History of Stark County, with an outline sketch of Ohio, Part 32

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892? ed
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, Baskin & Battey
Number of Pages: 1060

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HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY.

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county was first settled, it was no uncommon thing to discover old Indian trails intersect- ing each other at various points in the county. and to find the crumbling remains of old vil- lages. that once teemed with a large and thriv- ing population. These have long since been removed by the destructive influences of time. There are many enrions earth formations in the county, which. after extended examina- tion, might disclose the fact that they were constructed by the earlier races. Others, ho doubt. have been destroyed by the husband. man. From the fact that Stark County has a noticeable lack of ancient remains. it has been inferred that the county was a portion of the neutral land which separated two or more hostile nations or tribes of Mound Builders. Large numbers of earth and stone works are found along the Cuyahoga River in Summit County, and also farther south on the Lower Tuscarawas, and on the Muskingum. This renders plausible the neutral view of Stark County. Perhaps, over these broad plains. long before the present growth of timber had started. the god of battles raged and thun dered. In some portions of the county, large numbers of flint arrow and spear heads. and implements and utensils of various sorts. are discovered. some of which have been referred to the Mound-Builders, and some to the In- dians. Quite a number of iron axes have been found in the county. These were mamfact- ured in England, and shipped to this country to be used by the Indians during the bloody border wars of the last half of the last cen- tury. Many years ago, on the farm of Mar- tin Bechtel, where his residence now stands, a number of flint arrow heads. spear-heads and ornaments were found buried. At the same time, several Indian saddles wore un- earthed, all being considerably decaved. No evidences were seen that Indians had been buried there. Their saddles, however, had been, but certainly not for safe keeping. There is scarcely a portion of the county that has not a similar tradition.

Notwithstanding the fact that the Indian history of Stark County is extremely meager as regards prominent events. several interest ing incidents are remembered. and will be narrated. Perhaps no other territory in the

I'nited States was the stage upon which were enacted so many thrilling border incidents as Ohio in early years. From 1750 until the war of 1812. there was a continued succession of Indian atrocities and alarms. Some of the Ohio tribes were, for short periods, at peace with the whites, but no permanent cessation of massacre and pillage could be anticipated. Other tribes, as the erratic Shawanese, con- stantly protested against the eneroachment of the whites on the Indian lands. and steadily resisted almost every overture for peace. During all the wars in which the borderer- wore likely to be involved, an alliance with the Ohio Indians was earnestly songht, or at least great inducements were offered them to remain neutral. The British. on the Canada side, through the artifice or imposture of their emissaries. lost no opportunity of ineit- ing the savages to butcher the white pioneers in Eastern Ohio and Western Pennsylvania, and to pillage and burn their homes. In 1750. the members of some ten or twelve tribes lived in what is now Ohio, among whom were the following: The Wyandots (called Hurons by the French). the Delawares and Shawanese (both members of the Algonquin group), the Miamis (also called Twigtwees). the Mingoes fa branch of the Iroquois or Sis Nations), and the Ottawas and Chippewas. The Wyandots occupied the country in the vicinity of Sandusky River. The Delawares were established on the Muskingum and Tus carawas Rivers, and at a few other points. The Shawanese were chiefly found on the Sci- oto and Mad Rivers. The Miamis wore on the Great and Little Miami Rivers. The Mingoes were in great force at Mingo Bottom uear Steubenville, and at several other points in Ohio. The Ottawas ocenpied the valleys of the Maumee and Sandusky Rivers; and the Chippewas, few in number, were mostly con tined to the southern shore of Lake Erie. Only four of these tribes were present in such numbers as to merit a special sketch. These are the Wyandots, the Delawares, the Shaw anose and the Ottawas.

The Wyandots. as indicated by the idioms and other characteristics of their language, wore related to the Iroquois; but, about th . middle of the seventeenth century. they em

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braced the religious faith of the Roman Cath- olies, and, for some reason unknown, severed their connection with their relatives, the Iro- quois, and cast their lot with the powerful Algonquins .* Their original residence was in Canada, some authorities fixing their loca- tion on Georgian Bay, and others, as Mr. Schoolcraft, on Montreal Island. Their mm- ber is estimated to have been about 40,000 souls. Some time after this, they became involved in a war with the Iroquois, by whom they were nearly exterminated, after which they removed first to Charity Island, and finally to Quebec. They were found south of the great lakes in 1660, by some French trad- ors, and, ten years later, having become in- volved in a war with the powerful Sioux, they removed to Michilimackinac, and were accom- panied by Father Marquette. Afterward. they established themselves at Detroit, their hinting-grounds extending into Northern Ohio. In 1778, remnants of the tribe were yet in Canada, while the one at Detroit was (+timated to comprise abont one hundred and righty warriors. In 1829, a small band of the tribe was located in Michigan. They mnumbered about forty, and were provided with annuities by the Government. Immedi- ately after the war of 1812, the principal por- tion of the Wyandots, numbering about six hundred, were established on the Sandusky River. on a tract of land eighteen miles long east and west, and twelve miles wide, In 1835, the Wyandots decided to sell a strip of land five miles wide on the eastern border of their reservation, and the land was accord- ingly thrown into market. In 1843, they all were transferred to Kansas, where they have since resided, and the land of their reserva tion was annexed to the adjoining counties.

The Shawanese are an erratic tribe of the Algonquin family. A tradition of recent ori- gin makes them one with the Kickapoo nation; but they moved eastward, and a part are said to have remained, in 1648, along the Fox River, while the main body was met south of Lake Erie by the Iroquois, and driven to the Cumberland River. Some passed thence to Florida, and some to Carolina. One band was

in Pennsylvania at the close of the seven- teenth century. Those in Florida lived at peace with the Spaniards, and afterward became known as Savannahs, or Yemassees. These retired to the Creeks, and finally joined the Northern Shawanese. The Iroquois claimed sovereignty over the Shawanese, and drove them west. In 1758, they aided the French; but, in 1781. sided with the English. They joined the conspiracy of Pontiac, and were active in war until subdued by Col. Bou- qnet. In 1774, enraged at the attacks of Col. Cressap, they roused most of the Western tribes, and. in October, defeated the Virgin- ians at Pleasant Point, but sned for peace the following year. Col. Bowman, who marched against them in 1779, was twice defeated. They joined the peace treaty of 1786, but took part in the Miami war, in the campaigns against Harmar and St. Clair, but were reduced by Gen. Wayne, and then entered the peace treaty of 1795. The main body was at this time on the Scioto, but a few had gone to Missouri, and another band had gone South. During the war of 1812. urged by Tecumseh and his brother, the Prophet, they endeavored to unite the Western Indians against the Americans: but those in Ohio remained faith- ful. The Missouri band ceded their land to the Government in 1825, and the Ohio band in 1831. In 1854, the band of Shawanese proper, living in that part of the Indian Ter- ritory now included in Kansas, and consisting of 1,600,000 acres, numbered 900; but at this time, or soon afterward, the tribal relations wore dissolved by treaty, and the lands divided in severalty. Besides these, there were, in 1872, ninety in the Quapan Agency, and 663 in the Sac and Fox Agency.

The Ottawas, when first known to the French explorers, wore located on the Mani- foulin Islands, and the northwest shore of the Michigan Peninsula. They believed in Mich- abou. " the great hare," a mythical personage who formed the earth and developed men from animals; in Mirabichi, god of the water: and in Missabizi. "the great tiger." Soon after 1649, they fled before the Iroquois to Green Bay, thence west beyond the Missis- sippi to the country of the Sioux, with whom they became involved in war, when they fell

The sketches of these four tribes have been taken from the American Cyclopedia.

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back to Chegoimegon before 1660, and finally to Mackinaw. The tribe became considerably divided here, one of the divisions settling near Detroit, and the other at Mackinaw, but finally passed over to Arbre Croche. The greater mimber of the Ottawas were in the last war with the French, and at its close, Pontiac, an Ottawa chief, and one of the ablest Indians of any tribe that ever lived, organized a vast conspiracy for the destruction of the English. They were under British influenee during the Revolution, and at this time numbered abont 1,500. They participated in the treaties of 1785. 1759 and 1795, and afterward, by other treaties, they acquired a tract of land on the Miami. thirty-four miles square. By the treaty of 1833. they ceded their land around Lake Michigan for land south of the Missouri River. and soon ceased to be a distinet band. A band of Ottawas at Maumee ceded 49,000 acres in 1536 to Ohio, and 200 emigrated to the Osage River, locating south of the Shaw- anese. Some 2230 remained and became seat- tered in detached bands. In 1867. they be- came citizens, and. in 1870, were removed to a reservation of 24,960 acres in the Indian Territory. Several thousand are yet living in scattered bands in Michigan and Canada, and all are self-supporting. The Delawares are a tribe of the Algonquin family, and, when first known to the whites, were dwelling in detached bands, under separate sachems, on the Delaware River. They styled themselves Renappi, or. as now written. Lepape, or Len- ui Lenape. The Dutch began trading with them in 1616, and enjoyed friendly intercourse with them until 1632, when the settlement at Swanendael was utterly destroyed by a sudden attack, but trade was soon afterward resumed. The Swedes made efforts to Christianize them, ind had Luther's Catechism printed in their language. The Delawares claim to have come from the West with the Mingoes, who soon afterward redneed them to a state of vassal- age, and, when they were conquered by the Five Nations, they were termed women by the latter. The Delawares formed three families or clans the Turkey. the Turtle and the Wolf. At the time of the " walking treaty," made by Penn. the Delawares complained that they had been defrauded in the interpre

tation of the treaty, and showed a reluctance to "walk," upon which the authorities called upon the Six Nations, who ordered the Dela- wares, as women, to retire. The Delawares were now thrown among warring people: and. though previously mild and peaceable, they now became energetic and savage, and con ducted their wars with great ferocity and courage. In a war with the Cherokees, they reached the Ohio River, where a portion ro- mained until 1773. They took up arms and fought with the F'reneh at Braddock's defeat, and elsewhere, but suffered so much from En- glish attacks that they finally treated for peace, part of them in 1757, and the others after the fall of Fort Du Quesne. They then centered on the Susquehanna, and a small number soon afterward came West and settled on the Muskingum. They took up arms in the border war. but were badly defeated at Bushy Run, in August. 1763, by Bouquet. Their towns on the Susquehanna were pil- laged and burned, many were killed and dis- persed, and, in 1768, they emigrated as a body to Ohio. In 1774, they were again badly defeated at Pleasant Point, and a part were afterward engaged in the Revolution. In 1772, the Christian Delawares settled on the Muskingiun (which, in early years, ex- tended as far north as the month of Sandy Creek), but were hastily removed to Sandusky in 1751. by the British. Early in the follow- ing year, ninety- four who returned were mur- dered by a party of enraged borderers under Col. Daniel Williamson. By the treaty of 1755, the Delawares occupied the soil between the rivers Cuyahoga and Miami. At this time, there were many scattered bands of Del- awares, several of which were Christian, and at peace with the whites. The main tribe at Grand Blaze, with 4SO warriors, was hostile, and 400, under Buckongchelas, were at the defeat of St. Clair in 1791; but, four years later, they joined the peace treaty at Green- ville. In ISOS, there were 500 at Wapemin- skink, a few at Sandusky, a few on the Mus- kingum (and Tuscarawas), and a large body at Fairfield, Canada. In ISIS, the Dela- wares, 1,800 strong, ceded their lands to the United States, and emigrated to Missouri. In 1529, many went to Kansas, and some to south

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of the Red River. In 1853. they sold all their lands to the United States, except their reservation in Kansas. During the last war. out of 201 able-bodied warriors, 170 enlisted and served in the army. They sold their lands. in 1868. to the Missouri Railroad. and settled on the Verdigris and Cone Rivers. In 1866, they became citizens, though their clans Turkey, Turtle and Wolf still exist.

The Delawares who lived along the Tuscar- awas and Muskingum Rivers were the princi- pal tribe with which Stark County has to deal. The lands upon which they lived did not really belong to them. but had been granted them by the Wyandots, whose headquarters were at Sandusky. when they immigrated to Ohio. Portions of the Delaware tribes through all the bloody Indian wars of the last half of the last century. were steadfast friends to the white settlers. and did all they could to ro- strain their young men. Sometimes they were successful. but oftener the headstrong young warriors, through the influence of the savage Shawanese, or at the instigation of British agents, refused to remain at peace, and took up the hatchet, notwithstanding the protests and entreaties of those who were opposed to war. From the fact that the Moravian missionaries were not only established along the Tuscara- was further south, but also in Stark County. the Indians in this part of the State were no doubt often counseled not to take up the hatchet against the borderers. It may also be reasonably concluded that the Delawares were often restrained from indulging in war through the influence of the missionaries. However, the Moravians could not do much. as there were always prominent chiefs in the tribe who were bitter enemies of the white borderers, and lost no opportunity to slaughter and pillage. The following, from the pen of a local writer, was written in 1846: "In 1762. an Indian village of forty wigwams was standing across the river from the post settle- ment. The spot where the dwellings stood. and the streets between them, as well as the place of carousal, and where they used to play ball, were plainly visible. So was their bury- ing-ground easily identified, as well as the havoc which some unprincipled fellows com- mitted about twenty years ago. in digging

after some silver trinkets, which the Indians used to bury with their dead. The graves were dug open, the silver taken out. and the bones scattered over the ground. Just across the river is the old missionary station. It is situated on the north side of the river. near its bank. about three- fourths of a mile above the bridge, on the road leading from Bolivar to Bethlehem. and just below a spur of the hill which approaches the river above it. The stones which had probably formed the back wall of the chimney form a heap of rubbish about two feet high. This is all there is left by which the site of the house can be identi- fied. The place where their garden was dif- fers from woods around it by the total want of heavy timber. This corresponds in all re- spects with the description given in Mr. Heck- "welder's journal." It will be remembered that Frederick C. Post, the missionary who is reputed to have been the first permanent white settler in Ohio. buitt his cabin in south- ern Bethlehem Township, where he lived in constant communication with the Indians for many years. The following, taken from the sketches of a local writer, more fully explains Mr. Post's surroundings: " The old Indian crossing-place at the Delaware capital (called Tusearawas). one mile north of Fort Lanrens, is a prominent landmark in the early geo- graphical division of Ohio, as well as the scene of the most important events that trans- pired in Stark County. Tuscarawas Town was located npon the bluff on the west side of the Tuscarawas River, at the mouth of Sandy, on land now ( February. IST7) owned by Sam- nel Burns, and was on the main trail from Fort Pitt to Sandusky." The writer goes on to say that near the southeastern corner of Bethlehem Township was the cabin built in 1761 by Frederick C. Post as a mission among the Indians. It was located about a mile from the crossing. on the east bank of the Tuscarawas. The trading-house of Calhoun was on the west side of the river, about fifty rods above the iron bridge. In 1764. the mil- itary expedition of Col. Bouquet followed the Indian trail west from Fort Pitt into the heart of the Wyandot and Indian country, crossed the Muskingum (now Tuscarawas) at the above-mentioned crossing-place, and pro-

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ceeded down the river to Goshegunk (Coshoc- ton). Post's house was about a mile north west of the Delaware capital. The Dela wares were at first disposed to dispute the right of Post and Heckewelder to eut down the forest around their cabin, and sent them word to desist, and to appear at the council the following day to give an account of their conduet. At the head of this couneil was Tamaque (or Beaver), the chief of the Dela- wares, who said to Post that the latter, instead of devoting his time in instructing the Indian children, was cutting down the forests and taking possession of the land, as all the whites unlawfully did. Post replied that, while his real object in coming into the Indian country was to instruct the children, yet he must make arrangements to live. He must have corn and vegetables, and could not raise them unless he had the necessary land. Finally, after some further amicable discussion, it was agreed that Post should have a garden, fifty steps square, and this land was stepped off the next day by the afterward famous, or infamous, Capt. Pipe. There was at this time quite a large Indian village at Navarre, or near there. A mile down the river from Post's house was a trader named Calhoun, and farther down was the Delaware capital (Tuscarawas), con- taining some forty wigwams. Post owned a canoe, and was in the habit of rowing up the river until near Navarre. when he would land, cut a quantity of cedar wood, load it in his boat. and return down the river. The wood was used in making tubs. ete .. for the Indians. The Indian capital about this time is sup- posed to have contained some 700 inhabitants. It is stated that the village was the capital of the Senecas, as well as the Delawares. No doubt but that, in the early border wars, white captives were held at this village, and very probably more than one white Indian slayer was tortured to death on this spot. Col. Bou- quet, in his expedition into the Indian coun- try passed through the southern part of the county. His object was to subdue the Indi- ans, or awe them into submission, and his army comprised some 1,500 men, all well armed and prepared, if necessary, to chastise the Indians in a manner they would not soon forget. Seeing the danger they were in, the

Indians came humbly forward and sued for peace. Col. Bouquet charged them with a wanton violation of their treaties, but the In dians, through their speakers, Turtle Heart, Custaloga and Beaver, vehemently asserted that they were unable to restrain their young men. Col. Bouquet demanded every white captive they had, and finally received some 300 of these unfortunates. "There were seen," says a writer in the Historical Record, " fath- ers and mothers recognizing and clasping their once captive little ones: husbands hung around their newly recovered wives; brothers and sisters met. after long separation, scarcely able to speak the same language, or to real- ize that they were children of the same par- ents. In those interviews, there were inex- pressible joy and rapture, while, in some cases, feelings of a very different character were manifested by looks or language. Many were flying from place to place, making cager in- quiries after relatives not found, trembling to | receive answers to their questions. distracted with doubts, hopes and fears; distressed and grieved ou obtaining no information of the | friends they sought, and, in some cases, petri- fied into living monuments of horror and woe on learning their unhappy fate." It is also said that "in some cases, strong attachments had grown up between the savages and their captives, so that they were reluctantly surren- dered, some even not without tears. accompa- nied with some token of remembrance."

The full force of all the sanguinary Indian wars during the last half of the eighteenth century fell upon the border settlements in Western Pennsylvania and Virginia, and Eastern Ohio. The savages were not slow in availing themselves of every opportunity to massaere the pioneers, destroy their homes, and drag large numbers of unfortunates into hopeless captivity. To retaliate, bands of daring borderers would invade the Indian country and slaughter many of the inhabit- ants. White men were bred to the one pur- suit of slaying Indians. Great rivalry existed among them, in the frontier settlements, as to who could strike the severest blow the far thest into the heart of the Indian country, and return in safety to the settlements with satisfactory proof of their deeds. They were

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taught from the cradle to hate the Indian. and their boyish tongues soon learned to lisp maledictions against the liated race. Indians were not merely killed to avenge wrongs done by them to the whites. The borderers courted death and danger from love of excitement, or because they desired to boast of their exploits, or because they expected pecuniary gain. Horse-stealing was a favorite pastime, in which both races indulged without restraint. and many of the most exciting individual contests recorded in border history were the result of these unlawful incursions. The dreadful and desultory border warfare be- came, in a measure, systematic. Rangers and scouts were to be found all along the frontier, who constantly penetrated the Indian domain to watch the movements of the war- riors, to warn settlers of impending attacks. and. if possible to rescue white captives. These daring men were often captured and made to feel the weight of savage vengeance in agonizing deatlıs by fire and torture. John Glover, who was captured during Crawford's campaign against Sandusky, and who escaped death at the stake as by a miracle, states that. while he was at Wapitomica, twelve captive white men were brought in from Kentucky, all of whom were tortured to death by the savages. A captive was first stripped naked, and then. by means of charcoal and water, was painted black (a sure omen of an awful death). He was then forced to run the gant- let. Two lines of Indian men, women and children were formed, two or three hundred yards in length. and about twelve feet apart. the men being armed with tomahawks, knives. and guns loaded with powder, and the women and children with bows and arrows, clubs. knives, etc., the object being to inflict all but death upon the runner, without checking or impeding his progress by a front fire. As the captive dashed through the lines at full speed, his body was shot full of powder, and ent and hacked in a frightful manner. After this. the whole hand pursued him round and round. beating, burning and torturing him in every conceivable manner, until death at last came to his relief. The body was then either cut in pieces and raised on poles, or given to the dogs! Thus ended the awful tragedy. Be-

yond question, the Delaware capital was the scene of incidents of this character. Perhaps the hills around Navarre have echoed with the frenzied death-cries of white men, and the dreadful yells of exulting savages. There is one conflict, between the Delawares and a small band of scouts from Pennsylvania (probably), the record of which may properly come within the limits of Stark County his- tory. An account of this was written a mun- ber of years ago by Dr. Shuisser, of Canton. and will be given in his words:

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History of Stark County, with an outline sketch of Ohio, Part 32

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892? ed Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Chicago, Baskin & Battey Number of Pages: 1060

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892? ed
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, Baskin & Battey
Number of Pages: 1060