USA > Ohio > The history of the state of Ohio; from the discovery of the great valley, to the present time > Part 32
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As soon as the log house was completed, the next thing to be done was to effect a clearing for a corn patch. This was a very arduous task. Sometimes the settler would choose a spot for his residence at the edge of a treeless prairie, but not unfrequently the richness of the soil and the prospective advantages of the location would induce him to select his lot in the midst of the dense forest. To cut down the gigantic trees, burn them, and plant his crops amid the blackened stumps, required herculean energies. But the reward was often great, in the development of a farm of inexhaustible fertility. Thus toil and hardship in youth, secured competence and ease in old age.
The journey cake, so called because so easily prepared, but
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which is now corrupted into johnny cake, was made of corn, tho- roughly pounded into meal, and baked in the ashes or upon some utensil placed before the fire. There was much game in the forests, so that these hungry men had an ample supply of venison and wild turkeys. As they had no mills, a rude mortar was made by burning a hole in the end of a block of wood. This was called a "hominy block," in which they pounded their corn. Some of the more wealthy had hand-mills. After the corn was pounded it was passed through a sieve. The finer portion of the meal was made into bread or mush, and the coarser portion into hominy.
The usual supper of the pioneer consisted of mush and milk, if he were so fortunate as to have a cow. A large vessel filled with this preparation was placed in the center of the table, and each guest helped himself. The mush, when mingled with milk, and taken from a tin cup, with a pewter spoon, afforded a very satis- factory repast.
Flour was so dear that only a little was kept to be used in case of sickness. But progress in comforts was very rapid. In the course of two or three years hand grist-mills were found standing in the chimney-corner of almost every dwelling.
The stones were of the kind ordinarily used for grindstones. They were about twenty inches in diameter, and four inches thick. The upper stone or runner, was turned by hand. A pole was firmly fixed in the top of the stone, near the edge. The upper end of the pole entered a hole in a board or timber overhead. One person turned the stone, while another fed the corn into what was called the eye. It was hard and slow work to grind. The operators alternately changed places. It required the work of nearly two hours to supply meal enough for one person for a. single day.
Nearly all the animal food which found its way to the table of the pioneer was taken from the woods. The deer and the turkey were so timid that it was not easy to approach them. To elude their shyness, the hunters were accustomed to wear hunting shirts suited to the general appearance of the forest at that particular season of the year. In the Spring and Summer they wore a green dress. In the Fall of the year they assumed a color resembling the autumnal leaf. In the Winter, if there were snow upon the ground the hunter spread over his dress a white shirt.
Generally, they went out on their excursions in companies.
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Quite an imposing cavalcade was presented, when all were ready to move. The horses were laden with flour, meal, blankets or buffalo-robes, ammunition, traps, cooking utensils, and such other articles as might be needed. Some sequestered spot was chosen, where a rude cabin was reared, with an immense log-fire blazing in front of the door. The interior of the hut was lined and car- peted with skins and moss, and presented a very alluring aspect. It was almost invariably in the Winter that these enterprises were undertaken, for then the men could not work upon the land.
The winter evenings, in the cabins, must have seemed long and tedious. They had no candles. The principal substitute for them was pitch pine-knots. Sometimes a man of more than ordi- nary intelligence, would read to his family by this light. Usually, however, the evening was spent, by the fire-light, in shelling corn, scraping turnips, stemming and twisting tobacco, plaiting straw for hats, cracking hickory nuts, of which they always laid in a full supply.
According to the Treaty of Paris, in 1783, the British military post at Detroit, and all their other forts within what the British government had recognized as the boundaries of the United States, were to have been surrendered to the United States "as soon as convenient." Yet, for more than ten years after the treaty they retained these posts, notwithstanding the reiterated and ear- nest remonstrances of the American government. This utter disregard of the treaty stipulations was deemed a matter of so much importance that a special minister was sent to England, to urge the amicable evacuation of the posts. The minister, John Jay, after much difficulty, succeeded in obtaining a promise, from the British government, that all their troops and munitions of war should be withdrawn before the first day of June, 1796. The post at Detroit, and those on the Maumee, were accordingly delivered over to General Wayne early in that year.
Peace being thus secured for the whole of the Northwestern Territory, all of the region, excepting that in the actual possession of the Indians, was divided into five counties. Washington County embraced all the territory within the present State of Ohio, between the Muskingum River and the Little Miami; and extending north from the Ohio River forty miles. Marietta was the seat of justice for this county. All that portion of the state between the Little and the Great Miami, within forty miles of the
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Ohio River, was called Hamilton County. Cincinnati was the county seat. Knox County embraced the lands between the Great Miami and the Wabash, also bordering on the Ohio, with Vincennes for its seat of justice. The County of St. Clair includ- ed the settlements on the Illinois and the Kaskaskia Rivers, as well as those on the upper Mississippi, with Kaskaskia for its county seat. Wayne County embraced all the settlements on the Maumee, Raisin, and Detroit Rivers, with Detroit for its seat of justice.
Over this vast region, now teeming with a population so numer- ous, intelligent, and wealthy, there were then but a few small set- tlements, widely separated from each other. Often the unbroken wilderness extended for hundreds of miles, unenlivened by a sin- gle hut of a white man. The only routes of travel were the rivers, over whose solitary waters the birch canoes could glide, or the narrow trail of the Indian.
Great efforts were now made by land speculators, who had pur- chased large tracts of territory, to induce emigrants to take up the lots. The Ohio and Scioto Companies had sent Joel Barlow, for this purpose, to Europe. In the following glowing language, he described, to the toiling artisans in the thronged streets of Paris, the new Eden to which they were invited, beyond the Atlantic. It was indeed a picture to allure the toiling, half-famished artisans of that great metropolis.
"The climate of Ohio is wholesome and delightful. Frost, even in winter, is almost entirely unknown. The river, called by way of eminence, 'The Beautiful,' abounds in excellent fish of a vast size. There are noble forests, consisting of trees which spontaneously produce sugar. There is a plant which yields ready-made candles. There is venison in plenty, the pursuit of which is uninterrupted by wolves, foxes, lions, or tigers. A couple of swine will multiply themselves a hundred fold in two or three years, without taking any care of them. There are no taxes to pay, and no military services to be performed."
The distinguished French traveler, Volney, who visited this country in 1795, commenting upon these statements, writes :
" These munificent promisers forgot to say that these forests must be cut down before corn could be raised; that, for a year at least, they must bring their daily bread from a great distance ; that hunting and fishing are agreeable amusements, when pursued
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for the sake of amusement, but are widely different when followed for the sake of subsistence; and they quite forgot to mention that, though there be no lions or tigers in the neighborhood, there are wild beasts infinitely more cunning and ferocious, in the shape of men, who were at that time at open and cruel war with the whites.
"In truth, the market value of these lands at that time, in America, was no more than six or seven cents an acre. In France, in Paris, the imagination was too heated to admit of doubt or suspicion. And the people were too ignorant and unin- formed to perceive where the picture was defective and its colors too glaring. The example, too, of the wealthy and reputedly wise confirmed the popular delusion. Nothing was talked of, in every social circle, but the paradise that was opened for French- men in the western wilderness, the free and happy life to be led on the beautiful banks of the Scioto."
Now and then some remonstrance was uttered. Occasionally some one would warn the excited community that the repre- sentations were greatly exaggerated. Unfortunately for the French, about that time a French traveler, just returned from this country, published a book in Paris, entitled "New Travels in America." In this, we know not how influenced, he fully supports the statements of the Ohio and Scioto companies. Alluding to the Scioto organization, he writes :
" This company has been much calumniated. It has been accused of selling land which it does not possess, of giving exag- gerated accounts of its fertility, of deceiving the emigrants, of robbing France of her inhabitants, and of sending them to be butchered by the savages. But the title of this association is incontestible. The proprietors are reputable men. The descrip- tions which they have given of the lands are taken from the public and authentic reports of Mr. Hutchins, Geographer of Con- gress. No person can dispute their prodigious fertility."
Such was the strain of eulogy which pervaded his book. He was regarded as an impartial witness. His endorsement wonder- fully increased the confidence of the French community that a new earthly paradise was blooming for them on the banks of the Ohio, with fruit and flowers and bird-songs, which the unblighted garden of our first parents could scarcely have rivaled. The fas- cinating pages of Brissot completed the delusion. The office of the agency in Paris was thronged with eager buyers. Many of
GALLIPOLIS IN 1791
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these were from the better classes of society. They often dis- posed of their earthly all at a great sacrifice to purchase bowers in the Eden of the Ohio.
About five hundred emigrants were thus induced to leave France for the New World. They were generally entirely unfitted to dis- charge the labors and grapple with the hardships of the wilder- ness. The company laid out a town for them on the banks of e Ohio, about four miles below the mouth of the Kanawha River, which was called Gallipolis, or the City of the French.
In anticipation of the arrival of the emigrants, forty men were employed by the Scioto Company in cutting a large clearing from the vast and gigantic forest which entirely covered the region. This clearing, which had the river on its south front, was on the other three sides bounded by the sublime primeval forest. On this large square, still encumbered with stumps, and presenting a very gloomy aspect to artisans from Parisian streets and avenues, eighty log cabins were [erected. There were four rows, with twenty in each row. Each cabin contained one room. There were eight blocks, the cabins being united, like the blocks in a city, ten cabins in a block. At the four corners of these blocks, which formed in themselves quite a fortress, was built a strong block-house, two stories in height.
Above the cabins on the square were two other parallel rows of cabins, with a block-house at each corner. These were sur -. round by a high and strong stockade fence. These works were of the character of a citadel, to which all the population could flee for protection in case of danger.
These upper cabins were constructed ten in each block. They were a story and a-half high, and were intended for the more wealthy families of the emigrants. They were built of hewed logs, and were a little more elaborately constructed than the rest. There was one large apartment finished off for a Council Chamber and a ball room. We will allow one of the emigrants himself, to tell the story of his experience. Let it be remembered, that Gallipolis was commenced two or three years before the campaign of General Wayne. Monsieur Meulette writes :
" I did not arrive until nearly all of the colonists were there. I descended the river in 1791, in flat boats, loaded with troops, commanded by General St. Clair, destined for an expedition against the Indians; some of my countrymen joined that expedi-
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tion. Among others was Count Malartie, a captain in the French guard of Louis XVI. General St Clair made him one of his aid- de-camps in the battle, in which he was severely wounded. He went back to Philadelphia, and thence returned to France.
" The Indians were encouraged to greater depredations and murders by their success in this expedition, but most especially against the American settlements. From their intercourse with the French in Canada, they seemed less disposed to trouble us. Immediately after St. Clair's defeat, Colonel Sproat, who was com- mandant at Marrietta,appointed four spies or rangers for Gallipolis. Two of these were Americans and two were French, of whom I was one. It was not until after the treaty of Greenville, in 1795, that we were released.
" Notwithstanding the great difficulties, the difference of temper, education and profession, the inhabitants lived in harmony. Having little or nothing to do, they made themselves agreeable and useful to each other. The Americans and hunters, employed by the company, performed the first labors of clearing the town- ship, which was divided into lots. Although the French were willing to work, yet the clearing of an American wilderness and its heavy timber, was far more than they could perform To migrate from the Eastern States to the far West, is painful enough, but how much more must it be for a citizen of a large European town? Even a farmer of the old countries would find it very hard, if not impossible, to clear land in the wilderness.
" Those hunters were paid by the colonists, to prepare their garden ground to receive the seeds brought from France. Few of the colonists knew how to make a garden; but they were guided by a few books on that subject, which they had brought likewise from France. The colony then began to improve in appearance and comfort. The fresh provisions were supplied by the com- pany's hunters; the others came from their magazines.
" Many of the troops connected with the expeditions of Generals St. Clair and Wayne, stopped at Gallipolis for supplies, which had been deposited there by the government. Every morning and evening parties of the troops would go around the town, in the forest, to see if there were any traces of lurking Indians. The Indians, who doubtless came there often in the night, attacked one of these parties, killing and wounding several. One of the French colonists, who was endeavoring to raise some corn, at a little dis-
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tance from the houses, saw an Indian, rising from ambush, and shot him through the shoulder. The Indian probably thought the Frenchman one of the American patrols. Sometime afterwards a Frenchman was killed, and a man and woman made prisoners, as they were going to a little distance from the town for ashes to make soap.
NIGHT SCENE.
" After this, although the Indians committed depredations on the Americans, on both sides of the river, the French suffered only from some cattle carried away The Scioto Company, in the meantime, had nearly fulfilled all their engagements for a period of six months. After this time they ceased their supply of pro- visions for the colonists One of their agents gave as a reason, that the company had been cheated by one or two of their agents in France. It was said that they, having received the funds in France, for the purchased lands, had kept the money and run off to England, without having purchased any of the tract which they had sold to the deceived colonists.
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"This intelligence exasperated the French. It was the more sensibly felt, as a scarcity of provisions added to their disap- pointment. The winter was uncommonly severe. The creek and the Ohio River were frozen over. The hunters had no longer any meat to sell. Flat-boats could not come down with flour, as they had done before. This produced almost a famine in the set- tlement. A family of eight persons, father, mother, and children, was obliged to subsist for eight or ten days on dry beans, boiled in water, without either salt, grease, or bread, and this was a family which had never before known what it was to want for anything. On the other hand, the dangers from the Indians seemed to augment every day
" The colonists were, by this time, weary of being confined to a few acres of land. Their industry and their labor were lost. The money and clothes they had brought were nearly gone. They knew not to whom they were to apply to get their lands. They hoped that if Wayne's campaign forced the Indians to make a lasting peace, the Scioto Company would send immediately, either to recover or purchase those promised lands. But they soon found out their mistake. After the treaty of Greenville, many Indians passing through Gallipolis, on their way to the seat of government, and many travelers, revealed the whole transaction. It was ascertained that the pretended Scioto Company was com- posed of New Englanders, the names of very few only being known to the French; who, being ignorant of the English lan- guage, and so far from the residence of their defrauders, could get no redress.
"Far away in a distant land, separated forever from friends and relations, with exhausted means, was it surprising that they were disheartened ? May the happy of this day never feel as they did, when all hope was blasted and they were left so destitute. Many of the colonists went and settled elsewhere, with the means that remained to them; and resumed their trades in more populous parts of the country. Others led a half-savage life as hunters for skins The greater part, however, resolved, in a general assem- bly, to make a memorial of their grievances and send it to Con- gress The memorial claimed no rights from that body; but it was a detail of their wrongs and sufferings, together with an appeal to the generosity and feelings of Congress.
" They did not appeal in vain. One of the colonists proposed
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to carry the petition. He only stipulated that his expenses should be paid, by a contribution of the colonists, whether he succeeded or not. At Philadelphia, he met with a French lawyer, M. Du- ponceau, and through his aid he obtained from Congress a grant of twenty-four thousand acres of land, known by the name of the French Grant, opposite the Little Sandy River. This grant was for the French who were still resident at Gallipolis. The act annexed the condition of settling on the lands three years before receiving the deed of gift. As there were but ninety-two persons remaining in Gallipolis, and the bearer of the petition received four thousand acres of the grant, in consideration of his having purchased and paid for that amount, this left to each inhabitant a lot of two hundred and seventeen and a half acres.'
CHAPTER XXI.
HARDSHIPS AND PERILS.
GALLIPOLIS AND ITS FIRST SETTLERS-DR. SAUGRAIN - PRIVA- TIONS OF THE FRENCH EMIGRANTS-NARRATIVE OF MR. BRECKENRIDGE-GENERAL WILKINSON -TERMS OF SALE OF LANDS IN OHIO - RESULT OF THE SPECULATION OF THE SCIOTO LAND COMPANY-SECOND VISIT OF MR. BRECKENRIDGE TO GALLIPOLIS-THE FIRST GRIST MILL -TRAVELING IN OHIO IN 1799-JACOB FAUST-INDIAN SHOPPING - A BRIDAL DRESS - COLONEL MEIGS' ADVENTURE - JOSEPH KELLEY AND MISH- ALENA - INCIDENT -DEATH AND CHARACTER OF COLONEL MEIGS -INDIAN VILLAGES ON THE AUGLAISE- TERRIBLE DESOLATION.
MR. BRECKENRIDGE, in his recollections, gives a very graphic account of a visit to Gallipolis, in the year 1795, when he was a boy but nine years of age. The following extracts will give the reader some idea of the joys and griefs of the inexperienced pioneers :
' Behold me once more in port, and domiciliated at the house, or the inn, of Monsieur. or rather Dr. Saugrain, a cheerful, sprightly little Frenchman, four feet six, English measure, and a chemist, natural philosopher and physician, both in the English and French significations of the word.
" This singular village was settled by people from Paris and Lyons, chiefly artisans and artists, peculiarly unfitted to sit down in the wilderness and clear away forests. I have seen half a dozen at work in taking down a tree, some pulling ropes fastened to the branches, while others were cutting around it like beavers. Some- times serious accidents would occur in consequence of their awk- wardness. Their former employment had been only calculated to administer to the luxury of highly polished and wealthy societies.
"There were carvers and gilders to the king, coach makers, hairdressers and wig makers, who were entirely out of place in
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the wilds of Ohio. Their means by this time had been exhausted, and they were beginning to suffer for the wants, and even the necessaries of life. The country back from the river was still a wilderness, and the Gallipotians did not pretend to cultivate any- thing more than small garden spots, depending for their supply of provisions on the boats which now began to descend the river, but they had to pay in cash, and that had become scarce.
" They still assembled at the ball room twice a week. It was evident, however, that they felt disappointment, and were no lon- ger happy. Their private misfortunes had reached their acme, in consequence of the discovery that they had no title to their lands, having been cruelly deceived by those from whom they had purchased. It is well known that Congress generously made them a grant of twenty thousand acres. From this, however, but few of them ever derived any advantage.
"As the Ohio was now more frequented, the house was occa- sionally resorted to, and especially by persons looking out for land to purchase. The doctor had a small apartment which con- tained his chemical apparatus, and I used to sit by him, as often as I could, watching the curious operations of his blow-pipe and crucible. I loved the cheerful little man, and he became very fond of me in return. Many of my countrymen used to come and stare at his doings, which they were half inclined to think had too near a resemblance to the black art. The doctor's little phosphoric matches, igniting spontaneously when the glass tube was broken, and from which he derived some emolument, were thought, by some, to be rather beyond human power. His barometer and thermometer, with the scale neatly painted with the pen, and the frames richly carved, were objects of wonder, and probably some of them are yet extant in the West. But what most astonished some of our visitors was a large peach in a glass bottle, the neck of which would only admit a common cork. This was accom- plished by tying a bottle to the limb of a tree, with the peach, when young, inserted into it. His swans, which swam around basins of water, amused me more than any wonders exhibited by the won- derful man.
"The doctor was a great favorite with the Americans, as well for his vivacity and sweetness of temper, which nothing could sour, as on account of a circumstance which gave him high claim to the esteem of backwoodsmen. He had shown himself,
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notwithstanding his small stature and great good nature, a very hero in combat with the Indians. He had descended the Ohio in company with two French philosophers, who were believers in the primitive innocence and goodness of the children of the for- est. They could not be persuaded that any danger was to be ap- prehended from the Indians. As they had no intentions to injure that people, they supposed that no harm could be meditated on their part.
"Doctor Saugrain was not altogether so well convinced of their good intentions. Accordingly he kept his pistols loaded. Near the mouth of the Sandy, a canoe, with a party of warriors, ap- proached the boat. The philosophers invited them on board by signs, when they came, rather too willingly. The first thing they did, on coming on board the boat, was to salute the two philoso- phers with the tomahawk. And they would have treated the doctor in the same way, but that he used his pistols with good effect; killed two of the savages, and then leaped into the water, diving like a dipper at the flash of the guns of the others, and succeeded in swimming to the shore, with several severe wounds, whose scars were conspicuous.
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