USA > Ohio > Ohio early state and local history > Part 15
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At the eagles swiftly flying To their nests in the tops of our trees, Where the baby eagles nestled, Swaying with every breeze.
Or whether he aimed his arrow At the men who were here before, And drove them little by little Back to some other shore,
Our own little river could tell us, If it spoke the tongue we know, The reason our mound-builders passed away, Some time, long, long ago.
The Indian stayed on the banks Of this river we all know so well, Sowed his maize and smoked his pipe, Much longer than he could tell.
Gave the Indian name of Sandusky To this river that helped furnish food, To this worshipper of the Great Spirit, And his squaw, with her little brood.
Carried his wigwam from shore to shore, Paddled canoes here and there On the waters of our own Sandusky While his war-whoop filled the air.
Here the Delawares, Senecas and Wyandottes Smoked their pipes of peace, While vowing to the Great Spirit Hostilities must cease.
And the dark-eyed Indian maiden Sat on the banks and saw, Mirrored in its cool clear waters, The face of her young brave's squaw.
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In fancy she pictured her own teepee, And beside it her warrior brave, As she reared his children with mother love, And was devoted to him as slave.
Happy, peaceful days for the Red man, With never a thought or a care, If the game was scarce, and fish all caught, He moved on and on-anywhere.
For he knew no law in this vast domain And wandered the woods at will; A primitive child as God made him, With instinct to hunt and to kill.
Such was the life of our Indian, Then, God changed His plan, And sent across the mighty deep A brave and true white man,
Who landed on the Southern shores, Hoping that he had found A shorter route to the East at last And a proof that the world is round.
Almost three hundred years passed by Before the white man came To the banks of our little river With its historic Indian name.
Among the first white men on the banks Of this river, as far as we know, Were missioners with the Moravian Indians, Brought here through sorrow and woe.
On the banks of the Tuscarawas These Red men had their home, For they were peaceful Christian Indians With no more a desire to roam.
Then one night the British Under dark, foreboding skies, Slaughtered ninety men, women, and children, Claiming that they were spies.
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At the points of their guns they drove them Until they were tired, worn and weak, Then abandoned them on our Sandusky, At the mouth of Brokensword Creek.
Samuel Leith the first white child To behold the light of day, In our pretty Sandusky valley Romped the banks in joyous play,
Thirty-seven long, long years, Before our forests heard the sound Of the axe of Erastus Bowe, As he worked to clear the ground,
For the very first log cabin, Which stood only a few feet away From where these lines were written, And a busy street runs, today.
Westward the settlers journeyed on, Over the hills and vales, Following the streams wherever they could Or taking the Indian trails,
Till they came to our little river And decided no more to roam; But to chop the trees and hew the logs, And make for themselves a home.
On the banks of our own Sandusky Two little villages grew, Built by our hardy forefathers Who were willing to chop and to hew.
One by one the settlers came To Tiffin and Fort Ball, And of the rivalry between them, I need only to recall,
The founders of these two villages, Hedges and Spencer by name, Each wishing the other would take himself Back from whence he came.
·
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Then followed days of toil for the settler, As acre after acre was cleared To be planted in corn and barley and wheat, And home after home was reared,
To house the oncoming thousands, Who turned their faces this way; 'Tis true, some returned to their former homes, But many were willing to stay,
And live the life of the pioneer And share their joys and woes, With a neighbor, perhaps, twenty miles away,
And to join 'gainst common foes.
How few of us ever stop to think Of the part our river took In the famous war of 1812
Except as we turn to a book.
On its banks were built three forts, Called Stephenson, Seneca, and Ball, Each playing its part in the conflict Each ready to answer the call-
A call that meant much in those pioneer days Of hardships, privations, and death, For the toll of both British and Indian, Would chill the heart, and take the breath,
Of the bravest of pioneer settlers, And only the bravest came To this land of toil and hardship To make for themselves a name.
At Fort Seneca one hundred years ago, But not from modern wireless towers, Did General Harrison receive these words: "We have met the enemy, and they are ours,"
Along our own little river, Fort Stephenson saw the worst of the fray, For here the brave Major Croghan, Held the fort, and won the day
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Against both the British and Indians; And this year with fitting rites, At Fort Seneca was placed a boulder, Marking the last of these three sites.
Later on came the shots at Sumpter, And when Lincoln made a call For men to defend their country And face gun and cannon ball,
All along our own Sandusky Hundreds answered the call, "To arms;" Leaving mothers, wives, and sweethearts, To care for the cities and farms.
Many, yes many, never returned, To this valley that we call home, But were left on the fields of battle In graves that are marked "Unknown."
And when we think of these brave men, It only helps us firmly to fix, The thought that many of these Were sons of the heroes of '76.
"Tis true that our own little river, Never heard the drum or the fife, As it flowed along in its peaceful course Far away from our country's first strife.
But I am sure if there had been men, To go to enter the fight, From along her banks she would have wished "God speed," with all her might.
Then, slowly this valley prospered, Until we have today Cheerful homes wherever we turn, And modern in every way.
No more the log cabin greets you, With the latch-string hanging out; It has passed away, like the Red man But each by a different route.
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Both Tiffin and Fort Ball prospered Beyond the wildest dream, Of either Hedges or Spencer As they quarreled across the stream.
They merged into one little city, To be governed by one set of rules, Made by men from both sides of the river, Who joined in worship and schools.
Then, nearer and nearer grew the banks Of this river we love so well,
Closer and closer grew each side- How close I need not tell.
It was not the river our forefathers knew, For that was generous and wide
With plenty of room for spring freshets, With no overflow on each side.
Both the home and the factory found its place Where once our river ran Narrowed, distorted, contracted, No longer of nature's plan.
*Last spring on the twenty-sixth of March When the water reached its height Our own Sandusky, sought revenge, For encroachment on her right,
Tore her walls from end to end, And in her course ran wild; Sending her current madly along Sparing neither man, nor child.
Those of us who were in our homes And saw the waters rise Inch by inch and foot by foot, And heard the screams and cries
For help from the terror stricken, Will never forget the sight As piece by piece our homes floated off, To add to our terror and fright.
· 1913.
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O, the anguish, sorrow, and grief, Is more than tongue can tell; And the fright of the nineteen terrified souls, As they heard their own death knell,
Is more than we can comprehend, And we never can understand, Till we, ourselves, rest at the brink- And pass into the shadow-land.
Then, flow on, historic Sandusky, Flow on to the end of time; Empty your waters into the lakes, To search for some other clime,
Where there are no sorrows or heart aches, No floods, no wars, no pain; Where people live for the good they can do, And not for what they can gain.
And, if ever you find such a favored spot, And I hope, in your course, you may, Won't you return sometime to us, And teach us to live that way?
We know you've taught many a lesson To those who have lived, near you, Lessons in nature, love, and goodness Won't you teach us this one too?
For so few of us know the lessons of life, As we live in our own selfish way Floating along in our narrow course; But still sometime we may.
So hasten along, Sandusky, And sing your song to the stars, And may the lessons we've learned from you Make us better D. A. R.'s
History of Our Chapter: Military Seruires of Revolutionary Ancestors: Lineage of Chapter Members
By MARGARET SNOWDEN (MRS. WILLIAM HARMON).
HISTORY OF OUR CHAPTER
OLLY Todd Madison Chapter was organized in the fall of 1897, by Mrs. Estes G. Rathbone, of Hamilton, who was then Ohio State Regent.
During the summer of 1897, through the efforts of Mrs. G. P. Williard and Mrs. Samuel B. Sneath, who had become in- terested in the movement, the required number, fifteen, proved themselves eligible to admission in the D. A. R.
In the autumn of the same year, Dolly Todd Madison Chapter was organized, with the following as charter members, in the order of their admission by the National Society:
Electa Stout Williard, Laura Stephenson Sneath, Margaret Snowden Harmon, Nannie Hurst Moore Sneath, Ethel Snow- den, Livonia Buell Chamberlin, Elizabeth Kaup Stanley, Lillian Eugenia Kaup, Elizabeth Shriver Reifsnider, Emma Huston Molen, Louisa Williard, Ellen Buell Robbins, Mabel Claire Chandler, Harriet Noble, and Alice Noble.
Two of these have been transferred to other Chapters: Miss Snowden, after her marriage to George C. Jackson, of Akron, Ohio, being transferred to the Cuyahoga-Portage Chap- ter of that city, and Mrs. Molen, to the Mt. Vernon Chapter, of Mt. Vernon, Ohio.
Miss Lillian E. Kaup, and Miss Harriet Noble, now Mrs. Edwards H. Porter, having resigned, we are left in our six- teenth year with eleven of the fifteen charter members.
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The first member to be admitted after our organization was Clara Hubbard (Mrs. Arthur D.) Harmon, whose chapter number is sixteen. While she has resided in Cleveland for the last nine or ten years, she still holds her membership here. Another who still retains her membership with us, though having lived in New York for some years, is Mrs. Harriet En- sign Brewer, whom we like to claim, as we do Mrs. Harmon, as a near charter member.
In the admission of Mrs. Brewer to our Chapter, there occurred a unique coincidence. She came to us by transfer, the first to be thus received, from the National Society, and when her duplicate papers were sent to our Registrar, it was found that Mrs. Brewer's National number was 21,289, she being admitted by the National Board just after or at the same time our charter members, whose numbers range from 21,274 to 21,288, were admitted.
The organizing meeting was held at the home of Mrs. G. P. Williard, in December 1897, and the following officers were elected: Regent, Mrs. G. P. Williard; Vice-Regent, Mrs. S. B. Sneath; Secretary, Mrs. William Harmon; Treasurer, Mrs. Emma Molen; and Registrar, Mrs. William B. Stanley.
The naming of the Chapter was the leading subject of the session, and different names were proposed, none being decided upon at this meeting. At a later meeting, the name of Dolly Madison was suggested, since Tiffin's history began at that period in which she was active, and the National Society urged the naming of chapters for loyal and patriotic women. This name was adopted and sent on to Washington, but there al- ready being a chapter of that name, the National officers sug- gested our using Dolly Todd Madison, and thus it appears on our charter.
If the members of our chapter have one characteristic more pronounced than another, I should say it is modesty, which has been proved to me several times since I have been compiling this paper. I remember well that it was urged, if any member had an ancestor for whom it would be appropriate to name the chapter, to let it be known, but none felt they had. Now how fine it would sound-Colonel James Paull Chapter-which might have been so worthily used in honor of the ancestor of
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one of our charter members, who valiantly volunteered to ac- company Colonel Crawford to Ohio on his expedition against the Wyandottes, whose headquarters were at Upper Sandusky.
We have in our chapter descendants from men of all the New England Colonies who, with those from Pennsylvania, form the larger portion of our personnel. New York and New Jersey are well represented, while from the Southern Colonies we have none, with the exception of Maryland, although one of our members has an ancestor from South Carolina, who fought in the battle of Cowpens. Another, whose ancestor was from Pennsylvania at the time of the Revolution, came from a Virginia family who had moved to Pennsylvania. I have recently heard of another Virginia man, though the mem- ber has not yet taken out her supplemental papers.
Four of our members are lineal descendants of John Alden and his wife Priscilla Mullens, while two of the four descend also from Captain Myles Standish, whose son Alexander mar- ried Sarah Alden. On our Honor Roll we have at least ten whose ancestors came over in the Mayflower. Three of our members descend from early Colonial Governors, while a former member is a descendant of one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. There are also several whose ancestors were members of the Society of Cincinnati, and others who would be eligible to the Holland Dames.
In compiling these family sketches, it has been the desire of the writer to give every Chapter member an equal oppor- tunity, and all have been asked, and urged to contribute any information they might have or could obtain. The only ex- ceptions have been where several come in on one line, when the person most likely to have the knowledge was asked.
It was imperative to systematize the long roll of names, and we have taken them in the Colonies from which they enlisted, beginning with Massachusetts, as the initiative was taken there, then following with the other New England Colonies, in their natural order.
If it should occur to any that much is said about some and little about other families, it is because in the former case the material was at hand and in the latter it was not, except as it could be obtained from the papers of the applicant.
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MILITARY SERVICES OF REVOLUTIONARY ANCESTORS
MASSACHUSETTS.
When the English Government passed the act that placed the revenue on tea, which was so hated by the Colonists, it was brewing trouble that few suspected, for the nation.
At the close of that memorable meeting in Old South Church over which Samuel Adams presided and which was futile in its efforts to prevent the landing of the tea, John Fiske has this to say:
"Amid profound stillness, Samuel Adams arose and said quietly but distinctly, 'This meeting can do nothing more to save the country.' Scarcely had the watchword left his mouth when a war-whoop answered from outside the door and fifty men disguised as Mohawk Indians passed quickly by the entrance and hastened to Griffin's Wharf."
In a short time, forty-two chests of tea were cut open and their contents emptied into the sea. Next morning the tea lay in long rows along Dorchester Beach, while "Paul Revere booted and spurred was riding poste haste to Phila- delphia with the glorious news that Boston had thrown down the gauntlet for the King of England to pick up."
We have on our Honor Roll the name of John Locke, son of John and Mary (Reed) Locke, who was born in the village of Woburn, Massachusetts, June 10, 1752. May 12, 1774, he took for his wife, Ruth Faxon, one of the fair Puritan maids of those days, who was a kinswoman of Samuel Adams, Signer of the Declaration of Independence, and of John Adams, the second President of the United States.
John Locke came of that sturdy Pilgrim stock who came over here from England to make their home in the land of the free, and true to his mettle, when times became serious, and freedom from the King's rule meant war, he a youth of twenty years, with forty-nine other colonists, disguised as Indians, threw into the harbor at Boston, the night of December 16,
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1773, the despised tea, that act ever since being known as the "Boston Tea Party," and bringing to a climax the trouble between the colonists and England.
Throughout the succeeding years of the Revolution, we trace John Locke's career as a faithful soldier until the close of the war. He lived to be eighty-two years of age, and was the father of many children, the youngest of whom was Nathan- iel Reed Locke, who served faithfully in the War of 1812 and lived to the great age of ninety-seven years, and was the father, grandfather, and great-grand-father of the present generation of Lockes.
It was a year and four months after the tea episode before the opening of hostilities, but Boston and the surrounding country were on the alert, and throughout New England minute men were being drilled.
On the morning of the 19th of April, 1775, when Gates sent out troops to arrest Adams and Hancock, he was wholly un- aware of the surprise in store for his troops at Lexington. When Major Pitcairn saw this little body of fifty minute men under command of Captain Parker, he called "Disperse ye villains," and then ordered his men to fire, but the soldiers hesitating for an instant to obey, Pitcairn drew his own elegant pistol (which may be seen at any time in the Lexington museum) and fired upon the colonists; then, a few hours later came the struggle at Concord Bridge.
Among the patriots who hastened to Concord was Benjamin Brown, who was born in Leicester, Massachusetts, October 17, 1745. He assisted in forming a regiment commanded by Colo- nel Barnard, which marched to Concord to join in the first battle of the war, he filling the post of quartermaster. He was soon promoted to a Lieutenantcy, and later was given a Cap- tain's commission in Colonel Michael Jackson's Regiment, continuing in the same until 1779. He took an active part in the Battle of Bunker Hill, where his brother John was danger- ously wounded. He was borne from the field on the shoulders of his brother Pearly to a place of safety, showing the rare spectacle of three brothers engaged in this battle. Captain Brown was engaged in many different battles and ever dis- tinguished himself as a brave soldier. His brother Pearly was
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killed in the Battle of White Plains, and another brother William, met his death on one of the terrible prison ships in New York. Nothing daunting, Captain Brown continued his career. About the middle of August, 1777, his Regiment was detached with a body of troops under General Arnold to raise the siege of Fort Stanwix and check the advance of St. Leger's men down the Mohawk toward Albany, of which place there was great apprehension. On the arrival of his com- pany at German Flats, he received information that at the stone house of Major Tenbreck near where he was encamped, Major Walter Butler, a notorious Tory leader had hoisted the British flag and that the house and buildings contained a large amount of provisions and military stores. It was of utmost importance to effect the capture of these two men, and the Colonel decided, selecting Captain Brown with a chosen corps, to make an immediate attack, to proceed somewhat in advance of the company. The Colonel chose well, as Brown was a man of great strength and activity and when the balance of the detachment came up, the house and the two majors were in Brown's possession. The troops then proceeded without delay to the relief of Stanwix, then in the most imminent danger from the armies of Indians and Tories that surrounded the brave General Tansevoort and his command. Captain Brown next participated in the battles of September 19th, and October 7th, 1777, with Burgoyne's army, at Saratoga, which is said to have decided the fate of the British Army and the war.
At the storming of the German redoubts on the 7th of October, he was eminently distinguished. The 8th Regiment under Colonel Jackson led the attacking column. Brown being the senior Captain, commanded the front division. On ap- proaching the redoubt, he found an abatis in front of the works formed of fallen tree tops. Being a man of uncommon muscu- lar strength, as was his covering sergeant, they together cleared a sufficient opening for his men, and were the first to enter the redoubt. In doing this they received the full fire of the Ger- mans' which killed the sergeant, lieutenant, and several pri- vates; but Brown with the remainder, by the free use of the bayonet soon drove the enemy from the works and closed the day in triumph. Colonel Breyman, the commander of the
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Germans, was killed in this attack and from concurrent opinion and the Colonel's own statement, it is quite certain he lost his life in a personal contest with Captain Brown as he entered the works.
Brown continued to serve throughout 1778 and 1779, and although as he wrote home: "I have never been off duty for a single day," he was not in any notable battle after that of Saratoga.
He was asked by Baron de Kalb to accept a position on his staff, but declined.
At the time of his resignation in 1779, the Continental Currency had so depreciated that his month's pay would not purchase a bushel of wheat for his family, and he was thus forced to leave the service and return home to provide for their wants.
Captain Brown, in 1796, came to the territory Northwest of the Ohio River, reaching Marietta in the spring of 1797. He later removed to Athens County, and in 1817 went to live with his son, General John Brown of Athens. He died in 1821, aged seventy-six years. He was born of good English stock, his grandfather having been the first settler of Hatfield, Massa- chusetts.
Captain James Russell was another soldier who fought valiently, preceding and at the Battle of Bunker Hill. James Russell married in 1774, Mary French, daughter of Captain Benjamin French, of Dunstable, Mass. William, father of Benjamin, came to Cambridge, Mass., in 1635, and married Mary Lathrop, daughter of Rev. John Lathrop, of England.
On the 28th of April, 1775, James Russell left his little family in Litchfield, New Hampshire, and went to Amherst, where he enlisted as a soldier in Captain Maxwell's Company, Colonel Prescott's Regiment, with rank of Second Lieuten- ant; again enlisted in October of the same year under the same Captain and Colonel, and later again with rank of Cap- tain in Colonel Brooks' Regiment, for service at Dorchester. After the Battle of Bunker Hill, he returned to Litchfield to his wife and family and removed to Woodstock, Vermont, where in 1790 he buried his wife, Mary French. In 1792, he decided to come to Ohio, where his sons had preceded him. He located
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at Chillicothe, Ross County. In 1813 he married for his second wife, Mrs. Judith O'Neal. They removed to Washington County and made for themselves a home in a settlement called Belpre. There was no town for many years after they settled there, but the town now called Belpre is built on a part of the James Russell farm. After a long and eventful life, James Russell passed to his long home, and all that now remains of his body, lies buried in a little graveyard on the bend of the Ohio River opposite Blennerhassett Island. A sand stone slab on the grave bears this inscription:
"James Russell-Born 1746."
The Russells were a distinguished family in early days, the wife of one of them being a sister of John Marshall, first Chief Justice of the United States. The Boston Herald of 1912 has this to say of Thomas Russell: "Diamonds on his shoes date back to the days of the Revolutionary War, and were worn by merchants of Boston in those days. Thomas Russell of Charlestown, was one of the most active of business men of his day, in Boston, and the first to engage in the American trade with Russia after the Revolution. His dress was typical of his time-and is thus described in an old print: 'He usually wore a coat of some light colored cloth, small clothes (trousers), diamond buckles at the knees, and buckles set with diamonds on his shoes, silk stockings, powdered hair and a cocked hat, and in cold weather a scarlet cloth coat.' In 1786 Thomas Russell sent his first ship from the United States to Russia. He occupied many offices and positions of trust in his State and community. In 1786 he purchased of Mr. Tracey, The Wash- ington-Craigie-Longfellow house, in Cambridge, and with his family occupied it until he sold it in 1793 to Andrew Craigie. The house was built by Colonel John Vassal in 1759."
Ebenezer Locke, born in Woburn, Mass., in 1737, died in Schuyler, New York, in 1812, had the honor of service in two wars. His original service certificate for the French and Indian war is in the possession of a descendant, Mrs. Wilcox, of our Chapter.
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