USA > Ohio > History of the state of Ohio > Part 39
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captor, a boy but sixteen years of age, of course from that time made him a hero, one whose counsel was sought by men of riper years and more experience.
"The news of this daring adventure very soon made him the man of the frontier, eminently qualified as a leader in the spy department, in which position he and his brother John rendered such important services to the then western country, until Lewis, feeling himself deeply wounded by the treatment of that country for which he had so often risked his life, and for which he had rendered such great services, left the northern frontier for the Spanish province of Louisiana. The many hazards and adventures of which Lewis Wetzel was the hero, during his service in the spy depart- ment, would fill a volume, and could not be abridged, had I the material arranged into an ordinary letter. And as most, if not all of his western adventures, have been collected and given to the public by others better able to perform the task, and as my object is only to embody the outlines of the life of one of the daring spirits of the early pioneers of our own land, I pass over all that interesting, and to the frontiers valuable, part of his service.
" About the year 1790, Wetzel being on what was then called a scout, in what is now the State of Ohio, killed and scalped an Indian warrior on the Tuscarawas River, who, it was claimed by recent negotiations at Fort Har- mar, was protected from harm from our spics and others employed in our defence. The Indians made bitter complaints to the commandants of our forts and garrisons, and insisted that unless Wetzel was punished they would again turn loose their horde of warriors. Col. Harmar could not do otherwise than offer a reward for the arrest of Wetzel. He accordingly offered, with great reluctance, a reward of two hundred dollars for the arrest of a man who had spent his life in the woods, standing as a bulwark between the deadly weapon of the barbarian and the struggling settlements of the Christian frontier ; a name that was dear to every man, woman and child on the whole line of western settlements ; one whose deeds of daring and adventure were taught to the children in their earliest lispings, and whose achievements were to fill the brightest page in the history of their early and desperate struggles. To place a price on a man as a criminal, who had made such sacrifices, of course met with bitter denunciation from all who could appreciate his eminent services : particularly so when they considered Wetzel guilty of nothing criminal whatever. True, he had cap- tured a warrior in the woods, at a time and under circumstances when lie (Wetzel) had good reason to believe the warrior was attempting his life ; lie was out-generaled by this hero of the forest and himself mnade a victim to his unconquered adversary,-an Indian that belonged to a warlike tribe ; a tribe that had committed numerous murders and other depredations upon the very settlement in whichi lived the aged fatlier and mother of the
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daring Wetzel. Besides all this, there was good reason to believe this identical warrior had been coneerned in the very outrages alluded to. That any white man would attempt to arrest him, no one believed, and that any red man eould, the friends of Wetzel did not fear. To avoid the constant clamor of the Indians for the arrest of Wetzel, he was advised by his friends to leave for a time, until the feeling on the part of the Indians should subside. Wetzel accordingly, for the last time, left the humble frontier abode of his venerable parents, and the place where he had played many a tragic scene where life was the stake; not, however, to arrest the merciless savage on his mission of blood, but to avoid the action of his own country which he had so faithfully served. He proceeded to the vicinity of Cincinnati, where he engaged in the service of the country as a spy, going where commanded, and returning when his mission was per- formed. He was often heard to say that no one would ever attempt his arrest because he had killed an Indian, but that the love of the reward might find some one heartless enough to, Judas like, sacrifice him for the money. Against the danger of arrest he doubtless felt secure. In his security, however, he was not safe. While he was enjoying the confidence and receiving the admiration of all the people of the west, Col. Parks was ordered to remove with two hundred men from Louisville to Fort Pitt. He stopped at Fort Washington (Cincinnati) with his keel-boats, in which he was transporting his troops. Wetzel was there, and from a regard for his duty, or some other eause, he ordered a file of his men to arrest Wetzel, which, after a violent opposition, they suecceded in doing, and he was placed in irons and dragged on board the boats. The people of Cincinnati made every exertion to procure his release. But to the efforts and appeals of the people in behalf of Wetzel, Col. Parks was immovable, and with a stoie coldness, informed them that Wetzel must be delivered to the officers of justice. Finding that nothing but force could procure his release, they, during the night, rallied the entire force on both sides of the river, and at the dawn of day next morning, five hundred strong men, under arms, marehed to the boats and peremptorily demanded the release of Wetzel. Parks at first refused, but he was informed by their leader that if he did not deliver Wetzel in ten minutes he would sink his boats and take Wetzel by force. The ferocious spirit of the people, and the determination of their leader, compelled Parks to knock the irons off of Wetzel and surrender him to his friends.
" At this conduct of his countrymen, Wetzel was deeply mortified, and to avoid what he called the persecution of his own people, he declared his determination of immediately leaving the country for cver. Accordingly he left, the first opportunity, for the Spanish province of Louisiana. He stopped at Natchez, and at once engaged in his favorite business of fronticr service, and soon became a general favorite with the settlers. In his new
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home, Wetzel appeared to have every thing to make it comfortable, and the change from his native to his adopted country appeared a happy one. But the smooth current of his life was doomed soon again to be ruffled, and his meridian sun again obscured by the clouds of trouble.
Wetzel was an unlettered man, and his whole life proved his character of unbending integrity. Placing no value upon moncy, none believed that he would do a dishonest act for mere gain. But notwithstanding his character and the circumstances of his life, he was arrested for counter- feiting the coin of the king.
" A man by the name of Piatt, from near Pittsburgh, who had for some cause sought refuge in Louisiana, was the accuser of poor Wetzel. Whether he was actuated by motives of malice, self-protection, or other cause, is, and perhaps ever will be, locked up in the secrets of the past. That an unlettered man, like Wetzel, could counterfeit, was he ever so willing, was preposterous. Besides, all who knew him were confident he would not do it if he could. But, upon the testimony of Piatt, he was convicted and sentenced to the calaboose at New Orleans.
"The news of Wetzel's misfortunes soon reached the upper country, and the first office of the western boatman, on reaching New Orleans, was to visit the prison of poor Wetzel and offer whatever was in his power for his comfort and relief. Petition after petition was sent to the Spanish Gover- nor, praying for his release, but without effect. Col. Richard Brown, and the Hon. F. McGuire, both distinguished men at that day in Western Vir- ginia, upon their own personal responsibility, at different times, offered the Governor two thousand dollars for his release. The Governor, placing it on the grounds of having no discretion in the matter, declined a compli- ance with their request; expressing, at the same time, a desire for Wetzel's relief, but refusing a pardon, on the grounds that his sovereign required the judgments of his majesty's courts executed to the letter.
"In that dark and loathsome prison, denied of all the comforts of life, even the light of heaven, did the poor sufferer drag out four years and a half of his mortal existence, with no other inmates than the meanest malefactors that were ever incarcerated for crime. Hope of obtaining his liberty had fled. His friends that had previously made such disinterested and noble efforts for his relief, had long since given over in despair, or regarded him as having fell a victim to his confinement, and by that unwelcome monster been released from his chains. Wetzel regarded him- self, for the balance of his days, as a permanent fixture to the damp floor of his prison, and almost ccased to pray for liberty.
" While Wetzel was counting with fevered anxiety every day as it passed, as bringing him nearer the day of his deliverance from his miserable and loathsome dungeon 'to that house not made with hands,' the light of hope suddenly broke upon the solitude of his cell. Previous to this time, there
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existed in Western Pennsylvania, what was familiarly known as the Whisky Insurrection. One of the leaders of the insurgents was General Bradford of Pennsylvania, who was prosecuted for resisting the execution of the laws, and to avoid which he fled to Louisiana. Bradford was a man of education, talents, and fine address. He claimed the protection of the Spanish Governor, and soon became a favorite at his court. He soon learned the condition of Wetzel. He knew his former character and great services, and deeply sympathizcd with him in his misfortunes. Bradford immediately set himself about procuring the release of liis old friend and countryman from that loathsomc prison house in which he was dying by the inch. He approached the Governor in person, in behalf of Wetzel. He represented lis services, his sufferings, and former good character, and soon found that the kind nature of the Governor, too, sympathized with the unfortunate prisoner in his sufferings. Bradford's hopes of success soon ripened into reality, and through him Wetzel once morc enjoyed his liberty.
"In those days a story was current, concerning the manner in which Bradford effected the release of Wetzel, that savored strongly of the mar- velous. The Governor, it was said, throughi fcar of his sovereign, refused to exercise the pardoning power, although he very much desired that Wetzel should be discharged from imprisonment; and to supply the want of unbiassed power, resort was had to stratagem. The plan was briefly this : Wetzel was to feign himself sick ; a report was to be put in circulation that he had died ; a coffin-maker and undertaker was to be called on. His body was coffined and carried out of the prison and delivered to his friends, amongst whom was Bradford, and by thiem carried out of the city, where the dead man was taken alive out of the coffin and it sunk in the Mississippi. Wetzel was conveyed to Natchcz, and was taken into the family of a rela- tive of his, who was a wealthy planter ncar that place. Whether this story was true or not, could make but little difference to the unfortunate victim of circumstances ; but the facts, about which there is no dispute, give it the color of probability. Certain it was that Wetzel was taken from prison to Natchez, where he lived for a number of years in the family of a Mr. Sicks, a cousin of Wetzel's. His long confinement in the damp and unhealthy prison had undermined his constitution and rendered him unfit for his former vocation of frontier service. From long inactivity, his limbs had grown stiff and clumsy ; his stalwart arms had lost their strength, and his whole system lacked the physical power to qualify him for the woods. He was kindly treated and cared for by his friends, working when it suited him and playing when he pleased.
" After the purchase of Louisiana by the United States, Sicks removed on to the Brasos, in Texas, taking Wetzel with him. He remained a mem- ber of the family of his friend for a number of years, gradually yielding
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to the encroachments of disease, until his powerful form could resist no longer, when he died. On the banks of the Brasos, in the yet far distant wilderness, sleeps, without mark or monument, the ashes of the intrepid scout, the fearless and gallant spy. Who can listen to the winds as they moan among the branches that overhang his grave, and reflect upon the serviecs, persecutions and sufferings of the fearless spirit that once animated the entombed remains, without shedding a tear of sympathy for the name of LEWIS WETZEL?
" Wetzel never could forget the wrongs he had suffered from his own country and countrymen. Piatt, in particular, he denounced as a villain. Inasmuch as he (Piatt) is one of the prominent characters mentioned in this letter, a brief notice of his career and end might, by the curious, be desirable.
" After the conviction of Wetzel, Piatt was arrested for killing an Indian on Red River, was tried, convicted, and placed in the calaboose at New Orleans, where he remained nine years, and was then taken out and hung.
" I have thus given you all the facts within my knowledge, not already before the public. I regret my inability to fix dates, but I have given cer- tain historical events, about the date of which there is no dispute, from which to infer the date of the events mentioned in the letter.
"Yours, truly, &c.,
"E. R. ECKLEY."
X (Page 411.)
SURRENDER OF THE MORAVIAN TRACT TO THE UNITED STATES.
Articles of agreement made and concluded at Gnadenhütten, in the county of Tuscarawas, and State of Olio, between Lewis Cass, on the one part, of the United States, being thereto specially authorized by the President of the United States, and Lewis D. Schweinitz, on the part of the Society of the United Brethren for propagating the Gospel among the Heathen, being thereto specially authorized by the said Society.
I. The said Society agree to retrocede to tlie United States tlie tlirce tracts of land, lying on the Muskingum River, in the county of Tuscarawas, and State of Olio, containing each four thousand acres; whichi said tracts of land were granted to the said Society by patent from the United States, on the 24th day of February, 1798, for certain purposes therein expressed, which will more fully appear by reference to the said patent, and to the act of Congress of June 1st, 1796, cutitled " An actregulating the grants of land appropriated for military services, and for the Society of the United Bretlı-
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ren for propagating the Gospel among the Heathen," by authority of which aet, said patent was issued.
The conveyanee required by this article shall be made by a good and sufficient decd, at the expense of the said Society, as soon after the ratifi- cation of this agreement as possible ; which deed shall convey to the United States all the right and title vested in the said Society by the patent and act of Congress aforesaid.
II. The schedule hereunto annexed, contains a descriptive list of all the leases which have been granted by said Society, together with the number of the lots, and the quantity of aeres granted to each person, the com- mencement and expiration of the lease, and the rent which each tenant is bound to pay. These leases, as soon as this agreement is ratificd, shall, by a suffieicnt conveyance in law, be assigned by the said Socicty to the Uni- ted States, after which the rights and duties created by the said leascs shall be vested in, and performed by the United States.
III. Whereas, by the documents which accompanicd the President's message to the Senate, of December 9th, 1822, it appears that the sum of $43,356 was actually expended by the said Society upon the objects con- nected with the trust created by the acceptance of the said patent, to the 21st of August, 1822, and that the whole receipts from the said land were $9,998.58} eents, leaving a balance due to the said Society of $32,587.502 cents, of which sun $15,840.104 cents were actually expended in procuring the title of the said land, and in surveying the same (the repayment of which, amounting now, with the interest, to $2,596.13 cents, was guarantied by the ordinance of Congress, of September 3d, 1788), and in the settlement at an early period of these remote tracts, being more than seventy miles distant from the nearcst white settlement, in cutting roads, building tem- porary mills, and making other improvements, which have greatly added to the value of the said lands, all which will more fully appear by a refer- ence to the said documents ; and, whereas, the committee of the Senate, to whom the said documents were referred, state that "it appears satisfaeto- rily to the committee, that the Society, ever since they assumed the trust, have, under circumstances of great difficulty and embarrassment, exerted their best endeavors to effect the great and benevolent purposes of civiliz- ing, improving, and protecting the Indians tlius placed under their charge, and have, with persevering industry, earc, and fidelity, performed the duty and trust reposed in them by Congress ;" and, wliercas, by an account this day exhibited by the treasurer of said Society, it appears that the said thirce tracts of land arc actually holden for the payment of a debt of $6,654.25 eents, being part of the said sum of $15,840.10} cents, expended as afore- said : Now, therefore, it is reasonable, and it is hereby agreed, that the sum of six thousand six hundred and fifty-four dollars and twenty-five cents, shall be paid by the United States to the said Society, out of the first pro-
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cecds of the sales of the said land, in full consideration of the retrocession hereby made, and of all the expenses which the said Society have incurred in the execution of the trust aforesaid, in relation to the said land.
IV. It is also agreed that ten acres of ground, including the church, called Beersheba, and the grave yard, on the Gnadenhütten tract ; and, also, the church lot, parsonage houses, and grave yard in the town of Gnaden- hütten ; the house and lot occupied by Jolin G. Demuth ; the house and lot occupied by David Peter, both which lots are about five rods in front by sixteen rods in depth ; and the house and lot occupied by Frederick Dell, which lot does not exceed two acres; and, also, the Missionary house and grave yard at Goshen ; shall be conveyed, by the United States, in perpetu- ity to the said Society, free from any condition or limitation whatever.
V. Whereas, John Andreas, Neigaman, Jacob Winsch, and Catharine Tschudy, have erected houses in the town of Gnadenhütten upon lots of five by fifteen rods, under leases from the said Society, conditioned for the payment, the two former of the annual rent of $1.65 cents each ; and the two latter of $3.60 cents each, with an understanding that the said lessees should hold the said lots, as long as they complied with the conditions of the lease, and should also be allowed the privilege of selling the same at their option ; it is therefore agreed, that the said John Andreas, John Neiga- man, Jacob Winsch, and Catharine Tschudy, shall be allowed a preemption right to the said lots, to be exercised in such manner as may be determined by the United States.
VI. Five of the leases, yet unexpired, to wit: those to Isaac Simmers, Jesse Walton, Barzillai Walton, and Boaz Walton, on the Gnadenhütten tract, and to Jesse Hill, on the Salem tract, contain clauses for the payment of such sums, as may be awarded to them in the mode pointed out by the said leases, for certain improvements upon the tracts leased to them. It is therefore agreed, that a sum not exceeding one thousand eight hundred dollars shall be paid, by the United States, out of the proceeds of the said land, should that amount be awarded to the said persons. But should the amount awarded to them fall short of them, then the United States shall be held to pay only the amount actually awarded. Josephi Rhoads having leased a lot for the term of thirty-three years, from the 1st of April, 1821, and having advanced to the said Society the consideration therefor, amounting to $215.25 cents, under an agreement that the same, at the expiration of the lease, shall be refunded to the said Rhoads, without interest, the said Society agree to procure a surrender to the United States of the said lease within the term of four years, and to save the United States harmless from the effect of any stipulation in the said lease.
VII. It is expressly understood and declared, that this agreement, and every part thereof, is to be null and void, unless the assent of those persons can be obtained, for whose benefit the trust specified in the said act of
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Congress, was created, and who are in the said patent declared to be the " Christian Indians who were formerly settled there, or the remains of that Society, including Killbuek and his deseendants, and the nephew and deseen- dants of the late Captain White Eyes, Delaware Chiefs," or such persons as are now entitled to the benefits of the trust. It being the intention of the parties hereunto that no responsibility shall be ineurred by the said Society in con- sequence of the retroeession herein provided for. The motives of the Soci- cty being to divest themselves of a trust burdensome to them and useless to the Indians, that their funds devoted to charitable purposes may be applied where there is a prospect that they will produce some permanent advantage.
VIII. This agreement, after the same shall be ratified by the United States, and by the said Society, and after the assent aforesaid shall be ob- tained, shall be obligatory on the parties hereunto.
LEWIS CASS, LEWIS D. DE SCHWEINITZ.
GNADENHUTTEN, AUGUST 4th, 1823.
I do hereby certify that the above is a true copy of the original.
JACOB KUMMER, Secretary of the Society.
Whereas, at a stated annual meeting of the Society of United Brethren for promulgating the Gospel among the Heathen, held at Bethlehem, on the twenty-sixth day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty-thrce, agreeable to adjournment, duly notified to the members of said Society by the President and Directors thereof, an agreement made and entered into on the fourth day of August last, at Gnadenhütten, Tusearawas county, State of Ohio, between Lewis D. de Schweinitz, as Agent of said Society, thereunto specially authorized by said Society, and Lewis Cass, as Agent of the United States, thereunto specially authorized by the President of the United States, whereof the foregoing is a certified copy was submitted to the said Society for consideration and ratifi- cation, whereupon the same was by a unanimous vote of said Society duly accepted, confirmed, and ratified. Now, therefore, we, the President and Secretary of the said Society, do, by these presents, certify that the said agreement, and each and every article thereof, is hereby, on the part of said Society, duly adopted, confirmed, and ratified.
In testimony whereof, we, the President and Secretary of the Society, have hereunto signed our names, and affixed the Seal of the
[L. S.] Society this 26th day of September, in the year of our Lord, 1823. C. G. HUEFFEL, EP. U. FRR. President United Brethren's Society for propagating the Gospel. JACOB KUMMER,
Secretary of the Society.
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Articles of agreement, made this eight day of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty-three, between Lewis Cass, Commissioner on the part of the United States, and Zacharias, or Koot- alces, John Henry, or Killbuck, Charles Henry, or Killbuck, Francis Henry or Killbuck, John Peter, Tobias, John Jacob, and Matthias, or Koolotshat- shees, being the descendants and representatives of the Christian Indians, who were formerly settled upon three tracts of land, lying on both sides of the Muskingum River, in the State of Ohio, containing four thousand acres each, which were granted by patent from the United States, dated February twenty-fourth, seventeen hundred and ninety-cight, in pursuance of the act of Congress of June first, seventeen hundred and ninety-six, entitled " An act regulating the grants of land appropriated for military services, and for the Society of the United Brethren for propagating the Gospel among the Heathen," to the said Society for the use of the said Christian Indians, or the remains of that society, including Killbuck and his descendants, and the nephew and descendants of the late Captain White Eyes, Dela- ware Chiefs.
ARTICLE I. The descendants and representatives aforesaid, for them- selves and for the society of the Christian Indians aforesaid, do hereby declare their full assent to the agreement concluded at Gnadenhütten, in the State of Ohio, on the fourth day of August, one thousand cight hun- dred and twenty-three, between Lewis Cass, Commissioner on the part of the United States, and Lewis D. de Schweinitz, Agent for the Society of United Brethren aforesaid.
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