History of Wayne County, Ohio, Volume I, Part 4

Author:
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: Indianapolis : B.F. Bowen
Number of Pages: 1162

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ORGANIZATION OF EARLY COUNTIES.

Washington county, embracing the eastern half of the present state of Ohio, was the only organized county of the Northwest Territory until early in 1790, when the Governor proclaimed Hamilton county, which em- braced all the territory between the Big and Little Miami rivers, and ex- tended north to the "Standing Stone Forks," on the first-named stream.

Undoubtedly Wayne county was the third in order of organization. The Ordinance of 1787, referring to the territory "Northwest of the River Ohio," divided it into three divisions, the "Western," the "Middle" and the "Eastern." Howe, in his "History of Ohio," says: "Wayne county was established by proclamation of Governor St. Clair, August 15, 1796, and was the third county formed in the Northwest Territory. Its original limits were very ex- tensive, and were thus defined in the act creating it : 'Beginning at the mouth of the Cuyahoga river, upon Lake Erie, and with said river to the portage, between it and the Tuscarawas branch of the Muskingum; thence down the said branch to the forks at the carrying place above Fort Laurens ; thence by a west line to the east boundary of Hamilton county (which is a due north

WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.

line from the lower Shawnees town upon the Scioto river) ; thence by a line west northerly to the southern part of the portage between the Miamis of the Ohio and the St. Mary's river; thence by a line also west northerly to the southwestern part of the portage between the Wabash and the Miamis of Lake Erie, where Fort Wayne now stands; thence by a line west northerly to the southern part of Lake Michigan ; thence along the western shores of the same to the northwest part thereof (including the lands upon the streams emptying into the said lake) ; thence by a due north line to the territorial boundary in Lake Superior, and with the said boundary through Lakes Huron, Sinclair and Erie to the mouth of Cuyahoga river, the place of beginning.'

"These limits embrace what is now a part of Ohio. Indiana, Illinois, Wis- consin and all of Michigan, and the towns of Ohio City, Chicago, Sault St. Mary's, Mackinaw, etc." The same is given in the "Hundred Year Book," issued by the state of Ohio in 1902.

It will be observed that Hamilton was the second county organized in Ohio. There were situated within its limits, when organized, several flourishing villages that had their origin during the closing months of 1788 and early in 1789.

Cincinnati was laid out in 1789, by Col. Robert Patterson, Mathias Denman and Israel Ludlow. Several not very successful attempts had also been made at various points between Cincinnati and the mouth of the Great Miami by Judge Symmes. The early settlers in Hamilton county were mostly from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Kentucky. The Scioto valley was next to be settled, and chiefly by persons from Virginia and Kentucky.

The early settlement along the shore of Lake Erie, during the closing years of the eighteenth century, had such representative men as Governor Samuel Huntington and Hon. Benjamin Tappan, and the good words that General Washington said of the New Englanders who settled at Marietta could with a slight modification apply to the pioneers of the aforesaid set- tlement.

EARLY OHIO VILLAGES AND TOWNS.

The following is a list of the principal villages and towns of the North- west Territory, started and built up during territorial rule, with the time of surveying the first lots, also names of the proprietors :

Marietta, laid out in 1788 by Rufus Putnam and the Ohio Land Com- pany.

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Columbia, laid out in 1788 by Benjamin Stites, Major Gano and others. Cincinnati, laid out in 1789 by Robert Patterson, Mathias Denman and Israel Ludlow.

Gallipolis, laid out in 1791 by the French settlers.

Manchester, laid out in 1791 by Nathaniel Massie.

Hamilton, laid out in 1794 by Israel Ludlow.

Dayton, laid out in 1795 by Israel Ludlow and Generals Dayton and Wilkinson.

Franklin, laid out in 1795 by William C. Schenck and Daniel C. Cooper.

Chillicothe, laid out in 1796 by Nathaniel Massie.

Cleveland, laid out in 1796 by Job V. Styles.

Franklinton, laid out in 1797 by Lucas Sullivant.

Steubenville, laid out in 1798 by Bazaleel Wells and James Ross.

Williamsburg, laid out in 1799.

Zanesville, laid out in 1799 by Jonathan Zane and John McIntire.

New Lancaster, laid out in 1800 by Ebenezer Zane.

Warren, laid out in 1801 by Ephraim Quinby.

St. Clairsville, laid out in 1801 by David Newell.

Springfield, laid out in 1801 by James Demint.

Newark, laid out in 1802 by William C. Schenck, G. W. Burnett and John N. Cummings.

At the time the territorial government ended in Ohio, Cincinnati was the largest town within the territory and contained about one thousand population. It was incorporated in 1802.

CHAPTER II.

INDIAN TRIBES AND MILITARY CAMPAIGNS.

From the time of the organization of the government of the North- west Territory, in 1788, until the ratification of the treaty of Greenville, in 1795, the attitude of many of the Indian tribes towards the white settlers was that of extreme and unrelenting hostility. The military organizations which had marched against them, before the establishment of civil govern- ment in the great Northwest, had signally failed to subjugate them or secure a permanent cessation of hostilities. The disastrous expedition of General Braddock in 1755, of Major Wilkins in 1763, of Colonel Bradstreet in 1764, of Colonel Lochry in 1781 and of Colonel Crawford in 1782, and the dis- graceful and murderous expedition against the Moravian Indians on the Tuscarawas, the last named year, only tended to inflame the hostile Indians and inspire them with greater courage in their hostile movements and aggressive measures against the white settlers. The fruitless, if not abortive, campaigns of Colonel McDonald in 1774, of General McIntosh in 1778 and of General Broadhead in 1781, of course led to no salutary results. Even the successful campaigns of Colonel Boquet in 1763-4, of Lord Dunmore and General Lewis in 1774, and of George Rogers Clark in 1788, failed to secure peace with the western tribes. The inhabitants of the Northwest Territory were therefore, from the 7th of April, 1788, when the first immi- grants arrived at the mouth of the Muskingum, until the treaty of Green- ville was concluded in August, 1795, constantly liable to the stealthy but deadly attacks of the perfidious, merciless savages of the Northwest. But they met their deadly, cruel, relentless foes in the spirit of genuine manhood -of true, determined, unflinching heroism. They were men worthy of the heroic age of the West. Bravely did they bear themselves during those seven years of toil and privations, of dread and apprehension, of suffering and sorrow, of blood and carnage.

To secure the speedy termination of these savage atrocities the national government early organized a number of military expeditions, the first of which being that of General Harmar, in. 1790, who was then commander-

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in-chief of the military department of the West. He had a few hundred reg- ular troops under his command, stationed chiefly at Fort Harmar and Fort Washington, which served as the nucleus of his army. The great body of his troops, however, numbering about fourteen hundred, were Pennsylvania and Kentucky volunteers, the former being under the immediate command of Col. John Hardin and the latter of Colonel Trotter. The expedition left Fort Washington and marched to the junction of the St. Joseph and St. Mary rivers (now Fort Wayne, Indiana), where detachments of the army, under command of Colonel Hardin, on the 19th and 22d of October, en- countered the enemy and suffered mortifying defeats. Of course, the cam- paign failed to give peace or relief from apprehended barbarities.

The next year General St. Clair, the Governor of the territory, who had had a Revolutionary record of patriotism and ability, organized an sole purpose of this military movement was to destroy the common enemies expedition, whose strength exceeded somewhat that of General Harmar's. It met with a most disastrous defeat, November 4, 1791, near the head- waters of the Wabash, now in Mercer county, Ohio, the battlefield now being known as Fort Recovery. Of fifteen hundred men in the battle, more than half of them were either killed or wounded, and it was indeed a great calamity to the disheartened and greatly harassed pioneers of the North- west Territory.

Immediately upon the defeat of General St. Clair, the federal gov- ernment took the preliminary steps to raise a large army to operate against the hostile tribes for the purpose of finally and permanently subjugating them. Military preparations, however, progressed slowly, and the summer of 1794 had nearly passed before the confederated hostile Indians were met in battle array by General Wayne's army. The battle was fought at the Maumee rapids at Fort Meigs, in Wood county, Ohio. The same is known as the battle of Falling Timbers, though sometimes called battle of the Maumee. Wayne's army numbered about three thousand men, well disci- plined and ably officered, sixteen hundred of whom were mounted volun- teer troops from Kentucky, commanded by Gen. Charles Scott, of said state, who was the second ranking officer of the army. The choice, however, fell upon Gen. Anthony Wayne, the old comrade-in-arms of the President, and to him is justly ascribed the honor of defeating the Indians commanded by the celebrated chief, Blue Jacket, on the Maumee, August 20, 1794, and of permanently breaking the power of a very formidable Indian confederacy. Cessation of hostilities followed the victory and a peace was secured which

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the general government had vainly sought by friendly negotiations-a peace that continued for many years, even until after the Northwest Territory had ceased to be and the important incidents and events connected there- with had passed into history.

SECOND GRADE OF TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT.

The Territory of the Northwest having reached a position where it contained five thousand free male inhabitants, on the 29th of October, 1798, preliminary steps were taken to cause it to take on its second grade in governmental affairs, by proclaiming a call for an election of territorial rep- resentatives, the same to be held the third Monday in December, 1798. The representatives from Wayne county were Solomon Sibley, Jacob Visgar and Charles F. Chabert. These, with nineteen other representatives, met at Cincinnati January 22, 1799, and nominated ten men, whose names they for- warded to the United States Congress, five of whom were to be selected by that body to constitute the Legislative Council of the territory. They then adjourned, to meet September 16, 1799.

March 22, 1799, either Congress or the President (it is not known which) chose from among the names already mentioned, including those from Wayne county, the following gentlemen to compose the first Legislative Council of the Northwest Territory, their term of office to continue for five years, any three of whom to form a quorum: Jacob Burnet, of Cincinnati, Hamilton county ; Henry Vanderburg, of Vincennes, Knox county; Robert Oliver, of Marietta, Washington county; James Findley, of Cincinnati, Hamilton county; David Vance, of Vanceville, Jefferson county.

The Ordinance of 1787 named Congress as the authority in whom was vested the right to select five from the list of ten persons to constitute the Territorial Council. But it will be borne in mind that said ordinance was passed by a Congress that legislated in pursuance of the articles of confedera- tion, while yet we had neither President nor United States senators, hence authority was given to Congress to make a selection. But it is highly prob- able that the aforesaid authority was later transferred to the President, or to the senate, or to them jointly.

FIRST COUNCIL AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

Both the Council and the House of Representatives met at Cincinnati, September 16, 1799, and effected a permanent organization. The president of the Council was Henry Vanderburg; the secretary was William C.

WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.

Schneck; doorkeeper, George Howars, and sergeant-at-arms, Abraham Cary. The officers of the first House of Representatives were: Speaker of the House, Edwin Tiffin; clerk, John Riley; doorkeeper, Joshua Rowland; sergeant-at-arms, Abraham Cary.

Thirty bills were passed at the first session of the Territorial Legisla- ture, but the Governor vetoed eleven of them. They also elected William Henry Harrison, then secretary of the territory, a delegate to Congress, by a vote of eleven to ten that were cast for Arthur St. Clair, Jr., a son of General and Governor St. Clair. The first session of the Territorial Legis- lature was prolonged until November, 1800, at which time they reassembled at Chillicothe, which place had been made the seat of the territorial govern- ment. The second session only lasted about one month.

On May 9, 1800, Congress passed an act establishing Indiana Territory, with boundary including the present states of Indiana and Illinois, and Wil- liam Henry Harrison having accepted the office of governor of that terri- tory, it devolved upon the Territorial Legislature, at its second session, not only to elect a delegate to fill the vacancy occasioned by his resignation, but also to elect a delegate to serve during the succeeding Congress. William McMillan, of Cincinnati, was elected to fill the vacancy, and Paul Fearing, of Marietta, was elected to serve from March 4, 1801, to March 4, 1803. They were both reputed to be men of superior ability.

By the organization of Indiana Territory, the counties of St. Clair, Knox and Randolph were taken out of the jurisdiction of the Northwest Territory, and with them, of course, Henry Vanderburg, of Knox county, president of the Council; also Shadrack Bond, of St. Clair county; John Small, of Knox county, and John Edgar, of Randolph county, members of the popular Legislature.

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November 23, 1801, the third session of the Territorial Legislature was commenced at Chillicothe, pursuant to adjournment. The time for which the members of the House of Representatives were elected having expired, and an election having been held, quite a number of new members appeared. The Council remained nearly as it was at the previous session, there being but two changes, that of Solomon Sibley, of Detroit, Wayne county, who took the place of Henry Vanderburg, thrown into the new territory; Robert Oliver, of Marietta, was chosen president of the Council.

Wayne county, as then constituted, was represented in the third session by Francois Joncaire Chabert, George McDonald and Jonathan Schieffelin. This was the last session of the Territorial Legislature of the Northwest

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Territory, with Ohio as a part, because Congress, on April 30, 1802, passed an act "to enable the people of the eastern division of the territory north- west of the Ohio river to form a constitution and state government, and for the admission of such state into the Union on an equal footing with the original states, and for other purposes." Members of the constitutional convention for Ohio met at Chillicothe, November 1, 1802, to perform the duty assigned them.

The territorial government was ended by the organization of the state government, March 3, 1803, when the history of the state of Ohio com- menced in fact.

MILITARY CAMPAIGNS IN WAYNE COUNTY.

In the late Ben Douglas's history of Wayne county, issued in 1878, the description of the various campaigns of a military nature that have taken place on and near Wayne county soil has been so fairly and correctly treated from a true historical standpoint that it has been thought wise to incorporate much of the chapter in this work, as Mr. Douglas was selected as one of the writers, furnished some of the material for this work and died before the work was completed.

Crawford's expedition was under direction of the United States gov- ernment, and not under the black flag, as has sometimes been stated. The of the frontier, but not, as has sometimes been supposed, to destroy the Indian tribes who were innocent of any crime. Mr. Butterfield, in his "Crawford's Campaign Against Sandusky," cleared up many of the hitherto mysteries touching this much-talked-of campaign.

As a matter of history, startling and interesting to us all, and to expel uncertainty concerning the occupancy of Wayne county by soldiery prior to and during the early settlement of it, this brief chapter is introduced. It will be necessary to summarize, as this section was not the theater of any signal exploits, but simply on the line of transit to the subsequent tragic field. Researches along this line were instigated in a measure by the fact that in the minds of many people they have been associated with the war of 1812. In this search for material there have been frequently pointed out a score of exact spots where Crawford encamped, the precise place where he crossed Killbuck, the Indian trail that he followed, or the road that he had cut through the woods, etc. All of which opinions are honestly enter- tained, but altogether incorrect. Heckwelder, Doddridge and dozens of others have denounced and defamed the organization as bandits, a troop of

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murderers, intent on slaughtering the rest of the Christian Indians, and repeating the massacre of Gnadenhutten, with which the brave Williamson was identified. To place Crawford and the purpose of his campaign fairly before the public, it is only necessary to allude to the instructions of Gen. William Irvine, commander of the western department, located at Fort Pitt, addressed to the officer that might be appointed to command the expedition against the Indian town, or in proximity to Sandusky :

"The object of your command is to destroy with fire and sword (if prac- ticable) the Indian town and settlement at Sandusky, by which we hope to give ease and safety to the inhabitants of this country; but if impracticable, then you will doubtless perform such other services in your power as will, in their consequences, have a tendency to answer this great end. *

"And it is indispensably necessary that subordination and discipline should be kept. The whole ought to understand that, notwithstanding they are volunteers, yet by this tour they are to get credit for it in their tours of military duties; and that for this and other good reasons they must, while out on this duty, consider themselves to all intents subject to military laws and regulations for the government of the militia when in active service. You must always have in view laws of arms, of nations, or independent states."

The volunteers constituting the force, numbering about four hundred and eighty men, were principally Pennsylvanians, in the vigor and bloom of their active life. Butterfield asserts that two-thirds of them were from Wash- ington county, Pennsylvania. In a manuscript letter, written November 10, 1799, General Irvine says: "The troops were volunteer militia, part Penn- sylvanians and part Virginians, and a few continental officers whom I sent."

By the 25th of May, 1782, the river had been crossed and the men mus- tered at the old Mingo towns west of the Ohio. Immediately an election was had for officers, William Crawford being chosen colonel, by five of a ma- jority, over David Williamson, his competitor, who had many persistent friends.

The dauntless commander of the ill-starred expedition was of Scotch- Irish parentage, but a native of Orange county. Virginia, where he was born in 1732. He was a companion and associate of Washington, with whom he had acquired a knowledge of land surveying. He was commissioned an ensign when twenty-three years old, in 1755, by the governor of Virginia. Subsequently he served under General Forbes, and in January, 1776, as a lieutenant-colonel, he joined the Revolutionary army. He crossed the Dela-

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ware with Washington Christmas day and rejoiced with him in Trenton over victory the following day. He was retired in October, 1781.

But soon a scheme was discussed, in view of the threatening aspect of the border and Indian troubles, especially the tribes in the vicinity of San- dusky. Against his fixed determination to remain in private life were ar- rayed the public exigency, his powerful impulse of patriotism, and the warm friendship he had for General Irvine. With severe reluctance he accepted the command to which he had been elected May 24, 1782. So it was that the sunlight of the following morning found William Crawford, then fifty years of age, at the head of an army of four columns marching from Mingo Bottom for Sandusky, its objective point, a distance of one hundred and fifty miles. Here the description of Mr. Butterfield concerning the movement of this campaign will be given in his own language, as follows:

"The route lay through what is now the counties of Jefferson, Harrison, Tuscarawas, Holmes, Ashland, Richland and Crawford, nearly to the center of Wyandot county, Ohio. A direct course would have led near the present towns of New Philadelphia, Millersburg, Loudonville and Galion, but, as will hereafter be seen, this straight line was not followed. The whole dis- tance, except about thirty miles at the end of the route, was through an unbroken forest.

"The principal impediments to a rapid march were the hills, swamps and tangled growth of forests. The Muskingum, Killbuck, forks of the Mohican and Sandusky were the streams to be crossed, all of which, at this season of the year, and especially in the spring of 1782, were not fordable without difficulty. As the cavalcade moved up over the bluff, an almost due west course was taken, striking at once into the wilderness, now deepening and darkening around it. The army progressed rapidly at first, moving along the north side of Cross creek, which had already received the name it still bears. After leaving what is now Steubenville township, it passed through the present township of Crosscreek, and Wayne, to the western boundary of Jefferson county, as at present defined, crossing into what is now Harrison county, in German township; thence across the summit to the spot where the town of Jefferson now stands. From this point a straight course would have led them, at no great distance, into what is now Carroll county. But their horses had tired under their heavy loads in the hills and swamps. This obliged them to incline to the southward, toward the wasted Moravian towns, into a more level country, though more frequented by hunters and warriors. This alternative was accepted by Crawford with great reluctance, as his policy was to avoid trails and the region infested by the enemy,

WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.

relying for success, as already stated, upon effecting a surprise. Otherwise he would have followed Williamson's trail from Mingo Bottom to the Mus- kingum, which led along a considerable distance south, near where Smiths- field, in Jefferson, and Cadiz, in Harrison counties, now stand, through a region not so difficult to be traversed, but on the line of the Indian traces between the Ohio and Muskingum rivers."

From the moment of starting, every precaution was taken against sur- prises, or ambuscades, and this too although, as yet, not an Indian had been seen. The wily nature of the savage was too well understood by the com- mander of the expedition to allow of any confidence of security because no foe had been discovered. Nothing worthy of note transpired until Monday night, the 27th, while at their third encampment. Here a few of the men lost their horses, and as their continuing with the army, unable as they were to carry little besides their arms, would only prove a source of embarrass- ment, they reluctantly, therefore, retraced their steps to Mingo Bottom.

Sixty miles had been made in four days' march, when the fourth en- campment was made upon the charred remains of New Schonbrunn. "Dur- ing the evening," continues the same author, "Major Brinton and Captain Bean went some distance from camp to reconnoiter. When but a quarter of a mile away they espied two savages, upon whom they immediately fired, but without effect. These were the first hostile shots fired at the foe. It was supposed by Crawford that the army had not before been discovered by the enemy. Fallacious belief! Secrecy now being out of the question, as the two Indians had made their escape, it only remained for Crawford to press forward, with all possible dispatch, to afford the enemy as little time as possible for defensive preparations. The march was therefore continued on the morning of the 29th, rapidly, but with greater precaution than had previously been observed. The guides, taking a northwest course through the wilderness from the Muskingum, brought the army to the Killbuck, some distance above the present town of Millersburg, the county seat of Holmes county. Thence they marched to the Killbuck. At a short distance the army reached a large spring, later known as Butler's or Jones' spring, near the line of Wayne county, ten miles south of Wooster. where. on the evening of May 30th, the volunteers encamped. At this spring one of the men died and was buried, his name being cut on the bark of a tree close by his grave.

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History of Wayne County, Ohio, Volume I, Part 4

Author: Publication date: 1910 Publisher: Indianapolis : B.F. Bowen Number of Pages: 1162

Author:
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: Indianapolis : B.F. Bowen
Number of Pages: 1162