USA > Ohio > Morgan County > History of Morgan County, Ohio, with portraits and biographical sketches of some of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 11
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of the early settlers that the Indians seldom started on a war expedition in the winter; and at the time the weather must have been very cold, as the river had remained frozen over since the 22d of December. On Sun- day, January 2, there was a slight thaw, but the ground was covered with snow. The warpath of the Indians from Sandusky to the mouth of the Muskingum was on the hills on the right or west side of the river, from which an almost unobstructed view of the bottomis on either side could be had.
During the preceding summer a number of the Delaware and Wyandot Indians had been loitering about the settlements at Waterford and Wolf Creek, and under the guise of friend- ship had made themselves familiar with the situation and the manner of living of the whites, who, not appre- hending danger, generally occupied their own separate cabins. With the information thus obtained the Indians fitted out a war party for the destruc- tion of the Waterford settlement, in the vicinity of where Beverly now stands.
When they started out on this expe- dition it is supposed that they were not aware that there was a settlement at Big Bottom until they came in sight of it on the afternoon of Sunday, January 2, 1791, from their warpath on the opposite side, which gave them a comprehensive view of the defense- less condition of the residents. After completing their reconnaissance, and holding a council as to the mode of attack, the Indians crossed the river on the ice, a short distance above the blockhouse, and divided into two at- tacking parties. The larger one was
to assault the blockhouse, while the other was to attack and make prisoners of those in the upper cabin without alarming those below. The plan was skillfully arranged and promptly exe- cuted. Cautiously approaching the cabin, they found the inmates at sup- per. Some of the Indians entered and spoke to the men in a friendly manner, while others stood outside. Suspecting no danger, the whites offered the sav- ages food, which they accepted. The Indians, seeing some leather thongs in the corner of the room, took the men by the arms and making signs that they were prisoners bound then. Re- sista' ce being useless, they submitted to their fate.
While this was being transacted at Cheite's cabin the other party had reached the blockhouse, unobserved even by the dogs, which gave no warn- ins as usual by barking.
A large and resolute Indian threw open the door, stepped in and stood by to keep it open, while those outside shot down the white men standing around the fire. Zebulon Throop, from Massachusetts, who had just returned from the mill with meal, and was fry- ing meat, fell dead in the fire. The Indians then rushed in and killed with the tomahawk all that were left. So sudden and unexpected was the attack that no effectual resistance was at- tempted by any of the men; but a stout, resolute backwoods Virginiau woman, the wife of Isaac Meeks, who was employed as a hunter, seized an axe and aimed a blow at the head of the Indian who opened the door, but a slight turu of his head saved his skull, and the axe passed down through his cheek into his shoulder, leaving a huge gash that severed half his face. Be-
HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY, OHIO.
fore she could repeat the blow she was killed by the tomahawk of another In- dian. And this was the only injury received by any of the savages, as the men were all killed before they had time to reach their arms.
While this savage butchery was being perpetrated John Staey, a young man in the prime of life, son of Colonel Stacy, ascended by a ladder to the top of the building, hoping by that means to escape, but the Indians on the out- side discovered and shot him while he was begging of them "for God's sake to spare his life." His appeal was heard by the two Bullards, who, alarmed by the firing at the blockhouse, ran out of their cabin to ascertain the cause. Discovering the Indians, they ran back, and taking their rifles ran for the woods in a direction hidden by their cabin from the sight of the In- dians. They had barely escaped when they heard their door burst open. They were not pursued by the savages, although it must have been apparent that they had just left, as there was a brisk fire on the hearth and supper war on the table.
When the slaughter was finished and the scalps secured the Indians proceded to collect the plunder. In removing the bedding Philip Stacy, a young brother of Jolm, was discovered, and the tomahawk was instantly raised for his destruction, when he threw himself at the feet of their leading warrior and begged his protection. The latter, either from compassion on his youth or being sated with the slaughter already made, interposed his authority and saved his life.
After removing all that they thought was valuable they tore up the floor, piled it over the bodies of their victims
and set it on fire, intending to consume them with the blockhouse, but the green beech logs would not burn, and. the boards of the floor and roof only were consumed and the walls left stand- ing.
The persons killed were John Stacy, Ezra Putnam, son of Major Putnam, of Marietta ; John Camp and Zebulon Throop, from Massachusetts ; Jonathan Farewell and James Couch, from New Hampshire; William James, from Con- necticut ; John Clark, from Rhode Island; Isaac Meeks and his wife and two children, from Virginia. The cap- tured were Isaac and Francis Choate, Thomas Shaw, young Philip Stacy and James Patton. Philip Stacy died at the Maumee Rapids; the others event- ually returned to their former homes.
After effecting their escape the Bullards hastened down the river to Samuel Mitchell's hunting-camp, in the vicinity of the mouth of Meigs Creek. Captain Joseph Rogers, a soldier of the Rovolution and a hunter, was staying there; also a Mohican Indian of the name of Dick Layton, from Connecti- cut. Mitchell was absent at the mills, and the captain and Dick, wrapped in their blankets, were before the fire asleep. They were awakened and made acquainted with the cause of the un_ timely visit and the probable fate of the people at the blockhouse. Armed with their trusty rifles, they started immediately, crossed the river on the ice, and through the woods shaped their course for the Wolf Creek Mills, six miles distant, where they arrived about 10 o'clock at night. Their an- nouncement produced a scene of con- sternation and alarm, not only at the mills, but at the scattered and unpro- tected cabins at Waterford, to which
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special messengers were speedily dis- patched.
Thus by the fortunate escape of the Bullards the several settlements were saved that night from death at the hands of the ruthless savages, who otherwise would have found the set- tlers, unconscious of danger, asleep in their defenseless cabins.
The next day Captain Rogers with a party of men went to the Bottom. The action of the fire had not consumed but had so blackened and disfigured the bodies that few of them could be recog- nized; and as the ground on the outside was frozen an excavation was made within the walls and they were all con- signed to a common grave.
A procedure of the Indians at this massacre demonstrated that, like other people, the ywere superstitious ; that they would "strain at a gnat and swal- low a camel." Before they set fire to the blockhouse they very carefully re- moved all the eatables, meal, beans, etc., and put them in piles by the stumps of trees in the vicinity, under the impres- sion that it was a crime to destroy food, and that it would offend the Great Spirit, and that they would be pur- ished.
The band of Indians which attacked the defenseless settlement consisted of twenty-five or thirty warriors of the tribes hitherto friendly.
The war may be said to have actually begun on Ohio soil with the cruel and savage murder of the settlers at Big Bottom. Preparations were at once taken by the settlers of Washington County to strengthen their defensive works and to organize and equip the militia as well as possible.
On the 8th of January General Ru- fns Putnam wrote to the Secretary of
War and to President Washington. From the letter to the President we are able to form some idea of the true and alarming condition of the settle- ments. General Putnam stated that the governor and secretary were both absent, consequently no assistance from Virginia or Pennsylvania could be had; the garrison at Fort Harmar then con- sisted of little more than twenty mnen, while the entire number of men in the Ohio Company's purchase capable of bearing arms did not exceed 287, many of whom were badly armed. He de- tailed the situation of the people as fol- lows :
" At Marietta are about eighty houses in the distance of one mile, with scat- tering houses about three miles up the Ohio; a set of mills at Duck Creek. four miles distant, and another mill two miles up the Muskingum. Twenty-two miles up this river is a settlement (Waterford) consisting of about twenty families; about two miles from them on Wolf Creek are five families and a set of mills. Down the Ohio and opposite the Little Kanawha commences the settlement called Belle Prairie (Belpre), which extends down the river with little interruption about twelve miles and contains between thirty and forty honses. Before the late disaster we had several other settlements which are already broken up. I have taken the liberty to inelose the proceedings of the Ohio Company and justices of the sessions on the occasion, and beg leave, with the greatest deference, to observe that unless the government speedily sends a body of troops for our protection we are a ruined people."
The proceedings of The Ohio Com- pany referred to in the letter were had on the day after the massacre and re-
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lated to the organization of the militia, their pay, and the garrisoning of the blockhouses in the several settlements. The first resolution recommended that the inhabitants of the out-settlements be advised to remove their women and children to Marietta, where suitable ac- commodations would be provided for them. The Ohio Company, although already impoverished, acted with com- mendable liberality then and through- out the war, paying out over $11,000 for the protection of the settlements.
Colonel Ebenezer Sproat had com- mand of the militia, and Captain Zeig- ler was the officer in command of Fort Harmar. The settlers of the Ohio Company's lands were speedily gath- ered into the three best protected sta- tions-Marietta, Belpre and Water- ford. Meantime governor St. Clair and the United States goverment were preparing to secure peace, if pos- sible, but at the same time organizing a large military force to be used if nec- essary. At the same time a confeder ation of all the Indian tribes northwest of the Ohio was being formed with the avowed object of driving the whites from the territory.
In March, 1791, a band of Wyandots and Delawares from the Sandusky country gathered at Duncan's Falls preparatory to making an attack on the settlements below. Among them was an Indian of King Philip's tribe named John Miller, from Rhode Island, who had been at the settlements and was acquainted with many of the settlers. He resolved to defeat the plans of his savage brethren, and pur- posely cut his foot that he might be left behind at the camp instead of pro- ceeding with the war party. The In- dians left him, but being suspicious of
him. bound him in the camp. As soon as he was left alone he loosened his bonds, prepared a raft and embarked upon the river. He passed the camp- fire of the Indians without detection and made his way to Fort Frye, where he gave warning of the impending dan- ger. The people of Waterford appar- ently disregarded his warning, or at least did not long continue watchful.
The Indians first went to Duck Creek, where had been a little settlement which was now abandoned. On the 11th of March, early in the morning, they returned to the Waterford settle- ment, where they fired upon and wounded a young man named Sprague as he was returning to the fort from a cabin whither he had gone to milk a cow. Shots were exchanged between the inmates of the blockhouse and the Indians, but no one was killed, and the savages retired from the vicinity. The next day three of the Indians alarmed the Belpre settlement and killed some cattle there.
For some time prior to the opening of hostilities Col. Sproat had employed rangers to scour the woods about the set- tlements to give notice of approaching danger. They were habited in Indian costume and painted their faces after the manner of the savages. They had certain signs and signals by which they made themselves known to each other. Two of these scouts, Capt. Joseph Rogers and Edward Henderson, of Marietta, were returning at evening on the 13th of March, and when within. a mile of home Rogers was suddenly shot to the heart by an Indian. Henderson narrowly escaped by running. Rogers was a brave and experienced frontiers- man and his loss was deeply felt.
During the summer Matthew Kerr
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was killed on Kerr's Island, near the mouth of the Muskingum, where he had settled in 1787. In common with the other settlers he sought the shelter of the garrison at night in the thne of danger, but went daily to his farm to work and attend to his stock. On the 16th of June he found a horse, which he conjectured that the Indians had stolen, tied in one of his corncribs, and took it down to the garrison. On the next day, as he was approaching the shore of the island in his canoe, four Indians fired upon him and he fell, pierced by three bullets. The act was witnessed by several Virginia so'diers, who were powerless to render assist- ance, the river being between. Mat- thew Kerr was the father of Hamilton Kerr, who distinguished himself as a scout during the war.
In the latter part of July William Smith, a lad of eighteen years, who was acting as sentry for a party of men who were cutting timber in the woods near the garrison at the Point, in Marietta, was suddenly startled by a great com- motion among the cattle in the woods. Running to inform his companions, he found they had already quit and gone to supper. Suspecting that the Indians had caused the alarm among the cattle, he followed the other men to the gar- rison and told his tale. The cattle were examined and an arrow was found still sticking in the side of one of the cows. The next day a party of about forty men, composed of volunteers and soldiers from the fort, explored the woods in search of the enemy. In the vicinity of Duck Creek Mills Hamilton Kerr, who acted as spy, discovered six Indians crossing the creek to a vacant cabin. Bidding his companions keep back, Kerr and his brother George crept
forward to reconnoiter. They saw two Indians come out of the house and fired upon them. One Indian fell and Ham- ilton Kerr rushed up and dispatched him with his knife. The other, though wounded, escaped. The men who had waited behind now rushed up, but the remainder of the savages made good their escape. The head of the dead In- dian was cut off, impaled upon a pole. and borne aloft by the hunters as they returned to Campus Martius.
Sometimes days and weeks passed without any alarm to the inhabitants of the garrisons, while at other times nearly every day brought some proof of the nearness of the lurking enemy. One Sabbath morning in September, when nearly all the inhabitants of Marietta were attending divine worship, conduct- ed by Rev. Daniel Story in the Campus Martins, Peter Nisewonger, one of the rangers, burst into the presence of the quiet congregation, shouting " Indians ! Indians!" Instantly the sermon ceased, and instead rang out the "long roll " of the drum. A party of about twenty- five men-rangers, citizens and soldiers - was speedily made up and sallied forth in quest of the foe. Proceeding in canoes to the mouth of Duck Creek, they soon discovered a trail which led over towards the Little Muskingum. The Indians' camp was descried in a hollow east of the creek. Dividing into two parties, the rangers prepared to attack it. The Indians became alarmed, hearing some noise incautiously or acei- dentally made, ran, and concealing themselves behind trees began firing at their pursuers, who returned the fire with animation. In the skirmish one Indian was killed and another severely wounded. The rest of the savages (the whole party numbered seven) escaped.
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None of the whites were injured, though one was badly frightened by a bullet whizzing through his clothes close to his body, and caused great amusement by shouting that he was killed, and in his fright falling into a brook that ran by the camp. The dead Indian was scalped and the bloody trophy carried to the garrison. In the same month, as Benoni Hurlburt and Joshua Fleehart, two of the Belpre settlers, were visiting traps of the Little Hocking, Hurlburt was shot down and scalped, but his com- panion eluded the savages and returned to Farmers' Castle in safety.
On the 4th of October, 1791, Nicho- las Carpenter and three others were killed by the Indians near Marietta. Carpenter, with his assistants, Hughes, Leggett, Paul, Barnes and Ellis, was en- gaged in bringing a drove of cattle from Clarksburg to supply the troops with beef. Ile had been on many similar trips and was an experienced back- woodsman. On this occasion his son, a lad of ten years accompanied him. On the evening of October 3d the party encamped about six miles above Mari- etta on a stream since known as Car- penter's Run. Their cattle were suffered to range at large, and the horses, with bells upon them, were also turned out to feed. Now it happened that a party of six Shawnees, headed by the after- ward renowned Tecumseh, had been on an expedition of plunder, on the Little Kanawha, where they had taken a little colored boy prisoner. The Indians struck and followed Carpenter's trail and arrived in the vicinity of his camp before daylight on the morning of the 4th. Tying their little colored pris- oner at a distance, the stealthy savages approached very near to the camp and concealed themselves behind trees. At
dawn the men were astir, and Carpenter proposed commencing the day by devo- tions as was his usual custom. As he was reading a hymn, while the men sat around the fire, the Indians discharged their rifles at the party. Ellis fell dead and Paul received a wound in his hand. The others sprang to their feet, but be- fore they could reach their rifles the In- dians were among them. Hughes ran into the woods closely pursued by an Indian. As he stopped to disencumber himself of his leggins, which were loose and impeded his flight, a tomahawk thrown by his pursuer grazed his head. But freed from his encumbrance he sped onward and reached Marietta in safety, though his hunting shirt was pierced by several bullets. Paul also escaped. Barnes was slain after a short resist- ance, and Leggett overtaken and killed after running nearly two miles. Car- penter, who was lame, and his little son attempted to conceal themselves, but were soon discovered and killed. The negro boy, who was left tied by his cap- tors, succeeded in freeing himself and returned to his master. The Indians scalped all of the dead except Carpen- ter. It was thought this mark of respect was shown him because he had once mended the gun of one of the Indians who chanced to be of this party and had declined to receive pay for the job.
During the fall the settlers were several times alarmed, but there were no serious engagements. On the 5th of December tidings reached Marietta of the defeat of St. Clair. The unex- pected and startling news was brought by Major Denny, quartermaster of the army, who was on his way to Phila- delphia.
General St. Clair was at Pittsburgh in April, 1791, receiving volunteers and
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detachments from the regular army. and providing supplies and equipments. In May he proceeded to Fort Washing- ton, where his army was gradually con- centrated. In the fall, all negotiations for peace having failed, he marched into the Indian country with an army 2,300 strong, exclusive of militia. Most of the allied tribes were then on the Maumee and Wabash and in the country between those streams. As St. Clair advanced he erected forts where are now the towns of Hamilton and Eaton in Western Ohio, and Fort Jefferson in Darke County. Ilis army was reduced by sickness and desertion to about 1,500 before the final disastrous engagement. On the morning of November 4th (near the spot where Fort Recovery was after- ward built), in the northern part of the present county of Darke, Ohio, the warriors of the powerful confederacy surprised the army and defeated it with terrible slaughter. Nearly 600 of the soldiers were killed, including many officers, and about 200 more were wounded. About a hundred women had followed the army and over half of them fell victims to the savage bar- barity. The Indians were led by Little Turtle and several white savages who had joined them, and altogether num- bered about 2,000. In their fury they did not content themselves with killing and scalping, but drove stakes through their enemies' bodies and eramed their throats and eves full of dirt and elay, thus showing their detestation for the palefaces who were seeking to gain possession of their lands.
of the disaster spread gloom and sorrow throughout the land. When the tidings reached Philadelphia the government was for a while in consternation. For once the benignant spirit of Washing- ton gave way to wrath. . Here,' said he, in a tempest of indignation, 'here, in this very room, I took leave of Gen- eral St. Clair. I wished him success and honor. I said to him, " You have careful instructions from the Secretary of War, and I myself will add one word- Beware of a surprise. You know how the Indians fight us -- beware of a surprise!" Ile went off with that, my last warning, ringing in his ears. And yet he has suffered that army to be cut to pieces, hacked, butchered, tomahawked, by a surprise-the very thing I guarded him against! Ilow can he answer to his country? The blood of the slain is upon him, the curse of widows and orphans!' Mr. Lear, the secretary, in whose presence this storm of wrath burst forth, sat speechless. Presently Washington grew silent. . What I have uttered must not go be- vond this room,' said he, in a manner of great seriousness. Another pause of several minutes ensued, and then he continued, in a low and solemn tone : ' I looked at the dispatches hastily and did not note all the particulars. Gen- eral St. Clair shall have justice. I will receive him without displeasure; he shall have full justice. Notwithstand ing his exculpation by a committee, poor St. Clair, overwhelmed with con- sures and reproaches, resigned his com- mand and was superseded by General Wayne, whom the people had named Mad Anthony."
Ridpath, in his History of the United States, thus speaks of St. Clair's defeat : " The fugitive militia fled precipitately i Early in the year 1792 Fort Hammar was strengthened by the arrival of a to Fort Washington, where they arrived four days after the battle. The news : company of soldiers. The winter passed
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without hostilities being renewed in Washington County, the Indians devot- ing themselves to strengthening their confederacy for resistance to General Wayne's army then organizing at Pitts- burgh.
On the 15th of March, at Newbury, the "lower" Belpre settlement, Mrs. Brown, the wife of a newly-arrived settler, two children and Persis Dun- ham, a girl fourteen years of age, fell vietims to the tomahawk and scalping- knife. The settlement, which had pre- viously been abandoned, was again de- serted in consequence of this murder. In June, as Return J. Meigs, Jr., after- ward governor, was returning from his work in a field near Campus Martius, accompanied by his hired man Symonds and a colored boy, the party was attacked by two Indians. Symonds received a severe wound and the eolored boy was killed and scalped. Meigs was chased for some distance by an Indian whom he recognized as the one who had been his guide through the wilder- ness to Detroit in 1790, but reached the garrison uninjured.
In the fall of 1792 General Rufus Putnam, of Marietta, who had been ap- pointed commissioner for that purpose, negotiated a treaty with the Wabash tribes, the Pottawatomies, Eel River Indians, Kalkaskias, Onatonions, Pink- ashaws, Kiekapoos, Peorias and others. Rev. John Heckewelder accompanied General Putnam as interpreter. The treaty was made September 27th, and the tribes mentioned declared them- selves at peace with the United States. Several of the chiefs visited Philadel- phia to talk with the President, stop- ping on their way at Marietta, where they were tendered a reception and a banquet.
In Mareh, 1793, Major Nathan Good- ale, while at work on his farm, a mile and a half below the month of the Little Kanawha, on the north side of the Ohio, was either killed or captured by a party of Indians who did their work so silently that they did not even attract the attention of the hired man, who was working near by and who was unmolested. Search was made for Goodale in vain ; his fate was never accurately known. The Ohio Com- pany's settlements suffered no other losses from the Indians during the remainder of the year.
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