History of Preble County, Ohio, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches, Part 92

Author: H. Z. Williams & Brothers
Publication date:
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 559

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'The English now owned the northwest. True, they did not yet occupy but a small part of it, but traders were again crossing the mountains, explorers for lands were on the Ohio, and families for settlement were be- ginning to look upon the west as their future home. Companies were again forming to purchase large tracts in the Ohio country, and open them for immigration. One thing yet stood in the way-a definite boundary line. That line, however, was between the English and the Indians, and not, as had heretofore been the case, between rival European powers. It was necessary to arrange some definite boundary before land companies, who were now actively pushing their claims, could safely survey and locate their lands.

Sir William Johnson, who had at previous times been instrumental in securing treaties, wrote repeatedly to the board of trade, who controlled the greater part of the commercial transactions in the colonies-and who were the first to exclaim against extending English settlements beyond a limit whereby they would need manufactures, and thereby become independent of the mother country -urging upon them, and through them the crown, the necessity of a fixed boundary, else another Indian war was probable. The Indians found themselves gradually hemmed in by the growing power of the whites, and began to exhibit hostile feelings. The irritation be- came so great that in the summer of 1767, Gage wrote to the governor of Pennsylvania concerning it. The governor communicated his letter to the general assem- bly, who sent representatives to England, to urge the immediate settlement of the question. In compliance with these requests, and the letters of prominent citizens, Franklin among the number, instructions were sent to Johnson, ordering him to complete the purchase from the Six Nations, and settle all differences. He sent word to all the western tribes to meet him at Fort Stan- wix, in October, 1768. The conference was held on the twenty-fourth of that month, and was attended by colo- nial representatives, and by Indians from all parts of the northwest. It was determined that the line should be- gin on the Ohio, at the mouth of the Cherokee (Ten- nessee), thence up the river to the Allegheny and on to Kittanning, and thence across to the Susquehanna. By this line, the whole country south of the Ohio and Alle- gheny, to which the Six Nations had any claim, was transferred. Part of this land was made to compensate twenty-two traders, whose goods had been stolen in 1763. The deeds made, were upon the express agree- ment that no claims should ever be based on the treaties of Lancaster, Logstown, etc., and were signed by the chiefs of the Six Nations for themselves, their allies and dependents, and the Shawnees, Delawares, Mingoes of Ohio, and others; though the Shawnees and Delaware deputies did not sign them. On this treaty, in a great

measure, rests the title by purchase to Kentucky, west- ern Virginia and western Pennsylvania. The rights of the Cherokees were purchased by Colonel Donaldson, either for the king, Virginia, or for himself-it is impossi- ble to say which.

The grant of the northern confederacy was now made. The white man could go in and possess these lands, and know that an army would protect him if necessary. Un- der such a guarantee, western lands came rapidly into market. In addition to companies already in existence for the purchase of land, others, the most notable of these being the "Walpole" and the "Mississippi" land companies, were formed. This latter had among its organizers such men as Francis Lightfoot Lee, Richard Henry Lee, George Washington, and Arthur Lee. Be- fore any of these companies, some of whom absorbed the Ohio company, could do anything, the Revolution came on, and all land transactions were at an end. After its close, Congress would not sanction their claims, and they fell through. This did not deter settlers, however, from crossing the mountains and settling in the Ohio country. In spite of troubles with the Indians-some of whom regarded the treaties with the Six Nations as unlawful, and were disposed to complain at the rapid influx of whites-and the failure of the land companies, settlers came steadily during the decade from 1768 to 1778, so that by the close of that time, there was a large population south of the Ohio river; while scattered along the northern banks, extending many miles into the wil- derness, were hardy adventurers, who were carving out homes in the magnificent forests everywhere covering the country.

Among the foremost speculators in western lands, was George Washington. As early as 1763, he employed Colonel Crawford, afterwards the leader in "Crawford's campaign," to purchase lands for him. In 1770, he crossed the mountains in company with several gentle- men, and examined the country along the Ohio, down which stream he passed to the mouth of the Great Ka- nawha, where he shot some buffalo, then plenty, camped out a few nights, and returned, fully convinced, it seems, that one day the west would be the best part of the New World. He owned, altogether, nearly fifty thousand acres in the west, which he valued at three dollars and thirty-three cents per acre. Had not the war of the Revolution just then broken out, he might have been a resident of the west, and would have been, of course, one of its most prominent citizens.

CHAPTER V.

EXPLORATIONS-INDIAN WARS-MURDER OF MORAVIAN INDIANS.

MEANWHILE Kentucky was filling with citizens, and though considerable trouble was experienced with the Indians, and the operations of Colonel Richard Hender-

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son and others, who made unlawful treaties with the In- dians, yet Daniel Boone and his associates had estab- lished a commonwealth, and, in 1777, a county was formed, which, ere long, was divided into three. Louis- ville was laid out on land belonging to tories, and an important start made in this part of the west. Emigrants came down the Ohio river, saw the northern shores were inviting, and sent back such accounts that the land north of the river rapidly grew in favor with eastern people. One of the most important western characters, Colonel (afterwards General) George Rogers Clarke, had much to do in forming its character. He was born November 19, 1752, in Albemarle county, Virginia, and early came west. He had an unusually sagacious spirit, was an ex- cellent surveyor and general, and took an active interest in all State and national affairs. He understood the animus of the Revolution, and was prepared to do his part. Colonel Clarke was meditating a move unequaled in its boldness, and one that had more to do with the success of America in the struggle for independence than at first appears. He saw through the whole plan of the British, who held all the outposts, Kaskaskia, De- troit, Vincennes and Niagara, and determined to circum- vent them and wrest the west from their power. The British hoped to encircle the Americans by these out- posts, and also unite the Indians in a common war against them. That had been attempted by the French when the English conquered them. Then the French had a powerful ally in the person of Pontiac, yet the brave frontiersmen held their homes in many places, though the Indians "drank the blood of many a Briton, scooping it up in the hollow of joined hands." Now the Briton had no Pontiac to lead the scattered tribes-tribes who now feared the unerring aim of a settler, and would not attack him openly-Clarke knew that the Delawares were divided in feeling, and that the Shawnees were but imperfectly united in favor of England since the murder of their noted. chiefs. He was convinced that, if the British could be driven from the western posts, the na- tives could easily be awed into submission, or bribed into neutrality or friendship. They admired, from their savage views of valor, the side that became victorious. They cared little for the cause for which either side was fighting. Clarke sent out spies among them to ascertain the feasibility of his plans. The spies were gone from April 20th to June 22d, and fully corroborated his views concerning the English policy and the feelings of the Indians and French.

Before proceeding in the narrative of this expedition, however, it will be well to notice a few acts transpiring north of the Ohio river, especially relating to the land treaties, as they were not without effect on the British policy. Many of the Indians north and south of the Ohio would not recognize the validity of the Fort Stan- wix treaty, claiming the Iroquois had no right to the lands, despite their conquest. These discontented natives harassed the emigrants in such a manner that many Indians were slain in retaliation. This, and the working of the French traders, who at all times were bit- terly opposed to the English rule, filled the breasts of the

natives with malignant hate, which years of bloodshed could not wash out. The murder of several Indians by lawless whites fanned the coal into a blaze, and, by 1774, several retaliatory murders occurred, committed by the natives in revenge for their fallen friends. The Indian slew any white man he found, as a revenge on some friend of his slain; the frontiersman, acting on the same principle, made the borders extremely dangerous to in- vaders and invaded. Another cause of fear occurred about this time, which threatened seriously to retard emigration.

Pittsburgh had been claimed by both Pennsylvania and Virginia, and, in endeavoring to settle the dispute, Lord Dunmore's war followed. Dr. John Connelly, an ambitious, intriguing person, induced Lord Dunmore to assert the claims of Virginia, in the name of the king. In attempting to carry out his intentions, he was arrested by Arthur St. Clair, representing the proprietors of Penn- sylvania, who was at Pittsburgh at the time. Connelly was released on bail, but went at once to Staunton, where he was sworn in as a justice of the peace. Re- turning, he gathered a force of one hundred and fifty men, suddenly took possession of Pittsburgh, refused to allow the magistrates to enter the court house, or exer- cise the functions of their offices, unless in conformity to his will. Connelly refused any terms offered by the Pennsylvania deputies, kept possession of the place, acted very harshly toward the inhabitants, stirred up the neutral Indians, and, for a time, threatened to make the boundary line between the two colonies a very serious question. His actions led to hostile deeds by some Indians, when the whites, no doubt urged by him, mur- dered seven Indians at the mouth of the Captina river, and at the house of a settler named Baker, where the In- dians were decoyed under promises of friendship and offers of rum. Among those murdered at the latter place, was the entire family of the famous Mingoe chief, Logan. This has been charged to Michael Cresap; but is untrue. Daniel Greathouse had command of the party, and though Cresap may have been among them, it is un- just to lay the blame at his feet. Both murders, at Cap- tina and Yellow Creek, were cruel and unwarranted, and were, without doubt, the cause of the war that followed, though the root of the matter lay in Connelly's arbitrary actions, and in his needlessly alarming the Indians. Whatever may have been the facts in relation to the murder of Logan's family, they were of such a nature as to make all feel sure of an Indian war, and preparations were made for the conflict.

An army was gathered at Wheeling, which, sometime in July, under command of Colonel McDonald, de- scended the Ohio to the mouth of Captina creek. They proposed to march against an Indian town on the Mus- kingum. The Indians sued for peace, but their preten- tions being found spurious, their towns and crops were destroyed. The army then returned to Williamsburgh, having accomplished but little.

The Delawares were anxious for peace; even the Mingoes, whose relatives had been slain at Yellow creek and Captina, were restrained; but Logan, who had

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been turned to an inveterate foe to the Americans, came suddenly upon the Monongahela settlements, took thir- teen scalps in revenge for the loss of his family, returned home and expressed himself ready to treat with the Long Knives, the Virginians. Had Connelly acted properly at this juncture, the war might have been ended; but his actions only incensed both borderers and Indians. So obnoxious did he become that Lord Dunmore lost faith in him, and severely reprimanded him.

To put a stop to the depredations of the Indians, two large bodies of troops were gathered in Virginia, one under General Andrew Lewis, and one under command of Dunmore himself. Before the armies could meet at the mouth of the Great Kanawha, their objective point, Lewis' army, which arrived first, was attacked by a furious band of Delawares, Sharemees, Iroquois, and Wyandots. The conflict was bitterly prolonged by the Indians, who, under the leadership of Cornstalk, were determined to make a decisive effort, and fought till late at night (Octo- ber 10, 1774), and then only by a strategic move of Lewis' command-which resulted in the defeat of the Indians, compelling them to cross the Ohio-was the conflict ended. Meanwhile, Dunmore's army came into the enemy's country, and, being joined by the remainder of Lewis' command, pressed forward intending to annihi- late the Indian towns. Cornstalk and his chiefs, how- ever, sued for peace, and the conflict closed. Dunmore established a camp at Sippo creek, where he held confer- ences with the natives and concluded the war. When he left the country he stationed one hundred men at the mouth of the Great Kanawha, a few more at Pittsburgh, and another corps at Wheeling, then called Fort Fin- castle. Dunmore intended to return to Pittsburgh the next spring, meet the Indians and form a definite peace; but the revolt of the colonies prevented. However, he opened several offices for the sale of lands in the west, some of which were in the limits of the Pennsylvania colony. This led to the old boundary dispute again; but before it could be settled the Revolution began, and Lord Dunmore's, as well as almost all other land specu- lations in the west, were at an end.

In 1775 and 1776, the chief events transpiring in the west relate to the treaties with the Indians, and the en- deavor on the part of the Americans to have them re- main neutral in the family quarrel now coming on, which they could not understand. The British, like the French, however, could not let them alone, and finally, as a re- taliatory measure, Congress, under advice of Washing- ton, won some of them over to the side of the colonies, getting their aid and holding them neutral. The colonies only offered them rewards for prisoners; never, like the British, offering rewards for scalps. Under such rewards the atrocities of the Indians in some quarters were simply horrible. The scalp was enough to get a reward ; that was a mark of Indian valor, too, and hence, helpless in- nocence and decrepit old age were not spared. They stirred the minds of the pioneers, who saw the protec- tion of their firesides a vital point, and led the way to the scheme of Colonel Clarke, who was now, as has been noted, the leading spirit of Kentucky. He saw through

the scheme of the British, and determined, by a quick, decisive blow, to put an end to it, and to cripple their power in the west.

Among the acts stimulating Clarke, was the attack on Fort Henry, a garrison about one-half mile above Wheeling creek, on the Ohio, by a renegade white man, Simon Girty, an agent in the employ of the British, it is thought, and one of the worst wretches ever known on the frontier. When Girty attacked Fort Henry, he led his red allies in regular military fashion, and attacked it without mercy. The defenders were brave, and knew with whom they were contending. Great bravery was displayed by the women in the fort, one of whom, a Miss Zane, carried a keg of gunpowder from a cabin to the fort. Though repeatedly fired at by the savages, she reached the fort in safety. After a while, however, the effects of the frontiersmen's shots began to be felt, and the Indians sullenly withdrew. Re-inforcements com- ing, the fort was held, and Girty and his band were obliged to flee.

Clarke saw that if the British once got control over the western Indians the scene at Fort Henry would be repeated, and would not likely, in all cases, end in favor of the Americans. Without communicating any of his designs, he left Harrodsburgh about the first of October, 1777, and reached the capital of Virginia by November 5th. Still keeping his mind, he awaited a favorable op- portunity to broach his plans to those in power, and, in the meanwhile, carefully watched the existing state of feeling. When the opportunity came, Clarke broached his plans to Patrick Henry, governor of Virginia, who at once entered warmly into them, recognizing their great importance. Through his aid, Clarke procured the necessa. ry authority to prosecute his plans, and returned at once to Pittsburgh. He intended raising men about this post, but found them fearful of leaving their homes unpro- tected. However, he secured three companies, and, with these and a number of volunteers, picked up on the way down the Ohio river, he fortified Corn Island, near the falls, and made ready for his expedition. He had some trouble in keeping his men, some of those form Kentucky refusing to aid in subduing stations out of their own country. He did not announce his real in- tentions until he had reached this point. Here Colonel Bowman joined him with his Kentucky militia, and on the twenty-fourth of June, 1778, during a total eclipse of the sun, the party left the fort. Before his start, he learned of the capture of Burgoyne, and, when nearly down to Fort Massac, he met some of his spies, who informed him of the exaggerated accounts of the ferocity of the Long Knives that the French had received from the British. By proper action on his part, Clarke saw both these items of information could be made very ben- eficial to him. Leaving the river near Fort Massac, he set out on the march to Kaskaskia, through a hot sum- mer's sun, over a country full of savage foes. They reached the town unnoticed, on the evening of July 4th, and, before the astonished British and French knew it, they were all prisoners. M. Rocheblave, the English com- mander, was secured, but his wife adroitly concealed the

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papers belonging to the garrison. In the person of M. Gibault, the French priest, Clarke found a true friend. When the true character of the Virginians became appar- ent, the French were easily drawn to the American side, and the priest secured the surrender and allegiance of Cahokia through his personal influence. M. Gibault

told him he would also secure the post at St. Vincent's, which he did, returning from the mission about the first of August. During the interval, Clarke re-enlisted his men, formed his plans, sent his prisoners to Kentucky, and was ready for future action when M. Gibault arrived. He sent Captain Helm and a single soldier to Vincennes to hold that fort until he could put a garrison there. It is but proper to state that the English commander, Colonel Hamilton, and his band of soldiers were absent at De- troit when the priest secured the village on the "Ouaba- che." When Hamilton returned in the autumn, he was surprised to see the American flag floating from the ram- parts of the fort, and when approaching the gate he was abruptly halted by Captain Helm, who stood with a lighted fuse in his hand by a cannon, answering Hamil- ton's demand to surrender with the imperative inquiry, "Upon what terms, sir?" "Upon the honors of war," answered Hamilton, and he marched in, greatly cha- grined to see he had been halted by two men. The British commander sat quietly down, intending to go on down the river and subdue Kentucky in the spring, in the meantime offering rewards for American scalps, and thereby gaining the epithet of "Hair-buyer General." Clarke heard of his actions late in January, 1779, and, as he says, "I knew if I did not take him he would take me," set out early in February with his troops and marched across the marshy plains of lower Illinois, reaching the Wabash post by the twenty-second of the month. The un- erring aim of the westerner was effectual. "They will shoot your eyes out," said Helm to the British troops. "There, I told you so," he further exclaimed, as a soldier ventured near a port-hole, and received a shot directly in his eye. On the twenty-fourth the fort surrendered. The Amer- ican flag waved again over its ramparts. The "hair-buy- er general" was sent a prisoner to Virginia, where he was kept in close confinement for his cruel acts. Clarke re- turned to Kaskaskia, perfected his plans to hold the Illi- nois settlements, went on to Kentucky, from where he sent word to the colonial authorities of the success of his expedition. Had he received the aid promised him, Detroit, in easy reach, would have fallen, too, but General Green, failing to send it as promised, the capture of that important post was delayed.

Had Clarke failed, and Hamilton succeeded, the whole west would have been swept, from the Alleghanies to the Mississippi. But for this small army of fearless Virginians, the union of all the tribes from Georgia to Maine against the colonies might have been effected, and the whole current of American history changed. Amer- ica owes Clarke and his band more than it can ever pay. Clarke reported the capture of Kaskaskia and the Illinois country early after its surrender, and in October the county of Illinois was established, extending over an unlimited expanse of country, by the Virginia legislature.

John Todd was appointed lieutenant colonel and civil governor. In November, Clarke and his men received the thanks of the same body, who, in after years, secured them a grant of land, which they selected on the right bank of the Ohio river, opposite Louisville. They expected here a city would rise one day, to be the peer of Louisville, then coming into prominence as an im- portant place. By some means, their expectations failed, and only the dilapidated village of Clarkesburgh perpet- uates their hopes.

The conquest of Clarke changed the face of affairs in relation to the whole country north of the Ohio river, which would, in all probability, have been made the boundary between Canada and the United States. When this was proposed, the strenuous arguments based on this conquest, by the American commissioners, secured the present boundary line in negotiating the treaty of 1793.

Though Clarke had failed to capture Detroit, Congress saw the importance of the post, and resolved on securing it. General McCosh, commander at Fort Pitt, was put in command, and one million dollars and three thousand men placed at his disposal. By some dilatory means, he got no further than the Tuscarawas river, in Ohio, where a half-way house, called Fort Laurens, for the President of Congress, was built. It was too far out to be of practicable value, and was soon after abandoned.

Indian troubles and incursions by the British were the most absorbing themes in the west. The British went so far as Kentucky at a later date, while they intended reducing Fort Pitt, only abandoning it when learning of its strength. Expeditions against the western Indians were led by General Sullivan, Colonel Daniel Broad- head, Colonel Bowman and others, which, for awhile, silenced the natives and taught them the power of the Americans. They could not organize so readily as be- fore, and began to attach themselves more closely to the British, or commit their depredations in bands, fleeing into the wilderness as soon as they struck a blow. In this way, several localities suffered, until the settlers became again exasperated ; other expeditions were formed, and a second chastisement given. In 1781, Colonel Broadhead led an expedition against the Central Ohio Indians. It did not prove so successful, as the Indians were led by that noted chief Brant, who, though not cruel, was a foe to the Americans, and assisted the British greatly in their endeavors to secure the west.

Another class of events occurred now in the west, civil in their relations, yet destined to form an important part of its history -- its land laws.

It must be borne in mind, that Virginia claimed the greater portion of the country north of the Ohio river, as well as a large part south. The other colonies claimed land also in the west under the old crown grants, which ex- tended to the South or Western sea. To more compli- cate matters, several land companies held proprietary rights to portions of these lands gained by grants from the crown, or from the colonial assemblies. Others were based on land warrants issued in 1763; others on selec- tion and survey and still others on settlement. In this state of mixed affairs, it was difficult to say who held a

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History of Preble County, Ohio, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches, Part 92

Author: H. Z. Williams & Brothers Publication date: Publisher: Number of Pages: 559

Author: H. Z. Williams & Brothers
Publication date:
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 559