USA > Ohio > History of the Upper Ohio Valley, with family history and biographical sketches, a statement of its resources, industrial growth and commercial advantages, Vol. I > Part 6
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92
"And that for the more effectual Prevention of all future & fur- ther Frauds & Impositions being practised upon us, thereby all Pro- prietary or other Claims or Grants heretofore, by, or to whomsoever made of Lands within the aforesaid Limits of the said Province be discountenanced & Suspended to all Intents & Purposes, until ap- proved of & Confirmed by the Legislative Body of the said Province with & under the Approbation & Sanction of the General Congress, or Grand Continental Council of State of the United American Colonies.
"And your Memorialists, as by all the Ties of Duty, Interest & Honor bound as Americans, Brethren & Associates, embarked with you in the Same Arduous and glorious Cause of Liberty & Inde- pendency Shall ever Pray that your Councils & Endeavors for the Common Good, may be continually attended, blessed & crowned with a never ceasing & uninterrupted Series of Success, Happiness & Prosperity."
This document so verbose and quaint in style has the following endorsement: " Memorial to congress for erecting the government of Westsylvania, 1776." In less than a century after this document was penned the greater portion of the territory it proposed to establish "as the fourteenth province of the American confederacy," was admitted into the Union as a separate and distinct state under the name of West Virginia.
The proposals contained in the foregoing memorial for the accom- dation of the disputes between the counties of Westmoreland, in Pennsylvania, and West Augusta, in Virginia, it would appear, did not represent the unanimous sentiment of the inhabitants of West Augusta, and hence a committee of this latter district as representa- tives of the conservative portion of its inhabitants in the fall of 1776, drafted the following address and memorial to the house of delegates of the general assembly of Virginia, with the purpose of inducing that body to take such steps as in its wisdom might be deemed best to arrest the contemplated object which that paper had in view. We give it literally and in the form in which it was originally drafted:
"To the Honourable, the Speaker of the lower House of Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia:
" Most humbly sheweth
"That your Memorialists conceiving themselves in some sort the Guardians of the Rights of the People in this Frontier County find themselves under the indispensable necessity of representing to your Honourable House Some matters which they have lately learned.
" A number of designing Persons influenced by motives of Interest & Ambition about the beginning of July last have set on foot a
49
HISTORY OF THE UPPER OHIO VALLEY.
Memorial to the Honourable Continental Congress, praying that a Tract of Country Beginning " (here are inserted the boundaries and description as given in the memorial we have heretofore recited) "might be constituted, declared, & acknowledged a distinct and independent government by the Title of the Government of Westsyl- vania; and in prosecution of this, their favorite Scheme, the Persons aforesaid have dispersed Advertisements throughout the Country recommending it to the Inhabitants of the different Districts to meet at their respective Places of appointment, to give voice whether they would join in a Petition to Congress for their Interposition in settling the unhappy Disputes which have prevailed in these parts, or whether they should not immediately colonize themselves by their own authority & send their Delegates to Congress to represent them as the four- teenth Link, in the American Chain, the Copies of which said Memo- rial & Advertisement we now do ourselves the Honour of transmitting to you for the Consideration of your House, your Memorialists hum- bly beg leave to observe, that in Consequence of the Scheme afore- said and the Measures taken to effect it, this Frontier Country is divided & distracted by jarring views and Contradictory Opinions concerning public Operations ;- the Rigour & Energy of Govern- ment & of its wholesome Laws are relaxed and many of the inhabi- tants instead of consulting the safety of the whole as their only security & Happiness assiduously attach themselves to their own private Views & Interests, regardless of the Obligations of Gratitude for the many great Sums expended by the State of Virginia for their Defence & Protection. Your Memorialists cannot but consider the present Scheme of a new Government as infallibly productive of the same Mischiefs & Disorders which have lately been experienced by the Inhabitants of this Government from the unsettled Limits of the State of Virginia & Pennsylvania, which all good men most sincerely wish to be happily accommodated.
"Your Memorialists therefore humbly pray that your Hon'ble House will take Such Steps in the premises and make Such necessary Regu- lations, to Insure Union to the Inhabitants in these Times of Public Calamity & obviate the Unhappiness & Difficulties attendant on this wild Scheme of a new Government, as the Wisdom of your Hon'ble House may Suggest to you.
"And your Memorialists as in duty bound will ever pray, etc."
From a letter of Mr. Yeates, written by him from Pittsburgh under date of July 30, 1776, we learn that the Memorial to Congress had been laid aside by its originators and abandoned, and in lieu thereof an advertisement had been published and circulated among the inhabi- tants of the disputed territory (as is mentioned in the memorial ad- dress to the speaker of the house of delegates of Virginia), suggesting "the dividing of the people of the proposed new government into districts and desiring them to choose convention men who are forth- with to meet and appoint delegates to represent them in Congress. How shockingly" he explains in his letter -" Are the people here di- vided! And to what ridiculous lengths are not most of them hasten- 4-A.
50
HISTORY OF THE UPPER OHIO VALLEY.
ing?" He proceeds to say -"I cannot procure you the convention boundaries mentioned in my letter, but thus far I am well informed that the temporary line to be established reaches to the Bullock *- Seven miles from hence-the wrong way." Various suggestions were made from time to time for the settlement of the existing difficulties between the inhabitants of the disputed territory, but none of them proved to be acceptable and the question remained an open one.
Among others the following entitled -"A proposal for accommo- dating the disputes between the counties of West Augusta and West- moreland until the boundary between them can be settled," was submitted and its acceptance urged:
" Ist. That the laws, as far as respects the jurisdiction of the county of West Augusta, be exercised on the south side of the Youghioghany river, and said river be considered as the boundary between the two' counties in respect to the jurisdiction of their respective courts only. " 2d. That the people, claiming under the county of Westmoreland, may continue to be represented at their capitol as usual and have liberty to choose their representatives and all other officers of govern- ment, only their sheriffs, magistrates and constables shall not act in their office on the south side of said river; provided, always that noth- ing herein contained shall tend to invalidate any judgment in the courts held heretofore for Westmoreland, but when a boundary is run they may execute such judgments on their side of the said boundary, anything herein to the contrary notwithstanding.
"3d. That the inhabitants on the south side of the Youghyogany and east of the Monongahela river as far as the Great Line shall not pay taxes to either government until said boundary is settled and all persons associated in the militia are to serve under the government they associated under. If the proposals shall meet the approbation of the public, the people for West Augusta shall meet at Mr. Martin Kemp's on the second, Tuesday in November next, and those claim- ing under Westmoreland at Mr. Edward Cook's the same day to choose six men to be their trustees to negotiate and confirm the above proposals." This paper was signed, "By Friends to both Govern- ments," and bore date of October 18, 1776.
Thus it will be perceived that there was not wanting any effort on the part of conservative inhabitants to settle their vexatious disputes, and to adjust in an amicable manner the questions at issue among them. The great drama of the revolution had opened, and it was important that all sections of the country should be united and pre- sent a firm and unbroken front. The inhabitants of the disputed territory were not slow to realize this necessity, and they tacitly and very naturally subordinated their local issues to the more important, greater and more pressing issue of national independence, never, however, losing sight of the former, to which they clung with stub- born tenacity, but never allowing their sectional prejudices and feel- ings to interfere with their duty to the whole country. Thus while
* The Bullock so styled is now Wilkinsburgh.
51
HISTORY OF THE UPPER OHIO VALLEY.
all attempts at adjustment among themselves for the time being proved to be abortive, yet with commendable zeal and forbearing grace they were united in a common desire and common effort to throw off the yoke of foreign power and influence in the inspiring prospect of securing national autonomy and independence.
The inhabitants of these western wilds were a loyal and devoted people, else would they not have insisted so strenuously and per- severed with such persistence for what they deemed to be their rights and privileges in that portion of the country in which they were more directly and individually interested. Their loyalty and devotion they thus demonstrated was not bounded by an insignificant section of the country as compared in territorial extent with the whole, but the com- mon interests of the whole prompted them to give their labors and services to the promotion of the general weal, and the advancement of the common welfare. Inured to privations and hardships from their earliest years, these sturdy pioneers were not deterred by the fear of danger, nor thwarted in their purpose by the appearance of difficulties. Their lives and pursuits had bred in them sternness of purpose and decision of character, while at the same time there was implanted in their bosoms the principles of a noble generosity and an open-hearted and frank hospitality. Hence they suffered not their individual interests and personal preferences to weigh in the scales against the great boon of national freedom, which the colonies were now seeking to secure, but they boldly entered the lists of battle with a chivalrous determination to bend all their energies toward the accomplishment of so desirable an end.
The importance of this question of territorial rights may be estimated from the fact that notwithstanding the stirring events of the times, and the consequent agitations and excitements of the period, the Virginia legislature felt it incumbent to take some decided action inviting a settlement of the question by the establishment of a boundary line between the two colonies. Hence, on the 20th of May, 1779, the house of delegates of Virginia, passed a resolution which was agreed to by the senate on the day following the passage of it by the house, ap- pointing commissioners to settle the disputed boundary line between the two colonies. In June following the general assembly passed a resolution declaring "that three commissioners ought to be appointed to adjust the boundary between Virginia and Pennsylvania, whose proceedings were to be ratified or disagreed to by the general assem- ยท bly." In accordance with this resolution, James Madison, Robert Andrews and Thomas Lewis were appointed commissioners on be- half of the state of Virginia. Pennsylvania also having taken legis- lative action, appointed as commissioners on her part, George Bryan, John Ewing and David Rittenhouse.
The first meeting of the commissioners was held in the city of Bal- timore on the 27th day of August, 1779. Thomas Lewis, one of the commissioners from Virginia, was not present at this meeting. Upon assembling, the commissioners present from Virginia, proposed that the commissioners from Pennsylvania should state their claim in
52
HISTORY OF THE UPPER OHIO VALLEY.
writing so that the same might be specific and definite in its demands, to which proposition these latter acceded. Accordingly the Pennsyl- vania commissioners lost no time in submitting the same, as on the day following they addressed a letter to the Virginia commissioners setting forth in extenso the nature of their claim, the grounds upon which they based it, and the conclusions to which they had arrived. Their views were not acceptable to the Virginia commissioners, and they replied to the Pennsylvania commissioners to that effect. This was followed by several propositions and counter-propositions from each side, none of which were favorably received, and hence, they were severally rejected. The indications for a time were that no ar- rangement acceptable to either could be arrived at, as the claims of neither seemed to be reconcilable. The individuals composing these respective commissions were sincere as well as earnest in their desire to arrive at a fair and reasonable conclusion of the matter which had been submitted to them in a satisfactory manner, but each side was just as anxious as the other, at the same time, to protect the interests of the respective states represented by them.
After some time had been consumed unsuccessfully in their efforts to arrive at an adjustment of their conflicting views and opinions, the Virginia commissioners finally offered as a compromise the following: "To continue Mason and Dixon's line due west five degrees of longtitude, to be computed from the river Delaware, for your south- ern boundary, and will agree that a meridian drawn from the west- erly extremity of this line to your northern limit shall be the western boundary of Pennsylvania." Hence, on the 31st day of August, 1779, this proposition, on the part of the Virginia commissioners, was ac- cepted on the part of those representing Pennsylvania, and an agree- ment to that effect was duly entered into by the commissioners of the two states. On the 23d of June, 1780, the agreement thus entered into was ratified and confirmed by the general assembly of Virginia, "on condition that the private property and rights of all persons acquired under, founded on, or recognized by, the laws of either country, previous to the date thereof, be saved and confirmed to them, although they should be found to fall within the other; and that in decision of disputes thereupon, preference shall be given to the elder or prior right, whichever of the said states the same shall have been acquired under; such persons paying to that state, within whose boundary their ' lands shall be included, the same purchase or consideration money which would have been due from them to the state under which they claimed the right; and when any such purchase or consideration money hath, since the Declaration of American Independence, been received by either state for lands which, according to the before re- cited agreement, shall fall within the territory of the other, the same shall be reciprocally refunded and repaid. And that the inhabitants of the disputed territory, now ceded to the state of Pennsylvania, shall not, before the first day of December, in the present year, be subject to the payment of any tax, nor at any time to the payment of arrears or taxes, or impositions heretofore laid, by either state." At the same
53
HISTORY OF THE UPPER OHIO VALLEY.
time the governor was empowered, with the advice of the council, to appoint two commissioners on behalf of Virginia, in conjunction with commissioners to be appointed by the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, to extend Mason and Dixon's line five degrees of longtitude from Dela- ware river and from the western termination of the same to run and mark a meridian line to the Ohio river; which was as far as it could be run at the time without fear of giving offense to the Indians.
On the 23d of September, 1780, the general assembly of Pennsyl- vania also ratified and confirmed an agreement entered into between the commissioners of the two states, at the date heretofore mentioned, and empowered the president and council of the state to appoint two commissioners to act in conjunction with the commissioners to be ap- pointed on the part of the state of Virginia. Thus, this disturbing element which had caused such intense strife and bitterness between the two states was forever eliminated from all future controversies, should such unfortunately ever arise between them.
CHAPTER IV.
THE ERECTION OF FORT HENRY -THE DISTURBED CONDITION OF THE BOR- DER-COUNCIL AT CATFISH-CAPTAINS OGLE AND MEASON AMBUSHED - THE FIRST SIEGE OF FORT HENRY-COL. SWEARINGEN'S RELIEF -AN INCIDENT IN THE LIFE OF CAPTAIN OGLE-MC COLLOCH'S FAMOUS LEAP -THE MASSACRE OF COL. FOREMAN AND HIS MEN -THE TORIES-JOHN SPAHR -INDIAN DEPREDATIONS -EXPEDITION TO THE MUSKINGUM- THREATENED ATTACK ON FORT HENRY IN 1781 -PRAYING INDIANS - CRAWFORD'S EXPEDITION -LETTERS OF DAVIES, HARRISON AND IRVINE -THE FATE OF MAJOR SAM MC COLLOCH-INDIAN COUNCIL AT CHILLI- COTHE -THE SIEGE OF FORT HENRY, 1782-POWDER EXPLOIT -FRAN- CIS DUKE-LETTERS OF JAMES MARSHALL AND EBENEZER ZANE - ROLL OF HONOR.
T THE beginning of the year 1774 the only regular forts on the frontier were those which were located at Pitts- burgh and Redstone. There were a few private forts and block houses scattered at different points along and near the borders, but these were insecure and indifferent in their importance and construction, and were not calculated to withstand a prolonged siege or contest, being intended as a temporary shelter in case of attack when taken by sur- prise. Hence, when it became evident in the spring of the last named year that an Indian war was threatened, and from indications that it would speedily be inaugurated, Dr. John Connolly, the royal captain
54
HISTORY OF THE UPPER OHIO VALLEY.
commandant of West Augusta, who at the time was at Fort Pitt, sent information to the settlement at Wheeling, and' instructed the inhab- itants as a necessary precaution to cover the country with scouts, until the settlers could fortify themselves. Acting upon his advice scouts and rangers were sent out in all directions covering the adjacent country, with instructions to keep a strict watch upon the movements of the savages, and to promptly report any movements on their part looking toward an advance to Wheeling. In the meantime the set- tlers and land jobbers at once set to work to erect a place of defense, consisting of a strong stockade, and labored with indefatigable energy in the accomplishment of their undertaking. The author of the plan for the construction of the same was Maj. Angus McDonald, and not Col. George Rogers Clarke, as stated by many writers, and this is proven from the correspondence which transpired with Valentine Crawford and Gen. Washington between the dates of the 27th of July and October Ist, 1774, inclusive. The last of these letters is dated at "Fort Fincastle, October Ist, 1774.
The fort was erected under the immediate direction and supervi- sion of Col. Ebenezer Zane and John Caldwell. Upon its completion it was named "Fort Fincastle," this being the second title of the Earl of Dunmore, whose titles were, "John Earl of Dunmore, Viscount Fincastle, Baron Murray of Blair, of Moulin, and of Tillimet." But this name was not retained by it for any great length of time, as in the year 1776 it was changed to Fort Henry in honor of Patrick Henry, governor of Virginia at the time. The first mention we find made of this fort is in the report of a committee appointed by the convention, made on the twenty-fifth day of July, 1775, recommend- ing that "two companies of 100 men each, besides officers, ought, with all convenient speed, to be stationed at Pittsburgh, one other company of 100 men at Point Pleasant, twenty-five men at Fort Fin- castle at the mouth of Wheeling, and that 100 men be stationed at proper posts in the county of Fincastle, for the protection of the in- habitants on the southwestern frontiers, exclusive of the troops to be raised for the defence of the lower parts of the country." In the sub- sequent year (1776) the convention ordered the garrison to be increased to fifty men at Wheeling, but neither of these orders, so far as Wheel- ing was concerned, we think, were ever complied with. The fact is, that with the exception of the forts located at Redstone, Pittsburgh and Point Pleasant, which latter was erected in the summer of the same year with the fort at Wheeling, there were no regularly gar- risoned forts on the frontier. The defence of the fort at Wheeling, with one or two exceptions, was left to the settlers, who, under Provi- dence, always proved themselves competent in the faithful discharge of that responsibility.
The fort which was erected, though hurriedly built, was one of the most substantial and complete defences of its kind in the entire west- ern region. It was in shape a parallelogram, in length about 150 feet, in its greater length being parallel with the Ohio river and was about seventy-five feet in width, bastions at each corner, the upper story of
55
HISTORY OF THE UPPER OHIO VALLEY.
which projected a few feet over the lower. On its western side, in close proximity to each other, were ranged a number of cabins in- tended for the shelter of families which might seek the protection of the fort. The commandant's house, store house, magazine and corral for cattle, occupied the center of the open space within. The first named house was two stories in height, the upper story of which pro- jected over the lower. On the roof of the house was placed a mounted swivel- a four pounder-which did effective work on the different occasions when the fort was besieged by the savages. Wells were also sunk within the enclosure so that a supply of water could be obtained at all times. The entire space was enclosed with oaken pickets twelve or fifteen feet high placed close to each other with a small opening between each. The fort was located on a bluff overlooking the river, and from its elevated position an extended view was had to the south to where Wheeling creek empties into the Ohio river. It stood near the northwest corner of the intersection of Eleventh and Main streets, and occupied the site formerly known as " Zane's Reserve." The de- clivities on the southern and western sides were steep and almost precipitous-that on the south overlooking a level tract which stretched away in the distance to the banks of the creek. This level tract, in the year 1777, at the time of the first siege, was covered with meadows and cornfields. As late as the year 1810 it contained no im- provements, such as buildings, of any consequence upon it. To the east, and distant about seventy-five yards, stood the double log cabin of Col. Ebenezer Zane, built of rough hewn logs, with a kitchen at- tached, built of the same material, as was also the outbuildings or quarters for his slaves. There was also a small magazine for powder and other military stores. The whole of the space so occupied was enclosed with strong pickets.
This fort successfully withstood three several attacks or sieges, two of which are rendered memorable by the stubborn resistance of its defenders under the most unpropitious circumstances, and which will stand out on the pages of history for all time among the highest ex- amples of heroic devotion and disinterested bravery, which are re- corded in the annals of daring deeds and noble achievements. One of these sieges occurred in the year 1777, one in the year 1781 and the last in the year 1782. Of each of these it is our purpose to give some account. The year 1777, was a memorable one in the history of the upper Ohio valley. The settlers were accustomed to characterize it as " the bloody year of the three sevens." Along the entire border from Fort Pitt down to the furthest limits of the settlements it was sig- nalized by savage cruelty, bloody massacre and heartless rapine. Among other horrors and in addition to their magnitude and enormity the entire frontier was threatened with serious famine -the wheat was sick and unproductive and the weather was unpropitious for the growth of grain generally, as well as the usual garden products which entered largely into the diet of the settlers. Sickness, too, prevailed to an alarming extent, consisting of bilious, remittent and intermit- tent fevers. The whole border was in a state of alarm, anxiety and
56
HISTORY OF THE UPPER OHIO VALLEY.
excitement, and so intense and wide-spread was this feeling that it was deemed expedient to call a council of war to be held at Catfish Camp in January, 1777. This council assembled and considered measures to be adopted as well as the recommendations in the letters of the executive of Virginia.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.