USA > Ohio > The history of the state of Ohio; from the discovery of the great valley, to the present time > Part 46
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 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73
Here there were now several well-built houses of hewn timber,, with well-cultivated farms and blooming orchards. There were several families who, though living in the most simple and frugal style, would have been ornaments to society in any community. A gentleman who had often visited the mansion during his early youth, when his parents resided in Marietta, writes :
"I was but a boy when Mr. and Mrs. Blennerhassett left the island; but I had been a favorite in the family for years, and had passed many of my happiest days in their society. My intimacy in their household is like an oasis in the desert of life. It is one of those green spots in memory's waste which death alone can obliterate."
562
HISTORY OF OHIO.
But Satan entered this Eden, and the ruin on this island was like that which Eden experienced when Adam and Eve joined in the revolt of lost spirits against their Maker.
Aaron Burr was one of the most fascinating and one of the most totally unprincipled men who ever trod this globe. Graceful in person, remarkably handsome in features, with very high mental endowments, in possession of conversational eloquence rarely if ever equaled,- he renounced entirely the religion of Jesus and devoted himself to his own personal gratification and aggrandize- ment, entirely reckless of the ruin and the misery which his self- ishness might create. History affords no more impressive illus- tration of an archangel ruined ; of a man created with the highest endowments, who consecrated those endowments to the work of a fiend.
Early in the present century Aaron Burr, disappointed in some of his ambitious plans, and having drawn upon himself the exe- cration of his countrymen for imbuing his hands in the blood of Alexander Hamilton, formed the truly grand conception, and apparently the feasible one, of wresting from Spain the majestic empire of Mexico, and of then wresting from the United States the vast and almost unpeopled solitudes of the Ohio and Missis- sippi Valleys. Here he would organize the most magnificent em- pire, in point of territory, salubrity, fertility and variety of clime which has ever existed on this globe. The Alleghanies would be his eastern boundary. The majestic cliffs of the Rocky Moun- tains would guard his western frontier. On the north would be the great lakes and the frigid zone ; while the Gulf of Mexico and the Carribean Sea would open to his southern ports the commerce of the world. This vast realm, in magnitude almost surpassing the wildest dreams of earthly ambition, would abound in the pro- ductions of all the zones Rivers of hitherto unknown grandeur, flowing from the north to the south, opened the whole of these almost boundless regions to the riches of internal commerce. Of this empire Aaron Burr was to be- Imperator.
Such were the dreams of this extraordinary man. Extravagant as they were, and totally as he failed in their accomplishment, that dream has been more than realized in the wondrous repub- lican empire of the United States.
Aaron Burr had heard of Blennerhassett, of his wealth, of his vast influence over the rapidly increasing population of
563
HISTORY OF OHIO.
Ohio, and of the surpassing charms of his wife. Could he enlist them in his enterprise, it would be, indeed, a great acquisi- tion. But it was necessary to proceed with the utmost caution. Mr. Blennerhassett was not a man to be easily drawn into a trea- sonable conspiracy against a government whose institutions he admired, and under whose protection he had found so free and happy a home.
In the year 1800, Thomas Jefferson was chosen President of the United States, and Aaron Burr, Vice President. This gave him national celebrity. At the next election, in 1804, though Jefferson was continued in office, Burr was superseded.
In the Spring of the year 1805, Burr, disappointed and exas- perated, visited the Ohio Valley in prosecution of his grand enter- prise. The arch intriguer sought no letters of introduction to Blennerhassett, probably wishing it to appear that it was merely by accident that he called at his mansion. Reaching the river he took a boat, and descending the stream, landed at Blennerhassett Island, as if, a passing traveler, he had been lured merely by curi- osity, to stop and admire the beautiful grounds.
Mr. Blennerhassett, sitting in his study, was informed by his servant that there was a very gentlemanly, well-dressed man, who had just landed from his boat, and was viewing the lawn. He directed the servant to go out and in his master's name invite the gentlemen into the house. Burr declined, with some very courteous apology, but sent in his card. Mr. Blennerhassett upon reading the name, and seeing that it was a former Vice President of the United States who was visiting his grounds, immediately stepped out and insisted upon Mr. Burr's partaking of the hospi- tality of his mansion.
It is said that Satan can apparently transform himself into an angel of light. Burr masked himself in his most resistless fascina- tions. Both host and hostess were charmed with their guest. His eloquence was extraordinary, his information wonderful, and he manifested all the artlessness and simplicity of a child. Fa- miliar with all the secrets of state, he spoke of the prospects of a war with Spain, and of the ease with which the Mexicans, with a little aid, might throw off the intolerant and tyrannical foreign yoke and establish an independent government like that of the United States. With singular frankness he unfolded to them a very splendid land speculation within the Spanish territory, on
564
HISTORY OF OHIO,
the Red River, in which he was engaged, and showed them how it was certain to bring on the most extaordinary pecuniary results. This was the first step of the arch deceiver. Having taken it, he went on his way.
Mr. Blennerhassett, an unsuspecting man, and one who was easily duped, was greatly excited by these grand schemes and rev- elations. There was nothing in them to disturb in the slightest degree his patriotic devotion to the United States. The next Winter Mr. and Mrs. Blennerhassett spent in New York and Phil- adelphia. It is not improbable that they were lured there by the hope of having further interviews with Aaron Burr. Some corres- pondence had, in the meantime, passed between them. In inter- views during this Winter it is supposed that they entered into a sort of partnership for land speculation.
Blennerhassett agreed, as it afterwards appeared, to co-operate with Burr in the purchase of a very large tract of land within the Spanish Territory, on the Washita River, an important tributary of the Red River. These very rich lands, as they were supposed to be, were situated in the northeast portion of the present State of Louisiana. They could be purchased for a very small sum. Then, by encouraging emigration from Europe, and from the Atlantic States, they could be sold at an enormous profit.
All this was plain. But the secret in Burr's mind, probably not yet divulged to Blennerhassett, was, that he could then provoke revolt from Spain, seize Mexico, annex the region of the United States west of the Alleghanies, and establish a splendid empire. This hidden part of the plan was treason. It was adroitly veiled by the projected land speculation.
Burr's plans were thus far advancing very prosperously. In the Autumn of that year, 1805, he took his accomplished daughter, Mrs. Theodosia Alston, and made a visit of several days at Blen- nerhassett Island. Of course but little can be known of the conversations which took place during these long hours of private intercourse.
Colonel Burr then returned to Marietta, where he took up his residence, and engaged vigorously in operations for sending a large colony down the Ohio and the Mississippi to his lands on the Washita. He made a contract for building fifteen very large bat- teaux, in which to transport his settlers and their goods to their remote destination in the Spanish domain. Ten of these flat-
WILLIAM BEBB Governor 1846 - 49
-
567
HISTORY OF OHIO.
bottomed boats were forty feet long, ten feet wide, and two and a-half feet deep. Five of them were fifty feet long. They were so constructed at each end as to be rowed or pushed either up or down the stream. Mr. Blennerhassett's purse was called into requisition in those expensive movements. The boats were to convey the emigrants, with food and all necessary household and farming utensils, with an ample supply of guns and ammunition. It was manifest that these warlike weapons might be needed to repel hostile savages.
One of these boats was much larger than the rest, and was fitted up with very considerable elegance., It had a capacious cabin, tastefully decorated with a fire-place and glass windows. This was designed for Mr. Blennerhassett and family, who were to accompany the expedition. This fact has generally been relied upon as evidence that Mr. Blennerhassett had no idea of the trea- sonable designs which Colonel Burr had formed against the United States.
A keel boat was built, sixty feet long, which was loaded with bacon, pork, flour, whisky, and other supplies. Among the pro- visions were several hundred barrels of kiln-dried corn, ground into flour. Men on long marches were usually supplied with such rations. The Indians had taught us that a soldier might take a sack of this meal upon his back, and that one pint mixed with a little water would afford a day's ration. Much of this corn was raised on the island, and was dried in kilns which Mr. Blenner- hassett had constructed for that purpose. The batteaux were calculated to carry five hundred men. Colonel Burr's energy had already engaged nearly that number. The little colony was organized with military precision, for its leader was an accom- plished soldier. Each private was to receive the gift of one hundred acres of land. The officers were still more liberally provided for. Each emigrant was required to provide himself only with a good rifle and blanket. The boats were to be ready by the 9th of December, and the expedition was immediately to set out upon its adventurous voyage.
34
1
-
CHAPTER XXX.
-
THE DEVASTATED ISLAND.
COLONEL BURR'S ADDRESSES - ALARMING RUMORS - EFFORTS OF THE GOVERNMENT -SAD NEWS RECEIVED AT THE ISLAND -CONDUCT OF THE SOLDIERS- MR. BUTNAM'S KINDNESS- FINAL DESTRUCTION OF BUILDINGS ON THE ISLAND-COLONEL PHELPS AND HIS PARTY - EFFECTS OF WHISKY - MRS. BLEN- NERHASSETT REJOINS HER HUSBAND-COLONEL BURR AND MR. BLENNERHASSETT ARRESTED FOR TREASON - COLONEL BURR ESCAPES - BLENNERHASSETT ACQUITTED, AND AGAIN ARRESTED - MRS. BLENNERHASSETT'S LETTER - ON THE PLANTATION - POEM - CONTINUED DISAPPOINTMENTS - DEATH OF MR. BLENNERHASSETT - MRS. BLENNERHASSETT RETURNS TO THE UNITED STATES, AND PETITIONS CONGRESS - HER POVERTY - HER DEATH.
WHILE THE boats were being built, Colonel Burr visited many of the settlements in those remote regions, to engage enterprising and hardy young men as recruits. There was something peculiarly fascinating to a romantic mind in the expedition. To float down unknown streams, of almost fabulous grandeur, for one or two thousand miles, then to ascend a stream, fringed with almost the luxuriance and bloom of the tropics, and to go in strength which disarmed fear, presented remarkable allurements to sanguine youth. Colonel Burr addressed the young men, not only of Marietta, Belpre, and other points on the same river, but went to Chillicothe, and to Lexington, Kentucky. He told them that Pres- ident Jefferson, who was exceedingly popular throughout the West, was fully informed of the objects of the expedition, and that they met with his cordial approval. Confidentially, as it were, he informed them, that though the enterprise was entirely a peaceful one, to take possession of the immense grant, which had been pur- chased of Baron Bastrop, still there was great probability that a war might ere long break out between the United States and
569
HISTORY OF OHIO:
'Spain; that the Mexicans were very anxious to throw off the Spanish yoke ; that the moment war was declared Congress would send a large army to Mexico, around whose banners the inhabit- ants would enthusiastically rally. Thus Mexico would be wrested from Spain, almost without a struggle. Then his little band of five hundred sturdy pioneers would have the moulding of a majes- tic empire, on the foundations of democratic equality, and might enrich themselves almost beyond the dreams of romance.
These were undoubtedly the views which imbued the minds of the emigrants generally, and which duped and bewildered the imagination of Blennerhassett. Still, rumors began to be circu- lated that the intriguing Aaron Burr was plotting some mischief against the United States. During the months of September and October Colonel Burr had caused to be inserted in the Marietta Gazette a series of able articles advocating the secession of the western states from those east of the Alleghanies. These articles appeared over the signature of Querist. They were replied to in convincing logic, sternly condemning these views, by a writer over the signature of Regulus. The sympathies of the community were manifestly with Regulus. His articles were extensively copied and read. They directed the attention of the whole country to the armed expedition which Colonel Burr was prepar- ing for the invasion of Mexico. President Jefferson became alarmed. He knew Aaron Burr thoroughly, and was well aware of his ambition and his powers of intrigue.
In November he sent out a secret agent, Mr. John Graham, who was connected with one of the offices in Washington, to report respecting the proceedings of Burr at Marietta and at Blennerhassett Island. At the same time he solicited the aid of the Governor of Ohio, to suppress the military expedition, by seizing the boats. There was peace between the United States and Spain, and Jefferson considered the invasion of Mexico with such an armed force as totally unjustifiable. Mr. Graham had several interviews with Mr. Blennerhassett, and was assured by him that since there was no probability of war between Spain and the United States, Mr. Burr had entirely relinquished the plan of invading Mexico, and thought only of the establishment of a peaceful colony on the banks of the Washita.
In the meantime, rumor, with her thousand tongues, was busy inextricably blending truth with falsehood. It was said that
570
HISTORY OF OHIO.
Colonel Burr and his associates were plotting treason on the western waters ; that they were organizing an army to capture New Orleans, rob the banks, seize the artillery, and set up a new govern- ment west of the Alleghanies. It was known that Colonel Burr hated President Jefferson; that he had done everything in his power to heap abuse upon him, and to thrust him from the presidential chair. The guileless Blennerhassett was considered an accomplice of Burr, and necessarily shared in the detestation which the arch-conspirator had brought against himself. The Ohio Legislature passed an act to suppress all armed expeditions, and to seize all boats and provisions engaged in such unlawful enterprises. The Governor was authorized to call out the militia, to arrest any boats on the Ohio River engaged in Burr's expedi- tion, to confiscate the boats and cargo, and to hold the crew for trial, by imprisonment or under bail of fifty thousand dollars.
The militia were called out; the boats on the Muskingum were seized; a six-pounder was placed on the banks of the river at Marietta, to arrest and examine every boat descending the river. Sentries were placed to watch the stream by day and by night.
On the sixth of December, just before these energetic orders from the governor were issued, a Mr. Tyler, from New York, cze of Mr. Burr's agents, landed at Blennerhassett Island with abert thirty men, in four boats, which had been fitted out from the set- tlements above. Mr. Blennerhassett had that day gone to Mani- etta to superintend the departure of the boats from the Muskin- gum. He there heard of the act of the Assembly. Much trou- bled in mind, and with no disposition to enter into a conflict with the constituted authorities, he returned to the island, quite disposed to relinquish the whole enterprise, and patiently to bear his heavy losses. But Mrs. Blennerhassett was a very ambitious woman. She had entered into the grand enterprise with all the enthusiasm of her nature. She was fully aware of the high intel- lectual endowments of her husband, and her wifely pride was roused to see him occupy posts of influence worthy of his abilities. Mr. Tyler also united with Mrs. Blennerhassett in remonstrances against any abandonment of the undertaking at this late hour. Had Mr. Blennerhassett followed the dictates of his own judg- ment, he would have been saved from one of the most dreadful tragedies which ever befel a family on earth.
Three days after this he received the alarming intelligence that .
SEABURY FORD Governor 1849-50.
573
.
HISTORY OF OHIO.
the Wood County Militia would that very night, under its com- mander, Colonel Phelps, land upon the island, seize the boats, arrest him and all the men there, and probably, in their exas- peration, burn his house. Not a moment was to be lost. There was no knowing what outrages these lawless men might inflict upon a family whom they denounced as traitors. It was stated that the men who had volunteered for the attack upon the island were of the lowest and most desperate class in the community. Mr. Blennerhassett and the men, well armed with rifles, imme- diately embarked on board the boats.
The Ohio, between the island and the Great Kanawha, is very circuitous, making the distance by water double of that by land. Colonel Phelps, upon arriving at the island and finding that the objects of his search had escaped, immediately went with a part of his force on horseback down the river on the Kentucky shore to Point Pleasant, there to arrest the boats when they should reach that spot. In the meantime Mrs. Blennerhassett, with great intrepidity, remained at home with her children. It was hoped that their presence would operate as some restraint upon the brutal soldiery, and might preserve her home and its precious con- tents from destruction.
But the soldiers, taking advantage of the absence of their com- mander, behaved like savages. Their order extended only to the arrest of Mr. Blennerhassett and the armed men they might find with the boats. But they immediately took possession of the house, rioted through all its elegant apartments, seized upon all the family stores, became drunk with the wine and whisky they found in the cellar, compelled the negroes to cook for them, burned the fences for bon-fires, and committed outrages which would have disgraced any band of savages. One of the drunken wretches fired a rifle bullet through the ceiling of the large hall, the ball passing through the chamber near where Mrs. Blennerhassett was sitting with her children. Thus passed seven days of horror.
At length, on the 17th, a gentleman from Belprè, Mr. A. W. Putnam, a warm friend of the family, ventured upon the island to render such assistance as might be in his power to the heroic woman. He succeeded in providing her with a boat, in which she stored a few articles of furniture, and some of her husband's choicest books. Mr. Putnam furnished her from Belprè with some provisions, as all of her own had been consumed or de-
574
HISTORY OF OHIO.
stroyed by the soldiers. Taking her two little sons, Harmon and. Dominick, with her, the one six and the other eight years old, she: pursued her way down the Ohio to join her husband. It was a. cold winter's day. The river was filled with floating ice; the boat, hastily prepared, was far from comfortable. The cabin was open and cold and cheerless. She and her children suffered severely. A few heroic young men from Belprè accompanied her in these hours of terrible adversity. With tearful eyes, as the boat floated away, she cast a lingering look upon her beloved island, which she was destined never to visit again.
The soldiers kept possession of it for several days after her de- parture. They seemed to riot in wanton destruction. The cattle were turned into the garden; the shrubbery and flowers were trampled down and ruined; the orchards of choice fruit trees, just coming into bearing, were either girdled or cut down. A few days had transformed this loveliest spot, perhaps, on the continent of North America into a scene of utter desolation and ruin. And these atrocities were perpetrated, not by savages, but by white men; by citizens of the United States, who had been commis- sioned as the executors of salutary law. We may here mention. that one or two years after this the dilapidated mansion took fire, and with all its remaining furniture, books, and apparatus, was laid. in ashes. Thus this vision of loveliness passed away forever.
But let us return to Colonel Phelps. Rapidly he descended. with his mounted band to the mouth of the Great Kanawha, there: to await the arrival of the boats which bore Mr. Blennerhassett: and his friends. Reaching this point in the evening, he encamped his riotous crew upon the banks of the river to watch through the night. It was very cold, and the men built immense fires, not. only for warmth, but to throw the light across the stream, so that. the boats might not pass unseen in the darkness. The men were: well provided with whisky, and the first part of the night was passed in riotous orgies. But towards morning, stupefied with. drink, and drowsy from watching, they all fell soundly asleep.
As the boats came in sight of the fires, the occupants were well aware of their significance, and abstaining from the slightest noise, the four boats drifted by, on the silent current, without awaking the drunken sleepers. Having escaped this peril the boats floated rapidly on to their appointed rendezvous, at the mouth of the Cumberland River.
575
HISTORY OF OHIO.
Mrs Blennerhassett, with her children, commenced her voyage a week after the departure of her husband. Upon arriving at the mouth of the Cumberland River, where she hoped to find him, she learned, to her disappointment, that his little flotilla had pro- ceeded out of the Ohio into the rapid waters of the Mississippi, and had probably by that time reached Bayou Pierre, in the Mis- sissippi territory. She followed after him. Winter soon set in with great severity. Soon after the boat in which she was embarked left, the Ohio River was entirely frozen over, and was not again navigable until the last of February.
Early in January she overtook her husband near Natchez, and she and her children were surrendered to his care by her gallant conductors. The whole country was now aroused into a general cry of indignation against Burr and his confederates. Burr was consequently compelled to abandon the enterprise as hopeless. He assembled his followers, about one hundred and thirty in num- ber, thanked them for their adherence to his cause, but stated that circumstances which he could not have anticipated or controlled had frustrated all his plans, and that the enterprise must be en- tirely abandoned. Many of those who had embarked in the ex- pedition were left to shift for themselves one thousand or fifteen hundred miles from their homes. Some time in January, Colonel Burr and Mr. Blennerhassett were both arrested and brought be- fore the United States Court at Natchez on the charge of treason, and were put under bonds to appear in February.
Colonel Burr forfeited his bond. Mr. Blennerhassett appeared, but as no proof whatever of any treasonable design could be brought against him, he was acquitted. Soon after Burr hired three men to row him about twenty miles up the river to a point where he was landed in the night. Here he laid aside his nice suit of broadcloth and his beaver hat, and dressed himself in the coarse garb of a boatman, with a slouched, soiled, white wool cap. The disguise was so effectual that his most intimate friends could not have recognized him. He then started to cross the country through the wilderness.
He was, however, arrested on the Tombigbee River, and car- ried to Richmond for trial on two indictments, one for treason and the other for misdemeanor. The trial was long and tedious. But he was acquitted of both charges, as there was no evidence found sufficient to convict him.
576
HISTORY OF OHIO.
Mr. Blennerhassett, after his trial and acquittal by the United States Court at Natchez, supposed himself safe from all further annoyance from the laws. He therefore started to visit his deso- lated island, intending to dispose of the remainder of his prop- erty there, and to return and take a plantation in the vicinity of Natchez. His wife and family were left behind. Upon reaching Lexington he was very strangely, it would seem unwarrantably, again arrested on a charge of treason, and was for several days confined in the common jail. He employed Henry Clay as his counsel. This distinguished jurist was very indignant that his client should be exposed to these unjust proceedings. He exclaimed : " Mr. Blennerhassett has already been tried and acquitted. Where is the justice in again arresting him for the same supposed of- fense ? "
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.