History of Van Wert and Mercer counties, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 3

Author: Sutton, R., & Co., Wapakoneta, Ohio, pub
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Wapakoneta, Ohio : R. Sutton
Number of Pages: 878

USA > Ohio > Mercer County > History of Van Wert and Mercer counties, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 3
USA > Ohio > Van Wert County > History of Van Wert and Mercer counties, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 3

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).

* James Adair, after residing among the Indians for forty years, published a work in 1775, in which he advocates a Jewish descent, on the grounds of the fol. lowing facts and characteristics of the Indians :-

1. Their division into tribes. 2. Their worship of Jehovah. 3. Their notion of a theocracy. 4. Their belief in the ministration of angels. 5. Their language and dialect. 6. Their manner of counting time. 7. Their prophets and high priest«. 8. Their festivals, fasts, and rchgious rites. D. Their daily sacrifice

HISTORY OF VAN WERT AND MERCER COUNTIES, OIIIO.

Again, it is maintained they are the products of nature, and had their origin on the continent where found, and this has the traditions of the natives on its side. " The land you sleep on is ours; we sprung ont of the earth like the trees, the grass, and the flowers," said a Micmac chief in Nova Scotia to Colonel Cornwallis of the British army. "My father is the sun, and the earth is my mother. I will recline upon her bosom," said Tecumseh at the great council of Vincennes, as he seated himself upon the ground. Some of these theories are evidently strained, while many of the resultant conclusions are far fetched or even fanciful. Biology and ethnology have wandered back and back along the lines of man's descent, until they find themselves surrounded by savagery and barbarism on every hand. Still they have not despaired, but with a courage born of a love of truth and knowledge are groping slowly along in the midst of that darkness which envelops the origin-not of the American Indian alone -- but of the whole human race. Searching un- remittingly without a theory to sustain or a creed to support, we may expect honest enthusiasm and research to increase the knowledge of all, rather than labor for the support of a theory too soon embraced by either the few or the many.

Turn, then, from the question of their origin, wrapped, as it is, in the mantle of antiquity, and view them from the standpoint of their condi- tion at the advent of the whites. Let us look at some of their charac- teristics, customs, and modes of life. At the period of discovery, or during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the natives of the present domain of the United States would appear to have all sprung from the same original stock, except, perhaps, a few tribes along the gulf coast. With broad faces, they had prominent cheek bones, dark, heavy eyes, jet black hair, and skin of a dark copper color. A hundred dialects were spoken, but these all obtained from a common root. Of taciturn dispo- sition, they possessed great fortitude and would endure great suffering without an exhibition of emotion. With a simple form of government, their laws were so generally observed that transgressions were exceed- ingly rare. Their theology was as simple as their government, for they simply believed in a great Good Spirit and a great Evil Spirit. each supreme in its sphere, and then deified the sun, moon, stars, fire, water, wind, and every object or natural agency which appeared superior to themselves. Their only written language was rude picture writing on rocks, bark of trees, or skins of animals. Historical records and legends were transmitted from the memory of father to son, and so on down the lineal generations. Their dwellings were huts made of poles leaning to a common centre, and covered with bark or the skins of beasts. The men engaged in war, hunting, and fishing, while the women, true to all primitive ideas of their station, were fit only to perform all drudgery in common with that of the household. They bore all burdens during journeys, erected the tents or wigwams, prepared the food and clothing. wove the bed mats, and planted, cultivated, and gathered the crops of corn, beans, and tobacco wherever these were cultivated. In winter the skins of animals served the purpose of clothing for men and women alike, while in summer the men wore only a wrapper about the loins. They were sometimes tattooed in imitation of some object, and coloring matter being injected in the punctures rendered the ornamentation per- manent. They generally ornamented their persons by the use of the (laws of bears, the pearl of shells, and the plumage of birds. Their money was little shell tubes, fastened to belts or strung on thongs of deers' hide, and called wampum. These collections were used in trade, in treaties, and as tokens of friendship. Their weapons were bows and arrows, tomahawks or hatchets, war clubs, and scalping knives. Shields of bark and corselets of hide were sometimes worn for protection. The vivil governor of a tribe was called a sachem, and the military leader a chief. Proud and haughty. they had great respect for personal dig- nity and honor, until it was offensive to ask a chief or sachem his name,

10. Their ablutions and anointings. 11. Their laws of uncleanness. 12. Their abstinence from unclean things. 13. Their marriages, divorces, and punishment ufadultery. 14. Their severe punishments. 15. Their cities of refuge. 16. Their purifications and ceremonies preparatory to war. 17. Their ornaments. 18. Their manner of curing the sick. 19. Their burial of the dead. 20. Their mourning for the dead. 21. Their raising seed to a departed brother. 22. Their choice of nunes adapted to their circumstances and the times. 23. Their own traditions- the nerounts of English writers and the testimonies which the Spanish and other authors have given concerning the primitive inhabitants of Peru and Mexico.

because it implied he was unknown. "Look at the papers which the white people krep most carefully" (land cession treaties), "they will tell you who I am," replied Red Jacket the great Seneca leader.

With these elevated conceptions of the dignity of the men, they yet degraded the women to the condition of abject slavery. They were at best but mere beasts of burden or objects of convenience. They were not permitted to participate in the national sports or amusements, and could only sit about the fires as silent witnesses of the war dances or the horrid orgies after victory. The husband held absolute control of the destiny of the wife, even holding her life in his power, until she was deprived of all those associations and refining influences which give society the beauty, charm, and sanctity of refined womanhood. The mental status of the Indian was everywhere the same. His body was subjected to his will, and taciturnity was judicious where a sharp weapon was the immediate answer to an unguarded or insulting word. Physi- cal endurance was a virtue, and insensibility to fear or pain was indica- tive of sturdy manhood. Surprise or suffering must not produce a tremor, as the blanched cheek indicated weakness or cowardice. Thus the nerves and muscles were schooled until steeled against pain or fear they became the servants of the will. "Coward!" exclaimed Pontiac when he saw one of his warriors startled by the discharge of English musketry at Detroit, and instantly cleaved his head with a tomahawk.

The mind of the Indian revealed something of a poetic cast, for with a simple language he would adorn whole ideas with poetic beauty. His forms and figures of speech supplied the lack of words. Still it may be well to observe that the speeches of the chiefs or sachems come to us in the phraseology of an interpreter.

While the Indians exhibited many of the nobler traits of human nature, yet generally speaking they were cruel and relentless savages, even at the time of English settlement. Still some few notable excep- tions were found in the nations which formed the Iroquois Confederacy, and occupied the present State of New York, and some of the tribes in the milder climate of the Gulf.

The Iroquois Confederacy deserves more than a passing notice. Com- posed of five large families, each wearing the dignity and title of a nation, and named respectively, Mohawks, Oncidas. Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas; they were subdivided into tribes, each having a symbol or coat- of-arms, such as the bear, the wolf, or the eagle. This confederacy oceu- pied a belt of country extending across the State of New York and from the Hudson River to Lake Erie, between the Adirondacks and Catskill Mountains. The form of their government excited the admiration of Europeans on account of its wisdom and strength, by whom they were styled the "Romans of the New Work," because of many things held in common with the Romans, especially in military affairs. Here, as in old Rome, the sokliers were honored above all other citizens, until the warriors were possessed of all power. All action on the part of the civil authority, either of a nation or of the confederacy, was subject to review by the warriors, who called councils as they saw fit to pass upon any public measure. The civil authorities paid such deference to the military that they generally withheld decisions until the warriors couldl be consulted. Each nation being divided into several tribes, there were thirty or forty sachems in the league. These again had inferior officers under them, so that the civil power was widely distributed. Offices were conferred for merit, and held during good behavior. The coufi- dence and esteem of the people were the only rewards sought by either civil or military officers. Each nation was a republic, independent touching its own domestic administration, but bound to all by ties of interest and honor. Each had a voice in the General Council, and possessed something of a veto power as a guarantee against centralism. The chief magistrate had power to "light the great council fire"_con- vene the council-by sending a messenger to the sachem of each nation with a summons to attend the council. He had a cabinet of six coun- cillors, who exercised advisory powers. In council he was the presiding officer, but had no power to control military affairs or dictate the inter- nal policy of a nation. Public opinion was the only despot possessing coercive power. Even in theso councils women had a voice, for although they refrained from making speeches, the elderly women had a right to sit in council and exercise a negative or veto power on the subject of a declaration of war or a cessation of hostilities.

This, however, was the only instance among the many nations wherein

HISTORY OF VAN WERT AND MERCER COUNTIES, OHIO.

women were treated with such consideration. The military leaders, like the civil officers, derived their authority from the people, and the army was composed of volunteers alone, for no conscriptive power existed anywhere. Custom bound every able-bodied man to do military duty, and he who shirked was branded a coward, and everlastingly disgraced by the only despotic power-Public Opinion. The army ranks were ever full, the war dance and amusement assemblies serving as recruiting stations, whereat the veteran warriors, painted and decorated, sang wild, weird songs of brave deeds while they daneed in frantic measures about the public fires. Freedom was apparent everywhere, for so deep was their reverence for the inalienable rights of man that they abhorred slavery until it was too odious to even practise toward their captives of war.

This confederacy was probably formed about the beginning of the fifteenth century, and strengthened by union they had grown greater, and were constantly extending the boundaries of their empire. Like all unlettered nations, with an unrecorded history and obscure origin, they tinted their traditions by the supernatural and miraculous. It is the same old, old story, old as tradition, and chimerical as a dream.

The teeming East is the mother of historic myths, in which figure the divine grandeur of the founders of nations. Hear the same story float- ing down the years, borne by the breezes from Central Asia, from Paradise, from Eden, and from the garden, whispering of the root of languages, the germ of religion, and the basis of laws So, too, we find it illustrated in Hiawatha, the founder of the Iroquois Confederacy. Their tradition relates that this personage came from the serenity of the skies, and took up his abode with the Onondagas, then the most favored of the Five Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy. The Onon- dagas occupied a central position, the Mohawks and Oneidas being on their east, and the Cayugas and Senecas to the west. Hiawatha taught them the beauty of friendship and good-will, and the advantage of the cultivation of the earth and fixed habitations. He was revered as the incarnation of wisdom, and was yet among them when fierce warriors came down like an icy blast from the land north of the great lakes, slaying every human being in their path. Hiawatha advised these nations to call a council of wise men to effect a confederacy to oppose the onslaught of the furious enemy from the north. His advice was liceded, and the chief men of the Five Nations, attended by their women and children, gathered on the bank of Onondaga Lake, and to each representative of the different nations was assigned a particular position and title. Here the dignified Mohawk met the fiery Seneca, and all awaited the presence of Hiawatha, who finally came across the lake in a mysterious canoc, accompanied by his beautiful danghter. As he anal his child landed, and were ascending the shore, a strange sound was beard, resembling the rushing of the wind. In the distant sky a white speck was seen, which grew larger as it approached, in swift descent, the spot where was gathered the great assembly. As it neared the multitude it assumed the shape of a bird, and threatening to fall upon the council ground the people all fled except Hiawatha and his daughter. "Stand still, my child, it is cowardly to fly from any danger, The decrees of the Great Spirit may not be averted by flight," were the words in which he addressed his daughter. As he finished speaking, the bird, an enormous white heron, with extended wings, fell upon the child with such force as to crush her to the earth. So violent was its fall that its head was buried in the ground, and both bird and child perished. Hiawatha showed no sign of emotion; not a muscle was moved by the awful calamity, but he calmly beckoned the warriors who came forward and plucked the white plumes of the dead bird, and each placing one on his head wore it as a commemorative decoration. This plume became the national ensign and memento of the origin of the union. On the removal of the body of the bird, no trace of the child was found. Hiawatha was moody for a time, but the people waited in silent reverence until he aroused himself, and proceeded to the discharge of duty. At the head of the council, guiding its action, he was seated on a mossy stone, clad In a wolf-skin mantle and a tunic of soft fur hung from his waist. He was without ornaments, but upon his feet were rich moccasins, while on his head was a cap formed of a band of soft deer- skin covered with the plumage of various birds. Near him sat the chief warriors and councillors of the tribe, who joined in the brief debates and listened to the wise words of Hiawatha.

After hearing the discussion, he arose and addressed the assembly by nations, pointing to each as he spoke. "You ( Mohawks) who are sit- ting under the shadow of the Great Tree, whose roots sink deep into the earth, and whose branches spread wide around, shall be the first nation, nearest the rising of the sun, because you are warlike and mighty. You (Oneidas) who recline your bodies against the Everlasting Stone, em- blem of wisdom that cannot be moved, shall be the second nation, be- cause you always give wise council. You (Onondagas) who have your habitation at the foot of the Great Hills, and are overshadowed by the crags, shall be the third nation, because you are all greatly gifted in speech. You (Cayugas) the people who live in the Open Country and possess much wisdom, shall be the fourth nation, because you under- stand better the art of raising corn and beans, and making houses. You (Senecas) whose dwelling is the Dark Forest nearer the setting sun, and whose home is everywhere, shall be the fifth nation, because of your superior cunning in hunting. Unite, you five nations, and have one common interest, and no foe shall disturb or subdue you. You. the people, who are as the feeble bushes, and you who are a fishing people (Delawares from the sea-shore) may place yourselves under our protec- tion, and we will defend you. And you of the south and west may do the same, we will protect you. We earnestly desire the alliance and friendship of you all. Brothers, if we unite in this great bond, the Great Spirit will smile upon us, and we shall be free, prosperous, and happy. But if we remain as we are, we shall be subject to his frowu. We shall be enslaved, ruined, perhaps annihilated. We may perish under the war storm, and our names be no longer remembered by good men, nor repeated in the dance and song. Brothers, these are the words of Iliawatha. I have said it. I am donc."

The confederation was formed the next day, and the mission of Hia- watha was accomplished; so after further advice he announced his pur- pose of returning to his divine habitation. In the presence of the silent multitude he entered his mysterious canoe, when suddenly the air filled with music like the warbling of birds, and the canoe rose in the air higher and higher, until lost to view in the blue depths of the sky.

Atatarho, an Onondaga chief who was eminent for valor and wisdom. was chosen sachem of the confederation. When a delegation of Mohawks approached him to notify him of the honor, he was found seated in grita solitude in the dark recess of a swamp, smoking his pipe, with drinking vessels about him made of the skulls of his enemies. The delegation could not go near him, as he was clothed with hissing serpents -- the emblems of wisdom. While standing at a distance their leader ap- proached, and made known their errand. Atatarho then arose and accepted the honor, the serpents were transformed into a mantle of bear's skin, and following the delegation the president of the league went to the council and declared his willingness to do the desires of the sages and warriors of the confederated nations.

From that time forward the Iroquois Confederacy was invincible, until the craft and power of the white man first paralyzed and finally destroyed it.

When permanent settlements were undertaken by the whites early in the 16th century, the dusky inhabitants, as already observed, were found speaking about one hundred different dialects, although there were but eight radically distinct nations. These were known as the Algonquins, Huron-Iroquois, Cherokees, Catawbas, U'chees, Natchez, Mobilians or Floridians, and Dakotahs or Sioux. The term Algonquin was applied by the French to a large collection of tribes north and south of the great lakes, who spoke different dialeets of the same language. They occupied the territory now comprised by Canada and New Eng- land, part of New York and Pennsylvania, all of New Jersey, Delaware. Maryland, and Virginia, castern North Carolina above Cape Fear, a part of Kentucky and Tennessee, and all north and west of these States cast of the Mississippi River.

The Algonquin nation embraced the Huron-Iroquois, who occupied parts of Canada, New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, with a few seat- tered families in Virginia, North Carolina, and the Iroquois confederacy of the State of New York.

The Cherokees inhabited the fertile upper region of Georgia, and were called the mountameers of the South, being also the most formidable foe of the conquering Iroquois.

The Catawbas were their eastern neighbors, who dwelt on the borders 1

HISTORY OF VAN WERT AND MERCER COUNTIES, OIIIO.

of the Yadkin and Catawba Rivers. Although the Iroquois made incursions in that country, they never subjugated the Catawbas.

The Uchees were the remnant of a powerful people, and lived in the beautiful region of Georgia between the present sites of Augusta and Milledgeville. They claimed to have descended from a people more ancient than any of their neighbors, and preserved traditions telling of migrations from a far-away country.

The Natchez occupied the territory east of the Mississippi reaching northward from the site of Natchez along the Pearl River to the head- waters of the Chickasaw, and claimed to be an older nation than the Uchees. Like all the Indians of the gulf region, they were fire and sun worshippers, and offered sacrifices to these deities.

The Mobilians or Floridians occupied a large territory bordering along the Gulf of Mexico. It extended along the Atlantic coast from the mouth of Cape Fear to the extremity of the peninsula of Florida and westward to the Mississippi River. Their jurisdiction extended up that river to the mouth of the Ohio. The nation was divided into three confederacies, known as the Creek, Choctaw, and Chicasaw.

Under the title of Dakotahs or Sioux a vast number of tribes west of the Mississippi River have been grouped. They spoke dialects of the same language, and were by the French explorers regarded as one nation. They have been arranged in four classes, namely: the Winnebagoes, Assinniboins or Sioux proper, the Minetarees, and the Southern Sioux. At this period they were not stationary or fixed residents of a domain, nor was there any semblance of a national government except that of the Iroquois confederation. They had wandered about for centuries, and yet they were not strictly a nomadie people. Neither were they agriculturists, but like primitive man they were hunters and fishers, who depended upon the chase and hook for employment and sustenance.

Turn now to a hasty glance at the Indians of the lower gulf region, whose hue of skin, features, and texture of hair resembled that of the natives of the north, but whose habits of life were mollified and softened either by descent, or contact with the tribes of Central and South Ame- ries. The men were well proportioned and active, while the women were smaller, well formed, and often beautiful. In cold weather the men wore a mantle made of a sort of cloth manufactured of the inner bark of beech and interwoven with hemp. This was thrown over the shoul- der, leaving the right arm exposed, while around the loins was encircled a short tunic. The richer men wore mantles of feathers of every hue, or the skins of fur-bearing animals with deer-skin tunics wrought in colors, and moccasins of the same material. The women of the higher class, during the cooler season, wore a garment of cloth or feathers or fur wrought like the mantles of the men. This was folded closely about the body, and fell gracefully below the waist. Their heads were always uncovered, while the men wore skulleaps of cloth oruamented with sea shells, claws of beasts, or strings of pearl. Pearl pendants were some- times suspended from the cars. In summer the only clothing of both sexes was a drapery of what is called Spanish moss, gathered from the trees. This was fastened at the waist and fell below in graceful negli- genee. The chiefs, prophets, and other principal men and their wives painted their breasts in stripes of white, yellow, and red, while some tattooed their bodies. The spacious houses of the chiefs stood upon large mounds that were ascended by steps of wood or carth. The dwell- ings were built of timber, often in the form of a pavilion with a broad piazza. They were covered with palmetto leaves or thatched with straw. The winter houses were daubed with clay. Their weapons were string bows and arrows and javelins. The arrows were made of dried cane tipped with buck-horn and pointed with flint of fish-bones, and were car- ried in a quiver made of the skin of the fawn. The warriors all wore shields in battle, composed of wood, split cane, or alligator or buffalo hide. On the left arm was a small bark shield to protect it from the rebound of the bowstring. Another weapon was a short sword made of hard wood. If a chief wished to make war, he sent a party by night toward the enemy's town to stick arrows in the ground at the cross-pathy or other conspicuous phares, and from these arrows suspended long locks of human hair as tokens of scalping ; then assembling his painted war- riora, after wild ceremonies he would take a vessel of water and sprinkle it about, saying, "Thus may you do with the blood of your enemies ;" then raising another vessel, he would pour the water upon the fire, and as it was extinguished he would say, "Thus may you destroy your ene.

mies and bring home their scalps." After battle the bodies of captives were cruelly mutilated. Their scalps were placed upon poles in the public square, where the people danced about in celebration of the tri- umph, as they sang or rather chanted wild songs of joy.

Hunting, fishing, and the cultivation of rich lands were the chief em- ployments of the people. Hemp and flax were both known and culti- vated. The women assisted in the fields, which yielded large returns for the labor bestowed. The productions were stored in granaries of stone and earth covered with mats. Salt was obtained by evaporation. Pottery was made and used for kitchen service, some of which was skil- fully and even beautifully formed. They were skilful artisans, as shown by their arms, canoes, and ornaments. Fortifications with meats or (litches were constructed which evinced something of military skill. Some of their temples were grand and imposing, with steep roofs of split cane matting closely interwoven. At the entrances, or within, some of the temples, were wooden statues of persons entombed in the sacred place. Rich offerings of pearls and deer skins were seen in these edifices, all dedicated to the sun, the great and good God of their theology. That theology was very simple. The sun was the supreme deity, while the moon and stars were venerated as a little inferior to the stin. In all invocations the appeals were made to the sun : " May the sun guard you!" "May the sun be with you!" being usual forms of invocation.

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History of Van Wert and Mercer counties, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 3

Author: Sutton, R., & Co., Wapakoneta, Ohio, pub Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Wapakoneta, Ohio : R. Sutton Number of Pages: 878

Author: Sutton, R., & Co., Wapakoneta, Ohio, pub
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Wapakoneta, Ohio : R. Sutton
Number of Pages: 878