USA > Ohio > Ohio annals : Historic events in the Tuscarawas and Muskingum Valleys, and in other portions of the state of Ohio > Part 18
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their fallen chief, and this enabled the Scotchman to reach and release his three fellow captives on the summit from the thongs with which they were tied. The four now re- turned for their comrade, who had been released from the fire, but unable to ascend the path, he was caught by the three savages below and tomahawked. Thus it stood for a minute-four released prisoners against three warriors, the latter having their hatchets, and the former only one, in the Highlander's hands. In another moment they heard the scalp yell of the savage who had run away, and sup- posing he had other Indians, the four whites reascended the hill and entered the forest, in a run for life-the High- lander keeping in front. After running half a mile they heard their pursuers ; the Scotehman telling his unarmed comrades to keep together, while he treed, and awaited the savages. Soon the most fleet one passed him, and at that moment received his quietus-he having come within three feet of the Scotchman without seeing him, and the toma- hawk of the latter was buried in his skull. He leaped up, and fell with a terrible scream, dead. The Highlander then rejoined his comrades, and they were not further pursued. Making their way east by the sun, they erossed the Still- water, following which they reached its source, crossed the dividing ridge, and were on the Ohio in two days, without having eaten anything save roots and bark. From thence they followed the west bank up the river another day, and finally crossed the Ohio by wading it near the present Wellsville where the river was, and is yet, fordable in low water. They then got assistance from a hunter whom they met, and who took them to a settlement on the Mononga- hela.
Nine years afterward, the Highlander, who had settled in Westmoreland County, joined Boquet's army, and at Coshocton inquired of the Indians what had become of Three Legs and his town up the river-telling them he was once a prisoner there, but escaped. All he could learn was that Three Legs had been killed by a white prisoner, and
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his town was since deserted. McIntosh returned with the army to Pennsylvania, settled in Fayette County, and again volunteered, in 1778, at Fort Pitt. General Lachlin MeIn- tosh there made his acquaintance, and took him down to Beaver, thence to Fort Laurens, and back to Pittsburgh ; after which he was sent to the Tuscarawas as one of Brod- head's Indian killers, in 1780, and at the slaughter of the Coshocton Indians in that campaign the Scotchman was in the fore-front, boasting in his old age of having toma- hawked six Indians in one hour, when telling his exploits in Fayette County, where he died, leaving a family.
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CHAPTER XI.
FIRST SETTLEMENT IN THE NORTH-WEST TERRI- TORY, ON THE MUSKINGUM.
As heretofore stated, Congress, in 1785, ordered seven ranges to be surveyed, and, among others, appointed Gen- eral Putnam surveyor for Massachusetts, who, being at the time otherwise engaged, General Benjamin Tupper came out in 1786 in his place. For the following facts the com- piler is indebted to Hon. A. T. Nye, of Marietta :
After the completion of the survey of the seven ranges, General Tupper returned to Massachusetts, and called upon General Rufus Putnam, to whom he communicated a flatter- ing account and description of that part of the north-west territory. As a result of this conference, a notice was pub- lished in the public prints, signed by Generals Benjamin Tupper and Rufus Putnam, styled, "Information," which, in substance, called upon all officers and soldiers who had served in the late war, and who were entitled by ordinance of Congress to receive tracts of land in the Ohio country, and on all other good citizens who wished to become ad- venturers in that region from the State of Massachusetts, for the purpose of forming a company, by the name of the " Ohio Company," to meet, in their respective counties, on a day therein fixed, and appoint delegates to meet at the " Bunch of Grapes" tavern, in Boston.
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OHIO COMPANY FORMED IN BOSTON IN 1786.
The meeting of delegates was held at the place appointed, on the first day of March, 1786, and resulted in the forma- tion of the "Ohio Company," and the appointment of Gene- rals Samuel Holden Parsons and Rufus Putnam, and the Rev. Manassah Cutler, as a committee to make application to Congress for a private purchase of lands lying in the "Great Western Territory of the Union."
ONE MILLION AND A HALF ACRES PURCHASED AT THE MOUTH OF THE MUSKINGUM.
After a long negotiation, a contract was made with Con- gress for the purchase of one million and a half acres of land for said company, at two-thirds of a dollar per acre ; which amount, by failure of some of the shareholders to make payment, was reduced to nine hundred and sixty-four thousand two hundred and eighty-five acres, and was located on the Ohio and Muskingum rivers.
The boundaries of the purchase were, namely : "From the seventhi range of townships, extending along the Ohio River south-westerly, to the place where the west line of the seventeenth range of townships would intersect that river ; thence northerly so far that a line drawn dne cast to the western boundary of said seventh range of townships would, with the other lines, include one and a half million acres of · land, besides the reserves."
Congress rescreed two full townships for a university-sec- tions sixteen for the support of schools and twenty-nine for the support of religion-and also sections eight, eleven, and twenty-six for the future disposition of Congress.
The lands of the company were divided into about one thousand shares, consisting of lots of various sizes, and amounting to about eleven hundred acres to each share.
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An advance party, consisting of boat-builders and me- chanics, left Danvers, Massachusetts, in December, 1787, under the command of Major Haffield White, and reached " Sumrills," on the Youghiogheny River, in January, and commenced building boats.
The surveyors, and remainder of the pioneers, under the command of Colonel Ebenezer Sproat, left Hartford, Con- nectient, in January, and arrived at " Sumrills " about the middle of February, 1788. General Rufus Putnam, who had gone by the way of New York city, on business of the company, rejoined the party at Swatarra Creek, Pennsyl- vania, on the 24th of January.
PIONEERS ARRIVE AT MUSKINGUM, APRIL 7, 1788.
The boats were soon afterward completed, and left with the pioneers on the 2d day of April, and landed at the mouth of the Muskingum on the 7th day of April, 1788.
They immediately commenced making temporary huts, and erected the marque of General Putnam, in which the business of the company was transacted until their garrison was completed, a few months afterward.
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CAMPUS MARTIUS,
This garrison, or stockade, was located on the brow of the plain, or high ground, nearly a mile up the Muskingum River, and was named "Campus Martius," and included within its limits about one acre of land. At the four cor- ners of the stockade were blockhouses, used for garrison purposes, a school, religious worship, and one by the gov- ernor of the North-west Territory.
The first court held in the North-west Territory was in the northwest blockhouse.
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MARIETTA. .
Between the blockhouses were the houses of the settlers- all inclosed by a picket made of the bodies of trees set in the ground. The picket was about fourteen feet high. A well, furnishing a plentiful supply of water, was dug in the center of the stockade, and walled with brick. At the " Point" (the junction of the Muskingum River with the Ohio), about four aeres were inclosed by pickets (stockaded), within which were several dwelling and store-houses, and it covered ground which since then has been a business part of the town.
FORT HARMAR.
On the opposite bank of the Muskingum River, at its mouth, a military post had been called Fort Harmar-built in 1785, and garrisoned by one batallion of the regiment commanded by General Harmar, under Major Doughty. At the time of the arrival of the pioneers, General Harmar was at the fort.
FORT FRY.
At a point on the easterly bank of the Muskingum, about twenty-two miles up the river, and one mile below the present village of Beverly, was built a fortification for defense against the Indians, in 1790, and was occupied by the families of the pioneers, and called Fort Fry. At a point still further up the Muskingum, about forty miles from Marietta, called Big Bottom, a blockhouse was built by the early settlers of that locality.
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FARMER'S CASTLE.
At Belpre, about fourteen miles below Marietta, a forti- fication was also built, called Farmer's Castle, and occupied by the early settlers-their houses being within the pickets. In addition, the settlement had also a blockhonse about two or three miles above Farmer's Castle, called Stone's Station, and some two or three miles below the castle, an- other blockhouse, called Goodale's Station ; and down the river, below the mouth of the Little Hockhocking, was a station called Newburg.
ARTHUR ST. CLAIR APPOINTED GOVERNOR OF THE NORTH-WEST TERRITORY.
Congress, at its session of 1787-88, appointed Arthur St. Clair, Esq., as governor of the North-west Territory. 1Ic was escorted from Pittsburgh by a detachment of troops, under Major Doughty, and arrived at Fort Harmar on the 9th day of July, 1788.
On the 15th day of July, following, a formal recep- tion of the governor was held at a bowery, erected for the occasion, near the stockade. He was escorted by the officers of the garrison, and the secretary of the territory-Win- throp Sargent-and was received by General Rufus Put- nam, the judges of the territory-General Samuel Holden Parsons and James Whitehall Varnum-and the inhabi- tants generally. The secretary, Major Sargent, read the ordinance of Congress erecting the North-west Territory, the commissions of the governor, the judges, and his own commission. The first laws for the government of the new territory were adopted from the laws of the States, deemed suitable to the condition of the citizens of the new terri- tory by the governor and judges, and were published at Marietta ; among these, laws for establishing courts of general quarter sessions and county courts of common pleas.
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WASHINGTON COUNTY ORGANIZED IN 1788.
By the ordinance of Congress the governor was author- ized to make proper divisions of the territory, and by pro- elamation of the 26th day of July, 1788, he defined the limits of Washington County-named in honor of General. Washington-bounded as follows, namely : Beginning on the bank of the Ohio River, where the western boundary line of the State of Pennsylvania crosses it, running with that line to Lake Erie; thence along the shore of the lake to the mouth of Cuyahoga River; thence up the river to the portage, between that and the Tuscarawas branch of the Muskingum River; thence down the branch to the forks at the crossing place above Fort Laurens; thence with a line to be drawn westerly to the portage of that branch of the Big Miami-on which the fort stood that was taken by the French in 1752-until it meets the road from the lower Shawance town to the Sandusky ; thence south to the Scioto River; thence down that river to the mouth ; thence up the Ohio River to the place of beginning.
THE FIRST COURT OF COMMON PLEAS IN OHIO
was opened on the 2d day of September, 1788, at Marietta. A procession was formed at the "Point" (the junction of the Muskingum with the Ohio River), of the inhabitants, and the officers from Fort Harmar, who escorted the judges of the court of common pleas, the governor of the territory, and the supreme judges to the hall, appropriated for that purpose, in the north-west blockhouse in "Campus Mar- tius." The procession was headed by the sheriff, with drawn sword and baton of office. After prayer by Rev. Manasseh Cutler the court was then organized by reading the commissions of the judges, the clerk, and sheriff; after which the sheriff proclaimed the court open for the trans- action of business.
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The judges of the first court of common pleas were : General Rufus Putnam, General Benjamin Tupper, 'and Colonel Archibald Crary. The clerk was Colonel R. J. Meigs ; Colonel Ebenezer Sproat, sheriff. On the 9th day of September following, the court of general quarter ses- sions was held at "Campus Martius." The commission appointing the judges thereof was read-General Rufus Putnam and General Benjamin Tupper constituted justices of the quorum, and Isaac Pearce, Thomas Lord, and R. J. Meigs, Jr., assistant justices ; Colonel R. J. Meigs, Sr., was clerk. The first grand jury of the territory was then im- paneled, viz. : William Stacey, foreman, Nathaniel Cush- ing, Nathan Goodale, Charles Knowles, Anselm Tupper, Jonathan Stone, Oliver Rice, Ezra Lunt, John Mathews, George Ingersoll, Jonathan Devol, Jethro Putnam, Sanı- nel Stebbins, and Jabez True.
ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-TWO ACRES OF LAND PLANTED IN 1788.
In the first year of the settlement (1788) about one hun- dred and thirty-two acres of ground was cleared of the timber and platited in corn, and produced a very good erop. The crop of the succeeding year was badly injured by early frosts ; very little was sufficiently matured to be fit for use ; but good erops of vegetables were raised.
The loss of the crop of 1789 produced a famine, and the inhabitants were greatly straightened for necessary food, and had to depend upon the partial supply of game which could be killed, until the following spring, when early vege- tables were raised. The succeeding year abundant crops were raised.
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THE INDIANS DESTROY THE FIRST SETTLEMENT IN MORGAN COUNTY.
In 1790, the first settlement was attempted in the present limits of Morgan County, at a point on the Muskingum called the Big Bottom, near the present Washington County line, by a company of about forty young men from the set- tlements in the vicinity of Marietta. It was getting late in the fall when the project was started, and on that account was discouraged by many of the older and more experi- enced border men. The leading spirits in the enterprise were men of great courage and energy, and would not listen to the advice of the old settlers. The company accordingly moved up the Muskingum with a sufficient quantity of provisions, and tools, and ammunition for a stay of several months. Reaching the site of the proposed settlement, the first work done was the erection of a blockhouse, for pro- tection in case of a sudden attack by the Indians. After the completion of the blockhouse, several of the older men of the party paired off and built cabins, leaving about twenty to occupy the blockhouse.
At the time of these operations at Big Bottom, the In- dians of the valley were preparing their winter quarters at Waketameki (Dresden), and their other towns further up the valley of the Tuscarawas. While thus engaged, a runner brought information of the new settlement by the whites, and it was at once determined in council that a war party should drive away or kill the whites. Accordingly, at a given time, a band of between fifty and sixty warriors started down the river on the bloody errand. On the afternoon of the second day they came near the place, but not wishing to open an attack until fully apprised of the number and de- fenses of the settlers, they stationed themselves on a hill on the opposite side of the river, from where they obtained a full view of the whole bottom. Just before dark, on the 2d of Jan , 1791, the Indians proceeded to a point a short dis-
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tance up the river, where they crossed on the ice. As the shades of twilight disappeared and darkness closed over the valley, the Indians appeared on the ground, and found the whites at supper in the blockhouse. While the major por- tion of the savages were to attack the main body of whites, a. small party proceeded to the cabins to secure their inmates. The whites in one cabin invited the Indians to partake of some supper, when several entered, and others stationed themselves at the door. The Indians inside immediately surrounded the table and informed the whites they were prisoners. Seeing resistance was useless the whites per- mitted themselves to be bound.
Directly after the surrender of the cabin party, the In- dians burst open the blockhouse door, and shot down the inmates who were standing around the fire, the others were at once tomahawked and scalped. The only resist- ance offered in the blockhouse was by a woman who struck at an Indian with an ax, but missing his skull she cut a gash in his check. Another Indian shot her on the spot.
The inmates of the other cabin, hearing the shooting and yelling of the savages, gathered up their arms and trap- pings, and put for the woods, making good their escape- as the Indians did not offer pursuit. While gathering the plunder in the blockhouse a boy, named Philip Stacey, was found hidden under some bedding. Two Indians at once raised their tomahawks to kill him, when the boy fell at their feet, begging for his life, as he was the only one left. This excited compassion, and he was spared. The Indians now set fire to the buildings, and left the scene. Young Stacey escaped the spring following, and returned to the Marietta settlements. The names of those killed at Big Bottom are given as follows: one of General Putnam's sons, Zebulon Throp, John Stacey, John Camp, James Conch, Joseph Clark, John Farwell, William James, Isaac Meeks and his wife, with two children.
The party who escaped returned the next day with assist- ance from Marietta, and found the buildings only partly
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consumed, by reason of the timbers being green, and the bodies of their comrades were lying on the floors in a charred condition-some being beyond recognition. A large hole was dug inside the blockhouse, into which the remains were placed; and over them placed the floor punch- cons, and the whole covered with earth.
The Indians raided about the neighborhood for some days, but did not attempt another attack on any of the settlements. They then returned up the valley, and were heard of no more during that winter. Notice was imme- diately given to all the other settlements-Wolf Creek Mills, Fort Fry, Marietta, Farmers Castle, and Newburg. The settlers immediately commenced to put their block- houses in a more secure condition, and to add such fortifi- cations as the immediate danger seemed to require. No regular attack was made during the Indian war on any of these garrisons, but they were in constant danger and dread from the prowling bands of Indians who infested the neigh- borhood of the garrisons. Joseph Rogers, a spy or scout, Robert Warth, Matthew Kerr, a Mr. Carpenter, and a ne- gro boy were killed in the vicinity of Marietta; and a Mr. Davis, a woman named Dunham, and several of the Arm- strong family were killed at Belpre, and Major Goodale was captured and carried off from there, by the Indians, to their towns in the north-west, and died among the Indians.
March 15, 1792, Mrs. Brown and two young children, and a young girl aged fourteen, named Perses Dunham, were killed at Newburg. April 24, 1793, Mrs. Armstrong and two young children were killed, and two sons and one daughter taken prisoners opposite Belpre. Last of July, 1795, Mr. Davis, while busy repairing a skiff on the Ohio above Belpre, was killed. In June, 1794, near Sherman Station, on the Muskingum, above Beverly, Abel Sherman was shot through the heart. May 10, 1794, about three hundred yards from Fort Harmar, Robert Warth was killed.
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The Indian war continued until the treaty of Greenville, the 3d of August, 1795, a period of nearly five years-during which period the inhabitants were confined to the limits of their fortifications. In 1796, the families of the settlers began to remove to their homes, and commenced clearing their lands and making improvements, and general pros- perity began to prevail Marietta began to improve rap- idly. Ship-building was commenced here about 1801, and carried on until the embargo stopped the building of vessels, and all mechanical enterprises connected therewith. The last yessel was taken out in the spring of 1808.
THE FIRST SETTLEMENT AT MARIETTA DESCRIBED BY AN EYE WITNESS.
Hon. William Woodbridge, a United Stateses nator, de- scribed the Marietta settlement thus, in a speech made by him in 1844:
" On the 7th of April, 1788, the first and principal detach- ment of that interesting corps of emigrants landed at the confluence of the Muskingum with the Ohio River. This was directly athwart the old Indian war-path; for it was down the Muskingum and its tributary branches that the Wyandots, the Shawnees, the Ottowas, and all the Indians of the north and north-west were accustomed to march, when from time to time, for almost half a century before, they made those dreadful incursions into western Virginia and western Pennsylvania, which spread desolation, and ruin, and despair throughout all those regions. Having arrived there, they marked out their embryo city, and in honor of the friend of their country, the queen of France, called it Marietta. They surrounded it with palisades and abatis ; they erected blockhouses and bastions. On an eminence a little above, and near the Muskingum, they constructed a more regular and scientific fortification. Thus did the settlement of the great State commence. Among these
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colonists were very many of the most distinguished officers of the revolution, and of all grades. General Rufus Put- nam, and General Benjamin Tupper, of the Massachusetts line, were there; General Parsons, of the Connecticut, and General Varnum, of the Rhode Island lines, were there; old Commodore Whipple, of Rhode Island, who fired the first hostile gun from on board a Congress ship, and who, during the whole war, was another Paul Jones, and as active and daring, found his grave there-as did a near relative of General Nathaniel Green ; the sons of the 'wolf catcher,'
General Israel Putnam, and the descendants of Manasseh Cutler, were there; Colonel Cushing, Colonel Sproat, Colo- nel Oliver, and Colonel Sargent, and multitudes of others, distinguished alike for their bravery, for their patriotism, and for their skill in war, were there. Some few, very few, still live (1844), and whose names I recognize, who consti- tuted a part of this wonderful band of veteran soldiers. The rest, one after another, have dropped off. Many of the things I have adverted to, I personally saw. I was a child then, but I well recollect the regular morning reveille, and the evening tattoo that helped to give character to the establishment. Even on the Sabbath, the male population were always under arms, and with their chaplain, who was willing to share the lot of his comrades, were accustomed to march in battle array to their blockhouse church."
NAMES OF THE PIONEERS WHO LANDED AT MA- RIETTA APRIL 7, 1788.
General Rufus Putnam, superintendent of the settlement, and surveyor; Colonel Ebenezer Sproat, Colonel R. J. Meigs, Major Anselm Tupper, and Mr. John Matthews, surveyors ; Major Haffield White, steward and quarter- master; Captain Jonathan Devol, Captain Josiah Monroe, Captain Daniel Davis, Captain Jethro Putnam, Captain William Gray, Captain Ezekiel Cooper, Peregrine Foster,
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Esq., Jarvis Cutler, Samnel Cushing, Oliver Dodge, Isaac Dodge, Samuel Felshaw, Hezekiah Flint, Hezekiah Flint, Jr., Amos Porter, Josiah Whitridge, John Gardner, Ben- jamin Griswold, Eleazer Kirtland, Theophilus Leonard, Jo- seph Lincoln, William Miller, Jabez Barlow, Daniel Bush- nell, Ebenezer Corey, Phineas Coburn, Allen Putnam, David Wallace, Joseph Wells, Gilbert Devol, Jr., Henry Maxon, William Maxon, Edward Moulton, Simeon Martin, Benjamin Shaw, Peletiah White, Israel Danton, Josiah White, Jonas Davis, Earl Sproat, Allen Devol.
Angust 19, 1788 arrived the first families, six in number- General Benjamin Tupper and wife, with three sons and one daughter grown ; Colonel Nathaniel Cushing, and wife and children ; Major Asa Coburn, and wife and three chil- dren ; Ichabod Nye, and wife and two children ; Andrew Webster and wife; Major Nathan Goodale and wife, and son and daughter ; two single men, names unknown, in the employ of General Tupper.
At different periods in 1788, arrived Commodore Abra- ham Whipple; July 9, Governor Arthur St. Clair; June 16, Dr. Jabez True and Paul Fearing, Esq .; May, Hon. Samuel Holden Parsons, Colonel Ebenezer Battelle, Cap- tain William Dana, Major Jonathan Haskell, Colonel Is- rael Putnam, Aaron Waldo Putnam, Major Robert Bradford, Jonathan Stone, Colonel Robert Oliver, and Colonel Wil- liam Stacey; June, Hon. James Mitchell Varnum, Griffin Green, Esq .- one of the directors of the company-Charles Green, Major Dean Tyler, and Colonel Joseph Thompson.
In 1789, there arrived Hon. Joseph Gilman, Benjamin I. Gilman, Rev. Daniel Story-in the spring-Levi Munsall, and William Skinner.
In 1790, there arrived Dudley Woodbridge, Sr., and family, Dudley Woodbridge, Jr., Ebenezer Nye and fam- ily, Joshua Shipman and family.
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