USA > Ohio > Wyandot County > Past and present of Wyandot County, Ohio; a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievemen, Vol. I > Part 22
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Subsequently the battery participated in various move- ments in Northern Mississippi and West Tennessee. In Jan- uary, 1863, it was moved to Memphis, where its corps-the Seventeenth, under Maj. Gen. James B. McPherson-was preparing for the Vicksburg campaign. After a futile effort to reach the immediate vicinity of Vicksburg via the Yazoo Pass, the command to which the battery was attached steamed down the Mississippi to Milliken's Bend, Louisiana, where it remained a short time, and then started with the army, under General Grant for the rear of Vicksburg. In the battles of Raymond, Clinton, Jackson, and Champion Hills, the battery bore a prominent part. Also throughout the siege of Vicksburg.
In the many changes consequent upon the re-organization of the army after the capture of Vicksburg, the battery was transferred from its old command-Seventh division, Seven- teenth army corps-to a provisional division, and soon after moved with its new command to Helena, Ark. Marching with Major General Steele's command-the Army of Arkan- sas-from Helena, about the middle of August, for Little Rock, the battery passed through all the vicissitudes of a long and tedious campaign. In a short but decisive engagement fought near the capital of Arkansas on the 9th of September, 1863, the battery expended about one hundred rounds of an- munition, and both officers and men received the commenda- tions of the general commanding for the ability with which the guns were handled, and for accurate firing at both long and short range. With this battle the active campaigning of the battery may be said to have ceased. It remained at Little Rock until the spring of 1864. About the 1st of April, with other troops, it proceeded to Pine Bluff, Ark., intending to co-operate with Banks in the Red river expedition, but Banks was defeated, and a portion of Steele's forces were halted at Pine Bluff, where the battery remained until its departure for Ohio, to be mustered out. It arrived at Columbus about the 1st of November, 1864, and on the 5th of that month its members were mustered out of service.
Lieutenant Sears, already mentioned in the foregoing sketch, was, several months before the battery's term expired, appointed Colonel of a colored regiment. The men whom he enlisted at Upper Sandusky, and with whom he proceeded to St. Louis in September, 1861, joining "Constable's," soon
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afterward known as the Eleventh Ohio independent battery, were named as follows:
M. D. Butler, H. C. Worley, J. W. Bibby, C. Miller, Ira C. Swazze, M. N. Worly, John Crocheron, James Dewine, James B. Mitchell, M. V. B. Hall, Milo Allen, J. S. Barger, John Ettle, Jerome Woolsey, Lewis Ridling, Henry Mclaughlin Oscar Carpenter, Sherlock Stofer, John F. Hefflebower, John Holland, F. Welch, J. F. Hoover, J. B. Brooks, James W. Towers, J. B. Mowry, S. D. Welch, H. M. Welch, John R. Jurey, J. W. Brewer, Stephen Trimble, W. H. Woodcock, W. H. Swazze, Louis B. Henry, Elias Bringman, John Bringman, Amos B. Alger, D. Baughman, Theodore Allen, Matthew Free, Jacob Everhart, Zachariah Welch.
MISCELLANEOUS
Besides the companies and regiments of which mention has already been made, there were many others containing Wyandot county men whose record is equally as brilliant. But from the fact that these men served in organizations in each of which the county had but very few representatives, it is an impracticable task to do otherwise than to arrange their names in classified lists as follows :
OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY REGIMENTS
Second-Company F, John Pausch.
Third-Company I, J. K. Waltermire; Company-, E. Cowgill.
Fourth-Company D, N. G. Case, Charles Case, Philip Wickiser; Company H, Joel Straub, Charles Warner, William Burns; Company G, John F. Myers, A. W. Napers.
Sixth-Company I, John C. Lynch.
Eighth-Company A, Sergt. L. Snover, D. G. Watson, John Beatty, J. H. Nichols, Hiram B. Brown.
Ninth-Company A, Jonas Wohlgamuth; Company F, Buell D. Chapman, corporal; Charles Moessner, private; Com- pany H, J. H. Warner.
Eleventh-Company A, William Reiber.
Fourteenth-Company -, Joseph Snider.
Sixteenth-Company G, Thomas Hanna.
Eighteenth-Company H, J. M. Huff, fifer.
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Twentieth-Company K, D. B. Rinehart, first lieutenant; Company A, R. B. Conant, sergeant; Company B, C. O. Old- field; Company -, Henry Inman.
Twenty-first-Company C, O. L. Cleveland; Company H, J. W. Daish, corporal.
Twenty-third-Company G, J. A. Brown; Company F, Robert Ewart.
Twenty-fourth-Company K, Joseph Lehman.
Twenty-fifth-Company D, Sergt. T. A. Van Gundy; privates, Jonas Kamble, G. W. Long, W. H. Mann, Joel Milum, George W. Bogart; Company G, Sergt. G. W. Kriling; Private J. K. Hawk.
Twenty-sixth-Company B, Francis Dawson, Barton Dawson.
Twenty-seventh-Company A, R. I. Murphy.
Thirty-second-Company I, Daniel Stam; Company H, J. S. Van Marter, second lieutenant.
Thirty-third-Company A, Jacob Reuter; Company C, Jacob Stam; Company D, Milton Tong; Company K, D. W. McConnell.
Thirty-fourth-Company E, Edward Quaintance, corporal; George W. Rex, G. W. Eckert, John Lumberson.
Thirty-sixth-Company D, J. E. Goodrich, sergeant; A. G. Barger.
Thirty-seventh-Asst. Surg. A. Billhardt.
Company F-First Lieut. M. W. Blucher.
Sergt. Jacob Schneider.
Privates-Henry Wuscher, Sebastian Glamser, Fred Fahr- ni, Peter Fahrni, John Michelfetter, J. Altenberger, Jacob Bastel, William Buehrle, Fredrick Waechter.
Other companies:
A-E. G. Bates.
K-Henry Gerster, John Keller, Oswald Voegel, Nicholas Volker.
Thirty-eighth-Company C, C. Stury.
Thirty-ninth-Company K, Joel Cole.
Forty-fifth-Company B, W. R. Ramsdell; Company I, William Earp, George Morrison, George H. Morrison, J. W. Wickiser, William Wickiser; Company K, Adam Lambert, Jesse Lambert, Isaac N. Lane, A. G. Straw.
Company D-Nathan Rovert, Oliver Robinson.
Fifty-first-Company A, John Bart.
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Fifty-third-Company H, H. W. Gillingham.
Fifty-fourth-Company G, Privates David Dysinger, David Kauble, Samuel Stalter, Oregon Kerr.
Company K-Capt. William H. Hunt; Private William Brown.
Fifty-seventh-Company F, Privates, Lewis Morehart, Leander Tong, Isaac Wohlgamuth, Lewis Switzer, Jerome Propes, James Switzer, Isaac Switzer, Joseph Glick, Joseph Newel, Andrew Amrine, Marion Esterly.
Other companies in Fifty-seventh:
B-Sergt. J. F. Kemmel; Private Jacob Rumple.
C-Private George A. Gibbs.
D-Capt. David Ayres, Jr.
G-Capt. E. A. Gordon.
I-Private Samuel Gordon.
Fifty-eight-Company D, Christ Woessner.
Sixty-first-Company K, Sergeants, A. Bope, J. W. Brewer; Corp. Matthew Walton; Privates, J. C. Spencer; Isaac Lott, H. Keller, Samuel Longabaugh, Jacob Greek, Nicholas Mott, P. H. Brewer.
Company G-Sergt. Israel Walterhouse.
Jac. Ludwig, Jacob Eckleberry.
Sixty-second-Company K, John Kriechbaum; Company A, Jacob Kennedy; Company D, Emmanuel Bowlby.
Sixty-fourth-Company A, Joseph Haupt; Company B, Joseph Richmond, E. B. Messenger; Company -, O. E. Fox,
Sixty-fifth-Company D, Privates George W. Finnell, S. Perry, Theodore Stubbs, F. F. DeTray ; Company C, Privates, J. C. Miller, George Zabriska.
Sixty-sixth-Company B, M. A. Parlet; Company E, Isaac Wood; Company H, S. H. Stricker; Company K, John Burk.
Sixty-seventh-Company C, J. C. Duffield.
Sixty-eighth-Company K, H. C. Kime.
Seventy-first-Company C, Jacob McPike; company not known, John DeBolt, S. Barnhiser.
Seventy-second-Company C, A. P. Kelley; Company D, Orsin Bower, corporal.
Seventy-third-Company A, Thomas Dawson.
Seventy-sixth-Company K, John McMullen.
Seventy-eighth-Company C, Rush Holloway; Company G, I Hart, N. Willoughby, L. W. Scott.
Eightieth-Company A, Peter D. Newell.
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Eighty-seventh-Company G, Theodore Dame.
Ninety-sixth-Company C, C. O. Oldfield, first lieutenant; Company E, Thomas H. Carter; Company F, J. E. Breese.
One Hundredth-Company G, Patrick Farley.
One Hundred and Second-Company C, Samuel Miller; Company G, Chester Bowsell; Company D, Samuel Lutz.
One Hundred and Sixth-Company I, F. Shrank.
One Hundred and Seventh-Company D, John Russell; Company F, Frederick Bush.
One Hundred and Ninth-Company G, William Van Marter.
One Hundred and Thirteenth-George W. Kemp, assist- ant surgeon.
One Hundred and Twentieth-Company B, W. W. Chew.
One Hundred and Twenty-first-Company E, E. G. Bart- ram; Company G, Job Hoffmire.
One Hundred and Twenty-second-Company F, McDon- ald Savage.
One Hundred and Twenty-sixth-Company A, Titus Low- miller, John Whittaker.
One Hundred and Twenty-eighth-Company C, M. M. Starr, sergeant; George W. Starr; Company D, F. M. Brown.
One Hundred and Thirty-second-Company A, William Plott.
One Hundred and Seventy-fourth-Company H, W. E. Webber, first lieutenant.
One Hundred and Seventy-fifth-Company I, Sergt. J. H. Plott; Corp. William Baker; Privates Elias Wentling, J. D. Wickiser, David Spoon, Daniel Spoon, G. H. Carey, A. J. Shellhouse, W. H. Kimmell, Jesse Edgington, Henry Cram, L. A. Cole.
One Hundred and Seventy-sixth-Company B, G. Spitzer.
One Hundred and Seventy-seventh-Company B, S. B. Bechtel.
One Hundred and Seventy-eighth-Company G, W. Lundy ; Company F, James Williams.
One Hundred and Seventy-ninth-Peter Grubb, lieutenant colonel; Company B, Privates B. F. Smith, T. C. DeJean, John Keller, G. W. Gregg, G. S. Barber, Joseph Ralston, William Washburn, William Limberson, L. Wilson; Company G, Corp. E. Mutchelknaus; Company H, Jacob Hawdenshield; Com- pany I, Privates Uriah Bechtel, F. Caldwell, F. H. Chatlain.
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One Hundred and Eightieth-Company C, Privates, E. Reynolds, Reuben Inman, J. E. Healey, Martin Inman; Com- pany E, Private Samuel Bare; Company G, Corp. Frederick Scheufler; Company K, Privates Jacob Opp, drummer, S. D. Blue, Simon Kachly, P. J. Liles, W. H. Moore, William Robey, Thomas M. White.
One Hundred and Eighty-second-Company K, E. R. Earp; Company I, S. G. Liles, second lieutenant; Company -, A. P. Inman.
One Hundred and Eighty-seventh-Company G, C. Wilt.
One Hundred and Eighty-eighth-Company G, Alfred Epley.
One Hundred and Ninety-second-Privates, Company E, John J. Mayer, John Tirey, J. L. Barick, John Weaver; Com- pany H, Private G. W. Halsay; Company I, Privates Isaiah McCleary, John Loubert, Theodore Henry, J. P. Berleen.
One Hundred and Ninety-fifth-Company B, Park Lud- wig, John Wise, A. Hemrick; Company -, C. S. Sherwood.
One Hundred and Ninety-seventh-Company B, W. H. Spore; Company E, Hosea Tong.
One Hundred and Ninety-eighth-Company A, Robert Gerster, J. J. Gerster.
OHIO NATIONAL GUARDS, ONE HUNDRED DAYS' SERVICE
One Hundred and Thirty-fifth-Company -, Charles Wooley; Company I, L. E. Landon.
One Hundred and Thirty-sixth-Company C, Wilbur Brown; Company E, Robert Seaton.
One Hundred and Fifty-fifth-Company F, Henry W. Peters.
One Hundred and Sixtieth-Company G, L. Chilcote.
One Hundred and Sixty-third-Company C, Wesley Cashel, first lieutenant.
One Hundred and Sixty-fourth-Company C, C. W. Long- well, corporal ; Company G, H. Dwire.
Regiment not known-Company E, John Freet.
OHIO VOLUNTEER CAVALRY REGIMENTS
Second-Napoleon B. Brisbine, surgeon; Company D, F. A. Singer.
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Third-Company E, T. P. Miller ; Company G, A. J. Cald- well, J. F. Gregg; Company L, Perry Roswell, sergeant; G. M. Wisner, corporal; Ashley Bixby, William Hewing, E. A. Nye, John L. Martin, Andrew Nye, S. A. Shepherd; Com- pany M, J. S. Chapin, first sergeant; L. C. Chapin, John Lindsey, sergeants; Daniel Clinger, C. H. Bradley, John War- ner, Reese Hunter, Jacob Payne, W. H. Smith, sergeant; William Young, Sims Irwin, G. B. Harness, William Hol- lanshead.
Company not known-Nelson Wilkins, Albert Harvey, Henry Lear.
Fourth-Company A, Henry Dodge.
Fifth-R. J. Brennen.
Eighth-Company L, J. M. Henry, first lieutenant.
A. Fitzgerald, James Fitzgerald, J. Fitzgerald.
Ninth-Company F, L. C. Moody, sergeant; H. W. Karr, John Karr, H. K. Inman, J. W. Holloway, J. C. Graham, Enos Gatchell, Jacob Gatchell, William J. Gatchell, William H. Branyen; Company -, Joseph Mccutchen, captain; George Sherman.
Tenth-Company B, John Venter; Company H, Daniel Dubbs, sergeant; Company L, S. T. Jaqueth, corporal.
Eleventh-Company H, Henry A. Hoffman.
Twelfth-Company A, Abraham Conger, F. M. Wert.
Thirteenth-Company -, S. A. Worley.
Thirtieth-Company L, Frank Kurtz.
-,-Company A, J. W. Lilley.
OHIO ARTILLERY COMMANDS, VOLUNTEERS
First Ohio Heavy Artillery-David Gatchell, William Moore.
Second Ohio Heavy Artillery-Henry Larick.
Sixth Battery, Light Artillery-Second lieutenant Lem- uel Krisher.
OTHER STATES
INDIANA
Fifth Infantry -- Battery, John Kennedy, H. C. Wor- ley.
Eighth Infantry-Company H, John Reiger.
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ILLINOIS
Seventy-seventh Infantry-Company B, J. A. Poyers.
One Hundred and Seventh Infantry-Company C, E. B. Norris.
One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Infantry-Company H, Joseph Coon, Daniel Williams.
Ninth Cavalry-William Walters.
PENNSYLVANIA
Eleventh Cavalry-Company M, Irvin Bacon, captain.
Seventh Cavalry-Company A, J. M. Walterhouse.
Fifth Artillery-Company B, John Andrews.
NEW YORK
First Infantry-Company G, W. M. C. Durbarow.
Fifth Infantry-Company C, W. H. Spore.
Ninth Infantry-Company I, A. J. Shuler.
Thirty-second Infantry-Company H, George W. Cypher. Thirty-fifth Infantry-Thomas Shuler.
Forty-second Infantry-Company H, J. M. Crawford, ser- geant.
Fifty-eighth Infantry-Company E, G. W. Nibloe, first lieutenant.
One Hundred and Thirty-seventh Infantry-Company I, P. J. Van Marter.
Third Artillery-Company H, George W. Cypher.
Thirteenth Artillery-Company E, Christian Birk, ser- geant.
First Light Artillery -- Company C, Edgar Ingerson.
Twenty-fourth Cavalry-Company A, James Morrison.
IOWA
Fourth Infantry-Company D, John Swinehart.
Thirty-fourth Infantry-Company H, David Sheldon. Thirty-first Infantry-Company D, Edward Brown.
MASSACHUSETTS
Twenty-first Infantry-Company H, W. T. Durlow.
Fifty-fifth Infantry-Company E, I. W. Brickney, color sergeant.
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MICHIGAN
First Infantry-William High.
Third Infantry-Rolando Freet.
Eighth Infantry-Company D, Theodore Freet.
Second Cavalry-Company A, Alfred Foy.
Eleventh Cavalry-Company B, Willis Baker, first ser- geant.
MISSOURI
Twelfth Infantry-Company E, Christian Birk.
Second Cavalry-Company C, J. B. Pool, second lieuten- ant.
KANSAS
First Infantry-Company H, T. B. Armstrong. Seventh Cavalry-Company A, George W. Kenan.
CALIFORNIA
First Infantry-Company A, A. F. Smith, captain. Third Infantry-Company I, C. S. Swank, sergeant.
NEW JERSEY
Second Cavalry-Company M, George W. Karr.
MARYLAND
Second Infantry-Company F, E. Thomas.
VERMONT
Eighth Infantry-Anselm Martin, captain.
VIRGINIA
Infantry-Samuel Hart.
LOUISIANA
Second Infantry-Company A, Christian Birk, corporal.
COLORADO First Infantry-John E. Shepherd.
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UNITED STATES
Eighteenth Infantry-Company F, John Leslie.
Forty-ninth Colored Infantry-Cyrus Sears, colonel. Seventh Cavalry-Edward Emptage.
United States Signal Corps-E. P. Shepherd, W. Stra- han, M. B. Smith, Allen Smalley, J. W. Mckenzie, Thomas C. Mckenzie, A. McLeod, George Litle, J. L. Kaley, Nathan Jackson, C. B. Hare, D. D. Hare, Elijah Brayton, Ira J. Baker, John Carothers, Fred Harpster.
United States Engineer Corps-C. V. D. Worley.
Hospital Surgeon-John A. Royer.
James W. White, surgeon of the United States.
Navy-Robert Bovard, John Reilly, W. H. Morris, R. S. Mullholland.
The following soldiers whose regiments and companies were not reported were also accredited to Wyandot county :
G. B. Kelley, D. H. Walton, James F. Rich, I. B. Cross, P. Brashares, Page Blackburn, Peter Parsell, S. C. Anderson, W. S. Bowers, Martin Snyder, J. A. Dunn, William Sweet, Frank Switzer, Murray Switzer, J. A. Ankrum, J. O. Stude- baker, J. G. Haner, John Kerr, Nathan Kimball, A. M. Johns, D. H. Young, E. W. Ekleberry, George Bowers, James M. Beam, James Miller.
Messrs. J. G. Roberts, Samuel H. Hunt, John D. Sears, S. H. White and T. E. Grisell, composed the county military committee during the last years of the war. That from 1861 to 1865 inclusive, the county received credit for 1,545 men, of whom only nineteen were drafted. That the total of all quotas called for amounted to 1,550; thus a deficit of five men was marked against the county at the close. However, thirty- five of the sixteen thousand non-enlisted "Squirrel Hunters" who hastened toward Cincinnati in August and September, 1862, at the time that city was threatened by the rebel forces under Kirby Smith-were Wyandot county men.
The correctness of the foregoing roster is vouched for by Gen. I. M. Kirby.
THE FARMER'S BROADENING LIFE
Any occupation prospers in proportion to the interest taken in it by its members, and this interest is heightened by an exchange of views. This feeling among prominent agri-
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culturists led to the formation of agricultural societies, at first by counties, then districts and lastly by states.
The Ohio State Board of Agriculture was organized by an act of the legislature, passed February 27, 1846. Since that time various amendments to the organic law have been passed from time to time, too numerous to mention here. .
Later came the Grange movement, and still more recently the agricultural schools. In many parts of Ohio these schools are being held with promising results. These schools besides their practical instructions do much toward inculcating a love for the farm. This can be done by making farming pay bet- ter, and this in turn, can be accomplished by a careful study of the business-for it is a business-looking to the improve- ment of the soil, the stock, the grain and the grass crops. Man has always been trying to improve upon nature, and no where can he make wise improvements pay such great financial returns in proportion to the effort put forth, as those made upon the farm. This is the great lesson which the agricul- tural societies and agricultural colleges teach.
The Ohio Department of Agriculture is doing much sup- plementary work, such as the running of agricultural and fruit trains, which do much to arouse greater interest in these subjects. The interest in farmers' institutes is also increasing, and four may now be held in each county per year.
There is no one class which should appreciate a daily mail more than the farmer, for no one should require a wider range of knowledge nor keep better posted in market reports. Besides the rural mail delivery system being a great business advantage to the farmer, it means even more to the social life on the farm, for the daily arrival of mail encourages read- ing, lightens the long winter evenings and brightens the long working days. The grown-up children stay at home more readily and the home itself is in every way made happier, for the family is in touch with the rest of the world.
INDIAN RESERVATIONS IN WYANDOT COUNTY
BY EMIL SCHLUP
Member of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society
It is a curious coincidence that the three last Indian reser- vations granted by the federal government in Ohio should
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come in the present Wyandot county. When the govern- ment acquired by purchase lands from any of the tribes of Indians of Ohio, the stipulated price was one cent per acre, that is outside of the reservations. One easement the tribes enjoyed, the land set aside to them as reservation property was non taxable. At the foot of the Maumee rapids a treaty was signed on September 29, 1817, by Lewis Cass and Duncan McArthur, commissioners on the part of the United States, and the sachems and chiefs of the Wyandots, Delawares, Sha- wanees, Senecas, Potawatomie, Chippewa and Ottawa tribes of Indians, there was set aside a tract of sixteen thousand acres of land for the Wyandots, a part of which was in the northwestern part of Wyandot county and included a part of the north half of Crawford and Ridge townships, the center was to be at the Big Spring and hence was named the Big Spring reservation. The Wyandots also received a reserva- tion of twelve miles square, the center was at Fort Ferree, which was located at the eastern part of the present Upper Sandusky.
By the same treaty a branch of the Delaware tribe of Indians received a reservation of nine miles square in the southeastern part of the present Wyandot county and was located in a part of the south half of Pitt and Eden townships and included Captain Pipestown at the mouth of the Broken Sword creek where it empties into the Sandusky river. In 1819 John Johnston, who served as government Indian agent for upward of half a century, reported eighty Delaware Indians on this reservation and 2,300 in Indiana under his charge. Captain Pipe, after whom the town was named, was the son of the Captain Pipe, chief of all the Delawares, who was so officious in the burning of the lamented Col. William Crawford on June 11, 1782. In 1829 the United States Govern- ment purchased this Delaware reservation for $2,000. Cap- tain Pipe, Jr., and his people were removed beyond the Mis- sissippi river, where the Captain died in about 1840. The mouth of the Broken Sword creek, where it empties into the Sandusky river, is surrounded by a dense underbrush. The Delaware village site and burying ground was located on the farm now owned by Cyrus Swihart, the land is gently rolling and good fertile soil. A number of years ago Mr. Swi- hart cut down a large apple tree near the burying site that was likely a century old. It measured two feet across the stump,
Stevens Memorial Drinking Fountain, Public Square, Upper Sandusky The Stepping Stones
Indian Spring, Mentioned by Charles Dickens
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PAST AND PRESENT OF WYANDOT COUNTY
had it not been for the tree's hollow trunk it would have made two cords of wood. The district school building in the vicinity where the "young idea is taught to shoot," is named the Pipe Town schoolhouse. One of the largest springs along the tor- tuous Sandusky river gushes forth its limpid waters and is known as the Delaware spring. It is located a short way below the mouth of the Broken Sword. Above the spring is a terrace, a good glacial gravel deposit. Several years ago when Mr. Swihart was excavating for road purposes, he unearthed twelve skeletons, all of immature age. He placed them side by side at the spring and that night some vandal or vandals appropriated and carried away the whole bunch. This spring and others lower down the Sandusky river lent its name to the historic waterway. The word in the Wyandot dialect was pronounced Sa un dus tee, water within water pools, or "at the cold water." In a very early day according to a statement by Chief William Walker, it was represented as Upper Cold Water and Lower Cold Water, and it is quite apparent that when that "higher civilization" took possession of this sec- tion of the country the name was changed to Upper Sandusky and Lower Sandusky, etc. Down the Sandusky river a short way from the spring is located one of the largest mounds in Wyandot county. It is one of the ten thousand mounds located in the Buckeye State. It is on the farm of the Henry Herring heirs. In 1896, when the writer and others explored it, it was ten feet in height and eighty-five across the base. On the side of the excavation the impression of every skin or bark basket- ful of the alluvial was plainly visible as it was dumped in, each dump apparently contained about one-half bushel of earth. Whilst the British Government held sway over the Ohio country for twenty years, from 1763 until 1783, the vil- lage site at the Delaware spring was known as Old Town. Here the Indian allies of the crown were paid their annuities and it is said they were paid $4.50 for each American scalp.
Near the Coon bridge spanning the Sandusky river and passing by the Delaware spring is still plainly discernible the Sandusky Scioto trail that for centuries was the red man's as well as the buffaloes' trail from the vicinity of Lake Erie to the Ohio river. It is an historic fact that the northern and southern Indians in an early day held the Ohio river as a sort of Mason and Dixon line and fought each other with as much desperation as the blues and grays did in our Civil war. This Vol. I-16
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great trail kept mostly adjacent to the west bank of the San- dusky river, almost obliterated, yet vestiges of it can still be seen at various points.
In 1764 while the intrepid Pontiac was besieging Detroit and was urging an Indian conspiracy against the British rule, General Bradstreet collected a force of 3,000 men which embarked at Niagara in boats and proceeded up the lake to the relief of that post. Having burned the Indian cornfields and villages at Sandusky and along the rich bottom lands of the Maumee and dispersed the Indians whom there they found, he reached Detroit without opposition. Having dispersed the Indians besieging Detroit he passed into the domain of the Wyandots by way of Sandusky bay. He ascended the bay and river by boats to the Delaware spring site where he camped. And here a treaty of peace was signed by the chiefs and head men.
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