History of Seneca County, Ohio, containing a history of the county, its townships, towns, villages, school, churches, industries, etc., portraits of early settlers and prominent men; biographies; history of the Northwest territory; history of Ohio; statistical and miscellaneous matter, etc., etc, Part 11

Author: Leeson, M. A. (Michael A.)
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Chicago : Warner, Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 1088

USA > Ohio > Seneca County > History of Seneca County, Ohio, containing a history of the county, its townships, towns, villages, school, churches, industries, etc., portraits of early settlers and prominent men; biographies; history of the Northwest territory; history of Ohio; statistical and miscellaneous matter, etc., etc > Part 11

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The council was terminated in confusion. It is highly probable that some settlement might have been made, had it not been for English influence which instigated the savages, in the hope of ultimately making conquests for them- selves. The commander at Detroit evinced great uneasiness whenever there was a shadow of an opportunity for a peaceful understanding.

On Christmas Day, 1793, a detachment of the army encamped on the identical ground made memorable by St. Clair's horrible defeat. A reward was offered for every human skull that was found, and 600 were gathered. The bones of the victims were removed from the spot where they built Fort Recovery. This point was left in charge of Alexander Gibson.

Early in the year 1794, Lord Dorchester addressed the Commissioners in behalf of the English. Even at this time, Gen. Wayne, to avoid the terrors of a great war, again made overtures of peace, dispatching Freeman, Trueman and Hardin, all initiated in savage tactics, on errands of mercy-and the three men

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO.

were inhumanly murdered. The English went so far as to order Gov. Simcoe to erect a fort, in April, 1794, on the Rapids of the Maumee, thus rousing the Indians by a bold proof that they had espoused their cause. In May, the Spanish, who were ever jealous of colonial encroachments, were willing to aid in a general raid against the Americans.

In June, a scouting party from Fort Recovery, fell into an Indian ambush and suffered severely, their foes following them to the very entrance. The siege continued for two days. It was plainly evident that white men augmented the Indian force ; ounce balls and buck-shot surely came from their rifles. Again, the Indians immediately began a search beneath the logs where pieces of artillery were hidden during the great battle of St. Clair, but fortunately, Fort Recovery had the use of them and they accomplished much.

On July 26, Scott joined Wayne at Greenville, with 1,600 mounted Kentuckians, and on the 28th, the legion took up its line of deadly march. Halting at Girty's Town, they built Fort Mary's, later on Fort Adams. Throw- ing the enemy off their guard by feints and counter-marching, the troops surprised the Indians, and without the slightest resistance took possession of their villages at the confluence of the Auglaize and Maumee. They found provision in abundance, and tarried a week building Fort Defiance.

Again Gen. Wayne would have made terms of peace, on the principle of the Government to arrest bloodshed, but the Indians were rendered cruelly intent on war by an addition of a body of British militia from Detroit, and by regulars stationed at a fort they had built on the left bank of the river, below the rapids, called Fort Miami. The "Fallen Timber" ground was selected as the field for a battle by the savages, in the expectation that the trees cast down by a tornado and there remaining, would seriously impede American progress.

August 15th, Wayne marched down the river, and at Roche de Boeuf, erected a fortification for their stores and luggage, naming it "Fort Deposit." On the 20th, the American army began the attack. Maj. Price and Maj. Gen. Scott were heroic in their assistance, and after a sharp, deadly conflict, the enemy was routed, fleeing in confusion, and leaving their dead and wounded strewn thickly over the field. The savages were pressed to the front always, and when the carnage was painful, the British troops not engaged looked on coolly from the fort and offered no assistance, aiding their own, however, when possible. Gen. Wayne being an ardent soldier, was apt to forget his position, and impetuously place himself constantly in danger. Lieut. Harrison is reported to have. requested the General not to forget to give him field orders, in his own partici- pation in the battle, and to have received the reply that the standing order was always to charge bayonets.

Notwithstanding the treaty of 1783, and the fact that the British were tres- passing, they encroached upon the Ohio soil, and essayed to vindicate their action by discarding American claims and recognizing the Indian rights, whereby they might seek their own colonization and make treaties.

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Maj. Campbell was in command at Fort Miami, and when he saw the sava. ges being cut down almost mercilessly, he not only refrained from offering aid, but when, in their desperate retreat, they attempted to enter the fort for pro- tection, he ordered the doors closed in their faces.

On the following day, Campbell sent a message to Wayne, demanding a reason for hostile action, adding that Great Britain was not now at war with the United States. He received a characteristic reply.

During the Revolution, Detroit was an important British point, and the Maumee was its outlet. Therefore, the English clung tenaciously to this pos- session, giving, as it did, the advantage of the great fur trade. The English Government evidently regretted ceding so much of her territory in the West, and were searching for an excuse to quarrel and attempt to regain at least a part of what they had lost. Their policy was to sustain the bitter hatred between the Indians and the Americans.

The settlement of the Maumee Valley had been rapid, but the very name was an agony of remembrance of frightful massacres and atrocities. Col. McKee, the British Indian agent, and his assistant, Capt. Elliott, were from Pennsylvania, but being Tories, they had assimilated with the Indians. They joined the Shawnee tribe and married Indian wives, and made their fortunes thereby, through British appointments to secure the savage interests. The Indians were directly served by McKee and Elliott, with ammunition and sup- plies, during the Wayne conflict.

Several skirmishes ensued, but severe weather approaching, the troops moved for quarters, and on the 14th day of September, they attacked the Miami villages, captured them with provisions and stores, and erected a fort, leaving it in charge of Lieut. Col. Hamtramck. With cheers and riffe-shooting, this post was named Fort Wayne. The main army marched into Greenville and went into winter quarters.

Wayne had achieved a brilliant victory, but his success did not overcome his practical reasoning, and he was unwilling to subject his men to a severe winter's campaign unless necessity was peremptory.

Gov. Simcoe, Col. McKee and a few of the most savage Indian chiefs attempted to rally the Indians for a new attack. Gov. Simcoe, of Detroit, was aware that the mounted volunteers under Wayne had been allowed to return home, and that the term of service of a portion of the "Legion " was about to expire.

The British and Indians held a conference, but the latter were weary with fighting for the glory of the Great Father at Detroit, and did not enter into the plan. The winter proved most poverty stricken to them, the English failing to supply them, and their crops and sustenance having been destroyed by Wayne. They were then fully prepared to listen to the faintest signal from Wayne to conciliate affairs, and the Wyandots and Delawares were the first to confer with him on the subject. Their position was exposed and they had suffered severely.

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They soon influenced other tribes to consider the question. As a mass, they were convinced of their inability to overcome the Americans, and had become impatient and disgusted with the duplicity of their British friends, who had not hesitated to sacrifice them in every instance, and who deserted them in their hour of distress. United, they sued for peace. Terms were made, and about the 1st of August, the famous Greenville treaty was ratified and established, and the old Indian war in Ohio terminated.

The Wyandots, Delawares, Shawnees, Chippewas, Ottawas, Pottawatomies, Miamis, Eel Rivers, Weas, Kickapoos, Piankeshaws and Kaskaskias were thus conciliated. The old Indian boundary line, settled upon at the Fort McIntosh treaty, was retained, and the southwestern line was prolonged from old Fort Recovery, southwest of the Ohio River.

" The general boundary lines between the lands of the United States and the lands of the said Indian tribes shall begin at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River, and thence run up the same to the portage between that and the Tus- carawas Branch of the Muskingum ; thence down that branch to the crossing- place above Fort Laurens ; thence westerly to a fork of that branch of the Great Miami River (running into the Ohio), at or near which fork stood Lar- amie's store-Mary's River, which is a branch of the Miami that runs into Lake Erie ; thence a westerly course to Fort Recovery, which stands on a branch of the Wabash ; thence southwesterly on a direct line to the Ohio, so as to inter- sect that river opposite the mouth of the Kentucky or Cuttawa River."

This boundary line has, ever since this memorable treaty, been a prominent landmark, and may now be traced as the southern boundary line of Stark, Ash- land, Richland and Marion Counties, and the northern line, in part, of Tuscar- awas and Knox. Old Fort Recovery was located in Mercer, near the Indiana line. Laramie's store was in Shelby.

Within the Indian Reservation, the United States held sixteen distinct sec- tions of land, for the purpose of military posts, so arranged that the Govern- ment had full right of way north and west.

The "Joy treaty " between England and the United States was ratified early in 1796, and the British were obliged to vacate Detroit and Fort Miami, and recall the fact that they had no claim or right to either points. Gen. Wayne received them, and accompanied by Gov. St. Clair, proceeded to Detroit. Here the lat- ter laid out a county, calling it Wayne, and designated Detroit as its seat of justice. This was the fifth county in the Northwest Territory, north of the Ohio River. Washington County, with Marietta as a seat of justice, was first established ; next Hamilton, with Cincinnati as a county seat. Wayne County was organized in 1796, and included about twenty-six of the present counties, in the northwest part of the State, covering about a quarter of its area, besides parts of Indiana and Michigan.

In other parts of the State, the population was rapidly increasing. In May, 1795, the Legislature authorized a committee to institute measures for the

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disposal of their Western lands. The Virginia and Connecticut Reservations required some action on the part of Government, inasmuch as ceding a portion and re-selling had in a measure disturbed free titles. Fifty-six persons negoti- ated and purchased lands, receiving quit-claim titles and entire rights. They re-sold to John Morgan and John Caldwell and Jonathan Bruce, in trust. Thus 3,000,000 acres were prepared for settlement. Upon the quit-claim deeds of these representatives, the full title of lands included within the old Western Reserve rests.

Judge Symmes began his active operations in 1796, and by the close of 1797 all lands east of the Cuyahoga were laid out in townships, five miles square. The agent of the Connecticut Land Company was Gen. Moses Cleveland, and in his honor the leading city in the Reserve was named. Some townships were retained for private sale, and others were disposed of by lottery, in 1798.

Wayne's treaty led to the formation of Dayton, and the peopling of that section. A difficulty arose regarding the original Symmes grant and its modifi- cation. Symmes had sold land titles, in good faith, beyond his vested power, and Congress was now called upon to adjust these claims and titles. Seventeen days after the Wayne or Greenville treaty, St. Clair, Wilkinson, Dayton and Ludlow contracted with Symmes for seven and eight ranges, between the Mad and Little Miami Rivers. November 4, 1795, Mr. Ludlow laid out Dayton.

During the years 1790 and 1795, the Governor and Supreme Judges of the Northwest Territory had published sixty-four statutes. Thirty-four of these were ratified at Cincinnati, for the purpose of forming a complete statutory. It was termed the " Maxwell Code."

Mr. Nathaniel Massie founded a town on the Scioto, which was called Chillicothe. The Iroquois treaty had previously invited settlement, and embryo towns had begun as early as 1769, under the protection of the Connecticut Company. A land company was organized in Hartford, Conn., in 1795, sending out forty-three surveyors to divide the townships of that part of the Western Reserve, east of the Cuyahoga, five miles square. The first resident of the town of Cleveland was Mr. Job Stiles and family, and Mrs. Stiles was the mother of the first white child born on the Reserve. Some other parts of the territory progressed more rapidly in population.

Along the Muskingum, Scioto and Miami, towns began to spring up, which might perhaps better be termed farming settlements.

Cincinnati was increasing, and in 1796, had reached 100 cabins, 15 frame houses and 600 persons, with prospects for a firm future.

The Virginia Military Land District was between the Little Miami and Scioto, and was rapidly increasing in population.

Mr. Massie was unceasing in his efforts to advance the West, and laid out Manchester, offering inducements that could not fail to attract settlers.

Ebenezer Zane procured a grant in consideration of opening a bridle path from the Ohio River at Wheeling, over the country via Chillicothe, to Limestone,

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in Kentucky. The year following, the United States mail was taken over this route.

The comparatively tranquil condition of the country and the inducements it had to offer encouraged a rapid settlement of the Territory. A prominent feature of the early growth of Ohio was the general prevalence of reliable, stanch principle. The people were of the good colonial stock.

In 1800, Chillicothe was denominated the seat of the Territorial govern- ment, and the first stone edifice in the State was begun in this town, soon after this appointment. About this time, a serious difficulty suddenly occurred to those individuals who had taken lands on the Western Reserve of Connecticut. That Eastern power had, it is true, ceded a part of her claim to the General Government, and had stipulated for the sale of certain other tracts. At the same time, the State had not signed away her jurisdiction over some sections of her claim, and those unfortunate people in and about Dayton found themselves without any government upon which they might depend in a case of emergency. The matter was, accordingly, presented to the Territorial government, which interceded with the Eastern State, and, sanctioned by the Assembly at Congress, Connecticut relinquished her jurisdiction in 1800.

Cleveland was an important point, and was growing in the mean time. How- ever, it had suffered exceedingly from the ravages of fever and ague. For a period of two months, there was not an individual, but a boy thirteen years of age, able to procure food for the others. Flour was out of all rational con- sideration, and the meal upon which they lived was pounded by hand. In 1799, Williams and Myatt erected a grist-mill at the falls, near Newbury.

A startling agitation occurred in 1801, which in these days would cause but a ripple in the political sea, but happening during a time when legislative dignity and state authority were regarded with reverential awe, it created the most intense feeling. Great indignation was openly expressed.

The Governor and several legislators felt that they had been insulted in the performance of their respective duties, at Chillicothe, while the Assembly was in session in 1801. No measures being taken by the authorities at the capital to protect the Executive, a law was passed removing the seat of govern- ment to Cincinnati.

This circumstance led to a general consideration of the advantages of a State government, and a popular desire was expressed for a change in this respect. Gov. St. Clair had fallen into disfavor through his failure as a military leader and his failures in the Indian campaigns, and from his assuming powers which were not vested in him, especially the subdivision of counties. He was also identified with the Federal party, which was not popular in Ohio. The opposition was strong in the Assembly, but was in the minority in the House of Representatives. The boundary question was agitated at the same time. The intention was to thus effect the limits of Ohio that a State government would necessarily have to be postponed. Against this measure, Tiffin, Worthington,

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Langham, Darlington, Massie, Dunlavy and Morrow strenuously objected. After considerable discussion, Thomas Worthington obtained leave of absence from the session, and journeyed to Washington in behalf of a State government. It was obvious that the Territory, under the ordinance, was not entitled to a change. Massie suggested the feasibility of appointing a committee to address Congress on the subject. This the House refused to pass.

An effort was then made to take a census, but any action on this subject was postponed until the next session.

During all this ineffectual struggle, Worthington was doing his best in Wash- ington, and succeeded so well that on March 4, a report was made to the House in favor of the State government. This report was made on a basis that the census, in 1800, summed up over 45,000 for Ohio.

April 30, Congress passed a law carrying into effect the views expressed on this subject. A convention met on November 1. Its members were generally Jeffersonian in their views. Gov. St. Clair proposed to address them as their chief executive magistrate. Several members resolutely opposed this action, insisting upon a vote, which, through courtesy and not a sense of right, resulted in permitting him to address them. He advised the postponement of the State government until the original eastern portion of the State was sufficiently pop- ulated to demand this right. Only one, out of thirty-three, voted to sustain the Governor in these views.

The convention agreed to the views of Congress. November 29, the agree- ment was ratified and signed, as was the constitution of the State of Ohio. The General Assembly was ordered to convene the first Tuesday of March, 1803.

This was carried into effect. A constitution was framed for the new State, adhering to the Ordinance of 1787. The rights and duties of citizens were plainly set forth, and general business was transacted. The new State consti- tution was signed by :

Edward Tiffin, President and Representative from Ross County.

Adams County-Joseph Darlington, Israel Donalson, Thomas Vinker.

Belmont County-James Caldwell and Elijah Woods.

Clermont County-Philip Gatch and James Sargent.

Fairfield County-Henry Abrams and Emanuel Carpenter.

Hamilton County-John W. Brown, Charles Willing Byrd, Francis Dun- lavy, William Goforth, John Gitchel, Jeremiah Morrow, John Paul, John Riley, John Smith and John Wilson.

Jefferson County-Rudolph Blair, George Humphry, John Milligan, Nathan Updegraff and Bezaleel Wells.

Ross County-Michael Baldwin, James Grubb, Nathaniel Massie and F. Worthington.

Washington County-Ephraim Cutler, Benjamin Ives Gilman, John Mc- Intyre and Rufus Putnam.

Thomas Scott, Secretary.

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HISTORY OF THE STATE OF OHIO.

The first Legislature of the State, under the new constitution, created eight new counties, viz., Gallia, Scioto, Franklin, Columbiana, Butler, Warren, Greene and Montgomery.

The first State officers were : Michael Baldwin, Speaker of the House ; Na- thaniel Massie, President of the Senate; William Creighton, Secretary of State ; Col. Thomas Gibson, Auditor ; William McFarland, Treasurer ; Return J. Meigs, Jr., Samuel Huntington and William Sprigg, Judges of the Supreme Court ; Francis Dunlavy, Willis Silliman and Calvin Pease, Judges of the Dist- riet Court.

The General Assembly held a second session in December, at which time the militia law was revised, also giving aliens equal proprietary rights with native citizens. The revenue system was modified and improved. Acts authorizing the incorporation of townships were passed, and for the establishment of eoun- ties. Furthermore, Jacob White, Jeremiah Morrow and William Ludlow were authorized to locate a township for collegiate purposes, according to previous specified terms of Congress. The Symmes grant and the college specification collided materially, but the irregularity of the former was not to create any inconvenience for the latter. Mr. Symmes had in good faith marked off this township, but circumstances preventing the perfection of his plans, that lapsed with the others, and the original township was now entered by settlers.

Accordingly, thirty-six sections, west of the Great Miami, were selected, and are now held by the Miami University.

Gov. St. Clair, notwithstanding his unpopularity, was re-appointed.

Ohio was under a system of government which guaranteed the best improve- ments ; her Legislature being composed of her best statesmen, and the laws passed having the general interest of the people embodied in them.

A bill was passed, appropriating the net proceeds of the land lying within said State, sold by Congress after the 20th day of June, 1802, after deducting all expenses ineident to the same, to be applied to the laying-out of roads, leading from the navigable waters emptying into the Atlantic to the Ohio, to the said State, and through the same ; such roads to be laid out under the authority of Congress, with the consent of the several States through which the road shall pass. In conformity with these provisions, steps were taken, in 1805, which resulted in the making of the Cumberland or National road.

Burr, at this time, began an organization for the ostensible purpose of making a settlement on the Wachita, but his party being armed and his plans not being frankly disclosed, an investigation proved that his real design was a mutinous revolt against Governmental powers, and to gratify his ambition by founding his own kingdom in Mexico, and defeating the Spanish. If success crowned his efforts, his ultimate victory was to rupture the Union by forcing the Western States to withdraw from their allegiance. By gaining an influence over the noble but misguided Blennerhasset, he established his headquarters on his island in the Ohio. The history of Burr's expedition is already well known.

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The final capture by Gov. Tiffin, of ten boats loaded with stores, on the Mus- kingum, and four near Marietta, decided the fate of this scheme, and Burr was finally arrested and put on trial May 22, 1807.

The advancement of the settlement of the State was in no manner impeded, and towns sprang up, farms were laid out, and all other improvements inaugu- rated which tended to a permanent prosperity.

In 1808, Tecumseh left Greenville to join the Prophet on the banks of the Tippecanoe, a tributary of the Upper Wabash, on a tract of land granted herein by the Pottawatomies.

The Indians were virtually by treaty allowed but a small proportion of land within the boundaries of the State, and were maintaining peaceful attitudes toward the whites, with exceptional border depredations, which were settled by mutual understanding.

Although the United States had gained independence, and was treating with England as with other foreign powers, the British persisted in violating the national rights of the United States, impressing American seamen into the British service, seizing American vessels engaged with France in trade, and otherwise violating the rights of an independent nation, at peace with the Brit- ish power.

The mission upon which Henry was sent by the British, to create disturb- ance between the States, and thus broken, to weaken the strength of the Gen- eral Government, added fuel to the fire, and united indignation cried for war.

British agents again bargained with the Indians of the Wabash and Maumee Valleys, desiring them to inaugurate another war upon the western sections and to make a desperate attack upon the settlements south of the lakes. The Brit- ish agent at Malden negotiated in rifles, powder, ball, merchandise, lead, blank- ets and shirts. The Indians were inspired again with the hope that the whites would be driven back, and that all the country north of the Ohio would again revert to them.

The Canadians in league with the English, gave the savages unlimited quantities of whisky, which naturally aroused their fierce natures to acts of violence and blood. It is highly probable that the use of liquor was the main cause of the deterioration of the best traits of the Indian character, after the Revolution. Again, many unscrupulous men upon the frontier did not hesi- tate to commit the most merciless crimes against the Indians, such was the prejudice against them, and the courts invariably failed to indict them for these atrocities. This error on the part of the Americans served to influence the savages against them.

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Author: Leeson, M. A. (Michael A.) Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Chicago : Warner, Beers & Co. Number of Pages: 1088

Author: Leeson, M. A. (Michael A.)
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Chicago : Warner, Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 1088