USA > Ohio > The history of Ohio, from its earliest settlement to the present time > Part 9
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15
In the latter part of the month of February, 1795, Jonas Davis, an inmate of Stone's garri- son, at the upper settlement, while returning from Marietta, discovered the wreck of a boat at the mouth of Crooked Creek. Being in want of nails, which were scarce at that time in the garrison, he concluded to go the next morning and extract a number from the wreck. Accord- ingly, the following day he revisited the boat, and while employed in pulling it to pieces, was overheard by a party of Indians, who happened at that time to be prowling about the neighbour- hood. The war-party, consisting of two Indians
154
HISTORY OF OHIO. [1795.
and a negro, crept cautiously up the bank with- out Davis being aware of their approach, shot and scalped him, and after securing his clothing and tools, left his dead body by the side of the boat. As he did not return that night, fears were expressed for his safety, and early next morning a party of armed men, under the guid- ance of the rangers, went as far as Crooked Creek, where they found his remains, which were brought to the garrison and buried. His death was especially distressing, as he was on the eve of marriage, and his wedding suit had already been prepared. Had he conformed to the rules of the garrison, which strictly forbade any one going out alone beyond gunshot of the station, he would have escaped his untimely fate.
The next day John James, a daring and spirit- ed ranger, at the head of a party of four young men, proceeded down the Ohio in a canoe, in search of the murderers of Davis. The mem- bers of a neighbouring garrison refused to join the war party on account of the armistice made with the Indians after their defeat by General Wayne ; but on their arrival at Gallipolis they were joined by four of the inhabitants. One of this party soon fell sick and returned. An- other being sent back with him, only six were left to continue the pursuit. On approach- ing a large pond about a mile in length, and a quarter of a mile in breadth, famous as a place
155
1795.] ENCOUNTER WITH INDIANS.
for trapping beaver, they discovered signs of Indians, and the cap of one of them placed near his beaver trap, which James immediately took into his possession. It was near sunset, and the whole party, while waiting the approach of night concealed behind a fallen tree, deliberated on the plan of attack. They had not been in am- bush long before an Indian who had been out hunting made his appearance, and commenced a close and careful examination of their trail, knowing it to be that of strangers. As soon as he had approached within forty or fifty yards, one of the party, Joseph Miller, fired and the Indian fell. As James ran forward with his tomahawk, the fallen savage raised the war whoop, and was instantly answered by his com- rades in the Indian camp, who came rushing to the spot, about forty in number, and James and his party were obliged to retreat. The Indians now set their dogs on the trail, but as the darkness increased they lost sight of it, and were only guided by the yelping and barking of the dogs, who followed close at the heels of the fugitives, like hounds in the pursuit of a fox. The first creek that they reached they found impossible to ford, the waters being swollen by the rains of the previous days, and a hastily constructed raft got entangled in the bushes so that they had to abandon it. The barking of the dogs had for some time ceased, and a little
156
HISTORY OF OHIO. [1795.
before morning they halted and rested themselves until daylight, when they continued their retreat along the banks of the creek, and soon after found a fordable place, where they crossed over. Here they halted again for an hour or two, wait- ing the approach of their pursuers, and intend- ing to fire upon them when in the water, but the Indians did not come. The whole party safely reached Gallipolis that same evening, much wearied with their toilsome and exciting journey.
Colonel Robert Safford, of Gallipolis, then acting as a ranger, went out the next morning, and found that the Indians had kept up the pur- suit to within a short distance of the town. The pond where the Americans had been surprised being upward of one hundred miles from the garrison, the pursuit and retreat must have been alike daring and hazardous.
In the spring of the year 1795, a party of young men who had drawn donation lots on the south branch of Wolf Creek, about three miles from the Waterford garrison, agreed to clear their lands in company. After building a small blockhouse, they commenced cutting down the timber that covered the creek bottom, and for greater security worked together alternately on cach other's lots.
On the 15th of June, the day being wet, they did not go out to chop wood, but remained with- in a little inclosure near the house, which was
157
1795.]
DEATH OF SHERMAN WATERFORD.
occupied as a garden. But Sherman Waterford wanted some fresh bark to put into the bottom of his sleeping berth, and despite of the rain ' went down to the creek to procure it. In a few minutes the report of a rifle was heard, and each man seized his gun and stepped to a port-hole to watch for the coming of the enemy. Presently they saw poor Sherman running toward the blockhouse, wounded and bleeding, followed by Indians in pursuit. He dropped completely ex- hausted within a few yards of the blockhouse, earnestly imploring the assistance of his com- rades within. William Hart and another of the young men immediately rushed out and brought him in amid a shower of rifle balls, which hap- pily did them no harm. The nearer approach of the Indians was checked by the guns of the little garrison, the discharge of which soon com- pelled them to retreat without doing any further mischief.
William Hart now volunteered to carry the news of the disaster to the Waterford garrison, and a party of men soon arrived from that sta- tion and carried Sherman down to Tyler's block- house inga bark canoe, where he died the same night. On a careful examination of the neigh- bourhood, the spot was discovered where the In- dians had concealed themselves on the night previous to the attack, and not far from it a blanket and some silver brooches were found
14
158
HISTORY OF OHIO.
[1795.
placed near the end of a log which the young men were in the habit of crossing daily as they went to their work. These things had evidently been placed there as a decoy. But the rain of that morning most providentially defeated the murderous designs of the enemy; and as none but Sherman Waterford left the blockhouse, he alone came within reach of the rifles of the con- cealed foe.
It was the destruction of the winter's provi- sions of the Indians, and the distress resulting from that destruction, more than their defeat on the banks of the Maumee, which induced their submission, and made them anxious for peace. On the 3d of August, 1795, this troublesome and expensive war was at length brought to a close by a treaty of peace, signed by the repre- sentatives of the hostile nations at Greenville. Upward of eleven hundred warriors were present. Under this treaty a large tract of land was ceded to the United States, in return for which the In- dians received goods to the value of twenty thousand dollars, and an annual allowance of such articles as they should desire, equivalent in value to nine thousand five hundred dollars, was to be distributed among the various contracting tribes.
After the final ratification of the treaty, little danger being apprehended from the Indians, the inhabitants all along the frontier settlements of
159
BRITISHI POSTS SURRENDERED.
1795.]
the Ohio issued forth from their blockhouses, to take possession of their clearings, and cach man commenced constructing his log cabin and cul- tivating his farm. Mills were erected, roads opened, and bridges built, as rapidly as the scanty population of the country would allow.
The population of the north-western territory now began to increase. From Marietta settlers spread into the adjoining country. The Virginia military reservation drew a considerable number of revolutionary veterans and others from that state. The region between the Miamies, from the Ohio far up toward the sources of Mad River, became checkered with farms, and abounded with indications of an active and prosperous popula- tion. The neighbourhood of Detroit became populous; and Connecticut, by grants of land from the tract reserved in her deed of cession, induced many of her hardy citizens to seek & home on the borders of Lake Erie.
The principal event of the year 1796 was the final transfer of the northern posts from Great Britain to the United States, under Jay's treaty. The evacuation of the forts was to take place on or before the 1st of June, but owing to a delay on the part of the House of Representatives in passing the necessary appropriations, it was July before the British authorities in Canada were addressed by the American government in regard
160
HISTORY OF OHIO. [1796.
to Detroit and the other frontier forts. When at last called upon to give them up, the British at once did so, and Wayne transferred his head- quarters to the lakes, where the county named after him was established, which included the north-western part of Ohio, a large tract in the north-eastern part of Indiana, and the whole of the territory of Michigan.
Many of the privations and difficulties of the early settlers ceased with the termination of the Indian War in 1795, but others continued in full force. Among the latter was the enormous cost of culinary salt, which was so scarce as to be sold for eight dollars a bushel. In the first set- tlement of the country a rumour prevailed that salt springs existed on a stream since called Salt Creek. White men had seen the Indians make salt at these springs, and had noted their locality, so that a skilful woodsman could find them. An exploring party of the best hunters being sent out to search for them, the explortion was suc- cessful. After their return in the summer of 1796, a company was formed of fifty shareholders, at one dollar and fifty cents cach, making a capi- tal of seventy-five dollars, with which to purchase castings and erect a furnace for the manufacture of salt. Works were constructed, but the salt was of a dark colour and inferior quality, much impregnated with muriate of lime; and when the value of the labour and the cost of the outlay
1796.7
SALT-MAKING.
161
was estimated, the actual price of the salt was at least four dollars a bushel. The greatest ad- vantage derived by the company was that the salt was procured by their own labour, and not by their money, which was very scarce. This was the first salt made in the valley of the Muskingum.
Two of the men engaged in salt making were Juda Ford and Captain William Davis. In the latter part of the month of November these men went up to the works. The weather setting in very cold, and the party whose duty it was to relieve them failing to do so, their little stock of food was exhausted, and it was absolutely ne- cessary that they should either procure provi- sions or abandon the works. They therefore started for home, their outfit for the journey consisting of one small blanket, a single charge of gunpowder, a flint, an old jack-knife, with a piece of tow string cut from a bag of tinder, and about two pounds of venison.
As this was the first season of salt making, and intercourse with the garrison had thus far been kept up by water, they were not familiar with the woods through which they had to travel. A guide was procured to pilot them to the head of Meigs Creek. It was about the 22d of De- cember. They had not gone far before it began to snow, and their guide left them on a ridgo which he said would take them to the creek.
14*
162
HISTORY OF OHIO. [1796.
It continued to snow nearly the whole of the day, and fell about four inches deep. By the middle of the afternoon they came to the end of the ridge, and descended on to a piece of low ground between the forks of a stream which they imagined was the creek they sought. At
sunset the sky cleared, and the weather becom- ing excessively cold, they spread their blanket on the snow and kindled a fire. The snow render- ing it difficult to procure wood that would burn, they were kept busy all night collecting fuel. It was intensely cold. The beech trees froze so hard as to crack and snap like pistols, a proof of the extreme severity of the frost. They, however, comforted themselves with the thought of the warm bed in which they should sleep the next night, not once suspecting that the stream which they were following was any other than Meigs Creek.
In the morning they started at a brisk pace to keep themselves from freezing, and as the sun shone that forenoon they discovered that the stream ran east, instead of south-west, as they knew Meigs Creek did. Thinking it would soon change its direction, they continued to be guided by its current, until it ran nearly north-west, and the body of water became larger than Meigs Creek at its mouth. This confirmed them in the belief that it was Wills Creek, a large tributary of the Muskingum, and that they had missed
163
1796.] SUFFERINGS OF SETTLERS.
their way. Just before sunset they kindled a fire, and having gathered wood for the night, set up some large branches behind them to break the force of the wind. After eating their last morsel of venison, they began to discuss the probable result of their condition. They were forty miles from Waterford when they started, and after two days' hard travelling, supposed themselves to have deviated nearly double that distance. They were without food ; and although the woods abounded in game, they had no gun with which to procure a supply. They were both thinly clad for the winter, and had no blanket with which to cover themselves at night, the one they carried being spread beneath them as a se- curity against the snow. In addition to this, there only remained a single priming of powder with which to kindle their last fire; and on ex- amining their feet, which had become extremely painful, they found them severely frost-bitten.
The next day they attempted to retrace their steps. Life or death now depended on their exertions ; and redoubling their efforts, they reached their first night's encampment a little before sunset. The full moon had arisen clear and cold, shedding her soft and silvery light over the forest, and as they had no food, they resolved to continue their journey as far as they could. Hitherto their former tracks had served to di- rect their footsteps, but when they ascended the
164
HISTORY OF OHIO.
[1796.
ridge, the wind had drifted the snow so as to ob- literate the impressions. In ascending the ridge their strength failed, and they were compelled to halt for the night. The flint and the old jack- knife, together with the tow and the last priming of powder, were now produced; and Davis, whose hands had been wrapped in the blanket the whole of the day, attempted to strike a light. But his fingers were so benumbed with the cold that it was some minutes before he succeeded. It was a trying moment. Their lives depended on his success, for without a fire they certainly would have frozen to death. At length the life- giving spark was elicited, the powder flashed, the tow string caught the blaze, and after a great deal of blowing, a fire was kindled. After another night spent in watching their fire, and the progress of the moon through the heavens, morning at last appeared.
Their feet had now become so much swollen that it was not until after a succession of pain- ful efforts they gradually succeeded in reach- ing the top of the ridge, when losing all feel- ing from the effects of the cold, they set for- ward at their usual pace. The ridge was very devious in its direction, and they sometimes found themselves wandering off from it down some point or spur, and had to retrace their steps back again, which caused them to travel two or three miles to gain one ahead. About
165
1796.] SUFFERINGS OF SETTLERS.
the middle of the day they strayed again from the ridge into a deep hollow, and weary of going back concluded to see the result. They soon came to a small run of water, and as they had heretofore gone down the stream, they thought this time they would go up, and were again guided back to the ridge. They had been on the ridge but a short time when Davis stepped on the leg and foot of a deer which was covered with snow, bringing it to the surface. Ford, who was a little behind him, instantly recognised it as one he had seen three days before, near to the spot where their guide had left them. Had it not been for this interposition of Providence, they would have continued to wander through the woods until night had again overtaken them, and would most probably have perished from the combined effects of cold and inanition. But by the aid of this little memento, and some slight marks made by the hunters on the trees, they struck Salt Creek, and following the course of its waters, reached the station about four o'clock in the afternoon, on the fourth day of their wanderings.
Their friends were greatly surprised at their appearance, and knowing they were destitute of food, concluded they had perished in the woods. On examining their feet, it was found that their stockings were so completely frozen to them as to be separated only with difficulty.
166
HISTORY OF OHIO. [1796.
Poultices of slippery elm bark were applied ; but notwithstanding the utmost care, neither Ford nor Davis recovered without suffering a slight degree of mutilation.
During the year 1796, settlements increased rapidly in the Wes The town of Chillicothe was founded on the Scioto River, by Nathaniel Massie. This contained, before the commence- ment of winter, several stores, taverns, and shops for mechanics. It afterward became the seat of government of the North-Western Ter- ritory, which was removed by an act of Congress, in 1800, from Cincinnati to Chillicothe.
Toward the close of 1796, General Wayne, on his return from Detroit to the Eastern States, fell sick, and died in a cabin at Presque Isle, now Erie, Pennsylvania, but at that time only a small His village on the borders of the wilderness. remains, deposited at his own request under the flagstaff of the fort on the shores of Lake Erie, were subsequently removed by his son to Rad- nor churchyard, Delaware county, Pennsylvania. Wayne was one of the best and bravest of the revolutionary generals. He was irresistible in leading a charge, and a man whose usual impe- tuosity of character bordered on rashness; but he conducted his last campaign with great caution and acknowledged skill.
167
OHIO COMPANY.
1796.]
CHAPTER XII.
Proceedings of the Ohio Company-Block-house schools- Amusements at. Farmer's Castle-Pioneer life in Ohio- Description of a log cabin-Scarcity of domestic utensils il- lustrated-The mode of effecting a clearing-The settler's table-Difficulties in grinding corn and in procuring pro- visions-Schemes of hunters to elude the vigilance of their game-The winter's hunt-Indian hunters-Their mode of transacting business with the fur traders-A winter evening in the log cabin.
A TRACT of one hundred thousand acres of land, termed the " Donation Tract," had been granted to the Ohio Company by Congress, pro- vided that within five years from the date of the grant, that company should obtain a settler to every hundred acres, any portion of the land not thus taken up within the specified time, to revert to the general government. In May, 1793, the trustees of this " Donation Tract" held a meeting in order to define its boundaries, and the terms on which the land was to be allotted to settlers. It was agreed at this meeting that those who were already settled on the " Donation Tracts" at Waterford, Wolf Creek Mills, and Duck Creek, should be first provided with lots, and that General R. Putnam should be appointed to superintend the surveying and deeding of the.
168
HISTORY OF OHIO.
[1796.
lots, for which service he was to be allowed to charge five dollars, to be paid by the person re- ceiving the deed. It was also agreed that the person purchasing the lot must be a male, not under eighteen years of age, and residing at one of the stations of defence within the settlement. By the 17th of July nine allotments had been surveyed as settlements for associations of indi- viduals from ten to thirty-two in number, in the neighbourhood of the Marietta, Belpre, and Waterford stations. The names of these per- sons are recorded in the journal of the compa- ny, showing that in July, 1793, there were only one hundred and eighty-six males capable of bearing arms settled on the extensive tracts of land connected with those stations.
But though restricted within the limits of picketed enclosures, the inhabitants were not in- sensible to their parental duties. Schools were taught in the blockhouses, where their children were instructed in the common branches of an English education. The necessary funds were partly supplied by the Ohio Company, the re- mainder being furnished from their own slender resources. The teachers generally served for low wages, as they could not profitably employ their time in any other way. Jonathan Baldwin, a liberally educated gentleman from Massachu- setts, kept school nearly two years in the station on the Muskingum; and in Campus Martius &
169
PIONEER LIFE.
1796.]
-
school was taught in the north-west blockhouse, in the winter of 1789, by Major Anselm Tupper, which was kept up for several winters in suc- cession.
During the autumnal months an island in the vicinity of Farmer's Castle was much visited. The young people frequently assembled for the purpose of going there, and gathering grapes, papaws, nuts, &c., the woods being in a great measure free from undergrowth, and abounding in beautiful walks. Here also several families resided, and here the young men and maidens, escaping from the tedium of confinement, would wander amid the lovely scenery of the island without fear of outlying Indians, whose fierce and swarthy visages were mingled more or less with the thoughts of their most cheerful hours.
The present residents of the now flourishing state of Ohio, living in the midst of plenty, can form but a faint conception of the hardships and privations endured by their predecessors. The first object of the pioneer, after selecting a suitable spot, was to build a log cabin of proper dimensions as a residence for his family. The walls of this cabin were constructed of logs piled one upon another, the space between being com- pletely closed with tempered clay. The floor was made of puncheons or planks, formed by splitting logs to about two and a half or three
15
170
HISTORY OF OHIO. [1796.
inches in thickness, and hewing them on one or both sides with the broad axe. The roof and ceiling were composed of clap-boards, a species of pioneer lumber resembling barrel staves before they are shaved, but split longer, wider, and thinner. The walls of the log cabin having been erected, the doors and windows were then sawn out; the steps of the door being made with the pieces cut from the walls, and the door itself formed of the same material as the floor. The apertures in the walls intended for windows were pasted over with paper lubricated with bear's oil or lard, which was used as a sub- stitute for glass. This paper resisted the rain tolerably well, and at the same time subdued the direct rays of the sun, and admitted into the rude apartment a light beautifully softened and mellowed.
The furniture of the log cabin corresponded to the cabin itself in simplicity and rudeness of construction. The bedstead was usually formed in the following manner. Two round poles were first fixed in the floor as uprights, at a distance from each other and from the the wall of the cabin, equal to the intended length and breadth of the bedstead. A pole was then inserted into either post as a side rail, and two other poles were also fixed in them, at right angles to the plane of the wall, their ends being wedged into the crevices between the logs. Some
171
PIONEER LIFE.
1796.]
puncheons were then split, and laid from the side rail across the bedstead, their ends being also in- serted into the chinks of the log wall. This constituted the bottom of the bedstead. The skins of the bear, the buffalo, and the deer, formed the bedding. The shelves of the log cabin were made of clap-boards supported on wooden pegs driven in between the logs, and on these were displayed such wooden, pewter, and carthenware plates and dishes as the pioneer was fortunate enough to possess. One pot, kettle, and frying-pan were considered to be the only articles absolutely indispensable, though some in- cluded the tea-kettle. The few plates and dishes on the clap-board shelf were sufficient for the simple wants of their owners, who relished their food not the less that it was caten from common trenchers and from a puncheon table. The great scarcity of domestic utensils among the settlers often taxed their ingenuity to supply the want when an influx of visiters unexpectedly trespass- ed upon their hospitality.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.