History of Delaware County and Ohio, Part 32

Author: O. L. Baskin & Co; Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago, O.L. Baskin & Co.
Number of Pages: 818

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This promise of the warrior was faithfully kept by his people. They evaded all the efforts of the Shawanee prophet, Tecumseh, and the British, who endeavored to induce them, by threats or bribes, to violate it. They remained faithful [to the United States during the war of 1812, and, with the Shawanees, furnished some very able warriors and scouts, who rendered valuable service to the United States during this war. After the treaty at Green- ville, the great body of Delawares removed to their lands on White River, Ind., whither some of their people had preceded them. It is related that their manner of obtaining possession of these lands was by a grant from the Piankeshaws, upon condition of their settling upon them, and assisting them (the Piankeshaws) in a war with the Kickapoos. These terms were complied with, and the Delawares remained in possession of the land.

They continued to reside upon White River and its branches until 1819, when most of them joined the band who had emigrated to Missouri, upon the tract of land granted jointly to them and the Shawanees, in 1793, by the Spanish authorities. Others of their number who remained, scattered

themselves among the Miamis, Pottawatomies and Kickapoos; while others, including the Moravian converts, went to Canada.

The majority of the nation, in 1829, settled on the Kansas and Missouri Rivers. They numbered about 1,000, were brave, enterprising hunters, cultivated lands and were friendly to the whites. In 1853, they sold the Government all the lands granted them, excepting a reservation in Kansas. During the late rebellion, they sent to the United States Army 170 out of their 200 able-bodied men. Like their ancestors, they proved valiant and trustworthy soldiers. Of late years, they have almost lost their aboriginal customs and manners, They live in houses, have schools and churches, cultivate farms, and, in fact, bid fair to become useful and prominent citizens in the great Repub- lic.

Howe, in his " Historical Collections," credits the following tradition of this tribe of Indians, to the In- dian agent, John Johnston : "The true name of this once powerful tribe is Wa-be-nugh-ka, that is, ' the people from the East,' or, 'the sun-rising.' The tradition among themselves is, that they orig- inally, at some very remote period, emigrated from the West, crossed the Mississippi, ascending the Ohio, fighting their way, until they reached the Delaware River, near where Philadelphia now stands, in which region of country they became fixed. About this time they were so numerous that no enumeration could be made of the nation. They welcomed to the shores of the new world that great law-giver, William Penn, and his peaceful fol- lowers, and ever since this people have entertained a kind of grateful recollection of them; and, to this day, speaking of good men, they would say, ' Wa, she, a, E, le, ne,' such a man is a Quaker, i. e., all good men are Quakers. In 1823, I removed to the west of the Mississippi persons of this tribe, who were born and raised within thirty. miles of Philadelphia. These were the most squalid, wretched and degraded of their race, and often furnished chiefs with a subject of reproach against the whites, pointing to these of their peo- ple, and saying to us, 'See how you have spoiled them'-meaning, they had acquired all the bad habits of the white people, and were ignorant of hunting, and incapable of making a livelihood as other Indians. In 1819, there were belonging to my agency in Ohio, eighty Delawares, who were sta- tioned near Upper Sandusky, and in Indiana,. 2,300 of the same tribe. Bockinghelas was the principal chief of the Delawares for many years after

* American State Papers.

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

my going into the Indian country; he was a dis- tinguished warrior in his day, and an old man when I knew him. Killbuck, another Delaware chief, had received a liberal education at Princeton College, and retained until his death the great out- lines of the morality of the Gospel."

The Delawares had a village near the Sulphur Springs, in the city of Delaware, and cultivated corn in the vicinity. Howe says, "There were formerly two villages belonging to the Delawares, mostly within the limits of the present town of Dela- · ware. One occupied the ground around the east end of Williams street, and the other was at the west end, extending from near the saw-mill to the hill- side. Upon the ground now occupied by the town, they cultivated a corn-field of about 400 acres. The Mingoes had a small village above town, on ' Horse-shoe Bottom,' where they also raised corn." They did not remain here long, however, after the advent of the whites. But, as it has ever been since the landing of the Europeans upon the Atlantic Coast, the Indians have been forced to give way before their more powerful foes. Step by step they have been borne back ward across the Continent, until but a narrow space lies between them and the last shore. As a race, they are fast disappearing from the land. "Their arrows are broken, their springs are dried up, their cabins are in the dust. Their council-fire has long since gone out on the shore, and their war-cry is fast dying away in the untrodden West. Slowly and sadly they climb the distant mountains, and read their doom in the setting sun. They are shrink- ing before the mighty tide which is pressing them away; they must soon hear the roar of the last wave which will settle over them forever."* There is much in the Indian character to excite our bit- ter and revengeful feelings, and much, too, to awaken our pity and sympathy. When we reflect how their hunting-grounds have been wrested from them, we feel but little disposition to censure or condemn them for contesting the pale-face's "right of possession " to the lands of their fathers.

After the removal of the Indians from Delaware County, detachments used to frequently return to trade their peltries to the white people. The Shawanees, Mingoes and Wyandots especially, were in the habit of making periodical visits to the neighborhood for a number of years. Much of their local history belongs more appropriately to

particular sections of the county, and hence will be given in the township histories.

Although, it may be that neither La Salle, nor Joliet, nor Hennepin, nor, indeed, any of the French pioneers ever set foot upon what is now Delaware County, yet, it forms a part of the territory claimed by the French through these early explorations. Says Howe, in his "Historical Collections of Ohio": " The territory now comprised within the limits of Ohio was formerly a part of that vast region claimed by France, between the Alleghany and Rocky Mountains, first known by the general name of Louisiana. In 1673, Marquette, a zeal- ous French missionary, accompanied by M. Joliet, from Quebec, with five boatmen, set out on a mis- sion from Mackinac to the unexplored regions lying south of that station. They passed down the lake to Green Bay, thence from Fox River crossed over to the Wisconsin, which they followed down to its junction with the Mississippi. They descended this mighty stream 1,000 miles, to its confluence with the Arkansas. On their return to Canada, they did not fail to urge, in strong terms, the immediate occupation of the vast and fertile regions watered by the Mississippi and its branches. At this period, the French had erected forts on the Mississippi, on the Illinois, on the Maumee, and on the lakes. Still, however, the communication with Canada was through Lake Michigan. Before 1750, a French post had been fortified at the mouth of the Wabash, and a communication was established through that river and the Maumee with Canada. About the same time, and for the purpose of checking the progress of the French, the Ohio Company was formed, and made some efforts. to establish trading-houses among the Indians. The French, however, established a chain of fortifications back of the English set- tlements, and thus, in a measure, had the entire control of the great Mississippi Valley. The English Government became alarmed at the en- croachments of the French and attempted to set- tle boundaries by negotiations. These availed nothing, and both parties determined to settle their differences by the force of arms." All this, how- ever, belongs, more to the history of the country at large, than to this particular county. It is given in this connection merely to show who were the original possessors of the soil. It is general history, also, which tells us how, in this country, the lilies of France drooped and withered before the majestic tread of the British Lion, and how he, in his turn, quailed beneath the scream of the

* Sprague's American Indians.

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

American Eagle. The successful termination of the Revolutionary war decided the ownership of this section of country, perhaps, for all coming time, while the war of 1812 but confirmed that decision.

At the period when it passed from the sway of the British Government, this broad domain was the undisputed home of the red savage, and the solitudes of its forests echoed the crack of his rifle as he pursued his enemy or howled behind his flying prey. His canoe shot along the streams, and the paths worn by moccasined feet were the only trails through the unbroken wilderness. But little more than three-quarters of a century have passed, and behold the change! Under the wand of enchantment wielded by the pale-face pioneer, the forests have bloomed into smiling fields clothed with flocks and herds, and waving with rich har- vests ; and their solitudes have become peopled with over 30,000 civilized and intelligent human beings. Nor is this all. During the years that have come and gone in quick succession while the panorama has been unfolding to view, we behold the trail of the Indian obliterated by the railway track, and the ox-team displaced by the locomo- tive and the rushing train. The landscape is dotted with happy homes, churches and school- houses, and the silence of its wastes are broken by

"The laugh of children, the soft voice Of maidens, and the sweet and solemn hymn Of Sabbath worshipers."

Delaware County has accumulated its popula- tion from various sources, but the larger portion of it has been drawn from the older States of the East. Several countries of the Old World have contributed to its settlement material that has developed into the very best of citizens." Here, too, may be found many of the descendants of Ham, who, under the refining influences of education, and the substantial benefits of a free government, have become honorable and upright men and women. From the pine forests of Maine, to the "Old Dominion," and the "dark and bloody ground; " and from that region to the Atlantic Ocean, every State has aided more or less in the settlement of the county. These elements from the different States, and from the different quarters of the world have blended into a population whose high standard of education and intelligence will compare with any county in the great State of Ohio.

The first settlement made within the limits of Delaware County by white people was in Liberty

Township, in 1801. Speaking of the first settle- ment, Howe, in his " Historical Collections," says : " The first settlement in the county was made May 1, 1801, on the east bank of the Olentangy, five miles below Delaware, by Nathan Carpenter and Avery Powers, from Chenango County, N. Y. Carpenter brought his family with him, and built the first cabin near where the farmhouse now stands. Powers' family came out toward fall, but he had been out the year before to explore the country and select the location. In April, 1802, Thomas Cel- ler, with Josiah Mckinney, from Franklin County, Penn., moved in and settled two miles lower down, and, in the fall of 1803, Henry Perry, from Wales, commenced a clearing and put up a cabin in Rad- nor, three-fourths of a mile from Delhi. In the spring of 1804, Aaron, John, and Ebenezer Welch (brothers) and Capt. Leonard Monroe, from Che- nango County, N. Y., settled in Carpenter's neigh- borhood, and the next fall Col. Byxbe and his company, from Berkshire, Mass., settled on Alum Creek, and named their town Berkshire. The settlement at Norton, by William Drake and Na- thaniel Wyatt ; Lewis settlement, in Berlin, and the one at Westfield followed soon after." There appears to be no doubt of the truth that Carpen- ter was the first actual settler in the county. Upon this point, the different authorities agree, also, upon the date of his settlement. In addi- tion to those above mentioned as locating in Lib- erty Township, they were followed, in a few years, by Ebenezer Goodrich, George and Seth Case, who set- tled on the west bank of the river, below Carpenter's. David Thomas and his family were added to the settlement about the same time, and squatted just north of the spot occupied by the Cases. James Gillies and Roswell Fuller also came about this time. Timothy Andrews, A. P. Pinney and Mr. Bartholomew located farms on Tyler's Rup, and were followed soon after by many other sturdy pioneers, who joined in the work of subduing the wilderness.

In the division of the county known as Berk- shire Township, settlements followed a few years later than those mentioned in Liberty. Moses Byxbe is recorded as the first settler, or rather as the leader of a colony, who settled in this section in the fall of 1804. He owned 8,000 acres of land, which he had obtained by the purchase of land warrants from Revolutionary soldiers, and, being a man of influence and enterprise, he had induced a number of friends and neighbors to emigrate with him to the land of promise. The

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

colony came from Berkshire County, Mass., where Byxbe had followed the vocation of tavern-keep- ing, and, in this business, had received a number of land warrants from soldiers for board. On his arrival here, he laid out a village plat, and called the place Berkshire, for his native county in the old Bay State. The village, the first laid ont in Dela- ware County, has never attained the ponderons proportions of Cincinnati, or Cleveland, or Toledo, or many other cities of more modern origin. A post office of the name of Berkshire is about all there is left of this ancient town. The removal of Byxbe to Delaware, and the laying-out of the county seat, destroyed the hopes of Berkshire. Among the names of early settlers in this township we notice those of John Patterson, Maj. Thomas Brown, Solomon Jones, James Gregory, Nicholas Handley, "Nijah " Rice, David Pierce, Joseph Pierce, Maj. Plum and William Gamble. Maj. Brown had made a visit to the "Great West," from his home in Massachusetts, in 1803, visiting Detroit and Cincinnati. Favorably impressed with the country in the vicinity of the latter place, he determined to emigrate to it. He returned home by way of the Berkshire settlement, and Byxbe induced him to settle in that locality. The family of Brown started for their new home in the West in September, 1805. They crossed the Alleghanies and found Zanesville, with a few log huts and a small mill; a little improvement at Bowling Green, a few cabins at Newark, and at Granville the body of a cabin ; and beyond, Brown's wagon was the second to mark the route through the wilderness. The family found shelter with Mr. Root until their own cabin was ready for occupancy.

In 1805, a settlement was made in what is now Berlin Township. The first purchase of land in this division of the county was made by Joseph Constant, and consisted of 4,000 acres. He was a Colonel in the war with the Seminole Indians, of Florida, and was taken sick at the South, and returned to his home in New York, where he soon after died. Col. Byxbe purchased a similar tract of land in this township, to that of Constant's. It was on this tract of Byxbe's that the first set- tlement was made in 1805, by George Cowgill. During this year, settlements were made on the Constant purchase, by Philander Hoadley, David Isaac, and Chester Lewis, who came from the town of Waterbury in the " Nutmeg State." The next settlers were Joseph Eaton and John John- son, from Huntingdon, Penn. They settled on

Olive Creek, and Eaton is mentioned as a man of a large family, consisting of nine children. In 1808, Lovell Calkins, who had visited the neigh- borhood the year before, returned to Connecticut, accompanied by Lawson Lewis, and brought out his father's family. He described the new coun- try as a second Eden (not even lacking the ser- pents), and induced others to emigrate to its delectable fields. The train of emigrants, consist- ing of the families of Samuel Adams, Jonathan Thompson, John Lewis Calkins, and his father, Roswell Calkins, set out, and after the usual hard- ships of an " overland " journey, reached the set- tlement safely in September, 1809. The little band consisted of about thirty persons, and though wearied with their long trip, they at once set about providing shelter, and soon the proverbial cabin was ready for occupation.

The first white settlers in that portion of the county known as Radnor Township, David Pugh and Henry Perry, who came in 1803. They were natives of Wales, and Pugh had purchased of Dr. Jones, of Philadelphia, a section of land in this township, upon which he laid out a village, in 1805, and called it New Baltimore. This village never amounted to much, although the plat contained 150 acres of land, laid out into blocks and lots. Pugh was of the opinion that it would grow up a great city, and immortalize him as its founder, but soon discovered that the opinions of "men and mice aft gang aglee." Thomas Warren came from Pennsylvania in the fall of 1810, bought the entire 150 acres, and"converted it into a farm, thus put- ting an end to the incipient city. A Mr. Lodwig was the next settler in this township, after Pugh, and was followed shortly by Jenkins, Watkins and John Jones. Elijah Adams came in 1808, and located just north of the village of Delhi. John Philips was a relative of Pugh, and settled in the neighborhood shortly after the latter gentleman. David Marks and Hugh Kyle settled about two miles north of Delhi in 1810. They were fol- lowed by others who located in this immediate section.

The next division to be occupied by the Anglo- Saxon was the present township of Scioto. Rich- ard Hoskins and family, consisting of four boys and three girls, were the first squatters in this region, and came in 1806. They were from Wales originally, but had located in Franklin County upon first coming to the country. The next ar- rival was Zachariah Stephens, who came from Pennsylvania. He removed to Kentucky from the

HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

193

Quaker State, thence to Chillicothe, Ohio, and fin- ally to a location on the Scioto River, north of Boke's Creek, where he settled an adjoining farm to Hoskins, and a few months after the settlement of that gentleman. James McCune, from the Emerald Isle, came up with Hoskins, and located just south of this farm. The next year Stewart Smith, also an Irishman, settled on Boke's Creek. (Thus the Smith family got a foothold in the county.) Joseph Shoub, a Pennsylvania Dutch- ma ... and a millwright by trade, came in the same year, and settled near Smith, also a man named Hall. John Williams and Jacob North were added to the little settlement in 1809, and in 1810, a family named Dilsaver settled at what was known as the " Broad Ford" of the Scioto. Philip Hor- shaw and one Nidy came in the same year, and erected a grist and saw mill, which proved a wel- come institution to the surrounding country.

Genoa (not the birthplace of Christopher Co- lumbus, but a township of Delaware County ) comes next in chronological order, and had settlements made in it as early as 1807. The first whites who located in this division were Marcus Curtis and Elisha Newell and their families, who came from Connecticut. A few months later, William Cox came from Pennsylvania, and settled in the " ox- bow " bend of the Creek, as it was ealled, from its fancied resemblance to that " implement." Daniel Wicks was here as early as · 1810. In addition to Cox, mentioned above, the old Quaker State sent to the township, Hezekiah Roberts and family, A. Hendricks, Jacob Clauson, and Bixby Rogers. Roberts came in 1810, and settled on land owned by one Latshaw, who had cleared ground, raised a crop of corn, and built a cabin. Hendricks came at the same time, and with Roberts, Clauson set- tled in the neighborhood in 1809. He went to Columbus seeking employment, and assisted in cut- ting the first timber and raising the first cabin in the future metropolis of the State. Rogers came to the settlement in 1812. He had served through the Revolutionary war, and some years after its close, re- moved from Pennsylvania to Knox County, and to this township, as above, in 1812. Shortly after this, David Dusenbury came in from Virginia. Acting upon the principle that it is not well for man to be alone, the first thing he did after his arrival was to marry Betsey Linnebury, and of course was happy ever after. Further additions were made to the settlement in 1810, by the arrival of Sylvester Hough and Eleazer Copely, the latter a physician, and their families, from Connecticut.

Jonas Carter was also a pioneer of 1810. He made some improvements, but after remaining a few years, sold out, and took up his eonrse with the star of empire-westward. A man named Duell, a doctor, came from Vermont, and located in the neighborhood, where he remained several years, and then moved away.

In Kingston, the first settlers located in the southeast quarter of the township. Pennsylvania contributed the larger portion of them, and as early as 1807, sent out George Hess and John Phil- ips. In 1809,James Stark, John Rosecrans, Daniel Rosecrans and David Taylor moved in, and 'com- menced the business of preparing the wilderness for human habitations. The Rosecranses were a prolific people, if we may accredit the early chronicles, from which we learn that John brought with him four stal- wart sons, to say nothing of his daughters. With a profound respect for the patriarchs and prophets, he called his sons Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and John. Daniel Rosecrans' family consisted of Na- thaniel, Jacob, Purlemas and Crandall. Joseph Patrick and his wife came to the neighborhood with the Rosecranses. This constituted the sum total of the settlements in this township, so far as we were able to learn, prior to the war of 1812. We quote the following from a local record : "The Anways were settlers in 1815, and escaped the suspense suffered by their earlier neighbors. The neighbors in Pennsylvania were nearer neighbors here. Common interest grouped their cabins, and gave them security against attack. To the north- ward they knew there were no settlements, and the presence of the foe would be the first indication of danger. In the year 1812, a block-house was built at Stark's Corner. The more cautious retired hither nightly. Drake's historic defeat drove the entire settlement to the little fortress, where they awaited the onset." When the truth came out, the people returned to their homes, and doubtless (we may venture the remark with safety), when they did learn the truth of the matter, they in- dulged in a few pages of profane history, at the man who, in such squally times, would perpetrate a practical joke, and we don't blame them either. The most famous event perhaps connected with the history of Kingston Township, is the fact that it gave birth to Maj. (en. Rosecrans, a gallant officer of the late war.

The first account we have of a settlement in what is now Delaware Township, was made in the present city of Delaware. In the fall of 1807, one Joseph Barber built a cabin at the Sulphur

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

Spring. The spot on which it was located is now embraced in the University Campus. Says Howe in his "Historical Collections," from which we have several times quoted : "It stood close to the spring, and was made of poles, Indian fashion, fif- teen feet square, in which he kept tavern. The principal settlers were Messrs. Byxbe, William Little, Dr. Lamb, Solomon Smith, Elder Jacob Drake (Baptist preacher), Thomas Butler, and Ira Carpenter. In 1808 Moses Byxbe built the first frame house on William Street, Lot 70, and the first brick house was ere cted the ensuing fall, by Elder Drake, on Winter street. Being unable to get but one mason, his wife laid all the brick of the inside walls." (Lady readers, how many of you, who grow up like hothouse plants, could, in case of the most extreme emergency, perform such work as laying brick ?) But few settlements were made in this division of the county, until the lay- ing-out of the town in 1808 (about the time of the formation of the county). After it became the seat of justice, it settled up rapidly, as more particularly noticed in another chapter.

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History of Delaware County and Ohio, Part 32

Author: O. L. Baskin & Co; Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892? Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Chicago, O.L. Baskin & Co. Number of Pages: 818

Author: O. L. Baskin & Co; Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago, O.L. Baskin & Co.
Number of Pages: 818