History of Knox County, Ohio, its past and present, Part 31

Author: Hill, N. N. (Norman Newell), comp; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-; Graham, A.A. & Co., Mt. Vernon, Ohio
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Mt. Vernon, Ohio : A. A. Graham & Co.
Number of Pages: 1096

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of silver, which is the only evidence we have that they under- stood the use of that metal. They were exceedingly good potters, some of their pottery being very beautifully finished. Their implements of war were mostly made of greenstone, flint, and occasionally sandstone. A three-headed vessel was discovered near Nashville, Tennessee, which forcibly reminds one of the Triune god-head of India. Near the same place a vessel in the shape of a woman's head was found standing upon a rock over a spring, about twenty feet below the surface of the earth. The features of the face are Asiatic. I have seen several faces, heads and animals, carved from stone-all of which were exceedingly well done. When we reflect that their tools must have been very rude, being of stone, or at best of copper, we cannot help admiring the perfection of execution which they reached in their sculpture.

Here then we must leave them, for time will not allow us to study the subject more carefully. I close this brief discussion with a feeling of regret. It is in truth a large field for inquiry and research, and the antiquarian will yet make discoveries in this long-forgotten age that will be of great interest and import- ance to mankind. What more impregnable fortress could be constructed than some of theirs? What more awe-inspiring altar could they have reared than some they have left us ? What simpler, yet more sublime monuments could a nation raise over a nation's dead? We trample beneath our feet the dust of more heroes than ever graced the annals of Greece or Rome. Though their names be forever lost in the silence of death, though no Homer has ever swept the harp strings to immortalize their names and their deeds, yet they will ever be known as the loved and honored of a dead nation.

It may be well to notice briefly in this connec- tion the implements made and used by this people, as well as those in use by the Indians, so far as investigation has revealed their character in this county.

Very few copper implements have been found in this part of Ohio, owing partly to the fact of the unexplored condition of the mounds, and also to the fact that little, if any, copper exists in this part of the country. What does exist is in loose frag- ments that have washed down from the upper lake region. When mounds are explored great care is necessary lest these small utensils be lost, as they are commonly scattered through the mass, and not always in close proximity to the skeletons. The copper deposits about Lake Superior furnished the pre-historic man with this metal, and judging by the number of relics made of this metal now found it must have been extensively mined. The popula- tion must have been large, as occasional copper implements tempered to an exceeding hardness, are still found about the country. These imple- ments are small, generally less than half a pound in weight, and seldom exceeding three pounds.

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There were millions of these in use during the period of the ancient dwellers, which may have been of hundreds of years duration. The copper implements left on the surface soon disappeared by decomposition, to which copper is nearly as liable as iron. Only part of the dead Mound Builders were placed in burial mounds, and of these only a part were buried with their copper ornaments and implements on or about them. Of those that were, only a small part have been discovered, and in many instances, the slight depth of earth over them has not prevented the decay and disappear- ance of the copper relics.

Articles of bronze or brass are not found with the builders of the mounds. It is evident they knew nothing of these metals in the Ohio valley, nor did they possess any of the copper that had been melted or cast in moulds.

Stone relics are very numerous and well pre- served. Stone axes, stone mauls, stone hammers, stone chisels, etc., are very plentiful yet, and were the common implements of the pre-historic man in this part of the west. None were made with holes or eyes for the insertion of a helve or handle, but were grooved to receive a withe twisted into the form of a handle. Under the head of axes, archæologists include all wrought stones with a groove, a bit and a poll. They are found unpol- ished, partly polished, and polished. The bit was made sharp by rubbing, and the material is hard and tough, generally of trachyte, greenstone, gran- · ite, quartz, or basalt. Most of them are straight on one edge. In Ohio it is very rare that stone axes are found in the mounds, indicating that they are modern, or were not so much prized by the Mound Builders as to be objects of burial, or they may have been in use only among the Indians at a later period. Occasionally axes of a softer material are found, such as slate, hematite, and sandstone, but these are small in size and not common. They appear to have been manufactured from small, oblong bowlders, first brought into shape by a pick, or chipping instrument, the marks of which are visible on nearly all of them. They were made more perfect by rubbing and polishing; probably done from time to time after they were brought into use. A handle, or helve, made of a withe or split stick, was fastened in the groove by thongs of

hide. The bit is narrower than the body of the axe, which is generally not well enough balanced to be of much value as a cutting instrument. It is very seldom the material is hard enough to cut green or sound timber. The poll is usually round, but sometimes flat, and rarely pointed. It is much better adapted to breaking than cutting, while the smaller ones are better fitted for war-clubs than tools. As a maul to break dry limbs, they were very efficient, and this was probably the use made of them. In weight they range from half a pound to sixteen pounds, but are generally less than three pounds. The very heavy ones were probably kept at their camps, as they were too heavy for constant use. Such axes are occasional- ly found in the Indian towns on the frontier, as they were found in Ohio among the aborigines. The Mound Builders, apparently, did not give them as much prominence among their imple- ments, even if they used them at all, as did their savage successors. Double-headed hammers have the groove in the middle. They were made of the same material as the axes, so balanced as to give a blow with equal force at either end. Their mechanical symmetry is often perfect. As a weapon in war they were indeed formidable, and for this purpose are yet used among the Indians on the Pacific coast.

Implements known as "fleshers " and "skinners," chisel-formed, commonly called "celts," were prob- ably used as aids in pealing the skins of animals from the meat and bones. For the purpose of cutting tools for wood, they were not sufficiently hard, and do not show such use excepting in a few flint chis- els. They may have been applied as coal scrapers where wood had been burned, but this could not have been a general thing without destroying the perfect edge most of them now exhibit. The grooved axes were much better adapted to this purpose.

Stone pestles are not plentiful in this county, while stone mortars are rare, indicating that they were made of wood, which is lighter and more easily transported. Most of the pestles are short, with a wide base tapering toward the top. They were probably used with one hand and moved about in a circle in the mortar. The long round instrument, usually called a pestle, does not appear

HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.

STONE RELICS.

HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.

CHISELS, GOUGES AND ADZES.

WEDGE-SHAPED IMPLEMENTS.

Artº

SCRAPERS-FLINT.

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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.

to be fitted for crushing seeds and grain by pound- ing or turning in the mortar. It was probably used as a rolling-pin, perhaps upon a board or level log, not upon stone. It is seldom found smooth or polished, and varies from seven to thirteen inches in length. In outline they taper toward each end which is generally smooth, and circular in form, as though it had been twirled in an upright posi- tion.

There is almost an endless variety of perforated plates, thread-sizers, shuttles, etc. They are usu- ally made of striped slate, most of which have taper- ing holes through them flat-wise, the use of which has been much discussed. The accompanying plate exhibits several specimens of these ; but there are, doubtless, many other forms and styles. They are generally symmetrical, the material fine grained, and their proportions graceful, as though their prin- cipal use was that of ornamentation. Many of them may well have been worn suspended as beads or ornaments. Some partake of the character of badges or ensigns of authority ; others, if strung to- gether on thongs or belts, would serve as a coat of mail, protecting the breast or back against the ar- rows of an enemy. A number of them would serve to twist twine or coarse thread made of bark, raw- hide or sinew. The most common theory regard- ing their use is, however, lacking in one important feature-none of them show signs of wear by use. The edges of the holes through them are sharp and perfect. This objection applies equally well to their use as suspended ornaments. Some of them are shuttle-form, through which coarse threads might have been passed, for weaving rude cloth of bark or of fibrous plants, such as milk-weed or net- tles. There are also double-ended and pointed ones, with a cross section about the middle of which is a circle, and through which is a perforation.

A great variety of wands or badges of distinction are found. They are nearly all fabricated from striped and variegated slate, highly finished, very symmetrical and elegant in proportion, evidently designed to be ornamental. If they were stronger and heavier, some of them would serve the pur- pose of a hatchet or battle-axe. The material is compact and fine grained; but the eyes or holes for handles or staves, are quite small, seldom half an inch in diameter. Their edges are not sharp,

but rounded, and the body is thin, usually less than one-fourth of an inch in thickness.

The form of badges known as "double-crescents" are the most elegant and expensive of any yet brought to notice. They were probably used to indicate the highest rank or office. The single crescent perhaps signified a rank next below the double. In the collection of-Mr. John B. Matson, of Richland county, there is a rough-hewn double one in process of construction, the horns of which turn inward. In nearly or quite all the finished ones the points turn outward. The finish around the base of all winged badges and the crescents is the same; and the size of the base about the same -from two-fifths to three-fifths of an inch. On one side of all is a narrow ridge; on the other a flat band, lengthwise, like a ridge that has been ground down from one to two-tenths of an inch. Badges and crescents are invariably made of banded slate, generally of a greenish shade of color. The other forms of wands or badges, such as those with symmetrical wings or blades, are also made of green striped slate, highly polished, with a bore of about one-half inch in diameter, apparently to in- sert a light wooden rod or staff. They were prob- ably emblems of distinction and were not orna- ments. Nothing like them is known among the modern tribes, in form or use, hence they are at- tributed to the Mound Builders.

In addition to stone ornaments, the pre-historic man seems to have had a penchant, like his savage successors, to bedaub his body with various colors, derived from different colored minerals. These compounds were mixed in hollow stones or shallow mortars-"paint-cups"-in which the mineral mass of colored clay was reduced to powder and prepar- ed for application to the body. Such paint-cups are not common; in fact are quite rare-the only one known to exist in this vicinity being in the possession of Dr. J. W. Craig, of Mansfield, Ohio.

The comparative rarity of aboriginal smoking- pipes is easily explained by the fact that they were not discarded, as were weapons, when those by whom they were fashioned entered upon the iron age. The advent of the whites in no way lessened the demand for pipes, nor did the whites substitute a better implement. The pipes were retained and used until worn out or broken, save the few that

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were buried with their dead owners. What was the ultimate fate of these can only be conjectured. In very few instances does an Indian grave con- tain a pipe. If the practice of burying a pipe with its owner was common, it is probable that the graves were opened and robbed of this coveted article by members of the same or some other tribe.

It only remains to notice the "flints" in addition to which a few other archaeological relics of minor importance are found about the country, but none of sufficient import to merit mention, or to throw additional light on the lost tribes of America. Ar- row- and spear-heads and other similar pieces of flaked-flints are the most abundant of any aboriginal relics of the United States. They are chiefly made of hard and brittle siliceous materials; are easily damaged in hitting any object at which they are aimed, hence many of them bear marks of violent use. Perfect specimens are, however, by no means rare. The art of arrow-making survives to the pres- ent day among certain Indian tribes, from whom is learned the art practiced that produces them.

A classification of arrow-heads is not within the scope of this work; indeed, it is rarely attempted by archæologists. The styles are almost as nu- merous as their makers. In general, they are all the same in outline, mostly leaf-shaped, varying according to the taste or skill of their makers. The accompanying cut exhibits a few of the common forms, though the number is infinite. They may have been chipped-probably most were --- and some may have been ground. Spear-heads exhibit as large a variety as arrow-heads; like the latter they were inserted in wooden handles of various lengths, though in many tribes they were fastened with thongs of untanned leather or sinews.

Their modes of manufacture were generally the same. Very often, perhaps always, tribes contained "arrow-makers," whose business it was to make these implements, selling them or exchanging them for wampum or peltry. When the Indian desired an arrow-head he could purchase one of the arrow- maker, or make one himself.

Here the ancient arrow-maker Made his arrow-heads of quartz-rock -- Arrow-heads of chalcedony, Arrow-heads of chert and jasper- Smoothed and sharpened at the edges, Hard and polished, keen and costly.

The common method was to take a chipping im- plement, generally made of pointed rods of a deer horn, from eight to sixteen inches in length, or of slender, short pieces of the same material bound with sinews to wooden sticks resembling arrow- shafts. The arrow-maker held in his left hand the flake of flint or obsidian, on which he intended to operate, and pressing the point of the tool against its edge, detatched scale after scale, with much in- genuity, until the flake assumed the desired form.

CHAPTER XIX.

INDIANS.

THE TRIBES OCCUPYING THIS COUNTY-TREATY OF FORT MCINTOSH-HISTORY OF THE DELAWARE NATION-BOCK- INGHELAS-KILLBUCK-CAPTAIN PIPE-SKIN CURRENCY -DELAWARE CAMPS IN KNOX COUNTY-CUSTALOOGA- THE MURDER OF THE SQUAW-BLOCK HOUSES-GREEN- TOWN INDIANS AND THEIR REMOVAL-JAMER COPUS-HIS INFLUENCE OVER THE INDIANS-BURNING OF THE INDIAN VILLAGE- CAPTAIN ARMSTRONG-THE KILLING OF AN INDIAN BY MORRISON AND MCCULLOCH - THE JONES TRAGEDY-SEARCH FOR THE MURDERERS OF JONES-THE KILLING OF RUFFNER AND ZIMMER-SKETCH OF RUFFNER -BATTLE ON BLACK FORK AND THE MURDER OF JAMES COPUS-REMOVAL OF THE COPUS FAMILY-MRS. SARAH VAIL-REMOVAL OF THE DELAWARES.

"Through the land where we for ages Laid our bravest, dearest dead, Grinds the savage white man's plowshare, Grinding sire's bones for bread.'

THE next inhabitants in the form of a human being to occupy the territory now embraced in Knox county, after the Mound Builders, were the American Indians. At least, such is the generally received opinion; though whether the Indians and Mound Builders were not contemporaneous is, per- haps, an open question.

The Indian history, as well as that of the Mound Builders, is much involved in obscurity, and much of it largely dependent on tradition, though much of it is authentic and reliable. The Indians, how- ever, can be allowed very little, if any, credit for this preservation of their history; it is almost or en- tirely owing to white occupation that they have any history at all. The day does not seem far distant

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when the Indian race, as a race, will become ex- tinct. If, for any reason, this extinction had oc- curred before the occupation of this country by the whites, the world would know nothing of the exist- ence of the American Indian. They have erected no monuments, they have neither written or wrought any enduring characters; they have not made an indelible footprint. How many such apparently worthless nations might have had an existence and passed away since the world began, no record will ever tell. Of all the nations that might have lived in America it remained for the Mound Builders alone to leave an enduring record; a history writ- ten on the hills and valleys in characters or figures that defies the ravages of time. Even the present intelligent race, were it swept away, would scarcely leave monuments so enduring.

The territory at present embraced in Knox county was in possession of a tribe of Indians known as Delawares upon the advent of the whites, though not exclusively used by that tribe. The several tribes of Ohio were generally on good terms, and though each tribe occupied territory which it considered its own for hunting purposes, yet the boundaries of these possessions were unde- fined and undefinable with exactness, and the hun- ters of the different tribes roamed freely over the possessions of all.

Each of the great tribes occupied lands adjacent to some important stream, and considered all the land drained by that particular stream as its hunt- ing grounds. Thus the Miamis occupied the coun- try drained by the Miami river ; the Wyandots the country drained by the Sandusky river, and also occupied the Sandusky plains; the Delawares oc- cupied the valley of the Muskingum and its tribu- taries, one of which, Owl creek, passes through Knox county. All the territory drained by this great river was allotted by general consent to the Delaware nation.

January 21, 1785, a treaty was concluded at Fort McIntosh with the Wyandot, Delaware, Chip- pewa, and Ottawa nations, by which the boundary line between the United States and the Wyandot and Delaware nations was declared to begin at the mouth of the Cuyahoga, and to extend up said river to the portage, between that and the Tusca- rawas branch of the Muskingum, thence down that

branch to the crossing place above Fort Laurens, thence westerly to the portage of the Big Miami, at the mouth of Loramie creek where stood Fort Loramie, taken by the French in 1752; thence along said portage to the Great Miami or Omee (Maumee) river, and down the south side of same to its mouth; thence along the south shore of Lake Erie to the mouth of the Cuyahoga river, to the place of beginning. The United States allotted all the lands contained within said lines to the Wy- andot and Delaware nations, to live and hunt on, and to such of the Ottawa nation as lived thereon; saving and reserving for the establishment of trad- ing posts, six miles square at the mouth of the Mi- ami, or Omee river, and the same at the Portage, on that branch of the Big Miami which runs into the Ohio, and the same on the Sandusky lake, where the fort formerly stood; also two miles square on either side of the lower rapids of the Sandusky.

The southern boundary line, established by the terms of the above-mentioned treaty, passed across the northern part of the present limits of Knox county. The line forins the northern boundary of Knox from the northeast corner to about the centre of Pike township, where it enters the county, pass- ing across the northern part of Pike township near the village of North Liberty, thence across Berlin township near the village of Ankenytown, a little north of it; thence across Middlebury township near the village of Haneytown. This line was subsequently (in 1795) re-established and extended into Indiana, by the Greenville treaty, made by General Wayne.

By this treaty a large territory was ceded to the United States, including nearly all of Knox county. The Indians were not, however, removed, but con- tinued to live and hunt on their old grounds until later in the century ; and even up to the War of 1812 many of them were here.

Regarding a history of the Delaware nation, Colonel John Johnston, an excellent authority on such matters, writes thus:

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 originally, at some very remote period, emigrated from the west, crossed the Mis- sissippi, ascending the Ohio, fighting their way, until they reached the Delaware river (so named from Lord Delaware), near where Philadelphia now stands, in which region of country they became fixed.

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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.

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 followers, and ever since this people have entertained a kind and grateful recollection of them ; and to this day, speak- ing 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 was Indian agent at Piqua, Ohio, and 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 fur- nished their chiefs with a subject of reproach against the whites; pointing to these of their people 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 Johnston's agency in Ohio, eighty Delawares, who were sta- tioned near Upper Sandusky, and in Indiana two thousand three hundred of the same tribe.

Bockinghelas was the principal chief of the Delawares after Johnston went into the Indian country; he was a distinguished warrior in his day, and an old man when the agent knew him. Kill- buck, another Delaware chief, had received a lib- eral education at Princeton college, and retained until his death the outlines of the morality of the gospel.

Killbuck's creek, in Wayne county, was named from Killbuck. His village, called Killbuck's town, was on the road from Wooster to Millersburgh, on the east of the creek, about ten miles south of Wooster. It is laid down on maps published as early as 1754. When the country was first settled Killbuck was a very old man. There were at least two chiefs of this name.

The Delaware Indians had a settlement at or near Jeromeville (Ashland county), which they left at the beginning of the war (1812). Their chief was Captain Pipe, who resided near the road to Mansfield, one mile south of Jeromeville. When young he was a great warrior, and the implacable foe of the whites. When asked "why his tribe fought so desperately?" he replied, "He who will not defend the graves of his dead is not worthy the name of man." He was in St. Clair's defeat, where, according to his own account, he distin- guished himself and slaughtered white men until his arm was weary with the work. He had a daughter of great beauty. A young chief of noble mein fell in love with her, and, on his suit being

rejected, mortally poisoned himself with the May apple. A Captain Pipe (son of old Captain Pipe) whose Indian name was Pauhangecanpouye, re- moved to the small Delaware Reserve, in the upper part of Marion county, and when his tribe sold out, about forty years since, accompanied them to the far west, where he died.

At an early day the Indians, in great number, came to Mount Vernon to trade. They encamped on the river bank, and brought large quantities of furs and cranberries to dispose of for goods. Their method of trading is worthy of notice. They walked in deliberately and seated themselves, upon which the merchant presented each with a small piece of tobacco. Having lighted their pipes, they returned the residue to their pouches. These pouches were made of a whole mink skin, dressed - with the hair on, and with a slit cut in the throat, for an opening. In it they kept, also, some kin- nickinnick bark, or sumach, which they always smoked with their tobacco, in the proportion of about three of the former to one of the latter. After smoking and talking awhile together, one only at a time arose, went to the counter, and, tak- ing up a yard-stick, pointed to the first article he desired, and inquired the price. The questions were, "how many buckskins for a shirt pattern?" "or "how many for cloth for leggings?" etc. Their skin currency had an established value. A musk- rat skin was equal to a quarter of a dollar; a rac- coon skin, a third of a dollar; a doeskin, half a dollar; and a buckskin, one dollar. The Indian, learning the price of an article, paid for it by pick- ing out and handing over the skins, before pro- ceeding to purchase the second, when he repeated the process, and so on through the whole, paying for everything as he went on, and never waiting, for that purpose, until he had finished. While the first Indian was trading, the others looked uninter- ruptedly on, and when he was through another took his place, and so on, in rotation, until all had traded. No one desired to trade before his turn, and all observed a proper decorum, and never at -. tempted to get the price down, but, if dissatisfied with the price, passed on to the next article. They were cautious not to trade while intoxicated; but usually preserved some of their skins to buy liquor, and end their visit with a frolic.

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History of Knox County, Ohio, its past and present, Part 31

Author: Hill, N. N. (Norman Newell), comp; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-; Graham, A.A. & Co., Mt. Vernon, Ohio Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Mt. Vernon, Ohio : A. A. Graham & Co. Number of Pages: 1096

Author: Hill, N. N. (Norman Newell), comp; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-; Graham, A.A. & Co., Mt. Vernon, Ohio
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Mt. Vernon, Ohio : A. A. Graham & Co.
Number of Pages: 1096