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 9
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78
44
HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY ..
osition to treat by Gen. Wayne. The chiefs and deputations assembled at Fort Greenville, and eutered into a council to form a treaty. The time occupied extended from the 16th of June to the 10th of Au- gust, 1795. The point to be settled was a future line between the United States and the Indians. The real cause of this bloody and cruel war was the treaty of Fort Harmar, better known as the "Treaty of the Muskingum," held at Marietta, in January, 1789. It was alleged, by Little Turtle and other chiefs, that said treaty was a fraud, and effected altogether by the Six Nations (Iroquois of New York), who seduced some of their young men to attend it, together with a few Chippeways, Wyandots, Ottawas, Delawares and Pottawatomies, and that most of the land ceded belonged to the Miamis, which people were entirely ignorant of a treaty. The Delawares, Wyandots and Shawnees, who were permitted to occupy Ohio hunt- ing-grounds by the favor of the Miamis, Little Turtle contended, had no right to dispose of his lands. Gen. Wayne insisted upon the legality of the treaty of Muskingum, while the chiefs who opposed it in- sisted upon making the Ohio River the boundary of the Indian country. At the end of a long debate, the line was carried west, and extended in a direct course from Fort Recovery to the mouth of the Ken- tucky River; and certain reservations, for forts, were made west of that line. The south line began at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River, where it enters Lake Erie, and ran up to the portage between that and the Tuscarawas branch of the Muskingum. Crossing the portage, it followed down the Tuscarawas to Fort Laurens, an important military station about half a mile below the present town of Bolivar. From that point it ran directly west to Loramies Creek, a tribu- tary of the Great Miami. Thence it followed a line almost due west of Fort Recovery, which point was very near the present eastern boundary of Indiana. It then ran in a southerly direction to the Ohio, strik- ing that stream near the mouth of the Kentucky River, as first stated.
The Indians finally accepted the terms dictated by their conquerors, and signed the treaty, which was to be sacredly observed as " long as the woods grow and waters run." No former treaty, perhaps, was at- tended by so many noted chiefs and orators. The Little Turtle, whose Indian name was Me-che-cun.a- qua, displayed unusual ability as a diplomat, a thinker and orator. Indeed, it must be admitted that he was a full match for Gen. Wayne, who was an educated and experienced officer. The Little Turtle possessed many of the characteristics of the great Pontiac. His ability to organize and command was not infe- rior to any of the most distinguished chiefs of his race. The defeats of Harmar and St. Clair were due
to the shrewdness and military strategy of this great chief; and a man of less cantion and nerve than Gen. Wayne would have been defeated and crushed. He desired to treat before the battle of " Fallen Timbers," and after that disaster, on learning the best terms to be given by Wayne to the conquered, signed the treaty for his people, and faithfully kept its terms to his decease, which occurred on the 14th of July, 1812, at the age of sixty-five years.
Tarhe, or the Crane, a great Wyandot chief, took a leading part at the treaty, and was the orator for his people. He signed the treaty, and became a friend to the United States. He served, with a com-' pany of Wyandots, in the war of 1812, in the cam- paign of Gen. W. H. Harrison. He died at Crane- town, near Upper Sandusky, in 1818.
The great Delaware chief Bock-ong-a-he-las, who fought against Harmar, St. Clair and Wayne, was also at the treaty, and signed it. This great chief was present at the treaty of Fort McIntosh in 1785. He had been a leading chief in Eastern Ohio in 1781, and from thence, with other Delawares, had lo- cated on the Miami and White Rivers in Indiana. His name is attached to many treaties, down as late as 1817. He probably died on the Auglaise.
The great Shawnee chief Blue Jacket, Wey-a-pier- sen-wa, was also present at the treaty, and made several speeches. He was more sanguinary and pre- cipitate than Little Turtle, and possessed less dis- crimination and judgment. His combative qualities were undoubted. He was among the last chiefs who came to treat. By his example, the Shawnees were slow tu accept terms. He commanded about two thousand Shawnees and others at Wayne's great bat- tle. He died, most probably, at the Ottawa town, on Auglaize, prior to the treaty at the "Foot of the Rapids," in 1817.
Joseph Brandt, Thay-en-da-ne-ca, the great Mo- hawk chief, seems to have been present near the battle field, with 400 Mohawks. Authorities have disputed the accuracy of this statement, which was first made, we believe, by the Indian historian, Mr. Stone, but the statement of Mr. Alder confirms that assertion, and we are persuaded of its accuracy. Brandt was the most brilliant and courageous chief of the Mo- hawks, and has left a personal history unequaled for bravery, eccentricity, cruelty and cunning.
The speakers from among the Shawnees were Blue Jacket, Red Pole, Puck-se-kaw, Black Wolf, Lame Hawk, Blackhoof, Kec-a-hah, Kekia-pil-athy and Captain Johnny. Among the Delawares, Bock-ong- a-he-las and three others. Captain Pipe, who cruelly caused the torture and death of Col. Crawford, on the Tymochtee, in 1782, is believed to have died just be- fore the treaty, though his death is a mystery. It is
45
HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY.
contended that he lived as late as the war of 1812, on the Mohean.
The tribes at the treaty were the Miamis, Shaw- nees, Wyandots, Chippeways, Ottawas, Pottawato- mies, Weas, Eel Rivers and Kickapoos.
At the conclusion of the treaty, Gen. Wayne ad- dressed the assembled chiefs and deputies as follows: "As it is probable, my children, that we shall not meet again in public council, I take this opportunity to bid you all an affectionate farewell, and wishing you a safe and happy return to your respective homes and families." After which the Indians quietly dis- persed.
After the treaty, in the years 1807, 1808, 1809 and 1810, the Shawnees began to fall back on their re- serves. Prior to the treaty of 1795, they were scat- tered pretty much all over Ohio, and along the streams in Indiana. Up to that treaty, they had been induced to sell portions of their hunting-grounds, in exchange for lands in the West and certain sums of money to be paid yearly. When the chiefs and war- riors attended such treaties, they were often made drunk and badly cheated by the agents sent. out by the Government. It was easily to be seen that the Indian title to all their lands in Ohio would soon be extinguished. Their Ohio hunting-grounds were the choicest upon the continent, and their leading chiefs found it necessary to take proper steps to prevent the whites from getting all such lands.
Tecumseh and the Prophet, his twin brother, were opposed to parting with their hunting grounds. They had great influence among the Indians, and were both fine speakers, and could arouse the feel - ings of their hearers and influence their jealousies and passions as they desired. They held meetings all over the West, speaking to large crowds, declar- ing that they were not for war (?), but desired to unite the tribes into a kind of confederacy, to prevent the sale of their lands without a majority of all the chiefs of the confederacy consented to their sale, as they declared the white race was united State after State, and thus maintained their rights, while the Government, and the Great Father at Washington, was chief over all.
Such arguments were sensible and logical, and had a powerful effect upon the Indians. These meet- ings excited the fears of the white settlers, and the authorities of the State and United States began to take notice of the matter.
About the year 1804, Tecumseh and his brother, the Prophet, commenced to agitate the question of an Indian confederacy to prevent the purchase and occupancy of their lands by the whites. Tecumseh visited the various tribes, and endeavored to enlist them in the combination, while the Prophet, who had,
prior to this time, been a drunken profligate, pro- claimed that he had been commanded by the Great Spirit to inform his red children that all their misfort- unes were the result of abandoning their former mode of life, and that through him (the Prophet) they were now commanded to return to their former habits, to leave off the use of whisky and clothe them- selves in skins instead of blankets. He fixed his headquarters at Greenville, and from that point his fame spread among the tribes, and he was soon sur- rounded by the most abandoned young men of the Shawnees, Delawares, Wyandots, Pottawatomies, Ottawas, Chippewas and Kickapoos. The leading chiefs of all these tribes, however, could not be in- duced to join his league, and the result was that many of them were assassinated by the orders of the Proph- et, as mischievous men and witches, to get rid of their opposition and influence! Te-te-box-ke, a ven erable Delaware chief, and many of his friends, were mercilessly burned at the stake on the charge of being witches and dangerous persons.
In. September, 1809, a treaty was made at Fort Wayne, by which the title to a large tract of land extending sixty miles up the Wabash above Vin- cennes, belonging to the Miamis, was extinguished. This again aroused Tecumseh and the Prophet to renewed efforts to prevent any more sales. Tecum- seh had been at the treaty of Greenville as a warrior, in 1795, and, with Blue Jacket, greatly regretted the loss of their lands, and while he was soliciting the Western and Southern tribes to help stop " the mighty water " that was about to sweep away all their lands, the Prophet was holding large meetings at Greenville and Tippecanoe. He was as cunning as he was fanatical and revengeful.
About this time, the Prophet ordered the execu- tion of Leatherlips, a noted Wyandot chief, for pre- tended witchcraft, but really to get rid of his in- fluence. Six Wyandot warriors were sent to put him to death. The warriors and their leader, Round- head, went directly from Tippecanoe to execute him. They found him encamped on a stream about twelve miles above the present city of Columbus. When the warriors arrived, and their purpose was ascertained, several white men made an ineffectual effort to save his life. A council took place, and the warriors re- solved to kill the chief, as ordered. An Indian, with much warmth, accused him with magic or witchcraft; but Leatherlips denied the charge. When the sen- tence of death was passed upon him, he returned to his camp, ate a dinner of jerked venison, washed, and dressed in his best Indian clothing, and painted his face. He was tall and dignified, and his hair quite gray. When the time of his execution arrived, he shook hands with those present, and turned from his
46
HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY.
wigwam and commenced to chant his death song. He then moved toward the point where the warriors had dug a grave. When he got to the grave, he knelt down and prayed to the Great Spirit. When he finished, Roundhead also knelt and prayed. Leather- lips again knelt and prayed, and when he ceased, one of the warriors drew from his skirts a keen, new tom- ahawk. stepped up behind the chief, and struck him on the head with his whole strength. The chief fell forward in the agonies of death. The executioner struck him again, once or twice, and finished his suffering. The body was buried with all his Indian ornaments, and the warriors and whites disappeared. An attempt has been made to fix the responsibility of this great crime upon the Wyandot chief Crane. Crane was the friend of the whites, and opposed to the schemes of the treacherous Prophet, and. it is clear, never could have authorized the execution of a fellow Wyandot chief.
Mr. Alder says: "I was very well acquainted with the Prophet. He was not a warrior, but a low, cunning fellow. He prophesied many things that did not come to pass. He was a vain man, with a great amount of show, but with little sense. His powers of prophecy were not well sustained by the Indians in general; in fact, they had but very little faith in him."
Col. John Johnston says: "He was the twin brother of Tecumseh. His Indian name was Elsqua- ta-wa. As a man, he was void of talent or merit, a brawling, mischievous, Indian demagogue."
While residing on Mad River, the Shawnees were divided into four tribes or bands-the Mequachake, the Chillicothe, the Kiskapocoke and the Piqua. The priesthood was confided to the Mequachake, and the office of chief was hereditary. In other tribes, the office of chief was bestowed from merit or achieve- ment in war. Their towns were scattered along the banks of the Scioto, the Mad River and the Little Miami, in Southern Ohio. Cornstalk, the great chief so cruelly assassinated at Point Pleasant, resided east of the Scioto River, on Sippo Creek, in what is now Pickaway County, and his sister, the Grenadier Squaw, who was six feet high, resided near him on the opposite side of the stream, in Squaw town. The principal town, Old Chillicothe, was located near the mouth of Massie's Creek, three miles north of the present site of Xenia. Piqna, memorable as the birthplace of Tecumseh and Elsqua ta-wa, was situat- ed on the north bank of Mad River, seven miles west of the present site of the city of Springfield, in Clark County. Upper and Lower Piqua, in Miami County, were not far from the present site of the city of Piqua.
After the destruction of the Macachack towns on
Mad River, in what is now Logan County, Ohio, in 1786, by Gen. Logan. of Kentucky, the Shawnees abandoned these towns, and gradually began a settle- ment on the Ottawa or Hog Creek, and at Wapako- netta, in what is now Auglaize-formerly Allen --- County. They also had a few other villages in what is now Clark County, Ohio, and also along the streams in Indiana. In the fall of 1811, a good deal of uneasiness existed among the Shawnees, Dela- wares, Wyandots and other Western tribes, and Brit- ish agents were very active in their endeavors to seduce the Ohio Indians into the British service, in case of a war with the United States. Tecumseh, Blue Jacket and the Prophet employed all their arts to induce the Little Turtle, Blackhoof, Back-ong-a- he-las and other noted chiets to join the league; but the Turtle, having been overruled by the Blue Jacket in the battle of " Fallen Timbers," refused to follow the lead of the wily Shawnee again.
In the spring of 1812, Gen. Meigs convened a council at the village of Urbana. Ohio, and through Col. James McPherson, and the elder Walker, who had married a Wyandot, invited the Shawnee, Wyan- dot and Delaware chiefs and braves to meet him. They assembled about the 1st of June. The result was very satisfactory, and euded in an exchange of wampum, and in smoking the pipe of peace. The chiefs agreed to take sides with the United States; and protection was guaranteed their families. and a block-house was erected near Zanesfield, in what is now Logan County, for the protection of their women and children. where they were furnished, during the war, at the public expense, with provis- ions and clothing.
During this excitement and ferment among the Indians, British agents were constantly engaged in fomenting ill-will between the Indians aud the bor- der settlements. In fact, many English statesmen still entertained the opinion that the American colo- nies were not wholly lost to the mother country. and hoped, when the proper time arrived, by the aid of the Indian tribes and the supposed disaffected colon- ies, to regain sovereignty over the States. To this end, as has been observed, the tribes on our borders were secretly supplied with munitions of war, and instigated to commit depredations on the frontiers of Kentucky and Southwest Ohio. McKee, Elliott and Girty fanned the flame of hate and revenge, and, as the probabilities of war between the two countries became stronger, the Indians, following the lead of Tecumseh, became more audacious. In April, 1812, an embargo was laid, by Congress, on all the ship- ping in the ports and harbors of the United States; and soon after, an act authorizing the President to detach 100,000 militia, for six months, was passed
47
HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY.
and carried into execution, and a general declaration of war was expected. At this time, the war in Europe between France and the allied powers, con- tinued to rage with unabated violence. England and France used Avery artifice to involve all the nations of Europe in the contest. At the same time, the British naval officers were carrying out the detest- able doctrine of " impressing American seamen," in a manner so extensive and vexatious as in cause great distress among our seafaring people, and much in- convenience and risk to our merchants. The Ameri- can Government repeatedly protested against these outrages, but could neither obtain indemnity for the past nor security for the future. The alternative of arms alone was left, to vindicate our rights and pro- tect our maritime interests on the ocean, and hence, a formal declaration of war against Great Britain was made June 18, 1812.
The forces of the United States and of Ohio were marshaled for the contest with all speed. Gov. Meigs obtained permission of the friendly Wyandots, Shawnees, Mingoes and Delawares to march through their country without opposition; these Indians agreeing to abide faithfully by the treaty of Green- ville, and remain neutral during the progress of the war. The forces of Gen. McArthur and Col. Cass in due time appeared on the Rivers Raisin and Huron, and thence to Brownstown, and finally to Detroit, where Gen. Hull, without an effort, ingloriously sur- rendered his forces to Gen. Isaac Brock, of the Brit- ish Army This disaster sent a shudder through the poineer settlements of Ohio. Gen. W. H. Harrison was appointed to the command, and a new army was levied and organized. We are unable, for want of space, to trace the history of his campaigns until the close of the war. It will be sufficient to state that he was ably seconded by Col. Richard M. Johnson, Col. John Logan and Col. W. S. Hunter as aids, while the troops of Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Ohio, under his command, sustained the reputa- tion of their States by acts of valor and uucomplain- ing sacrifices until the declaration of peace.
The Government of the United States made an attempt, as soon as war was declared, to soften the jealousies of the Indians on our border. The various tribes were invited to a general council, to be held at Piqua on the 15th of August, 1812. They were in- vited to bring their families, and kindle a great coun- cil fire. Gov. Meigs, Thomas Worthington and Jeremiah Morrow were appointed Commissioners to meet them. The conference failed; for only a few Shawnees, Wyandots, Mingoes, Delawares, Ottawas and Miamis attended. Those present professed great friendship for the Government; but little confidence could be placed in any but the Shawnees and Wyan-
dots. Blackhoof, Logan and the Crane appeared to be honest in their desires for peace, and wielded a good influence. The Government desired to provide for all peaceable Indians, and sent officers to conduct such to Urbana, Zanesville and Piqua, where they could be under the eye of the Government agents. The Mohegans and Delawares of the villages of Greenstown and Jerometown, in what is now Ashland County, were conducted to Urbana by Capt. Doug- lass, of Clinton, Knox County, where they remained, at Government expense, until peace was declared. The friendly Shawnees and Wyandots were variously employed, some as scouts and others as guides. While acting in the capacity of spy, a noted Shaw- nee half-blood, named Logan, was fatally wounded in a rencontre with the Pottawatomie chief Winemac and his braves. Logan will be remembered as hav- ing been taken a prisoner, when a boy, by Gen. Logan, of Kentucky, in 1786, and adopted and edu- cated, and received the name of his captor-Logan. His mother was a sister of Tecumseh and the Proph- et. The family of Logan resided near Wapako- netta, whither he was taken after his death and buried by United States troops with the honors of war.
In the spring of 1813, the policy of the Govern- ment as to the employment of Indians as soldiers was, with some hesitancy, changed. Gen. Harrison held a council at Franklinton with the friendly Wyandots, Delawares, Shawnees and Senecas, in which it was agreed those tribes should be enrolled and take up arms in defense of the United States, as against the British and their Indian allies. Tarhe, the ven- erable Wyandot chief, for himself and people, and the chiefs of the other tribes, agreed to prevent their warriors from scalping prisoners and committing the barbaric acts which had characterized the Canadian Indians. With these stipulations, a corps of Indians was armed, and fully demonstrated that they could be controlled by the rules of civilized warfare, and successfully restrained from committing acts charac- teristic of savages, notwithstanding the assertions of British officers. The Indian soldiers are said to have been "uniformly distinguished by orderly and humane conduct."
The renegade young Shawnees, and those of other tribes, joined Tecumseh and fought desperately for the British at the battle of the Thames, where Col. R. M. Johnson was wounded in the thigh, hip and left hand, and is reputed to have killed Te- cumseh, then a Colonel in the British service. It was the belief of soldiers who were presont, and saw the rencontre, that Johnson killed the chief with a horse pistol, in the attack, after his own horse had. fallen, because Tecumseh fell at the point where the Colonel was down.
4
48
HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY.
As Tecumseh was a chief of undoubted talent and of great courage, we deem it proper, in giving a sketch of the Shawnees to call the attention of the reader to his history. The following is compiled from Drake's life of the chief: "Puckeshinwa, the father of Tecumseh, was a member of the Kiscopoke, and Methoataske, the mother, of the Turtle tribe of the Shawnee nation. They removed from Florida to Ohio about the middle of the last century (1750). The father rose to the rank of chief, and fell at the battle of Point Pleasant, in 1774. After his death, his wife returned South, where she died at an advanced age. Tecumseh was born at Piqua about the year 1768, and, like Napoleon, showed a passion for war in his youth. It is stated that the first battle in which he was engaged occurred on the present site of Dayton, between the Kentuckians under Col. Logan and some Shawnees. When about seventeen years of age, he manifested great courage in an attack on some boats on the Ohio River, near what is now Maysville, Ky. The prisoners were all killed but one, who was burned alive. Tecumseh, having witnessed the burn- ing of the prisoner, expressed his strong abhorrence of the act, and by his eloquence persuaded his party never to burn any more prisoners. He rose rapidly as a warrior, and gained great popularity among his tribe. He was in the attack on Fort Recovery, and the battle of Fallen Timbers, in Wayne's campaign, and, in the summer of 1795, became a chief. He resided, in 1796, at Deer Creek, in the vicinity of the present site of Urbana, and afterward at Piqua, on the Great Miami. In 1798, by invitation of the Dela- wares, he removed, with his followers, to White River, Ind. In 1805, through the influence of Els- quatawa, his twin brother, a large number of Shaw- nees established themselves at Greenville, and Els- quatawa assumed the office of a prophet, and com- menced a career of cunning and pretended sorcery that gave him great sway over the Indian mind. They remained at Greenville in the year 1806, and were visited by many Indians from the different tribes. The Prophet pretended to have dreamed many wonderful dreams, and claimed to have had many supernatural revelations, and by such stories convinced many that he was really the earthly agent of the Great Spirit. In 1807, Gov. W. H. Harrison sent a messenger to the head chiefs of the Shawnees, desiring them to disband their people at Greenville, as their conduct foreshadowed evil to the whites. The Prophet evaded the message and refused to go. In 1808, Tecumseh and the Prophet removed to Tip- pecanoe, and continued their efforts to induce the In. dians to forsake their vicious habits, while Tecumseh visited the neighboring tribes to increase the Proph- et's influence. In 1809-10, their conduct was such
as to leave but little doubt that their intentions were hostile. The Prophet seemed to be most prominent, but Tecumseh, backed by British agents, was in reality the leader. In August, 1810, Tecumseh visited Vincennes, accompanied by forty warriors, to have a talk with Gov. Harrison. His manner on that occasion was haughty and menacing. He declared he was not for war, but desired to unite all the Indians to prevent the sale of their lands. His vehemence of speech fully indicated the purpose of the brothers, and after his departure Gov. Harrison proceeded to prepare for the coming contest. He sent a message to the Shawnees, bidding them to beware of hostili- ties; to which Tecumseh gave a brief reply, and visited the Governor with 300 warriors, in July, 1811, in which he exhibited the same haughty spirit that he evinced in the former meeting. Gov. Harri- son prepared to disperse the hostiles at White River, and the battle at Tippecanoe followed. The result of that battle deprived the Prophet of much of his infla- ence. In the spring of 1812, Tecumseh and his war. riors visited Malden, and tendered their services to the British, and he was subsequently made a Briga- dier General in the British Army, and was present at the ensuing battles against the Americans on land, until the battle of the Thames, in which he fell."
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.