Gen. Harrison arrived in camp and after he had retired to enjoy some little repose, so welcome to any one who had been exposed on the preceding comfortless and forced expedition, he found himself suddenly awakened by Col. Allen and Maj. M. D. Hardin. These officers were the bearers of the mortifying news that Allen's regiment, ex- hausted by the hard fare of the campaign and disap- pointed in the expectation of an immediate engage- ment with the enemy, had, in defiance to their duty to their country and all the earnest, impassioned re- monstrances of their officers, determined to return home. These officers assured Gen. Harrison that they could do nothing with their men; that their repre. sentatives were answered by insults alone. They begged the General to rise and interfere, as the only officer who had any prospect of bringing the mutiners back to their duty. He refused to interfere at that time, but assured the gentlemen that he would attend to the serious object of their request in his own way and at his own time. The officers retired. In the meantime Gen. Harrison sent one of his aids to di- rect Gen. Winchester to order the alarm or point of
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war to be beat on the following morning instead of the reveille. This adroit expedient brought all the troops to their arms the first thing in the morning. It diverted the spirits of the discontented troops into a new channel of feeling and prepared them for the subsequent event.
On the parading of the troops at their posts, Gen. Winchester was ordered to form them into a hollow square. Gen. Harrison now appeared upon parade, much to the surprise of the troops, who from his late arrival were unapprised of his presence. If the sud- den and unexpected arrival of their favorite command- er had so visible an effect upon his men, his immediate address to them fully preserved the impression. He lamented that there was, as he was informed, consid- erable discontent in one of the Kentucky regiments; this, although a source of mortification to himself, on their account, was happily of little consequence to the Government. He had more troops than he now well what to do with at the present stage of the cam- paign; he was expecting daily the arrival of Pennsyl- vania and Virginia quotas. It is fortunate, said this officer, with the ready oratory for which his native Virginia is so famed, that he had found out this dis- satisfaction before the campaign was further advanced when the discovery might have been mischievous to the public interests as well as disgraceful to the par- ties concerned. Now, so far as the Government was interested, the discontented troops who had come in to the woods with the expectation of finding all the luxuries of home and of peace, had full liberty to re- turn. He would, he continued, order facilities to be furnished for their immediate accommodation. But he could not refain from expressing the mortification lie anticipated for the reception they would meet from the old and the young who had greeted them on their march to the seat of war as their gallant neigh- bors.
What must be their feelings, said the General, to see those whom they had bailed as their generous defenders, now returning without striking a blow and before their term of plighted service had expired. But if this would be state of public sentiment in Ohio, what would it be in Kentucky ? If their fathers did not drive their degenerate sons back to the field of battle to recover their wounded honor, their mothers and sisters would hiss them from their presence. If. however, the discontented men were disposed to put up with all the taunts and disdain which awaited them wherever they went, they were, Gen. Harrison again assured them, at full liberty to go back.
The influence of this animated address was in- stantaneous. This was evidenced in a manner most flattering to the tact and management of the command- er. Col. J. M. Scott, the senior Colonel of Ken-
tucky, and who had served in the armies of Harmar, St. Clair and Wayne, in the medical staff, now ad- ('ressed his men. These were well known in the army as the " Iron Works," from the neighborhood from which they came. " You, my boys," said the generous veteran, " will prove your attachment for the service of your country and your General, by giv- ing him three cheers." The address was attended with immediate success, and the air resounded with the shouts of both officers and men.
Col. Lewis next took up the same course and with the same effect.
It now became the turn of the noble Allen again to try the temper of his men. He begged leave of the General to address them, but excess of emotion choked his utterance; at length he gave vent to the contending feelings of his heart, in a broken, but for- cible address, breathing the fire which had ever burned so ardently in his breast. At the close of it, however, he conjured the soldiers of his regiment to give the General the same manifestation of their patriotism and returning sense of duty, which the other Ken- tucky regiments had so freely done. The wishes of that high-spirited officer were complied with; and a mutiny was nipped in the bud, which might, if per- sisted in, have spread dissatisfaction through the Kentucky troops, to the disgrace of that gallant State and the lasting injury of the public cause. No troops, however, behaved more faithfully or zealously through the remainder of their service. till the greater part of them offered up their lives in defense of their country on the fatal field of Raisin.
Gen. Harrison at once made arrangements with Gen. Winchester for the full command of the left wing, assigning him the regulars under Col. Wells, the regiments of Scott, Lewis and Allen, already alluded to, and the three regiments under Cols. Poague, Bar- ber and Jenuings, which had assembled at St. Marys.
THE DEATH AND BURIAL OF CAPT. LOGAN.
While Gen. Winchester was encamped at Fort Defiance, Capt. Logan, a noted Indian spy and scout in the American service, was placed in charge of a small party of scouts by Gen. Harrison, with instrue- tions to reconnoiter in the direction of the Maumee Rapids. Near this point they met a superior force of the enemy and were compelled to retreat. Logan, in company with his favorite companions, Capt. 'Johnny and Bright Horn, escaped to the left of the army under Gen. Winchester and recounted their ad- venture. A subordinate officer without provocation charged Logan with infidelity to the American cause and sympathy with the enemy. Stung with indig- nation, the chief called a friend to witness that he would refute the foul charge the next day by either
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HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY.
bringing back a scalp or losing his life. Accordingly on the 22d of November, 1812, with his two friends, Capt. Johnuy and Bright Horn, he started down the Maumee. About noon they were surprised by seven savages, among whom were the Pottawatomie chief, Winnemac, and young Elliot, bearing a British com- mission. Seeing they were outnumbered, Logan professed friendship. The suspicions of Winnemac, however, were aroused, and he disarmed his prison- ers, but subsequently restored them, having confidence in their story of deserting the Americans. In the evening they encamped on Turkey Foot Creek, about twenty miles from the American camp. At a given signal, Logan's party fired aud two of the enemy fell dead and a third mortally wounded. At the second fire two of the surviving four were wounded, but Capt. Logan and Bright Horn had also been pierced by the enemy's balls. Capt. Johnny hastily mounted his comrades on two of the enemy's horses and started them for Winchester's camp, where they arrived about midnight. After securing the scalp of Winnemac, he proceeded on foot, and reached the camp by daylight. Logan's wound proved mortal. He lived two days in agony, which he bore with uncommon fortitude aud died at the camp below Defiance with the utmost com- posure and resignation. " More firmness and consum - ate bravery," said Winchester, in his letter to the commanding General, "has seldom appeared on the military theater." There was but one horse in the entire camp at that time, and a rude sled was con- structed upon which the body of Logan was placed and dragged over the snow by six officers to Fort Defiance, where " he was buried with all the honors due to his rank, and with sorrow as sincerely and gener- ally displayed as I ever witnessed," wrote Maj. Har- din in a letter to Gov. Shelby.
GEN. WINCHESTER'S ORDER BOOK.
The following is reproduced from Knapp's His- tory of the Maumee Valley, where it appeared as a newspaper communication from Monroe, Mich. :
Among the many interesting documents bearing on early history, which have been brought to light recently, is the original record of " General Orders," issued by Gen. Winchester during the march from Kentucky to the River Raisin, from early in Septem- ber, 1812, to January 20, 1813, and which was no doubt left behind when the army retreated. It was found, and for many years remained in the family of Col. John Anderson. It is a weather-stained vol- ume, bearing unmis'akable signs of frequent battles with the elements. The paper is yellow with age, but the writing is perfectly legible, the ink, in most places, being as black and brilliant as though written yesterday. Through the courtesy of Mr. Anderson
Wing, the present possessor, I am enabled to make a few extracts. The army left Kentucky in August, 1812. Most of the men were clothed in their linen hunting shirts and very few provided with woolen clothing- as a consequence, suffered severely with cold before their supplies reached them. Gen. Harrison joined the army October 3, as will be seen by the following order:
CAMP AT DEFIANCE, October 3, 1812. GENERAL ORDERS.
I have the honor of announcing to this army the arrival of Gen. Harrison, who is duly authorized by the Executive of the Federal Government to take command of the Northwest- ern army. This officer is enjoying the implicit confidence of the States from whose citizens this army is and will be col- lected, and possessing himself great military skill and reputa- tion. The General is confident in the belief that his presence in the army, in the character of its chief, will be hailed with unusual approbation. J. WINCHESTER, Brigadier General U. S. Army.
The narrative of the march of the army through Ohio is very interesting and contains many details of the hardships and privations of the little army, through woods and streams, snow, ice and mud, the sleds and baggage vans often being drawn by the men. Occasional desertions took place, and these offences were severely punished. One young man, Frederick Jacoby, was sentenced to be shot for sleeping upon his post while on sentry. An order was issued by Gen. Winchester, dated at Camp Defiance on the 9th of October, 1812, instructing the Officer of the Day in all necessary preparations for the execution of Jacoby, which were duly made, and the army drawn up to witness the first scene of the kind. The young man was placed at the distance of about twenty paces from the platoon of men constituting the firing party. They were waiting in painful suspense for the order to fire, when a reprieve from the General was received and the fortunate young man released. The effect was not lost upon the command, and no further cases of a similar kind ever were known.
The weather began to be very cold (November) and the supplies which were ordered from Philadel- phia, had not made their appearance. The General endeavored to appease the clamors of the soldiers by issuing the following order:
FORT WINCHESTER, November 1, 1812. GENERAL ORDERS.
With great pleasure the General announces to the army the prospect of an carly supply of winter clothing, amongst which are the following articles, shipped from Philadelphia on the 9th of September last : 10,000 pair of shoes, 5,000 pair of blankets, 5,000 round jackets, 5,000 pair of panta- loons, woolen cloth to he made up, besides the underclothing for Col. Wells' regiment, 100 watch coats, 5,000 blankets and 10,000 yards of flannel, 10,000 pair shoes, 10,000 pair wool socks and 10,000 of wool hose.
This bountiful supply evinces the constant attention of the Government to the comforts of its armies, although the immense distance this wing hath been detached into the wil-
-
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HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY.
derness has prevented its receiving those comforts in due sea- son, owing to causes not within the control of human fore- sight; yet a few days and the General consoles himself with the idea of seeing those whom he has the honor to command clad in warm woolen, capable of resisting the Northern blasts of Canada; either from the bellows of Boreas or the muzzles of British cannon.
J. WINCHESTER, Brigadier General Commanding Left Wing Northwestern Army.
The records close at a date when they begin to be the most interesting, just before the arrival of the army at the River Raisin, the last entry being as fol- lows:
CAMP MIAMI RAPIDS, HULL'S ROAD, ( January, 1813.
GENERAL ORDERS.
As ordered yesterday, the line of march shall be kept well closed, every officer in his proper place, and no non-com- missioned officer or private suffered to straggle from the lines except from urgent necessity, and then with leave to return to his place. Perfect silence is enjoined during the march, being in the immediate neighborhood of the enemy.
J. WINCHESTER, Brigadier General Commanding Left Wing Northwestern Army.
WINCHESTER'S DEPARTURE.
Early in January, 1813, Gen. Winchester left Fort Defiance, or Fort Winchester, as it had been renamed, with his troops, and on the 10th of that month reached the Rapids. Here, learning the dan- ger of the inhabitants of Frenchtown on the Raisin River, on the 17th instant Winchester sent Col. Lewis with 550 men to their relief, followed by Col. Allen
with 110 men. They encountered and repulsed the enemy, gained possession of the town and wrote for re-enforcements, as the whole British force was only eighteen miles distant, at Malden. Winchester on the 19th marched with 259 men, all he could spare from the Rapids, and reached Frenchtown the fol- lowing evening. He suffered his troops to remain in open ground, and during the night of the 21st the entire British force erected a battery within 300 yards of the American camp and early in the morning opened upon Winchester a destructive fire; his troops broke and fled, but the force of Lewis who were posted behind pickets, stood firm. Col. Lewis him- self had gone to Winchester's assistance, and both these officers were taken prisoners. The troops of Col. Lewis did not surrender until they received an order from the captured Winchester to do so, which Proctor, the British General, induced him to send un- der threats of an Indian massacre in case of contin- ued resistance and a promise of protection if his wishes were complied with. His faith was infamously broken, for the following night and day the Indians perpetrated horrible outrages upon the wounded pris- oners. Of the American Army, of about 800 men, one-third were killed in the battle and massacre which followed, and but thirty-three escaped.
Fort Defiance was several times threatened by the British forces during the struggle for the posses- sion of Northwestern Ohio, but no attack was ever made upon it .
CHAPTER IX.
SURVEYS.
THE lands now embraced within Defiance County were ceded to the United States by the Indians by a treaty made September 29, 1817, at the Rapids of the Miami of Lake Erie, between Lewis Cass and Duncan McArthur, Commissioners, and the chiefs and warriors of the various Indian tribes. Surveys were made from the Indiana line east to the line of the Western Reserve, and south to the Greenville treaty line. The base line of this survey is the +1st degree of north latitude, and it is also the south line of the Connecticut Western Reserve. The plan of survey of the lands originated with Jared Mansfield, Sur- veyor General of the United States. From the base line the townships are numbered sonth, and east of the Indiana line, our meridian. Each township is six miles square and is subdivided into thirty-six sec- tions, parallel with the township lines, of one mile
square each, containing 640 acres, so that every reg- ular land township contains 23,040 acres of land. Each section can be legally subdivided into quarter sections of 160 acres; and each quarter section into quarters of 40 acres; and each 40 acres, for conven. ience of sale, can be divided into quarters, also, of 10 acres, so that an exact and legally correct de- scription of ten acres of land out of a whole section can be made without a survey, and the lines after- ward be exactly determined by any competent sur- veyor.
The townships were surveyed in 1820. In De- fiance County, Hicksville, Milford, Farmer, Mark and Washington Townships were surveyed by Joseph Wampler; Defiance, Richland, Adams and Tiffin by James Riley, and Highland and Delaware Townships by James Powell.
C
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HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY.
The land office was located at Piqua, and was opened in 1821, in which year some of the best land along the rivers was entered. Until 1834, very lit- tle was taken, but during the years 1835-36 and 1837 the greater portion was entered, principally by spec- ulators and land companies. The Hicks Land Company, in Hicksville Township alone, owned 14,000 acres.
Mr. A. P. Edgerton, at Hicksville, agent for this and the American Land Company in Northwestern Ohio, sold over 107,000 acres. These extensive pur- chases, however, proved disastrous. The expected speedy increase in value did not occur, and much land was sold in four or five years for less than the original price paid.
CHAPTER X.
ORGANIZATION OF WILLIAMS COUNTY.
N act was passed in the Ohio Legislature, Feb- ruary 12, 1820, providing " that all that part of lands lately ceded by the Indians to the United States which lies within the State of Ohio shall be and the same is hereby erecte 1 into fourteen separate and dis- tinct counties, to be bounded and named as follows." Of the counties thus formed, Williams occupied, as now, the northwest corner of the State, but embraced most of the territory now included in Defiance County There were as yet but few settlers in this vast scope of country, and for judicial purposes Williams and sev- eral other adjoining counties were attached to Wood County, Maumee City being the seat of justice. In April. 1824, Williams County was organized, and Henry, Paulding and Putnam Counties were attached to it for civil purposes. The nucleus of the early settle- ment of these counties was at Defiance and it was chiefly settlers, in what now constitutes Defiance County, who were active in the early official life of Williams County.
January 13, 1825, the following resolution was passed by the Ohio Legislature:
"Resolved, By the General Assemby of the State of Ohio, that Joseph C. Haskins, of the county of Preble, Forest Meeker, of the county of Delaware, and Robert Morrison, of the county of Miami, be and they are hereby appointed commissioners to lo- cate and establish the permanent seat of justice, in and for the county of Williams."
Pursuant to this resolution, the Commissioners proceeded to the County of Williams, and proposed, that if the proprietors would deed to the county one- third of all the lots in the town of Defiance, and build a jail, the Commissioners, agreeably to the res- olution above recited, would permanently establish the seat of justice at the town of Defiance. The propo- sition the Commissioners was accepted by the pro- prietors. A deed in fee simple was made of the lots, to the county, and a jail was erected by them. Indi- viduals bought them at high prices, with the view of
this being the county seat. Others, too, settled in and about the town, and invested their fortunes under this expectation.
The first court in Williams County at Defiance was held April 5, 1824, with Ebenezer Land, Presi- ding Judge, and Robert Shirley, John Perkins and Pierce Evans, Associate Judges. John Evans was appointed Clerk, pro tem., by the court, and John Evans was appointed Recorder. April 8, 1824, and gave bonds in the sum of $2,000. Foreman Evans, Pierce Evans and Moses Rice were his sureties. William Preston was Sheriff. May 8, the court granted Benjamin Leavel a license to vend merchan- dise at his place of residence in Defiance for one year, upon his paying into the county treasury $10. John Cannon was the first person to declare his intention to become a citizen of the United States. The Judges of Williams County were appointed by the Governor February 4, 1824. Charles W. Ewing was appointed Prosecuting Attorney October 5, 1824, and was al- lowed $10 fees. The first grand jury was William Hunter, Timothy T. Smith, Arthur Burras, Georg e Lantz, John Hilton, Foreman Evans, Montgomery Evans, Thomas Driver, Benjamin Mulligan, James Shirely, Jonathan Merithan, Thomas Warreu, The- ophilus Hilton, Hugh Evans and Daniel Brannan.
The first cause in court, Timothy T. Smith, plain- tiff, in certiorari, against Montgomery Evans. The first State case, State of Ohio against Enoch Buck, indicted for keeping a ferry across the Ohio without a license.
The first County Auditor was Timothy T. Smith. The first Sheriff was William Preston.
The first Assessor was Samuel Vance, appointed by the Court, March 7, 1825.
The first will submitted to Probate was James Jolly' s.
The first license for marriage to Carver Gunn and Mary Ann Scribner, married December 24, 1824, by Charles Gunn.
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HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY.
The first Road Viewers appointed were John Evans, Arthur Burras and William Preston, appointed December 6, 1824. John Perkins, Surveyor.
The first deed made by Jacob Brown to James McCloskie, recorded March 10, 1824.
EARLY PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMISSIONERS.
The first Commissioners of Williams County were Benjamin Leavell, Charles Gunn and Cyrus Hunter. Their first session was held December 6, 1824, at the house of Benjamin Leavell. The only business trans- acted related to the establishment of county roads. At the June session, 1825, it was ordered that a hewed- log jail be erected, its dimensions " to be twenty-six by eighteen feet, nine feet beween floors, with a partition of the same dimensions as the walls and two grate windows, eighteen by ten inches, with five iron bars to each window;" $29 was ordered to be paid to the Auditor as his annual allowance, and the Listers or Assessors of the several townships were each al- lowed from $12 to $1.87}. At the October session of the same year, it appears that Isaiah Hughes had been appointed by the Court of Common Pleas, Com- missioner in place of 'Benjamin Leavell, resigned. George Lantz was appointed Auditor, vice Thomas Philbrick. The proprietors of the town of Defiance having deeded forty town lots to the county, the Commissioners offered them for sale at auction, Feb- ruary 1, 1826. Only seven were sold, as follows:
Lot No. 4, to William Preston, for $80; Lot 12, to Samuel Vance, for $41; Lot 58, to John Perkins, for $40; Lot 64, to Samnel Vance, for $85; Lot 101, to John Perkins, for $71; Lot 107, to John Oliver, for $36; Lot 61, to Robert and Nathan Shirley, for $77.
COURT HOUSE.
After the organization of Williams County, the courts were held in the second story of Mr. Leavell's storeroom, which stood on the banks of the Maumee, just north of the fort grounds, until about 1828, when a brick court house was built on the lot just north of the present Presbyterian Church. It served its pur- pose until the county seat was removed to Bryan, shortly after which event the old court house was sold by the County Commissioners. It is still standing, and for many years has been used as a dwelling house.
FIRST ELECTION.
At the first election for county officers, held April 8, 1824, Timothy T. Smith received 37 votes, and H. Jerome 26 for Auditor; for Coroner, Arthur Burras 6 votes, John Oliver, 40, and Thomas Warren, 17; for Sheriff, James Shirley had 14 votes and William Preston, 48; for Commissioners, Jesse Hilton, 58, Cyrus Hunter, 37, Charles Gunn, 31, Montgomery Evans, 28, Benjamin Leavell, 26, William Hunter, 4, and John Oliver, 1.
CHAPTER XI.
ORGANIZATION OF DEFIANCE COUNTY.
TT T was not until the years 1835-36 and 1837 that the great bodies of land in Williams County were en- tered, and these entries were made mostly by specu- lators in large quantities. In 1836, by the settle ment of the Michigan bonndary question, about 150 square miles were added to the north end of Will- iams, and the village of Defiance became more a bor- der town than it was before. Various speculators owning large tracts of land began to agitate the ques- tion of removing the county seat. A large number of villages were platted about this time. and the aspi- rants for the possession of the county seat were many, among which may be mentioned Washington, Union, Texas, Brunersburg, Freedom, Center. La- fayette and Evansport. March 13, 1839, a resolution was passed by the Legislature, submitting to the voters of Williams County the question of reviewing the seat of justice. It received a large majority vote
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