USA > Ohio > Noble County > History of Noble County, Ohio: With Portraits and Biographical Sketches of some of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 11
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68
94
HISTORY OF NOBLE COUNTY, OHIO.
with them. About the same dis- tance below was an old clearing and a cabin, which had been made years before under the laws of Virginia, which Asa and Eleazer Bullard had fitted up and occupied.
The residents of the stations, fa- miliar with the wiles and treachery of the Indians, advised them to defer their settlement until spring, as by that time the question of war or peace would probably be decided. But the young men were impatient, and, confident of their own ability to protect themselves, decided not to wait. Their blockhouse, sufficiently capacious to accommodate all of them in an emergency, was built of large beech logs, rather open and not well filled between, the completion of the work being left for a rainy day or a more convenient season. Another error was the neglect of any system of defense, and the omission to regularly put out sentinels. Thus, without system and under no con- stituted control, there was no pro- vision made to repel an attack, and although the men were well armed, their guns were permitted to stand in different parts of the house. The general interests appeared to be lost in the convenience of each individ- ual. This indifference and fancied security at this time may in part be attributed to the expressed observa- tion of the early settlers that the In- dians seldom started on a war expedi- tion 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 In- dians 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 bottoms on either side could be had.
During the preceding summer a number of the Delaware and Wyan- dot Indians had been loitering about the settlements at Waterford and Wolf Creek, and under the guise of friendship had made themselves fa- miliar with the situation and the manner of living of the whites, who, not apprehending danger, generally occupied their own separate cabins. With the information thus obtained the Indians fitted out a war party for the destruction 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 settle- ment 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 defenseless condition of the resi- dents. After completing their recon- naissance, 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 attacking parties. The larger one was to assault the blockhouse, while the other was to at- tack and make prisoners of those in the upper cabin without alarming those below. The plan was skill-
ยท
95
WAR WITH THE INDIANS.
fully 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 of- fered the savages 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 prison- ers, bound them. Resistance being useless, they submitted to their fate.
While this was being transacted at Choate's cabin the other party had reached the blockhouse, unobserved even by the dogs, which gave no warning as usual by barking.
A large and resolute Indian threw open the door, stepped in and stood by to keep it open, while those out- side shot down the white men stand- ing around the fire. Zebulon Throop, from Massachusetts, who had just returned from the mill with meal, and was frying meat, fell dead in the fire. The Indians then rushed in and killed with the tomahawk all that were left. So sudden and unex- pected was the attack that no effect- ual resistance was attempted by any of the men ; but a stout, courageous backwoods Virginian woman, the wife of Isaac Meeks, who was em- ployed as a hunter, seized an axe and aimed a blow at the head of the Indian who opened the door, but a slight turn 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. Before she could repeat the blow she was
killed by the tomahawk of another Indian. And this was the only in- jury 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 Stacy, a young man in the prime of life, son of Colonel Stacy, ascended by a lad- der to the top of the building, hoping by that means to escape, but the In- dians on the outside discovered and shot him while he was begging of them "for God's sake to spare his life." Ilis 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 warm on the table.
When the slaughter was finished and the scalps secured the Indians proceeded to collect the plunder. In removing the bedding Philip Stacy, a young brother of John, was dis- covered, and the tomahawk was in- stantly 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.
-.
96
HISTORY OF NOBLE COUNTY, OHIO.
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, in- tending to consume them with the blockhouse, but the green beech logs would not burn, and the boards of the floor and roof only were con- sumed and the walls left standing.
The persons killed were John Sta- cy, Ezra Putnam, son of Major Put- nam, of Marietta; John Camp and Zebulon Throop, from Massachusetts; Jonathan Farewell and James Couch, from New Hampshire; William James, from Connecticut; John Clark, from Rhode Island; Isaac Meeks and his wife and two children, from Virginia. The captured were Isaac and Francis Choate, Thomas Shaw, young Philip Stacy, and James Patton. Philip Stacy died at Maumee Rapids ; the others eventu- ally. 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 sol- dier of the Revolution and a hunter, was staying there; also a Mohi- can Indian of the name of Dick Lay- ton, from Connecticut. 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 untimely visit and the probable fate of the people at the blockhouse. Armed with their 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 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 othewise would have found the settlers, 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 con- sumed but had so blackened and dis- figured the bodies that few of them could be recognized; and as the ground on the outside was frozen an excavation was made within the walls and they were all consigned to a common grave.
A procedure of the Indians at this massacre demonstrated that, like other people, they were supersti- tious; that they would "strain at a gnat and swallow a camel." Before they set fire to the blockhouse they very carefully removed all the eata- bles, meal, beans, etc., and put them in piles by the stumps of trees in the vicinity, under the impression that it was a crime to destroy food, and that it would offend the Great Spirit, and that they would be punished.
The band of Indians which at- tacked the defenseless settlement con- sisted of twenty-five or thirty warri- ors of the tribes hitherto friendly.
97
WAR WITH THE INDIANS.
The war may be said to have act- ually begun on Ohio soil with the cruel and savage murder of the set- tlers at Big Bottom. Preparations were at once taken by the settlers of Washington County to strengthen their defensive works and to organ- ize and equip the militia as well as possible.
On the 8th of January General Rufus Putnam wrote to the Secre- tary of War and to President Wash- ington. From the letter to the President we are able to form some idea of the true and alarming condi- tion of the settlements. General Putnam stated that the governor and secretary were both absent, con- sequently no assistance from Vir- ginia or Pennsylvania could be had ; the garrison at Fort Harmar then consisted of little more than twenty men, while the entire number of men in the Ohio Company's purchase ca- pable of bearing arms did not exceed 287, many of whom were badly armed. IIe detailed the situation of the people as follows :
" At Marietta are about eighty houses in the distance of one mile, with scattering 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 (Water- ford) 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 com- mences the settlement called Belle Prairie (Belpre), which extends 7
down the river with little interrup- tion about twelve miles and contains between thirty and forty houses. Before the late disaster we had sev- eral other settlements which are already broken up. I have taken the liberty to inclose 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 govern- ment 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 related to the organization of the militia, their pay, and the garri- soning of the blockhouses in the sev- eral settlements. The first resolu- tion recommended that the inhabi- tants of the out settlements be ad- vised to remove their women and children to Marietta, where suitable accommodations would be provided for them. The Ohio Company, al- though already impoverished, acted with commendable liberality then and throughout the war, paying out over $11,000 for the protection of the settlements.
Colonel Ebenezer Sproat had com- mand of the militia, and Captain Zeigler was the officer in command of Fort Harmar. The settlers of the Ohio Company's lands were speedily gathered into the three best pro- tected stations - Marietta, Belpre and Waterford. Meantime Gov- ernor St. Clair and the United States government were preparing to secure peace, if possible, but at the same
98
HISTORY OF NOBLE COUNTY, OHIO.
time organizing a large military force to be used if necessary. At the same time a confederation 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 Wyan- dots and Delawares from the San- dusky 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 ac- quainted with many of the settlers. He resolved to defeat the plans of his savage brethren, and purposely cut his foot that he might be left behind at the camp instead of pro- ceeding with the war party. The Indians left him, but being suspi- cious 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 In- dians without detection and made his way to Fort Frye, where he gave warning of the impending danger. The people of Waterford apparently disregarded his warning, or at least did not long continue watchful.
The Indians first went to Duck Creek, where had been a little settle- ment which was now abandoned. On the 11th of March, early in the morn- ing, they returned to the Waterford settlement, 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 ex- changed between the inmates of the blockhouse and the Indians, but no one was killed, and the savages re- tired 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 open- ing of hostilities Colonel Sproat had employed rangers to scour the woods about the settlements 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. 'I'wo of these scouts, Cap- tain Joseph Rogers and Edward Henderson, of Marietta, were return- ing 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. Rog- ers was a brave and experienced frontiersman and his loss was deeply felt.
During the summer Matthew Kerr 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 time 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
1
99
WAR WITH THE INDIANS.
island in his canoe, four Indians fired upon him and he fell, pierced by three bullets. The act was witnessed by several Virginia soldiers, who were powerless to render assistance, the river being between. Matthew Kerr was the father of Hamilton Kerr, who distinguished himself as a scout dur- ing 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 commotion 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 garrison and told his tale. The cattle were examined and an ar- row was found still sticking in the side of one of the cows. The next day a party of about forty men, com- posed 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 Hamilton 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 Indian 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, wben nearly all the inhabitants of Marietta were attending divine wor- ship, conducted by Rev. Daniel Story in the Campus Martius, Peter Nise- wonger, one of the rangers, burst into the presence of the quiet congrega- tion, shouting, "Indians! Indians!" Instantly the sermon ceased, and in- stead 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. Proceed- ing in canoes to the mouth of Duck Creek, they soon discovered a trail which led over toward 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 accidentally made, ran, and concealing themselves be- hind trees, began firing at their pur- suers, who returned the fire with ani- mation. In the skirmish one Indian was killed and another severely wounded. The rest of the savages (the whole party numbered seven) escaped. None of the whites were injured, though one was badly frightened by a bullet whizzing through his clothes
1011098
100
HISTORY OF NOBLE COUNTY, OHIO.
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 Hurl- burt and Joshua Fleehart, two of the Belpre settlers, were visiting traps on the Little Hocking, Ilurlburt was shot down and scalped, but his com- panion eluded the savages and re- turned 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 engaged in bringing a drove of cattle from Clarksburg to supply the troops with beef. Ile had been on many similar trips and was an ex- perienced backwoodsman. 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 Marietta, on a stream since known as Carpenter'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 afterward 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 prisoner at a distance, the stealthy savages ap-
proached very near to the camp and concealed themselves behind trees. At dawn the men were astir, and Car- penter proposed commencing the day by devotions as was his usual cus- tom. 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 Indians were among them. Hughes ran into the woods closely pursued by an Indian. As he stopped to dis- encumber 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 on- ward and reached Marietta in safety, though his hunting shirt was pierced by several bullets. Paul also escaped. Barnes was slain after a short resistance, and Leggett over- taken and killed after running over two miles. Carpenter, who was lame, and his little son attempted to con- ceal themselves, but were soon dis- covered and killed. The negro boy, who was left tied by his captors, succeeded in freeing himself and re- turned to his master. The Indians scalped all of the dead except Car- penter. 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 one of this party and had declined to re- ceive pay for the job.
During the fall the settlers were several times alarmed, but there were no serious engagements. On
101
WAR WITH THE INDIANS.
the 5th of December tidings reached Marietta of the defeat of St. Clair. The unexpected and startling news was brought by Major Denny, quar- termaster of the army, who was on his way to Philadelphia.
General St. Clair was at Pittsburgh in April, 1791, receiving volunteers and detachments from the regular army, and providing supplies and equipments. In May he proceeded to Fort Washington, where his army was gradually concentrated. 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 Mau- mee 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. His 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 afterward 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 fol- lowed the army and over half of them fell victims to the savage bar- barity. The Indians were led by Little Turtle and several white sav- ages who had joined them, and alto-
gether numbered about 2,000. In their fury they did not content themselves with killing and scalping, but drove stakes through their ene- mies' bodies and crammed their throats and eyes full of dirt and clay, thus showing their detestation for the palefaces who were seeking to gain possession of their lands.
Ridpath, in his Ilistory of the United States, thus speaks of St. Clair's defeat : "The fugitive militia fled precipitately to Fort Washing- ton, where they arrived four days after the battle. The news of the disaster spread gloom and sorrow throughout the land. When the tid- ings reached Philadelphia the gov- ernment was for a while in conster- nation. For once the benignant spirit of Washington gave way to wrath. 'Here,' said he in a tempest of indignation, 'here, in this very room, I took leave of General St. Clair. I wished him success and honor. I said to him, "You have careful instructions from the Secre- tary of War, and I myself will add one word- Beware of a surprise. You know how the Indians fight us - beware of a surprise!" He went off with that, my last warning, ring- ing in his ears. And yet he has suf- fered that army to be cut to pieces, hacked butchered, tomahawked, by a surprise -the very thing I guarded him against ! How 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
--
102
HISTORY OF NOBLE COUNTY, OHIO.
grew silent. 'What I have uttered must not go beyond 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. General St. Clair shall have justice. I will re- ceive him without displeasure; he shall have full justice.' Notwith- standing his exculpation by a com- mittee, poor St. Clair, overwhehned with censures and reproaches, re- signed his command and was super- seded by General Wayne whom the people had named Mad Anthony."
Early in the year 1792 Fort Har- mar was strengthened by the arrival of a company of soldiers. The winter passed without hostilities be- ing renewed in Washington County, the Indians devoting themselves to strengthening their confederacy for resistance to General Wayne's army then organizing at Pittsburgh.
On the 15th of March, at New- | bury, the "lower" Belpre settle- ment, Mrs. Brown, the wife of a newly-arrived settler, two children and Persis Dunham, a girl fourteen years of age, fell victims to the tom- ahawk and scalping knife. The set- tlement, which had previously been abandoned, was again deserted in consequence of this murder. In June, as Return J. Meigs, Jr., after- 1 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
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.