USA > Ohio > Pioneer history : being an account of the first examinations of the Ohio valley, and the early settlement of the Northwest territory ; chiefly from original manuscripts > Part 25
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303
MARIETTA, 1791.
his waist and were loose below, entangling his legs, and greatly impeding his flight. To rid himself of this incumbrance he stopped for a moment, placed his foot on the lower end; and tore them loose from the belt, leaving his legs bare from the hips downward. This delay nearly cost him his life. His pursuer, then within a few feet of him, threw his tomhawk so accurately as to graze his head. Freed from this impediment he soon left his foe far behind. Christopher Carpenter, the son of Nicholas, now living in Marietta, says he well remembers seeing the bullet holes in Hughes's hunting shirt after his return.
In the race the competitors passed near the spot where Frank was concealed, who described it as one of the swift- est he had ever seen. John Paul, who had been in many engagements with the Indians, escaped by his activity in running. Burns, a stout, athletic man, but slow of foot, was slain near the camp after a stout resistance. When found a few days after, his jack knife was still clasped in his hand, and the weeds trampled down for a rod or more around him, showing he had resisted manfully for life. George Legit was pursued for nearly two miles, overtaken and killed. Mr. Carpenter, although a brave man, was without arms to defend himself, and being lame could not run rapidly ; he therefore sought to conceal himself behind some willows in the bed of the run. He was soon discov- ered, with his little boy by his side. His captors conducted him to the spot where the black boy had been left, and killed both him and his son. What led to the slaughter, after they had surrendered, is not known. He was found wrapped up in his blanket, with a pair of new Indian moc- casins on his feet, and his scalp not removed. It is supposed that these marks of respect were shown him at the request of one of the Indians, whose gun Carpenter had repaired at Marietta the year before, and had declined any compensa- tion for the service. He was by trade a gunsmith. This circumstance was told to C. Carpenter, many years after,
304
MARIETTA, 1791.
by one of the Indians who was present, at Urbana, in Ohio. It is another proof of the fact, that an Indian never forgets an act of kindness, even in an enemy.
Tecumseh and his men, after collecting the plunder of the camp, retreated in such haste, that they left all the horses, which had probably dispersed in the woods at the tumult of the attack. They no doubt feared a pursuit from the rangers at Marietta and Williams's station, who would soon be notified by the escape of their prisoner, Frank, who in the midst of the noise of the assault contrived to slip his hands loose from the cords, and hide himself in a thick patch of hazel bushes, from which he saw a part of the transactions. After the Indians had left the ground, he crept cautiously forth, and by good fortune took the right direction to Williams's station, opposite to Marietta. A party of men was sent out the next day, who buried the dead, as far as they could then be found. Frank returned to his master, and died only a few years since.
305
MEETING OF OHIO COMPANY.
CHAPTER XIV.
The Ohio company fail to pay for their lands. - Amount reduced. - Petition to Congress for one hundred thousand acres, as donation lots. - Trustees of the land. - General Rufus Putnam treats with the Wabash tribes. - Cedar barge. - Dinner given to the chiefs. - Strength of the colony. - Rangers. - R. J. · Meigs attacked by the Indians .- Names of families in Campus Martius. - Fort Harmer. - Names of families. - Anecdotes of the French emigrants.
Doings of the Ohio company.
On the 28th of March, 1792, the directors of the Ohio company held a meeting of their board, in Philadelphia, for the purpose of closing their contract with Congress, and pay- ing for the lands already in their possession. This meeting was attended by Rufus Putnam, Manassah Cutler, Griffin Green, and Robert Oliver. On the 11th of April there was a meeting of the agents, at the same place, who represen- ted seven hundred and fifty shares. From various causes, among which was the expense of the Indian war and the bankruptcy of their treasurer, who failed largely in their debt, the company was unable to pay for the whole amount of the contract, for one million and a half of acres ; but by a reduction in the price the whole could be yet secured. For this they had petitioned Congress, who refused to make any abatement from the original price of one dollar an acre. It is true that they were allowed to make a deduction for worthless lands, and the expense of surveying, equal to one third of a dollar. They, therefore, now applied for two hun- dred and fourteen thousand two hundred and eighty-five acres to be paid for in " army land warrants." They also petitioned for a tract of one hundred thousand acres as donation lands to actual settlers, to be given by Congress,
20
306
DONATION TRACT.
and thus relieve the company of the heavy charge of fur- nishing the donation lots from their own lands, as they had proposed in 1790, and had already, in part, actually fulfilled. By an act of Congress, passed the 21st of April, 1792, these applications were granted, thus making the actual purchase of the company amount to nine hundred and sixty-four thousand, two hundred and eighty-five acres, instead of a million and a half. The tract of one hundred thousand acres was to be located within the boundaries of the pur- chase first agreed for, and adjoining to the tract now belong- ing to the company. The donation was secured, by letters patent from the President of the United States, in fee sim- ple to Rufus Putnam, Manassah Culter, Griffin Green, and Robert Oliver, in trust for the purpose of encouraging set- tlers within the purchase. The trustees were bound to makė deeds free of expense, of one hundred acres, in fee simple, to each male person, not less than eighteen years of age, and being an actual settler, or resident within the pur- chase at the time of such conveyance. If any portion remained undeeded, at the end of five years from the pas- sage of the act, it reverted to the United States. This liberal donation from Congress was of essential benefit to the company, and greatly hastened the settling of the coun- try by adventurers from abroad. It did not, however, make so many permanent residents as was expected. After the war ceased, many who drew donation lots sold them to others for a small sum, without any actual settlement on the land, and left the country ; making it a source of indi- vidual speculation instead of a general public benefit.
The " donation tract," is about twenty two miles long by seven and a half wide ; bounded east on the seventh range of townships, and stretching west across the waters of Duck creek, and the Muskingum rivers. The south line ap- proaches within four miles of Marietta. It is generally a body of good farming lands. About the time of the meet- ing of the directors in Philadelphia, General Putnam was
307
TREATY WITH WABASH TRIBES.
appointed a brigadier general in the service of the United States, and not far from the same period, General Washing- ton nominated him a commissioner, to make a treaty with the tribes of Indians living on the Wabash river. The Rev. John Heckewelder, at the request of General Putnam, was to act as interpreter. A convenient boat, called a barge, was built that spring, of about twenty-five tons burthen, rowed with twelve oars, in which to make the voyage. It was constructed at " Farmer's Castle," in Belpre, by Cap- tain Jonathan Devoll, from the wood of the red cedar, cut on the Little Kenawha, at the hazard of life and limb. This boat was said to be a model of beauty, and distin- guished on the river for its elegant proportions, and easy progress in the water.
He left Marietta on the 26th of June, stopping one day at Gallipolis, and reached Fort Washington the 2d of July, where he expected to meet the Indians. But as they lived generally on the Wabash, a distance of two or three hund- red miles by land, and double that by water, from the fort, they declined; but agreed to meet the commissioners at Vincennes. The time agreed upon was the 20th of Sep- tember. This was the first treaty made with the Wabash tribes. Liberal presents of goods and silver ornaments were taken down by the commissioner. After a good deal of trouble, a treaty was concluded on the 27th of the month with the following tribes, viz: Eel river Indians, Ouota- nons, Pottawatemies of the Illinois river, Musquitoes, Kicka- poos of the Wabash, Pyankeshas, Kaskaskias, and Peorias, thus quieting the hostility of these bands for the present. Mr. Heckewelder, the interpreter, also wrote to the Dela- wares, with whom he had lived many years as a missionary, urging them to come to the Muskingum, or Marietta, and make a treaty.
General Putnam sent messages to the hostile Indians to come in, but they would listen to no overtures; the Dela- wares, Shawanees and Miamis preferring war to peace,
308
DINNER TO INDIAN CHIEFS.
being greatly irritated at the invasion of their country, and much elated by the defeat of General St. Clair. Soon after the close of the treaty, General Putnam was attacked with a fever, and did not reach home until late in the fall.
By this treaty the Indians agreed to be at perpetual peace with the people of the United States, and acknowledged themselves to be under the protection of the United States. They were to give up all prisoners, and in return they were to possess their lands and hunting grounds in quietness, and no part ever to be taken away without their consent, and full remuneration to be paid when any was sold to the United States. The treaty was signed by thirty Indians. They at the same time agreed to send a deputation on to Philadel- phia, to see their father, the President of the United States, and fourteen chiefs reached Marietta on the 17th November, conducted by an officer of the army.
On the 18th a public dinner was given them at Campus Martius, to which the citizens of Marietta were also invited, and the officers of the garrisons. The feast was held in the hall of the northwest blockhouse ; a room about twenty-four by forty feet in size. A procession was formed on the bank of the Ohio, near the boat which brought up the chiefs, and marched with military music to the northeast gate of the garrison ; and as soon as the head of the column appeared, a salute of fourteen guns was fired from a six pound brass piece in the northeast bastion. The procession then moved through the gate and up into the hall, where a dinner was provided by a committee of arrangements, aided by the ladies of the garrison.
An eye witness of this feast says, " that, under all the circumstances, the entertainment was very novel, and the scene peculiarly striking. Shut up in garrison, and at war with the other tribes of the forest, shaking hands with our red guests, and the appellation of brother passing from one to the other. It seemed to renew the scenes of the first
309
STRENGTH OF THE COLONY.
year's settlement, in 1788, and make us almost forget that war was on our borders." (MSS. Notes of Colonel Nye.)
After the feast and ceremonies were closed, the chiefs were conducted to their boats again. The next day they were invited by several gentlemen of the stockade garrison, at "the point," to smoke the pipe of friendship at Buell and Munsell's hotel; after which they proceeded on their journey.
Condition and strength of the colony.
" Previous to the commencement of hostilities there was a weekly military inspection of the settlers liable to do duty, and the commandant informed what numbers were armed and equipped to defend the settlements. Emigrants frequently arrived without arms, so that the number of guns fell short of the number of men. In the fall of 1790, Colonel Sproat was authorized by the secretary of war to enlist a company of men into the United States service, out of the settlers, to be employed in guarding and defending the set- tlements, and to distribute them to those points which most needed their assistance, and to appoint a commissary to supply subsistence for those troops. He was considered as commander in chief for the military, and his aid was soli- cited to procure arms for the citizens who were destitute. On his application the commander at Fort Pitt sent down about thirty old muskets, much out of repair. The black- smiths put them in as good order as they could, and they were distributed where they were most needed. Ammuni- tion was prepared, and stored in the block houses, ready to be distributed in case of emergency. It was not until June, 1792, when Colonel Sproat received two boxes, containing twenty-five stands each of United States muskets, with bayonets, new from the factory. These were distributed among the inhabitants and soldiers, on their giving a receipt to return them when called for. The people were now con- sidered to be well armed. Many rifles were procured and brought into the country. The most of the eastern, or New
310
RANGERS.
England men, previous to coming here, were unacquainted with the rifle and the woods ; but by practising on the example of those who had been educated among the woods and the Indians, they soon became good hunters and expert woods- men. Those who were well armed and good marksmen were commonly selected as sentries for the working parties, and who were always ready to start on the discovery of an enemy, or pursue an Indian trail. Thus, by being familiar with danger and inured to the hazard of a rencounter with their foes, they gained that confidence in themselves, which promised in case of meeting an Indian the odds of battle in their own favor. Many followed hunting continually ; others were out with the spies, or in small parties, so that it was difficult for an Indian to make a track within five miles of a garrison without being detected. Thus a large portion of the inhabitants became fearless of danger from the Indians, and preferred some employment, or some en- terprise out, to being confined in or about the garrisons."- (MSS. notes of Judge Barker.)
All the men now in the purchase able to bear arms, amounted to about two hundred and fifty. But after this period they rather increased in number to the end of the war.
Backwoodsmen and rangers.
" When the Ohio company first came out, every man found in the region was a woodsman, a hunter of game, and of Indians ; all knew their customs and habits of warfare, and were always ready and proud of imparting their knowledge to any one who would listen to their teaching. The Yankees, placed in the very school for hunting and fighting Indians, were apt scholars, and soon became able to practice with skill on their precepts and examples, and to compete with their masters ; so that before the close of the war we had rarely any other rangers or hunters for the surveying parties but Yankees. To the plan, early adopted, of
311
RANCERS.
employing rangers may be attributed the general safety and success of the first settlement of this country. It was early adopted by General Putnam and the Ohio company, and afterwards pursued by the Ohio company.
" The Indians finding themselves so closely watched by men who were their compeers in their own arts of warfare, as well as more vigilant and untiring soldiers, became in- different to enterprises where they were likely to meet with little success, and which might result in loss and disaster far exceeding any benefits to be obtained. The hope of reward is the great spring of human action. Men who are not paid, fed, and clothed, may make good partisians for a short emergency, but their patriotism soon cools, and their courage oozes out at the ends of their fingers.
" The hope of plunder is the main stimulus with the Indi- ans ; therefore, they crossed the Ohio river below and above us, passing by the settlements, and going a hundred miles on to the waters of the Monongahela, where there was more plunder and less watchfulness. Revenge is sweet, but must not be bought too dear. Small parties who came in to attack us, of fifty or a hundred, seldom hung about more than a week, while larger bodies could not keep to- gether only a few days for want of food.
The Turk could not repulse the Russian, nor the Arab the French, because they had no system of finance to pro- vide for the family of the soldier, while he fights the battles of his country.
" It is estimated that, in seven years previous to the war in 1791, the Indians, on the frontiers south of the Ohio river, killed and took prisoners fifteen hundred persons, stole two thousand horses, and other property to the amount of fifty thousand dollars. This was the declared object of the party who killed Captain Carpenter, and sub- sequently the family of Armstrong." (MSS. Judge Barker.)
312
ATTACK ON R. J. MEIGS.
Attack on R. J. Meigs, Esq.
Toward evening, one day late in the month of June, 1792, Mr. Meigs, with Joseph Symonds, his hired man, and Jim, a black boy, of twelve years old, his servant, were returning from work in a field, which he cultivated near Fort Harmer, to Campus Martius, where he then lived. The land about the fort was cleared up the Muskingum to a point about where the steam mill now stands; from thence upward there was a thick forest, with considerable underbrush. A narrow path led along near the bank to a spot a little below Campus Martius, which had been made by the passage of the inhabitants up and down from that place to Fort Harmer. At its termination they had fastened their canoe. The party were all unarmed, except Mr. Meigs, who carried a shot gun, which he had taken along to kill a turkey or some pigeons, which then abounded in the woods. The field lay so near the fort, that no guard was necessary while at work, and the distance so short between the two gar- risons, that no danger was apprehended from the Indians. When about half way up to the canoe, a large snake crossed their path at which he fired, and did not then reload his gun. As they walked along, Mr. Meigs in front, and the black boy behind, Symonds observed, "we should be in a poor state of defence if the Indians came upon us." This alarmed Jim, who looked behind him as he naturally would do, and exclaimed, "there is two now!" Symonds turned to see also, and at that instant the gun cracked. This motion probably saved his life, and directed the ball through his shoulder instead of his body, as the Indians were only a few paces distant.
Being a fine swimmer, he instantly ran and sprang down the bank into the river, with one of the Indians after him ; but he was soon out of his reach, and turning on his back contrived to keep himself on the surface, with one arm and leg, the other being sprained in the leap. The Indian, who was only armed with a tomahawk, gave up the pursuit
313
ATTACK ON R. J. MEIGS.
and followed the black boy, who had fled up the path to the canoe. As Jim could not swim, he soon overtook him, a rod or two from the shore, and dragged him toward the land, trying to make him understand that he would not kill him, but make him a prisoner. Under the influence of fear, and probably not comprehending his intentions, he screamed and resisted with all his strength. The Indian, therefore, struck him down in the edge of the water and took off his scalp. He was probably partly forced to this extremity by a black man of Commodore Whipple, who was at work on the opposite shore in a little distillery, who fired at the In- dian with an old musket. The guards hearing the shot and the tumult, came running down and commenced firing with their rifles.
In the mean time, Mr. Meigs, after the flight of Symonds, turned round and faced the remaining Indian, who had shot Symonds, and was the only one armed with a rifle. He instantly recognized the face of the savage who had under- taken to guide him in the autumn of 1790, on his journey to Detroit, and exclaimed, " is that you, Charley ?" At the same time he pointed his gun at him as if about to fire ; but Charley knew it was not loaded and did not fear it. He now advanced upon him, with his keen black eyes fixed upon the Indian's, until he was close to him, when he struck at him with the clubbed gun, and rushed past. The Indian received the blow on his rifle, and dropping it in his path, drew his tomahawk from his belt and pushed on in pursuit. The chase was not a long one, but very keen while it lasted. In about forty rods, the path crossed a small run with pretty deep and wide banks, across which Mr. Meigs sprung at a single leap. The Indian came up to the brink, stopped, and threw his hatchet at his intended victim as he was crossing a log which lay in the path. As it missed its object, with a loud yell he gave up the pursuit, and hastened back to his com- panion. Mr. Meigs now ran down to the river and assisted Symonds, who was nearly exhausted, in getting to the
314
ADVENTURE OF MR. BUREAU.
shore. A party of soldiers from the fort were soon on the ground and carried him to the garrison, where his wound was dressed and he finally recovered.
By the time Charley got back to his companion, several riflemen had joined old Cæsar at the distillery, and began to fire at the Indian in the water. As one of the guns cracked, and he was in the act of stepping up the bank, he slipped back and fell; but whether from the effect of the shot, or the slipping of his wet moccasins, was not known. It served as a matter of momentary triumph to the rifle- men, who were sure they had hit him, although the distance was two hundred and fifty yards. No blood, however, was found. Charley now sprung down to his assistance, when they soon reached the top of the bank, and swinging the bloody scalp over their heads, in concert with the yell of victory, vanished into the woods. They were hardly out of sight, when E. W. Tupper, a brave and fearless man, in spite of the remonstrances of the bystanders, sprang into a canoe with one other person, and pushed over to the body of the black boy, hoping he might yet have life in him. But he had lain in the water ten or fifteen minutes, and could not be restored.
About half an hour before these events, Mr. Bureau, one of the French emigrants, and since well known to many of the citizens of Ohio, in company with Horace Nye, then a small boy, passed over the same ground. They had spent the afternoon with one of his French friends who lived close by Fort Harmer. On their return, near the spot where Meigs shot the snake, he attempted with his rifle to shoot a a pigeon. The piece only flashed in the pan. Little Ho- race, who had seen him load the gun, had noticed that, either from haste or carelessness, he had pushed down the ball before the powder, and now told him of the mistake. Bureau mistrusted the boy's accuracy, and made several more attempts, which all flashed in the pan. They now went up to their canoe, which lay along side of Meigs's,
315
NAMES OF FAMILIES AT CAMPUS MARTIUS.
and had barely time to cross the river and reach the gate of the garrison, without entering it, when the attack was made, and the alarm given of Indians on the opposite shore. The mother of Horace, hearing the tumult and learning the cause, rushed out of the gate in an agony of fear for the fate of her little son, who, she knew, was over the river, and met him just as he was approaching the gate.
The mistake of Mr. Bureau, which vexed and fretted him so much at the time, no doubt saved both their lives, for the report of his gun would have directly called the Indians to the spot. On so small and trifling an incident do not only our lives, but even the fate of nations, sometimes depend. A party of riflemen followed the Indians to the top of the hill, but they escaped their search.
Names of the heads of families who lived in Campus Martius at the period of the war, and began the settlement of Marietta.
The memory of these first pioneers ought to be preserved, and will make an interesting portion of the early history of Ohio.
Governor St. Clair, son and three daughters ; the youngest died of sickness in 1790. General Rufus Putnam, wife, two sons and six daughters. General Benjamin Tupper and wife, three sons and two daughters; one, the wife of Colonel Ichabod Nye, the other married Winthrop Sargent, Esq., secretary of the territory; General Tupper died in August, 1792. Colonel Robert Oliver and wife; two sons, William and Robert; two daughters, Nelly, married to Thomas Lord, Esq., the other, to Captain William Burnham. Thomas Lord, Esq., with two apprentice boys, Benjamin Baker and Amos R. Harvey. Colonel R. J. Meigs, wife and son, Ti- mothy. R. J. Meigs, jr., and wife. He lived the larger portion of the time at " the point" garrison. Colonel Enoch Shepherd, wife and nine children, chiefly adults ; sons, Enoch, Daniel, Luther and Calvin; daughters, Esther, Anna, Rhoda, Lorana and Huldah. He was a man of great
316
NAMES OF FAMILIES AT CAMPUS MARTIUS.
industry and enterprise, and the author of a work on the prophecies. Charles Greene, Esq., wife and three children ; Sophia, Susan and Charles. Miss Sheffield, sister to his wife, and afterward married to Major Zeigler, lived with him. Colonel Ichabod Nye, wife and two or three children. Major Ezra Putnam, wife and two daughters; one of his sons was killed at Big bottom by the Indians, and one died of sickness, the same year. Major Haffield White and son, Peletiah, who served as a ranger at Waterford in the latter part of the war. Joshua Shipman, wife and three children. Captain Strong and wife, two sons and a daughter. He was attached to the army, but his family lived in Campus Martius. Captain Davis, wife and five children, chiefly adults. James Smith, wife and seven children. John Rus- sel, who married a daughter of Mr. Smith. Archibald Lake, wife and three sons; Thomas, Andrew and John. Eleazer Olney, wife and fourteen children. Major Olney and two sons ; Columbus and Discovery. Ebenezer Corey and wife. Richard Maxon, wife and several children. James Wells, wife and ten children. His daughters married as follows: Polly, to Richard Maxon; Nancy, to Thomas Corey ; Susan, to Peletiah White; Betsy, to Jacob Proctor, and Sally, to Peleg Springer; sons, young men, David, Joseph, Thomas and Varnum. Mr. Wells, his wife and daughter, Matilda, all died of the small pox. Major Coburn and wife, and two daughters ; Polly married Gilbert Devol, jr .; Susan, to Cap- tain William Mason; sons, Asa, Phinehas, and Nicholas- the two latter were with the forty-eight who first landed at Marietta, and were alive in 1844. Joseph Wood, Esq., wife and one child. Mr. Wood was living in Marietta in 1845, aged eighty-six years. Captain John Dodge, wife and two sons, John and Sidney. Robert Allison, wife and several children; Charles, Andrew and Hugh, young men. Elijah Warren, wife and one child. Girshom Flag, wife and sev- eral children. Widow Kelly and four sons. James Kelly, her husband, was killed by the Indians at Bellville, and her
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