History of Van Wert and Mercer counties, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 38

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 38
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 38

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).

Fort Amanda was situated near the west bank of the Auglaize River. with about an acre of land. The pickets were from ten to twelve feet high. and sunk two or three feet in the ground. There were four block-houses. one at each corner; the second story projected over the pickets three or four feet, and was pierced with portholes, from which the soldiers coul.] defend the fort in case of attack. The first story was occupied by sol- diers and company officers as sleeping rooms. The block-house in the southeast corner was the largest, and used mainly as officers' quarters.

There was also a large cabin in the centre of the fort, which was used as a storehouse for supplies for the army, as the soldiers wintered ail one winter, if not two. at this point. Again, the old fort was used as one of the first post-offices in Allen County, as well as the first place of preaching.

Fort Amanda served as an intermediate storehouse and point of con- centration between St. Marys, Urbana, and Upper Sandusky on the one side, and Forts Wayne and Defiance on the other. Here a cemetery was established for the interment of the Nation's dead during the occu- pation of the fort. This cemetery was continued in use by the whites after the settlement, and is still a monument to that army. As conflict- ing reports are still current as to the number of soldiers here interrel. an effort has been made to obtain information through all channels yielding a promise of data.

In this direction an application was made to the War Department through the courtesy of Hon. James A. Garfield-of revered memory and undying fame-with the result portrayed in the subjoined letter :-

WAR DEPARTMENT, ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,

WASHINGTON, April 26, 1850. Hon. J. A. GARFIELD. M. C., House of Representatives.

SIB: I have the honor to return herewith the letter of your corre- spondent, Mr. Sutton, referred to this office by your indorsement of th. 19th instant, and to inform you that there is no record in this office of " Fort Amanda, Ohio," or its garrison.

The records of the " War of 1812" do not show the place of burial in any case, and nothing relating to the subject of Mr. Sutton's inquiry can be found in the records of this office, which for 1813 and 1814 are incomplete, having been partially destroyed by the British forces in 1814

I have the honor to be, Sir, very respectfully,

Your obedient servant, E. D. TOWNSEND, Adjutant-General.

As already intimated, St. Marys became a source of supplies, but in November the roads became so heavy that it was impossible to remove provisions, About the Ist of December Major Bodley, quartermaster of the Kentucky troops, made an effort to transport two hundred barrel- of flour down the St. Marys River to the left wing of the army below Defiance. About twenty pirogues and canoes were laden and place i under command of Captain Jordon and Lieutenant Cardwell, with aboat twenty men. About a week later they reached Shane's crossing, having moved about one hundred miles by water, while the distance by lan.1 would scarcely exceed twenty miles. Here the freeze of one night blocked the river, and left them ice-bound. Lieutenant Cardwell returned over ice and swamp to Fort Barbee to report the situation. Major Bodley returned with him to the provisions and offered extra reward to any who would cut the ice and push forward. This was tried but soon proved impracticable, as two days' labor only advanced the boats about a mile.

The project was now abandoned, and the boats left under guarl About the middle of the month a thaw ocenrred which enabled the de. tachment to reach near Fort Wayne, when they were again frozen in,

HISTORY OF VAN WERT AND MERCER COUNTIES, OHIO.

117

The voyage was then abandoned, sleds constructed, and the provisions transported to the fort by land. In the mean time much suffering had been occasioned to the army of General Winchester, as they were with- out flour from the 10th to the 221.

Thus, until the concentration of the troops in the north a base line of supplies extended from St. Marys by the Auglaize to the Rapids, while the foriner place, protected by Fort Barbee, continued an important storehouse during all the preliminary preparations for the march against Malden and Detroit. The last commander of Fort Barbee was Captain John Whistler, who had been a soklier from his youth, came to America with Burgoyne's army, and was taken prisoner at Saratoga. Remain- ing in the United States after the war, he entered the Western army under St. Clair and survived the defeat of November, 1791, at which time he acted as sergeant. In 1793 an order came from the War Office offering the commission of ensign to any non-commissioned officer who would muster twenty-five recruits. In this way Captain Whistler ob- tained his first commission, and then rose to a captaincy, commanding, in succession, Forts Barbee (St. Marys), Wayne ( Ft. Wayne), and Dear- born (Chicago).

Nothing transpired of moment within our local limits after the peace treaty with Great Britain in 1815 until the Indian treaty entered into at St. Mary's in 1818. Generals Cass and Me Arthur acted as commis- sioners on the part of the United States on this occasion. The nego tiations commenced September 17, and concluded October 6, 1818. The treaty ground extended from old Fort Barbec west, on the north side of the west branch of the St. Marys River up as far as the cemetery site of to-day. A large force of Indians attended this conference. Such famous chiefs as Tecumseh, Black-Hoof, Logan, Blue Jacket, and Cap- tain Johnny belonged to the tribes represented.

In this treaty all Indian grants are called reservations. Thus the Shawnees had their reservation about Wapakoneta, while the Ottawas held grants farther down the Auglaize River. These tribes inherited strong prepossessions for lands on the St. Marys River, partly on ac- count of the excellent quality of the land, but chiefly on account of its location between the chief Indian town on the Maumee, now Ft. Wayne, and the different settlements of whites. They always selected the forest lands, with reference to springs, water-courses, and fertility of soil. The treaty of 1818 extinguished the Indian title to all lands within the limits of Ohio, except a number of small tracts which were expressly reserved.

The following incident apropos of this occasion is related on the au- thority of Judge McCulloch :-

The Governors of Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan, with many leading citizens from these States and Kentucky, were present. Among the Indians was Kalosital, who was over six feet high, and weighed about two hundred pounds. He was further described by the Judge " as the most perfect specimen of physical manhood " he had "ever looked upon," and was confident he could out-jump or throw down any man in the Northwest. Pending the negotiations a grand hopping match occurred, and Kalosital distanced all competitors by clearing fifty feet at two hops and a jump. A match was then arranged with Tom Wilson, a noted wrestler, and the Indian. Kalositah offered to bet the Judge he could throw Wilson, and the Judge finally staked a silk necktie against a wrought silk belt worn by the Indian. The contestants took holds, and Kalositah allowed his antagonist to exert his utmost before himself taking the aggressive. Wilson employed every art and energy, but all in vain ; the Indian appeared planted and could not be moved. At length Kalositah said, "Now me," and lifting Wilson, laid him upon the ground as he would a child. A second trial ended with the same result, and Wilson gave up the contest. Kalosital, thinking perhaps the contest was too easy, magnanimously returned the necktie to the Judge. Again, a stalwart negro from Kentucky was pitted against the Indian. This negro was believed able to throw almost any man he might meet. On this occasion the contest was sharp but decisive, for the "Now me" of the Indian was sooner heard, and was the same signal of his success. Stung to the quick, the negro arose in a passion, only to be again hurled to the ground. Ou rising the third time, be threatened to whip the Indian, but fighting was not allowed. It will not be considered amiss to relate another incident of the brave, although it occurred at West

Liberty. In 1832 he wrestled with John Norris, a saddler of that town. The Indian probably came on a challenge from Norris, who appears to have possessed considerable conceit. If so, the latter made a grave mistake, for be is said to have been " no more a match for Kalosital than a poodle for a mastiff." The contest was scarcely worth the name, being brief and decisive. With his irresistible "grape-vine twist," Kalositah snapped a leg of his antagonist as if it had been a pipe-stem. The friends of Norris interposed, crying, " You have broken his leg, Kalo- sitah; you have broken his leg." The imperturbable Indian only replied, " Leg must be rotten," and left Norris to be borne from the fieldl.

The old Fort Barbee stood a little north of the old gravel pit, and in the southeast corner of the Lutheran Cemetery. One of the gate-pasts was to be seen until late years. There was a block-house near. Old "Charley Murray," of whom we shall speak hereafter, had his cabin where the gravel pits are now. The boarding-house tents for the accom- modation of the commissioners, their secretaries, agents, and officers, were put up along where the little brick house stands, south of Main Street. This boarding-house was built and kept by the Edsalls, who afterward removed to Shane's Prairie, and then to Fort Wayne. The Indians were encamped by tribes. The timber had all been cut off hy the Indians who constituted Girty's Town. Afterwards it was cleared off during the occupation of the army of Harrison in the winter of 1812-13. This leads me to speak of those who were present. The Edsalls had lived at Fort Greenville, where they had kept boarding-house. Having knowledge of the approaching treaty, they came up from Greenville to- gether with John Armstrong, afterwards Judge Armstrong. He came June, 1818, about a month before the negotiations commenced. IIe built his cabin near the sand-bank of Squire Dowty's, and cleared a patch a little farther up the creek. These were the first white settlers in this part of the county except old Charley Murray, who was at the time of the treaty in jail in Troy. O., awaiting his trial for the murder of Thracker. Two sisters of Thracker lived in the old block-house. Murray had some grudge against him and waylaid him between the two crossings of Loramie, at a deep hollow, ever since known as Thracker's Run, and caused a hired man of his, one Meyers, to shoot him. Murray was afterwards tried at Troy, but was acquitted upon the plea that Meyers was simple minded and fired without his orders. He used to say, however, that " nothing went right with him afterwards." Murray, with William A. Houston, in 1820 entered a large amount of land here, and soon afterwards laid out the town plat of St. Marys.

When Murray came, is not now very certain. It has been stated that Girty, being afraid to stay so near the white settlements, sold out his interests and stock in trade to Murray in 1795, and went down to the Maumee.

Judge Burnet, in his Notes, p. 70, says, " that the judges and lawyers who attended the General Court at Detroit, under the Territorial Gov- ernment, took the route by Dayton, Piqua, Loramie's, St. Marys, and the Ottawa town on the Auglaize, and from thence down that river to Defiance; thence to the foot of the Rapids, and thence down the river Raisin to Detroit. But onee they crossed the Maumee at Rock De Boeuff. and passed through a succession of wet prairies, and after two and a half days of incessant toil and difficulty they arrived at the Ottawa village. To their great mortification and disappointment, they were informed that 'Blue Jacket' had returned from Cincinnati a day or two ago with a large quantity of whiskey, and that his people were on a high frolic. They could not remain in the village, and bad a wet, swampy path of twelve miles to pass over to the St. Marys, through a valley swarming with gnats and mosquitos. They started. Night overtook them in the middle of the swamp; there was no moon, and the forest very dense; they could not keep the path, nor sce to avoid the quag. mires on every side. After remaining in that uncomfortable condition five or six hours, expecting every moment that their horses would break away, daylight made its appearance. About sunrise they arrived at the old Fort St. Marys at the crossing of St. Marys, then occupied by Charles Murray and his squad, where they got breakfast, and proceeded on their way to Cincinnati."

We need not enter into a statement of the general operations and final results of the War of 1812. It was a national war, and its scope and effects cannot be compressed within the scope of a local history.

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HISTORY OF VAN WERT AND MERCER COUNTIES, OHIO.

The history of that war is written and its results are the inheritance of the nation to-day. The long contemplated attack against Malden and the contemplated naval armament were both realized by the land and naval forces of the northwest army, for General Harrison found Malden sitting in lonely ruins, after Commodore Oliver Hazzard Perry had sent from the bosom of Lake Erie, under date of September 10, 1813, at 4 o'clock P. M., the memorable message: " Dear General, we have met the enemy and they are ours-two ships, two brigs, one schooner, and a sloop." It is also needless to more than refer to the closing battle of the Thames, in which the American forces won as lasting fame as any army ever earned, and which was signalized by the death of the humane but savage chief. Tecumseh, and the ignoble flight of the inhuman yet civilized monster, General Proctor.

GENERAL WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON

was born February 9, 1773, at Berkley, on the banks of Jaunes River, twenty-five miles from Richmond, Virginia. Benjamin Harrison, his father, was one of the distinguished patriots of the American Revolu- tion. In 1774, 1775, and 1776 he represented the State of Virginia in Congress, and was chairman of the Committee of the whole House when the Declaration of Independence was adopted. In the year 1777 he was chosen Speaker of the House of Delegates of Virginia, which posi- tion he filled until 1782, when he became Governor of the State. The character of the father was effective in moulding that of the son, as the history of Gen. Harrison will amply show.

Passing over the youthful life of William Henry Harrison, we first find him entering public life as aid-de-camp to General Anthony Wayne. Hle was next appointed by Gen. Wayne as Secretary of the Northwestern Territory in the year 1797, he being then in his twenty-fourth year. The Northwestern Territory at that time was under the government of Gen. St. Clair and comprised the whole of the States of Ohio, Indiana, Ilii- nois, and the Territory of Michigan.

In 1799 he was elected delegate to represent the Northwestern Terri- tory in Congress, and served one year. In 1801 he was appointed by President Adams as Governor of that part of the Northwest Territory called the Indian Territory. It consisted of three settlements: 1. Clarke's Grant of one hundred and fifty thousand acres of land at the falls of the Ohio, which had been granted to Gen. Clarke's regiment of Virginia troops as compensation for services during the Revolutionary war. 2. The old Friends' settlement at Vincennes and its vicinity on the Wabash. 3. A tract lying on the Mississippi and known as the French settlement, extending from Kaskaskia to Cahokia, about sixty- one miles.

All the immense region beyond these settlements was in the posses- sion of the Indians, so that the duties of the Governor were more than nominal; they were arduous. The hostility of the Indians, as well as the intrigues of the British agents, must be met and opposed. British agents had established posts and factories within the bounds prescribed by the treaty of 1783, and resorted to every measure of intrigue and falsehood to induce the Indian nations to believe that the Americans were their enemies, and that on the other hand they were indebted to King George for everything they obtained.

General Harrison therefore took the ground that the Indians were the mere tools of British and foreign intrigue, and both in peace and war were troublesome neighbors. As a civil governor he was eminently qualified by education and talent as well as by experience in the art of Indian warfare. This fact is clearly established by reference to the numerous treaties with the Indians, by which seventy millions of acres of land were from time to time ceded to the United States, the condition of the savages themselves ameliorated, and the American citizens pro- tected in the enjoyment of their property and rights.

General Harrison, to secure the confidence of the Indian nations, in 1801 had communicated with chiefs of all the tribes inhabiting the ter- ritory over which he presided-he having visited all the tribes west of the Mississippi and about Lakes Superior, Huron, and Erie repeatedly before the year 1401. The greatest difficulty he had to encounter arose from the ideas which were inculcated among the tribes by the British agents and traders. The idea prevailed that the United States had resolved to destroy the Indians, take possession of their lands-which,

however, was not to be accomplished by war, but by the introduction of smallpox, which would be communicated to them through the goods they would receive.

To counteract this belief Gen. Harrison resolved to have a public con. ference, at which he would explain the principles of the American Gov. ernment and its wishes in regard to the Indian tribes. Accordingly on September 12, 1802, the Pottawatomies, Kickapoos, Eel River, Miamis. Weas, Piankishaws, and Kaskaskias assembled, but the Miamis and Del- awares would not attend.

On September 17, 1802, an agreement was entered into between the General and these Indian nations, by their chiefs, whereby all difficulties were finally adjusted.

On August 13, 1803, Gen. ITarrison entered into a treaty with the Kaskaskia tribe by which the whole of that extreme country formerly possessed by all the tribes of the Illinois Indians, with the exception of the Peorias, was ceded to the United States in consideration of an an- nuity of three hundred and ninety-six dollars and sixty-six cents, and an additional five hundred dollars for the cession of eight millions of acres of excellent land.

On the 19th and 27th of August, 1804, he concluded treaties with the Delawares and Piankishaws, by which the United States acquired all the country which lies between the Ohio and Wabash rivers, as far up as the road leading from Vincennes to Louisville. It has a front of three hun- dred miles on the Ohio and about one hundred and forty on the Wabash River. The Piankishaws, in addition to their five hundred dollar an- nuity granted them by the treaty of Greenville, received seven hundred dollars in goods and two hundred dollars per annum for ten years, and the Delawares an additional annuity of three hundred dollars for the same length of time.

About July, 1804, the Sac and Fox Indians ceded to the United States upwards of fifty-one millions of aeres, the largest tract of land ever ceded in one treaty by the Indians since the settlement of North America. It commeneed at the mouth of the Illinois River, and extended to the mouth of the Quisconsing on the one side, and from the mouth of the Illinois to near the head of the Fox River on the other side: thence from the head of the latter a line is drawn to a point thirty-six miles above the mouth of the Quisconsing, which formus the northern boundary.

The terms were two thousand two hundred and eighty-four dollars in goods; an annuity of one thousand dollars, and also in goods. six hun- dred dollars to the Saes, and four hundred to the Foxes.

On April 30, 1803, France ceded to the United States for sixty mil- lions of francs the whole colony or province of Louisiana, with its islands and dependencies. It was annexed to the territory of Indiana, and placed under the government of General Harrison, who presided over the most extensive territory ever before committed to the charge of any officer in the L'nited States.

In the middle of Angust, 1805, a convention of chiefs for the Indian tribes assembled at Vincennes, and a treaty was concluded which settled the dispute made by the Delawares in 1804, but a further cession to the United States made of the land which lies to the south of the line drawn from the northeast corner of the tract coded by the treaty of Fort Wayne, and striking the general boundary line running from the mouth of the Kentucky River to Fort Recovery, at the distance of fifty miles from its commencement, for which the Miamis received an annuity of six hundred dollars, The Eel River tribe an annuity of two hundred and fifty dollars. The Weas an annuity of two hundred and fifty dollars. The Pottawatomies an additional annuity of five hundred dollars for one year, and no longer, together with four thousand dollars paid them in gold.

September 30, 1809, Gen. Harrison contracted a treaty at Fort Wayne with the Miamis, Eel Rivers, Delawares, and Pottawatomie tribes for all that tract of country which shall be inclosed in the boundary lines established by the treaty of Fort Wayne. With the Kickapoos he made a separate treaty, and the number of aeres in these cessions were two million nine hundred thousand acres, by giving annuities to cach tribe.

Gen. Harrison fought the famous battle of Tippecanoe on the Wabash (the Indians being under the control of the Prophet), during the absence of Tecumseh, who was then in the South. 1

IHISTORY OF VAN WERT AND MERCER COUNTIES, OHIO.

119

November 7, 1811, Gen. Harrison marched from Fort Harrison on the Wabash, to the Prophet's town, on October 28, with an army of nine hundred men, composed of the Kentucky and Indiana militia, and the 4th United States Regiment, and encamped within nine miles of the Prophet's town, on November 5. He approached the town the next day, and the chief asserted that he desired peace. Harrison assented to a cessation of hostilities until the next day, but that night the sentinels discovered some Indians stealthily creeping upon them as they paced their solemn rounds. One of the sentinels fired, the shot was answered by the wild Indian shout of defiant war, and the battle was opened. The Prophet commanded from five hundred to one thousand men, who were placed under three chiefs. White Soon, Stone Eater, and a treach- erous Pottawatomie chief named Winnemac. The Indians were routed and dispersed, and abandoned their town, which the army proceeded to destroy, tearing down the fortifications and burning the buildings. This battle was fought out on the general plan of Gen. Wayne's rules of In- dian warfare, and was a most decisive victory, for which Gen. Harrison justly received great praise and commendation.

In the battle of Tippecanoe, the loss of Gen. Harrison was probably greater than that of the Indians. Thirty-eight Indians were left dead upon the field, while of the Americans fifty were killed and nearly one hundred wounded.

On May 15, 1812, General Harrison held a grand council with the Indians, the following tribes being represented-the Wyandots, Chippe- was, Ottawas, Delawares, Ecl River, Miamis, Weas, Piankishaws, Shaw- nese, Kickapoos, and others who made strong professions of friendship for the United States.

On June 18, 1812, Congress declared war against Great b .. cain, when General Harrison, foresecing the necessity of having the Indian tribes under his control, immediately commenced organizing the military for any emergency, he having received intelligence that a combination more formidable than any previous one existed among the Indian tribes.

On Aug. 22, 1812, Gen. Harrison was commissioned a Brigadier-Gen- eral and assigned the command of all the forces in Indiana and Illinois countries, with instructions to cooperate with Gen. Hull and Governor Howe of the Missouri country.

On Aug. 25, 1812, Gen. Harrison received his commission as Major- General from Governor Scott of Kentucky, and was authorized to take command of a detachment now marching to Detroit to be reinforced with another regiment which he had called into service, and an addi- tional body of mounted rifleinen.

On Aug. 29, 1812, he left Cincinnati and marched to the relief of Fort Wayne, taking the route by Dayton and Piqua, arriving at the latter place September 3d. Ile detached Col. Allen's regiment with two com- panies of Col. Scott's to make forced marches for its relief, and a regi- ment of seven hundred mounted men under the command of Col. Adams advanced as far as Shane's crossing on the St. Marys. At Girty's town or St. Marys Gen. Harrison ordered block-houses to be built, and a corps of mounted volunteers under Major R. M. Johnson arrived, which made the army consist of twenty-two hundred men.

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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 38

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