USA > Ohio > Wyandot County > Past and present of Wyandot County, Ohio; a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievemen, Vol. I > Part 3
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That all male citizens of the United States, who shall ar- rive at full age, and reside within the said territory at least one year previous to the day of election, be, and they are hereby authorized to choose representatives to form a con- vention, who shall be apportioned among the several coun- ties within the eastern division aforesaid, in the ratio of one representative to every twelve hundred inhabitants of each
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county that is to say,-from the county of Trumbull two representatives, from the county of Jefferson, seven, two of the seven to be elected within what is now known as the county of Belmont, taken from Jefferson and Washington counties; from the county of Washington four representa- tives; from the county of Ross, seven representatives-two of the seven to be elected in what is now known by Fairfield county, taken from Ross and Washington counties; from the county of Adams three representatives-from the county of Hamilton, twelve representatives-two of the twelve to be elected in what is now known as Clermont county, taken entirely from Hamilton county; and the elections for the representatives aforesaid, shall take place on the second Tuesday of October next, the time fixed by law for electing representatives to the general assembly.
At the time of the organization of the Northwest Terri- tory the State of Connecticut had laid claim to that part of it lying north of the forty-first parallel of north latitude. In 1786 the legislature of that state ceded all of this claim to the United States, except a strip one hundred and twenty miles in length lying next west of the Pennsylvania line. This became known as the Western Reserve of Connecticut, and was often called New Connecticut, as that state con- tinued to enact laws for its government, and exercise juris- diction within it, as she did at home. In May, 1800, her legislature renounced jurisdiction to this reserve, and con- veyed the same to the United States. It then became in order for St. Clair the territorial governor, to create a county government for it. Before this it had been parts of the coun- ties of Jefferson and Wayne. On July 10, 1800, St. Clair placed all of the reserve on the county of Trumbull. The new county embraced all of the new territory north of the forty-first parallel, lying within a distance of 120 miles west of the Pennsylvania line. It was named in honor of Gov- ernor Trumbull of Connecticut, who was made the executive of that state at the time the cession was made. The county seat was located at Warren.
The next county which St. Clair organized was Clermont. The date of his proclamation for the purpose was December 6, 1800. It was taken from the county of Hamilton. The county seat was located at Batavia. The origin of the name
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of the county has not been preserved, but the presumption is that it was derived from Clermont, France.
On December 9, 1800 but three days after the organiza- tion of Fairfield county, St. Clair issued a proclamation for the organization of Fairfield county. It was taken from the counties of Washington and Ross, about one-half from each. St. Clair gave it the name of Fairfield, from the beauty of its fair lands. The county seat was located at Lancaster.
Belmont county was formed by St. Clair, September 7, 1801. It was made up of the northern part of Washington and the southern part of Jefferson county. Belmont is de- rived from two French words signifying a fine mountain. The surface is very hilly and the land very picturesque. St. Clairsville, the county-seat derives its name from Governor St. Clair.
This was the last county to be formed by the proclama- tion of the territorial governor. Subsequent to this, under the new state government, counties were formed, and their boundaries changed, by act of the state legislature.
ORIGINAL STATE COUNTIES
This completes the evolution of Ohio counties to the time the state was formed. The convention which met Novem- ber 1, 1802, to frame the first state constitution was composed of thirty-five members, apportioned to the counties appear- ing on the above map as follows: Adams three, Belmont two, Clermont two, Fairfield two, Hamilton ten, Jefferson five, Ross five, Trumbull two, and Washington four. The north- western part of the state, by the treaty of Greenville, Au- gust 3, 1795, had been allotted to the Indian tribes as a reser- vation and was unsettled by the whites. The seat of govern- ment of the county of Wayne was at Detroit, and when Ohio was being formed, as the greater part of that county would be in Indian Territory, it was given no representation in the convention.
These counties have been divided and disintegrated, un- til from the nine organized counties and the Indian reserva- tion that came to the state when formed, the number has grown to eighty-eight. When this article was begun it was the intention to go to the end, and thus evolve the present county map of the state, but the time allotted has been too
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brief to allow it, and we stop at this convenient point, hop- ing to be able to present the others in some subsequent report.
THE TIDE OF HISTORY
The early history of Rome is shrouded in myth and fable, but the history of Wyandot county is an open book whose pages tell of the work of the pioneers in founding homes and in clearing the wilderness and of conquering wild beasts and savage foes.
Ere considering events of local history, let us glance for a moment at that of a wider scope. Back in our school days we were told that "Westward the Star of Empire takes its way," meaning that the migrations of the world have been westward, ever westward since the dawn of time.
From that unknown country called Ur, the father of Abraham journeyed westward to Haran, where the family tarried for a short time, and it was there that Abraham heard the Divine call, in obedience to which he went forth to Canaan. Upon leaving Canaan, many days of weary. journeyings were before him, but the Divine voice was still calling him, and he continued to push on steadily forward, halting for a brief time in the bright valley of Damascus, but resting not until his tent was pitched at Bethel.
The successive migrations of our own Aryan tribes from their nests in Asia poured their thousands over Europe,. which was their Promised Land, and when they had pos- sessed themselves of the country and devoured its substance, they found themselves standing upon the shore of a track- less ocean, and for centuries this barrier restrained them from proceeding farther. No one dared to sail, it seemed, upon that uncharted ocean to see what might lie beyond its misty horizon.
But in the fullness of time, the word that Abraham heard was again spoken, and the brave Genoese sailor turned the prows of his little ships toward the setting sun, and sailed away, not knowing whither he went, but greatly hoping to find beyond the 'sea a land which he should receive as an inheritance. How steadily, during the four centuries which have elapsed since Columbus landed on our coast, has the tide of migration flowed hitherward.
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And here, too, the power that brought people to the American continent still propelled them westward. The Pil- grims had scarcely landed on the New England coast when they began to push their way out into the interior. Within twenty years after the Mayflower anchored in Plymouth harbor, there were several prosperous settlements on the Connecticut river, a hundred miles inland. And ever since the tide of emigration has been flowing steadily westward until it has crossed the American continent, and our high- ways have trembled with the tread of this triumphant host, and in the path of this movement have risen all the splen- did monuments of our civilization.
Civilization is a war-a war of light with darkness; of truth with falseness; of the illuminated intellect and the rec- tified heart, with the barbarism of ignorance and the animal- ism of the savage.
A monument stands in the state house yard at Columbus. Upon its pedestals stand the bronze statues of eight of Ohio's sons-Grant, Sherman, Sheridan, McPherson, Hayes, Chase, Garfield and Stanton. This monument with its heoric fig- ures stood in front of the Ohio building at Chicago during the World's fair. "These are my jewels," was Ohio's chal- lenge. Did any state answer? Not one. Yet these men rep- resented only one episode in Ohio history, a brief period of four years out of her full century. Seven of those eight were military men. But for these men, and others like them, the history of our country would have a different reading.
The pioneers who settled the Buckeye state seemed to have inspired, and whatever place in the ranks'of that grand army of progress they were called to fill, they performed their duty with faithfulness, with confidence and with zeal. Whether in fighting the savages, in clearing the forests, in tilling the soil or in carrying the banner of the cross, they filled their missions, and each aided in his way to attain the grand results of which we enjoy the benefits today.
America is the only country that has produced pioneers. European countries were peopled by men moving in large bodies from one place to another. Whole tribes would move en masse and over-run, absorb or extinguish the original in- habitants, dispossess them and occupy their territory.
But in America we had the gradual approach of civiliza- tion and the gradual recession of barbarism. The white
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men did not come in columns and platoons, but came singly as pioneers.
When civilization crossed the crest of the Alleghenies, Ohio was looked upon as the garden of what was then called the West, and soon various settlements were made in other parts of the state.
The first military expedition to pass through Ohio was Major Rogers, with his Rangers, in November, 1760, en route to Detroit.
The military expeditions of Gen. George Rogers Clark had much to do in forming American history. He changed the face of affairs in relation to the whole country north have been the boundary line between Canada and the United States, had it not been for the conquests of General Clark. of the Ohio river, which stream would, in all probability, The expeditions of Col. Daniel Broadhead, Colonel Bowman and others, each had its influence and usefulness in protect- ing the pioneers against the assaults and encroachments of the Indians. The expedition of Gen. Crooks in the autumn of 1812 was the largest in number that had ever operated in or passed through this locality. The expedition of General Beall in the fall of 1812 was of great service to the coun- try and left beneficial aftermath in many ways.
In 1794, Gen. Anthony Wayne waged a successful cam- paign against the Indians, which was followed by the peace treaty of Greenville in 1795, securing, it was thought, com- parative safety on the frontier, and immigration began to move westward. The surveys of the public lands, which had been stopped were resumed and extended to the north- west. Surveyors kept in advance of the settlers, and land offices were established at Canton, Wooster and other places in Northeastern Ohio.
Ohio was the battle ground where the savages tried to stop the tide of civilization in its westward course across the American continent, and Wyandot county was the stage upon which some of the most atrocious tragedies were enacted. There are many forces by which the tide of civilization are shaped and controlled. Yet over all, and harmonizing all, and bringing order out of them, is the plan of the Ruler of the Universe, who makes even the wrath and folly of men to serve and to praise Him.
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Within a few days after the surrender of Hull at Detroit, the frontier line was fairly protected. On the west end, at Upper Sandusky, was General Harrison; at Mansfield was Colonel Kratzer with several companies of militia and two good block houses; at Wooster, General Beall was collecting an army of two thousand men to re-enforce General Harri- son and to protect the northwest frontier. From Wooster, General Beall had to cut a road for his army through to the northern part of Richland county. This road is known as Beall's trail. After camping a while on the Whetstone, near the present site of Olivesburg, General Beall moved his army to Camp Council, in the southern part of Bloominggrove township. While en route from Wooster, the army had en- camped for a night in the vicinity of Hayes' cross roads, now called Hayesville. The camp was called Camp Musser, after Major Musser, an officer of the brigade. During the night at Camp Musser, an incident occurred to which reference is often made as the Battle of the Cowpens, which has been likened, in its humorous aspect, to the Battle of the Kegs in the War of the Revolution. In January, 1778, the Con- tinental army floated kegs filled with combustibles down the river to destroy the British shipping at Philadelphia. This was a Yankee trick the British did not understand. They supposed that each keg contained a Continental soldier, and when the kegs were discovered, the British opened fire upon them and fought with "valor and pride."
Francis Hopkinson wrote a mock heroic poem of this episode, from which the following lines are taken:
"T'was early day, as poets say, Just when the sun was rising, A soldier stood on a log of wood, And saw a thing surprising. As in a maze he stood to gaze, The truth can't be denied sir; He spied a score of kegs or more, Come floating down the tide sir."
The soldier flew and spread the news that mischief was a brewing, that the Continental soldiers, packed up like pickled herring, were coming down to attack the town, and the most frantic scenes were enacted. To go back to the Battle of
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the Cowpens. The night at Camp Musser was dark and rainy. At midnight the soldiers were awakened from their slumbers by the firing of pickets from one of the outposts. The command to "fall in," was given and the men soon formed into line to meet the foe, as it was supposed the In- dians were coming to attack the camp, "in the stilly hours of the night." The pickets reported that the enemy in solid phalanx were advancing upon the camp, and the ground seemed to tremble with the tread of their approach. It was the arm's first experience in war's alarms and the soldiers acted as calmly as veterans of old and with steady hands opened fire upon the advancing foe. The firing lighted up with lurid glare and quickening flash the inky blackness of the night. The cracking of musketry and the charging of cavalry combined to make night grand and awful with the pomp and reality of war. Soon, however, the situation was explained-the stock had broken out of the corral and the cattle advancing toward the picket post had been mistaken for hostile Indians. The incident, however, showed the vigi- lance of the troops as well as their coolness and bravery in the face of danger.
The most spectacular military display ever witnessed in Ohio was that of Colonel Anderson's, following in the wake of General Crook's expedition, October, 1812. While Gen- eral Beall's army was at Camp Council, ten miles north of Mansfield, the governor of Pennsylvania sent a brigade of two thousand men, under command of General Robert Crooks to the assistance of Gen. William Henry Harrison in Ohio. From New Lisbon, General Crooks followed the Beall trail through Canton and Wooster to Jeromeville, where there was a block house at that time. From Jeromeville the army crossed over from the Jeromefork to the Black fork of the Mohican river, and encamped for the night at Greentown. From Greentown the brigade came over the route Colonel Crawford's army had taken thirty years before, and went into camp at Mansfield on the east side of the town near the Big Spring. The brigade remained in Mansfield about six weeks, awaiting the arrival of quartermaster's stores, under Colonel Anderson. During their stay here, the troops as- sisted the settlers in clearing off about fifty acres of land. On account of the ground getting muddy, the camp was changed from the east to the west part of town. There were
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH AND MASONIC TEMPLE, UPPER SANDUSKY
MAIN STREET, LOOKING NORTH, UPPER SANDUSKY
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PAST AND PRESENT OF WYANDOT COUNTY
five hundred and fifty horses in Colonel Anderson's quarter- master's train, and twenty-five cannon, mostly four and six pounders. These were drawn by six horses each. The can- non carriages, twenty-five in number, were drawn by four- horse teams. The ammunition was in large covered wagons. There were fifty covered road wagons in the train, drawn by six horses each, and loaded with army stores. One of them carried money for paying the troops. The money was in coin and was put in small iron-hooped kegs. The team- sters were each furnished with a gun, for use in case of an attack by the Indians. This army train was an imposing spectacle. After remaining in Mansfield a few days for the horses to rest, the march to Upper Sandusky was resumed. The train was hardly out of sight of Mansfield when it en- countered a snow storm, and the storm continued until the snow was two feet deep. The ground was unfrozen and the heavy wagons cut into the soft earth, making the journey a difficult one. At night the soldiers had to work several hours shoveling snow to get a suitable place to pitch their tents and build fires to cook their food and to keep them from freezing. After being two weeks on the road the bri- gade reached Upper Sandusky on New Year day, 1813.
Jacob Newman, of Mansfield, acted as guide from that city to Upper Sandusky, and contracted such a severe cold on the trip that he died from its effects the following June.
During General Crook's encampment at Mansfield there was a severe wind-storm which felled a tree in the public square-now Central Park-killing two soldiers.
General Crook's campaign materially aided General Har- rison in his warfare against the red skins, thus fulfilling the mission for which it was sent.
General Crook's expedition, like that of General Beall's; accomplished the object for which they were sent.
Those great currents of migration from east to west, whose course across the continent we have followed can now go no further. From the Golden Gate they can stand and gaze afar off to that Asian continent from which in the dim twilight of history their fore-fathers set forth. The circuit of the earth is completed, and here it is claimed, by those who profess to understand the fulfillment of prophecy, is to rise that city of God, the New Jerusalem, whose glories are to fill the earth. In view of this, let us not forget what Vol. 1-3
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foundations we are laying empires are to stand upon them; and in the fear of God and the love of man let us build here a city in whose light the nations of the earth shall walk, and into which there shall enter nothing that worketh abomina- tion or maketh a lie.
Wyandot county had many bloody tragedies enacted within its borders, making its history one of much import and importance, not only to this generation but to those of the future.
Previous to the war of 1812 the Indians, instigated by British emmissaries, frequently attacked the frontier set- tlements of the Northwest, under the leadership of Tecum- seh. These attacks caused General Harrison to organize a force of militia to defend the frontier. A battle occurred between General Harrison's army and the Indians on the 7th of November, 1811, and resulted in great loss to the In- dians. It occurred on the banks of the Wabash river, and was called the battle of Tippecanoe. Though the Indians were defeated in this battle, Tecumseh was not conquered, but continued hostilities against the settlers. Tecumseh's brother, called the "Prophet," was an orator who could sway the feelings of the Indians, it has been stated, "as the gale tossed the tree-tops beneath which they dwelt."
On the 18th of June, 1812, war was declared against Great Britain by the United States. During that year General Harrison successfully met the British and the Indians in a number of battles. On the 5th of October, 1813, General Harrison attacked the British under Proctor and the In- dians under Tecumseh and defeated them in the battle of the Thames. Tecumseh was killed and Proctor saved him- self only by the speed of his horse.
The triumph of American arms over those of Great Brit- ain and her savage allies has been of far-reaching results. Had victory been on the other side, the destiny of the great west would have been marred forever.
OHIO INDIANS
Ohio furnished an ideal home for the Indians. The climate was excellent, and the streams abounded with fish and the for- ests with game. The red deer was abundant and the buffalo and elk were found in considerable numbers in certain por-
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tions of the state. These and other large animals furnished food for the Indians, and their hides furnished covering for their lodges and clothing for their persons. The waters of the state at certain seasons of the year were alive with myriads of wild fowl, of which we can now have no conception as to numbers. These added greatly to the sustenance of the In- dians. No portion of the country was more favorable for for- est life.
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They were often reduced to great distress for want of food, and often died from hunger and exposure. They were not only improvident, but they had no means of securing large stores of provisions for future use, and never acquired the art of so doing. When they had plenty they would use it with extravagance and improvidence; but they were capable of enduring great hunger and fatigue. It was common for the Indian to be days without food of any kind, but they seem never to have profited by such experiences. The time when they were most likely to be distressed for want of food was in the winter when a crust would be formed upon the snow, so that when in walking such a noise was made as to scare the game before them. It was almost impossible for them to take ยท deer, buffalo, or other wild game under such circumstances. They were then required to depend upon finding bear or coon trees. These their quick and practiced eye would soon detect when they came across them, but they were not always easily found, and it was often days before they would come upon one of them. They often saved themselves from starvation by digging hickory nuts, walnuts, and other nuts, out from under the snow.
Their great annual occasion was the green corn festival. For this festival the hunters supplied the game from the for- ests and the women the green corn and vegetables from the fields. On this occasion they not only feasted themselves with plenty, but made offerings and did homage to the Great Spirit for his blessings. At this festival each year the council of women of the gens selected the names of the children born during the previous year and the chiefs of the gens proclaimed these names at the festival. These names could not be changed, but an additional name might be acquired by some act of bravery or circumstance which might reflect honor upon the person.
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When the Indians determined upon a war expedition they usually observed the war dance and then started for their objective point. They did not move in a compact body, but broke up into small parties each of which would take a differ- ent way to a common point of assembly. This was necessary, as they had to subsist upon the game which they might be able to take while on the way, and it was difficult, if not impossible, to secure game sufficient to sustain a large number of war -. riors on any one line of travel. They traveled light and fast, and this made them dangerous as enemies. They would strike when not expected and disappear as suddenly and quickly as they had appeared. In this way they were able to subsist and elude pursuit.
Their captives in war and in their forays were sometimes shot, sometimes burned, sometimes adopted into a family and converted into Indians. The white captives as a rule soon acquired the woodcraft and habits of their captors. Some of them became inveterate and active foes of the white man. Simon Girty may be mentioned as an example of this class. He was called the "White Indian." He was celebrated for his cunning and craftiness, and no Indian surpassed him in these qualities. He is often and usually cited as an example of extreme cruelty.
It was in the summer season that the Indians congregated in their villages. That was also the season when they went to war or on their forays against the white settlers. In the win- ter season the villages were practically deserted, as it was their custom to separate into small parties, usually that of the near relatives or, as we would say, members of the household, includ- ing the old men, women and children. They would go into different localities and select a spot usually along a stream of water or by the side of a lake or spring, where in the autumn or early winter they would erect a lodgment where the old men, women and children might sojourn through the winter. The hunters would then separate and go in different direc- tions and select a place or camp from which to hunt and trap so as not to impinge upon each other, always keeping relation with the main camp or lodge to which they supplied meat for subsistence. They would of course change these camps accord- ing to their pleasure or their necessities, but at the end of the season they would gather the results of their winter's hunt and proceed back to their villages. It was their custom dur-
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