History of the city of Toledo and Lucas County, Ohio, Part 6

Author: Waggoner, Clark, 1820-1903
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: New York and Toledo : Munsell & Company
Number of Pages: 1408

USA > Ohio > Lucas County > Toledo > History of the city of Toledo and Lucas County, Ohio > Part 6

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A severe storm of wind occurred about the 1st of November, 1873, causing severe injury to the fishing interests, chiefly about Sandusky. Following the storm the catch of fish was ex- traordinary. One firm brought to Toledo 41,000 pounds, chiefly white fish, taken from their nets at a single hanl. In some cases the fish- ermen were unable to remove the fish as fast as they got into the nets.

In March, 1858, Robert C. Navarre, then fishing at Cedar Point, Maumee Bay, after 3 o'clock p. M. made three hanls with an 80-rod

THE AGUE IN POETRY AND ELSEWHERE.

seine, taking at the first haul, 50 baskets, at the second, 42 baskets, and at the third, 22 baskets, making 114 baskets of extra size. The weight of fish was 250 pounds to the basket, thus making the total weight 28,500 ponnds, or over 14 tons. The fish were mostly pickerel. It was said to be the greatest success ever had in the Bay. The value of the fish, ready for the market, was $950.

So abundant were fish in the Maumee River in early days, that great quantities were caught by spearing with pitchforks and by means of baskets and bed blankets. It is reported that Major Stickney constructed a rude sort of a diving-bell, into which he put one of his sons (possibly Two), and plunged it overboard in the River, the boy catching the fish as they swam by, and passing them up to his father,' who sat quietly smoking his pipe in a canoe overhead. But this story lacks somewhat in the verification of absolute history.

While the Maumee Valley has always been reserved in its claims to eminence in the way of poetry, there has been for over 50 years in- timately associated with the locality at least one production. It was first definitely recognized as genuine, and as the work of " a genius of the Cat-Fish tribe," by the Maumee City Express, June 24, 1837, although then already familiar to the country. It is as follows :

On Maumee, on Maumee, Potatoes they grow small ; They roast them in the fire, And eat them-tops and all.

There's Bass and Mullet, too; They run from Spring till Fall ; They take them by the tail, And down them-seales and all.

There's 'Possum, Coon and Fox, So poor they scarce can erawl ; They catch them in a trap, And eat them-fur and all.

There's Crows upon the bank, So lean they never squall ; They shoot them through the eye, And take them-down and all.

The soil is rich and black ; The Corn it grows quite tall ; They take it from the fick, And eat it-cobs and all.

On New Year's holiday The chaps they have a ball ;

'Tis whiskey in a gourd ;

They drink it-gourd and all.

The Girls are plump and fair ; The Babes know how to bawl; The Boys they always court The Girl, Mam, Dad and all.

On Maumee, on Maumee, "fis Ague in the Fall ;

The fit will shake them so, It rocks the house and all.

There's a funeral every day, Without a hearse or pall ; They thek them in the ground, With breeches, coat and all.

This certainly shows something of " poetical license." Old settlers, sensitive about such matters, may think it has more lie than sense. And even these have seen the time when they could have better endured the "poetry," had there been in it less of " truth." The present generation of dwellers on "the Maumee," in view of the exceptionally good health of the region, feel no sensitiveness over the old-time reports in that respect, whether set forth in prose or in rhyme. They can even endure the " old, old story" of the traveler, who, follow- ing directions to take "the main traveled road," soon brought up in a grave-yard.

In this connection, may be pertinent an ar- ticle from the Express of November 24, 1838, in which the then not rare subject, " The Ague," is philosophically treated. It was written by the Editor, Mr. Henry Reed, Ir., now of California, after the issue of two or three editions of his paper on what were called " half-sheets," or sheets half the regular size. In one of these issues he stated that every body about the office was sick-" both seniors and juniors-every person, except the Devil !" The editor said : " As there is a striking affinity be- tween poverty and pickled salmon, so there no doubt exists a near relationship between the fever and ague and profane asseveration ; and if the Recording Angel has not on hand a fountain of tears more plentiful than the wash- pots of Edom, he has doubtless but a sorry time of it in the expenditure of elbow grease and blotting paper, to keep his accounts with this country posted up between the 1st of Au- gust and the last of September. Be that as it may, let a man try it, and if his pious matter does not become hard granite, his crystalline humors get out of all good humor, and the milk of his human kindness turn to rank ' Bonny-Clabber' in his bosom, he may con-

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HISTORY OF TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY.

gratulate himself on possessing more of the spirit of the martyrs, than any man we wot of between the great Lakes and the Pacific Ocean. We know we shall disoblige a young friend of ours, by stealing his doggerel; but as it ex- presses what almost everybody feels on such occasions, we shall run the risk. The language has a savor of technology, but we hope no one will from thence infer the author :

" I know it's not right to swear and curse, For it puts no money in the purse ; Besides, it only makes one worse, To curse and to swear.

" But when a-body's shivering and shaking, Os dentes chattering, os humani aching,

The spinal pillar twisting and breaking, Who can forbear ?"

The group of Islands lying at the Western end of Lake Erie, and known as Put-in-Bay Islands, although having been partially oceu- pied by a few squatters for many years, never attracted much attention from persons seeking permanent settlement until after the year 1854. At that time Mr. J. DeRivera, a Spaniard, and a merchant in New York, having become acquainted with that viciuity and favorably impressed by its natural attractions, purchased five entire Islands-South Bass (Put-in-Bay), Middle Bass, Ballast, Sugar and Gibraltar- the whole containing 2,500 acres of land. The circumstances of his purchase, as stated by himself in 1886, were as follows:

I was a poor lad, born in Spain in 1813. At the age of 13 I came to America, and in time was engaged as the representative of a New York house which took me much abroad. I did well, and in time went into business for myself. Fortune was with me, and I accumulated wealth in the foreign commission trade. Withal, I had a taste for agricultural pursuits on a large scale. In 1854 I made a tour of the South- ern States with the view of opening up a plantation manned with Spaniards. I found a suitable location, but was told a plantation cultivated by whites (in the days of slavery) would never do, and so desisted. I came North and heard of the beauty of the Islands of Lake Erie, and resolved to visit them. A San- dusky boat was engaged for the trip, and three un- successful attempts were made to reach the Islands. I then went to the harbor near where now is Lake- side. A lone fisherman and his boat were chartered and the voyage was made in the night. This was 32 years ago. The okl Mansion house was the only structure on the Island, and to this I made my way. Next morning 1 was np with the sun, and walked about the Island and down on the beach. It was a case of love at first sight, and in forty-eight hours

after I first set foot on Put-in-Bay, I owned the five Islands at a cost of $44,000. From that time on I have circulated much between New York and my Island home, generally summering here. I first turned Put-in-Bay into a sheep ranch, at one time having a herd of about 2,000. Gradually I disposed of these and converted the Island into a fruit farm. As other people turned their attention this way, I disposed of my interests until I have only 300 acres left. Jay Cooke paid me $3,000 for Gibraltar, where his castle now stands. Fifteen years ago I retired from busi- ness, a millionaire. The estate consisted of slate works in Vermont, a West India sugar plantation, a large property in Kentucky and other interests. Four years ago I came to Put-in-Bay to live perma- nently, where my family visit me in the summer. It is here I expect to pass quietly the rest of my life, and it was here the news came of my financial ruin.

The financial embarrassment referred to by Mr. Rivera, was caused by obligations assumed in aid of a son, a Sugar Merchant in New York, who failed in 1886, for a large sum of money. The development and improvement of these Islands, without doubt, were materially pro- moted by Mr. Rivera's purchase, followed, as that soon was, by successful tests of the soil and climate for grape production, as well as for health and pleasure.

In a letter published in the Toledo Blade of July 17, 1846, Maj. B. F. Stickney, by request of Elisha Whittlesey, made the following ex- planation of the origin of the name " Maumee," as given to the stream now bearing it :

" At an unknown, but very remote period, the Wyandot Indians were acknowledged to have the most power and wisdom of any of the Eastern part of the Continent-occupying all the country North of the Niagara River and Lakes Ontario and Erie- having an absolute Monarchical Government, with its seat where Montreal now is. The title of the Mon- arch, in their language, was Sans-taw-rit-sa. He ex- ercised a general superintending control East of the Mississippi, and probably farther West. The Wyan- dots acknowledged no superior, on the Continent, except the Mexicans ; and communication was kept up between Sans-taw-rit-sa and Montezuma. The traditions of all tribes of the Eastern part of the Con- tinent show that they all came from the West. The tribe we now call Miamis, came subsequent to the Wyandots. The King of the Wyandots, for some cause, sent a depntation from Montreal as far West as where Fort Wayne now is. There, for the first time, they saw some persons of this tribe, and they were very old or ancient people, Mi-a-mi. The name they use for themselves is Tweet-twee. The French took the name from the Wyandots and gave it their authority. In English the sound would be Mec-a- mee-the French sounding i as we do ce; and a as we do in father. We took the orthography from the

THE WORD " MAUMEE."

French, and they ealled this River Mi-a-mi, because they found people here whom they called Miamis. They found some of the same on the two Rivers dis- charging into the Ohio, and called by the same name. To distinguish between them, they said 'The Miami of Lake Erie.' and the 'Big' and the ' Little Miami of the Ohio.' During the extensive military operations on this River in the War of 1812, much use was made of the name by persons who did not understand French, and took the French sound of Mi-a-mi to be Maumee; and when the City of Maumee was named, this cor- ruption was confirmed.

" The Miamis showed me a treaty on parchment, which they negotiated with William Penn at Phila- delphia. They said this was their first treaty with white people. It had a blue ribbon attached to the seal. In addition, there was a pressed dried heart attached to the ribbon. The end of the ribbon ap- peared to have been inserted into the heart in its un- dried state, and then dried and pressed. They told me this was the heart of the Indian who was the first signer, and who held it in his possession until his deatlı."

An unsuccessful attempt was once made to change the names " Maumee River " and " Mau- mee Valley," to " Grand Rapids River " and " Grand Rapids Valley." For this purpose, a number of persons met in Toledo November 7, 1855, and after setting forth by preamble that

" the early associations of the River, aided by a poet's wit. had given these an unjust and nn- favorable reputation," it was " resolved, that the Maumee River and the Maumee Bay be hereafter known as the Grand Rapids River and the Grand Rapids Bay," and the local press of " Grand Rapids Valley " was requested to publish such action. The Chairman of this meeting was S. J. Kuder, and the Secretary W. M. Scott. No further mention is found of efforts in that direction, the public sentiment not approving the proposed change. The only step taken of that sort was the substitution of Grand Rapids for the name of Gilead, on the River in Wood County. Not long after the above named meeting, the niatter of sub- stituting the name " Miami " for " Manmee," was discussed with much favor, but nothing was accomplished. Still later, the people of Maumee City-for a reason substantially the same as given in the case of the River, Valley and Bay-had the name of their Town changed to South Toledo, a change which never cou- mended itself to the general approval of the people of that place, or to the judgment of the public.

PART III. MILITARY.

CHAPTER I.

INDIAN TROUBLES FOLLOWING THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. - INDIAN STATESMANSHIP. - FAILURE OF NEGOTIATIONS. - GENERAL WAYNE'S MILITARY MOVEMENTS. - TREATY OF GREENVILLE. - RESTORATION OF PEACE. - DEATII OF WAYNE. - CAPTAIN WILLIAM WELLS.

THE continued unsettled condition of the entire Northwestern country, largely aggravated by the failures of the campaigns of Harmar and St. Clair, and other coincident hostile movements against the Indians, imposed upon the Government imperative necessity for prompt and more vigorous measures in behalf of enforced peace. Recognizing such emer- gency, President Washington, in April, 1792, nominated General Anthony Wayne for Major- General of the Army, with special reference to operating against the Indians of the North- west. Such appointment was accepted by General Wayne, upon the expressed condition that he should not, as in the cases of Generals Ilarmar and St. Clair, be required to advance into the wilderness before his army was properly constituted and drilled ; and with the further condition, that adequate provision of material be supplied before a movement. He was specially led to such requirements by the knowledge that two of his Revolutionary com- patriots had suffered failure, and one of them (General St. Clair) serious defeat, from un- timely advance upon the enemy. The fol- lowing spring (of 1793), preliminary to an ad- vance by General Wayne, a Board of Commis. sioners (Benjamin Lincoln, Beverly Randolph and Timothy Pickering) was appointed by the President, with authority to negotiate a treaty of peace and boundaries with the several tribes of Indians in the Northwest. Much confidence was felt in the success of this measure, on which would depend the necessity of a military campaign for the enforcement of peace. In April, 1793, the Commissioners received their instructions, which included the securing of a confirmation of the treaty of Fort Harmar (1789), and more particularly that part of the same which fixed the boundaries and ceded to the Government the lands lying East, South and West of a line drawn up the Cuyahoga River, from its mouth to the portage of the Tuscarawas branch of the Muskingum ; thence down that branch to the forks ; thence West to

the portage of the Big Miami, called the Lor- amies; thence along that portage to the Miami (sometimes called Ome or Maumee), and down the same to its mouth ; thenee along the Southern shore of Lake Erie to the be- ginning at the mouth of the Cuyahoga. In consideration of such concessions, the Commis- sioners were instructed to offer the Indians the guarantee by the United States of the right of soil to all remaining lands in that quarter, and the relinquishment of places granted in the former treaty for trading posts; and also the abandonment of any military posts existing within the boundaries named in the treaty. To this, they were to offer payment of $50,000 in hand, and a permanent annuity of $10,000. The Commissioners proceeded to Niagara, where they were received by Lieutenant-Gov- ernor Simcoe, of Canada, whose hospitalities they accepted. May 30th they advised Colonel McKee, Superintendent of Indian Affairs, of their mission and their purpose to hold a treaty at Sandusky, requesting him to inform the" Indians that they would meet them the latter part of June following. General Chapin, Su- perintendent of the Six Nations, was invited to attend the treaty, with compensation. June 7th they addressed Governor Simcoe, sng- gesting the delicacy and importance of their mission, soliciting his co-operation in removing the prejudices then existing with the Indians toward the United States, and suggesting the appointment of British officers, to accompany them to Sandusky. To all this the Governor acceded. They were detained for some days by adverse winds. Meantime Colonel Butler, a British Superintendent of Indian Affairs, and Captain Brandt arrived, with some 50 Indians, a delegation from the Nations assembled at the Rapids of the Maumee, to confer with the United States Commissioners in the presence of Governor Simcoe, in regard to the proposed meeting of the Indians at the Rapids with the Commissioners, for holding a treaty. The matter was freely discussed, pro and con., but

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HISTORY OF TOLEDO AND LUCAS COUNTY.

without reaching an agreement for a joint meeting. The Indians made it a condition precedent to undertaking a treaty, that the Ohio River should be the boundary between their lands and those of the Whites. This proposition was signed by Chiefs of the Wyandots, Delawares, Shawnees, Miamis, Mingoes, Pottawatomics, Ottawas, Connoys, Chippewas and Munsees.

Replying to such proposition, the Commis- sioners said :

We do know very well, that at the treaty of Fort Stanwix, 25 years ago, the River Ohio was agreed on as the boundary line ; and we also know, that seven years after that boundary was fixed, a quarrel broke out between your father, the King of Great Britain, and the people of the Colonies, which are now the United States. The quarrel was ended by the treaty of peace made with the King about 10 years ago, by which the great Lakes and the waters which unite them, was declared by him to be the boundaries of the United States.

The Commissioners then refer in detail to the several treaties with tribes held subsequent to the close of the Revolution, and in support of the claim to a division of the lands North of the Ohio, cite the White settlements already made within such territory, which could not be abandoned. The Indians were inflexible in their condition of boundary, when the Com- missioners declared the negotiations ended, saying : " We sincerely regret that peace is not the result; but knowing the upright and liberal views of the United States, which, so far as you gave us opportunity, we have explained to You, we trust that impartial judges will not attribute the continuance of the war to them." This was done at Captain Elliott's, at the mouth of the Detroit River, August 16, 1793.

In this connection may properly be given a specimen of the acumen and irne statesman- ship which marked the discussion of the rude denizens of the forest. For such purpose is reproduced a portion of the final answer of the Indian Council at the Rapids of the Maumee to the communication of the Commissioners in which they declared the negotiations closed. Referring to the offer of money consideration by the Commissioners, the Council said :

Money to us is of no value, and to most of us unknown. And, as no consideration whatever can induce nis to sell the lands on which we get sustenance for our women and children, we hope we may be allowed to point out a mode by which your settlers

may be very easily removed, and peace thereby ob- tained. We know [as the Commissioners had stated] that these settlers are poor, or they would never have ventured to live in a country which has been in continual trouble ever since they crossed the Ohio. Divide, therefore, this large sum of money which yon have offered us among these people. Give to each, also, a portion of what you say you would give to us annually, over and above this very large sum of money ; and, as we are persuaded, they would most readily accept it in lieu of the land you sold them. If you add, also, the great sum of money you must expend in raising and paying armies, with a view to force ns to yield to you our country, you will cer- tainly have more than sufficient for the purpose of repaying these settlers for all their labor and their improvements. You have talked to us about con- cessions. It appears strange that you should expect any from us, who have only been defending our rights against your invasions. We want peace. Re- store to us our country, and we shall be enemies no longer. You make one concession to us by offering us your money ; and another, by having agreed to do us justice, after having long and injuriously withheld it -- we mean, in the acknowledgment you now make, that the King of England never did, and never had a right to give you our country, by the treaty of peace. And you want to make this act of justice a part of your concessions; and you seem to expect that because you have at last acknowledged our inde- pendence, we should for such favor surrender to you our country. You have talked, also, a great deal about pre-emption, and your exclusive right to pur- chase Indian lands, as ceded to you by the King at the treaty of peace. We never made any agreement with this King, nor with any other nation, that we would give to either the exclusive right of purchasing our lands ; and we declare to you that we consider ourselves free to make any bargain or cession of lands whenever or to whomsoever we please. If the White people, as you say, made a treaty that none of them but the King should purchase of us, and that he had given that right to the United States, it is an affair that concerns you and him, and not ns. We have never parted with such power. * $

* We de- sire you to consider that our only demand is the * peaceable possession of a small part of our once great country. Look back and review the lands from whence we have been driven to this spot. We can retreat no further, because the country behind hardly affords food for its inhabitants; and we have, there- fore, to leave our bones in this small place to which we are now confined. We shall be persuaded that you mean to do us justice when you agree that the Ohio shall remain the boundary line between us. If you will not consent thereto, our meeting would be altogether unnecessary. This is the great point which we hoped would have been explained before you left your homes, as our message, last Fall, was principally directed to obtain that information.

Done at the foot of the Maumee Rapids, the 13th day of Angust, 1793.

FAILURE OF NEGOTIATIONS.

This decisive message was signed by all tribes represented in Council at that place, viz .: The Wyandots. Delawares, Shawnees, Miamis, Mingoes, Pottawatomies, Ottawas, Connoys, Chippewas and Munsces.

Thus closed the efforts of the Government to negotiate for an adjustment of existing troubles, without the arbitrament of arms. Considering the matter at this distant period, free from the conditions involved, it is difficult to see how the case of the Indians could have been more clearly or more forcibly put. It has been truly said of the matter, that " among the rude states. men of the Wilderness, there was exhibited here as pure patriotism and as lofty devotion to the good of their race as ever won applause among civilized men. The White men, ever since they came into the country, had been en- croaching upon their lands. They had long before occupied all the regions beyond the mountains. They had crushed the Confed- eracy which the far-sighted Pontiac had formed to protect his race 30 years before. They had taken possession of the common hunting grounds of all the tribes, on the faith of treaties they did not acknowledge. They were now laying out settlements and buikling Forts in the very heart of the country to which all the tribes had been driven, and which was now all they could call their own. And now they asked that it should be guaranteed to them that the boundary which they had so long asked for should be drawn, and a final end made of the continual aggressions of the Whites: or, if not, they solemnly determined to stake their all, against fearful odds, in de- fense of their homes, their country, and the inheritance of their children. Nothing could be more patriotic than the position they occu- pied, and nothing could be more noble than the declarations of this great Council."*

While, however, the world must ever accept and admire the lofty patriotism and heroic de- votion thus shown by these untrained states- men of the forest. and question the course of aggression to which they were made subject, the fact remains of the impracticability of the policy of defiance to which their logic led them. It was not-unfortunately for them-an issue for decision by reason or by discussion ; but a case of peace or war, in which superiority in

arms, not in fact and argument, was to determine the result. But there was with the Indians a most important-perhaps a controlling-consid- cration, ontside that of the justice of their cause, to wit : The assurance of British, and even the hope of Spanish, intervention, should the case come to arms. The proof of this was found in admissions by the Indians, and speeches and messages of British and Spanish emissaries active in encouraging the Indians to resistance of American demands.

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History of the city of Toledo and Lucas County, Ohio, Part 6

Author: Waggoner, Clark, 1820-1903 Publication date: 1888 Publisher: New York and Toledo : Munsell & Company Number of Pages: 1408

Author: Waggoner, Clark, 1820-1903
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: New York and Toledo : Munsell & Company
Number of Pages: 1408