USA > Ohio > Morgan County > History of Morgan County, Ohio, with portraits and biographical sketches of some of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 5
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THE ABORIGINES OF OHIO.
after me, and as I had with me ten or a dozen dogs, and the grass and weeds were rank, they could readily follow my track. When they came up with me they appeared to be in a very good humor. I asked Solomon if he thought I was running away. He said: 'No, no; you go too much clooked.' On my return to camp they took away my gun from me, and for this rash step I was reduced to a bow and arrow for nearly two years. We were out on this tour for about six weeks.
" When we returned to the town, Pluggy and his party had arrived, and brought with them a considerable num- ber of scalps and prisoners from the south branch of the Potomac. They also brought with them an English Bible, which they gave to a Dutch woman who was a prisoner, but as she could not read English she made a present of it to me, which was very acceptable.
" When they killed a buffalo they would lash the paunch of it round a sapling, cast it into the kettle, boil it and sup the broth. They were polite in their own way, passed but few compli- ments, and had but few titles of honor. Captains or military leaders were the highest titles in the military line, and in the civil line, chiefs, or old wise men. No such terms as sir, mister, madam or mistress, but in their stead grandfather, father, uncle, brother, mother, sister, cousin or my friend, were the terms they used in addressing one another. They paid great respect to age, and allowed no one to attain to any place of honor among them with- ont having performed some exoloit in war, or become eminent for wisdom. They invited everyone that came to their camps or houses to eat as long as they had anything to give, and a
refusal to eat when invited was consid- ered a mark of disrespect. In courting, it was common for a young woman to make suit to a young man, as the men generally possessed more modesty than the women.
"Children were kept obedient, not by whipping, but by ducking them in cold water. Their principal punishment for infractions of their laws or customs was degradation. The crime of murder was atoned for by liberty giyen to the friends or relations of the murdered to slay the murderer. They had the essen- tials of military discipline, and their warriors were under good command and punctual in obeying orders. They cheerfully united in putting all their directions into immediate execution, and by each man observing the motion or movement of his right hand com- panion they could communicate the motion from right to left and march abreast in concert and in scattered order, though the line was a mile long. They could perform various military maneuvers, either slow, or fast as they could run. They formed the circle in order to surround the enemy, and the semi-circle if the enemy had a river on one side of them. They could also form the large hollow square, face out and take trees; this they did, if their ene- mics were about surrounding them, to prevent being shot from either side of the tree.
" Their only clothing when going into battle was the breechclout, leggins and moccasins. Their leaders gave general orders by a shout or yell in time of battle, either to advance or retreat, and then each man fought as though he were to gain the battle himself. To ambush and surprise the enemy and to prevent being ambushed and surprised
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HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY, OHIO.
themselves was their science of war. They seldom brought on an attack without a sure prospect of victory, with the loss of few men; and if mistaken, and likely to lose many men to gain a victory, they would retreat and wait for a better opportunity. If surrounded, however, they fought while there was a man alive, rather than surrender. A Delaware chief, called Captain Jacobs, being with his warriors surrounded, took possession of a house, defended themselves for some time, and killed a number of the whites. When called on to surrender, he said he and his men were warriors, and they would all fight while life lasted. Being told that they would be well used if they surrendered, and that, if not, the house would be burned over their heads, he replied that he could eat fire, and when the house was in flames he and his men marched out in a fighting position and were all killed."
We will close the chapter by supple- menting the above interesting reminis- cences by others of a later date, fur- nished by Wm. Corner.
Mr. Corner states that his father, George Corner, Jr., located in 1796 in the southeastern part of what is now known as Morgan County, on Wolf Creek, five miles west of where Beverly now is.
He says that the only road then was the old Indian trail, which led from the region of the Northwest to Southeastern Virginia, which he locates in Morgan County, as coming down Wolf Creek to the Mills Hall Farm, thence over the hill and down the ridge, about thirty rods east of Eve's Schoolhouse, to Little Wolf Creek, to the place originally owned by Jeremiah Stevens on the old Ilarmar and Lancaster road; thence
over the ridge through the place of Wm. Picket on one of the branches of Bald Eagle; down that creek to the Mus- kingum ; thence on the ridge down the river to " Big Rock," above Luke Chute, then over the hill and across Wolf Creek, at the mouth of Turkey Run, through the place of George Corner and Quigley's Flat, across the south branch of Wolf Creek, two miles above the Forks; thence in a southeast direction to the mouth of the Little Kanawha, thence to the Big Kanawha, and through East Virginia to Richmond.
This trail, which had been used per- haps for a century, as a route for carry- ing furs from the Far West to trade for blankets, and guns and powder, was worn in some places to the depth of a foot, as the Indians passed their ponies, as in their own marches, in single file.
Mr. Corner gives an instance of the confidence which, at that time of peace, the whites and Indians placed in each other, and of Indian superstition. The elder Samuel Miller had settled near where the trail crossed Wolf Creek. Two Indians, who had been partaking of his hospitalities, said to him, "Send boy with horse; we kill buck for him." Accordingly, Edward Miller; father of Edward and John Miller, of Malta, Ohio, was mounted on a horse, started with them, and was to keep the trail, while they hunted on either side. They passed on until night overtook them at the mouth of Little Wolf Creek, but had killed no game.
Early in the morning, when they awakened, Edward observed one of the Indians steaming something in a cup, who would not speak even when spoken to. After drinking of the concoction which he had prepared he moved from the fire and began to vomit. Edward
43
TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC LANDS.
inquired of the other Indian if his com- panion was sick. "No; he much wicked; kill no game-pray Great Spirit." In a short time the Indian came, and, silently taking his gun,
walked into the woods. Before long a report was heard, and presently the hunter entered in high spirits, carrying a large turkey-gobbler, with which Ed- ward returned to his home.
CHAPTER III.
MEASURES REGARDING TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT, PUBLIC LANDS AND SURVEYS.
THE ORDINANCE OF 1784-THE ACT OF 1785 REGARDING WESTERN LANDS AND THE SURVEY THERE- OF-THE SURVEYORS ELECTED-SQUATTERS AND INTRUDERS ON THE PUBLIC LANDS-ATTEMPTS TO DISPERSE THEM-NAMES OF SQUATTER SETTLERS IN EASTERN OINIO IN 1785-GENERAL BUT- LER'S JOURNEY TO THE MIAMI -- PREPARATIONS FOR ESTABLISHING A GARRISON AT THE MOUTH OF THE MUSKINGUM-FORT HARMAR BUILT IN 1785-DESCRIPTION OF THE FORT-JOURNAL OF JOSEPHI BUELL-INTERESTING GLIMPSES OF MILITARY LIFE AT A FRONTIER POST-THE SURVEY OF THE FIRST SEVEN RANGES-THE WORK BEGUN AND ABANDONED IN 1785 IS RESUMED AND CONTINUED IN 1786-PARTICULARS AND INCIDENTS OF THE SURVEY FROM THE DIARY OF JOHN MATHEWS-IN- TERRUPTIONS CAUSED BY THE INDIANS-A VIRGINIA CORN-HUSKING, 1786-SUBSEQUENT CAREER OF MATHEWS-CONGRESS RESERVES THE MORAVIAN TOWNS FOR THE UNITED BRETHREN-THIE SALE OF A TRACT TO THE OHIO COMPANY-SYMMES' PURCHASE-THE SURVEY RESUMED UNDER THE ACT OF MAY 18, 1796-MANNER OF DISPOSING OF PUBLIC LAND-DONATIONS TO EBENEZER ZANE-THE MILITARY LANDS-ESTABLISHMENT OF LAND OFFICES-OTHIER LEGISLATION-THIE ORDINANCE OF 1787-FULL TEXT OF THE INSTRUMENT.
T IIE first measure providing for the establishment and maintenance of goverment by the United States in the territory northwest of the Ohio River was an ordinance passed by Congress on April 23, 1784. The ordinance was reported by a connnittee of which Thomas Jefferson was chairman, and contained a clause prohibiting slavery in the territory after the year 1800. This provision, however, was stricken ont before the ordinance was finally passed.
The only important result accom-
plished under this first ordinance was the beginning of the survey of the ter- ritorial lands. The measure was nomi- nally in force from the time of its en- actment until its repeal by the passage of the ordinance of 1787-" The Ordi- mance of Freedom,"-but in reality it was a dead letter. Jefferson appears to have been most anxious to secure the establishment of government in the West, and thus promote the develop- ment of that region, but for a time all his efforts were unavailing.
Congress, having purchased from the
44
HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY, OHIO.
Indians at the Treaty of Fort Stanwix, in New York, in 1784, whatever title the Six Nations had to lands in the valley of the Ohio, now sought to pro- vide for the survey and disposal of the same ; and on May 20, 1785, was passed "An ordinance for ascertaining the mode of disposing of lands in the Western Territory." This ordinance provided that a surveyor should be appointed from each State, who should take oath before the geographer of the United States for the faithful performance of his duties. The geographer was to have the direction of the survey, and as soon as they had qualified, the surveyors were to divide the territory into town- ships six miles square, by lines running north and south, crossed by other lines " at right angles, as near as may be, un- less where the boundaries of the late Indian purchases may render the same impracticable." The pay of the sur- veyors was fixed at $2 for every mile in length surveyed ; this included the wages of chainmen, markers and all ex- penses. The first north and south line was to begin on the Ohio River at a point due north from the western ter- mination of a line that had been run at the southern bounbary of Pennsylvania, and the first east and west line was also to begin at the same point. The geog- rapher was instructed to number the townships and fractional parts of townships from south to north, the first township on the river being numbered one and so on progressively ; also to number the ranges in like manner from east to west, the first range west of Pennsylvania and extending from the Ohio to Lake Erie* being range num-
ber 1. He was also to attend personally to the running of the first east and west line, the fixing of the latitudes of the terminations of the first north and south line, and also that of the mouths of the principal rivers. The surveyors were required carefully to note on their plats all mines, salt springs, mill seats, monnt- ains, water courses, the nature of the soil, etc. Plats of townships were to be divided into lots of one mile square by lines running paralled to the boundary lines.
It was also provided that as soon as seven ranges of townships had been surveyed, the geographer should trans- mit plats of the same to the Board of Treasury, by whom they were to be recorded in well-bound books, to which the Secretary of War should have access. The secretary was then to take by lot a number of townships and frac- tional townships, both of those to be sold entire and of those to be sold in lots, such as would be equal to one- seventh part of the whole seven ranges, for the use of officers and soldiers of the Continental army. The Board of Treasury should from time to time cause the remainder to be drawn in the names of the thirteen States. The plan for the sale of lands not distributed to the soldiers of the several States was as follows : The Board of Treasury to transmit to the commissioners of the loan offices of the several States copies of the original plats, with the town- ships and fractional townships that should have fallen to the several States noted thereon ; notice then to be given by advertisements in newspapers and announcements posted in public places
*The action of the State of Connectieut, ceding, in 1786, her claims to territory in the West, excepting the Western Reserve, put a stop to the continuation of
the ranges northwardly to the lake and stopped them at the 41st degree of north latitude, the southern line of the Reserve.
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TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC LANDS.
of the proposed sale, which was to be at public vendue, in the following man- ner: Township or fractional township number 1, range 1, to be sold entire ; number 2, in lots ; and thus, in alternate order, through the whole of the first range. The same alternation to be ob- served in the sale of the second range, though beginning in the reverse order. The third range to be sold in the same order as the first, and the fourth in the same order as the second, ete. Pro- vided, however, that none of the lands be sold at a less priee than one dollar per aere, payable in specie or loan- office certifieates, reduced to speeie value, or certificates of liquidated debts of the United States, ineluding interest, besides the expense of the survey, and other charges thereon, which were rated at thirty-six dollars per township; pay- ment to be made at the time of sale. The United States reserved for future sale four lots, numbers 8, 11, 26 and 29, in each township, and lot number 16 in each township for the maintenance of sehools in said township. One-third part of all gold, silver, lead and copper mines were reserved for future disposi- tion by Congress .*
May 27, 1785, Congress chose the fol- lowing surveyors : Nathaniel Adams, New Hampshire; Rufus Putnam, Mas- sachusetts; Caleb Harris, Rhode Isl- and; William Morris, New York ; Adam Hoops, Pennsylvania ; James Simpson, Maryland ; Alexander Parker, Virginia ; Absalom Tatum, North Car-
olina ; William Tate, South Corolina ; and July 18th, Isaac Sherman, Con- neetient. General Rufus Putnam being then engaged in surveying lands in Maine for the State of Massachusetts, General Benjamin Tupper was ap- pointed in his stead. Caleb Harris and Nathaniel Adams having resigned, Col- onel Ebenezer Sproat and Winthrop Sargent were chosen in their places.
Hunters and squatter settlers had penetrated the country now forming the eastern part of Ohio as early as the Revolution-a few even earlier. To the salt-springs in the present county of Trumbull white hunters had resorted as early as 1754, and salt was made these by Pennsylvanians some twenty years later. From the old settlement of Wheeling and its vieinity a number of adventurers erossed the river from time to time and erected cabins. A mumber who eame ont with General McIntosh to Fort Laurens in 1778 as axemen, scouts, hunters, ete., are sup- posed to have remained and built homes on several of the branches of the Ohio and the Muskingum. After the treaty of Fort McIntosh, it was feared that there would be such a rush of squatters into that portion of the territory bor- dering on Pennsylvania and Virginia that evil results would ensue, and ac- cordingly measures were taken both to drive out the intruders already there and prevent the entrance of others. June 15, 1785, Congress ordered the following proclamation published and circulated in the territory :
" Whereas, it has been represented to the Umted States in Congress assem- bled that several disorderly persons have crossed the Ohio and settled upon their unappropriated lands ; and where- as, it is their intention, as soon as it
*Salt springs and lend mines were reserved by sub- seqnent laws; but the reservation of gold, silver and copper was discontinued. By acts of 1596 and 1800, fonr centrul sections in each township, including see- tion 16 (the school section), were reserved in lien of those here designated. The reservation of section 29 for religions purposes was contined to the purchases of the Ohio Company and John Cleves Symmes. Land Laws for Ohio.
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HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY, OHIO.
shall be surveyed, to open offices for the sale of a considerable part thereof, in such proportions and under such other regulations as may suit the con- venience of all the citizens of the United States, and others who may wish to become purchasers of the same ; and as such conduct tends to defeat the object they have in view, is in direct opposi- tion to the ordinances and resolutions of Congress, and is highly disrespectful to the Federal authority, they have therefore thought fit, and do hereby issue this proclamation, forbidding all such unwarrantable intrusions, and en- joining all those who have settled thereon to depart with their families and effects without loss of time, as they shall answer the same at their peril."
The intrusion was confined principally to the territory now forming the counties of Columbiana, Jefferson, Stark, Carroll, Harrison, Belmont, Guernsey and Monroe, and the names of the intruders in 1785 were as follows:
Thomas Tilton,
Jacob Light,
John Nixon,
James Williams,
Henry Cassill,
Jesse Edgerton,
John Nowles, John Tilton,
Jesse Parremore,
John Fitzpatrick,
Jacob Clark,
Daniel Menser,
John Custer,
Zephanialı Dunn,
James Noyes,
John McDonald, Henry Froggs,
John Castleman,
Wiland Hoagland, Michael Rawlins,
James Clark, Adam House,
Thomas Dawson,
Thomas Johnson,
William Shiff,
Hanamet Davis,
Solomon Delong, Charles Ward,
William Wallace, Joseph Reburn, Jonathan Mapins, William Mann, William Kerr, Daniel Duff,
Frederick Lamb, John Rigdon, George Atchinson, Haines Piley,
Walter Cain,
Joseph Ross,
James Watson, Albertus Bailey,
Charles Chambers,
Robert Hill,
Archibald Harbson,
James Paul,
William Bailey,
Jonas Amspoker, Nicholas Decker,
Benjamin Reed,
William Carpenter,
John Goddard, Daniel Mathews.
The first attempt to drive out the squatters northwest of the Ohio was made in October, 1779, when Captain Clarke, of a Pennsylvania regiment, with sixty soldiers, was sent to Wheel- ing by Colonel Brodhead, then in com- mand of Fort Pitt, with orders to cross the river and apprehend some of the principal trespassers and destroy their huts. Captain Clarke did not succeed in finding any of the trespassers, but destroyed several huts and reported that several improvements had been made all the way from the Muskingum* to Fort McIntosh and thirty miles up some of the branches.
In 1785 Colonel Harmar, command- ant at Fort McIntosh, sent out troops to dispossess the squatter settlers whose names are given above. The squatters actually banded together to resist the United States troops; but a compro- mise was affected, whereby they were allowed to prepare temporary habita- tions on the Virginia side before leav- ing their homes in the Territory. They then retired from the Ohio country, but subsequently many of them returned, and their descendants are now numer- ous in Eastern Ohio and in the valleys of the Tuscarawas and the Muskingum.
In the fall of the same year General Richard Butler passed down the Ohio on his way to the Little Miami, where a treaty-meeting was to be held with the Indians. From his published diary of his journey it appears that many squatter settlers still continued to reside
*The Tuscarawas, anciently called the Muskingum.
George Reno, John Buchanan,
William McNees, John Platt,
Joseph Goddard, Henry Conrad,
Nathaniel Parremore,
Thomas McDonald,
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TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC LANDS.
north of the Ohio, notwithstanding the proclamation of Congress and their own promises to vacate. On October 1, 1785, General Butler passed the mouth of Yellow Creek and found considerable improvements on both sides of the Ohio River. Five miles below Yellow Creek he found Jesse Penniman, a squatter, on the north side of the river, whom he warned off ; also one Pry, his neighbor. General Butler states that he "told him as well as the others that Congress was determined to put all of the people off of the lands, and that none would be allowed to settle but the purchasers, and that these and these only would be pro- tected ; that troops would be down next week, who have orders to destroy every house and improvement on the north side of the river, and that garrisons will be placed at Muskingum and elsewhere, and that if any person or persons at- tempted to oppose Government they may depend on being treated with the greatest rigor." Passing on to the Mingo towns, he found several white settlers, among whom a man named Ross appeared to be the leader, whom he warned to leave.
On the next day General Butler called at the settlement of Charles Morris, who had rebuilt his house after the agent of the Government had pulled it down. Ilere he " found one Walter Kean, who seemed but a middling character, and rather of a dissentions east ; warned all of these off, and requested they would iuforin their neighbors, which they promised to do." Colonel James Mon- roe, member of Congress for Virginia, who accompanied Butler ou this journey, also addressed the settlers and advised them to leave; his words had weight when the General "informed them of his character." They uext called at the
home of Captain Hoglan, another whose cabin had been pulled down and re- built ; he acknowledged the impro- priety of his conduct, and appeared very submissive.
October 4, General Butler directed one corporal and three soldiers to stay at Wheeling until a boat should be sent to them from Fort McIntosh. He wrote to Colonel Harmar for three other men to join these as an escort to the Miami, and requested that Major Doughty be ordered to pull down every house, on his way to the Muskingum, that he found on the north side of the Ohio.
On the 8th, he noted that there was "good improvement on the north side," nearly opposite the mouth of the Little Kanawha. He also found a set- - tlement on the first island below the Little Hockhocking (Hocking) and others further down on the north side of the Ohio. The people on the island appeared very reasonable ; among them were " several women, who appeared clean and decently dressed."
One object of General Butler's jour- ney was the selection of a point for the establishment of a military post to pro- tect the frontier inhabitants, prevent the intrusion of squatters on the lands of the United States and afford security to the surveyors. Before leaving Fort McIntosh he had prepared and left with Colonel Harmar, the commandant, a paper in which he expressed the opinion that at the mouth of the Muskingum was an eligible site for the proposed fort. On October 8, his jourual says : " Sent Lientenant Doyle and some men to buru the houses of the settlers ou the north side and put up proclamations. Went on very well to the mouth of the Muskingum and found it low. I wout ou shore to examine the ground most
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HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY, OHIO.
.
proper to establish a post on ; find it too low, but the most eligible point is on the Ohio side. Wrote to Major Doughty and recommended this place with my opinion of the kind of work most proper. Left the letter, which contained other remarks on the fort, fixed to a locust tree."
A few days later General Butler met a man ascending the Ohio, and instruct- ed him to take the letter from the tree and carry it to Major Doughty. Shortly afterward a detachment of troops under the command of Major Doughty arrived at the mouth of the Muskingum and began the construction of the fortifica- tion, which, in honor of the commandant at Fort McIntosh, was named Fort Har- mar. Hildreth says of it :
" This fort was erected on the right bank of the Muskingum, at its junction with the Ohio, by a detachment of United States troops under the com- mand of Major John Doughty, in the autumn of the year 1785, but was not completed until the following year. The position was judiciously chosen, as it commanded not only the mouth of the Muskingum, but swept the waters of the Ohio, from a curve in the river, for a considerable distance both above and below the fort. It was the first military post built within the limits of the present State of Ohio, excepting Fort Lanrens, which was built in 1778. The fort stood on what is called the second bottom, being elevated above the ordinary floods of the Ohio, while between it and the banks of the river was a lower or first bottom, depressed about six feet, to which the descent was by a natural slope. This regular or natural glacis was continued for a quar- ter of a mile up the Muskingum and for a considerable distance below on the
Ohio, adding greatly to the unrivaled beauty of the spot.
"The outlines of the fort formed a regular pentagon, and the area ein- braced within its walls was about three- fourths of an acre. The curtains or main walls of the fort were constructed of large timbers placed horizontally to the height of twelve or fourteen feet, and were one hundred and twenty feet in length, as was recently ascertained by measurement, as the outlines of two of the bastions can still (1848) be traced in the earth. The bastions were con- structed of large timbers set upright in the ground, fourteen feet in height, fas- tened together by strips of timber tree- nailed into each picket. The outlines of these were also pentagonal ; the fifth side, or that opening into the area of the fort, being occupied by blockhouses used as quarters for the officers.
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