Ohio History Journal

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A CENTURY OF STATEHOOD.   ADDRESS BY GEORGE K. NASH.   [On the evening of Saturday, December 27, 1902,-the members of the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce participated in their "Annual Christ- mas Dinner." It was an elaborate banquet held in the spacious hall of the Chamber of Commerce. Many distinguished speakers were present, among them being Major-General Henry C. Corbin, Major-General Samuel B. M. Young, Major-General Adna R. Chaffee, Hon. John G. Milburn, of Buffalo. One of the speakers of the evening was Governor George K. Nash, whose topic was "A Century of Statehood." The address was so timely in this centennial year, that we publish it in full.-E. O. R.] The Governor said: The subject which your committee has set aside for me to speak upon is, "A Century of Statehood." I suppose that they desired when they gave me this toast,

to have me say something about the growth of the splendid state of Ohio during the 100 years of her existence. When Ohio became a state we were but a wilderness. We had almost nothing. We had our forests; we had our undeveloped resources, but we had a strong and splendid set of pioneers - the bravest, the best, the most pa- triotic pioneers who ever hewed the forest or builded up a state. (Ap- plause.) When Ohio became a part of this union, we had but three incorporated

villages, Marietta, Chillicothe and Cincinnati, each with less than 1,000 people. In the state we had but 45,000 peo- ple. From this you see that our population was entirely rural in its character. Fifty years went by, and in 1850 the census showed that we had but nine cities with more than 5,000 people. 25

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26       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

The largest was Cincinnati with 115,000, and in them all there

were less than 200,000 of population. The following year the

convention assembled which framed the new constitution for the

state of Ohio. That convention provided and laid down an iron-

clad rule that all cities should be governed by a general law,

and that there should be no special charters. That, perhaps, was

not an unreasonable rule at that time, for then there were but

the nine cities, the largest 115,000, altogether less than 200,000

people. It would not be a very hard thing to provide one law

which should control those nine cities.

Another fifty years went by, and the supreme court of the

state had reaffirmed the iron-bound rule of the constitution.

The general assembly was called in extra session. Then we found

that Ohio had seventy-one cities with more than 5,000 people.

The largest was your own splendid city of Cleveland with its

370,000. In them all there were 1,800,000 people to be governed

by the new law. What was an easy task in 1851 was a most diffi-

cult task in 1902. A new general law was made for the govern-

ment of our cities. The general assembly, considering all its

difficulties, did the best that it could; but, from the din which

has surrounded my ears for the last few months, I am quite

sure there are quite a few people among the 1,800,000 who are

not satisfied. (Laughter.) But I trust, fellow citizens and mem-

bers of the Chamber of Commerce, that you will remember that

the best code can be spoiled by bad administrators, and that

the poorest code will seem to be the best with good adminis-

trators. I therefore hope that you as good citizens of Cleveland,

that all good citizens of the state, will take the new code and do

the best they can with it by seeing that honest, intelligent and

upright men are elected to your municipal offices in April next.

(Applause.)

Going back to  1805, I discover that Cleveland under the

census had but 17,100 inhabitants, and I also discover that my

own city of Columbus had 17,800. We were ahead of you then,

but we have given up the race. We are willing to take off our

hats and say 'Cleveland men go ahead, for this place belongs to

you.' (Applause.)  But Cincinnati still thinks that she is in the

race. To be sure, since 1850, Cleveland has become twenty-two

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A Century of Statehood.               27

 

times as large as she was then and Cincinnati only three times

as large as she was then. (Applause.) Sometimes I have won-

dered at the growth and prosperity of this great city of Cleveland.

It has been a mystery to me, but tonight the mystery is solved.

When I have looked upon this splendid assemblage of represen-

tatives of Cleveland citizenship I do not wonder that you have

grown and prospered. I almost believe if the great lake was

taken away from your doors that Cleveland would still continue

to grow and prosper.

In these 100 years not only has our population increased,

but we have also increased in manufacturing, in mining, and in

all the paths of industry. There were no mines developed in

Ohio when she became a state. Now, last year 25,000 men were

employed in coal mining; they produced more than 20,000,000

tons of coal of the value, upon the cars at the mines ready for

shipment, of more than $23,000,000. Our railroads not only have

been commenced, but they have grown until all parts of the state

are crossed by them and last year we had 8,700 miles of railroad.

Their employes numbered more than 67,000. The wages paid

to these employes amounted to more than $42,000,000. The gross

income of these railroads was $101,000,000 and their net earnings

about $13,000,000.

Then in agriculture we have grown and prospered as well

as in the other industries. The value of all the farm products

produced in Ohio during the year 1900 was more than

$200,000,000. I want to call attention to our manufacturing

industries. In our manufacturing establishments last year we

employed an army of 345,000 men. Their wages amounted to

$123,000,000, and the things which they made were of the value

of more than $800,000,000. (Applause.) This shows how our

state has grown and prospered.

But it is not of our material wealth of which we should be

most proud. Ohio has been engaged in better business. During

all these 100 years she has been engaged in the work of raising

splendid men and women, who have added fame and luster to

her name, have done splendid service for our state as well as

for our whole nation. (Applause.)  This has been the result,

because one of the characteristics of the state, from the very

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28       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

beginning has been the pride which our people have taken in their

public schools. During the last thirty-five years the people of

Ohio have spent upon her public schools the sum of $360,000,000

(applause), and during her whole history the sum thus expended

has been more than half a billion dollars.

Then, again, the people of Ohio have been and are a patriotic

people. Our foundation stone was the great ordinance of 1787.

It has been said that a better law for the government of mankind

has never been conceived by the mind of man. One of the pro-

visions of that great ordinance was, that human slavery should

never exist in the states created out of that territory. Another

of its provisions declared that education and religion are necessary

for the happiness of mankind. Therefore, our people have made

provision for that.

Butt of all the good provisions of that great law, I think

the one was the best which declared the said territory, and the

states which may be formed therein, shall forever remain a part

of this confederacy of the United States of America. (Applause.)

Calhoun and his followers, those who afterwards took part as

members of the southern confederacy, contended that this nation

was a mere confederation of states, which could be broken at the

will of any state. The people of the north contended that this

was not the case. About this controversy we waged cruel war

for four long years. It seems to me that this extract from the

ordinance of 1787 destroyed forever the argument then put forth.

If the old constitution was an unstable compact from which any

state could be withdrawn, the passage of this ordinance of 1787

by the congress of the United States, with all the votes of the

members of that congress, north and south, except one destroyed

that doctrine, and declared that this union should last forever,

because they provided that the states erected in the northwest

territory should be forever a part of the confederacy of the

United States. (Applause.)

When Ohio sent forth her soldiers from  1861 to 1865 to

fight for the union of states she was simply upholding the declara-

tions of their fathers put forth in this ordinance of 1787. Hap-

pily, this contest is over. Every state in this union, not only

those which existed in the northwest territory, not only the states

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A Century of Statehood.                29   of the north, but also the states of the south, are united in the declaration of the old ordinance of 1787, and now are willing to say that the confederacy of the United States of America shall last forever.

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THE WYANDOT CHIEF, LEATHER LIPS.   HIS TRIAL AND EXECUTION.   BY WM.   L. CURRY. Away back in the thirties of the 19th century, a literary magazine of high order called "The Hesperian of the West" was published in Columbus, Ohio. In fact, it is the only literary periodical that ever was published in the Capital City of Ohio. In the publication of this magazine,

William D. Gallagher and Otway Curry, both men of high literary at- tainments were associated together as editors. Poems from the pens of both of these writers have been published largely throughout the west, with the writings of Geo. D. Prentice, Phoebe and Alice Cary, Piatt, Mrs. Sigour- ney and other distinguished authors, in a book published somewhere in the fifties under the caption "Poets and Poetry of the West." I have in my possession, two volumes of the "The Hesperian" in which are published

several articles which are of historical interest to the citizens of Columbus and Franklin County. Almost within sight of the capitol building on the west bank of the Scioto River, ten miles north of Columbus, where the "Wyandot Club" has erected a monument to mark the spot where the noted Indian Chief, Leather Lips* was executed was enacted a thrilling tragedy in the summer of 181O. While some of the pioneers residing along the Scioto can relate incidents connected with the execution of this Indian Chief, handed down by their ancestors, the Sells' Davis' Currys' and others, still these stories are largely traditional. *His Indian name was Shateyaronyah. 30

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The Wyandot Chief, Leather Lips.          31

 

When a young boy, I remember distinctly hearing my father

and my Uncle Captain James Curry who served in the war of

1812 with Asa Davis and who was also an intimate friend of

Captain Samuel Davis a famous Indian fighter with Simon Ken-

ton and Lewis Whetzel, relate in every detail the story of Leather

Lips, as told to them by these old pioneers. In a volume of the

Hesperian, published in 1838, is an article written by Otway

Curry which gives the full particulars of the execution as related

to the writer by Mr. Benjamin Sells and other witnesses to the

execution who were living at the time the article was written

and so far as can be ascertained, it is the only authentic history

ever published. The article written by Mr. Curry is prefaced by

a brief history of the Wyandot tribe to which Leather Lips be-

longed, as follows:-

THE DOOMED WYANDOT.

The great northern family of Indian tribes which seem to

have been originally embraced in the generic term Iroquois, con-

sisted, according to some writers, of two grand divisions, the

eastern and the western. In the eastern division were included

the five nations or Maquas, (Mingos) as they were commonly

called by the Algonkin tribes and in the western the Yendots

or Wyandots, (nick-named Hurons by the French) and three or

four other nations, of whom a large proportion are now entirely

extinct. The Yendots, after a long and deadly warfare, were

nearly exterminated by the Five Nations, about the middle of

the seventeenth century. Of the survivors, part sought refuge

in Canada, where their descendents still remain; a few were

incorporated among the different tribes of the conquerors, and

the remainder, consisting chiefly of the Tionontates retired to

Lake Superior. In consequence of the disastrious wars in which

they afterwards became involved with other powerful nations of

the northwestern region, they again repaired to the vicinity of

their old hunting grounds. With this remnant of the original

Huron or Wyandot nation, were united some scattered fragments

of other broken-up tribes of the same stock, and though com-

paratively few in number they continued for a long period, to

assert successfully the right of sovereignty over the whole extent

of country between the Ohio River and the Lakes, as far west as

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32        Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

the territory of the Piankishaws or Miamies, whose eastern bound-

ary was probably an irregular line, drawn through the valley

of the Great Miami, (Shimeamee) and the Ottawah-se-pee or

Maumee, river of Lake Erie. The Shawanese and the Dela-

wares, it is believed, were occupants of a part of the fore-men-

tioned country, merely by sufferance of the Wyandots, whose

right of dominion seemed never to have been called in question,

excepting by the Mingoes or Five Nations. The Shawanese

were originally powerful and always war-like. Kentucky re-

ceived its name from them, in the course of their migrations

between their former place of residence on the Suwanee river,

adjacent to the southern sea-coast, and the territory of the Yendots

in the North. The name (Kantuckee) is compounded from the

Shawanese, and signifies a "land or place at the head of a river."

The chosen residence of the Wyandots, was at an early

period, as it is now, on the waters of the Saun-dus-tee or San-

dusky. Though greatly reduced in numbers, they have, perhaps,

attained a higher degree of civilization, than any other tribe in

the vicinity of the north-western Lakes. For the following speci-

men of the Wyandot language and for the greater part of the

statements given above, we were indebted to the Archaeologia

Americana.

One, Scat.                                               It rains, Ina-un-du-se.

Two, Tin-dee.                                         Thunder, Heno.

Three, Shaight.                                        Lightning, Tim-men-di-quas.

Four, An-daght.                                       Earth, Umaitsagh.

Five, Wee-ish.                                         Deer, Ough-scan-oto.

Six Wau-shau.                                          Bear, Anu-e.

Seven, Soo-tare.                                       Raccoon, Ha-in-te-roh.

Eight, Aultarai.                                        Fox, The-na-in-ton-to.

Nine, Ain-tru.                                          Beaver, Soo-taie.

Ten, Augh-sagh.                                      Mink, So-hoh-main-dia.

Twenty, Ten-deit-a-waugh-sa.                  Turkey, Daigh-ton-tah.

Thirty, Shaigh-ka-waugh-sa.                    Squirrel, Ogh-ta-eh.

Forty, An-daugh-ka-waugh-sa.                  Otter, Ta-wen-deh.

Fifty, Wee-ish-a-waugh-sa.                      Dog, Yun-ye-noh.

Sixty, Wau-shau-waugh-sa.                       Cow, Kni-ton-squa,ront.

Seventy, Soo-tare-waugh-sa.                                         Horse, Ugh-shut te.

Eighty, Au-tarai-waugh-sa.                                            Goose, Yah-hounk.

Ninety, Ain-tru-waugh-sa.                        Duck,Yu-in-geh.

One Hundred, Scute-main-gar-we.             Man,Ain-ga-hon.

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The Wyandot Chief, Leather Lips.             33

 

God, Ta-main-de-zue.                               Woman, Uteh-ke.

Devil, Degh-shu-re-noh.                           Girl, Ya-weet-sen-tho.

Heaven, Ya-roh-nia.                                 Boy, Oma-int-sent-e-hah.

Good, Ye-waugh-ste.                                 Child, Che-ah-hah.

Bad, Waugh-she.                                      Old Man, Ha-o-tong.

Hell, Degh-shunt.                                     Old Woman, Ut-sin-dag-sa.

Sun, Ya-an-des-hra.                                  My wife, Uzut-tun-oh-oh.

Moon, Waugh,sunt-yu-an-des-ra.             Corn, Nay-hah.

Stars, Tegh-shu.                                        Beans, Yah-re-sah.

Sky, Cagh-ro-niate.                                  Potatoes, Da-ween-dah.

Clouds, Oght-se-rah.                                 Melons, Oh-nugh-sa.

Wind, Izu,quas.                                         Grass, E-ru-ta.

The foregoing sketch of the history and language of the

Wyandots, though certainly not strictly necessary, will, it is hoped,

be deemed not altogether inappropriate as an introduction to the

following narrative of the circumstances attending the death of

a chief of that nation. The particulars have been recently com-

municated by persons who were eye-witnesses to the execution,

and may be relied upon as perfectly accurate.

In the evening of the first day of June in the year 1810,

there came six Wyandot warriors to the house of Mr. Benjamin

Sells on the Scioto River, about twelve miles above the spot where

now stands the City of Columbus. They were equipped in the

most war-like manner and exhibited during their stay, an un-

usual degree of agitation. Having ascertained that an old Wyan-

dot Chief, for whom they had been making diligent inquiry was

then encamped at a distance of about two miles farther up on the

bank of the river, they expressed a determination to put him to

death and immediately went off, in the direction of the lodge.

These facts were communicated early in the ensuing morning,

to Mr. John Sells, who now resides in the City of Dublin on the

Scioto about two miles from the place where the doomed Wyan-

dot met his fate. Mr. Sells immediately proceeded up the river

on horse-back in quest of the Indians. He soon arrived at the

lodge which he found situated in a grove of sugar trees, close

to the bend of the river. The six warriors were seated, in con-

sultation at a distance of a few rods from the lodge. The old

chief was with them, evidently in the character of a prisoner.

3 Vol. XII.

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34       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

His arms were confined by a small cord, but he sat with them

without any manifestation of uneasiness. A few of the neigh-

boring white men were also there and a gloomy looking Indian

who had been a companion of the Chief, but now kept entirely

aloof,-sitting sullenly in the camp. Mr. Sells approached the

Indians and found them earnestly engaged in debate. A charge

of "witch-craft" had been made at a former time against the chief

by some of his captors, whose friends had been destroyed as they

believed by means of his evil powers. This crime, according to

the immemorial usage of the tribe involved a forfeiture of life.

The chances of a hunter's life had brought the old man to his

present location, and his pursuers had sought him out in order

that they might execute upon him the sentence of their law.

The council was of two or three hours duration. The ac-

cusing party spoke alternately with much ceremony, but with

evident bitterness of feeling. The prisoner, in his replies, was

eloquent, though dispassionate. Occasionally, a smile of scorn

would appear, for an instant, on his countenance. At the close

of the consultation it was ascertained that they had affirmed the

sentence of death which had before been passed upon the chief.

Inquiry having been made by some of the white men, with refer-

ence to their arrangements, the captain of the six warriors pointed

to the sun and signified to them that the execution would take

place at one o'clock in the afternoon. Mr. Sells went to the

captain and asked him what the chief had done. "Very bad

Indian," he replied, "make good Indian sick"-"make horse sick,

- make die, -very bad chief." Mr. Sells then made an effort

to persuade his white friends to rescue the victim of superstition

from his impending fate, but to no purpose. They were then in

a frontier situation, entirely open to the incursions of the northern

tribes and were, consequently unwilling to subject themselves to

the displeasure of their savage visitors by any interference with

their operations. He then proposed to release the chief by pur-

chase-offering to the captain for that purpose a fine horse of the

value of $300. "Let me see him," said the Indian; the horse

was accordingly brought forth, and closely examined; and so

much were they staggered by this proposition that they again

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The Wyandot Chief, Leather Lips.          35

 

repaired to their place of consultation and remained in council

a considerable length of time before it was finally rejected.

The conference was again terminated and five of the Indians

began to amuse themselves with running, jumping and other

athletic exercise. The captain took no part with them. When

again inquired of, as to the time of execution, he pointed to the

sun, as before, and indicated the hour of four. The prisoner

then walked slowly to his camp,-partook of jerked venison -

washed and arrayed himself in his best apparel and afterwards

painted his face. His dress was very rich -his hair grey, his

whole appearance graceful and commanding. At his request,

the whole company drew around him at the lodge. He then

observed the exertions of Mr. Sells in his behalf, and now pre-

sented to him a written paper, with a request that it might be

read to the company. It was a recommendation signed by Gov.

Hull and in compliance with the request of the prisoner, it was

fixed and left upon the side of a large tree, at a short distance

from the wigwam.

The hour of execution being close at hand, the chief shook

hands in silence with the surrounding spectators. On coming to

Mr. Sells he appeared much moved, - grasped his hands warmly,

spoke for a few minutes in the Wyandot language and pointed

to the Heavens. He then turned from the wigwam, and with a

voice of surpassing strength and melody, commenced the chant

of the death-song. He was followed closely by the Wyandot

warriors, all timing with the slow and measured march, the

music of his wild and melancholy dirge. The white men were

all, likewise, silent followers in that strange procession. At the

distance of seventy or eighty yards from the camp, they came

to a shallow grave, which, unknown to the white men, had been

previously prepared by the Indians. Here the old man knelt

down, and in an elevated, but solemn voice, addressed his prayer

to the Great Spirit. As soon as he had finished, the captain of

the Indians knelt beside him and prayed in a similar manner.

Their prayers, of course, were spoken in the Wyandot language.

When they arose, the captain was again accosted by Mr. Sells,

who insisted that if they were inflexible in their determination to

shed blood, they should at least remove their victim beyond the

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36       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

limit of the white settlement. "No!" said he, very sternly, and

with evident displeasure, "No; good Indian fraid,--he no go

with this bad man-- mouth give fire in the dark night, good

Indian fraid-he no go!" "My friend," he continued, "me

tell you white man, bad man, white man kill him, Indian say

nothing."

Finding all interference futile, Mr. Sells was at length com-

pelled reluctantly, to abandon the old man to his fate. After

a few moments delay, he again sank down upon his knees and

prayed, as he had done before. When he had ceased praying, he

still continued in a kneeling position. All the rifles belonging to

the party had been left at the wigwam. There was not a weapon

of any kind to be seen at the place of execution, and the specta-

tors were consequently unable to form any conjecture as to the

mode of procedure, which the executioners had determined on for

the fulfilment of their purpose. Suddenly one of the warriors

drew from beneath the skirts of his capote, a keen, bright toma-

hawk, walked rapidly up behind the chieftain brandishing the

weapon on high for a single moment and then struck with his

full strength. The blow descended directly upon the crown of

the head and the victim immediately fell prostrate. After he

had lain a while in the agonies of death, the Indian directed the

attention of the white men to the drops of sweat which were

gathering upon the neck and face; remarking with much appar-

ent exultation that it was conclusive proof of the sufferer's guilt.

Again the executioner advanced and with the same weapon in-

flicted two or three additional and heavy blows.

As soon as life was entirely extinct, the body was hastily

buried with all its apparel and decorations and the assemblage

dispersed. The Wyandots returned immediately to their hunting

ground and the white men to their homes. The murdered chief

was known among the whites by the name of Leather Lips.

Around the spot where the bones repose the towering forest has

given place to the grain fields and the soil above him has for years

been furrowed and re-furrowed by the plow-share.

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ANCIENT WORKS AT MARIETTA, OHIO.

 

BY J. P. MACLEAN, PH. D.

The ancient earthworks at Marietta, Ohio, have received

much attention, and have been written about more than any of

the prehistoric remains of the Ohio and Mississippi valleys.

These structures were great and ranked high in importance, al-

though not so extensive and complicated as certain other remains

which have been fully considered. At the time of the opening of

the great West the Ohio river was the main artery that led into

the wilderness, and hence the Marietta antiquities invited early

notice; but the first to be recorded were those at Circleville.

Rev. David Jones, of Freehold, New Jersey, in 1772-3, spent

some time among the western Indians, and in his journal makes

mention of some of the works on the Scioto. On October 17,

1772, he made a plan and computation of the works at Circleville.

The company of settlers, organized by Gen. Rufus Putnam,

arrived at the mouth of the Muskingum April 7, 1788, and then

took possession of the land purchased of the United States Gov-

ernment. The Directors of the company, appreciating the im-

portance of the ancient remains, took immediate measures for

their preservation. One of their earliest official acts was the

passage of a resolution, which they caused to be entered upon

the journal of their proceedings, reserving the two truncated

pyramids and the great conical mound, with a few acres attached

to each, as public squares. The great avenue, named "Sacra

Via," by special resolution was "never to be disturbed or de-

faced, as common ground, not to be enclosed." These works

were placed under the care of the corporation of Marietta, with

the direction that they should be embellished with shade trees

of native growth, the varieties of which being specified.

It is of no credit to the people of Marietta to examine into

the cause of their falseness to their trust. When I visited these

works in 1882, I found the truncated pyramids denuded and

the walls of the Sacra Via gone. On inquiring what had become

(37)

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38       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.   of these walls I was informed that the material had been moulded into brick; that a brick-maker had been elected a member of the town council, and he had persuaded the other members to vote to sell him the walls. This unpleasant fact has also been reported by Prof. Wright. Quite a voluminous report of the Centennial Celebration of Marietta is given in volume II, OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY, replete with ora- tory and glorification, but no word concerning what has really made Marietta known. The editor of the QUARTERLY, more con- siderate, accompanies the account with a cut of the remains, taken

from Squier & Davis' "Ancient Monuments," and an original picture of the conical mound in the cemetery. With but little exaggeration it may be stated the antiquities at Marietta are principally obliterated. What few remain do not exhibit the value of what existed at the time the Ohio Com- pany took possession. For all archaeological purposes we must depend on the integrity of those who made surveys and plans of the works when they were practically complete. Fortunately we are not at a loss in this matter. The works were of sufficient note, not only to call the attention of military men and travellers, but also to excite the curiosity of the intelligent in the older states. The descriptions and plans of these early observers have

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Ancient Works at Marietta, Ohio.          39

 

been preserved. The changes that have taken place in the con-

dition of these structures, and the variations noted by the dif-

ferent observers, all point to value in summing up the evidence.

When the works were denuded of their trees and the iconoclastic

hand of the white man protruded itself, the change in the appear-

ance of the remains must have been very rapid.

 

 

EARLY NOTICES.

In all probability the first of the ancient earthworks west

of the Alleghanies that were carefully surveyed were those under

consideration. During the years 1785 and 1786 many letters

from army officers found their way into the public prints giving

an account of these remains, some of which were highly exagger-

ated. It was due to Gen. Samuel H. Parsons, that an authentic

character should be given to the reports. In a letter addressed

to President Willard, of Harvard College, dated October 2, 1786,

he described the Grave Creek mound - Moundsville, W. Va. -

and referred to the remains at Marietta, a description of which

he had sent previously to President Stiles, of New Haven.

The first plan and description of the works have been ascribed

to Capt. Jonathan Heart. General Harmar, in a letter dated Fort

Pitt, March 17, 1787, to General Thomas Mifflin, of Philadelphia,

says: "Be pleased to view the inclosed plan of the remains of

some ancient works on the Muskingum, taken by a captain of

mine (Heart), with his explanations. Various are the con-

jectures concerning these fortifications. From their regularity

I conceive them to be the works of some civilized people. Who

they were I know not. Certain it is, the present race of savages

are strangers to anything of the kind." *

Daniel Stebbens states,+ under date of Northampton, Mass.,

May 1842, that the drawing sent to Dr. Stiles, was copied by

him, to be preserved in the archives of Yale College. In his

letter he explains the drawing. "No. I, Town. No. 2, The Fort.

No. 3, The Great Mound and Ditch. No. 4, The Advance Work.

No. 5, Indian Graves. No. 6, Covered Way from the town to

the then locality of the river, which is supposed at that time to

* Butterfield's Journal of Captain Jonathan Heart, p XIII.

+ American Pioneer, Vol I, p. 339.

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40

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Ancient Works at Marietta, Ohio.          41

 

have run along the edge of the second bottom. These walls are

now twenty feet high, and the graded road between them was

one hundred feet wide, and beautifully rounded like a modern

turnpike. No. 7, A Second Covered Way with walls of less

elevation.  No. 8, Caves. Nos. 9 and 10, Elevated Squares.

These works were interspersed with many small mounds as repre-

sented in the drawings."

The Columbian Magazine, for May 1789, contains Capt.

Heart's plan with an elaborate description.

The Pennsylvania Gazette, October 22, 1788, contains a

letter from a gentleman at Marietta, to his friend in Massachu-

setts, dated September 8, 1788, from which the following is ex-

tracted: "An accurate survey of the ancient ruins within the

limits of our city has been made in presence of the governor,

judges, directors of the company, and a number of other gentle-

men, that we may be able to ascertain all the facts respecting

them; in the course of this survey we had several of the large

trees, on the parapet of those works, cut down, and have examined

their ages by the rings of grains from the heart to the surface,

computing each grain to be one year's growth. We found

one tree to have stood 443 years, another 289, situated so as to

leave no room to doubt of their having began to grow since those

works were abandoned. We find the perpendicular height of

the walls of this covert to be at this time twenty feet and the

base thirty-nine, the width twelve rods."++

In the third volume of the American Philosophical Society,

appears Captain Heart's replies to inquiries, which he wrote in

January 1791. In this paper he treats the subject in a judicious

manner observing "that the state of the works and the trees grow-

ing on them indicated an origin prior to the discovery of America

by Columbus; that they were not due to the present Indians or

their predecessors, or some tradition would have remained of

their uses; that they were not constructed by a people who pro-

cured the necessaries of life by hunting, as a sufficient number

to carry on such labors could not have subsisted in that way;

and, lastly, that the people who constructed them were not alto-

gether in an uncivilized state, as they must have been under the

* Journal and Letters of Colonel John May, p. 58.

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42        Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

subordination of law, with a strict and well-governed police, or

they could not have been kept together in such numerous bodies,

and been made to contribute to the execution of such stupendous

works."*

It was most unfortunate that two such intelligent observers

as Gen. Parsons and Capt. Heart should meet with death so soon

after their interest in western antiquities had been awakened.

The former was drowned in the Ohio river in December 1791,

and the latter was slain in the disastrous defeat of St. Clair, in

November 1791, while, with a handful of men, he was covering

the retreat of the army.

Col. Winthrop Sargent, in March, 1787, wrote a more

elaborate and finished sketch than that of Capt. Heart, and sent

it to Governor Bowdoin, which was not published until 1853,

when it appeared in "Memoirs American Academy of Arts and

Sciences."

DESCRIPTION BY HARRIS.

In the year 1803, Rev. Dr. Thaddeus M. Harris, of Massa-

chusetts, examined some of the ancient structures, and published

his "Journal of a Tour" in 1805. The following is the oft

repeated description taken from his book (Page 149) : "The situ-

ation of these works is on an elevated plain, above the present

bank of the Muskingum, on the east side, and about half a mile

from  its junction with the Ohio. They consist of walls and

mounds of earth, in direct lines, and in square and circular forms.

The largest square fort, by some called the town, contains

forty acres, encompassed by a wall of earth, from six to ten feet

high, and from twenty-five to thirty-six in breadth at the base.

On each side are three openings, at equal distances, resembling

twelve gateways. The entrances at the middle, are the largest,

particularly on the side next to the Muskingum. From this out-

let is a covert way, formed of two parellel walls of earth, two

hundred and thirty-one feet distant from each other, measuring

from center to center. The walls at the most elevated part, on

the inside, are twenty-one feet in height, and forty-two in breadth

at the base, but on the outside average only five feet in height.

* Haven's Archaeology of the United States, p. 24.

• 19
 

Ancient Works at Marietta, Ohio.         43

 

This forms a passage of about three hundred and sixty feet in

length, leading by a gradual descent to the low grounds, where

at the time of its construction, it probably reached the river.

Its walls commence at sixty feet from the ramparts of the fort,

and increase in elevation as the way descends towards the river;

and the bottom is crowned in the center, in the manner of a well

founded turnpike road.

Within the walls of the fort, at the northwest corner, is an

oblong elevated square, one hundred and eighty-eight feet long,

one hundred and thirty-two broad, and nine feet high; leve on

the summit, and nearly perpendicular at the sides. At the center

of each of the sides, the earth is projected, forming gradual

ascents to the top, equally regular, and about six feet in width.

Near the south wall is another elevated square, one hundred and

fifty feet by one hundred and twenty, and eight feet high, similar

to the other, excepting that instead of an ascent to go up on the

side next to the wall, there is a hollow way ten feet wide, leading

twenty feet towards the center, and then rising with a gradual

slope to the top. At the southeast corner, is a third elevated

square, one hundred and eight, by fifty-four feet, with ascents

at the ends, but not so high nor perfect as the two others. A

little to the southwest of the center of the fort is a circular

mound, about thirty feet in diameter and five feet high, near

which are four small excavations at equal distances, and opposite

each other. At the southwest corner of the fort is a semicircular

parapet, crowned with a mound, which guards the opening in

the wall. Towards the southeast is a smaller fort, containing

twenty acres, with a gateway in the center of each side and at

each corner. These gateways are defended by circular mounds.

On the outside of the smaller fort is a mound, in form of a

sugar loaf, of a magnitude and height which strikes the beholder

with astonishment. Its base is a regular circle, one hundred and

fifteen feet in diameter; its perpendicular altitude is thirty feet.

It is surrounded by a ditch four feet deep and fifteen feet wide,

and defended by a parapet four feet high, through which is a

gateway towards the fort, twenty feet in width. There are other

walls, mounds, and excavations, less conspicuous and entire."

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44       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

Mr. Harris adopted from Clavigero his account of the emi-

gration of the Toltecs, and to them ascribed the construction of

all similar works, and maintained that the mural works had been

surmounted by palisades, intended for protection in the gradual

progress made by these people through the territories of less

civilized tribes.

OPINIONS OF JAMES MADISON.

At the same time Mr. Harris was engaged in making his

observations on one side of the Ohio river, on the other, James

Madison, then episcopal bishop of Virginia, was likewise enter-

taining himself. The result of his observations he communicated

in a letter which was read before the Philosophical Society, and

subsequently appeared in one of its volumes. It appeared to

Bishop Madison that such remains were too numerous and vari-

ous in form, besides being too unfavorably situated to be re-

garded as places of defence; and their striking figures indicated

one common origin and destination. He regarded the mounds as

burial places.

ATWATER'S SURVEY.

At the request of the President of the American Anti-

quarian Society, and by him assisted with pecuniary means, Caleb

Atwater undertook to prepare a comprehensive account of the

antiquities of the Western States. This contribution was pub-

lished by the society in 1820, and comprises 164 pages of Vol.

I. of its Transactions. Seven pages are devoted to the Marietta

works. The text is accompanied by a plan taken from a survey

made by B. P. Putnam.

The contribution, with accompanying plates, was republished

by the author, in 1833, together with his Tour to Prairie Du

Chien, under the title of "Western Antiquities."  A reduced

plan of the work is given in Howe's "Historical Collections of

Ohio." The account given by Atwater is drawn from descrip-

tions written by Dr. Hildreth and Gen. Edward W. Tupper.

He quotes in extenso from Harris's "Tour."  He concludes his

narrative in the following language:

"It is worthy of remark, that the walls and mounds were not

thrown up from ditches, but raised by bringing the earth from a

• 21
 

Ancient Works at Marietta, Ohio.         45   distance, or taking it up uniformly from the plain; resembling in that respect, most of the ancient works at Licking, already described. It has excited some surprise that the tools have not been discovered here, with which these mounds were constructed. Those who have examined these ruins, seem not to have been aware, that with shovels made of wood, earth enough to have constructed these works might have been taken from the sur-

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46      Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

face, with as much ease, almost, as if they were made of iron.

This will not be as well understood on the east as the west side

of the Alleghanies; but those who are acquainted with the

great depth and looseness of our vegetable mould, which lies on

the surface of the earth, and of course, the ease with which it

may be raised by wooden tools, will cease to be astonished at

what would be an immense labor in what geologists call 'primi-

tive' countries. Besides, had the people who raised these works,

been in possession of, and used ever so many tools, manufactured

from iron, by lying either on or under the earth, during that long

period which has intervened between their authors and us, they

would have long since oxydized by rusting, and left but faint

traces of their existence behind them."

Under the genius of Atwater a highly creditable and au-

thentic representation of the ancient structures and other objects

of interest and curiosity was systematically connected. Some of

the structures he believed to have been fortifications; others

sacred enclosures, such as mounds of sacrifice, or sites of temples;

other mounds were for burial, and some places were for diver-

sion. The accuracy of the regular works, which enclose large

areas, is adduced as proof of scientific ability, and that the grad-

ual development of the works would indicate that the strain of

migration was toward the south. The growth of generations

of forest trees over the remains, and the changes in the courses

and bends of the streams on whose banks the ancient works are lo-

cated are given as evidence of antiquity.

 

 

OBSERVATIONS OF SAMUEL P. HILDRETH.

Dr. Hildreth's "Pioneer History of the Ohio Valley" and

"Biographical and Historical Memories of the early Pioneer Set-

tlers of Ohio," will long remain standard works. For upwards

of forty years he was a constant contributor to scientific jour-

nals. While he published no book on western antiquities, yet he

wrote fully on the works at Marietta, all the details of which

were perfectly familiar to him, as well as all that had been writ-

ten on the subject. He was very much interested in those at

Marietta, besides being well informed on the general subject,

• 23
 

Ancient Works at Marietta, Ohio.           47

 

What he has written is worthy of candid consideration. In a

letter sent to Caleb Atwater, and dated June 8, 1819 he says:

"Mr. Harris, in his 'Tour,' has given a tolerably good account

of the present appearance of the works, as to height, shape and

form. The principal excavation or well, is as much as sixty feet

in diameter, at the surface; and when the settlement was first

made, it was at least twenty feet deep. It is at present twelve

or fourteen feet; but has been filled up a great deal from the

washing of the sides by frequent rains. It was originally of the

kind formed in the most early days, when the water was brought

up by hand in pitchers, or other vessels, by steps formed in the

sides of the well.

The pond, or reservoir, near the northwest corner of the

large fort, was about twenty-five feet in diameter, and the sides

raised above the level of the adjoining surface by an embankment

of earth three or four feet high. This was nearly full of water

at the first settlement of the town, and remained so until the last

winter, at all seasons of the year. When the ground was cleared

near the well, a great many logs that laid nigh, were rolled into

it, to save the trouble of piling and burning them. These, with

the annual deposit of leaves, etc., for ages, had filled the well

nearly full; but still the water rose to the surface, and had the

appearance of a stagnant pool. In early times poles and rails have

been pushed down into the water, and deposit of rotten vege-

tables, to the depth of thirty feet. Last winter the person who

owns the well undertook to drain it, by cutting a ditch from the

well into the small 'covert-way;' and he has dug to the depth

of about twelve feet, and let the water off to that distance. He

finds the sides of the reservoir not perpendicular, but projecting

gradually towards the center of the well, in the form of an in-

verted cone. The bottom and sides, so far as he has examined,

are lined with a stratum of very fine, ash colored clay, about

eight or ten inches thick; below which, is the common soil of

the place, and above it, this vast body of decayed vegetation.

The proprietor calculates to take from it several hundred loads

of excellent manure, and to continue to work at it, until he has

satisfied his curiosity, as to the depth and contents of the well. If

• 24
 

48       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

it was actually a well, it probably contains many curious articles,

which belonged to the ancient inhabitants.

On the outside of the parapet, near the oblong square, I

picked up a considerable number of fragments of ancient potters'

ware. This ware is ornamented with lines, some of them quite

curious and ingenious, on the outside. It is composed of clay and

fine gravel and has a partial glazing on the inside. It seems to

have been burnt, and capable of holding liquids. The fragments,

on breaking them, look quite black, with brilliant particles, ap-

pearing as you hold them to the light. The ware which I have

seen, found near the rivers, is composed of shells and clay, and not

near so hard as this found on the plain. It is a little curious, that

of twenty or thirty pieces which I picked up, nearly all of them

were found on the outside of the parapet, as if they had been

thrown over the wall purposely. This is, in my mind, strong pre-

sumptive evidence, that the parapet was crowned with a palisade.

The chance of finding them on the inside of the parapet, was

equally good, as the earth had been recently ploughed, and planted

with corn. Several pieces of copper have been found in and near

to the ancient mounds, at various times. One piece, from the de-

scription I had of it, was in the form of a cup with low sides, the

bottom very thick and strong. The small mounds in this neighbor-

hood have been but slightly, if at all examined.

The avenues or places of ascent on the sides of the elevated

squares are ten feet wide, instead of six, as stated by Mr. Harris.

His description as to height and dimensions, are otherwise cor-

rect"*

In the "American Pioneer," for Oct. 1842, (Vol. I. p. 340),

Dr. Hildreth has the following extended notice of the conical

mound:

"The object of the present article is not to describe the whole

of these works, but only 'the mound,' which beautiful structure is

considered the pride and ornament of Marietta.

The venerable and worthy men, who were the directors of

the Ohio company, and superintended the platting of the city of

Marietta, viewing with admiration this beautiful specimen of the

*Archaeologia Americania, Vol. I, p 137, also Western Anti-

quities, p. 39.

• 25
 

Ancient Works at Marietta, Ohio.          49   arts amongst the ancient proprietors of this region, reserved a square of six acres around this mound, and appropriated it to the use of a burying ground, thus giving a hallowed aspect to that spot, and preserving it front the violation of private individu- als. It yet remains in all its pristine beauty, a monument of the industry and arts of the ancient inhabitants of the valley, and a lasting memento of the classic taste of the directors of the Ohio company. Every provision was made that could be, for the pro- tection of the two elevated squares, or truncated pyramids, about half a mile northwest of the mound, by appropriating three acres around each of them as public squares, and placing them under the authority of the future mayor and corporation of the city.

They also remain uninjured; while some of the parapets of the ancient fort and city have been dug away in grading the streets, and in some instances by individuals, where they fell within their inclosures; but to the credit of the inhabitants, it may be said, that the old works have been generally preserved with more care, than in any other towns in Ohio. 'The mound,' a drawing of which accompanies this article, was, when first measured, fifty years since, about thirty feet in height; it is now only about twenty-eight feet. It measures one hundred and thirty yards around the base, and should be one hundred and thirty feet in diameter. It terminates not in a regular apex, but is flat on the top, measuring twenty feet across it. The shape is very regular, being that of a cone, whose sides rise at an angle of forty-five degrees. It stands in the center of a level area, which is sixty- 4 Vol. XII.

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50       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

six yards in diameter. This is surrounded by a ditch one hun-

dred and ninety-seven yards in circumference; it is now about

four feet deep, and ten feet wide at the top, sloping evenly and

regularly from the top of the parapet, and inner edge of the

ditch to the bottom. Outside the ditch is a wall of earth, being

apparently that thrown out of the ditch, and elevated about four

feet above the adjacent surface of the earth. The parapet is two

hundred and thirty-four yards in circumference. On the north

side is an avenue, or opening of fifteen feet in width, through

the parapet, across which no ditch is dug. A few rods north,

in a line with the gateway or opening, are three low mounds;

the nearest is oblong or elliptical, sixty feet in length, and about

twenty in width, with an elevation of six or eight feet in the

centre, tapering gradually to the sides. These mounds communi-

cate with the fort, as seen in the old plan.* The parapet, ditch,

circular area, and mound itself, are now covered with a vivid

and splendid coat of green sward of native grasses, which pro-

tects them from the wash of the rain. There are several beauti-

ful oaks growing on the sides of the mound. When first noticed

by the settlers, it was covered with large forest trees, seven of

them  four feet in diameter. A few years since, sheep were

allowed to pasture in the cemetery grounds. In their repeated

and frequent ascents of the ground, they had worn paths in its

sides, down which the wintry rains taking their course, cut deep

channels, threatening in a few years to ruin the beauty of the

venerable structure, if not to destroy it entirely. Some of the

more intelligent inhabitants of Marieta, observing its precarious

state, set on foot a subscription for its repair, and for building a

new fence, and ornamenting the grounds with shade trees.

Four hundred dollars were raised by subscription, and four

hundred were given by the corporation, and a very intelligent man

appointed to superintend the work. Three hundred dollars went

to the mound, and five hundred to the fencing, planting trees,

and opening walks, etc. Inclined planes of boards were erected,

on which to elevate the earth in wheel-barrows. At this day it

would require a sum of not less than two thousand dollars to

erect a similar mound of earth. At the same time a flight of

* Reference here is made to Figure 2.

• 27
 

Ancient Works at Marietta, Ohio.          51   forty-six stone steps, was made on the north side, making an easy ascent to the top. A circular seat of planks is built on the summit, protected in the outer edge by locust posts, with iron chains from post to post. The scene from this elevation is one of the finest in the country, commanding a prospect of eight or nine miles up and down the Ohio river, with a broad range over the hilly region which skirts the Muskingum. No examination has ben made by digging, to discover the contents of this mound,

with the exception of a slight excavation into the top, many years ago, when the bones of two or three human skeletons were found. The public mind is strongly opposed to any violation, or dis- figuring the original form of this beautiful structure, as well as of the old works generally. Several curious ornaments of stone and copper have been brought up at various times in digging graves in the adjacent grounds. From the precaution taken to surround this mound with a ditch and parapet which was probably crowned also with palisades, it has been suggested that it was a place of sacrifice, and the de-

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52       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

fenses for the purpose of keeping off the common people, while

the priests were engaged in their sacred offices."

The last article taken from Dr. Hildreth appeared in the

"American Pioneer" for June, 1843 (vol. II, No. VI), and treats

of the mounds;    "PYRAMIDS AT MARIETTA.-This beautiful

specimen (see Fig. 5) of the skill and good taste of that ancient

race of inhabitants who once peopled the rich bottoms and hillsides

of the valley of the Ohio, stands on the western border of that

high sandy plain which overlooks the Muskingum river, about

one mile from its mouth. The elevation of this plain is from

eighty to one hundred feet above the bed of the river, and from

forty to sixty feet above the bottom lands of the Muskingum. It

is about half a mile in width, by three-fourths of a mile in length,

and terminates on the side next the river by a rather abrupt

natural glacis, or slope, resting on the more recent alluvious or

bottom lands. On the opposite side, it reclines against the base

of the adjacent hills, except where it is cut off by a shallow ravine

excavated by two small runs, or branches, which head near each

other at the foot of the hills. On this plain are seated those an-

cient works so often mentioned by various writers. The main

object of this article is to describe the two truncated pyramids, or

elevated squares, as they are usually called. Since reading the

travels of Mr. Stevens in Central America, and his descriptions

of the ruins of Palenque and other ancient cities of that region,

I have become satisfied in the belief, that these two truncated

pyramids were erected for the purpose of sustaining temples or

other public buildings. Those which he describes were generally

constructed of stone, and the temples now standing on them are

of the same material. He however saw some that were partly

earth, and part stone. They are the work of a people further

advanced in the arts than the race who erected the earthworks

of Ohio; but that they were made by a people of similar habits

and policy of government, there can be little doubt by anyone

who has taken the trouble to compare the two. It may be ob-

jected that they are too distant from each other ever to have

been built by the same race. Allowing that they were not of

the same nation; yet similar wants, and similar habits of think-

ing, would probably lead to very similar results. But there can

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Ancient Works at Marietta, Ohio.        53

 

be no reasonable objection to their being erected by a colony from

Mexico, where the same works are found as in Central America.

Neither is there any serious objection to their being the parent

tribe of the Mexicans, driven away southerly by the more north-

ern and warlike tribes; and these the structures which precede

the more perfect one of stone. In Illinois there are similar

earthen structures nearly one hundred feet high and three hun-

dred in length.*  Broad, elevated basements of this kind were

no doubt intended for the support of public buildings or temples

and must have been thrown up by the joint labor of the tribe for

their general benefit.

While the structures of this character in the valley of the

Mississippi were made of earth, and the superstructures or build

ings which crowned them, of wood, those in Central America

were built of stone, the imperishable nature of which has pre-

served them to this day. The wood has decayed and returned

again to its parent earth hundreds of years since, while the clay

on which the buildings rested, being also imperishable, remains

to this day, bearing the outlines of the truncated pyramid in all

its original beauty of form and proportion. The sides and top,

where not covered with buildings, were probably protected from

the action of rains and frosts by a thick coating of turf, which

prevented the wasting action of these powerful agents of destruc-

tion. And when, in the course of after years, the primeval forest

had again resumed its empire, that served as a further protec-

tion and preserved them in the state in which they were found

by the first white inhabitants of this valley. Our own opinion

is, that these earthworks of the valley of the Ohio, were more

likely to have been built by the ancestors of the Mexicans,

lather than by a colony from that country. One principal rea-

son is, that if they proceeded from Mexico they would have left

some relics of their labor in stone, as the Mexicans worked the

hardest varieties with their indurated copper tools, with great

neatness and facility. Nothing, however, of the kind has yet

been discovered, unless the sculptured impressions of two human

 

* In all probability Dr. Hildreth refers here to the great Cahokia

mound near East St. Louis, which is ninety feet high, seven hundred feet

long and five hundred in breadth.

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54        Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

feet in the hard limerock near St. Louis be samples of their skill

in the use of metallic implements. Further researches and care-

ful analysis of known facts may yet throw more light on this

dark subject. Dr. S. G. Morton, of Philadelphia, who has spent

several years in examining the skulls of the aboriginal inhabitants

of America, collected from the mounds and cemeteries from all

parts of this continent, has come to the conclusion that the numer-

ous tribes of dead and living Indians form but one race, and

that race is peculiar to America.  (Here follow several excerpts

taken from  Dr. Morton's paper delivered before the 'Boston

Society of Natural History,' in April, 1843.*)

But to return to the description of the truncated pyramid, a

figure of which stands at the head of this article. The spectator

is standing on the top of one of the earthen parapets which

form the walls of this 'ancient city,' within which the pyramid

is situated. It is distant less than one hundred yards, north-

easterly, from the opening of the 'via sacra,' or covered way,

which leads down to the Muskingum river; a drawing and de-

scription of which also accompanies this article. The dimensions

are as follows: The form is a parallelogram, one side of which

is forty yards and the other sixty-five yards; the longer direction

is southerly. The height is four yards, or twelve feet, above the

adjacent surface of the plain; a regular glacis or avenue of

ascent is thrown up on each side near the centre of the work;

these are ten yards wide and eighteen yards long, rendering the

ascent very easy. The foot of the south glacis terminates directly

opposite the north wall of the 'via sacra,' which is about one

hundred yards distant. The top of the pyramid is entirely level.

LESSER TRUNCATED PYRAMID: - This work is seated near

the southeast corner of the 'ancient city,' distant about forty rods

from the larger one. Its dimensions are as follows: Fifty

yards long by forty-five yards wide; its height is eight feet above

the surface of the plain. It has a glacis or avenue of ascent on

three sides only, viz. the south, west, and east. Those on the

west and east sides are not in the centre, but near to or only nine

* Dr. Hildreth contributed to crania taken from the mounds, in Mor-

ton's Crania Americana. See pp. 219, 220, and also from the caves, pp.

235-6. None from Marietta.

• 31
 

Ancient Works at Marietta, Ohio.          55

yards from the north side; that on the north side is near the

centre. On the south side there is a recess or excavation in place

of a glacis. It is sixteen yards long, and ten yards wide, and

eight feet deep. This opening was probably covered by the

building which stood on the pyramid, and formed a dark or secret

chamber, in some way connected with their religious rites. The

other three glacis are each ten yards wide and sixteen yards long.

The whole is in fine preservation, and coated over with a nice

turf of native grasses.

'VIA SACRA,' OR COVERED WAY.- This work, which exceeds

all the others in magnitude of labor, is finely represented in the

drawing. The observer is standing a little past the middle of the

work towards the upper end of the way next to the truncated

pyramid, and facing upon the Muskingum river, which runs at

the foot of the little ridge between the trees figured on its banks.

On the opposite shore are the Harmar hills. This road or way

is two hundred yards long, and proceeds with a very gradual

descent from near the western parapet walls of the city to the

present bottom lands of the Muskingum. It is supposed that at

the period of its construction the river ran near the termination

of the road; but this is quite uncertain. It is fifty yards or one

hundred and fifty feet in width, and finished with a regular

crowning in the centre like a modern turnpike. The sides of

this ancient 'Broadway' are protected by walls of earth rising in

height as they approach the river, commencing with an elevation

of eight feet and ending with eighteen feet on the inside; on

the outside the wall is about seven feet above the adjacent sur-

face in its whole length; the increased height within, as it ap-

proaches the river, being made by the depth of the excavation in

digging away the margin of the elevated plain to the level of

the Muskingum bottom lands. The average depth of the exca-

vation in constructing this avenue, may be placed at ten feet,

which will make one million of cubic yards of earth to be removed

in constructing this grand way into the city. This earth was

probably used, as we see no other source from which it could

come so readily, in the erection of the larger truncated pyramid,

and a portion of the adjacent walls of the 'fenced city.' But as

this would consume but a small portion of the earth removed,

• 32
 

56

• 33
 

Ancient Works at Marietta, Ohio.          57

 

the balance was probably used in constructing a quay for the

convenience of their boats. The earth from which the pyramid

is made, was apparently not taken from the immediate vicinity,

as there is no appearance of holes, or sunken spots, or vestiges of

my earth being removed.

The transportation of this earth must have been an immense

labor, as there is no probability that the inhabitants had any

domestic animals to assist them in the work. The supposition

is, that it was carried away in baskets on the shoulders of the

men and women, a distance of one or two hundred yards, and

placed where we now see it. This mode of removing earth is

still practiced by several rude nations. The population of this

ancient city must have been very considerable to have required

so broad an avenue for their ingress and egress from its gates.

Traces of their hearths may yet be seen by digging away the

earth in the inside of the parapets or walls, along the borders of

which their dwellings would seem to have been erected. Numer-

ous relics of copper and silver have been found in the cinders

of these hearths. They are generally in the form of ornaments,

rings of copper, or slender bars of copper that had been used as

awls. In the mounds have been found several curious articles

of metal. The bowl of a brass spoon is in the possession of the

writer, taken from one of the parapets in the northwest corner

of the old city, at the depth of six feet below the surface. Large

quantities of broken earthenware was found when Marietta was

first settled, lying on the surface, and especially in the bottom

of an excavation called 'the well,' about one hundred yards from

the lesser pyramid in a southerly direction. It was sixty or

eighty feet wide at the top, narrowing gradually to the bottom

like an inverted cone, to the depth of fifty feet. Numerous frag-

ments of broken vessels were found here, as if destroyed in the

act of procuring water from the well."

 

JOSIAH PRIEST'S "AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES."

The work of Josiah Priest, entitled "American Antiquities,"

originally published in 1833, is a sort of curiosity shop, made up

of odds and ends of theories and statements pertaining to Amer-

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58      Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

ican antiquities. It is of value in this connection only as contain-

ing a plate of the Marietta works made from a survey by S.

De Witt in 1822. (See Fig. 7).

 

WORK OF SQUIER AND DAVIS.

In the year 1848 "Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi

Valley," by Squier and Davis, was published by the Smithsonian

Institution. The result of this work was to promote a more

active spirit of inquiry upon all questions connected with the

ancient remains in the valleys of the Ohio and Mississippi. In

one form or another it has become the real basis of all books

written on the subject since its advent. In short it is the one

standard authority on the subject. Although it has been criti-

cised and even assaulted, yet it has maintained its position while

its detractors have either or else are passing into oblivion. Both

men, who engaged in its compilation, were singularly fitted for

the task they essayed to perform.

"Ancient Monuments" publishes a map (Plate XXVI.) of

the Marietta works taken from the survey and plan made by

Colonel Charles Whittlesey in 1837. At that time Colonel Whit-

tlesey was topographical engineer of the state. The great ability,

well known accuracy and integrity of the man will always make

this survey the authoritive one, however meritorious the others

may be. The plan of the works (Fig. 8.) is supplemented

(Fig.9) by cross and longitudinal sections which greatly enhance

the value of the plate.

"Ancient Monuments" gives a view (Fig. 1) of the remains

as they appeared just after the forest trees were cut away.

This illustration has been made to do service in several different

publications. A full page, colored illustration (Fig. 10) of the

conical mound also appears in the contribution.

The account accompanying the plan embraces four and one-

half pages. The description of the two truncated pyramids is

taken from that of Dr. Hildreth which first appeared in the

"American Pioneer," for June 1843, and as I have already given

it, there is no necessity for its repetition.

"In the vicinity (of the conical mound) occur several frag-

mentary walls, as shown in the map. Excavations, or 'dug holes,'

• 35
 



• 36
 

60

• 37
 

Ancient Works at Marietta, Ohio.         61

 

are observable at various points around these works. Near the

great mound are several of considerable size. Those indicated by

m and n in the plan have been regarded and described as wells.

Their regularity and former depth are the only reasons adduced

in support of this belief. The circumstance of regularity is not

at all remarkable, and is a common feature in excavations mani-

festly made for the purpose of procuring material for the con-

struction of mounds, etc. Their present depth is small, though it

is represented to have been formerly much greater. There is

some reason for believing that they were dug in order to procure

clay for the construction of pottery and other purposes, inas-

much as a very fine variety of that material occurs at this point,

some distance below the surface. The surface soil has recently

been removed, and the manufacture of bricks commenced. The

'clay lining' which has been mentioned as characterizing these

'wells,' is easily accounted for, by the fact that they are sunk in

a clay bank. Upon the opposite side of the Muskingum river

are bold precipitous bluffs, several hundred feet in height.

Along their brows are a number of small stone mounds. They

command an extensive view, and overlook the entire plain upon

which the works here described are situated.

Such are the principal facts connected with these interesting

remains. The generally received opinion respecting them is, that

they were erected for defensive purposes. Such was the belief

of the late President Harrison, who visited them in person and

whose opinion, in matters of this kind, is entitled to great weight.

The reasons for this belief have never been presented, and they

are not very obvious. The numbers and width of the gateways,

the absence of a fosse, as well as the character of the enclosed

and accompanying remains, present strong objections to the hypo-

thesis which ascribes to them a warlike origin. And it may be

here remarked, that the conjecture that the Muskingum ran at

the base of the graded way already described, at the period of its

erection, seems to have had its origin in the assumption of a

military design in the entire group. Under this hypothesis, it was

supposed that the way was designed to cover or secure access

to the river,- an object which it would  certainly not have re-

quired the construction of a passage-way one hundred and fifty

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62        Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

feet to effect. The elevated squares were never designed for

military purposes,--their very regularity of structure forbids

this conclusion. They were most likely erected as the sites for

structures which have long since passed away, or for the celebra-

tion of unknown rites, - corresponding in short, in purpose as

they do in form, with those which they so much resemble in

Mexico and Central America. Do not these enclosed structures

give us the clue to the purposes of the works with which they

are connected?  As heretofore remarked, the sacred grounds of

almost every people are set apart or designated by enclosures of

some kind. *  *   *

There are no other works in the immediate vicinity of

Marietta. At Parkersburgh, Virginia, on the Ohio, twelve miles

below, there is an enclosure of irregular form and considerable

extent. There are also works at Belpre,* opposite Parkersburgh.

The valley of the Muskingum is for the most part narrow,

affording few of those broad, level and fertile terraces, which

appear to have been the especial favorites of the race of Mound-

builders, and upon which most of their monuments are found.

As a consequence, we find few remains of magnitude in that

valley, until it assumes a different aspect, in the vicinity of Zanes-

ville, ninety miles from its mouth."

The supplemental plan (Fig. 9) is of very great importance

on account of the relative proportions of the works. The section

marked z h gives the Via Sacra, and i u the conical mound with

accompanying wall.

 

OTHER PUBLICATIONS.

As heretofore remarked all books published since that by

Squier & Davis, and which treat of the Marietta antiquities,

are largely indebted to "Ancient Monuments." Some of these

later publications are of value, while others use the descriptions

to bolster up a theory. It is not the object here to give an

* In my paper on Blennerhassett's Island (Smithsonian Report for

1882, p. 767), I called attention to the miniature representation of the

conical mound at Marietta, located on the plain of Belpre, opposite the

isle, having the wall, interior ditch, and the elevated gateway leading

from the mound to the gateway.

• 39
 

Ancient Works at Marietta, Ohio.   account of these more recent books, however interesting and important their contents may be.     SUMMARY. With the mass of information now before us we learn the following: At the junction of the Muskingum and Ohio Rivers is a high sandy plain, from eighty to one hundred feet above the bed of the river, and from forty to sixty above the bottom lands of

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64      Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

the Muskingum, being about three-fourths of a mile long by

half a mile in width.

Upon this plain, in 1785, and for many years afterwards,

were located a series of ancient works, consisting of two irregu-

lar squares, containing respectively fifty and twenty-seven acres

area, in connection with a graded way, truncated pyramids, sundry

other mounds, exterior embankments, and large artificial wells or

reservoirs.

The Graded Way, or Via Sacra, was exterior to and discon-

nected from the major square and was six hundred and eighty feet

long and one hundred and fifty feet in width, the bottom of which

was regularly finished by  a crown form  of construction. This

ancient way was covered by exterior lines of embankment seven

feet in height above the adjacent surface. The depth of the exca-

vation near the square was eight feet, but gradually deepened to-

wards the farther extremity where it reached eighteen feet on the

interior,-the average depth of the avenue being about ten feet.

The largest of the truncated mounds was one hundred and

twenty feet by one hundred and ninety-five feet, and twelve in

height, while the second is one hundred and fifty feet long, by one

hundred and thirty-five in breadth and eight in height. The coni-

cal mound, when first measured was thirty feet in height, with a

diameter at the base of one hundred and thirty feet. This mound

is surrounded by a ditch five hundred and ninety feet in circumfer-

ence. On the exterior of this ditch was a wall four feet in height.

It will be noticed that in Fig. 8 Colonel Whittlesey gives a

single embankment between the circle and the lesser square. I ex-

amined the structure in 1882 and noticed the double wall, with

slight depression between them, as given in Fig. 10.

Partly enclosed by an exterior wall, the lesser square and the

conical mound was a well fifty feet deep and between sixty and

eighty feet in diameter at the top.

From the general study of these and other ancient remains of

the Ohio valley, we may obtain the following results:

That it was the same race who built the mural structures and

great mounds.

The extent of teritory covered by this people prove them to

have been very numerous.

• 41
 

5 Vol. XII.

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66       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

The people had arrived at a considerable degree of civilization

and had made great progress in the arts.

The builders were skilled in the art of fortification and the

construction of regular geometrical works.

The ancient remains show an antiquity long ante-dating the

advent of the white man.

The crania, from the mounds, indicate that the people belonged

to the great divisions, denominated by Cuvier, the "American

Family." The ancient structures prove they were greatly re-

moved from the wild tribes that inhabited the Ohio valley at the

time of the discovery. There is not a scintilla of proof that the

wild tribes descended from the Mound Builders, or vice versa.

The regular structures are usually classed as sacred en-

closures. The graded avenues are only found in connection with

such works. The object of the Via Sacra at Marietta must be left

to our consideration of the Graded Way at Piketon, in Pike

county, Ohio.

Franklin, O., Nov. 9th, 1902.

• 43
 

CLARK'S CONQUEST OF THE NORTHWEST.   BY E. O. RANDALL. The French were the first to discover and explore the Ohio and Mississippi Valleys. While the English were establishing colonial settlements between the Alle-

ghany mountains and the Atlantic coast, the French adventurers were locating missionary stations, military posts and trading centers on the Great Lakes and the river ways of the North- west. Such lodging places in the western wilderness were Detroit, Vin- cennes, Kaskaskia, Cahokia and others. The English colonies in the east were permanent and    progressive.  The French lodgments in the west were thriftless and deteriorative. The Eng- lish race thrives in colonization. The French stock is not adapted to trans- plantation. By the middle of the eighteenth century the English popu- lation in the New England colonies

was a million and two hundred thousand, while the French in- habitants of New    France numbered but eighy thousand.        For a century and a half these rival races, the Latin and the Teuton, had contended for the American possessions. That rivalry cul- The material for this article was found mainly in "Clark's Letter to Mason;" "Joseph Bowman's Journal;" "Clark's Memoir;" and the un- published manuscript of "Clark's Illinois Campaign," written by Consul Wilshire Butterfield. The writer has also freely availed himself of "The Conquest of the Northwest" by William H. English, and "The Winning of the West," by Theodore Roosevelt. The Butterfield manuscript is a most valuable and accurate account of the Illinois Campaign. It is now the property of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society, which expects to publish the same at no distant day.-E. O. R. 67

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68       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

minated in the dramatic battle between the forces of the in-

trepid Montcalm and the invincible Wolfe on the Plains of

Abraham before Quebec. It was the decree of destiny that the

Anglo-Saxon civilization should conquer, and by the treaty

of Paris, 1763, the French empire in North America ceased to

exist. The Northwest with its French stations became the prop-

erty of England. But this vast domain was still to be forbidden

ground to the American colonists. The British government pre-

empted the country between the Alleghanies and the Mississippi

and the Ohio and the Great Lakes, as the exclusive and peculiar

reservation of the Crown. It was to be directly administered

upon from the provincial seat of authority at Quebec. It was to

remain intact and undisturbed for the continued abode of the

Indians whom the British power thus proposed to propitiate and

secure. Thus matters stood until Dunmore's War, the prelude

to the Revolution, opened the Kentucky country to the Virginian

settlers. The exclusion of the colonists from the Northwest was

one of the causes of the revolt against the mother government.

The fire of the Revolution swept the seaboard colonies. The

Northwest was in the powerful and peaceful clutch of Great

Britain. It was almost solely inhabited by the Indians and the

few and far between French settlements, which had now become

British garrisons and supply posts. It was not only the policy

of England to hire Hessians to fight its battles on the colonial

front, but also its more dastardly determination to subsidize the

Savages of the West and bribe them to assault and massacre the

colonial settlers on the western frontier. The commander of the

British posts at the west and northwest spared no effort to insti-

gate the Indian tribes against the Americans. They armed, sent

forth and directed the hostile and merciless expeditions of the

red men. It remained for some brave and sagacious colonial

leader to comprehend the vast importance of checking and de-

stroying this British power in the Northwest and conquering that

territory for the colonial confederacy. The man to conceive that

idea, plan and carry out its execution, was George Rogers Clark.

George Rogers Clark, deservedly called the "Washington of

the West," was born in Albemarle county, Virginia, November

19, 1752. His birthplace was within two and a half miles of

• 45
 

Clark's Conquest of the Northwest.               69

 

that of Thomas Jefferson, who was nine years the elder of Clark,

but through life his steadfast friend.     Clark's schooling was

that of the frontier boy, rude and slight, consisting mostly of

mathematics and surveying, the subjects most useful to the back-

woodsman. When but nineteen years of age he caught the

"western fever," and from Fort Pitt went down the Ohio to the

Kentucky country on an exploring and surveying tour. In 1774

he was with Dunmore's army in that famous expedition to the

Shawnee villages on the Scioto. The subsequent year (1775) he

spent mostly in the interior of Kentucky where he decided to

locate, and among the settlers of which he became a recognized

leader. It was at this time that the Henderson company under-

took to establish a political organization in this section of Ken-

tucky to be known as the state of Transylvania.*

This proposed new colonial state was, however, short lived.

The people of Kentucky not in the "Transylvania state" did

not favor it, and Virginia annulled the Henderson purchase and

plan. All Kentucky at this time was still considered part of

Fincastle county, Virginia, and the inhabitants thereof were

unrepresented at the state capital.  They desired representation,

and in June 1776, a meeting of the settlers was held at Harrods-

town, at which two delegates were chosen for the state legis-

lature. These proposed members were George Rogers Clark

and John Cabriel Jones. These delegates did not reach Wil-

 

*Richard Henderson, of North Carolina, with whom were associated

Daniel Boone, James Harrod, and others, purchased of the Cherokee

Indians for a few wagon loads of goods a great tract of land on the banks

of the lower Kentucky river (Madison county, Ky.) Delegates, seven-

teen in all, from Boonesboro, Harrodsburg and two other settlements

(Boiling, Spring and St. Asaph) met at Boonesboro, May 23, 1775, and

organized themselves into an assembly of a state, which they named

Transylvania, desiring that it be added to the United Colonies. They

endeavored to perfect a political organization with methods of election,

taxation, courts, et cetera, and choose one James Hogg a delegate for

Transylvania to the Continental Congress, then in session at Philadelphia.

But the claim of Virginia to the same territory was a bar to his ad-

mission. The Legislature of Virginia afterward annulled the purchase

of Henderson, and the inchoate state of Transylvania disappeared. This

state scheme is interesting as being the first organized attempt of an anglo-

American government west of the Alleghany Mountains.

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70       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

liamsburg, the Virginia state capital, seven hundred miles distant

from Harrodstown, until the legislature had adjourned. They

found, however, "much doing" in that part of the country. The

colonies had declared their Independence. The British troops

after the victory of Long Island had entered New York and later

taken Fort Washington. The tide seemed to be against the

fight for liberty. Commissioners had been sent to France to solicit

her aid. Clark was fired with the desire to assist the new, and

his, struggling nation. He conferred with the Virginia gover-

nor who was none other than the patriotic Patrick Henry. The

Legislature again met. Clark and Jones were not admitted as

members but were heard as advisors on the condition of Ken-

tucky affairs. They succeeded in securing legislation creating

the Kentucky section and its organization into a county, with

the same name and boundaries it now has as a state. This was

a great achievement for Clark. With Jones and a party of ten

he started in January 1777, from Fort Pitt (Pittsburg) down

the Ohio on their return to Harrodstown.* They had with them

a large supply of ammunition for the Kentucky settlements. It

was a perilous journey in which some of their number were

killed by the Indians. On his arrival the fort at Harrodstown

was strengthened as were the adjacent settlements. The settlers

were encouraged and enthused by the new order of things.

Clark had secured a regularly organized government for Ken-

tucky and a supply of ammunition. Thus far his effort had

been for preparation and defense. He next turned his thoughts

to an aggressive warfare against the enemies of his young

country. In the fall, winter and spring of 1776-7, the British

authorities were active in the Northwest, preparing to prosecute

the war in that region. Henry Hamilton was the British lieu-

tenant-governor of the northwestern region with headquarters

at Detroit. The conduct of the war in the west, as well as the

entire management of frontier affairs, was intrusted to him. He

was ambitious, energetic, unscrupulous and cold-blooded. From

the beginning he was anxious to engage the Indians against the

American settlers. He summoned great councils of the North-

western tribes, persuading them by every possible means to

*Harrodstown was later, and now, known as Harrodsburg.

• 47
 

Clark's Conquest of the Northwest.          71

 

espouse the British cause and combine in hostility to the "rebels"

as he called the colonist settlers. He openly offered premiums

to the Redmen for every white rebel scalp they would bring to

Detroit. Naturally the backwoodsmen held him in peculiar ab-

horrence and called him the "hair-buyer" general. Hamilton in

all this brutal, but thoroughly British business, was sustained,

if not actually directed, by Sir Guy Carleton, governor-general

of the Province of Quebec and even by Lord George Germain

(Viscount Sackville) Colonial Secretary in the British cabinet

and appointed by George III to superintend the British forces

during the Revolutionary War. Surely the settlers in the Ohio

country were facing a war more appalling and savage than that

waged against the colonists east of the Alleghanies. On the

Pennsylvania and Virginia frontier the panic was wide spread.

They fled to their village centers and block-houses and defended

themselves as best they could. The Indians armed by the British,

and roused to fury with rum and urged on with bribes, scoured

the forests far and near for their prey. Their deeds of atrocity

baffle description. The events that were being enacted in the

thirteen colonies, had for their background, this great North-

west wilderness with its scenes of terror, rapine and savagery,

to which civilized warfare was not to be compared.

Clark proposed to strike this monstrous power in its very

heart. He proceeded to organize his military expedition for the

conquest of the Northwest. He would march to Detroit by way

of the chief British strongholds, capturing them as he went. It

was a bold and brave undertaking. It was the project of a

courageous general and a far-seeing statesman. In the fall of

1777 he again visited Williamsburg. The Revolution in the east

had assumed a more hopeful aspect. The battles of Trenton,

Princeton and Bennington in the winter, spring and summer of

1777 had brought victory to the American arms. The defeats

at Brandywine and Germantown were followed by the surrender

of Burgoyne at Saratoga in October.* In November the articles

of confederation of the United States were adopted by Congress.

*Trenton, December 26, 1776; Princeton, January 3, 1777; Benning-

ton, August 6, 1777; Brandywine, September 11, 1777; Germantown, Oc-

tober 4, 1777; Saratoga, October 17, 1777.

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72        Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

It was in December that Clark presented his deep laid plans to

Governor Patrick Henry. The latter called in as counsellors

Thomas Jefferson, George Wythe and George Mason. This il-

lustrious trio appreciated the dangers and the extent of the

enterprise, but also comprehended its importance and possibility.*

They approved the proposed campaign, for they had confidence

in Clark's ability and hardihood to succeed. On their approba-

tion the Virginia Legislature authorized the governor "to or-

ganize an expedition to march against and attack any of our

western enemies, and give the necessary orders for the expe-

dition."

Governor Henry gave Clark the commission of Colonel and

authorized him to raise seven companies, each of fifty men, who

were to act as militia, and be paid as such. But these soldiers

were to be raised solely from the frontier counties west of the

Blue Ridge, "so as not to weaken the people of the seacoast

region in their struggle against the British." Colonel Clark's

troops did not belong to the regular Continental Army. His

"regiment" was authorized and entirely paid for by Virginia,

though some of the soldiers were from      Pennsylvania. Many

were from the Kentucky country, which it must be remembered

was at this time a county of Virginia.+

As a further incentive to recruits for Clark's regiment, it

was held out by the Virginia authorities that in case of success

each volunteer would be given three hundred acres of land, and

officers in proper proportion, "out of the lands which may be

conquered in the country now in the possession of the Indians."++

 

* Clark's plans were fully and minutely thought out. He had weighed

the consequences and, moreover, had in the summer of 1777 sent two spies

through the Illinois and Wabash country to get information of the

enemies' situation and strength.

+ The main burden of the expedition was on Clark's shoulders.

He is rightfully entitled to the whole glory. It was an individual, rather

than a state or national enterprise.- Roosevelt.

++ The Virginia Legislature in 1781-3 set aside 149,000 acres located in

Clark, Floyd and Scott counties, Indiana. This is the "Clark's Grant,"

and was divided among 300 soldiers, including officers, according to their

rank. Clark received 8,000 acres.

• 49
 

Clark's Conquest of the Northwest.           73

 

Clark estimated it would require at least five hundred men to

successfully carry out this campaign. He only succeeded in rais-

ing about one hundred and fifty, which were divided into three

companies respectively under captains Joseph Bowman, second in

command, Leonard Helm and William Harrod. All three had

seen much frontier service and had been associated with Clark in

his Kentucky experience. They were worthy subordinates of

the doughty colonel.

Governor Henry gave Clark the sum of twelve hundred

pounds and an order on the authorities at Pittsburg for boats,

supplies and ammunition. With this outfit the "army" that was

to conquer the Northwest, a territory of 2,400,000 square miles,

inhabited by countless savages and occupied at various points

by British garrisons, set out May 12, 1778 from Redstone on the

Monongahela.    His expedition comprised "those companies"

- named above -"and a considerable number of families and

private adventurers." * Touching at Pittsburg and Wheeling to

get his supplies, "his flotilla of clumsy flat boats, manned by tall

riflemen" floated down the Ohio.

His voyage down the Ohio occupied about two weeks when

he landed at the Falls, where the river broke into great rapids

of swift water. He selected as his camping ground an island in

the center of the stream widely known as "Corn Island," located

immediately opposite the present site of Louisville, Kentucky.+

At this point a fourth company under Captain John Mont-

gomery, was added to Clark's forces, which still numbered, all

told, less than two hundred.++ Simon Kenton, the famous scout

and Indian fighter was one of Clark's new recruits. The ap-

parent insufficiency of his army was a severe disappointment,

 

In the whole I had about one hundred and fifty men collected and

set sail for the falls. - Clark's Memoirs.

+ This island, which has since disappeared, was about four-fifths of

a mile in length and five hundred yards wide at its greatest breadth.

Several of the families who came with Clark permanently settled on the

island. Some of these islanders moved over to the Kentucky shore and

thus Clark was the real founder of Louisville (1778), thus named at

the time in recognition of the friendly ally, the French King Louis XVI.

++ Actual number said to be 179. Butterfield says about 180.

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74       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

though not a decisive discouragement to Colonel Clark. His

heart was never faint. "I knew," he wrote, "my cause was des-

perate but the more I reflected on my weakness the more I was

pleased with the enterprise." His bravery was further buoyed

by the reception of the news that the American colonies had

formed an alliance with France. He realized this would have

great and favorable influence with the French in the garrison

towns which he proposed to occupy.

 

 

THE KASKASKIA CAMPAIGN.

Clark remained on Corn Island about a month getting a

"good ready," when on June 24 he embarked in big flat boats

prepared to transport his force down the Ohio. Their setting

forth and shooting the river rapids was signalized by the singular

event of an almost total eclipse of the sun. But these backwoods

soldiers were too hard-headed and steady nerved to give way to

any superstitious foreboding. Rather did they regard it as a

propitious omen. Doubtless they jested that it meant the sun

which the British boasted never set on Britain's domain was at

last to be obscured by the new American nation. They valiantly

pushed on, double manned their oars and proceeded day and night

until they ran into the mouth of the Tennessee river. Here he

was met by a small party of hunters who had left Kaskaskia

but a week before and who imparted much information as to

the condition of that post. They desired to join Clark's forces.

He cautiously received them "after their taking the oath of al-

legiance" and one, John Saunders, was chosen by Clark as his

guide to Kaskaskia. Rejecting all unnecessary luggage, Clark

now crossed the Ohio to the north side at about the site of Fort

Massac, and after "reposing themselves for the night," set out

in the morning upon their route for Kaskaskia. The little army

had boldly struck into the northwest wilderness nearly a thou-

sand miles from their base of supplies. Did any Continental regi-

ment in the east display greater hardihood or patriotism?  Rey-

nolds in his Pioneer History of Illinois says; "Clark's warriors

had no wagons, pack horses or other means of conveyance of

their munitions of war or their baggage other than their robust

• 51
 

Clark's Conquest of the Northwest.         75

 

and hearty selves.* Colonel Clark himself was nature's favorite

in his person as well as mind." He adds that "the country be-

tween Fort Massacre (Massac) and Kaskaskia at that day (1778)

was a wilderness of one hundred and twenty miles, and contained,

much of it, a swamp and difficult road." On the 4th of July,

according to Clark's Memoirs, he arrived within three miles of

the town of Kaskaskia, having the river of the same name to cross

in order to reach the town. Having made themselves ready for

anything that might happen they marched after night to a farm

that was on the same side of the river about a mile above the town,

took the family prisoners, and found plenty of boats to cross in,

and in two hours transported themselves to the other shore with

the greatest silence. Preparing to make the attack he divided

his little army into two divisions, ordered one to surround the

town, with the other he broke into the fort and secured the Gov-

ernor, Phillip Rochblave. In Mason's letter Clark reports, "In

fifteen minutes had every street secured, sent runners through the

town, ordering the people, on pain of death, to keep close to

their houses, which they observed, and before daylight had the

whole town disarmed." Curious capture and seldom, or never,

one so important in so brief a time, and in so bloodless a manner.

Not a gun was fired, not a man was injured, no property de-

stroyed. A town of twenty-five hundred inhabitants, a fort in

prime condition, well equipped with soldiers, cannon and pro-

visions - a garrison "so fortified that it might have successfully

fought a thousand men" -taken in silence at night by less than

two hundred worn and weary, footsore and hungry backwoods-

men with no accoutrements, but their trusty rifles. They had been

four days on the river rowing day and night, and six days march-

ing through a dense and almost trackless wilderness, picking their

way slowly but steadily through thickets and swamps. This

strategic seizure was not without its romantic touches. One ac-

count+ relates that the night of the capture the lights in the

fort were ablaze, and through the windows came the sound of

 

* Butterfield says they had no tents or other camp equippage and not

a horse.

+ Memoir of Major Denny who claimed to get the story from Clark

himself.

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76        Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

revelry. The officers of the fort were giving a dance, and the

merry makers were tripping the "light fantastic" to the tune

of violins in which the unsuspecting sentinels, deserting their

posts, were taking part.   Clark, some recounters state, unob-

served entered the room of the revellers and stood "silently and

with folded arms," gazing at the scene.      His discovery was

made known by the war whoop of an Indian, creating instant dis-

may and dire confusion, but Clark bade them dance on, only to

remember they were now dancing to Virginia and not Great

Britain. At any rate then fell Kaskaskia.*

Its commander was Governor Philip Rochblave a defiant but

evidently careless officer, devoted to the British cause. He was

peacefully sleeping by the side of his wife when Clark and some

of his officers entered his bedroom and aroused+ him with the

startling news that he and his quarters were in the hands of the

Americans. He was promptly sent, under escort, as a prisoner to

Williamsburg, where he was paroled and whence he escaped to

New York. His family were retained in Kaskaskia, and his slaves

and property, of which he had a goodly amount, were sold and the

proceeds distributed among Clark's soldiers.

Naturally the surprise and consternation of the Kaskaskians

was great when they became fully aware of the fact that the

Americans had "met" them and won them. They were moreover

in mortal terror as the British officers had made them believe that

Americans were little better than savage brutes, and would inflict

untold indignities. They plead most piteously for mercy. Among

* Kaskaskia had a memorable history. It is situated upon the Kas-

kaskia river five miles above its mouth, but owing to the river's bend,

but two miles from the Mississippi. From the days of La Salle (1682),

during the dominion of France, England and Virginia, it was the capital

of the Illinois country. The flags of three nations respectively, floated from

the battlements of its block fort. It was the leading town of the North-

west Territory from its organization to 1800, and then of Indiana ter-

ritory to 1809. It was the capital of Illinois during the territorial period

and for sometime after the organization of that state. It was a Jesuitical

stronghold. In 1721 it became the seat of a Jesuit Monastery and Col-

lege. Kaskaskia was, so to speak, a western metropolis before Pittsburgh,

Cincinnati or New Orleans sprang into existence.

+ Other authorities say Simon Kenton "woke up" Rochblave. Very

likely he was with Clark.

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Clark's Conquest of the Northwest.         77

 

their number was the illustrious Father Pierre Gibault++ who for

ten years had been their trusted and devoted spiritual advisor.

Father Gibault, with many followers, waited upon Colonel Clark

and requested that the captive citizens be permitted to assemble in

their church to confer together on "their desperate condition and

to hold religious services." Colonel Clark graciously assented

and took occasion to correct their mistaken ideas of the intentions

and character of their American captors, and to assure them of

courteous and generous treatment. He explained to them the po-

litical situation, the cause of the American Revolution, the friendly

alliance between the United Colonists and France. It was a wel-

come revelation to them. They were convinced, and appeased.

Clark announced that those who chose "were at liberty to leave the

country with their families." From those who decided to re-

main he should require the "oath of fidelity." They were given

a few days to ponder and conclude this matter. In all this Colonel

Clark displayed great tact, diplomacy and knowledge of human

nature. The French were not only persuaded to his cause, but be-

came his personal adherents, admiring his bravery and humanity,

and confiding in his integrity. Father Gibault, of all others,

quickly understood and appreciated the noble qualities of the

sturdy and straightforward Clark, and was thenceforth, not only

the warm and steadfast friend of the colonel, but of the American

nation, and his subsequent loyal and sacrificing services were of

greatest value to the promotion of Clark's plans and purpose.

Gibault was to be a conspicuous and unique figure in the events

leading to the conquest of the Northwest.

 

 

BOWMAN'S CAHOKIA CAMPAIGN.

The ulterior destination of Clark was Detroit, but the more

immediate point for attack and occupancy was Vincennes on the

Wabash river. Before entering upon the movement to secure that

important station be decided to take possession of the French vil-

lages up the Mississippi, and especially Cahokia, which was then

a place of one hundred families on the east side of that river, a few

miles below where St. Louis is now located, and some seventy

++ Butterfield says Gibault was Vicar-General of the Bishop of Quebec

for the Illinois and adjacent countries.

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78       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

miles from Kaskaskia. Colonel Clark remained in Kaskaskia to

hold matters in the proper level and still further win the inhabi-

tants to his side. He detailed Captain Joseph Bowman for the

Cahokia expedition. The captain was assigned thirty mounted

men. They were weary from fatigue and loss of sleep, but it was

thought no time should be lost in hastening upon the French vil-

lages before the citizens of the latter could hear of the capture of

Kaskaskia and prepare to defend themselves. Captain Bowman

and his chosen "cavalrymen" therefore set out the evening of the

first day that Kaskaskia was occupied. Bowman wrote a very

concise account of this trip.* His company in the journey to Ca-

hokia was three successive nights and days. The first town they

reached was Prairie du Rocher about fifteen miles distant from

Kaskaskia. "Before they (the inhabitants) had any idea of our

arrival we had possession of the town. They seemed a good deal

surprised and were willing to come to any terms that were re-

quired of them."+ Bowman then hastened on to St. Phillips about

nine miles higher up. It was a small town and straightway capit-

ulated to the invader. Bowman says: "Being in the dead time of

the night they seemed scared almost out of their wits, as it was im-

possible they could know my strength." From St. Phillips, Bow-

man hurried on to Cahokia where he arrived on the third day, and

riding up to the Commander's house demanded a surrender. The

commandant and all the citizens promptly complied, whereupon

Bowman stated they must take "the oath to the states," or he

would still treat them as enemies. They waited till the next morn-

ing to consider. That night Bowman's force "lay on their arms"

to prevent surprise, a precaution well justified as one of the inhab-

itants proposed "to raise one hundred and fifty Indians" and rush

on Bowman. The next morning, however, the Cahokians were

compelled to swear allegiance to the American cause. And so

Cahokia was added to the peaceful captures of Clark's army. Ca-

hokia was at that date a town of much importance. It is a site

with a past reaching into the realms of the pre-historic, for here

are located some remarkable earthworks of the Mound Builders.

 

* This account of Bowman is copiously quoted from as found in

English's conquest of the Northwest.

+ Bowman's account.

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Clark's Conquest of the Northwest.         79

 

It is claimed by some authors that Cahokia was the location also

of the earliest white settlement on the Mississippi river, the name

at first being Cohos, indeed Clark so spoke of it in his letter to

Mason describing Bowman's capture. In 1764, when the terri-

tory passed from France to England and the last French com-

mandant withdrew to give way to the English occupancy, many

French families at Cahokia and the other towns removed west or

south out of the British jurisdiction in order to escape being sub-

ject to English rule. The population still remaining at these

points was mainly French or French descent and maintained an

antipathy to their Great Britain conquerors. They therefore

readily "fell into the hands" of Clark's forces and espoused the

side of the united Colonies in their contest with the mother but

oppressing country. Both Kaskaskia and Cahokia were not only

French settlements and British posts, but also rallying places for

the Indian tribes of the adjacent country. Generally the Indians

were in greater or less force at these stations receiving aid or

advice from the British commanders. At the time of Clark's in-

vasion of the towns named the redmen happened to be mostly

absent and thus the savages could not be summoned to Clark's

discomfiture. The reception of Clark's forces were rendered

therefore not only bloodless but really sympathetic. In view of

these facts the procedure of Clark's troops from Fort Massac to

Cahokia has, by some writers, been described as an expedition

without peril and without any credit to Clark. The danger, how-

ever, was there, the well equipped garrisons, the lurking savages,

the roadless country, the fatiguing forced march. Be that as it

may, Clark took complete possession of the country as he pro-

ceeded.

THE VINCENNES VICTORY.

Clark had secured without diminution of his number or

detriment to his project all the towns of the white people in the

Illinois country west of the Wabash. "Post St. Vincent, a town

about the size of Williamsburg was the next object in my view,"

wrote the hopeful Colonel. Vincennes was next to Detroit, the

greatest stronghold of the enemy in the Northwest. Father Gi-

bault had become the warm friend and ally of Clark. From the

faithful priest the Colonel learned that Edward Abbott, the Brit-

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80       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

ish governor of the town, had left Vincennes shortly before

Clark's entrance into the enemy's country, and that both fort and

town were then almost exclusively in the possession and con-

trol of the French settlers.  Father Gibault believed that he

could "win over" Vincennes by proceeding there without martial

accompaniment, or warlike demonstration and by presenting to

the citizens the true inwardness of the situation. He could tell

them of the French and American alliance, give them assurance of

their security under and friendly treatment by the Americans, and

that if this logic was not sufficient, gently remind them that Clark

had an army and might, if compelled, use arguments other than

those of reason. Clark says, "the priest (Gibault) gave me to

understand that although he had nothing to do with temporal busi-

ness, yet he would give them (people of Vincennes) such hints

in a spiritual way, that would be very conducive to the business."

Evidently the Jesuitical disciple of the Prince of Peace was as

"foxy" in his methods as were his more distinguished papal proto-

types Wolsey and Richelieu. The plan was immediately accepted

by Clark. Pierre Gibault, accompanied by one Doctor Jean Le-

font, as a "temporal and political agent," with a few compan-

ions who served as a retinue and confidential observers for Col-

onel Clark, started out on the 14th of July carrying a pronun-

ciamento of Clark to the people of Vincennes authorizing them

to garrison their own town themselves, which concession was

well calculated to convince them of the implicit confidence the

American Colonel had in them. Father Gibault and escort safely

reached Vincennes and diplomatically made known their peculiar

errand. The few emissaries, left by the British commander Ab-

bott, naturally resisted the proposal, but being helpless were al-

lowed to leave the town, the French inhabitants of which readily

acceded to Gibault and all "went in a body to the church, where

the oath of allegiance was administered to them in the most sol-

emn manner" by Father Gibault. The people at once proceeded

"to elect an officer, the fort was immediately garrisoned," says

Clark in his Memoir, "and the American flag displayed to the

astonishment of the Indians, and everything settled far beyond

our most sanguine hopes. The people immediately began to put

on a new face and to talk in a different style, and to act as perfect

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Clark's Conquest of the Northwest.         81

 

freemen. With a garrison of their own and with the United

States at their elbow, their language to the Indians was immedi-

ately altered. They began as citizens of the state, and informed

the Indians that their (people of Vincennes) old Father the

King of France, was come to life again and joined the Big Knives

(Americans) and was mad at them (Indians) for fighting for

the British; that they advised the Indians to make peace with

the Americans as soon as possible or they might expect the land

to be very bloody," and then Clark laconically adds, "the Indians

began to think seriously." Father Gibault and his party returned

to Kaskaskia about the first of August with the welcome news

of the tranquil occupation of Vincennes and the transfer of that

station from British to American control. Clark's advance and

achievements seemed to be under the star of propitious fate.

But at this point in his proceedings the plucky Colonel faced a

serious situation. He was master of a vast territory and many

posts with but a bare handful of soldiers. He was hundreds of

miles from the nearest station harboring any American troops,

and still farther from the seat of government. It would be

months before he could get any re-enforcements. He was without

instructions or authority as to further action. He had to rely en-

tirely upon his own resources and judgment. His soldiers were

getting restless and dissatisfied. Their time of service had ex-

pired, and they were ready and anxious to return home. Clark

was beset with troubles. But he was resourceful and determined.

His perplexities only served to test the strength of his character

and the qualities of his mind. He could not abandon the country;

that would be to relinquish all he had so adroitly gained. He re-

solved to "usurp authority" and continue unflinchingly in his

plans. He at once, by presents and promises, succeeded in re-en-

listing most of his soldiers on a new basis for eight months. He

then publicly threatened to leave "the French station to their

fate to which they naturally remonstrated and renewed their al-

legiance and offers of assistance." He thereupon commissioned

some French officers and recruited a sufficient number of ad-

venturous young creoles to fill up his four companies to their ori-

ginal complement. He established a garrison at Cahokia under

 

6 Vol. XII.

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82       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

Captain Bowman. He placed Captain Williams in command of

Kaskaskia, Captain Montgomery was dispatched to the Virginia

capital, Williamsburg, to report to the governor the result of the

expedition and ask for re-enforcements and supplies.  Captain

Helm, with a contingent of French volunteers and friendly In-

dians, was sent to assume direction of Post Vincennes. Clark

now gave his attention to strengthening his situation. He drilled

his men, both Americans and French, entered into friendly rela-

tions with the Spaniards of the scattered creole towns on the op-

posite side of the Mississippi.  The Spanish were hostile to the

British and readily sympathized with the Americans. Clark now

took up the more difficult task of pacifying the various Indian

tribes, the "huge horde of savages" who roamed the forests

from the Great Lakes to the Mississippi.  Clark followed the

tactics of Hamilton at Detroit. He summoned the chiefs and

their braves to Cahokia for a council. "It was," he says, "with

astonishment that he viewed the amazing number of savages that

soon flocked into the town of Cohos to treat for peace and to

hear what the Big Knives had to say." They came from all over

the Illinois and Wabash country, some of them from a distance

of five hundred miles; "Chipaways, Ottoways, Potowatomies,

Misseogies, Puans, Sacks, Foxes, Sayges, Tauways, Maumies

and a number of other tribes, all living east of the Mississippi,

and many of them at war against us." Clark in handling these

treacherous redmen showed great alertness, shrewdness, ability

and tact. Some Indian leaders conspired to capture Clark. He

learned of the plot, promptly seized the chiefs of those guilty and

put them in irons, though the town was then swarming with the

savages. He taught them to fear him and to trust him. His suc-

cessful treatment of the Indians was notably remarkable for the

fact that he was wholly destitute of presents for the children of

the forest, and presents they had always received in profusion

from the British. Clark under all the adverse circumstances sur-

rounding him secured treaties of peace with a dozen different

tribes. He knew the Indians, however, and secretly sent spies

throughout all the Indian country, even as far as Detroit, toward

which he "was now casting a wistful eye."    The result of

Clark's policy with the tribes was to secure peace in the Illinois

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Clark's Conquest of the Northwest.          83

country. The Indians remained friendly for a long time and the

French were of course more than ever attached to the American

cause.

Clark's expedition thus far had been so stealthily, swiftly

and skillfully executed that the British authorities scarcely knew

of it until its success was complete. On the 8th of August,

however, a French missionary reached Detroit and imparted to

Lieutenant-Governor Hamilton the startling intelligence that the

American "rebels" had invaded the Illinois country, captured

Kaskaskia and Cahokia and were approaching Vincennes. The

British at once began to bestir themselves. Hamilton hurried

the news on to the commander-in-chief at Quebec, Governor Guy

Carleton, to Lieutenant Colonel Bolton, Commandant at Niagara

and to Captain De Puyster, Commandant at Michilimackinac. The

order was speedily passed around that the American soldiers must

be dislodged from the Illinois and Wabash country, and the In-

dians set upon the warpath to devastate the American frontier

settlements.

HAMILTON'S CAPTURE OF VINCENNES.

On October 7 Hamilton set out from Detroit for a journey

of six hundred miles to Vincennes with a force less than two

hundred, indeed, just about the same number as Clark had

started with on his expedition from the Ohio Falls to Kaskaskia.*

Hamilton provided himself with some fifteen boats well

loaded with food, clothing, ammunition and presents for the

Indians. With this armament Hamilton went down the Detroit

river, thence thirty miles across lake Erie to the mouth of the

Maumee, up which he proceeded arriving at the "Miami Town"

(site of Fort Wayne) on the 2₄th. Here several parties of

Indians were met and united to the army. From the head-

waters of the Maumee (or Miami as then called) they fol-

lowed the portage, a distance across land of nine miles, to a

stream called the Little River, one of the sources of the Wabash.

* Hamilton gave his number on leaving Detroit as 179. There were

41 of the Kings Eighth Regiment of regulars, 8 "irregulars;" 70 trained

militia and 60 Indians, altogether with himself, 180. This number was

increased by Indians on the way until he had 500 on reaching Vincennes.

The statistics given by Roosevelt vary in detail but make the aggregate

about the same.

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84        Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

Over this portage they were obliged to carry their boats and

baggage. The journey down the Wabash-- (Ouabache) -was

beset with many difficulties and obstacles. The water was shal-

low and often frozen over with a thin layer of ice, and the boats

had to be lifted over or carried around the shoal places. When

within a few days' journey of Vincennes they were met by a

scouting party sent out from Fort Sackville, the fort lying

partly within and protecting the town of Vincennes. Captain

Helm was therefore warned of the enemy's approach. Helm's

force, less than fifty soldiers, only two of whom were Americans,

was utterly inadequate to defend the fort and town against the

attack of Hamilton. The fort was a "wretched, miserable stock-

ade without a well, barrack, platform for small arms, or even lock

to the gate. Helm knowing he could not make a successful de-

fense, determined to play a brave part, and this he did to an

astonishing degree. Major Hay with a company advanced to

the fort. Demanding admittance Captain Helm pointing a loaded

cannon at the enemy ordered them to halt, exclaiming, "No man

shall enter here until I know the terms." The reply was given,

"You shall have the honors of war," whereupon Captain Helm

surrendered and Fort Sackville and Vincennes was once more

in the possession of the British. This was on December 17, 1778,

seventy-two days after Hamilton had left Detroit. Two days

after the occupation Hamilton required the inhabitants* to fore-

swear the oath of allegiance they had taken a few months before

to the American cause, and to renew their fealty to the British.

Thus the French victims of Vincennes were shifted from side

to side as the fortunes of circumstances demanded. And to this

shifting they seemed easily adjusted. They readily fell in with

the winning party. Hamilton restored the Fort to good condi-

* The citizens of all ages in Vincennes at this time were estimated

by Hamilton to be 621, of whom 217 were qualified for military service.

The oath to which they were obliged to subscribe was as follows: "We

the undersigned, declare and aver that we have taken the oath of allegiance

to Congress, and, in so doing, we have forgotten our duty towards God

and have failed towards men. We ask the pardon of God, and we hope

for the mercy of our legitimate sovereign, the King of England, and

that he will accept our submission and take us under his protection as

good and faithful subjects, which we promise and pray to be able to

become before God and before men."-Butterfield manuscript.

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Clark's Conquest of the Northwest.          85

 

tion; built a guard house and barracks; sunk a well, erected

two large blockhouses and embrasures above for five pieces of

cannon. Hamilton now rested securely on his laurels. He felt

no uneasiness over the situation. He knew Clark's force was

paltry and widely scattered, he (Hamilton) with five times the

number of Clark was safely intrenched at Vincennes which lay

directly in the path between Clark's posts and his source of

supplies in Virginia or Kentucky. In due time he could move on

to the towns occupied by Clark and retake them.

 

CLARK'S CAPTURE OF VINCENNES.

Colonel Clark clearly understood that Hamilton would in

due time move upon the American garrison at Kaskaskia and

Cahokia. With Napoleonic nerve he decided to move on Vin-

cennes. It was the extreme of bold determination. He had only

about one hundred American soldiers. His French soldiers num-

bering about the same were uncertain in their courage and sta-

bility. The French settlers of the Illinois towns were scared

and "shaky" in their allegiance. The Indians were wavering and

susceptible of influences from the British. The way to Vincennes

was long and the country flooded with the winter waters. None

but a leader of indomitable pluck and consecrated patriotism

would have entered upon such an undertaking against such des-

perate odds.*

His resolve to push on to Vincennes was strengthened by

the arrival of Francis Vigo from Vincennes. Vigo was an Ital-

ian, who had been a soldier in a Spanish regiment and was now

a trader among the French, British and Indians and resided at

St. Louis. He was made a prisoner by Hamilton and paroled. He

hastened to Kaskaskia+ and offered his services to Clark, in-

* Clark's soldiers and the citizens of both Cahokia and Kaskaskia

were constantly in more or less of a panic, caused by rumors that Ham-

ilton was coming. Clark was at a ball in Cahokia when the alarm was

sounded that the British were without the city. A few days later similar

false reports caused him to resolve to burn the fort at Kaskaskia, and

he did tear down some of the adjacent buildings. At another time while

going to Cahokia he barely escaped being captured by a party of Ottowas

and Canadians - scouts from Vincennes.

+Vigo arrived at Kaspaskia January 27, 1779. He was caught by

Hamilton's scouts while on his way to take supplies to Captain Helm,

not then knowing Hamilton had repossessed Vincennes.

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86       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

forming the latter that Hamilton proposed to rest on his

oars till spring and had sent his Indian allies out about

the country in various foraging and devastating parties. Clark

must start instanter. He summoned Captain, now Major Bow-

man, from Cahokia, who was to be second in command. He

marshalled his land forces Into three companies officered re-

spectively by Captains Richard M'Carty, John Williams and

Francis Charleville, the latter a Frenchman, with a company of

Kaskaskia recruits.+ This army was augmented by a "navy"

consisting of "a large boat prepared and rigged, mounting two

four pounders (each), four large swivels with a fine company

commanded by Lieutenant John Rogers."++

This "gunboat" was named the Willing and was manned by

forty-six soldiers. "The vessel," says Clark, "when complete was

much admired by the inhabitants as no such thing had been seen

in the country before."  The Willing was loaded with supplies

and was to be rowed down the Kaskaskia river to its mouth at

the Mississippi, thence up the Ohio and the Wabash to a desig-

nated point below Vincennes, probably the mouth of the White

river and there await further orders. On the afternoon of Feb-

ruary 4, (1779), the Willing cast her moorings and dropped

down the river amid the cheers of her "crew" and the shouts

of the soldiers on shore and the excited populace of Kaskaskia.

On the 5th Colonel Clark with his force of one hundred and

seventy men marched out of Kaskaskia, with Father Gibault's

blessing, and the farewells of the citizens. It was to be a tedious

tramp of two hundred and forty miles, as the route was selected,

it being what was then known as the St. Louis trail or trace.*

Both Clark and Bowman wrote accounts of this marvelous march.

It is to be recalled that it was conducted in the late winter or

early spring when the streams were swollen, the rains frequently

interspersed with sleet and snow. The land was everywhere

water soaked and more or less ice crusted. The fatigues, hard-

 

+ Bowman's old company was probably captained by one of the

Worthingtons, Edward or William, it is not certain which.

++ Description from Clark's letter to Mason.

* It led through the later sites of Sparta, Coultersville, Oakdale,

Nashville, Walnut Hill, Salem. Olney and Lawrenceville.

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Clark's Conquest of the Northwest.          87

 

ships and privations of those plucky, patient, persistent and patri-

otic soldiers are not surpassed by the annals of any similar expedi-

tions in history. It was the Valley Forge of the American Revo-

lution in the Northwest, and of Clark's men, Bancroft might have

written as he did of Washington's soldiers: "Love of country,

attachment to their general, sustained the army under unparalleled

hardships. Under any other leader the armies would have dis-

solved and vanished." Day after day for nearly three weeks

they waded the creeks, the swamps, and the flooded districts,

sleeping on the water-soaked or hard frozen ground; without

sufficient food, often without any, frequently submerged to their

waists and sometimes almost to their armpits, they struggled on.

Clark, in his own account, says: "It was a difficult and very

fatiguing march. My object was to keep the men in spirits. I

suffered them to shoot game on all occasions and to feast on it

like Indian war dancers. Each company by turns invited the

others to the feasts, which was the case every night, as the com-

pany that was to give the feast was always supplied with horses

to lay up a sufficient store of wild meat in the course of the day,

myself and personal officers betting on the woodsmen, shouting

now and then and running as much through the mud and water

as any of them. Thus insensibly, without a murmer, were those

men led on to the banks of the Little Wabash which was reached

on the 15th through incredible difficulties far surpassing any-

thing that any of us had ever experienced." Often in wading

the streams or wide fields of water is was necessary to stop and

make boats or rafts with which they could transport their bag-

gage and accoutrements. Captain Bowman, in his Journal, has

the following: "16th. Marched all day through rain and water,

crossed Fox river, our provisions began to be short. 17th.

Marched early, crossed several runs very deep. Sent Mr. Ken-

nedy our Commissary with three men to cross the river Embar-

rass,* if possible and proceed to a plantation opposite to Fort

Vincennes in order to steal boats or canoes to ferry us across the

Wabash. About an hour by sun we got near the river Embarrass,

found the country all overflowed with water. We strove to

 

* Embarrass was a stream running southeast and emptying into the

Wabash about three miles below Vincennes.

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88       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.   find the Wabash, traveling till eight o'clock (at night) in mud and water but could find no place to encamp on. Still kept marching on. After some time, Mr. Kennedy and his party returned. Found it impossible to cross Embarrass river. We found the water fallen from a small spot of ground; stayed there the remainder of the night. Drizzly and damp weather. And 18th. At break of day heard Governor Hamilton's morn- ing gun; set off and marched down the river. About two o'clock came to the bank of the Wabash. Made rafts for four men to cross and then up to town and steal boats, but they spent

a day and night in the water to no purpose and there was not one foot of dry land to be found.  19th. * * * Captain M'Carty's company made a canoe which was sent down the river to meet the batteau (the Willing) with orders to come on day and night that being our last hope and we starving. No pro- visions now of any sort for two days." On the 21st, the whole army was transported across the river "rain all day and no provisions," the continued exposure without suitable food, shelter or rest began to wear out the men, especially the French. Clark resorted to every ingenuity to keep up the spirits and strength of the soldiers. The sea of water seemed to be unending. Upon one occasion Clark em- ployed the following amusing expedient. In Bowman's com-

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Clark's Conquest of the Northwest.         89

 

pany was a little fourteen year old drummer boy, also a giant

sergeant, six feet two inches in his stockings. Clark mounted

the little drummer on the shoulders of the stalwart sergeant and

gave orders to him to advance into the half-frozen water. He

did so, the little drummer beating the charge from his lofty

perch, while Clark with sword in hand followed them, giving

the command forward march as he threw aside the floating ice.

Elated and amused at the scene, the men promptly obeyed, hold-

ing their rifles above their heads, and in spite of all obstacles

reached the high land opposite them, taking care to have the

boats try to take those who were weak and numbed with the

cold, into them.*  Other expedients were employed to stimulate

the dejected and despairing soldiers, such as blacking the face

with powder, raising the Indian warwhoop, joining in patriotic

songs, etc., but after all the most potent and least jocose per-

suasion was no doubt Clark's order to Captain Bowman, who

was his second self, to keep in the rear twenty-five picked men

with orders to shoot down anyone refusing to march, or attempt-

ing to desert. But the flood, like Tennyson's brook, went on

forever. It grew worse as they neared Vincennes. Clark him-

self says: "This last day's march (the 21st) through the water

was far superior to anything the Frenchmen had an idea of.

The nearest land to us was a small league called the Sugar Camp.

A canoe was sent off and returned with signs that we could pass.

I sounded the water and found it as deep as my neck. We had

neither provisions nor horses. Finally they found a sort of a

path or elevated ridge of earth which they followed and upon

which they walked, though even above that the water was nearly

waist deep. That night was the coldest fight we had, the ice

in the morning was from a half to three-fourths of an inch thick.

I addressed the soldiers after breakfast, such as it was, telling

them that beyond the immediate woods they would come in full

view of the town which they would reach in a few hours. They

gave a cheer and courageously stepped into the water once

more. They still continued to be waist deep. A canoe with a

few inmates was sent forward with instructions to cry out

'land' when they found a dry lodging place. Many of the men

*English's Northwest.

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90       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.   were so weak they had to be supported by companions and had to be literally carried out of the water. Some of them hung to trees and floated on the old logs. Finally dry land was reached at last."* One of the most remarkable forced marches on record which had lasted fourteen days was at an end. Hamilton had had no intimation of the approach, indeed was entirely disarmed by the idea that no troops could reach the Fort through the watery surroundings, therefore when Clark's soldiers appeared before

Fort Sackville, Hamilton was as startled and amazed as if he had received an electric shock. Clark's men had halted "on a delightful dry spot of ground of about ten acres."  They found that the fires which they built had little or no effect upon the men who were literally water-soaked and cold-benumbed.    The weak ones had to be walked about and their limbs exercised by the stronger ones. They took what little refreshment they had, and * The strong and the tall got ashore and built fires. Many on reach- ing the shore fell flat on their faces, half in the water, and could come no farther. It was found the fires did not help the very weak, so every such a one was put between two strong men who run him up and down by the arms, and thus made him recover. - Clark's Memoirs.

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Clark's Conquest of the Northwest.          91

faced the attack upon the Fort. They were in a truly critical

condition no prospect of retreat presented itself in case of defeat.

They faced in full view a town that had some six hundred men in

it, troops, inhabitants and Indians. Clark, with the bravery of

Ethan Allen at Ticonderoga, wrote out and sent to the Fort the

following proclamation: "To the inhabitants of Fort Vincennes,

Gentlemen: Being now within two miles of your village with my

army determined to take your fort this night and not being able

to surprise you I take this method to request such of you as are

true citizens and willing, to enjoy the liberty I bring you to

remain still in your houses -and those if any there be that are

friends to the King will instantly repair to the Fort and join

the Hair Buyer General and fight like men, and if any such as

do not go to the Fort shall be discovered afterward they may

depend on severe punishment. On the contrary those who are

true friends to liberty may depend on being well treated and I

once more request them to keep out of the streets. For every one

I find in arms on my arrival I shall treat him as an enemy. Signed

G. R. Clark." The sending of this proclamation was followed

by a bold advance upon Fort Sackville and the town, in full view

of the inhabitants. They made themselves appear as formidable

as possible, marching and countermarching in such a manner as

to apparently double the number of the soldiers, and nearly all of

them had flags which they waved in such a manner as to dis-

guise their actual number, and increase the formidableness of

their appearance. The land just before the village lay in ridges

so that the soldiers as they scrambled over them would appear

above and then dissappear in the declivities. This aided them

again in appearing to be far more numerous than they really

were.* They reached the space immediately in front of the

Fort walls on the evening of February 23d. The drums were

beat and the firing upon the Fort commenced. At the same time

portions of the force entered the town, where they received im-

mediate assistance from friendly inhabitants who furnished them

with ammunition, and Tobacco's son, Chief of the Piankeshaw

* This account of Clark's advance upon Vincennes is from the

Memoir of Clark supposed to have been written about 1791. Many state-

ments in it have been discredited. Roosevelt, in his "Winning of the

West," particularly doubts the accuracy of this Vincennes parade.

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92        Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

tribe, promptly mustered his warriors and offered his services

to Colonel Clark. This Indian assistance was diplomatically de-

clined with thanks as Clark was afraid to allow the Indians any

license, not wishing to be responsible for savage barbarities upon

the British. The siege of the Fort and town continued during

the night. Clark's men had decidedly the advantage of position,

for they could conceal themselves behind the houses and fire upon

the Fort from all directions without being injured or even seen.

On the morning of the 24th Colonel Clark sent a flag of truce

to Governor Hamilton with a message which read as follows:

"In order to save yourself from the impending storm that now

threatens you I order you to immediately surrender yourself with

all your garrison, stores, etc. For if I am obliged to storm, you

may depend on such treatment as is justly due to a murderer.

Beware of destroying stores of any kind or any papers or letters

that are in your possession, or hurt one house in town; for by

heavens if you do, there shall be no mercy shown you. Signed

G. R. Clark." Hamilton replied: "Lieut. Governor Hamilton begs

leave to acquaint Colonel Clark that he and his garrison are not

disposed to be awed into any action unworthy of British sub-

jects." The firing was resumed and was continued for some time

when a second exchange of messages was made. Governor Ham-

ilton with an aid then held a consultation with Colonel Clark and

Captain Bowman in St. Xavier's Church. While the negotia-

tions were ensuing a party of Indians friendly to the British

approached the Fort, were captured by the Americans and toma-

hawked, and their bodies thrown into the river in full view of the

British occupants of the Fort. This horrifying spectacle was

reluctantly enacted by the men under Clark in order to terrorize

the British soldiers. It was successful, and Lieutenant Governor

Hamilton promptly surrendered upon the conditions laid down

by Clark. The soldiers, seventy-nine in all, marched out of the

Fort and delivered themselves as prisoners of war.*                          The cam-

paign and siege of Fort Vincennes was at an end.+                             Two days

* Hamilton subsequently acknowledged, in a letter, his chagrin in

having to yield "to a set of uncivilized Virginian woodsmen armed with

rifles."

+ Clark had but one man wounded. Six or eight of Hamilton's

force were killed or severely wounded.

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Clark's Conquest of the Northwest.         93

 

after the capture the batteau "The Willing" which had come by

water arrived with her forty-six men. It was the extinguish-

ment of the British domination in the Wabash and Illinois country.

Captain Leonard Helm immediately proceeded up the Wabash

river, where at a point about one hundred and twenty miles from

Vincennes, they surprised and captured seven British boats

manned by forty men and loaded with valuable goods and pro-

visions intended for Fort Sackville, and sent from Detroit. If

Clark had then been in a condition to march against Detroit he

would probably have been successful, but his soldiers were so ex-

hausted that for the present he abandoned the idea. Hamilton and

his principal officers were sent as prisoners to Virginia where they

were paroled. Hamilton later served the British government in

important stations. Most of the British prisoners taken by Clark

remained at Vincennes under oath of neutrality. A few joined

Clark's regiment. The French citizens were again sworn to the

American cause. By this time they had become adepts in the

practice of oath taking. During Clark's expedition to Vincennes

his messengers had reached Williamsburg and reported the doings

of the intrepid Colonel. He was complimented by the Virginia

Legislature and that same body, on March 10, 1779, passed an

act organizing the Illinois country into the County of Illinois.

Further legislation provided for the appointment by the gover-

nor and council of Virginia of a county lieutenant or command-

ant, who was authorized to appoint deputies and military officers

requisite for the proper organization and control of the county.

In the summer of 1779 this county government was established

at Vincennes with Colonel John Todd, Jr., as Lieutenant or

Commandant of the county. The Virginia legislature also di-

rected that some five hundred men be enlisted, properly officered

and ordered to the Illinois county to garrison the forts therein.

But a portion of that number, however, were forthcoming. Thus

was the Northwest occupied and secured to the American Colon-

ists. It was almost a bloodless and battleless conquest, but a sub-

jugation nevertheless of the most far reaching character. It pre-

vented the western country from being a vast field for the rendez-

vous of the British troops and the arena for the centralization and

confederation of Indian tribes against the colonial frontiers of

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94        Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. Pennsylvania, Virginia and the southern states. Clark checkmated the British scheme to attack and destroy the colonies from the rear. More than all Clark saved to the Union the Northwest Territory. Had it not been for him and his little band of back- woodsmen, although the armies of Washington were victorious, without doubt in the settlement of the result between the two countries, the Illinois and the Wabash country, including Ohio, would have been retained as British territory, precisely as was Canada. Had it not been for Clark the colonial western frontier would have been the Alleghany range.    Clark changed the des- tiny of the United States and perhaps the destiny of the English speaking race.*   * Clark himself, towards the end of 1779, took up his abode at the Falls of the Ohio, where he served in some sort as a shield both for Illinois and Kentucky, and from whence he hoped some day to march against Detroit. That was his darling scheme, which he never ceased to cherish. Through no fault of his own, the day never came when he could put it into execution. - Roosevelt.

• 71
 

THE OLD RIVER BRIDGE.   JAMES BALL NAYLOR.   (Read at the dedication of the Malta-McConnelsville steel bridge, July 8th, 1902. The flew steel bridge superseded the old wooden toll bridge built in 1867.)   The old river-bridge, grown decrepit and gray In the warfare of years, has, alas, passed away; For Time the remorseless has triumphed at last- And the faithful old bridge is a part of the past. Like a warrior it stood, with its feet in the tide And its lean arms outstretched to the bridegroom and bride Saying: "Lovers unwitting, God's will has been done! I've blessed ye and bound ye; ye twain are made one!"   When the elements battled, and thunderbolts fell- Like arrows God-flung at the ramparts of hell; When a crash of the storm sent a chill to the blood, And the highway of man was the gateway of flood; Then the sturdy old bridge strained its sinews of wood, And stiffened, and quivered, and tottered-but stood! And the message it sent o'er the turbulent tide Was: "I've bound ye and blessed ye; no storm shall divide!

95

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96       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

At night-in midwinter, when snowdrifts lay deep, And the wind was awake and the world was asleep; Or in summer, when hilltop and housetop and stream Were aglint with the touch of the moon's paly beam; Then the old wooden bridge, that no ill might betide, Kept guard o'er the slumbering bridegroom and bride. And the words that it murmured at daybreak's release Were: "I've guarded and kept ye; sleep on - sleep in peace!"   Ah, the old river-bridge felt the terrors and tears Of the twain it had joined - all their sorrows and fears ! And it, also, partook of their pastimes and joys- Knew their frolicsome girls and their rollicksome boys! And its rigid, impassive, old features of oak Went aquiver with smiles, at the crack of a joke Or the trill of a laugh and it whispered: "Ah, me! May their lives full of pleasure and happiness be!"   But there came in the year of the century's birth - Sent by Time the remorseless, the ruler of earth - A panoplied knight in a harness of steel; And the old wooden bridge felt the conqueror's heel! Knowing well that its battles and triumphs were o'er- That the friends it had loved would now need it no more, It sank down to its rest, with the tremulous sigh: "I've blessed ye and served ye; God keep ye-good bye!"

• 73
 

EDITORIALANA.

THE AMERICANISTS AT FORT ANCIENT. The International Congress of Americanists, made up of delegates from the leading states of Europe, and nearly all of the Countries of the Americas, held their biennial meeting in New  York City, beginning October 22, 1902. At this meeting many addresses were made, and papers were read by distinguished scholars pertaining to the Archaeology of North and South America. The full proceedings of this meeting, with the addresses, will be published in book form during the present year. This congress is an institution of great importance, and is rather unique in its character. The delegates to it were from various foreign countries, and were appointed, and had all their expenses defrayed, by the re- spective governments which they represented. At the close of their regu- lar conference in New York, they were made the particular guests of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, which conveyed them by special cars from New York to Washington, D. C. where they investigated the Government Museums. Thence they were to proceed to Chicago by way of Cincinnati, their ultimate destination being St. Louis, that they might visit the great mound of Cahokia, which is on the Mississippi river nearly opposite St. Louis. It was the expressed and almost universal desire of the delegates to this congress that they have an opportunity of visiting Fort Ancient, and negotiations between he Secretary of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society, and Mr. M. H. Saville, the general secretary of the congress and Assistant Curator of the American Museum of Natural History of New York, resulted in the accomplishment of the wish of the members of the congress. By the action of the Trustees of the Ohio So- ciety, the Americanists were made the guests of the Society at Fort Ancient, on Thursday, October 30, 1902. The train conveying the foreign party reached Columbus in the early morning of the date in question, and they were met and greeted by the following trustees and officers of the State Society: Gen. R. Brinkerhoff, G. F. Bareis, A. R. McIntire, M. D. Follett, H. A. Thompson, J. P. MacLean, C. L. Martz- olff, B. F. Prince, C. P. Griffin, N. B C. Love, E. O. Randall, W. C. Mills and E. F. Wood. The guests and hosts proceeding over the Little Miami Railroad arrived at Fort Ancient at 10 A M., where carriages had been provided by the custodian Mr. Warren Cowen, to convey the entire party to the 7 Vol. XII.                97

• 74
 

98         Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

hill, and about the Fort. After a substantial lunch had been partaken of,

an address of welcome was made to the guests by General Brinkerhoff,

on the part of the Society, and remarks explanatory of the Fort were

made by Professors J. P. MacLean and W. C. Mills. The entire grounds

were then inspected, many of the party putting in much of their time

in looking for relics, mostly with disappointing results. The weather

proved to be the most propitious, and the visitors were greatly delighted

by their examination of these world-renowned      prehistoric remains.

Many of them    had become familiar with all that is generally known

concerning Fort Ancient, from Archaeological literature, and the in-

spection of models in foreign    museums.   The European delegates

were peculiarly interested and astonished. Even the youthful and practi-

cal United States could exhibit prehistoric remains of surpassing magni-

tude and perfection. They all declared that it was the most wonderful

specimen of its kind, probably, in the world, and all complimented the

Ohio Society on being its possessor, and for keeping it in such excellent

condition. They all declared it was the most enjoyable and interesting

day they had experienced since their visit to America. Mr. George F.

Bareis took several photographs of the party. Altogether it was a red-

letter clay for the Ohio Society whose representatives present were none

the less delighted and entertained than were the guests. The foreign

party embraced many of the most distinguished Archeologists in the

world, and indeed, all of them were men of ripe scholarship and of more

or less widespread fame. The following is a list of the guests present at

the Fort Ancient visit:

Edward H. Thompson, Merida, Yucatan, Mexico.

David Boyle, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Juan B. Ambrosetti, Buenos Ayres, Argentine Republic.

M. Gonzalez de la'Rosa, Paris, France.

Arthur Farwell, Boston, Mass.

Arthur M. J. Hirsh, Munich, Germany.

Waldemar Borgoras, St. Petersburg, Russia.

Alfred M. Tozzer, Peabody Museum, Cambridge.

Francisco Belmar, State of Oaxaca, Mexico.

Henri Pittier de Fabrega, Costa Rica.

Leon Lejeal, College of France, Paris.

Alfredo Gonzalez, Mexico.

Chevalier L. C. van Panhuys, The Hague, Netherlands.

Prof. Eduard Seler, Berlin, Germany.

Juan F. Ferraz, Costa Rica.

Mary Endora Lyon, Salem, Mass.

Mrs. Jessie Crellin Pepper, Newark, New Jersey.

Mrs. Annie Lyon Saville, New     York City.

Mrs. Grace Hyde Trine, Oscawana-on-Hudson, N. Y.

Miss Alice Edmands Putnam, Cambridge, Mass.

• 75
 

Editorialana.                         99   George H. Pepper, Am. Museum Nat. History, New York. Harlan I. Smith, Am. Museum Nat. History, New York. Cecilie Seler, Berlin, Germany. Hjalmar Stolpe, Stockholm, Sweden. Luis A. Herrera, Uruguay. Marshall H. Saville, New York. Adelaf Breton, London, England. C. T. Hartman, Stockholm, Sweden. At the station, before departure, Mr. Saville made a neat little speech in behalf of the guests, thanking their hosts for the pleasure and profit of the day, and three cheers were given by each party in be- half of the other. The guests proceeded, under the escort of President Howard Ayres of the Cincinnati University, and Mr. C. L. Metz, the distinguished Archaeologist of Madisonville, to Cincinnati, where they were the guests of the Society of Natural History, and the Cincinnati Museum of Archaeology.   HON. CHARLES. P. GRIFFIN. Hon. Charles P. Griffin died at noon, of heart failure, at his resi- dence on Collinwood Avenue, Toledo, December 18, 1902. Mr. Griffin was born at Tipton, Lorain County, Feb-

ruary 3, 1842. He was brought up on the farm, attending district school winters. He taught school in Iowa in the spring of 1859, and in Missouri in the fall and winter of 1859 and 60. He entered Oberlin College in January, 1861, but his college course, like that of many other patriotic boys, was cut short by his enlistment in Company C., 7th O. V. I., in April, 1861. Failing health, however, prevented a long ser- vice in the army, and he returned to College, remaining there during the years 1862, '63 and '64, paying his expenses by teaching school during the vacation months. In 1864 he became one of the pro- prietors of the Oberlin Business College; established and took charge of a business college at Hillsdale, Michigan, in 1866. In

1868, he removed to Toledo, where he engaged successfully in real es- tate and insurance business. He was trustee of Hillsdale College from 1876 to 1886, and when the college buildings were rebuilt after their destruction by fire, one of the largest was named in his honor "Griffin Hall." Although retaining his residence in Toledo, his business head- quarters were in New York from 1874 to 1879, and in Chicago from

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100        Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

1879 to 1883; since which time he was profitably engaged in the busi-

ness of real estate and farming. When some two or three years ago,

the Toledo and Indiana Electric Line was organized, Mr. Griffin was

elected president, and up to the time of his death devoted his entire

time to its construction.  Mr. Griffin was an ardent Republican, and

was the choice of a large number of Toledoans for Congress, three times

losing the nomination to Congressman James Southard.      He served

with distinction in the Ohio Legislature, being elected in 1887, on the

Republican ticket; member of the 68th General Assembly, by a majority

of five hundred, reelected in 1889 by twice that majority; elected for the

third time in 1891 by over fifteen hundred majority; and elected for

a fourth term in 1893 by a majority of four thousand. He was elected to

the 74th General Assembly, in which he championed the legislative

enactment promoting the Ohio Centennial, which was to have been held

at Toledo. He displayed great energy and diplomacy in carrying the

bill through in spite of most determined opposition. The bill was after-

ward declared inoperative by the Supreme Court.

Mr. Griffin was, from its early days, a most stanch, active and

effective member and friend of The Ohio State Archaeological and His-

torical Society. At the annual meetings on March 7, 1890, and February

18, 1891, he personally participated, and at the dinner on each of those

occasions delivered an eloquent address upon the "History of the Mau-

mee Valley." In 1891, Governor James Campbell appointed him a trustee

of the Society. He served until 1894, when he was re-appointed by

Governor William McKinley, serving until 1897 when he was again re-ap-

pointed by Governor Asa Bushnell, and at the expiration of that term, he

was re-appointed in February, 1900, by Governor George K. Nash, to

serve until February, 1903. He was therefore in continuous service, as

trustee by appointment, for twelve years, the longest service of that kind,

by any trustee. On the visit of the Trustees of the Society with the Ameri-

canists to Fort Ancient, of which we give an account in this number,

Mr. Griffin was present, and took a lively interest in the events of the

day, and said to the writer of these lines that he proposed from then

on to give the Society much of his attention and effort. Mr. Griffin was an

indefatigable worker in everything that he undertook. He was a man of

strong convictions and courageous action. He was an ardent friend,

and a fearless foe. He was a ready speaker, an expert parliamentarian,

and a skilled and shrewd debater. Several times during the history of the

Society, as the writer can personally testify, Mr. Griffin was its champion

on the floor of the legislature, and more than once was the leader in

carrying through measures promotive of the progress and efficiency of

The Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society. Well does the

writer remember a particular incident in the general assembly of one of

the early 90's. It was an evenng session, the temper of the house was one

of restlessness and impatience. A bill in the interest of the Society was

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Editorialana.                        101

 

under discussion; the tide was against the enactment on the ground

that the Society did not merit the State's aid. Mr. Griffin hastily summoned

the writer to the cloak-room of the House and asked a full explanation of

the situation. It was given. Mr. Griffin returned to the floor and in a

most vigorous argument and enthusiastic plea changed the prevailing senti-

ment and carried the bill through. He was the friend of the Society and

deserves the kindliest thought and most grateful memory of its members.

To the surviving wife, son Mark and daughter Ethel of Toledo

and daughter Mrs. N. Coe Stewart, of Worcester, Mass., we extend the

sympathy and well wishes of the members of the Ohio State Archaeo-

logical and Historical Society.

 

 

 

OHIO AND THE WESTERN RESERVE.

Mr. Alfred Mathews, recently made honorary member of the Ohio

State Archaeological and Historical Society, has given the public one of

the most valuable little books on Ohio history that has been issued

within recent times. The book bears the title Ohio and her Western

Reserve, with a story of three states, the states being Connecticut,

Pennsylvania and Ohio. Mr. Mathews is a tireless student of history.

He has apparently exhausted the subject of his volume. With great

detail, but always in a delightful and polished style he gives the history

of the Connecticut colony, its claim of a wide strip of territory across

Pennsylvania and the northern part of Ohio into Michigan and Indiana.

His chapter on Wyoming gives the most complete and satisfactory his-

tory of the Connecticut settlement at Wyoming, the tragic history of

that settlement, the battle and massacre of Wyoming, that we have ever

seen in print. It will be recalled that this settlement by the Connecticut

colonists at Wyoming was the first pioneer settlement of the Connecti-

cut people within the boundary of Penn's province on the Susquehanna

river, and within the territory claimed by Connecticut, and was made

largely to preempt and establish by right of possession the title of Connecti-

cut to that western extension. "It represented the first overt act of an

inter-colonial intrusion; the initial movement of that persistent, general,

systematic invasion which resulted in the settlement of Wyoming and the

establishment of a Connecticut government on Pennsylvania soil; a de-

termined effort to dismember the state and to create another, to be

carved from the territory of Pennsylvania." Wyoming was founded by

what was known as the Connecticut-Susquehanna company, which made

its settlement with about two hundred Connecticut men about a mile

above the site of Wilkesbarre in the Wyoming valley in the early spring

of 1762. As early as 1754 the company sent agents to Albany to purchase

from the Indians of the Six Nations the land in the Wyoming Valley.

This was all done under the protest of the Pennsylvanians and their

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102        Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

governor Hamilton. What was known as the "Pennamite" war subse-

quently ensued. There was much incipient warfare against and perse-

cution of the Wyoming settlers until the early summer of 1778 when the

Wyoming wives besought their husbands to return from the Continental

Army of the Revolution to their Wyoming homes to protect their threat-

ened destruction. At the same time these people called upon the Con-

tinental Congress and the Pennsylvania authorities for justice and pro-

tection for the threatened settlement. But the sorm could not be stayed.

The Indian and British and Tory forces were concentrated at Tioga on

the Susquehanna some distance above Wyoming. "No more heterogen-

eous herd of murderous soldiers and savages was ever seen in America.

Its total is not far from twelve hundred fighting men. There were

four hundred British provincials with a rabble of Tories from New Jersey,

New York and Pennsylvania. There were not far from seven hundred

Indians chiefly Senecas with detachments from the Mohawks and other

tribes. This army was in almost every conceivable dress from the mar-

tial dignity of trained soldiers down to the ruffian type of the low

abandoned and depraved of the Tories. The regulars were in smart uni-

forms. Col. John Butler's Rangers in rich green; the Tories and rene-

gades in every form of backwoods rusticity and tattered motley; the

Indians half naked were in savage attire with their war-paint and bar-

barous adornment varied with martial trappings of soldiers slain in

northern battles."  This nondescript army was under the command of

Colonel John Butler a remote relative of Colonel Zebulon Butler who

was in command at Wyoming. The real leader of the Indian contingent

under Colonel John Butler was Catherine Montour a halfbreed and reputed

daughter of one of the French Governors of Canada. She had been

liberally educated, and the best society of colonial Philadelphia, Albany

and New York had petted and feted her as a romantic and engaging

young woman in whose veins coursed a mingling of cultured and savage

blood. She was now the widow of chief, known as Queen Esther, and

enjoyed the repute of a seeress. She possessed peculiar power over her

Indian race.

The forces at the Wyoming settlement and fort numbered all told

only about three hundred men, and nearly all of these, according to

the inscription of the monument erected in their honor, were "The un-

disciplined, the youthful and the aged." There were two hundred and

thirty enrolled men, many in fact minors, and the remaining seventy were

all either boys or old men. They were divided into six companies, and

mustered at Forty Fort on the west side of the river where the families

of the settlers on the east side had taken refuge. Such was the situation

on that memorable day, the third of July, 1778, when the British and

Indians having advanced intrepidly down the valley were finally met in

battle. The result was inevitable. Col. Zebulon Butler's brave three

hundred, like those of Leonidas at Thermopylae, were cut down. One

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Editorialana.                       103

 

hundred and sixty men were killed, and a hundred and forty escaped only

to be subsequently captured.  A debauch of blood followed for the

special delectation of Queen Esther who personally participated in the

battle. "That seemingly insane savage ordered a score of the prisoners

brought before her for torture. They were compelled to kneel above a

large rock, and then the fanatical fury chanting a wild song swept swiftly

around the circle and dashed out the brains of sixteen victims while

the warriors crowded closely about the scene of butchery expressing their

fierce joy with leaps and yells."  Nearly all of the three hundred men

were killed in the attack or subsequent massacre. Of the wretched people

remaining there were made that day in the valley one hundred and fifty

widows, and nearly six hundred orphans.

Mr. Mathews deals at much length upon the settlement of the

Western Reserve by the Connecticut Yankees. This phase in our state

history he entitles "Connecticut Triumphant in Ohio."  He does full

justice to the great influence of the New England character in its trans-

plantation from Connecticut to the shores of Lake Erie on the Western

Reserve. The part which the Western Reserve has played through its

distinguished characters, military, political, literary and otherwise is

fully set forth. There is a very admirable and succinct statement of the

origin and nature of the great ordinance of 1787, and the Marietta settle-

ment which immediately followed the creation of the North West Terri-

tory. Mr. Mathews also briefly states the chain of events leading to the

evolution of Ohio from the North West Territory into statehood. "Ohio

was never formally admitted as all other states since the original thirteen

have been, to the Union; and it has been a matter of much contention

as to which one of a half dozen dates is the true one from which to

compute her age." That of April 30, 1802 is not the true one, that date

was simply the one upon which Congress passed the first enabling act

paving the way for the admission of Ohio into the Union.  A better

one would be that of November 29, in the same year, when the consti-

tution was adopted by the convention at Chillicothe, or January 11, 1803,

when the first state election was held; but these and several others are

unsupportable for various reasons. On February 19, 1803, Congress passed

an act for the execution of the laws of the Union within the state of Ohio,

"and so is the nearest approach to the act of admission, from which the

existence of other states is determined. This date has been generally sanc-

tioned by historians as the true one. But the legislature first assembled

on March 1, 1803, and the Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society

has officially designated that date to be the proper one of the state's

origin and it is therefore now generally so accepted." Mr. Mathews de-

votes an interesting chapter to the analysis of Ohio's ascendency in the

sisterhood of states. This he attributes mainly to its mixture of racial

forces. "It has been tritely told that New England was sown with selected

seed from Old England, but Ohio was sown with selected seed from all

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104        Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

New England and all the colonies. Her uniqueness, historically speak-

ing, lies in the fact that hers was the first soil settled by the United States.

New England was peopled by the Puritans and others from Old England;

New York by Dutch and English; Pennsylvania by Quakers and Ger-

mans and Scotch-Irish; Virginia again by the English but quite differ-

ent from those of Massachusetts and Connecticut; Maryland by still

another element; and so on. Of the states not included among the

original thirteen, but admitted to the Union before Ohio: Vermont was

settled by Massachusetts and New York; Kentucky by Virginia; and Ten-

nessee by North Carolina; but Ohio was settled by all of these-by

elements from each and every state in the confederacy; in other words,

Ohio was settled by the people of the United States. Ohio was the first

territory to be representative of the entire people, colonists of English

Puritans and Cavaliers and Quakers, of Scotch-Irish and Germans. And

thus in a certain senese were not the Ohioans truly the first Americans?"

 

 

 

THE ACOLHUANS.

This is the age of the historical novel. It is being produced from the

press ad infinitum if not indeed ad nauseum but it has remained for

General John Beatty, a life and honored member of the Ohio State

Archaeological and Historical Society, to be the author of a prehistoric

novel. General Beatty's book is therefore unique as a literary feature

of the day. This volume, as confessed in the apology, purports to be

a free translation from the Norraena of the story of a man living in the

tenth century. It is the self-told narrative of the hero Ivarr Bartholds-

son, a grandson of a former king of Norway, which king spent many

years of his early life in the court of Athelstan of England. Ivarr with

his father had drifted to Greenland, whence Ivarr with an adventurous

party travels to the land of the Acolhuans who occupied the Ohio val-

ley, and were none other than the Mound Builders of that territory.

The book is thenceforth an account of the lengthy sojourn of Ivarr among

its prehistoric people, whose customs, life, habitations, government, and

social system so far as it went, are ingeniously and in imagination de-

scribed. The author takes this form to tell what is supposed to be known

about these people who left no written records. Ivarr in his wanderings

strikes the northern boundary of the present Ohio at the mouth of the

Sandusky river where was a chief settlement of the Acolhuans. The

hero and his friends assist these people in one of their campaigns against

a rival race known as the Skraelings. There is a naval encounter on the

lake in their rude boats, and a hand to hand contest with clubs and bows

and arrows on the land. Ivarr visits the various chief settlements such

as those at Chillicothe, Newark and Marietta. These Mound Building

settlements are graphically portrayed, the business and domestic life of

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Editorialana.                       105

 

the people as one might suppose it to have been in the days of the tenth

century. The author carries the credulity of his reader to the very limit.

For instance, he fully describes the girls' and boys' schools at Lekin,

the name which he gives to the present site of Newark, in the vicinity

of which there still stand to-day vast and complete earth-works of those

long lost tribes. These people, as General Beatty pictures them with a

graphic pen, reached a stage of considerable civilization, one far beyond

that of their successors the Indians. They had a written language, a

commerce that extended to foreign nations in South America, and en-

gaged in many of the amusements prevalent among our smartest set.

They indulged freely, and often too frequently, in palatable wines, and

appear to have been especially fond of gambling. Indeed the indulgence

in this pastime got the hero Ivarr into very serious trouble from which

he had most thrilling escapes. Ivarr takes a long journey from the

country of the Acolhuans to Central America, and Mexico the country

of the Taltecs, who, the author states, were the kinsfolk and contem-

poraries of the Acolhuans of the Ohio valley. There is of course a love-

thread running through the story. One lady Gunhild, a princess among

the Acolhuans, is the beloved of Ivarr, and with her he subsequently re-

turns to Norway, where they live, in their later life enjoying the mem-

ories of their experiences among the Mound Builders of Ohio. General

Beatty has woven into this interesting story very much that the Archaeo-

logists claim in behalf of these prehistoric people. The "Acolhuans" is

not only an excellently imagined story itself, with many thrilling scenes

and graphic descriptions, but is, moreover, well calculated to attract our

attention to and interest us in the days and life of the Mound Builders,

as we see them in our mind's eye. The book is embellished with several

illustrations of the rehabilitated cities and localities of the Mound Build-

ers, the special one of which is that reproducing Fort Ancient as it was

in the day of its habitation. Fort Ancient the author describes as the

city of refuge and the capital of the province. This is in accordance

with a much accredited belief that Fort Ancient was the great central

capital of these people in the Ohio valley. General Beatty very fittingly

dedicates his volume to Colonel E. L. Taylor, a life member of the Ohio

State Archaeological and Historical Society, and one than whom there

are few, if any, so well versed in the life and character of the Mound

Builders and their followers the American Indian. General Beatty's book

is published by McClelland & Co. of Columbus, Ohio.

 

 

THE GREATEST MAN -AN OHIOAN.

A most attractive and interesting little pamphlet has just been

published by Mr. S. F. Harriman, Columbus, O., under the pretentious title

"The Greatest Living Man." The author is Col. William Jackson Arm-

strong, the distinguished writer, and who, under Grant's Administration,

*8 Vol. XII.

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106        Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.   was inspector of foreign consulates. Colonel Armstrong is a most forceful and accomplished writer. His style is more that of the early English essayists than of the modern facile but less elegant wielders of the pen. Colonel Armstrong, in this little monograph, displays a wonderful range of reading, marvelous insight into human nature, and most exact powers of analysis and comparison. He touches upon the leading characteristics of all the great living men, authors, poets, generals, artists, philosophers, scholars, actors, scientists, engineers, inventors, and great captains of industry both foreign as well as American. His essay is a remarkable condensation of vast intellectual sweep and study. He comes to the rather startling conclusion that the greatest living man is none other than Thomas Edison, the inventor, and a native Buckeye, having been born at the little town of Milan, near Norwalk. It is possible that all the world will not agree with Colonel Armstrong's deduction, but, in any event, considering the care and range which he has given to his subject, the Colonel is entitled to very great consideration.

• 83
 

SIEUR DE LA SALLE,

The Great French Explorer, Along the Maumee and Wabash

Rivers in the years 1669 and 1670.

 

BY CHARLES E. SLOCUM, M. D., PH. D., DEFIANCE, OHIO.

M. Jean Talon, Intendant of New France, wrote to Louis

XIV king of France under date of loth October, 1670, that he

had "dispatched persons of resolution, who promise to penetrate

further than has ever been done; the one to the West and to the

Northwest of Canada, and the others to the South West and

South." (Paris Document I, New     York Colonial Documents,

vol. ix, page 64.)

Rene-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle, being thus author-

itatively "dispatched", with a party of twenty-four people started

from La Chine, just above Montreal, on their journey to the south-

west 6th July, 1669, and, the ₃0th September, separated from the

party that was going to the Northwest, near the head of Lake

Ontario; after which, for a period of toward two years, the

journeyings of La Salle, although much discussed by learned

researchers, have not been fully described, nor understood.

La Salle's maps and papers, supposedly descriptive of these

journeyings, were reported by his aged niece to have been in

existence as late as the year 1750; but they have not been found

by his reviewers. In 1674 he returned to France, and while

there had "ten or twelve conversations" with a friend who soon

thereafter wrote, anonymously, a "Histoire de Monsieur de la

Salle," which is reproduced by Pierre Margry in the first volume,

page 376, of his Decouvertes, and from which the following

extract is taken, viz:-

Cependant M. de la Salle continua son chemin par une riviere.

qui va de l'est a l'ouest; et passe a Ononataque, puis a six ou sept

lieues au-dessous du Lac Erie; et estant parvenu jusqu'au 280me ou 83me

degre de longitude, et jusqu'au 41me degre de latitude, trouva un sault

qui tombe vers l'ouest dans un pays bas, marescageux, tout couvert de

vielles souches, dont il y en a quelques-unes qui sont encore sur pied-

1 Vol. XII-2             (107)

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108         Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

II fut donc contraint de prendre terre, et suivant une hauteur qui le pouvoit

mener loin, il trouva quelques sauvages qui luy dirent que fort loin de

la le mesme fleuve qui se perdoit dans cette terre basse et vaste se re-

unnissoit en un lit. Il continua donc son chemin, mais comme la

fatigue estoit grande, 23 ou 24 hommes qu'il avoit menez jusques la le

quitterent tous en une nuit, regagnerent le fleuve, et se sauverent, les

uns a la Nouvelle Hollande et les autres a la Nouvelle Angleterre. Il

se vit done seul a 400 lieues de chez luy, ou il ne laisse pas de revenir,

remontant la riviere et vivant de chasse, d'herbes, et de ce que luy

donnerent les sauvages qu'il recontra en son chemin.

 

This account must have been written from the poor memory

of one evidently not familiar with the full significance of all the

words used, in their relation to country wilds. Possibly it was

done by La Salle's aged niece who affirmed that his maps were

seen about 1750.

A very liberal translation of this excerpt is necessary to make

it intelligible, and such naturally reads as follows:

 

Meantime, M. de la Salle [after parting with the Sulpitians near

the west end of Lake Ontario] continued his way with the Onondaga

[Aborigine, as guide], and up a river [the Maumee River] sixty leagues

beyond Lake Erie. Having attained the 80th degree of longitude, or

possibly the 83rd, and the ⁴1st degree of latitude, he came to a decline

westward through a low, marshy region covered with timber much of

which was dead and fallen, and part standing. He was compelled to

go a long way around on the high land; and there he met savages who

told him that the water flowing from this large marsh soon united in

a good channeled river [the Petite or Little River]. He continued his

way until the distance, cold, hunger, and fears of his men became great,

when his guide and company of twenty-four men left him in the night,

some returning to New Holland and the others to New England. He then

returned up the river, down which he went, living with the savages on

their game, and vegetables.

This rendering accords with an extract given below that has

been published and termed La Salle's memorial to Count Front-

enac (Parkman, page 24), or with all that can be made out of

it, viz:-

 

L'annee 1667, et les suivantes, il fit divers voyages avec beaucoup

de depenses, dans lesquels il decouvrit, le premier beaucoup de pays au

sud des grands lacs, et entre autres la grande riviere d'Ohio; il la

suivit jusqua'a un endroit ou elle tombe de fort haut dans de vastes

• 85
 

Sieur de la Salle.                     109   marais, a la hauteur de 37 degres, apres avoir ete grossie par une autre riviere fort large qui vient du nord; et toutes ces eaux se dechargent selon toutes les apparences dans le Golfe du Mexique. Surely La Salle was not the writer of this paragraph, as Parkman and others allege. It was surely the work of a friend or an amanuensis who did not understand clearly what La Salle told him. A literal translation of it, as of the preceding excerpt, is unintelligible. But, with a naturally free rendering, it accords with the preceding translation, viz:- In the year 1667, and the years following, he [La Salle] made several voyages with much expense, in which he was the first to discover a large extent of country south of the great lakes, and the great river Ohio. He came to this by way of a river which rises in a large swamp and is enlarged by other rivers, and with much fall. He followed it throughout its extent, and along another large river until it was enlarged by another very large river from the north, to the latitude of thirty-seven degrees. According to all appearances these waters are discharged into the Gulf of Mexico. This rendering also makes good La Salle's claim     of being the first to discover the Mississippi, it being that "very large river from the north."

It is also significant that the latitude of 41°, named in the first extract, corresponds with that of the large swamp which,

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110       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.   even through the first half of the 19th century, often partook of the nature of a lake, as shown on Franquelin's map herewith sketched. This swamp existed, until the last few years, a few miles southwest of the City of Fort Wayne, Indiana, it being the broad channel which first drained the Glacial Lake Maumee, and which has since been drained by the Aboite and Little River, the first northern tributary to the Wabash. Also it is significant

Anonymous. Sketch of Central Part. Figures refer to Legends that cannot be given here.   that none of the maps preceding this date, 1669, indicated the River Wabash nor the Ohio, though several do show the Mau- mee. In 1672, however, the Ohio appears on the map of The Basin of the Great Lakes, and Joliet's Smaller Map. Further, the stated latitude of thirty-seven degrees in the second extract accords well with the debouching of the Ohio River into the Mississippi. Fortunately we have corroborating evidence of the justness of the foregoing renderings of the befogged French by the writer. In Tract Number Twenty-five of the Western Reserve Historical Society, Mr. C. C. Baldwin then its Secretary, wrote as follows:

• 87
 

Sieur de la Salle.                     111   Mr. Margry, in a letter addressed to Col. Whittlesey, President of the Historical Society, after expressing in the kindest manner his thanks for the influence exerted here in behalf of his project [the publication of his researches], communicates the following extract of an unpublished letter of La Salle, (no date) which translated reads: The river which you see marked on my map of the southern coast of this lake [Erie] and towards the extremity called by the Iroquois Tiotontaenon, is without

doubt the passage into the Ohio, or Olighira Sipon as it is called in Iroquois, or in Ottawa The Beautiful River. The distance from the one to the other is considerable, and the communication more difficult; but within a day's journey from its mouth at Lake Erie (washing as it flows a beautiful country) and at a musket shot from its banks, there is a little lake [the marsh southwest of Fort Wayne? See Map No. 1] from which flows a stream three or four fathoms wide at the outlet from the lake one fathom in depth. It soon changes, however, into a river by the junction of a number of other streams, which after a course of a hundred leagues, without rapids, [without great fall] receives another

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112        Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.   small river that comes from near the Miamis, and five or six others quite as large, and flowing with greater rapidity along the declivity of a mountain [higher ground] and discharging into the Illinois [Ohio] two

leagues below a village and from there thence into the River Colbert. It is called the Quabachi or Aramoum. The original of this letter was sent to Mr. Parkman, who kindly returned it with the following note:     JAMAICA PLAINS, MASS., 9 Sept., 1872. DEAR SIR: With regard to the extract from La Salle's letter, one or two points are worth attention. It looks like an account made from hearsay. On the map described on pp. 406-7 of Discovery of the Great West, [map No. 2 above] the Maumee River is clearly laid down, with a portage direct to the Ohio, which is brought close to Lake Erie. This map is clearly anterior to 1680. On the map of Franquelin, 1864, made after data furnished by La Salle, the Maumee is also laid down, with a branch [tributary] to the Wabash, designated as R. Agonasake, closely approaching it. Now I have little doubt that 'la riviere que vous avez vue marquee dans ma carte,' is the Maumee, the natural route 'pour aller a la riviere Ohio ou Oleghin (Allegheny) Sipon.' The distance to the portage at Fort Wayne is certainly far more than 'une journee,' but accuracy is scarcely to be ex- pected. After crossing the protage, La Salle speaks of a stream 'qui se change bientot en riviere par la jonction de quantite de semblabies (et) qui apres le cours de plus de 100 lieues sans rapides recoit une autre petite riviere qui vient de proche celle des Miamis.' Such a 'petite riviere' is laid down on Franquelin's map. It flows into the Wabash, and answers to the Tippecanoe. The 'riviere des Miamis, an Franquelin's and other contemporary maps, is the St. Joseph of Lake Michigan. La Salle goes on to say that the main river in question, called by him 'Ouabache or Aramoni,' 'constant le long au penchant d' une montagne, se descharger dans celle des Illinois deux lieues an dessous du village et de la dans le fleuve Colbert' [Mississippi]. He begins by professing to indicate the way to the Ohio, but ends with bringing the traveler not to the Ohio but to the Illinois. I can see no other explanation of the passage, than that of a slip of the pen on La Salle's part, (or that of some copyist,) writing Illinois for Ohio. [See map No. 1, above.] I can think of no other way of making the passage intelligible. This solution derives some support from the circumstance that on Franquelin's map an Aborigine village Taarsila, is laid down a little above the mouth of the Wabash (Ouabache). La

• 89
 

Sieur de la Salle.                      113

 

Salle, you remember, says that the mouth of this river is two leagues below the

village.

The river is called by him 'Aramoni ou Ouabache.' He speaks a few years

later of another Aramoni, identical with the Big Vermillion a branch [tributary]

of the Illinois. One of the branches [tributaries] of the Wabash is also now called

Big Vermillion, and the name Vermillion is given to the county of Indiana where

this branch [tributary] joins the main stream. The coincidence is worth remarking.

Vermillion is mentioned in La Salle's time as among the chief articles of Aborigine

trade, and possibly Aramoni may be the Illinois or Miami name for it.

Yours very truly,

F. PARKMAN.

Summing up the question, it is presumed by the writer that

La Salle's route to the Ohio River was along the south shore of

Lake Erie, thence up the Maumee to its source, thence to and

down the Little River to the Wabash. After being forsaken by

his company, he turned his attention more to the Aborigines,

first for the supply of his immediate wants and, secondly, for

the investigation of trade possibilities. While returning up the

Wabash and down the Maumee in the winter and spring of

1669-70, he undoubtedly met many Miami Aborigines from whom

he may have learned not only of the River St. Joseph of Lake

Michigan, which he afterwards called the Riviere des Miamis,

but of the Kankakee, Desplaines, and Illinois Rivers, which he

explored ten years later after, and with, great difficulties, but

intent upon determining the outlet of the Great River - the Mis-

sissippi - and the best route to it. He visited and associated

with many tribes of Aborigines, and formulated broad plans of

trade with them from his observations and experiences. Accord-

ing to the writing of Nicolas Perrot, the author voyager, La

Salle explored the Ottawa River of Canada in the summer of

1670 with a party of Iroquois.

Could La Salle have accomplished his ambitions and his

plans, he would have led not only the van of discoverers at all

times, but he would have controlled the fur trade of the Great

Lakes, and of the rivers of the Mississippi Basin.        But those

high in authority, as well as the petty dealers, were jealous,

watchful and hampering- while the quiet plottings of assassins

ended his career in the year 1687 at the age of forty-four years.

• 90
 

KOSSUTH BEFORE OHIO LEGISLATURE.

 

[Copy of an address delivered before the General Assembly of Ohio,

February 6, 1852, by Louis Kossuth, the Hungarian Patriot. His appear-

ance before the Assembly was by invitation, and after its delivery a

Committee was appointed to wait upon him and procure the manuscript

of the address. This was secured, with the autograph of Kossuth, and is

now preserved in the State Library. This publication is made from the

original manuscript.-E. O. R.]

MR. PRESIDENT: The General Assembly of Ohio, having

magnanimously bestowed upon me the high honor of this national

welcome, it is with profound veneration that I beg leave to

express my fervent gratitude for it.

Were, even with the honor which I now enjoy, no principles

connected, still the fact would be memorable in history, and

would not fail to have a beneficial influence consciously to develop

the spirit of the age, which however contradicted, however

opposed, still always proved to rule, and will prove to rule the

destinies of humanity.

Applying the touchstone of philosophical scrutiny to that

instruction which history affords, we cannot fail to remark that

almost every century had one predominant idea, which all absorb-

ingly prevailed, and impressed a common direction to the activity

of nations. This predominant idea is the spirit of the age; in-

visible yet omnipresent; impregnable yet all pervading, scorned,

abused, opposed, and yet omnipotent.

The spirit of our age is democracy. -All for the people,

and all by the people. Nothing about the people without the

people.- That is democracy. And that is the ruling tendency

of the spirit of our age.

To this spirit is opposed the principles of despotism, claim-

ing sovereignty over mankind; and degrading nations from the

position of a self-conscious, self-consistent aim, to the condition

of tools, subservient to the authority of ambition.

One of these principles will and must prevail.- So far as

one condition prevails, the destiny of mankind is linked to a com-

(114)

• 91
 

Kossuth Before Ohio Legislature.         115

 

mon source of principles; and within the boundaries of a com-

mon civilization, community of destiny exists. Hence the warm

interest, which the condition of distant nations awakes now-a-

days, in a manner not yet recorded in history, because humanity

never was yet thus aware of that community as it is now. With

this consciousness thus develops. Two opposite principles can-

not rule within the same boundaries. Democracy or despotism.

- There is no transaction between Heaven and hell.

In the conflict of these two hostile principles, until now it

was not right, not justice, but only success, which met approba-

tion and applause.- Unsuccessful patriotism was stigmatised with

the name of crime; revolution not crowned with success was

styled anarchy and revolt; and the vanquished patriot being

dragged to the gallows by victorious despotism. It was not the

consideration, why a man died on the gallows, but the fact it-

self that there he died, which imparted a stain to his name.

And though impartial history now and then cast the halow

(halo) of a martyr over an unsuccessful patriot's grave; yet

even that was not always sure; tyrants often perversed history,

sullied by adulation or by fear;--but whatever that last verdict

might have been; for him who dared to struggle against des-

potism, when he struggled in vain, there was no honor on earth;

victorious tyranny marked the front of virtue with the brand of

a criminal.

To have opposed existing authority, though that authority

was that of a violence, worse than the authority of a pirate is,-

this opposition when unsuccessful was sufficient to exclude from

every place where authority is residing.- The people never failed

to console the outcast first, by its sympathy; but authority shared

not the people's sympathy; regarded rather this very sympathy

as a dangerous sign of the people's propensity to anarchy.

The idea of justice thus prevented; virtue thus deprived of

its fair renown, and honor but attached to success, though crim-

inal, like L. Napoleon's: all this became an obstacle of unmeas-

urable influence to the freedom of nations, never yet achieved

but by a struggle, which success raised to the honor of a glorious

revolution, but failure lowered to the reputation of a criminal

revolt.

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116        Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

MR. PRESIDENT: I feel proud that my humble self became

an opportunity for the restoration of public honors to where it

only should be bestowed; to righteousness, and to a just cause;

where as till now honors were (never) lavished but by success.

I consider this a highly important fact, which cannot fail to

encourage the resolution of devoted patriots, who though not

afraid of death, may be excused for recoiling before humiliation.

Senators and Representatives of Ohio: I thank you for it

in the name of all, who may yet suffer, for having done the

duties of a patriot. You may yet see, many a man who out of

the source of your approbation, will draw encouragement to noble

deeds. Because there are many on earth, ready to meet mis-

fortune for a noble aim; but not so many ready to meet even

humiliation and indignity.

Besides: in honoring me you have approved what my nation

has done.- You have honored my nation by it. And I pledge

my word to you, that it will yet do what you approved.*

The approbation of our conscience, my nation and myself, we

had; the sympathy of your generous people we met; and it is

no idle thing that sympathy of the people of Ohio; it weighs

heavily like the sovereign will of two millions of free men;

powerful like a giant in his stoutest youth;- You have added to

it, the sanction of your authority.- Your people's sympathy you

have framed it into a Law, sacred and sure in all consequences,

- upon which humanity may rely, because you have registered it.

There is also a triumph of the Republican principle in this

your fact. It is as if you had said: Ye despots, who call your-

self sovereigns, and proclaim your arbitrary whim to be the law

of humanity:- we in our legitimate authority, not derived from

sacrilegious violence like yours, but from the only legitimate

 

*The Senate had just introduced the following Joint Resolution:

"Resolved by the General Assembly, That the Governor of Ohio be

authorized, and is hereby instructed to deliver to Louis Kossuth, the Con-

stitutional Governor of Hungary, on loan, all the public arms and muni-

tions of war belonging to the state, which remain undisturbed, to be

returned in good order upon the achievement of Hungarian liberty."

This resolution, on April 12, passed the Senate by a vote of 16 to 8,

but was subsequently, April 15, 1852, indefinitely postponed in the House

by the decisive vote of 59 to 26.- E. O. R.

• 93
 

Kossuth Before Ohio Legislature.         117

 

source of all authority-the sovereign people's will; we declare

before God and the world, that not there is justice and right where

you protest it to be; we approve what ye blame, we honor what

ye calumniate; and defy your ambitious arrogance to dictate,

what shall be law and right for humanity.

But Sir: high though be the value of this noble appro-

bation, I am honored with it, it becomes an invaluable benefit to

all humanity by these resolutions by which the General Assembly

of Ohio, acknowledging the justice of those principles, which it

is my mission to plead in my downtrodden country's name-

declares the mighty and flourishing commonwealth of Ohio re-

solved to restore the eternal laws of nations to their due sway,

too long condemned by arbitrary violence.

It was indeed a sorrowful sight to see, how nations bled,

and how freedom withered, between the iron grasp of despots,

leagued for universal oppression of all humanity. It was a sor-

rowful sight to see, that there is no power on earth ready to

maintain those eternal laws without which there is no security

for whatever (any) nation on earth. It was a sorrowful sight,

to see all nations isolating themselves in defense while despots

were leagued in offense.

The view has changed: A bright lustre is spreading over

the dark sky of humanity. The glorious galaxy of the United

States rises with imposing brightness over the horizon of op-

pressed nations; and the bloody star of despotism, by your very

declarations fading in its flame, will soon vanish from the sky

like a meteor.

Legislators of Ohio: It may be flattering to ambitious vanity

to act the part of an execrated counquerer, but it is a glory un-

paralleled in history to protect right and freedom on earth.

The time draws near when by the virtue of such a declara-

tion like yours by your sister states, Europe's liberated nations

will unite in a mighty choir of Allelujah, thanking God, that His

paternal cares have raised the United States to the glorious posi-

tion of a first born son of freedom on earth.

Washington prophesied that within twenty years, the Repub-

lic of the United States will be strong enough to defy any power

on earth in a just cause.

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118       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

The State of Ohio was yet unborn when the wisest of men

and the purest of patriots told that prophecy.

And God the Almighty made the prophecy true, by annex-

ing in a predigiously short period more states to the proud con-

stellation of your Republic; and increasing the lustre of every

star more powerfully, than Washington could have anticipated

in the brightest moments of his patriotic hopes.

There is a destiny in this: And you are conscious of this

destiny. My sad heart, though depressed by sickness, is beating

with resolution and with hope. Rejoice, oh my nation in thy

very woes; wipe off thy tears, and smile amidst thy tortures, like

the Dutch hero, De Wytt; there is a providence which rules!

Thou wast, oh my nation often the martyr, who by thy blood

redeemed the Christian nations on earth: even thy present name-

less woes are providential; they were necessary that the Star

spangled banner of America should rise over a new Sinai, the

mountain of law for all nations; thy sufferings were necessary,

that the people of the United States, powerful by their freedom,

and free by the principle of national independence, that common

right of all humanity, stand up a new Moses, upon the new Sinai

and shout out with the thundering voice of its twenty-five mil-

lions: "Hear ye despots of the world: Henceforward this shall

be law in the sight of the Lord, your God and our God."

 

"Ye shall not kill nations

"Ye shall not steal their freedom

"And ye shall not covet what your neighbor's is."

 

Hungary is a Golgotha where my people is nailed to the

cross, that America may proclaim that law, to the benefit of all

humanity. But the cross is not the emblem of death, it is the

sign of resurrection and of bliss.

My nation will rise, it will not lie in its grave longer than

the holy number "three," called to resurrection by the eternal

principles of the law of nature and of nature's God, which you

thus proclaim, and will requite your magnanimity by becoming

the cornerstone of national independence on the European conti-

nent.

• 95
 

Kossuth Before Ohio Legislature.         119

 

Sir! there are two remarkable coincidences in all these facts.

The State of Ohio and myself we have the same age. The

very year when your constitution was framed, I was born. My

breast has always heaved with intense interest at the name of

Ohio; it was like as if something of supreme importance lay hid-

den for me in that name; to which my future was bound by the

very year of my nativity.- This day my anticipations are real-

ized.

And the second coincidence is; that the tidings of the present

day will just reach Washington City when the Senators of the

United States sit down in judgment about the question of inter-

national law;--and pronounce about your country's foreign

policy.

Ohio has given its vote, by the Resolutions I had the honor

to hear. And Ohio is one of the brightest stars of the Union.

Ohio's vote is the vote of two millions. It will have its consti-

tutional weight in the councils where the delegates of the People's

Sovereignty, find their glory in doing the People's will.

Sir; it will be a day of consolation and joy in Hungary,

when my bleeding nation reads these resolutions, which I will

send to her;- they will spread like a lightning over the gloomy

land; and my nation unbroken in courage, steady in resolution,

firm in confidence will draw still more courage, more resolution,

more confidence from them; because it is well aware that the

Legislature of Ohio would never pledge a word of which it were

not sure, that the people of Ohio, will be in case of need as good

as that word.

Sir: I regret that my sickness disables me to express my

fervent thanks in a manner more becoming to this assembly's

dignity. I beg to be excused for it; but humbly beg you to be-

lieve, that my nation forever and I for all my life, will cherish

the memory of this benefit with everlasting gratitude.

• 96
 

FORTS MIAMI AND FORT INDUSTRY.

With Mention of Other Forts in and Near the Maumee

River Basin.

 

BY CHARLES E. SLOCUM, M. D., PH. D., DEFIANCE, OHIO.

There were at least five forts, or stockades of defense, in

the "Territory Northwest of the Ohio River" in its earlier his-

tory, that were called Fort Miami, namely:

1. The first one was built in November, 1679, by Rene-

Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle by the River St. Joseph of

Lake Michigan, on rising ground near its mouth. (Parkman's

La Salle and the Discovery of the Great West, page 149.)

The builders were few in number, and their work was well ad-

vanced after twenty days, so it could not have been much of a

fort; but it served its purpose. Evidently it served as a shelter,

also, for the Aborigines thereabouts, and the occasional French

wanderer through its vicinity, for several years; for Charlevoix

wrote "I left yesterday (16th September, 1721,) the Fort of St.

Joseph River *    *"

2. The second Fort Miami was built by order of the French

Governor of Canada in the year 1686 (Harper's Ency. U. S.

His., vol ix, page 486. Paris Doc. V, N. Y. Col. Docs., vol. ix,

page 569), on the right bank of the River St. Mary, within the

limits of the present city of Fort Wayne, Indiana. When vis-

ited by M. de Celoron's expedition in September, 1749, the build-

ings of this fort were small and in poor condition. The stock-

ade timbers were rotten and falling. "Within there were eight

houses, - or, to speak more correctly, eight miserable huts, which

only the desire of making money could render endurable." The

twenty-two French occupants were all afflicted with fever. This

fort was soon thereafter abandoned. (Jesuit Relations, vol. lxix,

page 189.)

3. The third fort of this name was built to replace No. 2.

It was located on the left bank of the River St. Joseph of the

Maumee, not far above its mouth, "a scant league," say two miles

(120)

• 97
 

Forts Miami and Fort Industry.          121

 

or less, from No. 2, and also within the present City of Fort

Wayne. It was built in 1749-50 by Commandant Raimond who

thought it advisable at that time to abandon Fort Miami No. 2

for the more desirable site by the St. Joseph.

Fort Miami No. 3 was surrendered to the British at the

time of their conquest of the French in 1760; and its small

British garrison was captured by the sympathizers with Pontiac in

1763. It was then abandoned as a military post, but the build-

ings were occupied by French traders and Aborigines until they

were decayed and more desirable ones were obtained.

4. A small body of United States troops in passing along

the Ohio River about the year 1790, stopped a short time just

below the mouth of the Little Miami River. Their camp, hastily

protected by logs as was usual by soldiers and even families in

those days of prowling hostile savages, was called Fort Miami.

5. The strongest of all forts of the name Miami, includ-

ing the buildings, garrison and equipment, was built by the Brit-

ish in the spring of 1794 about two miles below the lowest rapids

and on the left bank of the Maumee River, the site being within

the limits of the present Village of Maumee. This was a wide

invasion of United States territory by the British for the

purpose of opposing General Wayne's advance against the sav-

ages themselves directly, or for the better encouragement of the

savages in their opposition. This fort was built according to

the best military plans of that day with the material at hand; and

was surrounded by a broad, deep ditch which was also protected.

It was fully equipped with artillery, and its garrison in 1794

numbered several hundred men. General Wayne wisely decided

not to attack it; but his reconnoiterings of the fort-"within

pistol-shot" distance -would have brought disaster upon him

had a less conservative and considerate officer than Major Camp-

bell been in command.

According to the terms of the Jay Treaty this Fort Miami

was surrendered to United States troops 11th July, 1796, to-

gether with Detroit and the other forts wrongfully held by the

British in United States territory from the close of the Revolu-

tionary War.

• 98
 

122       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

This Fort Miami is the first military post or station authori-

tatively mentioned as existing by the lower Maumee River. Mr.

Knapp, in his History of the Maumee Valley, or the person from

whom he copied, probably confused the Maumee with the Fort

Miami No. 1, built by La Salle by the River St. Joseph of Lake

Michigan, which he called the River of the Miamis. There has

been a lamentable number of copyists, since the first confused

statement, to place a Fort Miami on the lower Maumee in the

year 1680.

There has also been much of conjecture with unauthorita-

tive statements regarding Fort Industry, the site of which tradi-

tion places about the crossing of Summit and Monroe Streets

in the present City of Toledo, Ohio.  Henry Howe, in his

Historical Collections of Ohio in 1846, also in his edition of 1896

volume ii, page 148, wrote that Fort Industry was "erected about

the year 1800."  H. S. Knapp, in his History of the Maumee

Valley, 1872, page 93, wrote that it was built by order of Gen-

eral Wayne immediately after the Battle of Fallen Timbers.

Neither of these writers give any authority; and their statements

are negatively disproved by official records, as follows:

1. The Battle of Fallen Timbers occurred 20th August, 1794,

and General Wayne's army was very busy caring for the wounded

and dead, in searching the country for savages and in destroy-

ing their crops, during the two days before the countermarch

began. The night of the 23rd, according to Lieutenant Boyer's

Diary, the army bivouacked at Camp Deposit, Roche de Bout

(not Roche de Bouef as written by some early chroniclers), and

the morning of the 24th the march was continued up the Maumee

River. This shows that there was not sufficient time between the

Battle and the return march to build even a stockade, with all

the other work on hand, and this, also immediately after the

great excitements and exhaustions of the Battle.

2. No mention is made of Fort Industry, nor of building a

post on the lower Maumee, in the Diary of General Wayne's Cam-

paign, nor in the reports.

3. The report to General Wayne that on the 30th August,

1794, the British Agent, Alexander McKee, had gathered the

Aborigines at the mouth of Swan Creek to feed and comfort

• 99
 

Forts Miami and Fort Industry.           123

 

them ("fix them"), is also presumptive evidence against the ex-

istence there or thereabouts of an American fort or body of troops

at that time. (American State Papers, Aborigine Affairs, vol.

ii, page 526. Also McKee's letter to the British Colonel Richard

England at Detroit.)

4. Timothy Pickering, then acting Secretary of War, re-

ported to the Congressional Committee on the Military Estab-

lishment 3rd February, 1796, the names of the then existing

Military Stations. In this list the name Fort Industry does not

appear. The stations then existing in and near the Maumee

region were Forts Defiance, Wayne, Miami, and Sandusky, all

of which aggregated a force of one battalion of infantry, one

company of riflemen, and one company of artillery at Fort Wayne

which was the headquarters for these posts. Also Forts Adams,

Recovery, Jefferson, Loramie, Head of Auglaize, and Greenville

the headquarters, had one battalion of infantry and one company

of riflemen divided among them.

5. The 2₉th March, 1796, James McHenry, Secretary of

War, with his thoughts on economy, particularly "ought the mili-

tary force of the United States to be diminished," gave to the

before mentioned Committee the list of forts to be mentioned in

this region, with the garrison each should have, as follows: De-

fiance, Wayne, Adams, Recovery, head of Wabash, [Auglaize?],

Miami, and Michillimackinac, each fifty-six men, and Detroit 112

men. In these reports Forts Miami and Detroit were recognized

as the property of the United States, but they were not evacuated

by the British until the 11th July, 1796, according to the report

of Lieutenant Colonel Hamtramck and others.

6. With the date of "War Department 23rd December, 1801,

the estimate of all the Posts and Stations where Garrisons will

be Expedient, and the number of men requisite for each garrison,"

does not contain the name Fort Industry.

7. An official statement of the reduced army under the Act

of March, 1802, and its distribution 1st January, 1803, names

Fort Wayne, with a garrison of sixty-four men, as being the only

fortification or military station then in or near the Maumee

region.

2  ol. XII-2

• 100
 

124       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

8. The report issued from "Head Quarters, Washington,

February 4, 1805, for the year 1803, designating every post and

point of occupancy," does not contain the name Fort Industry.

9. Nor does the name Fort Industry appear in the schedule

of "Posts and places occupied by the Troops of the United

States in the year 1804, taken from the latest returns, and desig-

nating every post and point of occupancy; to which is annexed

the number wanting to complete the Peace Establishment." The

only fort, or United States troops in the Maumee region at this

date was at Fort Wayne with an aggregate garrison, October

31st, 1804, of sixty-eight men. (See American State Papers,

Military Affairs, vol. ii, pages 113, 115, 156, 175, 176.)

In fact, the only authoritative statement that Fort Industry

ever existed is the mere mention of it, "Fort Industry on the

Miami of the Lake," as the place where was held an important

treaty with Aborigines 4th July, 1805, (American State Papers,

Aborigine Affairs, vol. i, page 695); nothing more, nothing be-

fore, and nothing after this date, so far as the writer has been

able to find by several inquiries, in person and by letters, at the

War Department, at the United States Library, and other large

libraries; and there is nothing but tradition to designate its site

within the limits of the present City of Toledo.

The negatives here adduced are equal to positives; hence we

may rest with the belief that "Fort Industry" was little more than

a stockade built hurriedly, industriously,- if a former stockade

inclosure as a trading post there was not repaired instead - in

the summer of 1805 solely for the treaty there held, and called a

"Fort" to make it more impressive to the Aborigines. It was

soon thereafter abandoned by the troops who were then necessarily

present, as at former treaties.

The authenticity of the frontispiece to Knapp's History of

the Maumee Valley is completely set aside in an editorial from

the able pen of S. S. Knabenshue in the Toledo Blade of January

24th, 1903 0. J. Hopkins who drew this view and engraved it

on wood, asserted that his drawing was without foundation, in

fact, and purely a work of his fancy. And such is the case, also,

with the "old painting in oil" that is sometimes referred to, and

of many statements that have been written regarding this fort.

• 101
 

Forts Miami and Fort Industry.          125

 

Before the grading for streets began, two prehistoric semi-

circular earthworks, presumably for stockades, were surveyed in

Toledo; one at the intersection of Clayton and Oliver Streets

on the south bank of Swan Creek, and the other at Fassett and

Fort Streets on the right bank of the Maumee. A third work

of this character was recorded over fifty years ago by the late

Colonel Charles Whittlesey as existing at Eagle Point about two

miles up the river from the Fassett Street work.

From the early records we catch glimpses of different traders

with the Aborigines along the lower Maumee River; and there

can be no doubt that stockades were employed for the protection

of their goods and peltries, from the beginning of the 18th cen-

tury, or before.

• 102
 

OLD FORT INDUSTRY.

 

BY S. S. KNABENSHUE.

 

[Editorial in Toledo Blade, January 24, 1903.- E. O. R.]

Fort Industry existed: that is, there are men still living

who can recall its remains. But that is all we know about it.

In boyhood, they saw the clay bluff, afterward cut down, which

occupied the site of the block bounded by Summit, Water, Mon-

roe and Jefferson streets. On its summit, some six or eight doors

north of Monroe street, was an excavation which had apparently

been a cellar under a cabin, and at least one citizen recalls that

a few of the old uprights of the stockade remained in his boyish

days.

The date of its erection, by whom,- and for what purpose,

have never been determined. The tablet on the Monroe street

side of Fort Industry block recites the popular legend; but no

historic proof of the statements has ever been found. One of

the most persistent searchers for the truth of history in the

Maumee Valley is Dr. Charles E. Slocum, of Defiance. Else-

where in this issue of The Blade, we give a communication from

him which recites all the proved historic facts regarding Fort In-

dustry. It is a valuable contribution to local history, which we

are glad to present to the people of this city and of Northwesern

Ohio.

The conclusion of Dr. Slocum as to the date of and motive

for its erection is hypothetical, of course: but it is the only hypoth-

esis yet advanced which fits in with the negative evidence against

the popular tradition and the assertions of historical compilers

- not investigators - regarding the matter, like Howe and

Knapp. Unless a statement can be proved, it should not be

written up as a fact, and both these historians committed this

error. Legend is not history.

Another fact, to which Dr. Slocum does not refer, is that

no authoritative picture of Fort Industry exists. Several years

ago the writer endeavored to find out all that he could concern-

(126)

• 103
 

Old Fort Industry.                 127

 

ing this point. The frontispiece of Knapp's History of the Mau-

mee Valley is what purports to be a view of Fort Industry. It

represents a high clay bluff, rising steeply from the shore of the

Maumee, seamed by rains, and crowned, on its summit, by a

stockade, at one corner of which is a typical log blockhouse, like

the old one still standing on Bois Blanc Island, in the Detroit

river, near its mouth.

The engraving bears in one lower corner the name of 0.

J. Hopkins - better known, perhaps, as the late Colonel Hopkins,

whose death by accident occurred in Columbus a few months

ago. In his earlier years he was a draughtsman and a wood en-

graver. He was asked as to his authority for the picture. His

reply was, in effect, that he was asked to make it as a frontis-

piece for the Knapp book; that he found no picture of it was in

existence, nor could he find any description of it, or any one who

had seen it when it was intact; hence, he made a picture of it

as he supposed it might be. When asked why he placed a block-

house in it, he replied that he supposed that was the regular thing

at such posts.

It is not at all probable there was any blockhouse. The

"fort" was a simple stockade, made of logs planted vertically in

the ground, and with one or more log houses in it to serve the

purposes of the detachment of soldiers who were here temporarily.

• 104
 

THE TREATY OF GREENVILLE.

 

[The following article comprising the statement of facts, and the re-

print of the wording of the treaty, was prepared by Frazer E. Wilson of

Greenville, Ohio. The material is found largely in his little book, "The

Treaty of Greenville." The reproduction of the signatures and the symbol

signs inscribed by the chiefs to the treaty is from a photograph in exact

size taken from the treaty itself, now carefully preserved in the archives

at Washington, D. C. The photograph was taken by permission of the

government authorities for the purposes of exhibition at the celebration

of the hundredth anniversary of the treaty, held at Greenville, Ohio,

on August 3, 1895. This is the only time a photograph has been made

from the original and the photograph is now in the possession of Hon. A.

C. Robeson, Greenville, Ohio, by whose consent we have been able to

produce the fac similes of the signatures. - E. O. R.]

After the battle on the Maumee, the Indians of the North-

west still hesitated to seek peace. The British agents, Simcoe,

McKee, and Brant, stimulated them to continue hostilities.    They

strengthened their fort near the rapids, supplied the Indians

from their magazines, called a council, and urged the Indians

to propose a truce or suspension of hostilities until spring, in

order to deceive the Americans, that they might neglect to keep

sufficient troops to retain their position.  They also advised the

savages to convey their lands to the King in trust, so as to give

the British a pretext for assisting them, and, in case the Ameri-

cans refused to abandon all their posts and possessions on the

west side of the Ohio, to make a general attack and drive them

across that river. Brant also told them to keep a good heart;

that he would return home, for the present, with his warriors,

and come again in the spring, with a larger force, "to fight, kill

and pursue the Americans." He also "advised them to amuse

the Americans with a prospect of peace, until the tribes should

collect in force to fall upon them early in the spring, and when

least expected."

Notwithstanding all these preparations, the Indians began

to understand their critical condition, and to lose faith in the

British. Information was received from Kaskaskia, that they

(128)

• 105
 

The Treaty of Greenville.             129

 

were crossing the Mississippi every day, and despaired of with-

standing the Americans.

The humane disposition of the victors, however, finally won

their confidence, and, on the 28th and 2₉th of December, the

chiefs of several tribes manifested their desire for peace to the

commandant at Fort Wayne. Proceeding to Fort Greene Ville,

representatives of the Chippewas, Ottawas, Sacs, Pottawattomies,

and Miamis entered, together with the Shawanese, Delawares, and

Wyandots, into preliminary articles with General Wayne on the

24th of January, 1795. The first article provided, "that, until

articles for a permanent peace shall be adjusted, agreed to, and

signed, all hostilities shall cease, and the aforesaid sachems, and

war chiefs, for and in behalf of the nations which they represent,

do agree to meet the above named plenipotentiary of the United

States, at Greene Ville, on or about the 15th day of June next,

with all the sachems and war chiefs of their nations, then and

there to consult and conclude upon such terms of amity and

peace as shall be for the interest and to the satisfaction of both

parties." Article two provided for the prompt report of any

meditated or attempted hostilities of any nation or tribe, against

any post or settlement, to the commander in chief, or to the officer

commanding troops of the United States at the nearest post,

should it come to the knowledge of the nations above mentioned.

Also, that the commander in chief, and his subordinate officers,

should do likewise on behalf of the said Indian Nations.

For the next few months prisoners were exchanged, and the

Indians were preparing to meet in June as agreed. Early in that

month a large number of Delawares, Ottawas, Pottawattomies,

and Eel River Indians, arrived at Greene Ville. These were

the chief men, the scions of many a proud and noted tribe. Some

had met in former treaties with the United States, many had

helped to rout the unfortunate army of St. Clair in 1791, and all

had suffered a telling defeat at the hands of the Americans the

summer previous. Let us picture to ourselves the scene and the

occasion and then listen to some of the words of the principal

participants. The council fire was kindled on the 16th of June

and around its sacred embers gathered a picturesque group of

frontier soldiers, scouts, spies, interpreters and officers. We note

• 106
 

130       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

especially the faces of Wayne, and W. H. Harrison, his aide, of

Wells, Miller and Zane the scouts, and a coterie of French Cana-

dian interpreters. Without the council house and beyond the

artillery park and parade ground appear the long and regular

rows of soldier's cabins and beyond these, on all sides, the log

palisades and guarded bastions of the frontier fort. Gen. Wayne

has extended a cordial greeting in these words: "I have cleared

this ground of all brush and rubbish, and opened roads to the

east, to the west, to the north, and to the south, that all nations

may come in safety and ease to meet me. The ground on which

the council house stands is unstained with blood, and is as pure

as the heart of General Washington, the great chief of America,

and of his great council - as pure as my heart, which now wishes

for nothing so much as peace and brotherly love. I have this

day kindled the council fire of the United States; we will now

cover it up, and keep it alive, until the remainder of the different

tribes assemble, and form a full meeting and representation. I

now deliver to each tribe present a string of white wampum, to

serve as record of the friendship that is this day commenced be-

tween us."

For several weeks the chiefs and warriors kept dropping in,

a few at a time from their distant homes on the Wabash, the

Maumee, and the lake region farther north. They expressed

sentiments of peace and on the 15th of July, the general, after

explaining his commission urged the last treaty with St. Clair

at Ft. Harmar as a basis of lasting peace and advised them to

deliberate a few days. The fire was then raked up and the coun-

cil adjourned to the 18th. On that day the Little Turtle observed

that the treaty at Ft. Harmar "was effected altogether by the Six

Nations, who seduced some of our young men to attend it, to-

gether with a few of the Chippewas, Wyandots, Ottawas, Dela-

wares, and Pottawattomies," and "that he was entirely ignorant

of what was done at that treaty."  Mash-i-pi-nash-i-wish also

stated that he "knew nothing of the treaty in question" on account

of his remote situation on Lake Michigan. Tarke (or Crane), the

Wyandot chief, arose and remarked that he wished it to be de-

termined what nation should speak, and that a day be appointed

when all present, together with those on the way, should meet.

• 107
 

The Treaty of Greenville.            131

 

The General answered that he had paid attention to their

remarks, and that he would endeavor to fully explain to them,

two days hence, the treaty of Muskingum, (Ft. Harmar), of

which so many plead ignorance. Also, that he would recall to

"the Wyandots, Delawares, Ottawas, Chippewas, Pottawattomies,

and Sac nations, what they did at that treaty," and show the

names of those who witnessed it. Council adjourned to meet

on the 20th.

On the evening of the 18th, Blue Jacket and thirteen Shaw-

anese, and Massas with twenty Chippewas, arrived, and were

received into the council house. When the council opened on

the 20th, the Shawanese and Chippewas were present in addition

to the rest, and the General read to them his message to the

hostile Indians on the 13th of August, 1794. He also read and

explained the treaty of Fort Harmar,'and pointed out a number

of chiefs who were present and signed both that and the treaty

of Fort McIntosh, and asked them to consider seriously what he

had said, and upon their next meeting, make known their

thoughts. After Pe-ke-te-le-mund, a Delaware chief, and Mash-

i-pi-nash-i-wish had spoken, the council adjourned, and on the

21st Massas spoke in behalf of the Ottawas, Chippewas and Pot-

tawattomies. He spoke in favor of peace, and stated that the

Three Fires which he represented had poor interpreters at the

treaty of Muskingum, and that if their uncles, the Wyandots,

and grandfathers, the Delawares, had received presents and com-

pensation, they were never informed of it. Tarke, Mash-i-pi-

nash-i-wish, the General, and Massas then made some remarks.

On Wednesday, the 22nd, the tall and crafty Mishikinakwa, the

Little Turtle, chief of the Miamis, who had led in the attack on

St. Clair, arose and said: "General Wayne! I hope you will pay

attention to what I now say to you. I wish to inform you where

my younger brothers, the Miamis, live, and also the Pottawatto-

mies of St. Joseph, together with the Wabash Indians. You have

pointed out to us the boundary line between the Indians and the

United States; but I now take the liberty to inform you that that

line cuts off from the Indians a large portion of country which

has been enjoyed by my fore-fathers, time immemorial, without

molestation or dispute. The prints of my ancestor's houses are

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132       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

everywhere to be seen in this portion. I was a little astonished

at hearing you and my brothers who are now present, telling

each other what business you had transacted together, hereto-

fore, at Muskingum, concerning this country. It is well known

that my forefather kindled the first fire at Detroit; from thence

he extended his lines to the headwaters of the Scioto; from thence

to its mouth; from thence down the Ohio to the mouth of the

Wabash; and from thence to Chicago, on Lake Michigan. At

this place I first saw my elder brothers, the Shawanese. I have

now informed you of the boundaries of the Miami nation, where

the great Spirit placed my forefather a long time ago and charged

him not to sell, or part with his lands, but to preserve them for

his posterity. This charge has been handed down to me. I was

much surprised to hear that my brothers differed so much from

me on this subject; for their conduct would lead me to suppose

that the Great Spirit, and their forefathers, had not given them

the same charge that was given to me; but on the contrary, had

directed them to sell their lands to any white man who wore a

hat, as soon as he should ask it of them. Now, elder brother,

your younger brothers, the Miamis, have pointed out to you

their country; and also to our brothers present. When I hear

your remarks and proposals on this subject, I will be ready to

give an answer. I came with an expectation of hearing you say

good things, but I have not yet heard what I expected.

"Brothers, the Indians! I expected, in this council that our

minds would have been made up, and that we should speak with

one voice. I am sorry to observe that you are rather unsettled

and hasty in your conduct."

The bare record of these words is scarcely sufficient to im-

press the reader as they must have impressed the council. We

must imagine them delivered with gestures similar to those used

lately by an old chief in the far northwest which a witness de-

scribes as follows: "With a sweep of his outstretched arm he

described the lands over which his forefathers had roamed; a

pinch of earth between his thumb and finger what was left to

him and his. A few kernels rattled in a pod typified the Indians

remaining; a cloud of white winged seed shaken upon the evening

breeze symbolized the coming race."

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After the great chief had spoken, Tarke, the Wyandot, arose

and said that the ground belonged to the Great Spirit above, and

that they all had an equal right to it; that he always considered

the treaty of Muskingum  (Ft. Harmar) as founded upon the

fairest principles, as being binding upon the Indians and the

United States alike; and that peace was now desired by all.

On the 2₃rd Blue Jacket, A-goosh-a-way, an Ottawa chief,

Massas, Mash-i-pi-nash-i-wish, and New Corn addressed the

council and showed a desire to bury the hatchet. On the 2₄th,

Blue Jacket opened the council and was followed by the General,

who addressed the Ottawas, Chippewas, and Pottawattomies, the

claimants of the land sold to the United States at the last treaty,

for which they said that they had not been compensated. He

remarked that it was always the intention of the United States

"that the true owners of those lands should receive full compen-

sation for them;" that if they had not received a due proportion

of the goods delivered at that time, it was not the fault of the

United States; and, that notwithstanding these lands had been

twice paid for, once at Ft. McIntosh, and again at Ft. Harmar,

yet the United States would be liberal enough to pay for them

again. He then addressed the Miamis: "Brothers, the Miamis!

I have paid attention to what the Little Turtle said, two days

since, concerning the lands which he claims. He said his father

first kindled the fire at Detroit and stretched his line from thence

to the headwaters of the Scioto; thence down the same to the

Ohio; thence down that river to the mouth of the Wabash, and

from thence to Chicago, on the southwest end of lake Michigan;

and observed that his forefathers had enjoyed that country, un-

disturbed, from time immemorial.

"Brothers! These boundaries enclose a very large space of

country indeed; they embrace, if I mistake not, all the lands on

which all the nations now present live, as well as those which have

been ceded to the United States. The lands which have been

ceded have within these three days been acknowledged by the

Ottawas, Chippewas, Pottawattomies, Wyandots, Delawares, and

Shawanese. The little Turtle says the prints of his forefathers'

houses are everywhere to be seen within these boundaries.

Younger brother! it is true these prints are to be observed, but

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at the same time we discover the marks of French possessions

throughout this country, which were established long before we

were born. These have since been in the possession of the British,

who must, in their turn, relinquish them to the United States,

when they, the French and the Indians, will be all as one people.

"I will point out to you a few places where I discover strong

traces of these establishments; and first of all, I find at Detroit,

a very strong print, where the fire was first kindled by your fore-

fathers; next at Vincennes on the Wabash; again at Musquiton,

on the same river; a little higher up on that stream, they are to

be seen at Quitanon. I discover another strong trace at Chicago;

another on the St. Joseph's, of Lake Michigan. I have seen

quite distinctly, the prints of a French and of a British post, at

the Miami villages, and of a British post at the foot of the Rapids,

now in their possession. Prints, very conspicuous, are on the

Great Miami, which were possessed by the French, forty-five

years ago; and another trace, is very distinctly to be seen at

Sandusky.

"It appears to me, that if the Great Spirit, as you say,

charged your fore-fathers to preserve their lands entire, for their

posterity, they have paid very little regard to the sacred injunc-

tion, for I see they have parted with those lands to your fathers

the French - and the English are now, or have been, in posses-

sion of them all: therefore, I think the charge urged against the

Ottawas, Chippewas and other Indians, comes with a bad grace

indeed from the very people who perhaps, set them the example,

The English and French both wore hats; and yet your fore-

fathers sold them, at various times, portions of your lands. How-

ever, as I have already observed, you shall now receive from the

United States further valuable compensation for the lands you

have ceded to them by former treaties.

"Younger brothers! I will now inform you who it was who

gave us these lands in the first instance;- it was your fathers the

British, who did not discover that care for your interests which

you ought to have experienced. This is the treaty of peace, made

between the United States of America and Great Britain, twelve

years ago, at the end of a long and bloody war, when the French

and Americans proved too powerful for the British; on these

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terms they obtained peace. (Here part of the treaty of 1783

was read.)

"Here you perceive, that all the country south of the great

lakes has been given up to America; but the United States never

intended to take that advantage of you, which the British placed

in their hands; they wish you to enjoy your just rights, without

interruption, and to promote your happiness. The British stipu-

lated to surrender to us all the posts on this side of the boundary

agreed on. I told you some days ago, that treaties should ever

be sacredly fulfilled by those who make them; but the British,

on their part, did not find it convenient to relinquish those posts

as soon as they should have done; however, they now find it so,

and a precise period is fixed for their delivery. I have now in

my hands the copy of a treaty, made eight months since, between

them and us, of which I shall read you a little. (First and second

articles of Mr. Jay's treaty read.)

"By this solemn agreement they promise to retire from Mich-

ilimackinac, Fort St. Clair, Detroit, Niagara, and all other places

on this side of the lakes, and leave the same to the full and quiet

possession of the United States.

"Brothers! All nations present, now listen to me!

"Having now explained those matters to you and informed

you of all things I judged necessary for your information, we

have nothing to do but to bury the hatchet, and draw a veil over

past misfortunes. As you have buried our dead with the con-

cern of brothers, so I now collect the bones of your slain warriors,

put them into a deep pit which I have dug, and cover them

carefully over with this large belt, there to remain undisturbed.

I also dry the tears from your eyes, and wipe the blood from your

bodies, with this soft, white linen. No bloody traces will ever

lead to the graves of your departed heroes; with this I wipe all

such away. I deliver it to your uncle, the Wyandot, who will

send it round amongst you. (A large belt, with a white string

attached.)

"I now take the hatchet out of your hands, and with a strong

arm, throw it into the centre of the great ocean, where no mortal

can ever find it; and I now deliver to you the wide and straight

path to the fifteen fires, to be used by you and your posterity,

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forever. So long as you continue to follow this road, so long

will you continue to be a happy people. You see it is straight

and wide, and they will be blind indeed, who deviate from it.

I place it also in your uncle's hands, for you. (A large road

belt.)

"I will, the day after to-morrow, show you the cessions which

you have made to the United States, and point out to you the

lines which may, for the future, divide your lands from theirs;

and as you will have to-morrow to rest, I will order you a double

allowance of drink, because we have now buried the hatchet and

performed every necessary ceremony, to render propitious, our

renovated friendship."

Discussion and explanation continued until the 3rd of August.

On that day the council assembled to sign the treaty. Gen-

eral Wayne again read his commissions and explained his author-

ity for holding the same, said that he had fulfilled his instructions,

and then read for the third time the articles of the treaty which

had been engrossed. The chiefs then signed and were informed

that one part should be delivered to the Wyandots for preser-

vation, the other, to the Great Chief, General Washington, and

that in addition each nation should receive one copy; also, that

the goods to be given them would now be apportioned and de-

livered in a few days.

The Indians remained a few   days at Greene Ville for

the distribution of presents; speeches were delivered and the

calumet of peace was finally passed to those who had not yet

smoked it. Thus was consummated a treaty of far reaching

importance concerning the effectiveness of which Rufus King,

the historian, testifies-"Never after that treaty, to their honor

be it remembered, did the Indian nations violate the limits which

it established. It was a grand tribute to General Wayne that

no chief or warrior who gave him the hand at Greene Ville ever

after 'lifted the hatchet' against the United States. There were

malcontents on the Wabash and Lake Michigan who took sides

with Tecumseh and the Prophet in the war of 1812, perhaps for

good cause, but the tribes and their chiefs sat still."

The number of the different nations at and parties to the

treaty were as follows: Wyandots, 180; Delawares, 381; Shaw-

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anese, 143; Ottawas, 45; Chippewas, 46; Pottawattomies, 240;

Miamis, and Eel Rivers, 73; Weas and Piankeshaws, 12; Kicka-

poos and Kaskaskias, 1O; making a total of 1130.

The treaty was neatly engrossed on three pieces of parchment

26 inches wide and from 25 to 31 inches long. It reads as

follows:

 

GEORGE WASHINGTON, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF

AMERICA:

To all to whom these presents shall come- Greeting.

WHEREAS, a Treaty of peace and friendship between the

United States of America and the tribes of Indians called the

Wyandots, Delawares, Shawanoes, Ottawas, Chippewas, Putawa-

tames, Miamis, Eel River, Weea's, Kickapoos, Piankashaws and

Kaskaskias was made and concluded on the third day of August

one thousand seven hundred and ninety-five by Anthony Wayne,

Major-General commanding the Army of the United States, duly

authorized thereto, on the one part, and the Sachems and war

chiefs of the beforementioned Nations and Tribes of Indians

whose names are thereunto signed on the other part which Treaty

is in the form and words following, viz:

A TREATY OF PEACE between the UNITED STATES OF AMER-

ICA and the Tribes of INDIANS called the Wyandots, Delawares,

Shawanoes, Ottowas, Chippewas, Putawatimes, Miamis, Eel

River, Weea's Kickapoos, Piankashaws and Kaskaskias.

To put an end to a destructive war to settle all controver-

sies and to restore harmony and a friendly intercourse between

the said United States and Indian Tribes, Anthony Wayne,

Major-General commanding the Army of the United States and

sole Commissioner for the good purposes above mentioned, and

the said tribes of Indians, by their Sachems, Chiefs and Warriors

met together at Greene Ville the Head Quarters of the said Army

have agreed on the following Articles, which when ratified by the

President with the advice and consent of the Senate of the United

States shall be binding on them and the said Indian Tribes.

"ARTICLE 1ST. Henceforth all hostilities shall cease; peace

is hereby established, and shall be perpetual; and a friendly inter-

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course shall take place between the said United States and In-

dian Tribes.

"ARTICLE 2ND. All prisoners shall, on both sides, be re-

stored. The Indians, prisoners to the United States, shall be im-

mediately set at liberty. The people of the United States, still re-

maining prisoners among the Indians, shall be delivered up in

ninety days from the date hereof, to the General or commanding

officer at Greene Ville, Fort Wayne, or Fort Defiance; and ten

chiefs of said tribes shall remain at Greene Ville as hostages until

the delivery of the prisoners shall be effected.

"ARTICLE 3RD. The general boundary line, between the

lands of the United States and the lands of the said Indian tribes,

shall begin at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River, and run thence

up the same, to the portage between that and the Tuscarawas

branch of the Muskingum; thence, down that branch to the cross-

ing place, above Fort Lawrence; thence Westerly, to a fork of

that branch of the Great Miami River running into the Ohio, at

or near which fork stood Loramie's store, and where commences

the portage between the Miami of the Ohio, and St. Mary's

River, which is a branch of the Miami, which runs into Lake

Erie; thence, a westerly course to Fort Recovery, which stands

on a branch of the Wabash; thence, South Westerly in a direct

line to the Ohio, so as to intersect that river, opposite the mouth

of the Kentucke, or Cuttawa river. And in consideration of the

peace now established, of the goods formerly received from the

United States, of those now to be delivered, and of the yearly

delivery of goods now stipulated to be made hereafter, and to

indemnify the United States for the injuries and expences they

have sustained during the War, the said Indian tribes do here-

by cede and relinquish forever, all their claims to the lands lying

Eastwardly and Southwardly of the general boundary line, now

described; and these lands, or any part of them, shall never here-

after be made a cause or pretence, on the part of said Indian

Tribes, or any of them, of war or injury to the United States, or

any of the people thereof.

"And for the same considerations, and as an evidence of the

returning friendship of the said Indian tribes, of their confidence

in the United States, and desire to provide for their accommoda-

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tion, and for that convenient intercourse which will be beneficial

to both parties, the said Indian tribes do also Cede to the United

States, the following pieces of land, to wit: 1. One piece of

land, six miles square, at or near Loramie's store; before men-

tioned. 2. One piece two miles square, at the head of the navig-

able water or landing on the St. Mary's river, near Girty's Town.

3. One piece six miles square, at the head of the navigable

water of the Au Glaize River. 4. One piece six miles square,

at the confluence of the Au Glaize and Miami Rivers, where Fort

Defiance now stands. 5. One piece six miles square, at or near

the confluence of the Rivers St. Mary's and St. Joseph's, where

Fort Wayne now stands, or near it. 6. One piece two miles

square, on the Wabash river, at the end of the portage from the

Miami of the Lake, and about eight miles westward from Fort

Wayne. 7. One piece six miles square, at the Ouiatenon, or

old Wee'a Towns, on the Wabash river. 8. One piece twelve

miles square, at the British fort, on the Miami of the Lake, at

the foot of the rapids. 9. One pice six miles square, at the

mouth of the said River, where it empties into the Lake. 10. One

piece six miles square upon Sandusky Lake where a Fort formerly

stood. 11. One piece two miles square at the lower rapids of

Sandusky River. 12. The Post of Detroit, and all the lands to

the North, the West, and the South of it, of which the Indian

title has been extinguished by gifts or grants to the French or

English Governments; and so much more land, to be annexed to

the district of Detroit, as shall be comprehended between the

River Rosine, on the South, Lake St. Clair, on the North, and a

line, the general course whereof shall be six miles distant from

the West end of Lake Erie and Detroit river. 13. The Post

of Michilimackinac, and all the land on the Island on which

that Post stands, and the main land adjacent, of which the Indian

title has been extinguished by Gifts or grants to the French or

English Governments; and a piece of land on the main, to the

north of the Island, to measure six miles on Lake Huron, or the

Streight between Lake Huron and Michigan, and to extend three

miles back from the water of the Lake or Streight; and, also the

Island de Bois Blanc, being an extra and Voluntary gift of the

3 Vol. XI --2

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Chippewa Nation. 14. One piece of land six miles square, at

the mouth of the Chikago River, emptying into the South West

end of Lake Michigan where a Fort formerly stood. 15. One

piece twelve miles square, at or near the mouth of the Illinois

River, emptying into the Mississippi. 16. One piece six miles

square, at the old Piorias fort and Village, near the South end

of the Illinois Lake, on said Illinois River. And whenever the

United States shall think proper to survey and mark the boun-

daries of the lands hereby ceded to them, they shall give

timely notice thereof to the said Tribes of Indians, that they may

appoint some of their wise chiefs, to attend and see that the lines

are run according to the terms of this treaty.

"And the said Indian tribes will allow to the people of the

United States, a free passage by land and by Water, as one and

the other shall be found convenient thro their Country, along

the chain of Posts herein before mentioned; that is to say, from

the commencement of the portage aforesaid, at or near Loramie's

store, thence along said portage to the St. Mary's, and down the

same to Fort Wayne, and then down the Miami to Lake Erie-

again, from the commencement of the portage at or near Lora-

mie's store, along the portage from thence to the river Au Glaize,

and down the same to its junction with the Miami at Fort Defi-

ance; again, from the commencement of the portage aforesaid,

to Sandusky River, and down the same to Sandusky bay and

Lake Erie, and from Sandusky to the post which shall be taken

at or near the foot of the rapids of the Miami of the Lake; and

from thence to Detroit-again, from the mouth of the Chikago,

to the commencement of the portage, between that River and the

Illinois, and down the Illinois River to the Mississippi-also, from

Fort Wayne, along the portage aforesaid, which leads to the

Wabash, and then down the Wabash to the Ohio-and the said

Indian tribes will, also, allow to the people of the United States,

the free use of the harbours and mouths of Rivers along the Lakes

adjoining the Indian lands, for sheltering Vessels and boats, and

liberty to land their cargoes where necessary for their Safety.

"ARTICLE 4TH. In consideration of the peace, now estab-

lished, and of the cessions and relinquishments of lands made in

the preceding article by the said tribes of Indians, and to manifest

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the liberality of the United States, as the great means of render-

ing this peace strong and perpetual, the United States relinquish

their claims to all other Indian lands, Northward of the river

Ohio, eastward of the Mississippi, and westward and southward

of the Great Lakes, and the waters uniting them; according to the

boundary line agreed on by the United States and King of Great

Britain, in the treaty of peace, made between them in the Year

1783. But, from this relinquishment by the United States, the

following tracts of land are explicitly excepted. 1st. The Tract

of One hundred and fifty thousand acres, near the rapids of the

Ohio, which has been assigned to General Clark, for the use of

himself and his Warriors. 2d. The post of St. Vincennes, on the

river Wabash, and the lands adjacent, of which the Indian title

has been extinguished. 3rd. The lands at all other places in

possession of the French people, and other white Settlers among

them, of which the Indian title has been extinguished, as men-

tioned in the 3rd Article. And 4th, the Post of Fort Massac, to-

words the mouth of the Ohio. To which several parcels of lands,

so excepted, the said tribes relinquish all the title and Claim which

they or any of them may have.

"And for the same considerations, and with the same Views

as above mentioned, the United States now deliver to the said

Indian tribes, a quantity of goods, to the value of Twenty thou-

sand Dollars, the receipt whereof they do hereby acknowledge;

and henceforth, every year, forever, the United States will deliver,

at some convenient place northward of the river Ohio, like use-

ful goods, suited to the circumstances of the Indians, of the value

of nine thousand five hundred dollars; reckoning that value at

the first cost of the Goods in the city or place, in the United States,

where they shall be procured. The tribes to which these goods

are to be annually delivered, and the proportions in which they

are to be delivered, are the following: 1st. To the Wyandots,

the amount of one thousand dollars. 2nd. To the Delawares,

the amount of one thousand dollars. 3rd. To the Shawanoes,

the amount of one thousand dollars. 4th. To the Miamis, the

amount of one thousand dollars. ₅th. To the Ottawas, the

amount of one thousand dollars. 6th. To the Chippewas, the

amount of one thousand dollars.  7th. To the Putawatimes,,

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the amount of one thousand dollars. 8th. And to the Kicka-

poo, Weea, Eel River, Piankashaw, and Kaskaskias tribes, the

amount of five hundred dollars, each. Provided, that if either

of the said tribes shall, hereafter, at an annual delivery of their

share of the goods aforesaid, desire that a part of their annuity

should be furnished in domestic animals, implements of hus-

bandry, and other Utensils convenient for them, and in compen-

sation to useful artificers, who may reside with, or near them,

and be employed for their benefit, the same shall, at the subse-

quent annual deliveries, be furnished accordingly.

"ARTICLE 5TH. To prevent any misunderstanding about the

Indian lands relinquished by the United States in the fourth

article, it is now explicitly declared, that the meaning of that

relinquishment is this: The Indian tribes who have a right to

those lands, are to quietly enjoy them, hunting, planting and dwell-

ing thereon, so long as they please, without molestation from the

United States; but when those tribes, or any of them, shall be

disposed to sell their lands, or any part of them, they are to

be sold only to the United States; and until such sale, the United

States will protect all the said Indian tribes in the quiet enjoy-

ment of their lands, against all Citizens of the United States, and

against all other white persons who intrude upon the same. And

the said Indian tribes, again acknowledge themselves to be under

the protection of the Said United States, and no other power

whatever.

"ARTICLE 6TH. If any Citizen of the United States, or any

other white person or persons, shall presume to settle upon the

lands, now relinquished by the United States, such citizen or

other person shall be out of the protection of the United States;

and the Indian tribe, on whose land the Settlement shall be made,

may drive off the Settler, or punish him in such manner as they

shall think fit; and because such settlements, made without the

consent of the United States, will be injurious to them, as well

as to the Indians; the United States shall be at liberty to break

them up, and remove and punish the settlers as they shall think

proper, and so effect that protection of the Indian lands here-

inbefore stipulated.

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"ARTICLE 7TH. The said tribes of Indians, parties to this

Treaty, shall be at liberty to hunt within the territory and lands

which they have now ceded to the United States, without hind-

rance or molestation, so long as they demean themselves peace-

ably, and offer no injury to the people of the United States.

"ARTICLE 8TH. Trade shall be opened with the said Indian

tribes; and they do hereby respectively engage to afford protec-

tion to such persons, with their property, as shall be duly licensed

to reside among them, for the purpose of trade, and to their

Agents and Servants; but no person shall be permitted to reside

at any of their towns or hunting camps, as a trader, who is not

furnished with a license for that purpose, under the hand and

seal of the superintendent of the Department northwest of the

Ohio, or such other person as the President of the United.States

shall authorize to grant such licenses, to the end that the said In-

dians may not be imposed on in their trade. And, if any licensed

trader shall abuse his privilege by unfair dealing, upon complaint

and proof thereof, his license shall be taken from him, and he

shall be further punished according to the laws of the United

States. And if any person shall intrude himself as a trader, with-

out such license, the said Indians shall take and bring him before

the superintendent, or his deputy, to be dealt with according to

law; and, to prevent impositions by forged licenses, the said In-

dians shall at least once a year, give information to the superin-

tendent, or his deputies, of the names of the traders residing

among them.

"ARTICLE 9TH. Lest the firm peace and friendship now

established should be interrupted by the misconduct of individu-

als, the United States and the said Indian tribes agree that for

injuries done by individuals, on either side, no private revenge

or retaliation shall take place; but, instead thereof, complaint

shall be made by the party injured, to the other, by the said

Indian tribes, or any of them, to the President of the United

States, or the Superintendent by him appointed; and by the

Superintendent or other person appointed by the President,

to the principle chiefs of the said Indian tribes, or of the tribe to

which the offender belongs, and such prudent measures shall then

be pursued, as shall be necessary to prserve the said peace and

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friendship unbroken, until the Legislature (or Great Council) of

the United States shall make other equitable provision in the case,

to the satisfaction of both parties-should any Indian tribes

meditate a War against the United States, or either of them and

the same shall come to the knowledge of the before mentioned

tribes or either of them they do hereby engage to give immediate

notice thereof to the General or Officer commanding the troops

of the United States, at the nearest post. And should any tribe,

with hostile intentions against the United States, or either of

them, attempt to pass through their country, they will endeavor to

prevent the same, and in like manner give information of such

attempt, to the general, of officer commanding, as soon as pis-

sible, that all causes of Mistrust and Suspicion may be avoided

between them and the United States. In like manner, the United

States shall give notice to the said Indian tribes of any harm

that may be meditated against them, or either of them, that shall

come to their knowledge, and do all in their power to hinder and

prevent the same, that the Friendship between them may be Un-

interrupted.

"ARTICLE 1OTH. All other Treaties heretofore made between

the United States and the said Indian tribes, or any of them,

since the treaty of 1783, between the United States and Great

Britain, that come within the purview of this treaty, shall hence-

forth cease, and become Void.

"In testimony whereof, the said Anthony Wayne, and the

Sachems and War Chiefs of the before mentioned nations and

tribes of Indians, have hereunto set their hands and affixed their

seals.

"Done at Greene Ville, in the Territory of the United States

northwest of the River Ohio, on the third day of August, one

thousand seven hundred and ninety-five.

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The Treaty of Greenville.            159   Now KNOW YE, That I having seen and considered the said Treaty do by and with the advice and consent of the Senate of the United States, accept, ratify, and confirm the same and every article and clause thereof. In testimony whereof I have caused the seal of the United States to be hereunto affixed and signed the same with my hand. Given at the city of Philadelphia the twenty-second day of December in the year of our Lord One thousand seven hundred and ninety-five and in the twentieth year of the sovereignty and independence of the United States.

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THE "DIVIDE."

The Water-Shed of Richland County, Ohio.

 

BY A. J. BAUGHMAN.

The far-famed barn, from the eaves of which the rain-falls

flow from one side into Lake Erie and from the other to the

Ohio river is situate near "Five Corners" in Springfield township,

seven miles west of Mansfield, Richland County, on the West

Fourth street, or Leesville road.

That this barn is not a myth but an actual reality can be veri-

fied by a visit to the locality. The farm upon which the building

stands is owned by C. Craig, a cousin of Dr. J. H. Craig, of

Mansfield.

While this barn is not on the highest point of land in the

state, it is upon the actual "divide," and has an elevation of 832

feet above the lake, 965 feet above the Ohio river, and 1,265 feet

above the sea. A mile east of the Craig barn is the Ralston knob,

which reaches a higher elevation, but is not a "divide," for the

surface waters from its several sides all find their way into the

Mohican.

Contrary to the general opinion, the roof of this barn does not

face north and south, but to the east and west, being situate upon

a spur extending a short distance to the north from the dividing

ridge proper, which traverses Ohio from the northeast to the

southwest. From the east line of Ohio in Ashtabula county, the

crest of the water-shed extends in a tortuous course through

Trumbull, Geauga, Portage, Summit, Medina, Wayne, Ashland,

Richland, Crawford, Marion and Hardin counties and from the

latter it throws off a lofty spur into Logan county, but the main

line continues from Hardin southwest between Auglaize and

Shelby, through the corner of Mercer and the northern part of

Darke to the Indiana line, at elevations ranging from 400 to 900

feet. The gravel knobs - like the one at Ralston's, are frequently

found along the divide, and are interesting subjects in the study

of surface geology.

(160)

• 137
 

The "Divide."                   161   The fountain-heads of the Sandusky and the Mohican rivers are only a half mile apart. The former has its source in the Palmer spring and the latter from a pond or little lake near the southeast corner of the cross-roads known as "Five Corners," one and a half miles north of Ontario. And about midway be-

tween these two river sources is the Craig barn, where the surface waters separate. The pond mentioned has two outlets; from its east end flows the Black Fork, and from the west the Clear Fork of the Mo- hican. After running a quarter of a mile in an easterly direction, the little stream, which later becomes so dark as to be yclept "Black Fork," turns boldly to the north through a gap, and for

• 138
 

162       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

several miles parallels the Sandusky, but as they near the north

part of the township, the Sandusky veers to the northwest,

passes through Tiffin and north to Fremont and Sandusky Bay,

Lake Erie.

The Black Fork runs almost due north a distance of ten

miles to Shelby and beyond, then turns abruptly to the east, leaves

the south side of Holtz's grove, makes a graceful bend at Ganges,

and after pursuing a tortuous course to the southeast, turns to

the south after leaving the old site of the Indian village of Green-

town, then glides slowly through Perrysville and Loudonville,

and below the latter unites with the Clear Fork after a crooked

course of 50 miles.

The output from the west end of the pond runs to the south-

west for about a mile, then curves to the southeast, is called the

Clear Fork, and after a journey of 35 miles, passing Bellville and

Newville, finally unites with the Black Fork south of Loudonville,

forming the Mohican river.

That the Black and the Clear Forks of the Mohican river

have the same source is a fact that is but little known and was

never before published.

The peculiar topography of the country enables the Black

Fork to take a course northward towards the lake through a gap

-Shafer's Hollow-in the crest of the watershed, and the

stream ripples cheerily along until its course is turned by an eleva-

tion, which changes not only its course but the color and character

of the stream as well, for thereafter its waters become dark and

seem sullen and sluggish. But the Clear Fork, as its name indi-

cates is clear and sparkling, carrying health and good-cheer upon

its bosom, while smiles seem to play upon the surface of its

waters.

The Craig neighborhood where these interesting water

courses bubble up from gravelly depths, now has trolly line con-

nections with both Crestline and Mansfield, and Shafer's Hollow,

the gap in the "divide," has become a picnic resort.

The Palmer spring - the source of the Sandusky river - is

123 feet above Crestline, and supplies the town with water through

pipes.

• 139
 

The "Divide."                     163

 

Richland county is famous for high altitude. The chestnut

ridge, three miles south of Bellville, has an elevation of 952 feet

above the lake. The Sheckler hill on the old state road three

miles north of Bellville, is 912 feet, while the hill a mile north

of Sheckler's, upon which the German Settlement church is

situated, has an elevation of 932 feet, and the city of Mansfield,

according to the profile of the old S., M. & N. Railroad, is 657

feet above the lake. The Pennsylvania roads mark it 592.

The local influence of this altitude upon the climate, with its

isothermal lines and rain-shadings, might here be considered and

reviewed, but are not strictly within the province of this article.

• 140
 

GENERAL JOSEPH KERR.

 

BY WM. E. GILMORE, CHILLICOTHE, OHIO.

 

[The following article from the pen of Mr. Gilmore appeared in the

columns of The Daily Scioto Gazette of March 21, 1903. As this article

presents the history of Senator Kerr, no where else to be found, it is

thought sufficiently valuable to deserve permanent preservation and is

therefore herewith republished.- E. O. R.]

 

At length my inquiries and correspondence, begun in 1886,

for the purpose of recovering something of the personal history

of General Joseph Kerr, a very early resident of Chillicothe, and

in his day a very prominent and important one, has met with some

success through the kind assistance of Mr. Henry Clay Carrel,

an eminent architect, of 1123 Broadway, New York, who is a

son of the well known Captain Hercules Carrel, formerly of

Cincinnati, and a great-grandson of General Kerr.

It has been strangely difficult to get information in regard

to this notable person, owing to many peculiar causes. In the

first place he himself was utterly indifferent as to whether his

fellow citizens or any others knew anything about him or not.

In the second place, while his correct name was Kerr, almost

every person who knew him spelled and pronounced it Carr, and

this fact gave infinite trouble to his descendants afterward, in

proving up title to a large land grant, made by the Republic of

Texas to soldiers of its revolutionary war with Mexico.

He was defeated in long litigation for that magnificent farm

just east of this city, known as the Watts farm, and the defeat

almost impoverished him, and greatly embittered him.

He had been unjustly treated, he thought, in large contracts

for supplies to the army of the U. S., operating under General

Hull. He had quarrelled with Gov. Thomas Worthington, to

whose remnant of senatorial term he had been elected by the

General Assembly of Ohio, and finally he, with his family, had

made two or three changes of residence after leaving Chillicothe

in 1824, and if he ever wrote a single letter back to any one here,

(164)

• 141
 

General Joseph Kerr.                165

 

I never could hear of it, although I have made diligent search

for such.

And so "his trail" was lost, and so completely lost, that even

so intelligent, industrious and resourceful an investigator as Col.

W. A. Taylor, of Columbus, gave it up, and in his list of Ohio

Statesmen, simply designates him as "the lost Ohio Senator."

Therefore, when I, this morning, received the documents.

which enable me to give the salient points of General Kerr's per-

sonal history, as herein given, from his great-grandson, Mr. H.

C. Carrel, I was inclined to echo the old Greek's shout, "eureka!

eureka!"

General Joseph Kerr was born of Scotch ancestry in Cham-

bersburg, Pennsylvania, in 1765, and was married in that city,

to Nancy Daugherty, a young lady of Irish descent, in 1788. He

removed to Ohio with his young family "in the year 1792," ac-

cording to the statements of his son, James D. Kerr, (who was

still living on a part of the homestead farm, in Carrel Parish,

near Lake Providence, Louisiana, in 1887-and I do not know

how much later) "and settled on an highly improved and large

tract of bottom land, one mile below Chillicothe on the Scioto

river, but the title was disputed by a Virginian by the name of

Watts, who, after 18 years of litigation, gained the land from my

father."

This date, 1792, must be wrong, for it is four years earlier

than the advent of Nathaniel Massie's party of original settlers

in this valley, or the occupancy of this region by any white peo-

ple. But certainly Kerr came very soon after Massie's party did,

i. e., very soon after April 1st, 1796.

I can myself remember that a lane, which led from the north-

eastern part of this city, eastward to the race track on the Watts

farm, was known as "Carr's Lane."  The oldest powderhouse

was located upon it, near its eastern end.

He was elected to the legislature as a representative from

Ross county, in 1804. When Thomas Worthington resigned his

place in the United States senate in 1814, to accept the governor-

ship of Ohio, to which he had been elected. Mr. Kerr was elected

to fill out the unexpired part of his term, which, however, only

lasted from December 10th, 1814, to March 4th, 1815. At that

• 142
 

166       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

time he and Worthington were decidedly "at outs" with each

other, and I never could understand how and why he was selected

to succeed to Worthington's remnant of a senatorial term.  It

may be that it was as a peace-offering from the friends of the

governor-elect in that General Assembly.

Senator Kerr held a commission as brigadier general of

volunteers in 1812-1815, and is reported to have seen some service

in the field, during the war, but I am not able to say what or how

much it was.

In 1824, Kerr, with his family, left Ohio, intending to re-

move to Mexico, but stopped at Memphis, Mississippi, and having

bought land near there, for a few seasons followed farming.

But this location, not proving satisfactory, he moved further

south and settled finally in Louisiana, a little below Lake Provi-

dence, in what is now known as Carrel Parish. Here his wife

died in 1833, and he followed her to the grave in 1873.

Nine children had been born to General Kerr and his wife

during their union. These were, in order of their births, named

Aletha, Harriet, Chambers, Elie, Clara, Susan, Nathaniel, James

and Joseph. I am unable to follow the story of these children

beyond the fact that Elie was appointed a West Point cadet about

1816, and that Joseph and Nathaniel early enlisted in the Revolu-

tionary army of Texas, and were both killed by the Mexicans

under Santa Anna, in the assault and capture of the Alamo.

Both Joseph and Nathaniel were born here in Chillicothe, as

were also several of their brothers and sisters.

In consequence of the confusion which always existed be-

tween the names, Kerr and Carr, great trouble ensued in settling

the identity of the two sons killed in the Alamo, and securing the

land grants which the Republic of Texas gave to the personal

representatives of her soldiers who were killed or died in that

war. Testimony was taken in the case, here in Chillicothe, nota-

bly the depositions of Dr. William Waddle and of his mother,

Mrs. Nancy Mann Waddle, and of Col. James McLandburg.

• 143
 

THE TOWNS CALLED CHILLICOTHE.

 

[In Volume XI, page 230, of the Society's Publications was a valu-

able article by Prof. R. W. McFarland of Oxford, Ohio on the

Chillicothes. This article led to an interesting discussion in the Chilli-

cothe News-Advertiser, of which Mr. W. H. Hunter, one of the trustees

of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society, is editor. We

reprint the articles which speak for themselves. The communications by

Dr. Morgan and Prof. McFarland appeared in the daily issue of the above

named paper on the dates of January 7, and February 2, 1903, respec-

tively.-E. 0. R.].

 

DR. MORGAN'S CRITICISM.

To the editor of the News-Advertiser.

In your issue of December 19, you make mention of Dr.

McFarland, a correct historian, having written an article for

The State Historical Society Quarterly on the Chillicothes, and

republish the paper.

He writes of five different towns having that name, and

draws special attention to town No. 2, which he locates about

three miles north of Xenia.

He states that this town is the one so often mentioned in

connection with Boone and Kenton, and admonishes the people

who read the lives of these two hunters to bear it in mind. The

reader will take notice that he speaks of these two men as being

only hunters.

The next town of importance in connection with history in

the mind of the Doctor is Chillicothe No. 3, which he locates on

the west side of the Scioto river near the present site of Westfall.

The present writer is very skeptical in regard to the location of

this town. It is generally conceded that about all the Pickaway

towns were situated on the east side of the river. Besides, the

writer is in possession of history that recites the story of a peri-

lous escape of a company of surveyors from the Indians in 1794,

and when they halted and camped for the night it was in the

vicinity of where Westfall is located. A body of trained men

(167)

• 144
 

168       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

would not be likely to camp in the vicinity of a town inhabited

by their pursuers.

The Doctor gives no importance whatever to Old Chillicothe

on the North Fork of Paint creek.

We are willing to admit that the Chillicothe on the Little

Miami was an important Indian town, but not willing to con-

cede that the town No. 2, or any other town is the one always

referred to in connection with the lives of Boone and Kenton.

The fact is, we have much evidence to dispute the statement.

We feel strongly fortified when we state that the Chillicothe on

the North Fork of Paint creek, now called Frankfort, was the

most important Shawnee town in the country, unless it was Chilli-

cothe on the Little Miami. We feel that Dr. McFarland was

much mistaken when he stated that Chillicothe No. 2 should

always be held in mind when reading of Boone and Kenton.

The old Chillicothe where Kenton had the most bitter experi-

ence during his long and eventful life was the Chillicothe on the

North Fork of Paint creek.

Frankfort now occupies that spot. After the present Chilli-

cothe was laid out the "Old Town" was called Old Chillicothe

to distinguish it from the new one. This was a natural conse-

quence on account of their close proximity; they being only

eleven miles apart.

From this Old Chillicothe many raids were made on the

Kentucky frontier. When the Indians crossed the Ohio river

at or near where Maysville now stands the Kentucky inhabitants

could be almost absolutely certain that the Indians were from the

Paint creek and Pickaway towns.

The trail was through Adams, Pike and Ross counties.

The writer was fortunate, some years since, in having a

volume of notes put into his hands by a friend that has been very

valuable to him in regard to the very early history of a portion

of the Northwest Territory. The notes were taken by Rev.

David Jones of Revolutionary fame, while on a missionary visit

to the Shawnees in 1773.

From this little volume we learn that the first village he

struck was on the west side of Deer creek, in what is now Union

• 145
 

The Towns Called Chillicothe.           169

 

township, Ross county. It was called Pickaweeke, and took its

name from a tribe of Indians called the Picks. He says that the

inhabitants were a mixture of Shawanee and other nations, but it

was called a Shawanee town. He went from Pickaweeke to Blue

Jacket's town, which he locates three or four miles north on the

same stream. Jones was highly entertained by Blue Jacket, who,

Rev. Jones says, was called the King. This Blue Jacket was the

leader of the combined forces of the Indians when they were

defeated in 1794 by General Wayne. Rev. Jones says that Blue

Jacket was not an Indian, but a white man who had been taken

prisoner when a boy and reared among the Indians. His right

name was Marmaduke Van Sweringin. I believe I have never

seen this statement made in history. (Pardon the digression.)

On Friday, January 22, 1773, Rev. Jones left Blue Jacket's

town in company with a Mr. Irwine for the Chillicaathee town.

They arrived in the afternoon. Mr. Jones gives a very interest-

ing account of his experience with the Chillicothe (Chillicaathee)

Indians. He states that the town was the chief town of the

Shawanees. The reader will please remember the last statement.

He locates the town north of a large plain, adjacent to a branch

of Paint creek. This corresponds to the location of "Old Town,"

or Frankfort, as it is now called.

I believe that the Jones notes are the earliest recorded history

that speaks of a Chillicothe in this portion of the country. In

this I may be mistaken, but I am not mistaken in the fact that

Jones says that it was the chief town of the Shawanees, and that

it was located on a branch of Paint creek.

A little volume lies before me that was written by Col.

John McDonald, which contains a sketch of the life of General

Simon Kenton. This little sketch was not written by a long

distance historian, nor by a stranger. Instead, it was written

by a companion in the wilderness. When McDonald was pre-

paring this sketch, although an old man, he made his way on

horseback from his home on Poplar Ridge in Ross county, to the

head of Mad river in Logan county, to the humble cabin of the

old warrior, and gathered many of the facts that are embodied

in the sketch of the most interesting career of the most interest-

ing frontiersman of the Northwest territory.

• 146
 

170       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

McDonald says in his sketch that "in the year 1789 the

writer first became acquainted with Kenton, and although young,

was with him in many excursions after the Indians."

In the sketch we find that in 1778 Boone and Kenton with

nineteen men made a tour into the Indian country with the avowed

purpose of attacking a small Indian village on Paint creek.

When they arrived near the town they were surprised by

about forty Indians whom they put to flight. On account of

the town being apprised of the approach of the whites the pro-

ject of surprising and taking the town was abandoned. The

reader can here see that Boone and Kenton were together on

Paint creek.

Again McDonald says "About the first of September of the

same year, 1778, Kenton again organized an expedition into the

Indian country. In this expedition he was joined by Alexander

Montgomery and George Clarke. The purpose was to obtain

horses from the Indians."

McDonald says that they proceeded to Chillicothe, (now Old

Town). They succeeded in obtaining seven horses. They pro-

ceeded to the Ohio and attempted to cross at the mouth of Eagle

creek, Brown county. The waves ran so high that the horses

could not be induced to cross. As the result of this delay they

were overtaken by the Indians. Montgomery was killed and

Kenton taken prisoner. Clarke made his escape. McDonald de-

tails the cruel treatment inflicted upon Kenton while in captivity.

This was the time that Kenton was lashed to a vicious horse

and turned loose in the woods. The next day, after their arrival

at Chillicothe, Kenton was made to run the gauntlet. McDonald

says that some two or three hundred Indians joined in the sport.

He was kicked and cuffed most unmercifully, his clothes were

torn from his body, and he was left naked and exhausted on the

ground.

That was the bitterest experience of Kenton's eventful life.

Again, McDonald says, "In the year 1787, Kenton asked Col.

Todd to join him in a raid against the Indians. Kenton said that

with their joint forces they could destroy the Indian town on the

North Fork of Paint creek, (now Old Town, then Chillicothe).

• 147
 

The Towns Called Chillicothe.          171

 

"Kenton as usual commanded a company and piloted the

expedition to the Chillicothe town. On their route out, about

five miles south of Old Town, on a place now called Poplar Ridge,

(this was the home of McDonald,) the advance guard, com-

manded by Kenton, met four Indians. Kenton and Helm fired

and killed two Indians, and the other two were taken prisoners.

"From the prisoners they learned that there was a large

Indian encampment between them and Old Chillicothe, about

three miles from the latter place."

On account of the impatience of some of the men they

failed to surprise the town, word having reached the inhabitants,

when all took naked to the woods. The town was burned to

ashes and everything around destroyed. The army camped that

night on the North Fork of Paint creek.

Again, McDonald says, "In 1795, Kenton led a party of thirty

men against the Indians. They expected to head the Indians off

about the moutth of Paint creek on the Scioto. When they came

to a place known as Reeve's crossing they came to a fresh trail.

They found the Indians camped on the bank of Paint creek."

After submitting the foregoing facts we leave the reader to

judge whether or not Dr. McFarland's town No. 2 was the town

for the reader to keep in mind when reading of Boone and Ken-

ton. We are sorry that mistakes occur in history as often as

they do. But the most careful reader is liable to misread or to

remember indistinctly. J. B. F. MORGAN.

 

It is true that Dr. McFarland, in the article referred to,

speaks of Boone and Kenton as "hunters." But it does not fol-

low that he held them in no higher regard. In other published

articles he gives them due credit for their manifold services to

the pioneer community; and frequently, in personal conversation,

I have heard him refer to them in terms that showed him to be

fully cognizant of the great aid which they rendered to settlers

in the wilderness, and the part which they took in preparing it.

for civilization.

There can be no doubt that Blue Jacket was a white man,

as stated by Jones. He and a younger brother were captured by

5 Vol. XII-2

• 148
 

172       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

Indians; the latter was restored to his family, but Marmaduke

became one of the tribe by adoption. This statement is made in

other books, though I do not recall just where, and the fact is

well known to persons now living in Chillicothe. Descendants

of Blue Jacket are, or were within a few years, still living some-

where west of the Mississippi.- G. F.

 

 

PROF. MCFARLAND'S REPLY.

To the Editor of the News-Advertiser.

In your issue of January 7th, there was a review of a brief

article which was originally published in the Ohio Archaeological

and Historical Quarterly. The reviewer makes a display of mis-

takes which he claims to have found. I propose to show that

the reviewer is in error, and that in his comment he has made

worse mistakes than he charges against me. The following state-

ment shows how the original article on the Chillicothes came to

be written:

Some months ago, being in correspondence with a Columbus

gentleman, a fellow member of the Ohio Archaeological and His-

torical Society, a man of extensive literary culture, mention was

made of the fact that there were several Indian towns, formerly

in Ohio, having the name of Chillicothe; and that sometimes

confusion arose in the minds of readers as to the location

of these towns, and the part they played in the early history of

the state. The suggestion was made that it might be well to

give a short statement of the facts and print it in the Quarterly.

It was so done. At all the places named I have been scores of

times, of course long after they were abandoned by the Indians.

So far as I can make out, only two mistakes are claimed to

be found: first, that the Chillicothe on the Little Miami was not

the town generally meant when Boone and Kenton were named,

and, secondly, that the Westfall Chillicothe was on the east side

of the Scioto.

The sole reason adduced to support this second case, is a

report that some surveyors encamped over night not far from

Westfall, and if the town had been on the west side, the survey-

• 149
 

The Towns Called Chillicothe.          173

 

ors were in danger of being killed; this in 1794, twenty years

after Dunmore's expedition. And as the country was being sur-

veyed, what evidence was there to show that the town was of

any importance; or whether, at that time, it was inhabited at all?

It is not stated how far away the surveyors pitched their camp

- whether one mile or ten. One place would have been about

as dangerous as the other in case the savages knew of their posi-

tion; and either place was safe if the enemy did not know where

the party was encamped. Further, how long would it have taken

the Indians to cross the river, even if the town had been on the

east side? This claim that the town, for the above reason, was

east of the Scioto, borders on the absurd, not to say the ridicu-

lous. Besides, it is contradicted by the traditions of more than

a hundred and twenty-five years, and by the testimony of every

writer of Western history who mentions the town at all;--at

least, all whose works I have read. The mistake is Dr. Morgan's,

not mine.

Now, as to the other alleged mistake;- that the Chillicothe

near Xenia was not the town usually meant when Boone and

Kenton were spoken of in connection with a town of this name.

Dr. Morgan labors to show that it was the Paint creek town. He

further claims that this was the chief town of the Shawnees. I

have something to say on each of these two points.

The suggestion that I spoke disparagingly of Boone and Ken-

ton in calling them "hunters," is well and fully answered by "G.

F.," in the note printed at the end of Dr. Morgan's article. I

was not giving my own or the country's estimate of the two men,

but merely stated (for the information of any who might wish

to know) that the Little Miami town was often named in connec-

tion with the two men. The fact that both men had been at

the Paint creek town, has been known to me almost all my life.

Again, there is not one word in my original article on the Chilli-

cothes, which by any possibility can be twisted to signify that I

gave any estimate of the relative importance of the several towns.

But as this point has been raised, it will receive due attention.

The order in which the towns were named is of no significance.

Any other order would do as well.

• 150
 

174       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

If the Paint creek town was the chief one, how came it to

pass that of the six great military expeditions to punish the In-

dians, not one was directed against the Paint creek Chillicothe,

although a considerable portion of three of the armies came down

the Ohio, and were within sixty miles of the place?  Here fol-

low the six expeditions:

1st. That of George Rogers Clark, who, in 1780, with a

mounted regiment, moved on to attack the Chillicothe on the

Little Miami; then a few hours afterward fought the great

battle at Piqua, six miles below Springfield, on Mad river, the

Indians making a "desperate defense."

2nd. In 1782, Clark, with 1,050 men, attacked the Shawnees,

at Upper Piqua, on the Great Miami. A detachment made a

night march of about fifteen miles farther, and destroyed Lora-

mie's store. In his report of this expedition Clark says, "We

surprised the principal Shawnee town on the evening of the 10th

of November."   One writer says that the Upper Piqua is said

at one period to have contained nearly 4,000 Shawnees.

Dr. Morgan gives an account of a contemplated attack on

the Paint creek town, by Boone and Kenton, with nineteen others

-a not very formidable army, as men estimate forces. Refer-

ence to this affair will be made later on.

3rd. In 1786, Col. Benjamin Logan led a force of about

1,000 men against the Shawnee towns on the upper waters of

the Mad river, in what is now Logan county. Eight towns were

utterly destroyed.

4th. In 1790, Gen. Harmar, with 1,500 men marched against

the Indians of Western Ohio.

5th. In 1791, Gen. St. Clair with more than 1,400 men made

a like move.

6th. In 1793-4, Gen. Wayne, with 3,000 men, played havoc

with these same Indians before making his treaty.

In none of these six campaigns was any mention made of

this "chief town of the Shawnees on Paint creek." Still, if any-

one wishes so to consider it, I would not willingly disturb his

serenity of soul.

For his principal historical points, Dr. Morgan relies on

McDonald's Sketches. I read those sketches when they were:

• 151
 

The Towns Called Chillicothe.           175

 

first printed in a weekly newspaper in Cincinnati. This was some

years after Kenton's death. We are told that when McDonald

was an "old man" he rode all the way from Ross to Logan county

to see Kenton, and "gathered many of the facts" given in his

sketches. This was an honorable way of proceeding, and the

"old man" should have due credit for his carefulness. Let us

examine the matter a little further, and see whether there was

a possibility - nay, even a probability - of making "mistakes."

Kenton was about eighty years old, and he had no written account

of his multitudinous exploits.  He gave his statements from

memory only. It is also possible that McDonald has attributed

to one town events which occurred at another, both towns bearing

the same name. One such case is referred to below. Remember

that this event took place more than fifty-five years before McDon-

ald's conference with Kenton. But before giving a specific ac-

count of this error, it may be well to show what opportunities I

have had of gaining information on the general subject.

William Kenton was eighteen years older than his brother,

Simon. William and his family moved from Fauquier county,

Virginia, to Kentucky in the fall of 1783, and thence to the val-

ley of Mad river, in Champaign county, Ohio, in 1801, Simon

having preceded him a year or two. William's children were

Philip, Thomas, Elizabeth, Mark, Jane, Mary and William. With

the first four of these I was well acquainted for more than a

score of years, the other three having died before my time; but

I was acquainted with the children and grandchildren of all the

seven, as also with Simon Kenton and his children and grand-

children. My father married Philip's oldest daughter. The

first twenty-five years of my life were spent among the Kentons.

The Kentons formed a sort of colony of no mean dimensions.

In the early 40's I taught school for more than two years, in

three adjoining districts, and in each about half the pupils be-

longed to some branch of the Kenton family. 'For the last thirty

years of Simon's life, his residence and my father's were not

many miles apart, although each of the men had changed his

place of residence at least three times. In the last four or five

years of Simon's life, when unable to undergo the fatigue of

constant labor, he was accustomed to visit his children, his neph-

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176       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

ews and nieces, and he was always heartily welcomed. On these

occasions, the lads of eight, ten or twelve years, always beset

the old "hunter," and begged him to tell of his fights with the

Indians. I was one of those youngsters, and heard the stories

from Simon's own lips.

One item I mention here -an item, so far as I know, now

for the first time put on record. To the question as to how many

Indians he had killed, the answer was that when he was entirely

alone, he had shot sixteen, but he did not know how many he

had killed when he was in company with others. Hundreds of

times I have heard the exploits of Simon talked over by his

relatives -accounts told them by Simon himself. It was a sub-

ject that never grew old.

In 1838 I read to Thomas Kenton McClung's sketch of

Simon. Like many other pioneers he had never learned to read.

Many times when I had finished one story he had me read it

over again, and slowly, so that he might see whether it agreed

with Simon's account of the same story. In this way the whole

sketch was read over two or three times. He detected but one

mistake, and that was of no moment. All the rest agreed with

what Simon had always said - only that the author had not men-

tioned one-quarter of the scouting expeditions which Simon had

made. My father, who, for thirty years was associated with

Kenton, had a like opinion of McClung's sketch. I claim, there-

fore, that McClung's account is substantially correct.

I return now to the mistake above referred to; it is the ac-

count of the horse-capturing raid. Dr. Morgan says: "The old

Chillicothe where Kenton had the most bitter experience of his

long and eventful life, was the Chillicothe on the North Fork of

Paint creek." This statement I flatly contradict; and I will show

to the satisfaction of any fair-minded person that it was the Chilli-

cothe on the Little Miami, north of Xenia, and I will also point

out how the mistake was most probably made. Dr. Morgan states

that Boone and Kenton, with nineteen others, undertook an ex-

pedition against a Paint creek Indian town. The account, as

printed in Dr. Morgan's article, is as follows: "In the sketch we

find that in 1778, Boone and Kenton, with nineteen men, made a

tour into the Indian country with the avowed purpose of attack-

• 153
 

The Towns Called Chillicothe.         177

 

ing a small Indian village on Paint creek. When they arrived

near the town they were surprised by about forty Indians whom

they put to flight. On account of the town being apprised of the

approach of the whites, the project of surprising and taking the

town was abandoned."

McClung's version gives a more detailed statement, as fol-

lows: "Kenton sustained two sieges in Boonesborough and served

as a spy with equal diligence and success, until the summer of

1778, when Boone, returning from captivity, concerted an expe-

dition against the small Indian town on Paint creek. Kenton

acted as a spy in this expedition. * * * Being some distance

in advance of the rest, he was suddenly startled by hearing a

loud laugh from an adjoining thicket which he was about to enter.

Instantly halting, he took his position behind a tree, and anxiously

awaited a repetition of the noise. In a few minutes, two Indians

approached the spot where he lay, both mounted upon a small

pony, and chatting and laughing in high good humor. Having

permitted them to approach within good rifle distance, he raised

his gun, and, aiming at the breast of the foremost, pulled the

trigger. Both Indians fell - one shot dead, the other severely

wounded. Their frightened pony galloped back into the cane,

giving alarm to the rest of the party, who were some distance in

the rear." I abbreviate the remainder of the account. Kenton

ran forward to dispatch the wounded Indian and secure the scalps,

but while thus engaged, he heard a rustling in the cane, and look-

ing up, "he beheld two Indians within twenty steps of him, very

deliberately taking aim at his person." Kenton jumped aside

and the bullets whistled near his head. He ran to the shelter of

a tree, and a dozen more Indians emerged from the canebrake;

but just then Boone and the others ran up, "and opening a brisk

fire upon the Indians, quickly compelled them to regain the shelter

of the canebrake, with the loss of several wounded." A surprise

of the town being now impossible, Boone returned with all the

men except Kenton and Montgomery. These two "determined to

proceed alone to the Indian town, and at least obtain some recom-

pense for the trouble of their journey." They did so, took four

horses, and making a rapid night's march, returned in safety to

Kentucky. McClung continues, "Scarcely had he returned when

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178       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

Col. Bowman ordered him to take his friend Montgomery, and

another young man named Clark, and go on a secret expedition

to an Indian town on the Little Miami, against which the Colonel

meditated an expedition, and of the exact condition of which he

wished to have certain information. They instantly set out in

obedience of their orders, and reached the neighborhood of the

town without being discovered." From this point on the accounts

given by McDonald (or quoted) and by McClung agree in all

the essential points. The small difference is that McDonald says

they attempted to cross the Ohio at the mouth of Eagle creek,

but the Kentons said that in the first raid, when four horses had

been taken, they crossed the Ohio at Eagle creek, but in the

second, the attempt to cross was made at the mouth of White

Oak, ten miles further down the Ohio. The pursuit, the failure

to cross, the death of Montgomery, the escape of Clark, the cap-

ture of Kenton, the wild ride back to Chillicothe, the gauntlet,

etc., etc., are the same in both narratives. McClung says "on

the Little Miami;" McDonald, as quoted, says "they proceeded to

Chillicothe," and so they did, but it was not the town on Paint

creek.

The council decided not to burn Kenton at Chillicothe, but

to go to Wapatomica, on the upper waters of Mad river. Kenton

asked a renegade white man what would be done with him at

Wapatomica. He replied, "Burn you, G-d d-n you." Ken-

ton resolved to escape. His conductors started on the trip. Ken-

ton "meditating an effort for liberty, and as often shrinking from

the attempt. At length he was aroused from his reverie by the

Indians firing off their guns, and raising the scalp halloo. The

signal was soon answered, and the deep roll of a drum was heard

in front." Then Kenton "sprung into the bushes and fled with

the speed of a wild deer. The pursuit was instant and keen,

some on foot, some on horseback." In his flight Kenton ran into

a company of horsemen who were coming from the village to

meet those who were conducting Kenton.    "He was again

haltered and driven before them to the town like an ox to the

slaughter house. Upon reaching the village (Pickaway), he was

fastened to a stake near the door of the council house, and the

warriors again assembled in debate. In a short time they issued

• 155
 

The Towns Called Chillicothe.           179

 

from the council house, and surrounding him, they danced, yelled,

etc., for several hours. * * * On the following morning

their journey was continued  *                   *     * and on the second day

he arrived at Waughcotomoco."                  [This is McClung's way of

spelling; others usually write Wapatomica.]

The correctness of this account is confirmed by all the testi-

mony touching it. The journey from Chillicothe to Pickaway,

[usually written Piqua, six miles from Springfield, down Mad

river] was made in one day, with several hours to spare. The

distance from the Chillicothe on the Little Miami is about twelve

miles in a straight line, the distance from the Chillicothe on Paint

creek is about fifty miles similarly measured. To travel the dis-

tance in one day and have "several hours" to spare, was easily

practicable from the town on the Little Miami. But to travel

the distance from the Chillicothe on Paint creek, to Piqua, and

have "several hours" to spare, when you reflect that the windings

of the journey would add some miles to the distance, was abso-

lutely impossible. Some one has confused his Chillicothes.

"He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it."

It is with great reluctance that I have taken time to expose

the "mistakes" made by Dr. Morgan, or those on whom he relied,

and I decline any further controversy on the subject.

R. W. MCFARLANLD.

• 156
 

THE BUCKEYE.

 

BY ALICE WILLIAMS BROTHERTON.

The rose and the thistle and the shamrock green

And the leek are the flowers of Britain;

The fleur-de-lys on the flag of France

In a band of blood is written;

But what shall we claim for our own fair land,

What flower for our own fair token?

The golden rod? or the tasseled maize?

For each has its own bard spoken,

Oh, the tasseled corn for the whole broad land,

For the Union no power can sever;

But the buckeye brown for the Buckeye State

Shall be our badge forever.

Like twisted thorns are the waving plumes

Of the buckeye blossom yellow,

The buckeye leaf is an open hand

To greet either foe or fellow;

And brown as the eyes of the antlered deer,

Is the fruit from the branches shaken,

Of the sturdy tree that in Buckeye hearts

Can a loyal throb awaken.

Oh, the tasseled corn for the whole broad land

For the Union no power can sever;

But the buckeye brown for the Buckeye State

Shall be our badge forever.

Oh, the stalwart oak, and the bristling pine

And the beech, are a stately trio;

But dearer to me is the spreading tree

That grows by the fair Ohio.

The buckeye tree with its branches broad,

Its burr with the brown fruit laden,

Is the dearest tree that springs from the sod,

To the Buckeye - man or maiden.

(180)

• 157
 

Centennial Tribute to Ohio.            181

 

Oh, the tasseled corn for the whole broad land

For the Union no power can sever;

But the buckeye brown for the Buckeye State

Shall be our badge forever.

 

 

CENTENNIAL TRIBUTE TO OHIO.

 

BY JOHN HOPLEY.

Hail, fair OHIO, from the great Northwest,

The first established free state and the best;

Where bounteous Nature spread with lavish hand

A fertile soil throughout this favored land,

And filled the tree-crowned hills with varied stores

Of inexhaustible and precious ores,

Where flowing streams combine with inland seas

And stately forests, rustling in the breeze,

To make thee "beautiful"- with pride elate

We pay this tribute to our glorious state.

 

But greater than by produce of her mines

And fertile fields, our fair OHIO shines;

Her earnest sons in every land are found

Where enterprise with rich reward is crowned;

And whether nerve in act or nerve in brain

Be in demand OHIO's sons sustain

The glory of their State and, prominent

In deed or council, still are dominant;

'Tis thus Ohio men build up her fame

And by their greatness glorify her name;

Though precious ores and corn and wine and oil,

Be the rich product of her fertile soil,

Yet most we glory in her greatness, when,

She demonstrates her chiefest product - MEN.

Bucyrus, Ohio.

• 158
 

THE CENTENNIAL ODE.

 

BY J. M. HARDING.

Columbia's pride, Ohio, grand and fair,

Where wealth and beauty are beyond compare,

Where labor, truth and knowledge have control,

Thy name is peer upon the honor roll.

Ohio, first-born of the great Northwest,

Nursed to thy statehood at the Nation's breast

And taught wisdom of the Ordinance Rule-

No slav'ry chain but e'er the public school,

Ohio, name for what is good and grand,

With pride we hail thee as our native land;

With jealous pride we sing our heartfelt lay

To laud thy name, this first Centennial Day.

One hundred years and half as many more

Ago, from ripples on proud Erie's shore

Far to the south where, beautiful and grand,

The placid river's wave kissed untrod sand,

The dusky twilight of the forest old

Concealed the native Indian, wild and bold.

Within the awe of that primeval wood

The white-skin captive, pining, lonely stood

And longed to lift the prison veil to roam

From savag'ry to join dear ones at home.

Here lived the greatest, noblest Indian men,

Retreating from their Eastern glade and glen,

They crossed the River, called this land their own

And hoped to hunt and fish and live alone.

Here came another Race. The renegade,

The scout, the trapper, followed each his trade.

Here, too, the priest and bishop, with sad face,

Converted souls, built missions, "Tents of Grace."

But they are gone. The annals of the strife

That brought to one race death, another life,

(182)

• 159
 

The Centennial Ode.               183

 

Have oft been writ, by deeds not free from stains,

In noblest blood that coursed a race's veins.

Then came forth through the gateway of the West

That band of war-scarred soldiers, all in quest

Of peaceful homes. Their river voyage past,

The Mayflower of the West, her moorings fast

To Buckeye faith. With noble, pure, desire

Debarked that crew - to found a new empire.

They brought with them their all; but ere they came

The purest laws that Liberty could frame.

More settlers followed them. With steady stroke

And fire they cleared the land of native oak,

And reared the cabin homes. Soon did appear

The rude log schoolhouse of the pioneer.

One decade and a half of honest toil

Create a state of Freemen on Free soil.

One century of statehood - statehood such

As all the World proclaims the guiding touch

Of man's long strife for liberty, and one

Full-gemmed with pure deeds that men have done.

When Tyranny, in dark expiring throe,

A few times dared on our horizon show

A cloud of war, Ohio's noble sons

Were first to bear and last to stack their guns

With Erie's waters mixed their crimson blood;

They reached and crossed the Rio Grande's flood;

They "Starred and Striped" the Montezuma's halls,

They filled the ranks at Lincoln's sev'ral calls,

And fought till Freedom won. Ohio's roll

Was near Four Hundred Thousand men, each soul

Free born and taught, for that great civil strife.

Ohio men in ev'ry fight were rife,

In cabinet and battle camp each plan,

A Stanton, Chase, a Sherman, Sheridan

Or Grant direction gave. The slave is free.

The breeze but one Flag floats from sea to sea.

Pure, noble women, honest, learned men

For peace and progress here have ever been,

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184       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

Each morning's breeze, throughout our hills and dells,

Wafts on its wings chimes of ten thousand bells;

Ten thousand fields of sheep and kine give voice;

Ten thousand whistling factories rejoice;

Four million people rise, from slumber sweet

In happy homes, their daily tasks to meet,

Ohio, pearl of Western forest sea,

Where lived a Race in dark antiquity,

To speak to us of industry and toil

With tongues entombed in mounds of clay and soil;

Ohio, guardian of eternal right,

The lamp of justice burned but dimly bright

Till thou, from off thy Northwest Throne,

Interpreted, with will and arm of stone,

That grand old page, where Heaven's guided pen

Had said, "Born free, and equal are all men;"

Ohio, may thy "Jewels" number rise

To guard thy name a thousand centuries.

Caldwell, Ohio, February 4, 1903.

• 161
 

EDITORIALANA.

OHIO DAY IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. At the regular monthly meeting of the Executive Committee of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical society, held Friday, July 18, 1902, Professor C. L. Martzolff, trustee, presented a scheme to have the public schools throughout the state, celebrate the admission of Ohio into the Union on March 1, 1903. He proposed that the Society, through a committee, prepare a program of exercises for that occasion, such program to consist of historical sketches, literary excerpts, poems and other literary matter pertinent to the day for the children to read or recite, and that this literature with some suggestive schedule of exer- cises, be sent to the superintendents and principals of all the schools of the state. Professor L. D. Bonebrake, School Commissioner, and Mr. O. T. Corson, editor of the Ohio Educational Monthly, had sig- nified their willingness to co-operate in this matter. The Executive Committee of the Society endorsed this plan and appointed Professor C. L. Martzolff, Professor F. B. Pearson and Hon. D. J. Ryan as a committee to prepare such program and report to a subsequent meet- ing of the Executive Committee. Accordingly on November 14, 1902, at the first joint meeting of the Centennial Commission appointed by the Governor and the Executive Committee of the Ohio State Archaeo- logical and Historical Society, this matter was presented by Hon. A. R. McIntire and it met with the approval of the joint committee. Again at the meeting of the Executive Committee of the Society on Decem- ber 13, 1902, Professor Martzolff, on behalf of his committee, reported that they proposed to send to the principals of the schools a little pamphlet containing the program of exercises for the children to fol- low, with a list of books and literature to be consulted.   A  pre- liminary statement in the form of a circular had already been sent to very many of the teachers and something over one hundred of the county newspapers. These papers had published the circular and com- mented favorably thereon. The matter had thus been sufficiently adver- tised to establish its popularity and justify the carrying out of the project. It would, however, require considerable expense. The only source from which funds for the purpose could come was the Centen- nial appropriation of $10,000 made by the legislature in its extraordinary session, October 22, 1902. The Executive Committee decided to recom- mend to the Joint Centennial Committee that this proposition for the (185)

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186         Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

school day celebration be carried out and that a sufficient amount be

voted from the centennial fund for the purpose. At the second joint

meeting of the Centenntial Commission, held December 29, 1902, Pro-

fessor Martzolff presented the proposed pamphlet to be sent to the

teachers, which was entitled "The Ohio Centennial Syllabus," the material

of which would constitute a pamphlet of 64 pages, with an appropriate

cover upon which was printed the National flag in colors. This pamphlet

comprised an introduction by School Commissioner Bonebrake, a

statement of the history and work of the Ohio State Archaeological and

Historical Society; statement of the committee preparing this material

setting forth the purpose of the school celebration; the origin of the

plan and steps taken to carry it out. The material chosen for this

pamphlet was carefully selected by the committee from leading his-

tories, volumes of poems, works of literature, publications of the Ohio

Archaeological and Historical Society, etc., also a valuable list of reference

books pertinent to Ohio history. The Centennial Commission made the

proposed appropriation and authorized the committee to proceed with the

publication and dissemination of this pamphlet. It was decided not to

hold the school celebration on March 1, 1903, which was the real date of

the admission of Ohio, because that date fell this year on Sunday, but rather

to hold it on Friday, February 27, which day would be more suitable

and convenient for the schools. The Centennial Commission authorized

Professor Martzolff and his committee to print and circulate the pro-

posed pamphlet. The committee had 15,000 of these pamphlets printed

and sent to that number of the leading teachers, principals and superinten-

dents of schools in Ohio. Indeed, more than half of the teachers of the

state were thus supplied and there was scarcely a school in a town of any

size that was not a recipient of the program and that did not make

use of it. It was indeed a most successful achievement for the Ohio

State Archaeological and Historical Society and on the day, in ques-

tion, hundreds of thousands of school children gave their thought and

attention to the history of Ohio and the literature that has been pub-

lished concerning it. Probably in no state at any time has so universal

and complete a program of a state event been observed by the school

children. The results of this Ohio Day will certainly be far-reaching.

It not only added vastly to the information and interest of our young

people in their own state but it was an inspiring and patriotic occasion well

calculated to stimulate and encourage their study of the achievements

not merely of the Buckeye State, but the American nation.

• 163
 

EIGHTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE OHIO

STATE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL

SOCIETY.

(June 5, 1903.)

The eighteenth annual meeting of the Ohio State Archaeo-

logical and Historical Society was held in the rooms of the

Society, Page Hall, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, at

2:30 p. m. June 5, 1903. The following members were present:

Judge J. H. Anderson, Columbus; Mr. G. F. Bareis, Canal

Winchester; Gen. R. Brinkerhoff, Mansfield; Mr. A. B. Coover,

Roxabell; Col. J. W. Harper, Cincinnati; Mr. W. H. Hunter,

Chillicothe; Rev. I. F. King, Columbus; Rev. N. B. C. Love,

Deshler; Prof. J. P. MacLean, Franklin; Prof. C. L. Martzolff,

New Lexington; Mr. W. C. Metz, Newark; Prof. W. C. Mills,

Columbus; Mr. Robert S. Neil, Columbus; Prof. B. F. Prince,

Springfield; Prof. E. O. Randall, Columbus; Dr. W. O. Thomp-

son, Columbus; Mr. E. F. Wood, Columbus; Gen. George

B. Wright, Columbus; Prof. G. Frederic Wright, Oberlin.

The meeting was called to order by the President, Gen.

R. Brinkerhoff. The Secretary, E. O. Randall, was called upon

for the minutes of the previous annual meeting, held June 6,

1902. The Secretary responded that the complete minutes of

the last annual meeting as set forth in his minute book were

very lengthy, and would require an hour or more for reading,

but a condensed report of that meeting is published in volume

II, Society's annual publications (page 71), consisting of some

twenty pages. He briefly outlined that published report, which

was duly approved as the minutes of said meeting.

In regard to the work of the year, which this eighteenth

meeting closes, the Secretary made the following report:

 

 

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.

The Executive Committee, it will be recalled, is the repre-

sentative and acting authority of the Society. During the past

1 Vol. XII-3            (187)

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188       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

year, ending this June 5th, meetings of the committee were held

at Columbus on June 21, July 18, October 6 and December 13,

1902; February 10 and April 7, 1903; and also in joint session

with the Centennial Commission November 14 and December

29, 1902, and March 6, 1903.   So the Executive Committee

has held during the past year nine meetings, including the

three held with the commission. The Committee, as you well

know, has been occupied largely during the past six months with

work in conjunction with the Centennial Commission, in pre-

paring for the Centennial at Chillicothe, hence the work of

the executive committee has not been as distinct as usual, but

it has worked with more than ordinary efficiency and interest,

and the result of its year's labors speaks for itself.

 

 

PUBLICATIONS.

In January, 1903, volume eleven of our annual publications

appeared; that volume consists of the July and October Quar-

terlies for 1902, and an index to all the previous volumes, includ-

ing the index to the two Quarterlies this volume (II) contains.

This index comprises two hundred and twenty pages, and it

was thought best to make this volume consist of the two Quar-

terlies and the complete index, thereby making a volume of some

five hundred pages, the average size of our publications. The

closing of this volume with the October, 1902, quarterly, permits

the beginning of volume twelve with the January Quarterly,

1903, in order that the volumes may hereafter be contempor-

aneous with the calendar year. The preparation of this index

was assigned to Professor C. L. Martzolff, and it has been

done in a most satisfactory and thorough manner. It was an

enormous labor, and gives an added value to our publications

as the matter in each volume is now easily accessible by means

of this index.

We are just about to issue a volume of some five hun-

dred pages on the Illinois campaign of George Rogers Clark,

written by Consul Wilshire Butterfield. This manuscript was

completed almost the very day of Mr. Butterfield's death, and

is perhaps the most valuable production of his pen. It was

placed in our hands through the courtesy of Mr. W. H. Hunter,

• 165
 

Eighteenth Annual Meeting.            189

 

with the proviso that we publish it, otherwise it was to go

to Washington and Lee University. The Executive Commit-

tee decided that it was not within our authority to publish this

book. Finally Mr. Fred J. Heer, publisher for the Society, came

to our aid and agreed to issue the book upon his own responsi-

bility under the auspices of our Society. It will appear in a

short time, the Society to have credit for its appearance.

It was clearly understood that the appropriation by the leg-

islature to our Society of $10,000 for the Ohio Centennial was

to include the cost of issuing a souvenir volume of the com-

plete proceedings. That volume will be issued as soon as the

matter is fully in hand. It will make a separate and distinct

volume of our society's publications and will be without doubt

one of the most interesting books we have yet produced.

The appropriation of $6,500 which the legislature gave us a

year ago last winter for the reprinting of the then ten complete

volumes of our publications has been expended for that pur-

pose. Ten complete sets have been sent to each member of the

legislature and the officers of both the House and Senate. There

has been a great demand for extra copies by the libraries and

schools throughout the state, a demand we have been entirely

unable to supply.

 

 

PERMANENT BUILDING PROJECT.

This subject is our continued story. It is perennial. In the

session of 1902 the legislature passed an enactment enabling

counties, under certain conditions, to issue bonds for a memorial

building for the G. A. R. Franklin County, in accordance with

the approval of the voters, issued bonds for the erection of such

building to the extent of $250,000. The law authorizing this,

by its wording permitted "occupancy by any  *  * * histor-

ical society," etc. (95 Ohio Laws, 41). It was thought this

would include our society, and the county commissioners ap-

pointed by the Governor made overtures to our Society to unite

with them. They suggested co-operation in securing from the

legislature an additional appropriation which would permit the

building to be so planned as to accommodate both the county

purpose and that of our society. This plan was submitted to

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190       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

our Executive Committee in the fall of 1902. Pending that

idea, the trustees of the Ohio State University offered to re-

move our quarters from Orton Hall to the new Page Law Build-

ing. It was finally decided that the Memorial Hall project was

impracticable, and the proposition of the University trustees was

accepted. Curator Mills in his report will give an account of

the removal to the rooms which we now occupy, and in one of

which we are now meeting. There is nothing binding on either

our part or that of the University as to the length of time we

may remain in our present ample and suitable rooms. The ques-

tion of a permanent building is still open and may come up in

the next legislature. Certainly the day is not far off when we

shall have a building of our own, probably on the College campus.

 

 

SERPENT MOUND.

Your Secretary has made several visits to the Serpent Mound

during the past year, viz: on July 17, September 12 and Octo-

ber 24, 1902, and April 1, 1903. In accordance with the appro-

priation for that purpose, we have erected a substantial and

commodious house in the park near the Serpent for the occu-

pation of our custodian, Mr. Daniel Wallace. We have also built

a barn, and purchased a horse, wagon and mower. We have

had the boundary lines re-surveyed and properly designated,

and new fencing has been erected where necessary. The park

was never in such an excellent and beautiful condition. It is

being visited by hundreds, visitors coming not only from all

parts of this country, but even from Europe to study this won-

derful relic of the Mound Builders.

 

 

FORT ANCIENT.

Mr. Warren Cowen, the custodian of Fort Ancient, has

kept that property in fine condition. A competent family resides

in the residence within the Fort, and the funds for the purpose

have been economically expended by the committee in the preser-

vation of the property. On October 22, 1902, the trustees of

our Society visited the Fort with the International Archaeologists

as their guests. This interesting and unique event is fully de-

• 167
 

Eighteenth Annual Meeting.               191

 

scribed in the January Quarterly for this year (1903), begin-

ning on page 97. The distinguished foreigners from nearly all

parts of the world were profuse in their praises of the work

which our Society is doing in this state, and particularly in our

care of this property, the largest and most complete remains of a

prehistoric people.

OHIO SCHOOL DAY.

On Friday, February 27, 1903, upon the suggestion and

under the direction of our Society, "Ohio Day" was celebrated.

Some fifteen thousand of the Ohio Centennial syllabi, spoken of

elsewhere in this report, were sent to as many of the leading

teachers and superintendents throughout the state, and thousands

of school-children gave their thought and attention on that day

to the history and achievements of our great state. This cele-

bration is detailed on page 185 of the April Quarterly (1903).

 

WORK OF THE SECRETARY.

Aside from the events noted above in which the Secretary

participated, it may be stated that he has prepared during the

past year several articles pertinent to Ohio history, has edited

the Quarterly, and in addition acted as Secretary of the Centen-

nial Commission. The latter duty required a large part of his

time during the last six months. The correspondence concern-

ing the Centennial was very great. Hundreds of letters were

received and answered, and several trips were made to Chilli-

cothe in arranging for the celebration, which was held on May

20th and 21st. Several trips were made to various parts of the

state in connection with matters pertaining to the work of the

Society.

OHIO CENTENNIAL.

The importance of this event is worthy of a detailed state-

ment of the work by our Society, aided by the Centennial Com-

mission. It will be recalled that on April 21, 1902, the general

assembly passed joint resolution No. 53, which read as follows:

 

WHEREAS, On the 29th day of November, 1802, the first constitution

of Ohio was ratified by the convention which framed it; and,

WHEREAS, On February 17, 1803, congress passed an act admitting

Ohio into the Union under that constitution; and,

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192        Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

WHEREAS, On March 1, 1803, the first general assembly of Ohio

assembled and organized and Ohio thereupon became a state; and,

WHEREAS, The Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society

proposes to celebrate the centennial anniversary of the above named great

and important events in the history of Ohio in a suitable manner; and,

WHEREAS, The general assembly of the state of Ohio recognizes the

importance and significance of these events and believes that they should

be duly celebrated; therefore be it

Resolved, That the Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society be

requested to take charge of said celebration and conduct it, and that the

governor of this state be requested and empowered to appoint seven hon-

orary commissioners to represent the state in the preparation for and carry-

ing on of this centennial celebration.

W. S. McKINNON,

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

CARL L. NIPPERT,

President of the Senate.

 

In accordance with this resolution, Governor Nash, on June

19, 1902, appointed the following commissioners to co-operate

with The Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society: Gen-

eral J. Warren Keifer, Springfield; Hon. Rush R. Sloane, San-

dusky; General B. R. Cowen, Cincinnati; General James Bar-

nett, Cleveland; Hon. D. S. Gray, Columbus; General Chas.

M. Anderson, Greenville; Hon. Robert W. Manly, Chillicothe.

On October 22, 1902, during its extraordinary session, the

seventy-fifth general assembly appropriated to The Ohio State

Archaeological and Historical Society "for expenses of the cen-

tennial anniversary of the admission of Ohio into the Union

*  *   *  to be paid out upon vouchers approved by the Gover-

nor and Secretary of said Society," $10,000.

 

 

PROCEEDINGS OF THE JOINT COMMITTEE FOR THE OHIO CENTEN-

NIAL CELEBRATION.

On November 14, 1902, in the ante room of the Law Library,

Capitol Building, at 2 P. M., was held the first joint meeting of

the Centennial Commission and the Executive Committee of the

State Scoiety. There were present of the Commission: Gover-

nor George K. Nash; Gen. J. Warren Keifer, Springfield; Judge

Rush R. Sloane, Sandusky; Hon. R. W. Manly, Chillicothe;

Gen. C. M. Anderson, Greenville and Hon. D. S. Gray, Columbus.

• 169
 

Eighteenth Annual Meeting.             193

 

Gen. B. R. Cowen of Cincinnati and Gen. James M. Barnett of

Cleveland telegraphed their inability to be present. Of the Ex-

ecutive Committee of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical

Society there were present: Gen. R. Brinkerhoff, Mansfield;

Hon. D. J. Ryan, Columbus; Prof. B. F. Prince, Springfield;

Hon. A. R. McIntire, Mt. Vernon; Hon. S. S. Rickley, Colum-

bus; Gen. George B. Wright, Columbus; Mr. G. F. Bareis, Canal

Winchester; Mr. W. H. Hunter, Chillicothe; Mr. E. 0. Randall

and Mr. E. F. Wood, Columbus.

Governor Nash was made honorary president of the Joint

Commission and Gen. J. Warren Keifer permanent chairman,

Mr. E. O. Randall permanent secretary.

The secretary explained the object of the meeting, relating

the history of the resolution of the legislature (passed April 21,

1902, 95 O. L., page 957), empowering the Governor to appoint

a commission and the subsequent appropriation during the Extra-

ordinary Session of $10,000 to the Ohio State Archaeological and

Historical Society for the Centennial Anniversary. The item in

the appropriation bill is given above (96 Ohio Laws, page 14).

After some discussion upon the relative status of their re-

spective authority it was decided, without opposition, that the

Commission and the Executive Committee act throughout in this

matter as a single committee, it being understood that the centen-

nial was to be celebrated under the auspices of the Society, but

with the advice and co-operation of the Commission.

Mr. Hunter offered the following resolution: "That the

centennial of the adoption of the Constitution of Ohio be cele-

brated at Chillicothe, Saturday, November 29, 1902, and that the

centennial of the organization of Ohio into the Union (that date

being March 1, 1803), be celebrated at Chillicothe, the first state

capital, on Wednesday and Thursday, May 20 and 21, 1903."

This date in May was selected because the date of March 1, this

year (1903) happens on Sunday, and comes in the season of the

year, when there would likely be inclement weather. The deter-

mination of the date in May met with the unanimous favor of

the meeting.

The celebration of the anniversary of the Constitutional Con-

vention, November 29, 1902, was to be entirely under the auspices

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194       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

• 171
 



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196       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

of the local authorities at Chillicothe, but the Commission and

all members of the State Archaeologicol and Historical Society

were invited to be present and participate. (An account of the

celebration will be found in January Quarterly, 1903, page 1).

Upon motion an executive committee was selected from this

joint committee, which executive committee was empowered to

meet at the earliest possible moment and formulate a detailed

program for the centennial, said program to be reported later

to the joint committee for its action. The executive committee

selected consisted of Messrs. Brinkerhoff, Hunter, Ryan and Ran-

dall from the trustees of the Society, and Messrs. Gray, Keifer

and Manly of the Commission.

Governor Nash on being called upon for his views as to the

nature of the celebration, stated that it was his idea that it should

be a literary and historical event, with no attempt at an exposi-

tion; some prominent and eloquent speakers should be chosen

who would properly present subjects pertinent to the occasion.

The appropriation was not sufficient for any military or spec-

tacular display. If the people of Chillicothe desired to have an

exposition of historical relics or other attractive features fitting

and interesting to the occasion, they would of course be permitted

to do so. In this view the members of the meeting generally ac-

quiesced.

Gen. Anderson suggested that there should be a list of sub-

jects so designated and arranged as to practically present in

toto a history of the state from the days of the Northwest Terri-

tory to the present time.

Mr. A. R. McIntire presented the plan which had been pro-

posed by the State Society to have a celebration throughout the

state by the school children on some day, as near as possible

to the actual date, March 1. After much friendly discussion

concerning topics and speakers the selection of the same was

left to the executive committee.

Secretary Randall was authorized to have prepared and

designed a souvenir invitation and have charge of the engraving

and its printing and distribution to such list of names as might

be selected.

*    *   *

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Eighteenth Annual Meeting.             197

 

A meeting of the executive committee was held at Chillicothe,

November 29, 1902, in the parlors of the Warner House, at 2

P. M. There were present: Gen. J. Warren Keifer, Chairman;

E. O. Randall, Secretary; D. J. Ryan, R. W. Manly and W. H.

Hunter. The meeting was purely a deliberative one, in which

the speakers to be chosen and the topics to be assigned them

were considered.

 

On December 13, 1902, the executive committee again met

in the Public Library, City Hall, Columbus, at 2 P. M., with the

following members present: Gen. J. Warren Keifer, W. H. Hun-

ter, R. W. Manly and E. O. Randall. Messrs. Gray and Ryan

sent word they were unavoidably prevented from being present.

After lengthy consideration a list of subjects was decided upon

and speakers suggested for the respective topics. It was de-

cided to make the report agreed upon at the next meeting of

the Joint Commission.

 

 

On December 29, 1902, was held the second meeting of the

Joint Commission of the Centennial Commission and the Execu-

tive Committee of the State Society, in the office of the court

stenographer, Judiciary Building. The meeting was called to

order at 2 P. M., with the following members present: Gen. J.

Warren Keifer, B. R. Cowen, Rush R. Sloane, R. W. Manly, D.

S. Gray, B. F. Prince, W. H. Hunter, A. R. McIntire, G. F.

Bareis, Gen. G. B. Wright and E. O Randall. There were also

present Messrs C. L. Martzolff and F. B. Pearson of the com-

mittee appointed by the trustees of the Society on the school cele-

bration. Gen. C. M. Anderson notified the secretary of his inabil-

ity to be present.

Prof. C. L. Martzolff presented a program for the celebration

by the school children of the admission of Ohio into the Union,

said celebration to be held on February 27, 1903, that being the

nearest available date to the historical one of March 1. The

committee had prepared a complete program of exercises for that

day, the program being of a sufficiently varied nature to suit

the different grades of pupils and to cover points of interest in

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198       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

Ohio history from the Mound Builders to the present time.

The committee had prepared the material for a pamphlet of some

65 pages in extent, said material embracing excerpts from the

histories, biographies, works of literature, poems, etc., with ref-

erence list for future reading and study upon the different topics

pertinent to Ohio history. It was proposed that this pamphlet

be sent to the teachers as far as possible throughout the state:

These teachers, however, number some 27,000, and the expense

involved in the printing and distribution of the pamphlet, which

was to be called "Ohio Centennial Syllabus" would be very great.

This proposition met with some discussion as to its feasibility

and the legality of appropriating money for the purpose from

the centennial fund. The Secretary (Randall), gave the infor-

mation that this matter had been proposed in the trustees' meet-

ing of the Society, and there met unanimous approval; that he

had conferred with the Attorney General, who stated that it

would be a perfectly legitimate expenditure from the fund in

question if the committee so desired. The project also met the

approval of Governor Nash, and most hearty endorsement from

the School Commissioner, L. D. Bonebrake. It was finally de-

cided without a dissenting vote that the committee having the

matter in charge be authorized to proceed with the publication

of the Syllabus and its distribution to the teachers, as far as pos-

sible, the expense to be from the centennial fund.

The Executive Committee of the Joint Commission then

made its report of the topics and speakers for the Chillicothe

Centennial. (As there were subsequently many changes both in

the topics and in the speakers the report as made and agreed

upon in this meeting is here omitted, the program as finally

carried out being stated elsewhere.)

It was decided that the executive committee should have full

power to fill any vacancy which might occur in the list of speak-

ers or otherwise rearrange the program as necessity required.

It was determined that the speaking be held on both days

of the centennial, and that Governor Nash be invited to preside

and make the opening address upon the first day, and that Gen.

R. Brinkerhoff, President of the Society, be invited to preside

upon the second day.

• 175
 

Eighteenth Annual Meeting.              199

 

It was also unanimously agreed that Gov. Nash, Gen. Keifer,

Gen. Brinkerhoff and Hon. R. W. Manly constitute a commit-

tee to visit Washington and invite President Roosevelt, Senators

Foraker and Hanna of Ohio, Lodge of Massachusetts, Daniel of

Virginia and Gen. Grosvenor of Ohio, to be present and make

addresses at the centennial.

*     *     *

On February 23, 1903, the Executive Committee of the Joint

Commission met in the Public Library, Columbus, Ohio, at 2

P. M. There were present Gen. J. Warren Keifer; Gen. R.

Brinkerhoff; D. S. Gray; R. W. Manly; W. H. Hunter and E.

O. Randall.

Secretary Randall reported that he had communicated with

all the parties chosen to speak. That most of the appointees

had accepted; that there were some declinations and that there

would have to be some changes in the list of speakers, and prob-

ably some slight changes in the subjects assigned.

Gen. Brinkerhoff reported that on January 21-4, 1903, the

committee named for the purpose, had visited Washington and

invited the gentlemen selected for speakers, and that they were

informed by the President that he would probably be absent at

that time upon his trip to California; that Senator Lodge re-

ported he would probably be absent in Europe: Senator Daniel

was not in Washington and could not be seen. Senators Foraker

and Hanna and Congressman Grosvenor accepted the invita-

tion and agreed to be present.

Secretary reported that 15,000 of the Ohio Centennial Syl-

labus had been sent by the commitee to as many teachers, and

superintendents of schools throughout the state.

At this meeting the question arose as to just what the joint

committee was expected to do and what would be required of the

people of Chillicothe. After a full discussion it was agreed that

the joint commission was to secure the speakers, select the topics,

arrange the program of the speaking and of the exercises; pay

for the transportation and entertainment of the speakers and dis-

tinguished guests; secure the music; provide and have charge

of the issuing of the invitations and the incidental expenses of the

commission, such as those of the office of the secretary, typewrit-

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200       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

ing, postage, etc. That the commission should furnish a large

tent in which the meetings were to be held. The city of Chilli-

cothe was to do the rest. Messrs. Manly and Hunter advocated

that the commission ought to appropriate at least $2,000 from the

centennial fund to the people of Chillicothe for the purpose of

decorating the town. If that was done, they asserted Chillico-

the would do the rest. It was finally decided to leave this mat-

ter to the action of the joint commission.

*     *     *

On March 6, 1903, there was held the third joint meeting of

the Centennial Commission and the Executive Committee of the

Society in Room 40, Neil House, Columbus, Ohio. The meet-

ing was called to order at 2:30 P. M. with the following mem-

bers present: Gen. J. Warren Keifer; B. R. Cowen; Rush R.

Sloane; R. W. Manly; Gen. R. Brinkerhoff; Gen. G. B. Wright;

B. F. Prince; W. H. Hunter; A. R. McIntire; G. Frederick

Wright; E. O. Randall and E. F. Wood.

Mr. Gray was absent in California; Generals Anderson and

Barnett and Mr. Bareis sent statements of their inability to be

present. Mr. Ryan was absent in Florida. There was present a

committee from Chillicothe consisting of Mayor W. D. Yaple;

Gen. S. H. Hurst; Mr. D. H. Roche and Mr. W. H. Brimson.

These gentlemen all made addresses requesting the commission

to appropriate at least $2,500 to the people of Chillicothe to be

expended in local decorations. They argued that it would be

difficult for the people of Chillicothe to raise funds unless they

were somewhat assisted by the commission, the people of Chilli-

cothe feeling that a portion of the centennial fund should be

placed at their disposal. The matter was finally disposed of by

the adoption of the following resolution: "That this Joint Com-

mission allow the citizens of Chillicothe, from the said appro-

priation, a sum not to exceed $2,000, this sum to be expended

by the proper local authorities and itemized bills for expend-

iture to be made out in a form of voucher signed by Col. Rich-

ard Enderlin, Chairman of the Finance Committee and Mr. R.

W. Manly, Chillicothe member of the Commission." These

vouchers of course to go to the Governor and Secretary Randall

who were to honor them by proper vouchers on the state treasury.

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Eighteenth Annual Meeting.              201

 

Upon request secretary Randall stated to the meeting that

it must be clearly recalled that this centennial celebration was by

and under the auspices of the Ohio State Archaeological and

Historical Society, and that the appropriation of $10,000 was to

the Society for that purpose and not in any way to the people of

Chillicothe, although that city had been properly selected by the

Society as the place for the celebration; that the Finance Com-

mittee of the legislature made the amount $10,000 with the dis-

tinct understanding that out of it was to be paid the expense of

issuing a volume giving in full the proceedings of the centen-

nial, and that the publication of such volume would probably be

in the neighborhood of $2,500.

The Secretary gave a full statement of the state of affairs

to this time; of his numerous correspondence with the proposed

speakers and also gave the "tale of woe" of his troubles in dealing

with aspiring individuals who desired to be upon the program.

Their names were legion; all sorts and conditions of men and

women; also various classes of citizens and professions who

wanted to be represented.

 

On May 8th in Room 40 of the Neil House was held a

meeting of the Executive Committee of the Centennial Com-

mission.  It convened at 2:30 P. M. and there were present

Messrs. J. Warren Keifer; D. J. Ryan; R. W. Manly; W. H.

Hunter and E. O. Randall. Gen. Brinkerhoff was in Atlanta,

Ga., and Mr. Gray was in Pittsburg, Pa.

Secretary Randall reported that on May 5, Governor Nash

had issued a proclamation announcing the centennial, which proc-

lamation read as follows:

 

 

PROCLAMATION.

"On March 1, 1803, the first General Assembly of Ohio met and

organized at Chillicothe, Ohio, and at that time the State of Ohio entered

its career of statehood.

"The centennial celebration of this event will be held at Chillicothe,

May 20 and 21, by authority of the General Assembly of Ohio and under

the auspices of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society.

"The growth and development of Ohio during the century of its

statehood has been one commensurate with the greatness of our Nation.

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202        Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

It is fitting that its achievements be properly observed, to the end that

the commemoration of its great deeds and the lives of is founders may

be not only perpetuated for the benefit of generations to come, but may

be a source of inspiration to the living of to-day.

"Now, therefore, in behalf of the State, I invite its officials and the

people thereof to assemble at Chillicothe on the dates aforesaid and par-

ticipate in the celebration there to be observed."

GEORGE K. NASH, Govrnor.

L. C. LAYLIN, Secretary of State.

Secretary Randall reported that invitations had been sent

to all the leading newspapers in the state; to presidents of all

colleges and universities; hundreds of leading teachers and

superintendents; officers of leading labor organizations; mayors

of all cities and chief villages; superintendents and trustees of all

state institutions; all G. A. R. Posts; all chapters of the D. A. R.,

of the S. A. R. and Colonial Dames; all Societies Ohio Federa-

tion of Women Clubs; all members of the State Archaeological

and Historical Society; Members of Ohio Society of New York;

all county, state and circuit judges; all U. S. judges in Ohio;

all officials and employes in the State House and Judiciary Build-

ing; all members and employes of the Ohio Legislature; all

members of the incoming and outgoing congress; governors of

all states and territories; the president, cabinet, supreme court

and chief national officials; the leading citizens of Columbus;

all city officials of Columbus; 500 to the chairman of Commit-

tees in Chillicothe, 50 each to each member of the Centennial

Commission.

Secretary reported that during the previous week he had

visited Chillicothe to inspect the arrangements there being made,

and they were entirely to his satisfaction, and he felt sure would

be pleasing to the commission. A tent which would seat some

5,000 people had been secured from Springfield and had been

erected in the park at Chillicothe, and that music would be sup-

plied by the ₄th Regiment Band of Columbus; the Neely Band

of South Salem; Veteran Drum Corps of Columbus; a Young

Men's Orchestra of Chillicothe and a Massed Chorus and a

Children's Chorus organized in that city.

The Secretary further reported he had had the last word

from all the speakers and with the exception of Senator Massie,

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Eighteenth Annual Meeting.                   203

 

they had notified him they would be present to perform their

respective parts, and the following was the program finally agreed

upon after consultation with the Chillicothe officials:

 

OFFICIAL PROGRAM.

 

WEDNESDAY, MAY 20.

Reception of guests.

9 A. M.- Presentation of plaster medallion of Governor Edward

Tiffin, Ohio's first governor, to Ross County by Mr. William H. Hunter;

exercises to occur in the Common Pleas Court in the Court House on the

site of the first capitol, Judge J. C. Douglass to preside. Rev. R. C. Gal-

braith will deliver the invocation; Miss Anna Cook, a great granddaughter

of Governor Tiffin, will unveil the tablet. The presentation address will

be made by Hon. Archibald Mayo for Mr. Hunter, and the acceptance to

be made on behalf of the county by Mr. Horatio C. Claypool.

10 A. M.- Centennial celebration of Ohio's statehood opens in audi-

torium in the City Park, Governor George K. Nash presiding.

Selection by the Fourth Regiment Band, Columbus, Ohio.

Invocation, Rev. A. M. Courtenay, pastor of Walnut Street M. E.

Church.

Address of welcome, Hon. W. D. Yaple, Mayor of Chillicothe.

Response in behalf of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical

Society, General J. Warren Keifer, Springfield.

Music by chorus of school children.

Opening address, Governor George K. Nash, of Columbus, Ohio.

"The History of the Northwest Territory to the Marietta Settle-

ment," Hon. Judson Harmon, of Cincinnati, Ohio.

Music, chorus of school children.

"The History of the Northwest Territory from the Marietta Settle-

ment to the Organization of the State," Prof. Martin B. Andrews, of

Marietta.

"The Date of the Admission of Ohio into the Union and the Great

Seal of the State," Judge Rush R. Sloane, of Sandusky.

"The Star Spangled Banner," by the Fourth Regiment Band, of

Columbus.

Intermission.

Music by the Fourth Regiment Band.

2 P. M.--Invocation, Rev. H. Bene, rector St. Peter's Catholic

Church.

"Ohio in the American Revolution," Hon. E. O. Randall, Columbus.

"The Military History of Ohio, Including the War of 1812," Gen-

eral Thomas Anderson, U. S. A., Sandusky.

Music, "The Hills and Vales Resound," mass chorus.

2 Vol. XII-3

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204        Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

"The Military History of Ohio from the War of 1812, Including the

Civil War and Spanish-American War," General J. Warren Keifer, of

Springfield.

"Ohio in the Navy," Hon. Murat Halstead, Cincinnati.

Music, "Old Glory," solo, George U. Sosman and mass chorus.

"The Governors of Ohio Under the First Constitution," Hon. David

Meade Massie, Chillicothe.

"The Governors of Ohio Under the Second Constitution," Hon.

James Campbell,.of New York City.

"Ohio in the United States Senate," Hon. J. B. Foraker, Cincinnati

Music, "Centennial Hymn," mass chorus.

"Ohio in the National House of Representatives," General Charles-

H. Grosvenor, Athens.

Music, "America," mass chorus.

Intermission.

7:30 P. M.- Music, Kipling's "Recessional," mass chorus.

Invocation, Rev. S. N. Watson, D. D., rector of St. Paul's Episcopal

Church.

"The Judiciary of Ohio," Judge Moses M. Granger, Zanesville.

"The Industrial Progress of Ohio," Senator Marcus A. Hanna, Cleve-

land.

Music, "The Red, White and Blue," solo, S. A. Roach and mass

chorus.

"The Public Schools of Ohio," Hon. Lewis D. Bonebrake, Columbus.

"The Universities of Ohio," President W. O. Thompson, O. S. U.,

Columbus.

Music, "To Thee, O Country," mass chorus.

"The Achievements of Ohio in the Care of Her Unfortunates," Gen.

R. Brinkerhoff, Mansfield.

"The Part Taken by Women in the History and Development of

Ohio," Mrs. J. R. Hopley, Bucyrus.

Music, "Star Spangled Banner."

"The Ethnological History of Ohio," Gen. B. R. Cowen, Cincinnati.

Benediction, Rev. J. L. Roemer, pastor First Presbyterian Church.

Music, "Hail Columbia."

After the close of the exercises the speakers, the distinguished guests

present and the members of the State Centennial Commission, the State

Historical Society and the visiting representatives of the press and the

Executive Committee in charge of affairs in Chillicothe will be entertained

at a banquet under the auspices of the Press Club of Chillicothe, in the

Eintracht Hall.

THURSDAY, MAY 21.

Second Day's Session.- General R. Brinkerhoff presiding.

10 A. M.- Music by the Fourth Regiment Band.

Invocation, Rev. Joseph Reinicke, pastor of German Salem Church

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Eighteenth Annual Meeting.                  205

 

"The Ohio Presidents," Thomas Ewing, Jr., New York City.

"The Press of Ohio," S. S. Knabenshue, Toledo.

Music by the Fourth Regiment Band.

"Ohio Literary Men and Women," Prof. W. H. Venable, Cincinnati.

"Religious Influences in Ohio," Bishop C. C. McCabe, Omaha, Neb.

Music by the Fourth Regiment Band.

Introductions and congratulatory remarks by distinguished visitors.

Benediction, Rev. G. H. Schnur, pastor of Lutheran Calvary Church.

Music, "The Stars and Stripes Forever," Fourth Regiment Band.

Intermission.

2 P. M.- A grand parade of all military and civic societies in the city

and of visiting delegates, to be reviewed by the governor, distinguished

speakers, etc.

Band concerts at different localities during the afternoon.

7 P. M.- Band concerts in the City Park, the Fourth Regiment Band,

the Veteran Drum Corps of Columbus and the Neely Cadet Band of

South Salem.

An elaborate display of fireworks will close the ceremonies attending

this celebration of Ohio's one hundredth birthday.

The speakers will necessarily be limited to twenty minutes in their

addresses before the audience. They are, however, expected to prepare

papers fully and accurately treating their respective topics; these papers

will be published in a souvenir volume by the Ohio State Archaeological

and Historical Society.

 

The committee then adjourned and in a body called upon

Governor Nash and paid their respects to him, and expressed

satisfaction over the preparations made for the coming cen-

tenial.

THE CENTENNIAL.

The exercises of the Centennial were held on Wednesday and

Thursday, May 20 and 21, 1903 according to program. All of the

speakers were present as advertised except Hon. D. M. Massie,

who was absent in Havana, Cuba, and wrote that he would for-

ward the manuscript of his address, and Governor James E.

Campbell, who telegraphed the morning of the first day, that ill-

ness would prevent him    from  leaving New    York, but that he

would forward the manuscript of his address. There were some

other minor changes in the program. Secretary Randall gave

his allotted time in the program to Judge Moses M. Granger, in

order that the Judge might be heard by the members of the Ohio

Supreme Court, who were present at that time, and were com-

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206        Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

pelled to return to Columbus later in the afternoon. Rev. Cour-

tenay of Chillicothe read, on the morning of the second day, a

Centennial Ode. The program at the last session of the literary

exercises was closed with extemporaneous speeches by Ex-Gover-

nor Charles Foster and Bishop B. W. Arnett.        Hon. Albert

Douglas offered a resolution that Governor Nash in his next an-

nual message to the legislature, suggest an appropriation to our

Society for the erection of a monument on the State House

grounds, at Columbus, to Governor Arthur St. Clair.

The resolution is as follows:

Recognizing that the people of Ohio have for one hundred years

done injustice to the name and fame of Major General Arthur St. Clair,

valiant soldier of the Revolution, beloved friend of Washington, presi-

dent of the Continental Congress, and for fourteen arduous, formative

years the devoted governor of the Northwest Territory.

Believing that, whatever his mistakes or faults, his work and his

accomplishments in that critical period of our history deserve our

gratitude, and should receive formal acknowledgment from the men of

our time and,

Encouraged by the just and eloquent utterances from this platform

of our present governor, Geo. K. Nash; therefore,

Be it Resolved, by us, citizens of Ohio, assembled at this Cen-

tennial celebration of our statehood, that the State Historical and

Archaeological Society, and the governor of Ohio, be, and they are here-

by most earnestly requested to urge upon the General Assembly of Ohio

at its next session, the propriety and advisability of erecting, in the

State House grounds at Columbus, a bronze statue of General Arthur

St. Clair in recognition of his great services to this commonwealth,

whose firm foundation he helped to lay.

This resolution was unanimously and enthusiastically en-

dorsed by the entire audience.

A dramatic ending to the program was rendered by Bishop

McCabe playing upon the organ and leading in "The Battle

Hymn of the Republic," accompanied by the vast audience rising

to their feet.

The proceedings in full of this centennial will be published

by the Society in the souvenir volume, the publication of which

is provided for in the centennial fund. The event in every respect

was an eminent success. From 3,000 to 5,000 people occupied

the tent at each of the literary sessions. The people were greatly

• 183
 

Eighteenth Annual Meeting.                                           207

interested and patiently sat through the long program.                                   The

weather was delightfully pleasant and every one seemed happy

and content. Vast crowds, perhaps 40,000 people, frequented

Chillicothe, and were most hospitably cared for by the good

citizens of the town.

Visitors, speakers and members of the Society without dis-

sent agreed that our Society had arranged and carried out the

program with very great credit. It was a fitting achievement

along the work of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical

Society. There were present at these exercises; of the Trus-

tees: Bishop B. W. Arnett, Mr. G. F. Bareis, Hon. A. R. Mc-

Intire, Gen. R. Brinkerhoff, Hon. M. D. Follett, Hon D. J. Ryan,

Rev. H. A. Thompson, Mr. W. H. Hunter, Col James Kilbourne,

Prof. J. P. MacLean, Judge J. H. Anderson, Rev. N. B. C. Love,

Gen. George B. Wright, Hon. R. E. Hills, Prof. B. F. Prince,

Mr. E. O. Randall, Col. J. W. Harper, Mr. Edwin F. Wood and

W. C. Mills. And of the Commission: J. W. Keifer, Rush R.

Sloane, D. S. Gray, R. W. Manly and B. R. Cowen.

Governor Nash presided at the morning session of the first

day, Secretary Randall, at the request of Gov. Nash, presided at

the afternoon and evening sessions of the first day and Gen. R.

Brinkerhoff presided at the session on Thursday.

It is difficult to conceive how the celebration could have

been more successfully carried out on the part of the local au-

thorities at Chillicothe. Great credit is due to Mayor Wallace

D. Yaple and the committee chosen by the citizens of that town,

namely: Chairman, Major William Poland; Secretary, Burton

E. Stevenson; Parade, A. R. Wolf; Entertainment, Albert

Douglas; Finance, Richard Enderlin; Music, F. C. Arbenz;

Program, E. S. Wenis; Decoration, Henry H. Bennett; Badges,

Burton E. Stevenson; Fireworks, William H. Hunter; Con-

struction, Joseph Gerber; Information, Capt. E. R. McKee;

Grounds, Ferdinand Marzluff; Transportation, W. H. Brimson;

Reception, Wallace D. Yaple; Publicity, Burton E. Stevenson;

Relics and Museum, William B. Mills; Floral Section of Pa-

rade, Mrs. John J. Nipgen; Women's Committee, Miss Alice

Bennett.

• 184
 

208        Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

The scheme of decoration in the city was most artistic and

appropriate, for which Mr. Henry H. Bennett should be ac-

corded all praise. The thanks also of the Joint Commission is

due to the local papers, the Scioto Gazette, edited by Col. G.

W. C. Perry, and the News-Advertiser, edited by Mr. W. H.

Hunter. The chorus led by Capt. McKee was one of the most

attractive features of the program. If there were ever any doubts

about the wisdom of holding the centennial at Chillicothe, these

doubts were completely removed by the fortunate outcome.

 

 

ADDENDUM.

[In order to complete the history of the Centennial we add to

the report of the annual meeting, as related above, the proceedings of

the meeting of the Joint Commission held June 30.]

 

The Fourth meeting of the Joint Session of the Centennial

Commission and the Executive Committee of the Society, was

held in the rooms of the Society, Page Hall, Tuesday after-

noon, at 2. p. m., June 30. There were present of the Commis-

sion: J. Warren Keifer, Hon. David S. Gray, Hon. R. W. Manly,

Hon. Rush R. Sloane; of the Executive Committee: Mr. G.

F. Bareis, Mr. W. H. Hunter, Prof. B. F. Prince, Mr. S. S.

Rickly, Hon. D. J. Ryan, Gen. G. B. Wright, Prof. G. Fred.

Wright and E. O. Randall.

The Secretary stated he had called this meeting as a final

wind-up in which he could report the outcome of the Centen-

nial. Every one present was sufficiently familiar with its his-

tory and the preliminary proceedings leading up to the cele-

bration, the great success of the celebration itself, and the sat-

isfaction which seemed to prevail on the part of everybody; the

speakers, the local managers in Chilllcothe, members of the So-

ciety and the public at large.

The Secretary stated that from the $10,000 appropriated by

the legislature the special expenditures had been:

 

Ohio  Centennial    syllabus  ............................ ........                                  $653 49

Tent andchairs       for the    meetings ............................                            712 95

M usic   ................... ........................:.........                                                  706 03

Livery   service  for speakers  and  guests .......................                              81   00

• 185
 

Eighteenth Annual Meeting.                  209

 

Expense of Secretary's office, including clerical and stenog-

raphic  assistants,  postage,  etc .............................                               $675  15

Archaeological Exhibit .................................. ..                                            22 00

Printing  of  Programs  ......................................                                          25   25

Entertainment and railroad fare of speakers and Commission-

ers  .............. .................................... .                                                  852 99

To  Chillicothe  for  decorations................................                                   2,000  00

Invitations  (engraved)  ......................................                                         588 00

To Trustees and Commissioners for expense at meetings.....                         137 35

Total  ..................................................                                              $6,454  21

 

Mr. Randall explained that these expanditures, which were

lumped in this report, were all covered by itemized receipts signed

by each separate individual payee to whom any money had been

paid. These receipts were all deposited at the state auditor's of-

fice, being attached in each instance to the voucher drawn for

their payment, and signed, by the governor and the secretary of

the society.

The Secretary stated that as all bills had now been paid, or

ordered paid, and nothing remained to be done but the publication

of the souvenir volume, and that would properly come within the

province of the Publication Committee of the State Society. It

must be remembered that the $10,000 approperiated was, not to

the Centennial Commission, but the Ohio State Society, therefore

the publication would legitimately belong to the Society.     The

amount left from the appropriation was in round numbers $3,500.

After some discussion it was the sense of the meeting that the

book should be issued uniform in size, type and binding with

the annual publications of the Society. The Secretary was au-

thorized to proceed with the publication of the souvenir volume

with the advice of the Publication Committee. Copies should

be sent to all members of the legislature.

Hon. Rush R. Sloane introduced the following resolution,

which was unanimously adopted:

 

Resolved, That Hon. E. O. Randall, the Secretary of this Joint

Committee in the Ohio Centennial Celebration, is entitled to our sin-

cere thanks as member of both the "Centennial Commission" and of

the "Executive Committee," for his faithful, laborious and efficient ser-

vices which so largely contributed to the complete success of that

• 186
 

210       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

grand Centennial, and that this resolution be made a part of the pro-

ceedings and record of the Centennial celebration.

 

The Secretary expressed his sincere thanks to the Joint Com-

mission for their expression of appreciation of his labors, and for

their courtesy and assistance in the discharging of his duties.

Gen. Keifer also thanked the commission for honoring him

with the chairmanship, saying he had never been engaged in a

more pleasing work and never connected with a body of men

who were so harmonious and happy in their joint efforts. Mr.

Gray moved a vote of thanks be extended to the people of Chilli-

cothe for the hospitable and gracious manner in which they

had entertained the thousands of visitors in their city. He also

thought that the gentleman in charge of the local affairs in

Chillicothe deserved great praise.

The Joint Commission then adjourned sine die, leaving all

further matters pertaining to the joint commission to the exec-

utive committee of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical

Society.

 

ST. LOUIS EXPOSITION.

The seventy-fifth general assembly in its appropriation bill

of May 12, 1902, gave our Society "for exhibit of The Ohio State

Archaeological and Historical Society at Louisiana Purchase Ex-

position, including packing, transportation and care of same

while there, $2,500." In accordance with the proper legislation,

Governor Nash, on June 11, 1902, appointed Hon. Stacy B.

Rankin of South Charleston, the Executive Commissioner of the

Louisiana Purchase Commission, and on November 28, 1902,

appointed the following commissioners: Hon. D. H. Moore,

Athens, Hon. N. K. Kennon, St. Clairsville, Hon. Edwin

Hagenbuch, Urbana, Hon. L. E. Holden, Cleveland, Hon. W. F.

Burdell, Columbus, Hon. M. K. Gantz, Troy, and Hon. David

Friedman, Caldwell.

When the Finance Committee of the Legislature decided to

make the appropriation for our Society it was with the expec-

tation that we were to have our exhibit in the proposed Ohio

Building. When the Ohio Commission, however formulated

their plans for the Ohio Building it was found that provision

• 187
 

Eighteenth Annual Meeting.            211

 

for our exhibit would interfere with the proper design for their

building. This proposition, therefore, to have our exhibit in

the Ohio Building was abandoned, and we are now negotiating

with the Exposition authorities for proper quarters in the de-

partment of Ethnology and Archaeology. It is probably better

that we be located with the same class of exhibits.

 

 

DEATH OF TRUSTEE GRIFFIN.

The Secretary reported the decease, at Toledo, December 18,

1902, of Hon. Charles P. Griffin, who had been a trustee of the

Society since 1891, having been first appointed by Governor

Campbell, reappointed by Governor McKinley, by Governor Bush-

nell, and by Governor Nash. The last appointment would have

continued until February, 1903. He was therefore in continuous

service as trustee by appointment twelve years, the longest en-

cumbency of that kind by any trustee. He rendered conspicuous

service as member of the legislature to our Society. A sketch of

his life appears in the January Quarterly (1902), page 99.

On March 2, 1903, Governor Nash appointed Colonel John

W. Harper of Cincinnati, a trustee for three years as the successor

of Mr. Griffin. The Governor also appointed Rev. N. B. C. Love

of Deshler, Ohio, as trustee for three years to succeed himself.

 

 

LIFE MEMBERS.

The following life members have been taken into the society

during the last year: Hon. D. S. Gray, Columbus; Col. E. L.

Taylor, Columbus; Prof. Frank B. Pearson, Columbus; Mr.

Frank H. Howe, Columbus; Mr. A. N. Whiting, Columbus; Mr.

Harry P. Wolfe, Columbus; Major W. F. Goodspeed, Columbus;

Mr. Emil Schlupp, Upper Sandusky; Mr. S. S. Knabenshue, To-

ledo.

The Secretary then proposed the election by this meeting

to life membership the following gentlemen: Hon. Myron T.

Herrick, Cleveland; Colonel Webb Hayes, Fremont; Hon. Albert

Douglas, Chillicothe; Prof. Frank T. Cole, Columbus; Mr. G.

W. Lattimer, Columbus; Mr. W. N. King, Columbus; Hon.

Henry C. Taylor, Columbus.

• 188
 

212          Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

They were duly elected.

In conclusion, the Secretary congratulated the members of

the Society upon the successful work of the society during the

year just closed. It had undoubtedly been its most fruitful year.

He thanked the officers and trustees, and particularly the exec-

utive committee, for their uniform courtesy and consideration

and hearty cooperation with him in the direction of the affairs of

the society.    Mr. E. F. Wood, assistant treasurer, then made

the following report in behalf of Mr. S. S. Rickly, the treasurer:

 

 

RECEIPTS.

Balance on hand Feb. 1, 1902 ..............................       $824 17

From State Treasurer -

Appropriation   -   care  of Ft. Ancient .........................                                                                               294    35

"           Repair and care of Serpent Mound ..........                                                           20 75

"          Field work, Ft. Ancient and Serpent Mound                                                 3,027 04

"                                         Current  expenses  ..........................                                      2,436     08

"                                        Publications                                                                           ...............................         2,527             00

"          Reprinting            publications  ....................                                                     5,500     00

Active Membership dues ...................................                                                                                             102 00

Life  m em bership  dues ......................................                                                                                            125    00

Provisions         sold    (field  work) ................................                                                                              3       80

Interest  ...................................................                                                                                                             84       93

Subscription           ...............................................                                                                                               24    00

Books  sold        ................................................                                                                                                 145    75

Total     ................................................  $15,114                                                                               87

 

DISBURSEMENTS.

Publications  ...............................................  $2,583  32

Reprinting publications ....................................                                                                                            5,500 00

Field      work     ......     ..................................                                                                                                    614    11

Care        ofFort    Ancient .......................................                                                                                         611    33

Care        ofSerpent  Mound  Park ...............................                                                                                   336    10

House in Serpent Mound Park .............................                                                                                        837 00

Barn (in part) in Serpent Mound Park ......................                                                                                  100 00

Well, pump, etc., in Serpent Mound Park ..................                                                                                  88 60

Expenses of trustees and committees ........................                                                                                   177 70

Salaries  (3)  ........................................            1,800  00

Museum and Library ......................................                                                                                                 384 35

Office expenses .........................................      100 00

Permanent fund ........................................      661 83

Fire  insurance  .............................................                                                                                                     66      00

Postage  .............................................  .....       82                                                                                               04

• 189
 

Eighteenth Annual Meeting.                                       213

 

Express and drayage ......................................                                               $63 65

Job   printing   .. ........................... ...............                                                   37 50

Sundry        supplies          ...........................................                                  5              35

"     incidental       expenses .................................                          126         29

Balance on hand February 1, 1903 ..........................                                 939 70

Total  ......................................... ......  $15,114  87

The report of the treasurer was received and approved.

 

 

ELECTION OF TRUSTEES.

The Secretary reported that the Trustees whose terms ex-

pire at this meeting were the following: Hon. Elroy M. Avery,

Cleveland; Bishop B. W. Arnett, Wilberforce; Hon. S. S.

Rickly, Columbus; Hon. A. R. McIntire, Mt. Vernon; Mr. G.

F. Bareis, Canal Winchester. Upon motion the Chair appointed

a committee of five upon nomination, viz: Messrs. Martzolff,

Neil, Harper, Wood and Coover. The committee, after a con-

ference, reported in favor of Hon. J. Warren Keifer, Spring-

field; Bishop B. W. Arnett, Wilberforce; Hon. S. S. Rickly,

Columbus; Hon. A. R. McIntire, Mt. Vernon; Mr. G. F. Bareis,

Canal Winchester; these to serve until February, 1906, or until

their successors were elected and qualified. Upon motion the

Secretary was authorized to cast the ballot of the society for

the gentlemen named by the committee. The board of trustees

therefore now stands:

 

 

ELECTED BY THE SOCIETY.

(Terms expire in 1904.)

GEN. R. BRINKERHOFF,                                                              .                Mansfield.

HON. M. D. FOLLETT,               .                                                   .                Marietta.

HON. D. J. RYAN,         ..                                                                  Columbus

REV. H. A. THOMPSON,                  .                                                             Dayton.

MR. W. H. HUNTER, .      .                                                                               Chillicothe.

 

(Terms expire in 1905.)

PROF. G. FRED. WRIGHT,                                                           .                Oberlin.

COL. JAMES KILBOURNE,                                                         .                                                    Columbus.

PROF. J. P. MACLEAN,     .                                                                            Franklin.

PROF. C. L. MARTZOLFF,                                                             .                New Lexington.

JUDGE J. H. ANDERSON,                                                             .                                                    Columbus.

• 190
 

214       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

(Terms expire in 1906.)

HON. J. WARREN KEIFER,              .    Springfield.

BISHOP B. W. ARNETT,   .   .   .Wilberforce.

HON. S. S. RICKLY, .                                                                                       Columbus.

HON. A. R. MCINTIRE,                .                                                                  Mt. Vernon.

MR. G. F. BAREIS,      ..                                                                                    Canal Winchester.

 

APPOINTED BY THE GOVERNOR.

(Terms expire as indicated.)

GEN. GEORGE B. WRIGHT, Columbus, 1904.

HON. R. E. HILLS, Delaware, 1904.

PROF. B. F. PRINCE, Springfield, 1905.

MR. E. 0. RANDALL, Columbus, 1905.

REV. N. B. C. LOVE, Deshler, 1906.

COL. JOHN W. HARPER, Cincinnati, 1906.

 

 

GRADED WAY IN PIKE COUNTY.

Prof. J. P. MacLean called attention to the Archaeological

History of Ohio by Gerard Fowke, stating it contained many

errors, more than could be easily corrected. It should not be

understood, however, that the society stands sponsor for the

statements in that book. Its authority rests upon its author,

but he thought that this Society should appoint a committee to

investigate the disputed question as to whether the graded way

in Pike County is a natural or artificial work. After some dis-

cussion it was voted that the Executive Committee appoint a

committee of five, among whom should be a geologist, an ar-

chaeologist, and a topographical engineer, of repute, to investi-

gate the works in question, examine them, and report to the

society the result of their investigation. There being no fur-

ther business of importance before the meeting of the Society

it was adjourned.

 

 

ANNUAL MEETING OF THE TRUSTEES.

The annual meeting of the Board of Trustees was held im-

mediately upon the adjournment of the annual meeting of the

Society, and the following trustees were present: Judge J. H.

Anderson, Mr. G. F. Bareis, Gen. R. Brinkerhoff, Col. J. W.

Harper, Mr. W. H. Hunter, Rev. N. B. C. Love, Prof. J. P.

• 191
 

Eighteenth Annual Meeting.              215

 

MacLean, Prof. C. L. Martzolff, Prof. B. F. Prince, Mr. E.,

O. Randall, Gen. George B. Wright and Prof. G. Frederick

Wright.

Letters regretting absence were received by the Secretary

from Judge M. D. Follett and Bishop B. W. Arnett. Prof. G.

Fred. Wright acted as temporary chairman, and Mr. E. O.

Randall as temporary secretary. The election of the various

officers of the Society for the ensuing year was then held.  It

resulted as follows: Gen. R. Brinkerhoff, President; Gen.

George B. Wright, First Vice President; Mr. George F. Bareis,

Second Vice President; Mr. E. O. Randall, Secretary and

Editor; Hon. S. S. Rickly, Treasurer; Mr. Edwin F. Wood,

Assistant Treasurer; Prof. W. C. Mills, Curator and Librarian.

The following were selected as members of the executive com-

mittee: G. Fred Wright, W. H. Hunter, B. F. Prince, A. R.

McIntire, D. J. Ryan. With these as ex-officio members, will

serve Geo. F. Bareis, R. Brinkerhoff, E. O. Randall, S. S. Rickly,

George B. Wright. The Board of Trustees thereupon adjourned

with the understanding that the Executive Committee would

meet at the call of the Secretary.

 

 

AMERICAN INDIANS.

In the evening, under the auspices of the Society, in the

auditorium  of the Ohio State University, a lecture was de-

livered by Dr. J. A. Leonard, of Mansfield, on the American

Indian. Dr. Leonard was for many years United States In-

spector of Indian Tribes, and is perhaps one of the highest

authorities in the country on the subject of the modern aborigine.

His lecture was intensely interesting and profitable.

 

 

REPORT OF THE CURATOR.

The report of Prof. W. C. Mills, Curator of the Society,

was as follows:

It gives me much pleasure to make my annual report upon

the condition of the Museum and Library and on the Archaeo-

logical explorations of the Society.

During the first part of last year the field work was car-

ried on at the Baum prehistoric village site where for two sea-

• 192
 

216       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

sons prior to this, work had been carried on. The object of

a further examination was to gain some idea of the extent of

this village and to further examine the burials and refuse pits.

The northern portion of the village was examined and here

very interesting burials were discovered. Heretofore no burials

having pottery placed with them were found, but in this section

quite a number of burials had pottery placed in the graves. Of

the hundred or more skeletons removed from this village prior to

this examination not a single piece of copper was found, but

this year a single grave rewarded us with two copper beads

and many objects made of bone and shell. The examination

of the village during the present year has somewhat enlarged

the former boundary lines. At present the village extends

almost one-fourth of a mile along the terrace due north, and

about the same distance south of the mound and almost the same

distance directly east of the mound. The part west was no doubt

uninhabited by aboriginal man as the land was low and swampy.

A complete report of the animal remain burials, and imple-

ments will soon be in press.

The latter part of the season was spent in examining the

Gartner mound, which is situated about six miles north of

Chillicothe. It is located upon the line between the farm

of Mr. Gartner and the farm of Miss Elizabeth Leevy. The

mound was 71/2 feet high with a diameter of 75 feet. This

mound contained very many interesting things that were new

to science. Of the 44 skeletons unearthed, 18 were placed below

the base line; all the others were buried on an average of

31/2 ft. above the base line. This mound was made up of three

distinct mounds; the first or original mound having no burials

beneath the base and only six that were placed on an average

of 31/2 feet above the base. However, six inches above the base

line was made a platform of earth which seemed to be made

from puddled clay firmly tamped into a level floor, which upon

examination proved to be 23 feet wide by 43 feet in length.

Upon this floor were placed ashes, varying in depth from 6

inches to 21/2 feet. Beneath the floor was found the remains

of an old home, the fire places, refuse pits and post holes of

the tepees being plainly visible. With the burials in the other

• 193
 

Eighteenth Annual Meeting.              217

 

portions of the mound were found pipes, ocean shell gorgets,

beads, perfect pieces of pottery and large quantities of per-

forated teeth of various animals. But perhaps the most inter-

esting of all the things taken from these graves was the pud-

dles and tempered clay ready to be made into pottery. This

clay was placed in a nitch in the grave near the head. In

several instances small boulders accompanied the clay and were

piled over it in a small heap. These were no doubt used in

cooking their food. In another grave was found a small shell

gorget with a hole in the center in which was inserted a fresh-

water pearl.

During the winter 1902-03 the Ohio State University ten-

dered to the Historical Society rooms in Page Hall. These

rooms were accepted by the Executive Committee at the Jan-

uary meeting and I was instructed to proceed with the transfer

of the collection of the Society as well as that of the University

from Orton Hall to Page Hall. But it was the first week in

February before the work could begin as the basement rooms were

not quite ready for occupancy and the floor in the main Museum

had to be put in shape; and it was almost the first of March

before the specimens could be removed.

The University during the year supplied the Museum with

upwards of $745 worth of cases; some of these were for new

cases while $578 was in lieu of cases that could not be removed

from Orton Hall.

At the present time the Archaeological exhibit occupies a

room containing 4,000 square feet and the Library and office

occupies about 1,800 square feet, the Historical room and Photo-

graph Gallery on the first floor, each 900 square feet, and about

2,500 square feet of basement room which will be used for

storage. Although we have a very large room for the archaeo-

logical exhibit yet at the present time I find that this room is

crowded and it will be a very short time until we will be com-

pelled to have more commodious quarters. I would respect-

fully recommend that the Legislature be asked to supply us with

a new building to take care of the great number of collections

that are coming to us unsolicited. I further recommend that

• 194
 

218       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

this building be placed on the University campus as the most

available site.

During the year several thousand specimens have been added

to the Museum and a new card catalogue is now being made.

It will take about a year to complete this catalogue as each

specimen of importance will be labeled as well as drawings made

and placed upon the card. An historical file is also being made

in which the history of each collection of specimens is carefully

preserved. The library has made quite a growth during the

past year and 325 volumes have been added to our list. We

have received about 300 pamphlets in exchange for our publica-

tions. We have 138 exchanges but hope to increase them dur-

ing the coming year.

During the year specimens and material that was stored at

the State House and various other places throughout the city

have been gathered together and placed on exhibition in the

Museum of the Society. The most interesting historical object

procured during the year is the model of the John Fitch engine,

presented by Mr. A. N. Whiting. Another interesting gift is the

first printing press ever used in Franklin county, presented by

Col. James Kilbourne. We are now in a position to receive many

historical relics and we hope the members will take it upon them-

selves to add to the collection.

• 195
 

"REFUGEES TO AND FROM CANADA AND THE REFU-

GEE TRACT."

 

BY EDWARD LIVINGSTON TAYLOR.

All that part of the City of Columbus which lies east of the

Scioto River and between Fifth Avenue on the north, and Steel-

ton on the south, a distance of four and one-half miles, is on

what is known in law and history as the "Refugee Tract," which

was, as we shall hereafter see, set apart by the government for

the benefit of "Refugees from Canada and Nova Scotia." This

territory comprises at least nine-tenths of the wealth and popu-

lation of the City of Columbus. Every title to property within

these limits goes back to and is based upon this Refugee grant,

and it is safe to say that very few of the various owners of these

valuable lots and lands have any accurate knowledge of the origin

of their titles or the occurrences which brought about their origin.

 

 

The common thought which prevails in the public mind of

the present day is that during the Revolutionary war the people

of the colonies were as a unit in opposition to the rule of Great

Britain, and actively supported the efforts of the Colonial army

in the struggle for independence. Nothing could be further

from the truth, and this general impression could not now exist

but for the reason that our American youths have for a hundred

and twenty years been taught American patriotism, and have

been imbued with American sentiments and ideas and have ob-

served the wonderful growth and development of our country,

until they have come to assume, as a matter of course, that no

considerable number of residents in the colonies could but have

been enthusiastically in favor of the revolt against the mother

country and in favor of a free and independent government. It

is fortunate that this has been the case, but the assumption is

wholly against the facts of history.

3 Vol. XII-3           (219)

• 196
 

220       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.   The truth is that there was in this country at that time a fearfully bitter and relentless party hatred and strife existing between what was, at that time, called the "Loyalist" or "Tory" party and the "Patriot" or "Whig" party. It is next to impossi-

ble at this distance of time to conceive of the malignant fierceness of party feeling or of the cruel persecutions which each party in- flicted upon the other, as opportunity afforded. There was little or no moderation exercised by either party in their treatment of each other. It was in fact a life and death struggle between them. The "Loyalist" or Tory party constituted at least one- fourth, if not one-third of the entire population and were dis- tributed somewhat irregularly throughout the colonies. In many

• 197
 

"Refugees To and From Canada," Etc.         221

 

places they were in a majority and controlled public sentiment

and action, and inflicted upon the Patriots all manner of perse-

cutions and confiscated or destroyed their property at will. That

this was in retaliation in many if not most instances is probable,

and it may be assumed that they may have felt, justified in their

acts for the reason that the "Patriots" inflicted upon the "Loy-

alists" all manner of persecutions and humiliations in many spe-

cial instances and generally throughout the colonies where they

had the power.

The strength of the Tory party which developed at the be-

ginning of the Revolutionary War was composed of the crown

officers who had been sent out to America by the English Gov-

ernment, many of whom were unworthy and worthless at home

and of course were unworthy and worthless in their new rela-

tions. They were disignated by the term "place-men." Some

of them were worthy and discharged their duties with fidelity,

but even they did not escape the appellation of "Ministerial tools."

Then there was the clergy of the Established Church, who were

appointed by British authority to manage the affairs of the es-

tablished church in the colonies. These constituted a very re-

spectable and important class of much influence both in religious

and secular affairs. They were as a rule a cultivated order of

men and their influence was necessarily great and they were al-

ways loyal to the British authority from which they received

their appointments and support, and to which under all ordinary

circumstances they owed allegiance.

Then there were many of the principal merchants and large

property owners of the time in this country who gave their sup-

port to the Tory party for the reason that it accorded with their

interest, if not indeed with their actual sentiments. These pow-

erful elements united formed the strength of the Tory party,

which first was developed and centralized about the City of Bos-

ton, in the early stages of the war, but which soon spread through-

out the colonies.

 

 

The formation of the Whig and Tory parties began during

the administration of Governor Hutchinson, who was the Eng-

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222       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

lish provincial or colonial governor of Massachusetts at and

prior to the commencement of hostilities. In May 1774 Governor

Hutchinson was succeeded by General Gage, who was clothed

with both military and civil authority.

With the coming of General Gage with his English soldiers,

four regiments strong and which strength was subsequently

greatly increased, the Tories in and about Boston manifested

themselves in a very positive and often aggressive manner.

Those who lived in Boston felt confident of the power of the

English government to protect them and many who lived with-

out the boundaries of the city from fears, either actual or imagi-

nary, flocked into the city to seek protection of the British

army and here for a time they felt that they were entirely se-

cure. They further felt sure that within a short time the patri-

ots whom they considered rebels against a lawful government,

would be subdued and punished and probably be beheaded or put

to the sword and have their property and estates confiscated.

The sentiments and feelings of the extreme Tories at the time

may be considered as well expressed by a prominent Tory wo-

man-Madame Higginson-who declared that "It would be a

joy to her to ride through Americans' blood to the hubs of her

carriage wheels." Another Tory said he "hoped that the rebels

would swing for it." Another "wanted to see the blood stream-

ing from the hearts of the leaders." Another described the patri-

ots "As more savage and cruel than heathens or any other

creatures and it is generally thought than devils."

 

 

The feelings and expressions of the Whigs were scarcely

less immoderate and intolerant, and they certainly did every-

thing to persecute the Tories in every way possible short of tak-

ing life. Their conduct was often tumultous and at times riotous.

Many Tory officers were threatened with violence and in some

cases violence was actually administered to compel them to re-

sign their "commissions." In one case one Israel Williams, one

of the thirty-six "Mandamus Counsellors" appointed by the au-

thority of King George, the Third, "although old and infirm, was

taken from his home at night by a mob and placed in a house

• 199
 

"Refugees To and From Canada," Etc.         223

 

with the doors and chimneys closed and smoked for several

hours," and thus compelled to resign his office. It was said with

exceeding grim humor that "they smoked old Williams into a

Whig."

 

 

But this was not the worst form which the Whigs adopted

in the persecution of the Tories. The common and accepted form

of punishment was "tar and feathers," which prevailed to a more

or less extent throughout the colonies. Sometimes they tortured

their victims upon a liberty pole, and sometimes ducked them in

a convenient pond or stream; and one Tory complained "that he

was hoisted upon the landlord's sign and there exposed in com-

pany with a dead catamount." Sometimes the Whigs were sat-

isfied by simply warning an obnoxious Tory "that the law of tar

and feathers had not been repealed." The Tories were some-

times unlawfully taken by force and imprisoned; and sometimes

the unfortunate victim was made to "sit upon a cake of ice to cool

his loyalty." In some places a Tory could not even secure the

services of a blacksmith to shoe his horse, or have his corn or

wheat ground at the mills, or have other necessary labor per-

formed for him. The Tories were equally intolerant when they

had the power.

 

 

As soon as the British army took possession of Boston and

afterwards of New York they began to imprison and maltreat

the active Whigs. They treated those who had been active

against them with whatever cruelty or indignity they could in-

vent, and as an illustration a Long Island Whig was "compelled

to wear a coil of rope about his neck with assurance that he

would be hanged the next day." In short each party was quick

to learn intolerance from the other and to actively exercise it.

 

 

In New York and the New England colonies religion and

sect became badly involved and mixed up with politics and party

feeling and became an element which greatly heightened and in-

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224       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

tensified the feelings between the two parties. Where either

party had the power and control they often among other wrongs

desecrated each others churches and places of worship. It was

not infrequent that they used each others churches for barracks,

hospitals and guard houses, destroying the furniture and commit-

ting many acts of vandalism. In some cases they even used these

places of worship for the stabling of horses and the like, and

sometimes burned andentirely destroyed them.

 

 

Thus the religious feeling between the Puritans and the

Episcopalians - established church men - was intensified to the

last extent and they used in speaking and writing of each other

the most obnoxious and disrespectful language. The Tories de-

scribed the Whigs as "great Puritans but without religion" and

"as hypocritical fanatics." While the Puritans were equally in-

sulting and unjust in their writings and speeches concerning the

representatives of the established church. In the more south-

ern colonies this religious feeling was not nearly so marked and

bitter and in that region many Episcopalian Bishops and minis-

ters of the established church were strong patriots. But in New

York and the New England colonies, it was perhaps the strong-

est of any single element which served to create animosities and

hostilities between the parties and tended to strengthen and en-

courage their outrages and persecutions of each other.

 

 

The conflicts at Lexington and Concord took place in April,

1775, and the animosities which had been rapidly growing, at

once burst into flame. The Loyalists began to flee from New

York and New England to Canada, and Patriots in Canada began

to seek refuge in the colonies. In New York state Col. Allen Mc-

Lean and Guy Johnson collected a band of soldiers mostly Scotch

tenants of the Johnsons and went over to Canada where they

became auxiliary to the British force. The next year (1776) Sir

John Johnson, who lived in Central New York, and who had

great influence with the Mohawk Indians as well as with the

Loyalists organized about three hundred of the latter and with

• 201
 

"Refugees To and From Canada," Etc.         225

 

them and all the Mohawk Indians fled to Canada. He was given

a colonel's commission by the British and authorized to raise two

battalions of five hundred men each, which he soon accomplished.

These forces with others of the same nature were very effective

and aggressive on the New York frontier and fought the bloody

battles of Oriskany and Ft. Stainwix (the present site of Rome, N.

Y.) at the last of which they were defeated and driven back into

Canada. But they returned again in a few months and with

their Indian allies, the Mohawk Indians, devastated the Wy-

oming Valley. They with many other Loyalists, were with Bur-

goyne, and on his defeat and surrender were forced to flee again to

Canada, where they continued their bitter partisan border warfare

during the entire war, and as the result of the war was against

them, they finally became a part of the vast number of perma-

nent "refugees to Canada."

 

 

On the other hand there was a considerable number of res-

idents in Canada who sympathized with those in revolt against

British rule in the provinces. Prominent among them was Col.

James Livingston, who had been born and educated in New

York, but had located in Montreal with the view of practicing

his profession as a lawyer. His family, the Livingstons, both in

New York and New Jersey, were strong patriots and active and

determined supporters for the war of independence and he was

in accord with their views and principles.

In the summer of 1775 it was determined to send an expedi-

tion to invade Canada with a view of terminating British do-

minion over that province. The command of the expedition was

given to General Schuyler and General Richard Montgomery.

The failing health of General Schuyler under the extraordinary

strain which was placed upon him, threw the active command

upon General Montgomery. General Montgomery had married

into the Livingston family, and so this added relation tended to

strengthen, if possible, the patriotism of Colonel Livingston and

his eagerness to assist in the invasion. With great energy and in

the face of difficulties and dangers he succeeded in get-

ting together three or four hundred Patriots in Canada mostly in

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226       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

and about Montreal, and with them hurried over the borders to

the State of New York, where they joined Montgomery's army

in the invasion of Canada. This band of refugees greatly as-

sisted at the capture of Montreal, St. Johns and other points

along the St. Lawrence river, and was with Montgomery in the

assault on Quebec where that gallant officer lost his life on the

last day of December, 1775.

After the disaster at Quebec, Colonel Livingston withdrew

along with the colonial army to the state of New York and

served as a colonel of his command throughout the entire Revolu-

tionary War. His command largely consisted of Patriots from

Canada, who were treated by the British authorities as outlaws

and became in name and in fact "Refugees from Canada."

 

 

As we shall see further on, more than one-half of all the

refugees to Canada were from the State of New York and nearly

all the refugees from Canada to the Colonies were originally

from the state of New York and the New England States. Col-

onel Livingston and the members of his command were excep-

tionally familiar with the territory and the situation of affairs

and from their special knowledge well fitted to cope with and

defeat the refugees to Canada and their Indian allies who were

operating against the colonies under different commanders and

so naturally came to be the objects of their most bitter and re-

lentless hatred. A heavy price was set upon Colonel Livingston's

head but he was so fortunate as never to fall into their hands al-

though through his whole long service of seven years he was in

large part opposed to Colonel Johnson and other commanders of

the Canadian refugee army, which with their British and Indian

allies constantly hovered along the Canadian border and threat-

ened and often pillaged the patriotic settlers of northern and

central New York. The Mohawk Indians were the constant and

active allies of the Tories in all this frontier warfare.

The property and estates of Colonel Livingston and other

patriots who had fled from Canada were confiscated and long

subsequently he and others received partial compensation for

• 203
 

"Refugees To and From Canada," Etc.         227

 

their losses in grants of land in the "Refugee Tract," on which

the City of Columbus now stands.

 

 

 

The first great exodus of refugees after those who had early

fled across the borders to Canada, was at the evacuation of Bos-

ton by General Howe, in March, 1776. During the occupation of

Boston by the British Army from the coming of General Gage in

May, 1774, to the evacuation by General Howe, March, 1776, a

period of nearly two years, that city had been the hotbed of

Loyalism. During that period of occupation the Loyalists had in

many ways been a burden to the British commanders but on the

other hand they had rendered much service and assistance to

the British Army and had so linked their fortunes with the Brit-

ish cause that they could not now be abandoned to the mercy

of the victorious Patriots. There was at the time of the evacu-

ation by the British army a large number of small sailing ves-

sels in the Boston harbor and in these the Loyalists were allowed

to escape. Many of these small vessels were loaded with such

effects as the Loyalists could get together in great haste and

confusion and under the escort of three English men of war they

sailed away for the inhospitable and dreary and almost uninhab-

ited coast of Nova Scotia. It was the inclement stormy month

of March and the suffering of men, women and children in these

overcrowded vessels on a tempestuous sea, was such that noth-

ing could add to their misery. They were about a thousand in

number and among them thirteen of the thirty-six members of the

famous and detested "Mandamus Council." It is not probable

that any of them returned to their original homes, although they

must necessarily have lived under the hardest conditions in their

new country and but for the aid given them by the British gov-

ernment at least many of them must have perished. The Brit-

ish were never again in possession of the City of Boston and

much of the properties and estates of the refugees therefrom were

confiscated or destroyed.

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228       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

Throughout the entire war refugees were fleeing to Canada

from the Colonies, and from Canada to the Colonies, but it is not

within our purpose to narrate these migrations in detail, but only

to notice the more important events, and the results.

The next great exodus from this country after the evacuation

of Boston by the British army, was at or near the close of the

Revolutionary War. When General Howe, defeated and humili-

ated, sailed away from Boston with his army in March, 1776, it

was not known where he would next appear; but New York was

generally thought to be his objective point. This was the opin-

ion of General Washington, and he at once commenced moving

his army in that direction. Events proved the correctness of his

views and wisdom of his action, for in the last days of June,

Howe's fleet appeared in the waters of the harbor of New York.

He proceeded to disembark his troops on Staten Island, but made

no active demonstration until August when in a general action

he defeated the colonial army and took possession of the city

and surrounding country, which was held by the British until

the end of the war and was not completely evacuated by them

until late in the year 1783, a period of seven years. During all

that period New York was to the Loyalist what Boston had been

-a safe harbor of retreat to which they flocked in great num-

bers from all quarters while thousands of Patriots fled early from

the city and found homes and places of refuge as best they could

and where they could in the surrounding country. The homes

thus deserted by the Patriots were filled by the Tories who flocked

to the city to secure protection of the British army. Thus the

population of the city almost entirely changed from Patriots to

Loyalists.

 

 

Great numbers of Loyalists enlisted in the British army.

Prof. Flick, who has made a most thorough and careful examina-

tion into the details concerning the refugees of New York and

has published the result of his researches under the title of

"Loyalism in New York," after giving the details, sums up the

total enlistment of New York Loyalists in the British army as

"at least 15,000 and in the navy 8,500, making a total of 23,000

• 205
 

"Refugees To and From Canada," Etc.          229

 

Loyalist troops" from that state alone. He further says, "This

was more than any other colony furnished and perhaps as many

as were raised by all the others combined." He further states

that "the New York Loyalists fought in every battle on New

York soil and in most of the other battles of the war and were

repeatedly commended for their gallantry." These figures en-

able us to understand how it was that so vast a number of persons

became refugees from New York at the end of the war.

 

 

Prof. John Beach McMaster, professor of American History

in the University of Pennsylvania, in his excellent work, entitled:

"With the Fathers," states that "the record shows that the num-

ber of refugees who left New York in 1783, was 29,244 persons,

men, women, children and servants who went off never to

return." And Professor Van Tyne in his recent excellent work,

entitled "The Loyalists in the American Revolution" (page 293)

makes the same estimate.

They for the most part went, or were rather sent to different

points on the coast of Nova Scotia. But some of the wealthy and

most conspicuous went to England, in part for the purpose of

living under the King's government to which they were devoted,

and in part to be better able there to press their claim for ser-

vices to the British cause and for material loss they had suffered.

Those who had means and did not want to be arbitrarily trans-

ported to places to which they did not want to go made up parties

and chartered their own vessels and went to places of their own

choosing. But this class was quite limited.

 

 

The great body of Tories who had not been active and con-

spicuous were allowed to remain in this country, but it is the

estimate of Prof. Flick that the total exodus of refugees from

the Colonies during and at the end of the war to various places

amounted to at least 60,000 persons. Most of these went to

Canada and Nova Scotia and became permanent residents thereof.

Each of these refugees carried with them a heart filled with hatred

for the country from which they had been exiled, and for the

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230       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

people who had compelled their exile, and although more than

a century has passed that feeling is still dominant and controlling

in the minds and hearts of many of their vastly increased num-

ber of descendants now living in Canada.

 

After a time a few of these refugees returned, having had

sad experiences and great sufferings. Some of them were al-

lowed to remain but others were scourged and beaten and other-

wise maltreated and compelled to again leave the country. They

returned from Canada and Nova Scotia only because they could

not endure the hard conditions of life in those provinces where

they had suffered almost untold hardships and deprivations.

There was nothing else to induce them to return as they had

been socially ostracized and their properties and estates had as a

rule been confiscated or destroyed.

 

As an illustration of the extreme feeling on the part of the

Patriots against the prominent and active Loyalists the cases of

a Mr. Roberts and a Mr. Carlisle, prominent citizens of Phila-

delphia, may be cited. These gentlemen had been active sup-

porters of the British cause while the British army was in occu-

pation of Philadelphia. When that city was evacuated by the

British army they remained behind, thinking to remain in their

old homes and enjoy their families and estates. They were

seized and tried by a civil tribunal and condemned to be hanged,

which sentence was mercilessly carried out, although the wife

and children of Mr. Roberts went before the Continental Con-

gress and supplicated for mercy for their husband and father.

 

 

 

When Charleston was evacuated by the British army near the

end of the war, some "3,000 Loyalist inhabitants left then or

had left prior to that time for Jamaica, St. Augustine, Halifax

or New York." When about the same time Savannah was evacu-

ated some 7,000 persons besides the soldiers left that city of

which number 5,000 were negro slaves of wealthy planters.

Most of these went to St. Augustine, Florida. Although the

• 207
 

"Refugees To and From Canada," Etc.         231

 

wealthy planters, the slave-holding class, led in the Tory move-

ment in the southern colonies, yet a considerable element in the

organized Tory bands in Georgia and the Carolinas were of

the criminal classes of all kinds, grades and characters. They

flocked to the Tory standard for protection from their crimes.

They cared nothing about the principles involved and in fact many

of them were too ignorant to correctly understand them and too

vicious to care, and were indifferent to them. None of these

became refugees to Canada and when those colonies had been

reconquered from the British, near the end of the war most of

this class fled to the wilds of Florida, then under British domin-

ion, and some to the wilderness of the back country where they

assimilated with the Cherokees, Creeks and other Indian tribes.

Here they were able to actively continue their criminal lives and

practices. These vicious, depraved and desperate men were re-

sponsible in large part for much of the destruction of life and

property of the settlers in that region for many years following.

 

 

 

When Benedict Arnold betrayed and deserted the American

cause and fled from West Point, where he was in command of the

American forces, to the city of New York, he was rewarded for

his treachery, by a commission as Major General in the British

Army of Occupation, and authorized to organize a regiment of

Americans, which meant Tories and dissatisfied soldiers then in

the continental army. He issued a proclamation to the "officers

and soldiers of the continental army," which was intended to-

secure desertions from that army as well as to secure accessions

to the British forces from those who had not to that time actively

engaged in arms against their country. The result was, that

within a short time he organized a force of 1,600 royalists and

deserters and was sent by sea to Virginia to assist British Gen-

eral Howe in that section of the country. He was exceedingly

bold and active in his new relations and command, and did great

damage and created great destruction in Virginia both of life-

and property. Among other of his desperate acts was the burn-

ing of the City of Richmond with all its rich stores of merchan-

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232      Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

dise and such continental army stores as were found there. He

also planned to capture Thomas Jefferson, then Governor of

Virginia, but his attempt failed.

In June, 1781, he returned to New York, when he was placed

in command of an expedition against the people of his native

state, Connecticut, and was in command at the terrible massacre

at Ft. Griswold, near New London, which further heightened

his infamous fame.

 

Arnold had left his Loyalist soldiers behind him in Virginia

and they were of the forces surrendered by Lord Cornwallis at

Yorktown. Cornwallis wished to make provisions for them in

the terms of the surrender, but this General Washington refused.

It was finally agreed in order to relieve the embarrassment, that

a British ship might "depart for New York with such troops

as Cornwallis might choose to send with it," and in this vessel

the unfortunate Tories and deserters were huddled and per-

mitted thus for the time to escape. This escape was, however,

only temporary, for on reaching New York they became a part

of the great body of those who would have to flee the country,

and they with the others were ultimately compelled to flee to

Canada and so became and were recognized and treated by the

British government as "refugees."

 

 

It is greatly to the credit of the English government that

it did all that could reasonably be done under the adverse cir-

cumstances which obtained at the time to alleviate the unfortunate

condition of the fugitive Loyalists. On the other hand the obli-

gations were great. Many of the Loyalists had rendered constant

and substantial assistance to the British cause and many more

had served in the British army and greatly helped to fight their

battles and gain their victories, and had suffered with them in

their defeats, and now in their final defeat were doomed to exile

from their homes and country, and so the obligations were im-

perative on the British government to do all that could be done

to assist and provide for these, their unfortunate friends and

allies. Every dictate of honor and humanity required this. It

• 209
 

"Refugees To and From Canada," Etc.        233

 

was of course impossible to fully relieve their sufferings and

hardships or to adequately compensate them for their material

losses.

This was equally the case with our own government in re-

spect to the refugees from Canada. Nothing could compensate

them for the hardships they endured to say nothing of the ma-

terial losses which they suffered. But the refugees from Canada

had the consolation of a triumphant result in their favor after

seven years of cruel war and almost unequaled hardships and

sufferings, and that was a mental and heart satisfaction if

nothing more. They felt that their cause was just and had

triumphed, and that they were at last vindicated; and still more

that a new system of popular free government had been estab-

lished which might prove to be of the greatest good not only

to Americans in the present but to humanity in all future time.

The results have justified their fondest expectations, as it will

now be generally conceded that the establishment of a free

and independent government in America was one of the most

fortunate events which has occurred in the history of the hu-

man race.

 

 

 

At the close of the Revolutionary War there were millions

of acres of unsurveyed and unoccupied lands in Canada and

Nova Scotia, suitable for cultivation when cleared and improved.

Surveying parties were at once sent by the British government

to different parts, to lay them out into tracts of various dimen-

sions to be granted to the refugees. In the meantime food,

clothing and shelter was provided until they could clear the land,

establish homes and become self-supporting. Professor Flick

states that "In upper Canada 3,200,000 acres were given to Loy-

alists, who settled there before 1787." Building materials, tools,

and implements for clearing and cultivating lands were dis-

tributed. Garden and farm seeds were given. A cow was given

to every two families. A bull was provided for each neighbor-

hood. Professor Flick further says, "Before the Canadian Loy-

alists were established on a self-supporting basis, perhaps

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234       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

$4,000,000 had been expended in surveys, official salaries, clothing,

food, tools, and stock." In addition claims for losses of real and

personal property and for debts and income were presented by

the Loyalists in the sum of about $50,000,000, of which perhaps

30 per cent. was finally paid. Professor Flick closes his elabor-

ate detailed statement as follows: "The total outlay on the

part of England during the war and after it closed, for the

loyalists in food and clothing, in temporary relief and annuities

in establishing them in Nova Scotia and Canada, in money com-

pensations, amounted to not less than $30,000,000."

 

This does not include the enormous grants of land. The do-

nation of these millions of acres of land and the expenditure of

these millions of money, although forced on the English govern-

ment by the hard circumstances of the times, proved a benefit and

blessing as it secured a rapid development of the resources of these

provinces and strengthened in most positive and enduring man-

ner the loyalty of the inhabitants to the British Crown which

now after a hundred and twenty years and the passing of more

than three generations, seems but little if at all abated. The

staunchest and most loyal adherents of the British Crown now

in Canada and Nova Scotia are descendants of the refugees.

 

While the English government was dispensing these boun-

ties in so prompt and ample a manner our own government was

doing little or nothing for the patriots who had fled from the

British provinces and cast their lives and fortune with the Ameri-

can cause. Of course our colonies were poor in purse, credit

and resources after seven years of war and could not at the

time respond promptly or adequately to the just demands of

the patriots from Canada. Moreover we had at the time but

little more than a titular government. However as early as April

23, 1783, notice was taken of the subject arid the following reso-

lution was passed by Congress:

 

"Resolved, That the memorialist be informed that Congress retains a

lively sense of the services the Canadian officers and men have rendered

the United States and that they are seriously disposed to reward them

for their virtuous sufferings in the cause of liberty.

• 211
 

"Refugees To and From      Canada," Etc.           235

 

That they be further informed that whenever Congress can consist-

ently make grants of land they will reward in this way as far as may

be consistent the officers, men, and other Refugees from Canada."

 

Two years later (April 13, 1785) Congress passed the fol-

lowing resolutions in respect to the refugees from Nova Scotia:

 

"Resolved, That Jonathan Eddy and other Refugees from    Nova

Scotia, on account of their attachment to the interest of the United States

be recommended to the humanity and particular attention of the several

states in which they respectively reside, and that they be informed that

whenever Congress can consistently make grants of land they will reward

in this way as far as may be consistent, such Refugees from Nova Scotia

as may be disposed to live in the Western country."

 

So the refugees from both provinces were placed upon the

same footing, and their claims subsequently considered and dis-

posed of on the same basis.

But it was not until fifteen years after the close of the war

that any active steps were taken and eighteen years before any-

thing substantial was accomplished. On April 7, 1798, an act

was passed, the first section of which was as follows:

 

SECTION 1. "Resolved, That to satisfy the claims of certain persons

claiming lands under the resolutions of Congress, of the twenty-third of

April, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-three, and the thirteenth

of April, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-five, as Refugees from the

British provinces of Canada and Nova Scotia, the secretary of the depart-

ment of war be, and is hereby, authorized and directed, to give notice, in

one or more of the public papers of each of the states of Vermont, Mas-

sachusetts, New York, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania, to all persons

having claims under the said resolutions, to transmit to the war office,

within two years after the passing of this act, a just and true account

of their claims to the bounty of Congress.

SEC. 2. "That no other persons shall be entitled to the benefit of the

provisions of the act than those of the following descriptions, or their

widows and heirs, viz.: First, those heads of families, and single per-

sons, not members of any such families, who were residents in one of the

provinces aforesaid, prior to the fourth day of July, one thousand seven

hundred and seventy-six, and who abandoned their settlements in conse-

quence of having given aid to the United States or Colonies, in the Rev-

olutionary War against Great Britain, or with intention to give such aid,

continued in the United States, or in their service during the said war,

4 Vol. XII-3

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236         Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

and did not return to reside in the dominions of the King of Great Brit-

ain, prior to the twenty-fifth of November, one thousand seven hundred

and eighty-three. Secondly, the widows and heirs of all such persons

as were actually residents, as aforesaid, who abandoned their settle-

ments as aforesaid, and died within the United States, or in their service,

during the said war. And thirdly, all persons who were members of

families at the time of their coming into the United States, and who,

during the war, entered into their service."

SEC 4. "That, at the expiration of fifteen months, from and after

the passing of this act, and from time to time thereafter, it shall be the

duty of the secretary for the department of war to lay such evidence of

claims, as he may have received before the secretary and comptroller of the

treasury, and, with them proceed to examine the testimony, and give their

judgment, what quantity of land ought to be allowed to the individual

claimants, in proportion to the degree of their respective services, sac-

rifices, and sufferings, in consequence of their attachment to the cause

of the United States; allowing to those of the first class, a quantity not

exceeding one thousand acres; and, to the last class, a quantity not ex-

ceeding one hundred; making such intermediate classes as the resolutions

aforesaid, and distributive justice, may, in their judgment, require; and

make report threeof to Congress."

This act laid the foundation of future action, but it was

not until February 18, 1801, eighteen years after the close of

the war, that any provision was actually made for compensations

for the refugees. On that date Congress passed the following

act, which was the first provision actually made for the refugees:

 

SEC. 1. "That the surveyor general be, and he is hereby, directed

to cause those fractional townships of the sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth,

nineteenth, twentieth, twenty-first, and twenty-second ranges of town-

ships, which join the southern boundary line of the military lands, to be

sub-divided into half sections, containing three hundred and twenty acres

each; and to return a survey and description of the same to the secretary

of the treasury, on or before the first Monday of December next; and

that the said lands be, and they are hereby, set apart and reserved for

the purpose of satisfying the claims of persons entitled to lands under

the act, entitled 'An act for the relief of the Refugees from the British

provinces of Canada and Nova Scotia.'

SEC. 2. "That the secretary of the treasury shall, within thirty days

after the survey of lands shall have been returned to him as aforesaid,

proceed to determine, by lot, to be drawn in the presence of the secre-

taries of state and of war, the priority of location of the persons entitled

to lands as aforesaid. The persons thus entitled shall severally make their

locations on the second Tuesday of January next, and the patents for the

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"Refugees To and From Canada," Etc.         237

 

lands thus located shall be granted in the manner directed for military

lands, without requiring any fee whatever."

 

As before stated the land set aside by this act was four and

a half miles wide from the line of present Fifth Avenue to

Steelton in the city of Columbus, north and south, and east

from the east bank of the Scioto river about forty-eight miles.

It was intended to extend to the west line of the division of

land known as the "Seven Ranges," but it was never surveyed

that far for refugee purposes. The tract as surveyed for that

purpose contained about 136,000 acres. The part in Franklin

County was all embraced in Montgomery and Truro Townships.

These two townships extend from the east bank of the Scioto

to the east line of Franklin County and were four and one-half

miles wide from north to south. Both of these townships were

named by refugee influences; that of Montgomery by Judge

Edward C. Livingston, whose father as has been stated was with

General Montgomery when he fell at Quebec and who was a

refugee from Canada; and Truro by Robert Taylor who came

from Truro, Nova Scotia, and was the fourth settler in Truro

Township.

Under the act of 1798 which provided that proof of claims

might be made in advance of any lands being selected for the

benefit of refugees, only about fifty claims were made and al-

lowed amounting in all to 45,280 acres. This limited number

can be accounted for only for the reason that there was no cer-

tainty what provision, if any, would be made, and if made no

certainty that the land granted would be of any value or worth

owning. So many made no claims, and others who made claims

failed to prosecute them.

 

 

When by the act of February 18, 1801, the tract of land to be

appropriated was determined upon, it was found that it was

located in the then wilderness of central Ohio, unsurveyed and

uninhabited and of no known value. It was a long, difficult and

dreary journey from New York or New England and even from

Pennsylvania through the wilderness to reach these lands, and

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238       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

in the almost twenty years which had elapsed since the close of

the war, many, who had just claims had obtained permanent homes

in those states which they did not desire or were too advanced

in years to leave to venture into the far off wilderness. Some,

who had valid claims, had died and as the records show, grants

were issued to their heirs. Others not desiring to come into the

wilderness sold their lands for what they could get, some to

speculators, some to enterprising young men, who wished to try

their fortune in the new country. Quite a number of the descend-

ants of those who had established their claim and possibly a few

of the original claimants took possession of their grants. A

number of descendants of the refugees are still living on and own

these lands after the passing of a hundred years. A notable ex-

ample of this is the venerable Robert N. Livingston now living

on his farm, on the banks of Alum Creek, just east of the city of

Columbus, where he was born eighty years ago. The land which

he owns and occupies came to him from his father, Judge Edward

C. Livingston, who received them from his father, Col. James

Livingston, to whom the original patents were issued. No deed

of alienation has ever passed for these lands. Others of the

descendants of Col. Livingston still own considerable portions

of these refugee lands.

 

 

Under the act of April 7, 1798 about fifty claims were estab-

lished by proof and accepted by the commission designated under

section four of that act and the amount of land awarded amounted

to 45,280 acres. But the land had yet to be surveyed and selected

and this required another year of delay, so that it was not until

the year 1802, twenty years after the close of the war, that any

of the claimants had their land set off to them or received any

benefit or relief.

 

By an act of March 16, 1804, the time for proving claims

was extended for two years; and by an act of February 24, 1810,

time was again extended for two years. Under these extending

acts seventeen claims were established and under an act of April

23, 1812, these claimants were awarded land to the extent of

• 215
 

"Refugees To and From Canada," Etc.          239

 

11,500 acres out of the refugee lands. The total number of claims

established under all the acts of Congress, were 67 in number

and the total amount of land awarded was 56,780 acres, con-

siderably less than one-half of the land set off for that purpose.

The small number of claimants is easily accounted for. It was

twenty years after the war before the first grants were made,

and thirty years before the second grants were made. Seven

years of war and twenty years of hardship and struggle, had done

their work. Of the 17 claims established under the acts of 1804

and 1810, but three were to original claimants. The others had

passed away and the patents were issued to their heirs. The relief

granted was both late and inadequate.

 

 

By an act of April 29, 1816, "All lands which had been set

apart for Refugees and not located," were attached to Chillicothe

district (land office) and directed to be sold as other public lands

-not to be sold for less than two dollars per acre and thus all

the lands of the Refugee tract which had not to that time been

granted, were disposed of as other public lands.

 

 

 

Mention has been made of the proclamation of Benedict Ar-

nold, when he deserted to the British cause intended to induce

desertions from the colonial Army and to secure the deserters

to enlist in the British cause. As heretofore seen he was but too

successful in his nefarious purpose. But this was not the first

proclamation of that kind nor the most effective and disastrous.

Early in the conflict the British government issued a proclama-

tion inviting with liberal promises of gold and other rewards,

officers and privates to desert the American cause and enlist in the

British service. This proclamation was in force through the war.

The effect was very demoralizing to the colonial army and dis-

couraging to the patriots of the country. Under the hard cir-

cumstances which obtained as to food, clothing, pay and hardships

generally in the colonial army, desertions on the part of certain

classes of recruits were easily induced and became discourag-

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240         Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

ingly frequent. Washington was greatly grieved on account of

these numerous desertions. The British government and the Tory

party in this country thoroughly believed that the loyalists were

in such force and strength that with small assistance on the part

of the English army the rebellion would surely and speedily be

overthrown; and further that many in the Colonial army were

anxious to desert and would do so if any inducement was offered.

In this view and belief the British government in 1776, issued

a proclamation inviting and encouraging desertions from the

Colonial army, the effect of which may be judged by the state-

ment of Joseph Galloway the leading Tory and trusted British

agent who testified that 2,300 deserters from the Colonial army

came into his office at Philadelphia, one-half of whom were Irish,

one-fourth English and Scotch, and the rest, Americans. The

promise of English gold had a disastrous effect on many of the

colonial recruits and greatly depleted the Colonial army.

To meet this movement on the part of the British, the Conti-

nental Congress on August 14, 1776, passed a resolution as fol-

lows:

"BOUNTIES TO FOREIGN DESERTERS."

"WHEREAS, The parliament of Great Britain have thought fit by a

late act, not only to invite our troops to desert our service, but to direct a

compulsion of our people taken at sea, to serve against their country;

Resolved, Therefore, That these states will receive all such foreigners

who shall leave the armies of his Britannic majesty in America, and shall

choose to become members of any of these states; and they shall be pro-

tected in the free exercise of their respective religions, and be invested

with the rights, privileges, and immunities of natives, as established by

the laws of these states; and moreover that this congress will provide

for every such person fifty acres of unappropriated lands, in some of these

states, to be held by him and his heirs in absolute property.

"That this congress shall give to all such of the said foreign

officers, as shall leave the armies of his Britannic majesty in America,

and choose to become citizens of these states, unappropriated lanes, in

the following quantities and proportions, to them and their heirs in abso-

lute dominion. To a colonel, 1,000 acres; to a lieutenant colonel, 800

acres; to a major, 600 acres; to a captain, 400 acres; to a lieutenant 300

acres; to an ensign, 200 acres; to every non-commissioned officer, 100

acres; and to every officer or person employed in the said foreign corps

and whose office or employment is not here specifically named, in the

like proportion to their rank or pay in the said corps."

• 217
 

"Refugees To and From Canada," Etc.             241

 

The remarkable result was that while many thousands de-

serted from the Colonial to the British army at all periods of the

war and so ultimately became refugees to Canada, there seems

to have been but a single desertion from the British to the Colo-

nial Army, who made any claim under this resolution and his

name was Nicholas Ferdinand Westfall. On the 27th of March,

1792, Congress passed an act, the 6th section of which is as fol-

lows:

 

SECTION 6. "That there be granted to Nicholas Ferdinand Westfall,

who left the British service and joined the army of the United States,

during the late war, one hundred acres of unappropriated land in the

western territory of the United States, free of all charges."

This seems to have been the only grant made in pursuance

of the preceding resolution.

• 218
 

THE KENTUCKY REVIVAL AND ITS INFLUENCE ON

THE MIAMI VALLEY.

 

BY J. P. MAC LEAN.

The Miami Valley properly embraces all the country north

of the Ohio that is drained by the Great and Little Miami rivers

and their tributaries. In this paper it is used to designate the

southwestern quarter of the State of Ohio, or that territory lying

west of a line drawn due south from Columbus to the Ohio river

and south of another line drawn due west from Columbus to the

State of Indiana. This district was greatly excited and stirred

up by the "Great Kentucky Revival," and its camp-meetings

lasted for a period of over fifty years.

Owing to the rapidity of the increase in population and the

advent of foreigners with their variant sectaries, it is difficult to

measure the depth of the influence of the enthusiasm resultant

from the religious upheaval of 1801. However diverse may have

been the elements to be operated upon, there was sufficient time

and opportunity to carry out the work of the reformers.

The year 1800 showed Ohio with a population of about 45,-

000 and Cincinnati with about 500. In 1810 the city had in-

creased to 2,540 and the entire state to 230,760. The population

was principally made up of emigrants from the older states.

Kentucky, with a population of 73,677 in 1790, had increased to

220,959 in 1800 and 406,511 in 1810. These figures show both

states to have been sparsely settled, when considered with the

present population. The settlements were almost wholly com-

munities of farmers. Books and newspapers were but sparingly

supplied to them, and religion was their chief intellectual food.

Without the advantages enjoyed by their descendants, scattered,

though naturally gregarious, a religious revival would hold out

its allurements to all alike.

 

(242)

• 219
 

The Kentucky Revival, Etc.              243     STATE OF SOCIETY. The early settlers of both Ohio and Kentucky, for the most part, were Christians by profession. Different denominations of religionists were early in the field, employing their zeal in mak- ing proselytes and propagating their respective tenets. The great majority ranked among the Presbyterians, Baptists and Methodists. The first church organized in Ohio was the Bap- tist church at Columbia, near Cincinnati, in 1790, and the build-

ing erected in 1793, which stood until 1835. In 1797, besides the Presbyterian church at Cincinnati, there were preaching points at Clear Creek (a short distance south of Franklin), Turtle Creek (now Union Village, west of Lebanon), Bethany (two miles east of Lebanon) and Big Prairie (at the mouth of Dick's Creek in Butler county, afterwards called Orangedale). Of these

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244       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

country congregations the largest and most influential was Turtle

Creek.

The various sects, acknowledging one another as of the

same parent stock, "stood entirely separate as to any communion

or fellowship, and treated each other with the highest marks of

hostility; wounding, captivating and bickering another, until their

attention was called aff by the appearance of" deism. As early

as 1796 a religious apathy appears to have pervaded the pulpit.

One writes, "the dead state of religion is truly discouraging here,

as well as elsewhere;" another says ,"I have this winter past

preached with difficulty, my heart but little enjoyed," and still

another, "I see but little prospect of encouragement."* How-

ever dark the picture may be painted, the despondent were soon

awakened to what they deemed a season of refreshment.

 

 

THE KENTUCKY REVIVAL.

During the year 1800, on the Gasper, in Logan County Ky.,

on land now owned and occupied by the Shakers, of West Union,

there began a religious revival, which was the precursor of the

most wonderful upheaval ever experienced in Christian work.

The excitement commenced under the labors of John Rankin.

Where this awakening commenced a church still stands, and the

Shakers allow it to be occupied by the reformers, who look upon

it as their Mecca. Almost immediately James McGready, also

a Presbyterian clergyman, was seized with this same spirit as

possessed by Rankin. He has been described as a homely man,

with sandy hair and rugged features, and was so terrific in hold-

ing forth the terrors of hell that he was called a son of thunder.

He pictured out "the furnace of hell with its red-hot coals of

God's wrath as large as mountains;" he would open to the sin-

ner's view "the burning lake of hell, to see its fiery billows rolling,

and to hear the yells and groans of the damned ghosts roaring

under the burning wrath of an angry God." Under his preach-

ing the people would fall down with a loud cry and lie powerless,

or else groaning, praying, or crying to God for mercy. The

news of the excitement spread not only over Kentucky, but also

 

*McNemar's "Kentucky Revival," p. 13.

• 221
 

The Kentucky Revival, Etc.            245

 

into Ohio and Tennessee, and people rushed to the Gasper to

witness the scenes and returned to their homes carrying a meas-

ure of the enthusiasm with them. Among those drawn to the

spot was Barton W Stone, afterwards the head of a new sect.

Early in the spring of 1801 he repaired to the scene of excitement,

which was now carried on by several Presbyterian ministers,

headed by James McGready. "There, on the edge of a prairie

in Logan County, Kentucky, the multitudes came together, and

continued a number of days and nights encamped on the ground;

during which time worship was carried on in some part of the

encampment. The scene to me was new and passing strange.

It baffled description. Many, very many, fell down, as men slain

in battle, and continued for hours together in an apparently

breathless and motionless state-sometimes for a few moments

reviving, and exhibiting symptoms of life by a deep groan, or

piercing shriek, or by a prayer for mercy most fervently uttered."*

At this time Stone was preaching at Cane Ridge and Concord, in

Bourbon county, under the Presbytery of Transylvania. He re-

turned home, believing that he had "witnessed the work of God."

Multitudes awaited his return at Cane Ridge; and he effected the

congregation "with awful solemnity, and many returned home

weeping." That night he preached at Concord where "two little

girls were struck down under the preaching of the word, and in

every respect were exercised as those were in the south of Ken-

tucky. Their addresses made deep impressions on the congrega-

tion. On the next day I returned to Cane Ridge, and attended my

appointment at William Maxwell's. I soon heard of the good

effects of the meeting on the Sunday before. Many were sol-

emnly engaged in seeking salvation, and some had found the

Lord, and were rejoicing in Him. Among these last was my

particular friend Nathaniel Rogers, a man of first respectability

and influence in the neighborhood. Just as I arrived at the gate,

my friend Rogers and his lady came up; as soon as he saw me,

he shouted aloud the praises of God. We hurried into each

other's embrace, he still praising the Lord aloud. The crowd left

the house, and hurried to this novel scene. In less than twenty

 

 

*"Biography of Stone," p. 34.

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246       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

minutes, scores had fallen to the ground-paleness, trembling,

and anxiety appeared in all-some attempted to fly from the

scene panic stricken, but they either fell, or returned immediately

to the crowd, as unable to get away."*

The revival became a veritable contagion. Its operations

flew abroad and stirred up the curious, the sincere and the indif-

ferent. Multitudes poured into the various meetings and the

strange exercises increasing, no respect for stated hours was ob-

served, and then it was deemed expedient to encamp on the

ground, and continue the meeting day and night. To the vari-

ous encampments they flocked in hundreds and thousands; on

foot, on horseback, and in various vehicles.

By January 30, 1801, the excitement had reached Nashville,

Barren, Muddy, Knoxville and other places. Owing to the mul-

titudes attending the meetings, the encampments took the name

of "Camp Meetings." The camp-meeting once so popular had

its origin in Kentucky, in 1801. It grew out of a necessity, but

was prolonged until its usefulness had not only departed, but

became a stench, a byword, a demoralizing power and a blighting

curse.

As camp meetings became the order of the day, the first of

note began at Cabin Creek, Lewis County, Kentucky, May 22,

1801, and continued four days and three nights. Attending this

meeting were persons from Cane Ridge and Concord, and also

Eagle Creek, in Ohio. The next general camp-meeting, was at

Concord, in Bourbon county in May and June, same year. There

were about 4,000 people present, among whom were seven Pres-

byterian clergymen. Of these, four spoke against the work until

noon of the fourth day, when they professed to be convinced that

"it was the work of God." This meeting continued five days and

four nights. The next was held at Eagle Creek, Adams County,

Ohio, beginning June ₅th, and continuing four days and three

nights. The country being new, the outpouring was not so great.

Following this was the one at Pleasant Point, Kentucky, which

equalled, or even surpassed any of the previous mentioned. This

meeting spread the work extensively through Bourbon, Fayette

 

*Ibid, p. 36.

• 223
 

The Kentucky Revival, Etc.              247

 

and adjoining counties. The meeting at Indian Creek, Harrison

county, began July 2₄th, and continued nearly a week. Next

came the great meeting at Cane Ridge, seven miles from Paris, be-

ginning August 6th. The number of people on the ground at

one time was supposed to have numbered 20,000. The encamp-

ment consisted of one hundred and thirty-five wheel-carriages,

and tents proportioned to the people. Rev. James Crawford,

who kept as accurate account as he could on that occasion, com-

puted there were 3,000 that fell on that occasion, or an average

of 500 a day.

The people among whom the revival began were generally

Calvinists, and all the principal leaders were clergymen of the

Presbyterian church; yet other sects were rapidly swept into

the maelstrom. Generally the first affected were children, and

from them the contagion spread. "A boy, from appearance about

twelve years old, retired from the stand in time of preaching,

under a very extraordinary impression; and having mounted

a log, at some distance, and raising his voice, in a very affect-

ing manner, he attracted the main body of the people in a few

minutes. With tears streaming from his eyes, he cried aloud

to the wicked, warning them of their danger, denouncing their

certain doom, if they persisted in their sins; expressing his

love to their souls, and desire that they would turn to the Lord

and be saved. He was held up by two men, and spoke for

about an hour with that convincing eloquence that could be

inspired only from above. When his strength seemed quite ex-

hausted and language failed to describe the feelings of his soul,

he raised his hand, and dropping his handkerchief, wet with

sweat from his little face, cried out, 'Thus, O sinner! shall you

drop into hell, unless you forsake your sins and turn to the

Lord.' At that moment some fell, like those who are shot in

battle, and the work spread in a manner which human language

cannot describe." *

One of the affecting speakers was Vincy McNemar, daughter

of Richard, nine years of age. Her father held her on his arm

while she addressed the multitude.+

* McNemar's "Kentucky Revival," p. 25.

+ Vincy afterwards became a prominent Shaker. I have a kerchief

owned by her, presented to me by Eldress Clymena Miner.

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248       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

 

PHYSICAL PHENOMENA.

The strange manifestations appertained to all the camp meet-

ings. What would be a description of one would be the same

recital in all, perhaps, varying only in excess. These excesses

have thus been described by Barton W. Stone: "The bodily

agitations or exercises, attending the excitement in the begin-

ning of this century, were various, and called by various names:

-as the falling exercise-the jerks-the dancing exercise-the

barking exercise-the laughing and singing exercise, etc.-The

falling exercise was very common among all classes, the saints

and sinners of every age and of every grade, from the philoso-

pher to the clown. The subject of this exercise would, gen-

erally, with a piercing scream, fall like a log on the floor, earth,

or mud, and appear as dead. *  *  *  I have seen very many

pious persons fall in the same way, from a sense of the danger

of their unconverted children, brothers, or sisters-from a sense

of the danger of their neighbors, and of the sinful world. I

have heard them agonizing in tears and strong crying for mercy

to be shown to sinners, and speaking like angels to all around.

The jerks cannot be so easily described. Sometimes the

subject of the jerks would be affected in some one member of

the body, and sometimes in the whole system. When the head

alone was affected, it would be jerked backward and forward,

or from side to side, so quickly that the features of the face

could not be distinguished. When the whole system was af-

fected, I have seen the person stand in one place, and jerk back-

ward and forward in quick succession, their heads nearly touch-

ing the floor behind and before. All classes, saints and sinners,

the strong as well as the weak, were thus affected. I have in-

quired of those thus affected. They could not account for it;

but some have told me that those were among the happiest

seasons of their lives. I have seen some wicked persons thus

affected, and all the time cursing the jerks, while they were

thrown to the earth with violence. Though so awful to be-

hold, I do not remember that any one of the thousands I have

seen ever sustained an injury in body. This was as strange as

the exercise itself.

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The Kentucky Revival, Etc.             249

 

The dancing exercise. This generally began with the jerks,

and was peculiar to professors of religion. The subject, after

jerking awhile, began to dance, and then the jerks would cease.

Such dancing was indeed heavenly to the spectators; there was

nothing in it like levity, nor calculated to excite levity in the

beholders. The saints of heaven shone on the countenance of

the subject, and assimilated to angels appeared the whole per-

son. Sometimes the motion was quick and sometimes slow.

Thus they continued to move forward and backward in the same

track or alley till nature seemed exhausted, and they would

fall prostrate on the floor or earth, unless caught by those stand-

ing by. While thus exercised, I have heard their solemn praises

and prayers ascending to God.

The barking exercise (as opponents contemptuously called

it), was nothing but the jerks. A person affected with the

jerks, especially in his head, would often make a grunt, or bark,

if you please, from the suddenness of the jerk. This name of

barking seems to have had its origin from an old Presbyterian

preacher of East Tennessee. He had gone into the woods for

private devotion, and was seized with the jerks. Standing near

a sapling, he caught hold of it, to prevent his falling, and as

his head jerked back, he uttered a grunt or kind of noise sim-

ilar to a bark, his face being turned upwards. Some wag dis-

covered him in this position, and reported that he found him

barking up a tree.

The laughing exercise was frequent, confined solely with

the religious. It was a loud, hearty laughter, but one sui generis;

it excited laughter in none else. The subject appeared rap-

turously solemn, and his thoughts excited solemnity in saints

and sinners. It is truly indescribable.

The running exercise was nothing more than, that persons

feeling something of these bodily agitations, through fear, at-

tempted to run away, and thus escape from them; but it com-

monly happened that they ran not far, before they fell, or be-

came so greatly agitated that they could proceed no farther.

*  *  *

I shall close this chapter with the singing exercise. This

is more unaccountable than anything else I ever saw. The sub-

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250       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

ject in a very happy state of mind would sing most melodiously,

not from the mouth or nose, but entirely in the breast, the

sounds issuing thence. Such music silenced everything, and at-

tracted the attention of all. It was most heavenly. None could

ever be tired of hearing it."*

Richard McNemar, who wrote the most complete history of

the Kentucky Revival, applies the above exercises to the Schis-

matics, or New Lights, or Christians, as they called themselves,

but also supplies another, which he called "The rolling exercise."

"This consisted in being cast down in a violent manner, doubled

with the head and feet together, and rolled over and over like a

wheel, or stretched in a prostrate manner, turned swiftly over

and over like a log. This was considered very debasing and

mortifying, especially if the person was taken in this manner

through the mud and sullied therewith from head to foot."

(Page 64.)

PERSONNEL OF THE REVIVAL.

While the revival was distinctively a Presbyterian one, yet,

the Methodist Church was drawn almost bodily into it. While

individuals from other sects participated in the meetings and

came under the influence of the mesmeric current, yet the re-

spective denominations of these latter were not thereby materially

affected. Nor is it to be presumed that every individual who wit-

nessed this carnival of folly were deluded into the conviction

that "it was the work of the Lord." Stone admitted+ that "in

the wonderful things that appeared in the great excitement,'

"that there were many eccentricities, and much fanaticism," which

"was acknowledged by its warmest advocates." The people were

gathered into an atmosphere pregnant with animal excitement,

mesmeric force and religious zeal which would readily operate on

the sensitives, the impulsives, the excitables, the ignorant and

the weak. The character of the leaders, however, is a guaran-

tee of their honesty. Even in later campmeetings which had a

blighting influence on community, it must be admitted that the

intent was for the public weal.

 

*Biography of B. W. Stone, p. 39.

+ Biography, p. 42.

• 227
 

The Kentucky Revival, Etc.             251

 

It would be impossible, even to call by name all the active par-

ticipants in the great revival. However there are characters

that stand out conspicuously in every movement supported by

influence and numbers. To Richard McNemar has been as-

signed the post of first importance. He regarded the phe-

nomena as a miraculous work. He was tall and gaunt, com-

manding in appearance, with piercing, restless eyes, ever in mo-

tion, with a very expressive countenance. His manner of

preaching was fervent and exciting, full of animation and vocif-

eration, which gave him great power over his audiences. With

all this he was a classical scholar and read Latin, Greek and He-

brew with ease.

Probably next in importance was Barton W. Stone, who has

been described as a man of graet independence of mind, and of

firmness and decision of character. As an orator he was gifted

with the power of swaying his audience. John Dunlavy pos-

sessed a clear, penetrating mind, was scholarly in his habits, but

not very aggressive. He inclined to studious habits. David

Purviance possessed energy, clear perceptions, honesty of pur-

pose, and disinterested motives. Malcolm Worley, possessing

much ability, was excitable and somewhat eccentric, but never at

a loss to act when convinced of his duties. Robert Marshall was

conservative, lenient, and somewhat Vacillating.

 

 

DISCORD AND DISUNION.

Whatever zeal may have been felt or displayed in the re-

vival, there were elements of discord that had their origin ante-

rior to the awakening. Heresy had been implanted in the hearts

of certain of the Presbyterian ministers even before the year

1800. Just what influence had been exerted by the Methodist

doctrine of free grace, might be difficult to fathom at this late

date; but as is well known, the doctrinally tutored, though illit-

erate pioneer Methodist preachers did herculean service in

storming the citadel of ultra-Calvinism. In the year 1793 Bar-

ton W. Stone was a candiate for admission into Orange Presby-

tery in North Carolina. Previously he had been a teacher in a

5 Vol. XII-3.

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252       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

Methodist school in Washington, Georgia. In 1797, we find he

was in the Presbyterian churches at Cane Ridge and Concord, in

Kentucky, but did not receive "the call" until 1798. "Knowing

that at my ordination I should be required to adopt the Confes-

sion of Faith, as the system of doctrines taught in the Bible, I de-

termined to give it a careful examination once more. This

was to me almost the beginning of sorrows. I stumbled at the

doctrine of Trinity as taught in the Confession; I labored to be-

lieve it, but could not conscientiously subscribe to it. Doubts, too,

arose in my mind on the doctrines of election, reprobation, and

predestination as there taught. I had before this time learned

from my superiors the way of divesting those doctrines of their

hard, repulsive features, and admitted them as true, yet unfath-

omable mysteries."*  When the day of ordination came, Stone

frankly informed Doctor James Blythe and Robert Marshall, the

state of his doubts. In vain they labored to remove his diffi-

culties and objections; but when Stone informed them that he

was willing to receive the Confession as far as it was "consist-

ent with the word of God," upon that admission the Presbytery

of Transylvania ordained him. By the year 1801 he had cor-

dially abandoned Calvinism, though still retaining his charge at

Cane Ridge and Concord.

The minutes of the Presbytery of Washington, at its session

at Springfield (Springdale, Ohio) on November 11, 1801, show

the decision respecting charges that had been made against

Richard McNemar, respecting certain doctrines advocated by

him.

It should be specially noted that at the commencement of the

"revival, preachers in general, who were truly engaged in it,

omitted the doctrines of election and reprobation, as explained in

the Confession of Faith, and proclaimed a free salvation to all

men, through the blood of the Lamb. They held forth the

promises of the gospel in their purity and simplicity, without the

contradictory explanations, and double meaning, which scholastic

divines have put upon them, to make them agree with the doc-

trines of the Confession. This omission caused their preaching

 

*Ibid p. 29.

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The Kentucky Revival, Etc.             253

 

to appear somewhat different from what had been common among

Presbyterians; and although no direct attack was made on these

doctrines, as formerly explained; yet a murmuring arose because

they were neglected in the daily ministration. This murmuring

was heard in different parts of the country; but, notwithstand-

ing, preachers and people treated with each other with toleration

and forbearance, until a direct opposition to the new mode of

preaching took place in the congregation of Cabin Creek."*

These complaints, as previously noted, were formulated against

Richard McNemar.

As the campmeetings were places where clergymen resorted

as well as the multitude, it is but natural to assume that kindred

spirits were attracted together, and thus were enabled to exchange

opinions and advise with one another. The tendency of such

communications, when free and unrestricted, would, sooner or

later, constitute dissimilar aggregations. Hence it is not singu-

lar that other sects should be formed. Out of the Kentucky re-

vival there originated three sects, or religious denominations

entirely new to the western country. The first to notice is the

 

 

CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIANS.

The Cumberland Presbyterian Church takes its name from

the Cumberland Presbytery, which was a part of the Synod of

Kentucky. This presbytery was not constituted until 1802,

which then was struck off from Transylvania. Cumberland

Presbytery was greatly divided on the subject of the great re-

vival then in the full force of its existence. The great tide of

immigration into the Cumberland Presbytery and the interest

awakened by the revival, showed a dearth of preachers and re-

ligious teachers. Under the advice of Rev. David Rice, then

the oldest Presbyterian minister in Kentucky, a number of men

were licensed to preach who did not possess a classical educa-

tion. Against this procedure a protest was entered by those not

in sympathy with the revival. In the new Presbytery the ma-

jority favored the revival work and the licensing of probationers

without a classical education.

 

* Ibid, p. 148.

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254       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

During the controversy about the revival, the Cumberland

Presbytery licensed and ordained a number who took exceptions

to the idea of "Fatality" as expressed in the doctrines of Decrees

and Election in chapter 3 of the Confession. The Synod of 1804

cited all the members of Cumberland Presbytery to appear at its

next meeting. The citation was disobeyed on the grounds of

want of authority. Owing to the action of the Synod, in other

matters, a new Presbytery was proclaimed and met March 20,

1810. This Presbytery accepted the Confession of Faith, ex-

cepting the idea of fatality; but in 1813 when the first Synod

was formed, a brief doctrinal statement was adopted, which gave

the points of difference from the Westminster Confession. The

points expressed against the idea of "Fatality" are "(1) There

are no eternal reprobates. (2) Christ died not for a part only,

but for all mankind. (3) That all infants dying in infancy are

saved through Christ and the sanctification of the Spirit. (4)

The Spirit of God operates on the world; or, as coextensively as

Christ has made the Atonement in such a manner as to leave all

men inexcusable."

This young denomination did not stretch its arm into the

Miami country until long after the ground was preoccupied.

The first church was established at Lebanon, in Warren county,

in 1835. At the present time there are twelve churches, seven

of which sustain preaching all the time. Their buildings repre-

sent a value of $40,000. What influence this church has exerted

in the Miami could not be told, or wherein it has prepared the

way for other thought. Sometimes church literature is more

potent than the congregation. Of the literature of this demoni-

nation I am absolutely ignorant, not even knowing the title of a

single volume. Hence I must rest this part of the discussion

with the facts above enumerated derived from sources without

the Church, excepting the statistics.

 

 

THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.

The sect, or new denomination, growing out of the Kentucky

revival, which has exerted most power over the Miami, is gener-

ally called "New Lights," and sometimes "Schismatics." The

sect repudiates both these names, and styles itself "The Christian

• 231
 

The Kentucky Revival, Etc.             255

 

Church." According to Levi Purviance it assumed the name

Christian in 1804.* The origin of this sect in the West may be

said to date its birth at the time charges were preferred against

Richard McNemar, although the actual separation did not take

place until the month of May, 1803. For some unaccountable

reason Richard McNemar passes over his trial, but says that a

particular account of the separation "is published in a pamphlet,

entitled, An apology for renouncing the jurisdiction of the Synod

of Kentucky, printed in Lexington (K.), 1804." This apology

is published in full in the "Biography of B. W. Stone," covering

one hundred pages. The historical part, with which we are

concerned, embraces forty-four pages, written by Robert Mar-

shall. The second part pertains to dogma, written by Stone,

and part three by John Thompson discusses the Westminster

Confession of Faith.

The trial of McNemar brought permanently out the fact

that similar views were entertained by John Thompson, John

Dunlavy, Robert Marshall and B. W. Stone. To these must

be added David Purviance, then a licentiate. Soon after Matthew

Houston was added to the list. At the time of the final separa-

tion, McNemar, Dunlavy and Thompson were in Ohio and

Stone, Marshall, Houston and Purviance in Kentucky. As the

Apology is entirely too long to quote in this connection, an

epitome of the first part must suffice:

On November 3, 1801, three elders of Cabin-creek Presby-

terian church, made formal charges to the Washington Presby-

tery, against their pastor, Richard McNemar, which charges are

thus stated:

"1. He reprobated the idea of sinners attempting to pray,

or being exhorted thereto, before they were believers in Christ.

2. He has condemned those who urge that convictions are

necessary, or that prayer is proper in the sinner.

3. He has expressly declared, at several times, that Christ

has purchased salvation for all the human race, without dis-

tinction.

4. He has expressly declared that a sinner has power to

believe in Christ at any time.

*Biography of David Purviance, p. 49.

• 232
 

256       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

5. That a sinner has as much power to act faith, as to

act unbelief; and reprobated every idea in contradiction thereto,

held by persons of a contrary opinion.

6. He has expressly said, that faith consisted in the creature's

persuading himself assuredly, that Christ died for him in par-

ticular; that doubting and examining into evidences of faith,

were inconsistent with, and contrary to the nature of faith; and

in order to establish these sentiments, he explained away these

words -Faith is the gift of God, by saying it was Christ Jesus,

the object of faith there meant, and not faith itself; and also,

these words, "No man can come to me, except the Father who

hath sent me draw him," by saying that the drawing there

meant, was Christ offered in the Gospel; and that the Father

knew no other drawing or higher power, than holding up his

Son in the Gospel."

At the meeting of the Presbytery McNemar made the follow-

ing explanation of his ideas:

Upon the first charge, he observed, that faith was the first

thing God required of the sinner; and that he had no idea of

him praying but in faith.

On the second, that the question in debate was, whether

any other considerations are necessary to authorize the soul to

believe than those which arise from the testimony of God, in

his word.

On the third, that Christ is by office the Savior of all men.

On the fourth, that the sinner is capable of receiving the

testimony of God at any time he heard it.

Upon the fifth, that the sinner is as capable of believing as

disbelieving, according to the evidence presented to the view of

his mind.

The first part of the sixth charge was groundless.

On the second, which respects doubting and self-examina-

tion, his ideas were, that doubting the veracity of God, and look-

ing into ourselves for evidence, as the foundation of our faith, is

contrary to Scripture.

On the third part, viz., explaining away those Scriptures,

he replied, if that was explaining them away, he had done it.

• 233
 

The Kentucky Revival, Etc.             257   As no person present purposed to substantiate the charges, the same was dismissed as irregular. This action of the Presby- tery quenched the flame of opposition, and all parties became reconciled. In 1802 McNemar took charge of the Turtlecreek church (near Lebanon, Ohio), where his labors met with abundant suc- cess. At the meeting of Presbytery in Cincinnati, October 6, 1802, an elder of Rev. James Kemper's congregation (Cincin- nati), entered a verbal complaint against McNemar, as a propa- gator of false doctrine. The accused insisted the question was out of order, for charges must be made in writing. Nevertheless Presbytery proceeded to examine him "on the fundamental doc-

trines of the sacred Scriptures," which were election, human de- pravity, the atonement, etc. The finding was that McNemar held these doctrines in a sense different from that in which Cal- vinists generally believe them, and that his sentiments were "hos- tile to the interests of all true religion." Notwithstanding this condemnation he was appointed one-half his time at Turtle-creek, until the next stated session: two Sabbaths at Orangeville; two at Clear-creek; two at Beulah; one at the forks of Mad river; and the rest at discretion. At the next session at Springfield* in April, 1803, a petition from a number of persons, in the congregations of Beulah, Turtle- creek, Clear-creek, Bethany, Hopewell, Dicks-creek, and Cincin- nati, was presented praying for a re-examination of McNemar,   * Springdale, some eleven miles north of Cincinnati.

• 234
 

258       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

and that Rev. John Thompson undergo a like examination. The

Presbytery refused to acquiesce. A petition, signed by sixty

persons of the Turtle-creek congregation, asked for the whole

of McNemar's time, which was granted. Kemper, Wallace,

Reader, and Wheeler protested against the action of the Presby-

tery. The sentiment of the majority of Presbytery had changed

and was now in sympathy with the accused.

In the interval between the meeting of Presbytery and that

of Synod, no pains were taken by the disaffected members to

bring about an accommodation. Through the committee of over-

tures the matter was brought before the Synod, held at Lexing-

ton, September, 1803. The Synod sustained the action of the

Presbytery at Cincinnati, except that part which assigned ap-

pointments to McNemar, and condemned the action at Spring-

field. The Synod further voted to enter upon an examination of

both McNemar and Thompson. While the Synod was deliber-

ating upon the last proposition (September 10), Messrs. Mar-

shall, Dunlavy, McNemar, Stone and Thompson, entered the

meeting and formally protested against its action. The protest

was read, and its advocates retired. Synod then appointed a

committee consisting of David Rice, Matthew Houston, James

Welsh and Joseph Howe to confer with the aggrieved, which

latter offered to answer any questions proposed by Synod, pro-

vided all questions and answers should be in writing; that they

should be constituted into one Presbytery, and that all charges

of doctrine against them should be according to the book of dis-

cipline. On a motion to accede to these proposals the following

voted in the affirmative: M. Houston, J. Welsh, J. Howe, and

W. Robinson, ministers; J. Henderson, J. Wardlow and C. Mc-

Pheeters, elders; those opposed, A. Cameron, P. Tull, J. Blythe,

J. Lyle, R. Stewart, S. Rannels, J. Kemper, J. Campbell, S.

Finley, ministers; J. Moore, John Henderson and T. Benning-

ton, elders.

Immediately, after the action of the Synod, Robert Marshall,

John Dunlavy, Richard McNemar, Barton W. Stone and John

Thompson, withdrew from the jurisdiction of the Synod of

Kentucky, and formally constituted the Presbytery of Spring-

field, and formulated a circular letter addressed to the congrega-

• 235
 

The Kentucky Revival, Etc.             259

 

tions under their care. Late in the evening a resolution was

received from the Synod which had appointed a committee to

inquire into such objections as they might have to the Confession

of Faith. Before the answer was received Synod suspended the

protesting members, and declared their parishes without min-

isters. The Springfield Presbytery was dissolved at Cane Ridge,

Bourbon county, Ky., June 28, 1804, by Marshall, Dunlavy, Mc-

Nemar, Stone, Thompson and David Purviance.

McNemar has been described to have been a mild and un-

assuming man up to the time of charges of heresy being made

against him. His trials appear to have awakened all the resources

of his strong nature. With enthusiasm he began his work at

Turtle Creek, and in summer his congregations were so large

that the meetings were held in the grove near his church. The

strange physical phenomena of the revival attended his ministra-

tions in Warren county, Ohio. At Turtle Creek almost all the

adult persons in a large congregation would fall in a short time

and lie unconscious, with hardly a sign of breathing or beating of

the pulse.

The dissolution of the Springfield Presbytery launched a new

denomination in the West. The preachers carried their churches

with them. Every Presbyterian church in southwestern Ohio

was swept into this new organization except those at Duck Creek

and Round Bottom; and even the church at Cincinnati was fairly

tainted with the new doctrines and methods. The Turtle Creek

church, with uplifted hands, was constituted a schismatic church.

The influence of Richard McNemar was irresistible. Before the

close of the year 1804, Turtle Creek, Eagle Creek, Springfield

(Springdale), Orangedale, Clear Creek, Beaver Creek and Salem

had joined the new movement. A demand for more preachers

went up. Malcolm Worley became active, and Andrew Ireland,

John Purviance, David Kirkpatrick and William Caldwell, were

sent out two and two as traveling evangelists. Afterwards Nathan

Worley became a tower of strength. Camp meetings were still

popular and were used to extend the general influence. The cus-

tom of giving the right hand of fellowship was introduced, and

the name of "brother" and "sister" applied to church members.

The spirit of the Kentucky revival, especially in camp meetings

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260       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

was kept aflame. "Praying, shouting, jerking, barking, or rolling;

dreaming, prophesying, and looking as through a glass, at the

infinite glories of Mount Zion, just about to break open upon the

world." "They practiced a mode of prayer, which was as singular,

as the situation in which they stood, and the faith by which they

were actuated. According to their proper name of distinction,

they stood separate and divided, each one for one; and in this

capacity, they offered up each their separate cries to God, in one

united harmony of sound; by which the doubtful footsteps of

those who were in search of the meeting, might be directed, some-

times to the distance of miles." *

The year 1805 opened most favorably to the new sect.

Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee were in their grasp. It appeared

to be an irresistible force opposed to the older and better organized

sects. The name of the sect (Christian) was most charming to

the ear. It carried the believer back to Apostolic times. Then

there was the pleasing pronouncement that the Bible alone was its

creed. Man-made statements and creeds must be trampled under

foot. Little did they realize that a creed was a creed just the same

whether written or spoken. There was a consensus of opinion,

and to this unwritten and unsigned creed they were just as de-

voted as was the Presbyterian to his Confession of Faith. I

have heard, myself, just as strong doctrinal points discussed from

the Christian (New Light) pulpit as I ever listened to from those

reputed to be most conservative in theology. Moreover, an old

friend of mine, as firm a believer in Christianity as it was possible

to believe, was expelled for heresy, from one of the very churches

that was wrenched from Calvinism and brought under the new

order.

But the year 1805 awoke the revivalists, or schismatics, or

New Lights, or Christians, to a sense of their danger. The rude

awakening was sudden, powerful and disastrous. It has been

sung that

"Five preachers formed a body, in eighteen hundred three,

From Anti-christ's false systems to set the people free;

His doctrine and his worship in pieces they did tear-

But ere the scene was ended these men became a snare;"

 

*Kentucky Revival, p. 73.

• 237
 

The Kentucky Revival, Etc.             261

but it was doomed that only one of this number should continue

with the new order of things. In 1805, both Richard McNemar

and John Dunlavy joined the Shakers, and within a few years

Robert Marshall and John Thompson returned to the Presby-

terian fold. Barton W. Stone-of all the prophets - was left

to encourage the saints. The defection placed him at the head of

the organization, and he was soon after known as "Father Stone."

Nor was the disaster to rest here, for calamity after calamity was

in the track of the Shaker propaganda, for church after church,

and too the very strongest, were swallowed up by the disciples of

Mother Ann Lee. This alarmed several of the preachers and con-

verts "who fled from us and joined the different sects around us.

The sects triumphed at our distress, and watched for our fall.'

"Never did I exert myself more than at this time to save the

people from this vortex of ruin. I yielded to no discouragement,

but labored night and day, far and near, among the churches

where the Shakers went. By this means their influence was hap-

pily checked in many places. I labored so hard and constantly

that a profuse spitting of blood ensued. Our broken ranks were

once more rallied under the standard of heaven, and were soon

led on once more to victory." *

The Shaker trial was "a fiery one" to Stone and his remain-

ing coadjutors. Five years later (1810), the defection of Mar-

shall and Thompson added to the sorrows. They issued a pam-

phlet entitled, "A brief historical account of sundry things in the

doctrines and state of the Christian, or as it is commonly called,

the New Light Church. - By R. Marshall and J. Thompson,

Ministers of the Gospel and members of said church, containing

their testimony against several doctrines, held in that church, and

its disorganized state. Together with some reasons, why these

two brethren purpose to seek for a more pure and orderly connec-

tion." This pamphlet induced several young men who had en-

gaged in the ministry also to follow into the Presbyterian ranks.

The pamphlet brought out a reply from David Purviance.

During all the troubles that rapidly accumulated upon the

infant sect David Purviance and Barton W. Stone stood together

and defended their citadel from the repeated assaults and rebuilt

* Memoirs of Stone, p. 62.

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262       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

the ramparts as rapidly as they were thrown down. Neither

was a leader of great ability. Their success was due more from

the momentum created by the revival than any special manage-

ment on their part. It is, however, probably true the bark would

have sunk beneath the waves had they not piloted it through

the storm. The success of this church, during its entire history,

is unique; for never has it presented a leader of marked ability.

Even its literature is mediocre. The formal existence has cov-

ered a period of a hundred years, and yet the literature of the

entire organization, East, West, North and South, according to

the "Christian Annual for 1903," embraces but two books and two

pamphlets in the historical group; in the biographical, twenty;

theological and doctrinal, thirty, and miscellaneous, thirty-three.

The present condition of the Christian church, as given by the

same Annual is thus related:

Miami conference -embracing parts of Hamilton, Preble,

Darke, Shelby, Miami, Montgomery, Warren, Green, Clark and

Champaign counties.   Ordained preachers 56; licentiates 5;

churches 55, of which 25 are country. Only 11 have preaching

full time. Membership 7,062. Value church property $164,650.

Ohio Central Conference - comprising churches in Cham-

paign, Clark, Clinton, Delaware, Fayette, Franklin, Hardin, Mad-

ison, Ross, Union, Marion, Morrow and Pickaway counties. Or-

dained ministers 21; licentiates 1; 33 churches of which 21 are

country; preaching full time, 3; valuation church property, $51,-

750; membership, 2,160. Ohio Conference- covering Jackson,

Vinton, Pike, Scioto, Ross, Fayette and Gallia counties. Or-

dained ministers 32; licentiates 1; churches 32; membership

1,900. To this array must be added Antioch college, which under

Horace Mann attained unto great renown, but since his death

has undergone a checkered career.

So far as the personnel of the ministry is concerned-speak-

ing wholly from personal observation-it has been composed of

earnest, devoted and self-sacrificing men. Of the intellectual

caliber it has been equal to the average, with here and there one

far above the general.  In point of scholarship, especially in

oriental lore, America has not produced a greater than Austin

Craig.

• 239
 

The Kentucky Revival, Etc.             263

 

Notwithstanding the fact that the Christian church started

with established churches and possessed with unbounded enthusi-

asm, yet the leaders were not equal to the occasion. The early

preachers inveighed against a hireling ministry, which forced into

the ranks many whose minds were diverted to the question of

sufficient support; there was a want of organization, and a wise

administration of government. The power of other churches

forced them into intellectual lines, which, they have not been slow,

in these later years, to take advantage. Within the last dozen

years there has been quite a hegira into the ranks of the ministry

of other denominations, especially the Congregational.  Some

six years ago a conference between the Congregationalists and

Christians was held at Piqua, but with no perceptible results.

The Miami country owes much to the Christian church, and

the showing of that church, contrasted with other sects, will com-

pare favorably. A Presbyterian may not regard the coloring as

of the brightest hues; for, in all probability, had it not been for

the "Kentucky Revival," Presbyterianism in Kentucky and

Southwestern Ohio, would be relatively as strong as it is to-day

in Western Pennsylvania.

 

 

THE SHAKER CHURCH.

The Kentucky revival paved the way for the establishing of

Shakerism in the West. The official title of this sect is "The

United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing." The

name Shaker is universally applied to them and generally used

by the members. So it is no longer regarded as a term of re-

proach, for it is used in their literature to designate them.

From the year 1801 to 1805, the newspapers of the Eastern

States gave wonderful accounts of the extraordinary revival in

Kentucky, Tennessee and Ohio. This was a theme of frequent

discussion among the then established Shaker communities. The

Shaker authorities gave the western movement their most care-

ful reflection. During the month of December, 1804, it was de-

cided to send, without further delay, a propaganda into Ken-

tucky, with ample powers to take such action as would be bene-

ficial to their advancement. The men selected were John

Meacham, Benjamin Seth Youngs and Issachar Bates. They

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264       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

were eminently qualified for their mission. They were pre-

possessing in their appearance, neat and plain in their dress, grave

and unassuming in their manners, very intelligent and ready in

the Scriptures, and of great boldness in their faith. The power

of Bates as a missionary, may be gained from the statement* that

from 1801 to 1811, as a Shaker missionary he traveled, mostly

on foot, 38,000 miles and received the first confession of about

1,100 converts. Benjamin S. Youngs was scholarly and inde-

fatigable in his labors. Of John Meacham, I know but little.

From a poem I learn that he set out for New Lebanon, August

19, 1806. He afterwards became first in the ministry at Pleasant

Hill, Ky., but recalled to the East in 1818. He was born in

1770 and died at Mount Lebanon, N. Y., December 26, 1854.

At three o'clock on the morning of January 1st, 1805, the

three missionaries set out on their mission. The first 62 miles

they were carried in a sleigh. From that on they were afoot,

with one horse to carry their baggage. They went by the way

of Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington. Arriving in Ken-

tucky they passed through Lexington, Abingdon and Hawley;

there turning their course they crossed the Holston into Green

County, Tennessee; recrossed the Holston, they passed over

Clinch mountain; went through Crab Orchard, and about the

first of March arrived at Paint Lick, where Matthew Houston

was then stationed. From there they went to Cane Ridge, and

were hospitably entertained by Barton W. Stone. Whether

Stone directed their course into Ohio or not, there appears to be

no existing evidence. On the 1₉th of March the propaganda

crossed the Ohio; thence to Springdale, where John Thompson

was preaching, and on March 22d, arrived at Turtle Creek, and

directed their steps to the house of Malcolm Worley, having trav-

eled 1,233 miles.

On the first advent of the Shaker missionaries, Barton

Stone's conduct was all that could be desired. "We had much

conversation with him and a number more; they sucked in our

light as greedily as ever an ox drank water, and all wondered

where they had been that they had not seen these things before.

 

* MS. Autobiography of Issachar Bates, in author's possession.

• 241
 

The Kentucky Revival, Etc.            265

Barton said that he had been expecting that it would come about

so in the end they were all filled with joy; this is what we have

been praying for and now it is come."* Stone requested that

they should attend the next camp-meeting soon to begin at Cane

Ridge.

Malcolm Worley received the trio as divine messengers, and

on March 27, became formally a Shaker. Malcolm declared

"that his heavenly Father had promised to send help from Zion

and I am glad, said he, that you are come."*

Richard McNemar had fully imbibed the idea that the Bible

alone should he the resort for religious instructions. On the

next day (March 23) the Shaker propaganda visited him. He

"observed that he had never undertaken to build a church and

if we had come for that purpose he would not stand in the way,

his people were all free for us to labor with and he would go to

the Gentiles. We stayed that night with Richard and the next

day which was Sabbath, we went to meeting with him. He

preached much to our satisfaction. After he got through I

asked liberty to speak a few words which was granted. I spoke

but short after which Benjamin came forward and spoke and

read the letter+ which was sent from the church."

On March 27, Bates started on foot to attend the camp-

meeting at Cane Ridge, according to request. It was at this meet-

ing where the first hostility was shown against the Shakers, by

the new sect of Christians. It is thus told by Bates in his MS.

Autobiography:

"I arrived at Barton Stone's on Saturday night and found

many of the preachers there and a number of others. I was re-

ceived with outward kindness and a number of the people felt

very friendly but the preachers were struck with great fear and

concluded that if I was permitted to preach that it would throw

the people into confusion, and to prevent it they would counteract

their former liberality and shut out all other sects from preaching

at that meeting and that would shut me out. All this they did

by themselves without the knowledge of the people, and the peo-

ple, expecting that I would preach Sabbath morning, after much

 

*Ibid. +See Quarterly, Jan., 1902, p. 253.

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266       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

conversation with the people, we took breakfast and went onto

the camping ground. Marshall and Stone preached first and

preached the people back into Egypt. Stone told them to let no

man deceive them about the coming of Christ, for they would

all know when He came, for every eye would see him in the

clouds and they would see the graves opening and the bones

rising and the saints would rise and meet the Lord in the air

whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life (which is

this little book that I hold in my hand) the Bible, and Marshall

went on much in the same track. He warned the people not to

follow man. Keep your Bibles in your homes and in your pocket

for in them you have eternal life. Don't believe what man says;

don't believe me for I have told lies. Thus they went on till

they were covered with death and even the woods around us ap-

peared to be in mourning. A great number paid but little at-

tention to it, but were encircling me round, asking me questions

and testifying at every answer that is eternal truth, that is the

everlasting gospel and many other expressions of joy for the

truth. At length Matthew Houston took his turn of preaching,

and he took this text: Let us go up and possess the land for we

are fully able. And he had them across the Red sea in short

order you may be sure; the woods began to clap their hands,

the people skipping and jerking and giving thanks, and a great

part of them interceded with the preachers to have me preach,

but were put off for that day. After the exercises of the day was

over I returned to Stone's again and stayed all night and had

much conversation with a number of people. The next day I

went on the ground again. There were some preaching and a

little of everything that amounted to nothing. The people in-

sisted on my preaching. At last eight men went to the stand

and said I should preach, so to pacify them they told they would

dismiss the meeting at 12 o'clock, and then I might preach, and

they did so. Then I mounted a large log in front of the stand

and began to speak, and altho the preachers and many others

went to their horses to get out of the way of hearing, yet when I

began to speak they all returned and all paid good attention. I

spoke about one hour. The subject I was upon was to show the

difference between the spirit and the letter, and when I got

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The Kentucky Revival, Etc.                   267

 

through and dismissed them they began the controversy; one

cried spirit, spirit, all spirit, and another cried I bless God for the

spirit, for it is all that will do us any good, and so the multitude

were completely divided, so I left."

 

 

STANDING OF LEADING CONVERTS.

Owing to the spirit displayed towards those schismatics that

afterwards became Shakers, the following may be given to show

the estimation in which they were held previous to their final

change in belief.

Under date of Cane Ride, April 2, 1805, Stone wrote to

Richard McNemar as follows:

"MY DEAR BROTHER RICHARD: - I never longed to see any person so

much. If I was not confined in this clay tabernacle, I should be in your

embraces in less than an hour. The floods of earth and hell are let loose

against us, but me in particular. I am seriously threatened with impris-

onment and stripes, I expect to receive for the testimony of Jesus. Ken-

tucky is turning upside down. The truth pervades in spite of man-

Cumberland is sharing the same fate - the young preachers, some of

them, will preach Jesus without the covering put on him by the fathers -

the scribes, the disputers of this world are gnashing upon us- Brother

Matthew Houston has clean escaped the pollutions of this world--and

he and his people are going on to perfect holiness in the fear of God-

a few more will soon follow - come over and help us, is the cry made

to us from every part.- Brother Purviance is gone to Carolina, to preach

the Gospel there, by the request of some there. In a few weeks I start

to fulfill a long daily string of appointments to Cumberland-by request

I go -I have appointed two commissioners among many Christians, on

the heads of Little and Big Barrens - Brother Dooley is among the Cher-

okees again-his last route there was successful-some poor Indians

received the Gospel - he was solicited to return - he is truly an apostle

of the Gentiles - some few are getting religion amongst us. The churches

thus quid dicam? Nescio: What shall I say? I know not, my heart

grieves within me. Certain men from afar whom you know, inject ter-

ror and doubt into many; and now religion begins to lament in the dust

among us. Some as I suppose will cast away the ordinances of Baptism,

the Lord's Supper, etc , but not many as yet. Most dear Brother, inform

me what you think of these men among us and you, from a distant re-

gion. Thank God, he gave me his word.*

* The italics were originally in Latin, unquestionably to prevent Bates

from understanding the same.

6 Vol. XII-3.

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268        Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

Letters show the substance and faith eats it. We all want to meet

with you shortly. But by reason of my absence to Cumberland - Brother

Purviance to N. Carolina, Brother Houston in Madison, we cannot meet

on Turtle Creek, nor sooner than third Sabbath June, and that in Ken-

tucky. Brothers Marshall and Houston parted from us yesterday. We

administered the Lord's Supper at Cane Ridge the day before--many

communicants - much exercise - I am pushed for time to write to you -

We have five students of the Bible, all but one know the language, full

of faith, and of the Holy Ghost-just ready to preach. They all fled

from the Presbyterians, to their grief, pain and hurt. Brother Stockwell

exceeds expectation and is beloved and useful. Our Apology is yet living

and working, and tearing down Babylon in Virginia. It was reprinted

there to the great injury of Presbyterianism.  It is also reprinted in

Georgia. We are just publishing a short tract on Atonement-I will

send you one soon. This truth has unhinged the brazen gates already.-

I am hurried--pray for me--farewell.

B. W. STONE.

By Friend Bates."*

As to the estimation in which Malcolm     Worley was held,

witness the following, dated Springfield (Springdale, near Cin-

cinnati), March, 1804:

"Forasmuch as our brother, Malcolm       Worley, has made

known to us the exercises of his mind for some time past,

expressive of a Divine call to labor in word and doctrine; and

we being satisfied, from a long and intimate acquaintance with

him, of his talents, both natural and acquired, being such as,

through the grace of God, may render him       useful; and con-

sidering that the way of God is above our ways, it therefore

seemed good to us, with one accord to encourage our brother

to the work, whereunto we trust the Holy Ghost is calling him;

and we do hereby recommend him        to the churches scattered

abroad, to be forwarded to his calling, according to the mani-

festation of the Spirit given to him to profit withal. Signed in

behalf of the Presbytery, B. W. Stone, Clk."+

 

 

PERSECUTING THE SHAKERS.

It is foreign to our purpose to follow the Shaker mission-

aries' peregrinations. Their success was phenomenal. In rapid

succession they swept into their fold the churches at Turtle Creek,

*Kentucky Revival," p. 85.   + Ibid, p. 46.

• 245
 

The Kentucky Revival, Etc.            269

 

Eagle Creek, Straight Creek, Shawnee Run, Cabin Creek, etc.,

besides converts at various points. They made it a point to

follow up the camp-meetings, where they invariably made acces-

sions to their number. Richard McNemar joined the Shakers

April 24; to the camp meeting at Eagle Creek, Adams County,

Ohio, held the first Sunday in August, 1805, repaired both Ben-

jamin S. Youngs and Issachar Bates; they converted many;

among whom was Rev. John Dunlavy; followed by Matthew

Houston in February, 1806. Nearly every member of the Tur-

tle Creek church followed McNemar into Shakerism. This gave

them a solid foundation as well as numbers. Their landed in-

terest became large. To this they added the estate of Timothy

Sewell at a cost of $1,640.

So long as the inroads were made upon the domain of the

Christian Church, the discomfiture was greatly enjoyed by the

other denominations. The Christians were grieved, chagrined,

exasperated and early became aggressive, and took every measure

to withstand the storm that presaged ruin to their cause. When

the Shakers began to make visible success in other folds, then all

united to put them down. Methods of the most questionable kind

were resorted to. In the very year of their beginning at Turtle

Creek (now Union Village, Warren Co., Ohio), the Shakers had

their windows broken, their orchards cut down, their fences cast

over, and their buildings burned. Four days after his conversion

(April 28), Richard McNemar undertook to hold a camp meet-

ing at Turtle Creek. On that day "a great body of blazing hot

Newlights with John Thompson (then stationed at Springdale)

a preacher at their head determined to break down all before them.

Thompson mounted the stand and began his preachment and

undertook to show how they had been imposed on by deceivers

and how much he had borne with one Worley and now these East-

ern men had come to tell us that Christ had made his second ap-

pearance, (pause), but they are liars, they are liars, they are liars.

Now I will venture to say that the tumult at Ephesus was no

greater than was at this place, for about half an hour it was

one steady cry glory to Jesus, glory to Jesus, glory to Jesus and

almost every other noise; this must be the cause of their giving so

much glory to Jesus this poor suffering witnesses were proved

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270       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

out to be liars that they might have the privilege of enjoying the

pleasures of their fleshly lusts for a season. I stood on a log hard

by alone, for Elder John nor Benjamin was not there, at that time

I was ordered back to hell from whence I came and called all the

bad names that they could think of, after the noise began to cease

I stepped off the log and passed through the multitude and as I

passed they cried out, see how his conscience is seared as with a

hot iron, he does not regard it all."*

It will not be necessary to follow this dark picture any farther.

There was that to rouse the passions of such as cared more for

an ism than for the spirit of Jesus Christ. But after years have

rolled away and all incentives to malice obliterated, it is to be

expected that the vision should no longer be obfuscated. Years

after Barton Stone did not hesitate to libel them: "John Dun-

lavy, who had left us and joined them, was a man of a penetrative

mind, wrote and published much for them, and was one of their

elders in high repute by them. He died in Indiana, raving in

desperation for his folly in forsaking the truth for an old woman's

fables. Richard MeNemar was, before his death, excluded by

the Shakers from their society, in a miserable, penniless condition,

as I was informed by good authority. The reason of his exclusion

I never heard particularly; but from what was heard, it appears

that he had become convinced of his error. The Shakers had a

revelation given them to remove him from their village, and take

him to Lebanon, in Ohio, and to set him down in the streets, and

leave him there in his old age, without friends or money."+

I called the attention of the Shakers of Union Village to the

above citation. They had never heard of the charges before.

Eldress Jane Cowan, of South Union, Ky., probably the best

informed historian in their order in the West, was exceedingly

indignant. Richard McNemar was ever a trusted man among

them and died, full in the faith, at Union Village, September 15,

1839. The old church record says of him in noticing his death:

"One of the most zealous and loyal believers who ever embraced

the gospel in this western land, altogether more than ordinary

intelligent."

 

* MS. Autobiography of Bates.

+ Biography of B. W. Stone, p. 63.

• 247
 

The Kentucky Revival, Etc.             271

 

John Dunlavy was long the preacher for the Shaker com-

munity at Pleasant Hill, Ky. On June 3, 1826, he arrived at

the Shaker community of West Union in Knox county, Indiana,

on a visit. On September 8th he was taken sick with bilious

fever and died on the 16th. On the 1₇th David Price was dis-

patched to Union Village as a bearer of the sorrowful news, and

on the 18th William Redmond started on the same mission to

Pleasant Hill. His death was greatly lamented by the various

communities. Summerbell, in his "History of the Christians A.

M. 4004-A. D. 1870, Cincinnati 1873," seizes the libel of Stone

and gives it a fresh start (p. 533), although living less than

twenty-five miles from Union Village at the time he copied the

statements from Stone, and by next letter could have informed

himself. He further calls Shakerism "Only Romish monkery

broken loose from popery." Notwithstanding the estimation in

which the Shakers were held - as quoted above - Summerbell

thinks it best to slur them and others - "Those who went to the

Shakers were too much inclined to fanaticism; and had they re-

mained would have caused trouble, while Thompson and those

who returned to the sects would not have followed the word of

truth in baptism (Summerbell was an immersionist), a duty in

which they would soon have been tested." David Purviance

("Biography of David Purviance," p. 146), speaks of Richard

McNemar as being vain or "lifted up," after the separation in

1804. "I also discovered some of the same detestable pride in

John Dunlavy. They were not content to abide in the simplicity

of the truth. They became fanatics, and were prepared for an

overthrow, when the Shakers entered in among us and swept

them off with others who were led into wild enthusiasm." "I

have thought there might be something providential in the com-

ing of the Shakers, although some honest and precious souls

were seduced and ruined by their means; yet a growing fanati-

cism was drawn out of the church, which threatened the most

deleterious effects" (p. 148).

 

SHAKER ELEMENTS OF SUCCESS.

When all the facts are confronted it is not singular that

Shakerism should have been so successful in the West. There

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272       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

were certain regnant elements in operation among the revival-

ists that were congenial to the believers in Ann Lee. Dancing

was introduced among the revivalists in 1804; the Church in

general taught that the second coming of Christ was yet in the

future; a community of goods could be derived from the New

Testament; religious fanaticism was the order of the day; a

high sense of morals and implicit faith were specially taught.

The Shakers danced in their religious exercises; they taught that

Adam and Eve were the father and mother of the natural man

while Jesus and Ann Lee were the father and mother of the

spiritual family; they held all goods in common; the early Shak-

ers were given to fanaticism; they practiced strictly the high-

est morals and were devout in their worship. If they taught that

God was dual,* that was not a greater credulity than the doc-

trine of a triune God. The simplicity of their manners would

impress favorably those who opposed prevailing fanaticism.

 

 

SHAKER INFLUENCE.

The early Shakers of the West possessed members repre-

senting all the various professions and trades. There were

scholars and theologians among them. It would be no exag-

geration to say that it possessed the flower of the Western Pres-

byterian Church, one of whom wrote a book, which has ever re-

mained a standard of authority among them. I refer to John

Dunlavy's "Manifesto;" written in 1815, published in 1818, at

Pleasant Hill, and republished in 1847 in New York. It is a

royal octavo of 486 pp. The great standard work of the Shakers

- "Christ's First and Second Appearing" - is a western pro-

duction, and first published at Lebanon, O., in 1808; the second

edition at Albany, in 1810; the third at Cincinnati, in 1823, and

the fourth in Albany, in 1856. It is a royal octavo of 631 pp.,

and was principally written by Benjamin S. Youngs. It was

originally published under the sanction of David Darrow, John

 

* Theodore Parker prayed to "Our Father and Mother in Heaven."

I heard the same utterance in the Universalist church, Galesburg, Ills.,

many years ago.

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The Kentucky Revival, Etc.              273

 

Meacham and Benjamin S. Youngs.* The publications of the

western Shakers have been quite extensive. A bibliography of

Shaker literature is appended to Axon's "Biographical No-

tices of Ann Lee," but this I have never seen. The books I

possess, written by Shakers, number 30 bound volumes and 50

pamphlets, most of which were presented to me by Eldress Cly-

mena Miner, who stands second in the ministry in the Sisters'

lot, of the Western Societies.

While the Shakers own great possessions yet their number is

greatly reduced, and their days appear to be numbered. No ef-

forts are now made either to increase their membership or ex-

tend their literature. They have most thoroughly demonstrated

that men and women can live together as a band of brothers and

sisters.

The western ministry is appointed by that at Mount Lebanon

in New York. It has not always been wise. The making of

Elder Slingerland both first in the ministry and trustee was most

disastrous. The particulars are too painful to narrate. It was

a case of imbecility on the one side and sharpers on the other.

Suffice it to say that of the $316,000 obtained for the North

Union property, every dollar of it was lost. Nearly $200,000

more went into wild cat speculation. The leaders of Union Vil-

lage prayed the Eastern ministry for redress, but in vain. As a

last recourse the law was appealed to, and finally a new ministry

was appointed, which has all the appearance of an intelligent con-

servatism. Through the stubbornness of Harvey L. Eads, for-

merly chief in authority at South Union, $80,000 was lost at one

time. The finances of Pleasant Hill are not in good condition.

A candid study of the Shakers evokes one's sympathy and

admiration. I confess it would be a pleasure to me to realize

that the halls of the Shaker villages teemed with human life as

they did at the time of my earliest recollection. Thousands have

gone forth from these communities schooled in the purest morals

and implicit faith in the Divine Being. Shakerism has been

productive of good. As such it must receive the enconiums of

the just.

* Thomas Jefferson pronounced it the best ecclesiastical history he

had every read.

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274       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

OTHER SECTS.

The revivalists to a greater or less extent were fanatical,

but time mellowed the trenchant words, and a deeper spiritual

outlook was observed. In religious thought the various con-

ferences differ-that known as the Miami is reputed to contain

the broadest minds. The religious paper-published at Dayton

-"Herald of Gospel Liberty," is rather conservative in its tone.

While the church, as a body, rejects the doctrine of the trinity,

yet nowhere has it paved the way for the Unitarian denomina-

tion. In the whole state of Ohio there are but three churches,

viz., Cincinnati, Cleveland and Marietta, none of which has more

than a local force. The handing over of Antioch college proved

to be a failure, owing to the want of a constituency. Yet the

measure of this church is most potent. Backed by Harvard col-

lege and with the impetus of an unrivaled ministry in education

and intellect, its advocates have gained renown in all depart-

ments of knowledge. Its literature stands almost alone. It keeps

abreast with human thought. All clergymen, west of the Alle-

ghenies, may receive, gratis, an installment of their books, which

has been largely accepted. What influence this may have could

not even be approximated.

 

 

UNIVERSALISM.

Although there is a large per cent. of the clergymen of the

Christian sect that accepts the doctrine of universal salvation, yet

it has nowhere paved the way for the Universalist church. In

short, there has always been an antagonism between the two.

The Universalist church in Ohio, like the Unitarian, has been

practically a failure, although tremendous efforts have been put

forth to gain and maintain a footing. The first preacher in the

state was Timothy Bigelow, who removed to Palmyra in 1814.

The first organized church was in Marietta, in 1816, now merged

into the Unitarian. The first conference in the Miami country was

at Jacksonsburg, Butler county, in November, 1826, at which

were James Alfred, Jonathan Kidwell and Daniel St. John. The

"Register" for 1903, gives for the state 42 ministers and 80

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The Kentucky Revival, Etc.                275

 

churches, 34 of the latter being in the Miami country. The efforts

to maintain a religious periodical have all been failures, as the

following list demonstrates: "The Lamp of Liberty," Cincin-

nati, 1827; "The Star in the West," Cincinnati, 1827-1880; "The

Glad Tidings," Columbus and Akron, 1836-1840; "The Univer-

salist Preacher," Dayton, 1839-1841 ; "Ohio Universalist," Cleve-

land, 1845-1846; "The Youth's Friend," Cincinnati, 1846-1860;

"The Universalist Advocate," Centreburg, 1849; "Western Olive

Branch," Cincinnati, 1849-1850; "The Guiding Star," Cincin-

nati, 1871-1880. Nor has the denomination generally been much

more successful. The Rev. Dr. Richard Eddy, in his "Modern

History of Universalism," appends a list of periodicals, showing

that out of 181 journals only four are still in existence, viz., two

family, one juvenile, and one Sunday school. Eddy's biblio-

graphy, for and against the doctrine of universal salvation, com-

piled in 1886, enumerates 2,096 titles. This does not embrace

the literature in other departments. What that bibliography may

be I am unable to ascertain.

While it has been foreign to my intention to comment on

the subject of doctrine, for that must require some temerity, be-

cause it is treading on delicate ground, I will here, however,

transgress the rule for this reason: The Universalist church

boasts it stands for that phase of Christianity that represents all

who believes in the ultimate salvation of all. If their boasts be

true, then they should either have no written creed, or else one

which would cover all believers in the Bible who accept the sal-

vation of all. This church is the only one of the liberal sects

that has a written creed. In the year 1803, the following creed

was adopted, known as the Winchester Profession:

 

ARTICLE I. We believe that the Holy Scriptures of the Old and

New Testaments contain a revelation of the character of God and of the

duty, interest and final destination of mankind.

ARTICLE II. We believe that there is one God, whose nature is Love,

revealed in one Lord Jesus Christ, by one Holy Spirit of Grace, who will

finally restore the whole family of mankind to holiness and happiness.

ARTICLE III. We believe that holiness and true happiness are in-

seperably connected, and that believers ought to be careful to maintain

order and practice good works; for these things are good and profitable

unto men.

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276         Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

Considering the purport of the Universalist church no rea-

sonable man could take exceptions to the above, unless it is the

grammatical error in the first article. Yet for twenty years the

ministers wrangled over the word "restore," when all contro-

versy was throttled and the following theological monstrosity

was adopted at Boston in 1899:

II. The conditions of fellowship shall be as follows:

1. The acceptance of the essential principles of the Universalist

Faith, to-wit: 1. The Universal Fatherhood of God; 2. The Spiritual

authority and leadership of His Son, Jesus Christ; 3. The trustworthiness

of the Bible as containing a revelation from God; 4. The certainty of

just retribution for sin; 5. The final harmony of all souls with God.

The Winchester Profession is commended as containing these prin-

ciples, but neither this nor any other precise form of words is required as

a condition of fellowship, provided always that the principles above stated

be professed.

2. The acknowledgment of the authority of the General Convention

and assent to its laws.

Only a slight examination of these conditions of fellowship

exhibits that it is:

I. Anti-Christian, for it teaches that God is without mercy,

pity and compassion; it teaches the doctrine of retaliation.

II. It teaches post mortem punishment, a doctrine in which

Universalists have always been divided.

III.  It is materialistic.

IV. It is fatalistic.

V. The word "Universal" is all-reaching, unlimited in its

signification. Then this creed places man on a level with the

brute and inanimate creation. Doubtless it was intended to

mean that "God is the father of all mankind," but the words do

not say nor mean that.

VI. It contains a gross falsehood.        It states that the

"Winchester profession is commended as containing these prin-

ciples," when the utmost stretch of the imagination cannot make

it teach "the certainty of just retribution for sin."

VII. One of the cardinal principles of Christianity is for-

giveness, but here we have "the certainty of retribution."

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The Kentucky Revival, Etc.             277

 

The adoption of such a conglomeration is evidence that the

Universalist church has no humorist in it, and that such theo-

logians as it may contain have their vision obscured.

 

 

PRESENT RELIGIOUS STATUS.

The religious, moral and intellectual status of the Miami

country will compare favorably with any other part of the State

of Ohio. Whatever may be deleterious in that region may also

be found elsewhere. If other districts are progressive, likewise

the same elements are here at work. To speak of any particular

phase would only be to rehearse what may be known elsewhere.

So far as the Kentucky revival is concerned it has passed

into history never again to repeat itself. It has been observed

that when one species of animals died out it can never be re-

claimed, because the conditions are against it. Likewise the Ken-

tucky revival can never be repeated. The conditions have

changed. Society is not the same. The standards have been

raised. In order to have a revival the minds of the people must

be concentrated on that one point. The daily newspaper distracts

the attention by its variety and sensational publications. The

free schools direct the minds of youth into various channels and

pursuits become innumerable.

 

 

BIOGRAPHICAL.

In previous issues of the Quarterly I have given sketches of

all the prominent men hereunto mentioned, save Barton Warren

Stone. He was born near Port Tobacco, Maryland, Dec. 24, 1772;

in 1779 the family moved near the Dan river in what was then

the backwoods of Virginia; in 1790 he commenced the study of

Latin at Guilford (N. C.) Academy; active and a leader in the

Kentucky revival, during which time he was settled at Cane

Ridge; first married in 1801 and again in 1811; taught school;

commenced publishing the "Christian Messenger" in 1826, and

through his efforts the New Lights in Kentucky were turned

over to the Campbellites in 1832; removed to Illinois in 1834;

wrote his autobiography in 1843; died at the residence of his

daughter, in Hannibal, Mo., November 9, 1844. Besides writing

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278       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.   part two of the "Apology," in 1805 he published his "Letters on the Atonement," and "Address to the Christian Churches," and in 1822 appeared his "Letters to Dr. James Blythe." His au- tobiography was edited by John Rogers and published in Cincin- nati in 1847. The editor closes the volume with a lengthy and wholesome chapter upon the bodily phenomena produced during the great revival. Among other things he observes: "While it is granted that genuine Christians have been, in many instances, subjects of these strange agitations, this cannot be admitted as

proof, that they are the offspring of proper influences: for no such cases occurred under the preaching of Christ, and His Apostles. And we cannot doubt that under their ministry, all proper influences were brought to bear upon their hearers. The conclusion therefore cannot be avoided, that the gospel, preached as it should be, never produces such results." "Where these ex- ercises were encouraged, and regarded as tokens of the divine presence there they greatly prevailed.  But where they were looked upon as manifestations of enthusiasm, and fanaticism, and therefore, opposed, they did not prevail" (p. 371).     CONCLUSION. Spasmodic efforts in behalf of mankind are not to be looked upon with the eye of censure. While there may be much chaff,

• 255
 

The Kentucky Revival, Etc.                   279

 

yet it is out of the chaff that the grain of wheat is rescued.

Sometimes the cloud of dust obscures even the brightness of the

sun, yet when that dust is settled the road way may be more

passable. Thoughts are often quickened, and experience is a

tell-tale for future good. I have not condemned the Kentucky

revival. Good did flow from it. When all the circumstances are

considered it was an effort greatly demanded, however wild

was the revel, and grotesque the carnival.     Persecutions of all

descriptions must be condemned. The history of man proves that

in every instance the persecuted have been nearer the Kingdom

than the persecutors.

May 19, 1903.                           J. P. MACLEAN.

NOTE. On May 2₇th, I received from Eldress Jane Cowan,

the principal leader of the Shaker community at South Union, Lo-

gan county, Ky., the church records of that society.     Prefacing

these records is an autobiographical sketch of Rev. John Rankin

written in 1845. As this throws light on the Kentucky revival,

and what has never been published before, I herewith transcribe a

portion of it:

"In August, 1799, a sacrament was appointed at Gasper River, old

meeting house five miles below South Union. The preachers attended,

gifts were given to men, their language was clothed with power which

pervaded the congregation, many were convicted, some called on ther

neighbors to pray for them, one under view of his exposure to justice,

asked in consternation of soul: "Is there no hand to stay the justice of

God?" Some few could rejoice in hopes of mercy and promise of God,

et cetera. This same summer or early fall, at a sacrament held at Big

Muddy River Meeting House: a work of similar nature made its appear-

ance in a very striking manner; my text on this occasion was Acts 40

and 41. Beware therefore, lest that come upon you which was spoken

of in the Prophets; Behold ye despisers and wonder and perish; for I

work a work in your days, a work which you shall in no wise believe,

though a man declare it unto you: Due attendance, serious attention to

preaching, and solemn inquiry, what they should do to be saved appeared

to agitate the minds of the congregations throughout the following winter

and spring. In the mean time, the members of this society (Gasper) were

cordially engaged in building a meeting-house for their future accommo-

dation.

"Sometime in the month of June in the year 1800, the principal mem-

bers of the three awakened congregations met together at the Red River

Meeting house, with a large accession of citizens of every description, and

• 256
 

280        Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

also two zealous preachers from the state of Tennessee, in whom we could

confide, came to see the strange work, and take part in the labors of the

day. Believing them to be men of the same spirit with ourselves, we

made them more than welcome to participate on the occasion; and re-

joiced in hope that they might be instruments, destined to transfer the

same light and power to their respective neighborhoods, which was the

result. All our gifts and ministerial efforts were united and tended to

the same end; the conviction, conversion and salvation of souls.; The

surrounding multitudes sat and heard with reverence and awe, with in-

creasing solemnity depicted in their countenances through the meeting;

at the conclusion of which, a part of the people went out of the house,

in order to return to their places of residence. A large part remaining

on their seats in contemplative silence. But wonderful to be seen and

heard; on a sudden, an alarming cry burst from the midst of the deepest

silence; some were thrown into wonderful and strange contortions of

features, body and limbs, frightful to the beholder-others had singular

gestures, with words and actions quite inconsistent with Presbyterial

order and usage-all was alarm and confusion for the moment. One of

the preachers, a thorough Presbyterian, being in the house beckoned me

to one side, and said, in evident perturbation of mind: What shall we

do? What shall we do? He intimated some corrective to quell the con-

fusion. I replied: We can do nothing at present. We are strangers to

such an operation. We have hitherto never seen the like; but we may

observe, their cry, and the burden of their prayers to God is for mercy

and the salvation of their souls. This prayer is both scriptural and ra-

tional, and therefore it is most safe to let it work; lest in attempting to

root out the tares, we should root out the wheat also. Let the disorder

stand to the account of human imperfection. At this instant the other

preacher from Tennessee, a son of thunder, came forward and without

hesitation, entered on the most heart stirring exhortation, encouraging

the wounded of the day never to cease striving, or give up their pursuit,

until they obtained peace to their souls. On seeing and feeling his con-

fidence, that it was the work of God, and a mighty effusion of his spirit,

and having heard that he was acquainted with such scenes in another

country, we acquiesced and stood in astonishment, admiring the wonder-

ful works of God. When this alarming occurrence subsided in outward

show, the united congregations returned to their respective abodes, in

contemplation of what they had seen, heard and felt on this most oppres-

sive occasion.

The next large meeting was held on Friday week after the before-

mentioned meeting on Red River, being an appointment for a sacra-

mental meeting at Gasper River, at the new meeting house one mile and

a half below South Union in the month of July, 1800.

In the intervening two weeks, the news of the strange operations

which had transpired at the previous meeting had run throughout the

• 257
 

The Kentucky Revival, Etc.                 281

 

county in every direction, carrying a high degree of excitement to the

minds of almost every character. The curious came to gratify their curi-

osity. The seriously convicted, presented themselves that they might re-

ceive some special and salutary benefit to their souls, and promote the

cause of God, at home and abroad. The honorable (?) but sentimental

exemplary and strictly formal Presbyterians attended to scrutinize the

work, and judge whether it was of God and consistent with their senti-

ments, feelings and order, or whether it was a delusive spirit emanating

from the Prince of darkness, of which they were very apprehensive. * * *

On Friday morning at an early hour, the people began to assemble in

large numbers from every quarter, and by the usual hour for preaching

to commence, there was a multitude collected, unprecedented in this or

any other new country of so sparse a population. The rising ground to

the south and west of the meeting house, was literally lined with covered

wagons and other appendages--each one furnished with provisions and

accommodations, suitable to make them comfortable on the ground during

the solemnity. When I came in view of this vast assemblage I was as-

tonished." On the evening of the following Monday "inquirers began to

fall prostrate on all sides, and their cries became piercing and incessant.

Heavy groans were heard, and trembling and shaking began to appear

throughout the house; and again in a little time, cries of penitential and

confessional prayer sounded through the assembly. Toward the approach

of night, the floor of the meeting house was literally covered with the

prostrate bodies of penitents, so that it became necessary to carry a num-

ber out of doors and lay them on the grass or garments, if they had them."

Rev. John Rankin was born November 27, 1757, in North

Carolina.  He took charge of the Presbyterian church on the

Gasper (now South Union), in December 1798.        Similar to the

other revivalists, his views were not in harmony with those of

his co-religionists. On October 28, 1807, he avowed his belief in

Shakerism and confessed to Issachar Bates, Richard McNemar

and Matthew    Houston.   He was the preacher at South Union

until his death, which occurred July 12, 1850.

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

It may be of interest to future investigators to know some-

thing of the books published by the Shakers. Their literature is

extensive. A bibliography is appended to Axon's Biographical

Notices of Ann Lee, but this I have never seen. The following

is a list of such works as the Shakers have presented to me:

• 258
 

282       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

 

I. BOUND VOLUMES.

1. The Kentucky Revival, or a Short History of the late

extraordinary out-pouring of the Spirit of God, in the Western

States of America, agreeably to Scripture promises, and prophe-

cies concerning the latter day: with a brief account of the en-

trance and progress of what the world call Shakerism, among

the subjects of the late revival in Ohio and Kentucky. Pre-

sented to the true Zion-traveller, as a memorial of the Wilder-

ness journey. By Richard McNemar. Cincinnati 180_7. It also

contains Shaker mission to the Shawnee Indians, and observa-

tions on church government. Total number of pages 143.

2. Another edition of same of 156 pp. published in New

York, 1846.

3. The testimony of Christ's Second Appearing; contain-

ing a general statement of all things pertaining to the faith

and practice of the Church of God in this latter day. Published

by order of the Ministry, in union with the church. Third edi-

tion, corrected and improved. Union Village (Ohio), 1823.

577 PP.

4. Same. Fourth edition. Enlarged by Benjamin S.

Youngs and Calvin Green. Albany, 1856. 631 pp. The first

edition (1808) was the work of Youngs.

5. The Manifesto, or a declaration of the doctrines and

practice of the church of Christ. By John Dunlavy. Pleasant

Hill, Ky., 1818.* 520 pp.

6. Another edition of same of 486 pp., published in New

York in 1847.

7. A summary view of the Millennial Church, or United

Society of Believers, commonly called Shakers, comprising the

rise, progress and practical order of the society, together with

the general principles of their faith and testimony. Second edi-

tion, revised and improved. Albany, 1848. 384 pp.

8. A holy, sacred and divine Roll and Book; from the

Lord God of Heaven, to the inhabitants of earth: revealed in

the United Society at New Lebanon, county of Columbia, state

of New York, United States of America. In two parts. Can-

terbury, N. H., 1843, 407 pp.

• 259
 

The Kentucky Revival, Etc.             283

 

9. The divine book of holy and eternal wisdom, revealing

the word of God; out of whose mouth goeth a sharp sword. In

two volumes. Written by Paulina Bates, at Watervleet, N. Y.

Canterbury, N. H., 1849. 696 pp.

10. Shaker Sermons: scripto-rational. Containing the sub-

stance of Shaker theology. Together with replies and criti-

cisms logically and clearly set forth. By H. L. Eads, bishop of

South Union, Ky. Fifth edition. Revised and enlarged. South

Union, Kentucky, 1889. 366 pp.

11. Testimonies concerning the character and ministry of

Mother Ann Lee and the first witnesses of the gospel of Christ's

second appearing; given by some of the aged brethren and sisters

of the United Society, including a few sketches of their own

religious experience: approved by the church. Albany, 1827.

178 pp.

12. Testimonies of the life, character, revelations and doc-

trines of Mother Ann Lee, and the elders with her, through

whom the word of eternal life was opened in this day of Christ's

second appearing, collected from living witnesses, in union with

the church. Second edition. Albany, 1888. 302 pp.

13. Millennial praises, containing a collection of gospel

hymns, in four parts; adapted to the day of Christ's second

appearing. Composed for the use of his people. Hancock

(Mass.), 1813, 292 pp.

14. A selection of hymns and poems; for the use of Be-

lievers. Collected from sundry authors, by Philos Hamoniae

(Richard McNemar). Watervleit (Ohio), 1833. 184 pp.

15. A sacred repository of anthems and hymns, for devo-

tional worship and praise. Canterbury, N. H., 1852. 223 pp.

16. A collection of hymns and anthems adapted to public

worship. East Canterbury, N. H., 1892. 144 pp.

17. A juvenile guide, or manual of good manners. Con-

sisting of counsels, instructions and rules of deportment, for

the young. In two parts. Canterbury, N. H., 1844. 131 pp.

18. The same. Third edition. East Canterbury, N. H.,

1899. 79 pp.

7 Vol. XII-3.

• 260
 

284       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

19. Pearly gate of the true life and doctrine for believers

in Christ. By A. G. Hollister and C. Green, Mount Lebanon,

N. Y., 1894. 299 pp.

20. The same. Second edition improved and enlarged,

1896. 255 pp.

 

II. PAMPHLETS.

1. Transactions of the Ohio Mob, called in the public pa-

pers, "An expedition against the Shakers." By Benjamin Seth

Youngs, Miami county, state of Ohio, August 31, 1810.

2. Autobiography, by Elder Giles B. Avery, of Mount

Lebanon, N. Y. Also an account of the funeral service. East

Canterbury, N. H., 1891. 34 pp.

3. Affectionately inscribed to the memory of Eldress An-

toinette Doolittle, by her loving and devoted gospel friends.

Albany, 1887. 32 pp.

4. Investigator; or a defence of the order, government

and economy of the United Society called Shakers, against sundry

charges and legislative proceedings. By the Society of Believers

at Pleasant Hill, Ky. Lexington, K., 1828. 47 pp.

5. The same, enlarged. New York, 1846. 103 pp.

6. Authorized Rules of the Shaker community. Mount

Lebanon, N. Y., 1894. 16 pp.

7. Supplementary rules. Mount Lebanon, 1894. 4 pp.

8. Sketches of Shakers and Shakerism. Synopsis of the-

ology of United Society of Believers in Christ's second appear-

ing. By Giles B. Avery. Albany, 1884.  53 pp.

9. A review of Mary M. Dyer's publication, entitled "A

portraiture of Shakerism;" together with sundry affidavits, dis-

proving the truth of her assertions. Concord, 1824. 70 pp.

10. A brief exposition of the established principles, and

regulations of the United Society of Believers called Shakers.

Edited by Richard McNemar and David Spinnig. Watervleit,

Ohio, June 30, 1832. 49 pp.

11. The same. New York, 1879. 32 pp.

12. The same. East Canterbury, N. H., 1895. 24 pp.

13. A discourse on the order and propriety of divine in-

spiration and revelation, showing the necessity thereof, in all

• 261
 

The Kentucky Revival, Etc.             285

ages, to know the will of God. Also, a discourse on the second

appearing of Christ, in and through the order of the female.

And a discourse on the propriety and necessity of a united inherit-

ance in all things, in order to support a true Christian community.

By Wm. Leonard Harvard: 1853. 88 pp.

14. The nature and character of the true church of Christ

proved by plain evidences, and showing whereby it may be known

and distinguished from all others. By John Dunlavy. New

York, 1847. 93 PP.

15. Plain talks: upon practical, Christian religion; being

answers to ever-recurring questions concerning the Shakers,

prominently among which is the answer to "What must an

individual do to be a Shaker?" Shakers, N. Y., n. d. 24 pp.

16. The youth's guide in Zion, and holy mother's promises.

Given by inspiration at New Lebanon, N. Y., January 5, 1842.

Canterbury, N. H., 1842. 36 pp.

17. The manifestation of spiritualism among the Shakers

1837-1847. By Henry C. Blinn. East Canterbury, N. H., 1899.

1O1 pp.

18. Tests of divine inspiration; or the rudimental prin-

ciples by which true and false revelation, in all eras of the world,

can be unerringly discriminated. By F. W. Evans. New Leba-

non, 1853. 127 pp.

19. Scientific demonstration of theology, prophecy and

revelation. By H. B. Bear. Preston, Hamilton Co., Ohio, 1900.

56 pp.

20. A scientific demonstration of the prophecies of Daniel

and St. John. H. B. Bear. Preston, Ohio, n. d. 13 pp.

21. Interpreting prophecy and the appearing of Christ.

Third edition. A. G. Hollister. Mount Lebanon, N. Y., 1892.

42 pp.

22. Mission of Alethian Believers, called Shakers. A. G.

Hollister. Mount Lebanon, N. Y., 1892-1899. 28 pp.

23. Synopsis of doctrine taught by Believers in Christ's

second appearing. A. G. Hollister. Mount Lebanon, N. Y.,

second edition enlarged, 1893. 30 pp.

• 262
 

286       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

24. Divine judgment, justice and mercy. A revelation of

the great white throne. A. G. Hollister. Mount Lebanon, N.

Y., 1895. 48 pp.

25. The day of judgment as taught by the Millennial

Church. By Arthur W. Dowe. San Francisco, 1896. 24 pp.

26. The divine afflatus: a force in history. Published by

the United Society, Shirley, Mass. Boston, 1875. 47 pp.

27. A concise statement of the principles of the only true

church, according to the gospel of the present appearing of

Christ. Bennington, Vermont, 1900. 16 pp.

28. The law of life. Extract from a writing in the name

of the prophet Joel. Mt. Lebanon, N. Y., January, 1841. Calvin

Green, amanuensis. 16 pp.

29. Shakers: a correspondence between Mary F. C. of Mt.

Holly City and a Shaker sister, Sarah L. of Union Village.

Edited by R. W. Pelham. Cincinnati, 1869. 23 pp.

30. The Shaker's answer to a letter from an inquirer. By

R. W. Pelham. Union Village, Ohio, 186*. 23 pp.

31. A Christian community. By Henry C. Bluin. East

Canterbury, N. H., ud. 16 pp.

32. True source of happiness. Anna White. Mt. Lebanon,

N.Y.n.d. 6pp.

33. Pearly Gate of the true life and doctrine for Believers

in Christ. Part II. By A. G. Hollister. Mount Lebanon, N.

Y., 1900. 18 pp.

• 263
 

INFLUENCE OF PENNSYLVANIA ON OHIO.

 

BY W. H. HUNTER.

[The celebration of the Centennial of the State has led to much dis-

cussion regarding the ethnological history of Ohio. As a contribution to

this subject, we present the address delivered by W. H. Hunter, of Chilli-

cothe, at a banquet given in Philadelphia several years ago by the Penn-

sylvania Scotch-Irish society, which has for its object the preservation of

historical data. - E. O. R.]

THE PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN: - While in attendance at

the Harrisburg session of the Scotch-Irish Society of America

last summer, I was thrilled by the eloquence of your honorable

Past President, Dr. McCook, who then delivered one of the most

impressive addresses I ever heard - beautiful in diction, eloquent

in presentation--his subject being "The Scotch-Irish Pioneer

Women."    Among the accomplishments of those noble women

described was the manufacture of mush and milk; or rather, I

should say, Pioneer Porridge, the piece de resistance on the table

of the fathers. His panegyric was so eloquent and his descrip-

tion of the process was so real one could close his eyes and hear

the mush splutter as it was stirred in the pot, could see the par-

ticles fly over the brim and smell the odor of burning meal as

the globules fell upon the fire. When I think back to the old

homestead in Eastern Ohio I run against the fact that I did not

like mush and milk any more than I loved the catechism, which

we had together at our house eight evenings in the week. I

recall it now as the one cloud over the sunshine of happy boyhood

days; but Dr. McCook's eloquence made such an impression on

me that all my early repugnance for mush and milk has left me;

I have never been so fortunate as to hear him on the catechism.

Through the kindness of my good friend, Colonel McIlhenney,

I am here to enjoy with you the food of our ancestors. I prom-

ised him when he gave me the opportunity to break mush and

milk with the Society, I would endeavor to partly pay my way

with a story of the influence of the Scotch-Irish of Pennsylvania

(287)

• 264
 

288       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

in Ohio. Just as I was about to plunge into a mass of data in

preparation of an elaborate address, he wrote me that I must

keep in mind that this being a Scotch-Irish gathering, it would

a gabfest; that there would be a good many folks waiting to make

speeches, and that no one would be allowed to say all that was in

his mind. However, I feel that I should make my contribution

to this interesting subject and if I weary you pull my coat tail.

My great grandfathers having been among the early settlers of

the western part of the state and the founders of Old Unity, the

first Presbyterian church west of the mountains, and one of them

in the disastrous Lochry expedition during the Revolutionary

War, I feel strongly moved to the task. My sainted mother also

was reared to young womanhood in this city and it was through

her influence that Bishop Simpson, when a young man in Ohio,

was induced to adopt the ministry as his calling - the eloquent

bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church who made Philadelphia

his seat and whose erudition, whose fertile genius, wonderful per-

ception, and pushing enterprise gave his church much of its

power in America.

When John Randolph said that Pennsylvania had produced

but two great men - Benjamin Franklin, of Massachusetts, and

Albert Gallatin, of Switzerland - he possibly did not know that

the best blood of his own State was that of the Scotch-Irish

people who went down from Pennsylvania and settled in the

Valley. He likely did not know that the great and good Dr.

Archibald Alexander, the founder of Liberty Hall, now Washing-

ton and Lee University (so much loved by Washington), the very

seat of culture and power of the Shenandoah and James, the

greatest factor of the State's prowess, was a Pennsylvanian. He

possibly did not know that Dr. Graham, the first president of this

institution, was from Old Paxtang; that many of the families

whose names are in the pantheon of Old Dominion achievement,

the families that give Virginia her prominence in the sisterhood

of States, had their American origin in Pennsylvania- in the

Scotch-Irish reservoir of the Cumberland Valley - the McDow-

ells, the Pattersons, the McCormacks, Ewings, McCorcles, Pres-

tons, McCunes, Craigs, McColloughs, Simpsons, Stewarts, Mof-

fats, Irwins, Hunters, Blairs, Elders, Grahams, Finleys, Trim-

• 265
 

Influence of Pennsylvania on Ohio.        289

 

bles, Rankins, and hundreds of others, whose achievements mark

the pathway of the world's progress. John Randolph possibly

did not know that the first Declaration of Independence by the

American patriots was issued by the members of Hanover Church

out there in Dauphin county, when on June 4th, 1774, they de-

clared "that in the event of Great Britain attempting to force

unjust laws upon us by the strength of arms, our cause we leave

to heaven and our rifles." This declaration was certainly carried

to Mecklenburg to give the sturdy people of that region inspira-

tion for the strong document issued by them a year later, and

which gave Jefferson a basis for the Declaration of 1776. There

was much moving from Pennsylvania into Virginia and North

Carolina before the Revolution, and Hanover Presbytery in the

Valley was largely made up of people from Pennsylvania, whose

petition of ten thousand names for a free church in a free land,

made in 1785, was the force back of Jefferson's bill for religious

tolerance, a triumph for freedom that has always been considered

a Presbyterian victory by the Scotch-Irish of America.

To him who has the inclination and the time for the task,

there can be no more interesting and instructive study than to

follow the trail of the Scotch-Irish from Pennsylvania to Ohio

through Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky; and had John Ran-

dolph taken up this task he would have found men of Pennsyl-

vania blood, who, in scholarship, in statesmanship, in patriotism,

in genius, in skill at arms, were as great as the two who occurred

to his mind when he was sneering at the position of the great

commonwealth.

We know that Dr. Sankey of Hanover Church was a minis-

ter in Hanover Presbytery, and that he was followed into Vir-

ginia by large numbers of the Hanover congregation, who kept

up a constant stream into the Valley. By the way, two settle-

ments were made by this congregation in Ohio. Col. Rogers,

Gov. Bushnell's secretary, derives his descent from them. The

population of North Carolina at the outbreak of the Revolution

was largely made up of Scotch-Irish immigrants from Pennsyl-

vania and the Virginia Valley who had a public school system

before the war. These were the people who stood with the Rev.

David Caldwell on the banks of the Alamance May 16th, 1771,

• 266
 

290       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

and received the first volley of shot fired in the contest for inde-

pendence. This same blood coursed the veins of the patriot

army with Lewis at Point Pleasant, the first battle of the Revolu-

tionary War, fought October 11, 1774, Lord Dunmore having no

doubt planned the attack by the Indians to discourage the Amer-

icans from further agitation of the then pending demand for fair

treatment of the American Colonies at the hands of Great Brit-

ain. It was this blood that coursed the veins of those courageous

people who, having survived the Kerr's creek massacre, were

carried to a Shawnese village in Ohio, and on being bantered

to sing by the Indians in their cruel sport, sang Rouse's version

of one of the Psalms. "Unappalled by the bloody scene," says

the Augusta historian, "through which they had already passed,

and the fearful tortures awaiting them, within the dark wilderness

of forest, when all hope of rescue seemed forbidden; undaunted

by the fiendish revelings of their savage captors, they sang aloud

with the most pious fervor-

"On Babel's stream we sat and wept when Zion we thought on,

In midst thereof we hanged our harps the willow trees among,

For then a song required they who did us captive bring,

Our spoilers called for mirth and said, a song of Zion sing."

It was this blood that fought the battle of King's Mountain,

which victory gave the patriots the courage that is always in

hope; it was the winning force at Cowpens, at Guilford, where

Rev. Samuel Houston discharged his rifle fourteen times, once

for each ten minutes of the battle. These brave hearts were in

every battle of the Revolution, from Point Pleasant in 1774 to the

victory of Wayne at the Maumee Rapids twenty years later, for

the War of Independence continued in the Ohio country after the

treaty of peace. And yet, after all this awful struggle to gain

and hold for America the very heart of the Republic, one of the

gentlemen referred to by Mr. Randolph wrote pamphlets in which

he derided as murderers the courageous settlers of our blood on

the occasions they felt it necessary to "remove" Indians with their

long rifles. After all the struggle, he too would have made an

arrangement with England by which the Ohio river would have

been the boundary line.

• 267
 

Influence of Pennsylvania on Ohio.        291

 

There were giants along that trail-physical and mental

giants. The pioneer fathers were men of force and enterprise,

and it is to these characteristics that we are indebted for the

results that came to us as a heritage. They were not cradled in

the lap of luxury, hence a physical prowess that was never bent

by enervation; a sterling quality of mind that was ever alert, made

keen by the exigencies met on every hand. They were broadened

in mental scope and disciplined in habits of action and thought

by the responsibilities of home making, not only for themselves

but an empire of homes for posterity. Their traits of manhood

were of the highest order of God's creation. They were without

physical fear. They had no fear save that of God, for religion

was their strongest impulse. They were self-reliant, having won-

derful perception and continuity of purpose withal, the distin-

guishing traits that mark their descendants, who are ever in the

forerank of the army whose triumph is the advancement of the

world's civilization.

Did it ever occur to you, Mr. President and gentlemen, that

the brave men of the South who met death in the awful Bloody

Angle at Gettysburg died almost within sight of the graves of

their ancestors in the church yards of the Valley? Only recently

I was shown by Dr. Egle in Old Paxtang Cemetery the stone

that marks the last earthly resting place of the forebears of

Gen. J. E. B. Stewart, whose cavalry was largely composed of

descendants of others whose dust lies in the Pennsylvania church

yards. The men with Pickett from Virginia, from North Car-

olina, from Tennessee and Kentucky, in that stubborn charge

across the open plain and up the mountain displayed the physical

courage of their Pennsylvania Scotch-Irish ancestors, who never

faltered on the field of carnage.

I spoke of Rev. Mr. Sanky, who went from Hanover Church

into Hanover Presbytery in the Virginia Valley in 1760. He

taught and preached, and the boys of his congregation after

going through his blessed hands were sent to Liberty Hall and

from there into the West and South in after years, where they

founded the families that give character to many states, filling

the highest stations of usefulness and fame. The prominent

families of Tennessee, Kentucky and of Ohio had their origin

• 268
 

292       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

in the Scotch-Irish reservoirs of the Cumberland and Virginia

Valleys. The father of Ephraim McDowell went from Penn-

sylvania to Virginia and peopled Burden's grant with Scotch-

Irish from Pennsylvania. Dr. McDowell was the greatest of

the pioneer surgeons, being the first surgeon in the world to

undertake ovariotomy, which successful operation distinguished

him in Europe as in America. Many of the trustees of Liberty

Hall were from Pennsylvania, including Rev. Carrick, Samuel

Houston, and James Mitchell. President Junkins of Washing-

ton and Lee was also a Pennsylvanian, having established schools

in this state before going into Virginia; and he followed the

trail of the fathers into Ohio, where for years he was president

of the Miami University, which has given to Ohio many of its

brightest minds. He wrote a pamphlet in defense of slavery

which John C. Calhoun, whose father went to North Carolina

from Pennsylvania, characterized as the ablest defense of the

institution he had ever read. George Rogers Clark, who won

the Northwest Territory and gave to the Republic the five states

of Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan, drew from

the Valley the men with the fortitude arid endurance, bravery

and patriotism, all men of Scotch-Irish Pennsylvania blood, to

undertake and carry to success the complete conquest of the

Northwest. George Rogers Clark may well be called the Han-

nibal of the West. President Thompson told us to-night that

Anthony Wayne is neglected by the historian. George Rogers

Clark, too, is neglected. While every schoolboy knows of

Wayne's achievements, not one in a hundred ever heard of

George Rogers Clark. This being true in Ohio what must be

the knowledge of Clark in Massachusetts!

I have thus, in this rambling way, tried to establish that

the Virginia Scotch-Irish were from Pennsylvania, with a view

to impressing the fact that the Scotch-Irish who were among

the first settlers of Ohio were of Pennsylvania blood, no matter

whether they came into the state from  the South or directly

through the gateway to the boundless West at the meeting of

the rivers. The establishment of this claim is more important

than many appreciate. There are Virginia Scotch-Irish in a

certain part of Ohio who lay great store in the belief that be-

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Influence of Pennsylvania on Ohio.         293

cause their forefathers came from Virginia they descended from

the Cavaliers.

The Pennsylvania Scotch-Irish came into Ohio in parts of

congregations and in families, many of them previous to Wayne's

treaty with the Indians at Greenville in 1795, up to which time

no progress had been made by the settlers. No one was safe

from the outrages of the Indians, incited as they were to the

most diabolical deeds by the British, who continued the war in

the Ohio country through their savage allies with hope of forc-

ing the settlers to give up all attempts to hold the territory

won by Clark, and thus rid the country of the sturdy men,

already discouraged in the fact that it seemed almost impossible

to erect a home in peace. The British inflamed the Indians

with liquor and furnished them with arms with the hope that

the continued outrages of the savages would force final aban-

donment of the Republic's claim to the treaty boundary. It

was well that the pioneers were characterized by unyielding

firmness, for the East, not having proper appreciation of the

importance of the boundary or else being jealous of the power

that might be divided by increase of territory, was willing to

give up the contest for the Clark claim; but strong petitions

from the sturdy women whose children had been torn from

their breasts and murdered before their eyes by the savages,

brought the East to a realization of the awful condition of the

settlers. Then came Anthony Wayne, the historian tells us,

crashing through the forest like a behemoth. The achievement

of Clark and the victory of Wayne mark the two most notable

epochs in the annals of the West.

While it is true that the first settlement noted in the his-

tories was made by forty-eight Puritans at Marietta, in 1788,

there were Pennsylvania Scotch-Irish settlements previous to

that time, notably at the mouth of the Scioto river in 1785 by

four families from the Redstone Presbytery, while at the same

time there was a larger settlement at what is now called Mar-

tins Ferry, a few miles above Wheeling, where a government

had been organized with two justices in office. The father of

John McDonald, the famous Indian fighter, and companion of

Clark, Simon Kenton, Duncan McArthur and J. B. Finley, whose

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294       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

historical notes preserve the brave deeds of daring times, with

his stalwart sons from Northumberland county, settled on the

Mingo bottom previous to 1780. The great majority of the

Indian fighters who fought and suffered as no men in history

fought and suffered before, that the Ohio country might be made

a home of peace and plenty, were from Pennsylvania and of

the royal blood-Generals Wilkinson, Butler, Irvine, Findley,

Hickson, Finley, John and Thomas McDonald, the Lewises, the

McCulloughs, Col. Richard Johnson, who killed Tecumseh; Col.

Crawford, whose awful death at the stake fills one with horror

even to this day when the mind reverts to it; Col. Robert Pat-

terson, one of the founders of Cincinnati; Col. Williamson, of

Gnadenhutten fame; Samuel Brady, the Marion of the West;

and Andrew and Adam Poe, who killed the big Indian, and

Simon Girty-you all know without me telling you that Simon

Girty, the renegade, was contributed to Ohio by Pennsylvania,

likewise McGee and Elliot, all traitors. As wicked as Simon

Girty was, as hated as he was, because of his diabolical char-

acter, he did one good turn for the pioneer settlers of Ohio

-he saved the life of Simon Kenton when this life was needed,

which he could not have done had he not been with and of

the Indians; and if we are good Presbyterians we must believe

that he was a renegade for this very purpose. The Pennsyl-

vania Scotch-Irish Indian fighters were very much in evidence

in the Ohio country, and their daring exploits are the most

thrilling chapters in the history of the Northwest Territory.

They were men of iron frame, whose resolution never winced

at danger, and with the endurance to bear pain with the forti-

tude of stoics. These men were created, and no one who fol-

lows the trail of blood that is the pathway to their achieve-

ment, can believe otherwise, to found this great empire of the

Northwest. They have never been given the full measure of

honor due them, nor do those who enjoy the fruits of their

victories appreciate the sacrifices they made and the hardships

they endured. It is well that there were giants in those days.

There is a disposition among the people of the present

day to even cast the reproach of murder upon the brave hearts

whose every movement was constantly filled with apprehension

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Influence of Pennsylvania on Ohio.         295

 

of awful outrages by Indians.   General Williamson and his

Scotch-Irish soldiers from Pennsylvania have had their mem-

ories clouded by even those who should defend, or at least ex-

cuse, the massacre of the Moravian Indians at Gnadenhutten on

the Tuscarawas, and I take it as a privilege on this occasion

to declare, and this fact should be borne in mind, that the

British were wholly responsible for this massacre; in fact they

planned the scheme at Detroit. The hostile Indians who were

the allies of the British, had captured the missionaries having

in charge the Moravian Indians, and with the Christian In-

dians had taken them to Sandusky on a trumped-up charge.

The winter following was a very severe one, and provisions ran

short, and about one hundred of the Christian Indians were given

permission to return to the Tuscarawas river to gather corn left

standing in the field when they were taken away. At the same

time warriors were sent to murder the whites in the Ohio Val-

ley to incense the Americans against the Indians, the British

knowing they would organize and make cause against the Mo-

ravians on the Tuscarawas, and in doing so would be reproached

by the civilized world. These red warriors crossed the Ohio

about fifty miles below Fort Pitt, and committed all sorts of

awful depredations, among them the murder of Mrs. Wallace

and her babe. Col. Williamson and his men marched to the

Moravian village, and finding the Indians there and in posses-

sion of Mrs. Wallace's bloody garments, naturally supposed that

the Christian Indians were at least in part responsible for her

death, just as the British at Detroit had anticipated. There has

been much written about Colonel Williamson, "the murderer of

Christian Indians," just as there has been much written against

the Paxtang boys in Pennsylvania; but those who would cloud

the memories of Colonel Williamson and the Paxtang boys do

not appreciate the conditions then obtaining. The pioneer to

whom we owe everything is entitled to every doubt. He knew

the treacherous nature of the Indians as well as the diabolical

character of the British who carried on the warfare in the West,

and it was natural to suspect every Indian and trust none,

Christian or otherwise; the British were of a Christian nation,

so called, and they could not be trusted. Why should a savage

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296        Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

under the British flag be trusted simply because he professed

Christianity? As matters turned out, the massacre of those

Christian Indians was a great wrong, but I do not call it a

crime except as I charge it against the British. Rather than

blacken the memory of those pioneer soldiers with the charge of

murder, I would erect a monument on every hill and in every

valley where they shed their blood. On these occasions when

we celebrate the wonderful achievements of the fathers we

should rejoice in the fact that they were men of stern stuff.

They were wonderful men, the like of whom we shall never see

more. There was no emotional sentiment manifested by them

when an Indian's head was seen peeping from behind a tree.

They "left their cause with heaven" and kept their powder dry.

They were cool, deliberate Presbyterians.

The Pennsylvania Scotch-Irish and not the Puritans from

New England were and are now the great factors in the pro-

gress of Ohio; I care not from what point we view progress,

whether religious, educational, industrial or commercial, I make

the claim for the Pennsylvania Scotch-Irish, after the most

careful search possible, using the various county histories for

data. Pennsylvania gave to Ohio no less than a dozen Gover-

nors, ten of them Scotch-Irish. Ten of our counties were named

for Pennsylvania Scotch-Irishmen, and they are abiding monu-

ments to some of the bravest men of pioneer days-Wayne,

Logan, Ross, Mercer, Darke, Crawford, Butler, Fulton, Allen,

and Morrow. Pennsylvania gave to Ohio its ablest statesmen,

its most eloquent orators, its ablest jurists, its most noted edu-

cators, and a look through the directories of many of the coun-

ties allows me to say that the great majority of the officers of

the financial institutions and those who manage the great in-

dustrial and commercial enterprises are of this blood and either

from Pennsylvania or are descendants of the pioneers from

your state.

The Presbyterians as well as other ministers came to Ohio

from Pennsylvania; and I should mention here that in my re-

search I find that in most countries the first church erected was

of the Presbyterian communion. This alone gives a strong sug-

gestion as to the influence of the Scotch-Irish in Ohio. Had

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Influence of Pennsylvania on Ohio.       297

 

the Puritans been the great factor in the settlement of the state

the first churches would have been of another communion-

the Puritans burned the first Presbyterian church built in Mas-

sachusetts. In the city, where I lived for twenty-five years,

founded by your Senator Ross, six of the seven Presbyterian

ministers are natives of Pennsylvania, and the seventh a de-

scendant of a Pennsylvanian. John Rankin, whose ancestors

settled in Pennsylvania one hundred and sixty years ago, and

whose father was a soldier of the Revolution, came to Ohio

through Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky, founded the Free

Presbyterian church, and was one of the finest specimens of

physical manhood that ever blessed the earth. He came to Ohio

after the Virginia ordinance of cession was adopted, to get away

from the environments of slavery, as did also Francis McCor-

mack, the founder of one of the first Methodist churches in the

Territory. It was from this stock that the abolition sentiment

got its spirit, its abiding force. While the handful of Puri-

tans who settled Marietta have been given the credit in history,

the truth is, the Scotch-Irish from the Virginia Valley gave the

abolition movement its men of steadfastness of purpose--men

who never gave up the fight until the victory was won. Pres-

ident Ruffner, of Washington and Lee university, wrote one of

the first pamphlets issued advocating abolition of slavery. It

was John Rankin's home that gave succor to George Harris,

made famous by Mrs. Stowe, and it was John Rankin who or-

ganized the underground railroad by which many slaves escaped

to Canada and to liberty. As I have said, Bishop Simpson was

of the same blood; so was that other powerful Methodist

divine, Dr. William Hunter, whose sweet songs of praise are

in nearly all the church hymnals. So was Alexander Campbell,

the founder of the Disciples church, which has exerted vast in-

fluence in the Ohio country, and of which communion Pres-

ident Garfield was a distinguished member. The college founded

by Dr. Campbell is a West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania in-

stitution, so near the lines that all can enjoy its influence, as

all three states enjoy the influence of Washington and Jeffer-

son. Alexander Clark, the most noted minister of the Metho-

dist Protestant church, the founder of the first magazine for chil-

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298       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

dren, The Schoolday Visitor, which afterwards became The St.

Nicholas; for years editor of the Methodist Recorder at Pitts-

burg, the author of books that are a part of the nation's most

interesting and instructive literature, was of the same virile

strain.  The Scotch-Irish ministers of the Gospel are not all

Presbyterian, but very few Presbyterian ministers are of other

breeds. I must not neglect to mention here Rev. Joseph Hughes,

who was born in Washington county, and in 181O established

the first Presbyterian church in Delaware county, Ohio. He

was not a characteristic Presbyterian minister, although some

folks would say he had many of the traits that distinguish our

blood. He would pitch quoits for the grog, play the fiddle for

the dance, and preach as long a sermon as any minister in the

Presbytery, and when brought before the church court he made

such an able defense that he was permitted to go on with his

long sermons, quoit pitching, grog and fiddling.

The first church built in Cincinnati, the metropolis of the

State, founded by men of the strong force of character of

Colonel Patterson, who was with Clark, and given its name

by General St. Clair, whose remains lie out there in the Greens-

burg Cemetery, was of this communion, and on the subscription

list I find the names of Dr. Allison, surgeon of General St. Clair's

and General Wayne's armies, Captains Ford, Elliott, and Peters,

and General Wilkinson, the roll being dated 1792. Among the

first settlers of Cincinnati was John Filson, a pioneer school

teacher, who was born in the Cumberland Valley. He wrote the

first history of the Western country, which was published as

early as 1784. He also published a history of Kentucky and

made a map of that State, being among the first surveyors to

venture among the Indians, and he met death at their hands near

Cincinnati.

The Pennsylvania Scotch-Irish looked upon education as the

strongest factor that moved the world along the way of progress,

and the school house was one of the first buildings erected in a

settlement. The Scotch-Irish schoolmaster was ever abroad in

the land. The annals of Ohio are filled with incidents of the

pioneer schoolmaster, who always had a standing in the com-

munity next to that of the minister himself, who was always held

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Influence of Pennsylvania on Ohio.        299

 

in the highest reverence. The father of Dr. Jeffers, of the West-

ern Theological Seminary, was one of the early itinerant school

teachers in Eastern Ohio. His eccentricity of pronunciation in-

variably stumped the pupil, for he would not know whether the

word given out to be spelled was "beet" or "bait," whether "floor"

or "fleur," but Jeffers would explain that "bait" was a "red root,"

and "fleur" was a "boord" to walk on; and through the influence

of the good man's erudition and hickory gad, the sons and daugh-

ters of the settlers waxed strong in knowledge. Dr. John Mc-

Millen founded several colleges in Ohio, one of them, Franklin,

in Harrison county, settled by Pennsylvania Scotch-Irish, which

is still a flourishing institution, and in its years of usefulness gave

to America many statesmen and jurists, among them men of

Pennsylvania Scotch-Irish blood, your Senator Cowan, John A.

Bingham, Judges Welch and Lawrence, while hundreds of Pres-

byterian ministers have been taught within its walls, among them

Dr. J. H. Sharp, of your city. Athens county, in which the State

University is located, the first college in the State, was settled

by our people, and Thomas Ewing and John Hunter were the

first graduates, being the first collegiate alumni in the West.

Thomas Ewing was one of the greatest statesmen Ohio ever pro-

duced - strong, sincere, intellectual to the highest degree. It

was in his family that the Shermans were reared. Of the Athens

University W. H. McGuffy, the noted author of school books

still widely in use in the public schools, was the president for

years. He was also a professor in the Miami University, another

Scotch-Irish college, and of the Virginia University. He was

born in Pennsylvania in 1800; a man whose sterling qualities of

mind and heart marked him as a teacher of power and influence.

Joseph Ray, the author of mathematical works, as an educator

displayed a scope of mind force that was an honor to his race.

Rev. George Buchanan, in whose academy the great War Sec-

retary, Edwin M. Stonton, received his classical education, was

born in the "Barrens," so prolific of men prominent in the affairs

of the Republic. Col. John Johnson, one of the founders of

Kenyon College, one of the most noted of the Protestant Epis-

copal institutions of learning in the land, was reared in Penn-

 

8 Vol. XII-3

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300       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

sylvania. He was the first president of the Ohio Historical and

Philosophical Society, and the author of the "Indian Tribes of

Ohio," a standard work published by the United States Govern-

ment. He possessed those intellectual qualities to which all pay

homage, and his influence had a wide scope of power. The

father of Professor Sloane, of Columbia, was a Pennsylvania

Scotch-Irishman who taught in a Scotch-Irish academy in Jeff-

erson county--Professor Sloane is the author of the ablest

"Life of Napoleon" ever written. Dr. C. C. Beatty, whose muni-

ficent gift made possible the union of Washington and Jefferson

Colleges, founded at Steubenville, Ohio, the first distinctive sem-

inary for the higher education of women west of the mountains,

which institution was conducted for many years by Dr. A. M.

Reid, a native of Beaver county, and to-day a trustee of the

Western Theological Seminary and of Washington and Jeffer-

son. Dr. Reid's trained mind and scope for usefulness have not

been without influence in Ohio; his influence has been much

wider. The noble women who have gone out from the sacred

precincts of the old seminary are in every missionary field, home

and foreign. This institution is still being conducted by a Penn-

sylvanian, Miss Stewart, whose Scotch-Irish blood gives assur-

ance that the power of the school will continue a factor of pro-

gress. Francis Glass, of Londonderry stock, came from Penn-

sylvania to Ohio in 1817, and taught one of the first classical

schools. His building was a primitive one, a log college to be

sure - clapboard roof, windows of oiled paper, benches of hewn

timber; but notwithstanding all this lack of conveniences, like

the Tennants of sacred memory, he sent out into the world boys

well equipped for contests in the intellectual arena. He had forty

pupils in the backwoods settlement, and whenever an additional

pupil "knocked at his door for admission to his classes, he would

be so rejoiced that his whole soul appeared to beam from his

countenance," writes a former pupil. Such was the intense in-

terest in the work, such the benevolence of the Scotch-Irish

schoolmaster of the pioneer days, to whom our fathers owe so

much and to whom we owe more. Glass published a two hun-

dred and twenty-three page "Life of Washington" in Latin, and

that such a work in Latin should have been written in the back-

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Influence of Pennsylvania on Ohio.         301

 

woods by a schoolmaster was for years a marvel to those who

did not know of the scholastic attainments of the Scotch-Irish

boys even of pioneer days. Rev. J. B. Finley, the Indian fighter

and itinerant Methodist preacher, was an educated man, although

we often hear stated in derision of the Methodist Church that

her early ministers were illiterate. He studied Greek and Latin

in his father's academies in North Carolina and Kentucky, estab-

lished on his trail from Pennsylvania to Ohio. When his father's

congregation settled Chillicothe, the first capital of the State, he

was a Presbyterian and a member of his father's church, but he

"became converted" and was for years the most noted itinerant

preacher of the country, and exerted more influence for good in

the Ohio region than any other man in the State. He preached

in every county and organized churches everywhere. He founded

the Indian schools and mission at Wyandott, the site of which

institution is marked by a memorial church erected by the Meth-

odist Episcopal Conference on ground given for the purpose by

the United States Government. His autobiography is a record of

pioneer times, and to its pages the historian must turn for data of

the achievement of the early settlers. John Stewart was the first

to preach the gospel-bearing tidings of peace and goodwill to the

Wyandotts. Allen Trimble, Acting Governor one term and Gov-

ernor two terms, while Acting Governor appointed the commis-

sion, a majority of whose members were of Pennsylvania stock,

including Judge William Johnson, that formulated the public

school system that is the brightest star in our diadem, which sys-

tem was afterwards perfected by Samuel Galloway, born at Get-

tysburg of Revolutionary stock, a teacher, jurist, statesman, upon

whose advice and opinion Lincoln set high value. The Trimbles

came to Ohio from Augusta county, Virginia, Allen having been

carried in his mother's arms while she rode horseback through the

trackless forest. There is a tradition in the family that the farm

occupied by them in the Virginia Valley was shown their ancestor

by an Indian in return for a favor shown him in the woods of

Pennsylvania. Gen. O. M. Mitchell, teacher, astronomer, sol-

dier, was of the Virginia-Kentucky stock which I have shown

had its origin in Pennsylvania. We could rest our honors on

his achievement and still be sure of an abiding place in the mem-

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302       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

ory of those who instruct the youth of the land. While Mitchell

explored the heavens, Jeremiah Reynolds explored the earth be-

neath, his expedition to the South Pole being one of the notable

events of the early days. John Cleves Symmes, nephew of the

founder of the first settlement of the Miami Valley, a New Jersey

Scotchman, promulgated the theory of concentric spheres, hold-

ing that the earth is hollow, inhabitable within and widely

open at the poles. Reynolds undertook the expedition with a

view of proving the Symmes theory. Adams' administration

fitted out a ship for the expedition, but Jackson coming in as

President, Government aid was withheld; but Reynolds, un-

daunted by this turn of affairs, started on a private expedition,

reaching within eight degrees of the pole. Mordecai Bartley, a

native of Fayette county, who succeeded his son as Governor of

Ohio, and who represented Ohio for three terms in Congress,

was the first man to propose the conversion of land grants into

a permanent school fund. The father of C. L. Vallandingham,

whose fight for freedom of speech is a part of the nation's his-

tory, was a Washington county Scotch-Irish Huguenot and a

Presbyterian preacher, to whose classical academy we are largely

indebted for the foundation of the scholarship of the justly cel-

ebrated McCook family also of Pennsylvania Scotch-Irish blood.

Inasmuch as the greatest measure of influence is exerted in a

community through efforts along educational lines, I have spoken

at length on this point of my subject. And there is much more

that might be recorded here to show the high place held by

Pennsylvania Scotch-Irish in the educational history of Ohio.

I might omit all I have said and be able to record other achieve-

ments along educational lines and still show that our blood stands

out in bolder relief than the Puritan as a factor of education

in Ohio; yet the Puritan is given the credit for the moral and

material progress of our people, and all because forty-eight Pur-

itans settled at Marietta and made so much fuss about it that

the advertising done then is still alive. But the town did not

grow in a hundred years after the settlement in 1788, and then

took a spurt as result of the discovery of oil by Pennsylvania

Scotch-Irish.

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Influence of Pennsylvania on Ohio.       303

 

The Pennsylvanian has served Ohio in both branches of

Congress, the first territorial delegate being William McMil-

len, and the first State Representative Jeremiah Morrow; the

first Governor was Arthur St. Clair, the first Judge Jeremiah

Dunlavy. The Pennsylvania Scotch-Irishman has been on the

Supreme Bench; he has gone from Ohio to the President's

Cabinet. It is said that in 1817 a majority of the Lower House

of the State Legislature were natives of Washington county, and

I believe it, for my investigations have disclosed the fact that

the Pennsylvanian is apt to hold office, especially if he gets

into Ohio from Washington county and he also be a Scotch-

Irishmen. As late as 1846 one-fourth of the members of the Slate

Legislature were from Pennsylvania. We all know that one

of the warmest gubernatorial contests in the state's history was

when Governor Vance and Governor Shannon were pitted against

each other in 1836, one a native of Washington county and

the other's father from that county. Vance's father was the

first settler of Champaign county and Shannon's father one of

the first settlers of Belmont, the son being the first native of

Ohio to hold the office of Governor. Vance and Shannon held

the office two terms each. I think I am safe in making the

claim that one or more Pennsylvania Scotch-Irishmen are now

holding office in each courthouse in Ohio. The two greatest law-

yers of the pioneer west were Judge Jacob Burnett and Judge

John McLean, who were born just over the river here, and

near enough to be counted in the family. Their influence had

a wide scope and it still goes on. The wife of McLean was

a daughter of Charlotte Chambers, one of the foremost women

of the Cumberland Valley. President Harrison was born in

Ohio, but his mother was a Pennsylvania Scotch-Irish woman.

Vice President Hendricks, although credited to Indiana, was a

native of Ohio, but his people were of Westmoreland Scotch-

Irish stock, and he was a cousin of my father. President Mc-

Kinley was of Pennsylvania Scotch-Irish blood; so is Senator

Hanna, his Warwick.

Governor Jeremiah Morrow was a native of Gettysburg,

and without doubt impressed himself on the progress of Ohio

more than any other man holding office in the gift of the people.

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304       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

He was a characteristic Scotch-Irishman, mentally, physically

and religiously. He was the father of the national pike and

other internal improvements that gave Ohio her first impetus in

industrial progress. He was Congressman, Senator, Governor,

and of him Henry Clay said, "His influence was greater than

that of any of his contemporaries, for his integrity was so fully

recognized and appreciated that every one had faith in any

measure he brought before Congress." A prominent Pennsyl-

vanian, a few years ago, in referring to a newspaper article I

had written on Governor Morrow, said that he was the finest

example of the statesman of the old school with whom he had

ever come in contact, noble, honest and brave. I have been

greatly gratified to meet in this assemblage to-night a relative of

Governor Morrow, Mr. T. Elliott Patterson, of your city, and I

want to say that he may well be proud of the blood that courses

his veins. Morrow's successor in the Senate in 1819 was Wil-

liam A. Trimble, of the same royal Pennsylvania blood.

It is a fact shown by the census that there are to-day more

natives of Pennsylvania in three-fourths of the Ohio counties

than natives of any other state, Ohio excepted, and in this list

I include counties on the western border as well as Washing-

ton county, the first county settled by the New England Puri-

tans; I include the Western Reserve, first settled by the Yankees

of Connecticut, which settlement was made thirty-three years

before a church was built, though a whisky distillery was in

operation all those years. This can never be said of the Scotch-

Irish settlers, no matter whence they came. Our forefathers

had their weakness for distilleries, too, but they always had

the church in operation before the distillery was built; yet

there are those who place great store in Mayflower blood and

sneer at us because our forefathers had a little trouble with

the revenue collector over in Washington county away back in

the last century. I admit that on occasions even to this day there

are Pennsylvania Scotch-Irish in Ohio who will take a drink of

mountain dew, but never without an excuse. One of them

said to me the other day that he had "the iron in his soul,"

and he took a little liquor to mix with it for a tonic.

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Influence of Pennsylvania on Ohio.        305

 

The claims made for the Puritan settlement at Marietta give

us an example of Puritan audacity; the New England settle-

ments on the Western Reserve give us examples of Yankee

ingenuity. In Connecticut he made nutmegs of wood; in Ohio

he makes maple molasses of glucose and hickory bark. In New

England the Puritan bored the Quaker tongue with red-hot

poker; in Ohio he dearly loves to roast Democrats. The Re-

serve was the home of crankisms. Joseph Smith started the

Mormon Church in Lake county. And there were others, some

of whom the Northern Ohio emigrant took with him to Kansas.

In the graveyard on the hill above Chillicothe lie the re-

mains of four Governors, two of them Pennsylvania Scotch-

Irishmen-one the noble William Allen, a strong man from every

point of view, whose every distinguishing trait was Scotch-Irish,

a very Jackson; but because his people went from Pennsylvania

into North Carolina they were said to be Quakers, which calls

to mind the fact that when I was a boy all Pennsylvanians were

either Quaker or Dutch. In several of the county histories I

also find the statement that the early settlers were "Quakers and

Germans from Pennsylvania," but in the list of settlers given

the "Macs" predominate. Achilles Pugh, the first publisher of

an abolition paper in Ohio, came from Pennsylvania and was

called a Quaker, but who ever heard of a Quaker giving that

name to his son? The other Scotch-Irish Governor buried in

the Chillicothe cemetery was Duncan McArthur, who, although

not a native of our State, was reared to manhood in the old Com-

monwealth, and became one of the most notable figures in Ohio

-soldier, surveyor, Indian fighter, statesman, Governor. Wil-

liam Allen's sister was the mother of Allen G. Thurman, the

noblest Roman of them all, and Allen's wife was a daughter

of McArthur.

In literature and journalism the Pennsylvania Scotch-Irish

have always held a prominent place in Ohio. Dr. McCook has

already told of the fact that Foster, the greatest American song

writer, lived in Ohio, and no one of his nobility of character and

intellectual attainments could go in and out among a people with-

out exerting influence. General Lytle, the author of

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306       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

"I am dying, Egypt, dying;

Crimson flows the ebbing tide,"

one of the most beautiful poems in the English language, was

the grandson of Gen. Lytle, born at Cumberland, Pa., whose

Spartan-like conduct at Grant's defeat in Indiana in the War

of 1812 is a part of history. James Buchanan Reed, the author

of "Sheridan's Ride," which has become an American classic,

was a Pennsylvania Scotch-Irishman. James McBride, the his-

torian and archaeologist, supplying much of the manuscript and

drawings for the "Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Val-

ley," a very important work, was born at Newcastle.  He was

a careful historian, and to him we are greatly indebted for much

of the early history preserved in book form. In journalism

our blood has been pre-eminent in the Ohio field, the first paper

in the state having been launched by William Maxwell in 1793.

Colonel Miller, who is noted as the commander of the sortie

from Fort Meigs during the war of 1812, one of the most dar-

ing acts of that war, when he rushed out under fire and spiked

the British cannon with files and won the battle, was a jour-

nalist, having started a paper in Steubenville in 1806. Colonel

Miller came into Ohio by the way of the Virginia Valley. His

successor, James Wilson, the grandfather of President Woodrow

Wilson of Princeton, was a pupil of Duane, of The Aurora.

Samuel Medary, one of the most prominent Ohio editors, es-

pecially during the exciting war period, his journal, the Co-

lumbus Crisis, being a very strong advocate of peace, married

a daughter of James Wilson. M. Halstead's ancestors came to

Ohio from Pennsylvania, and our blood has every reason to be

proud of his achievements as an editor. The McLeans, who

for two generations have held the throttle of that great engine,

the Cincinnati Enquirer; S. G. McClure, of the Columbus Jour-

nal; and Morrow, late of the Cleveland Leader, all among the

foremost journals in America, are of the same stock.

The first woolen mills west of the mountains were estab-

lished just after the second war for Independence at Steubenville,

by your Senator James Ross, and it was in these mills that the

first broadcloth ever made in America was produced. James

Ross and his partner, Mr. Dickinson, whom I believe to have

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Influence of Pennsylvania on Ohio.         307

 

been of the same royal stock, introduced into America the Span-

ish sheep that were the foundation of the great wool-growing

industry of Eastern Ohio and Western Pennsylvania. John

Campbell invented the hot blast employed in iron furnaces, and

James Means erected the first iron furnace north of the Ohio.

The first furnace west of the mountains was erected by a Grant

near the Virginia-Pennsylvania-Ohio line, and the cannon balls

used by Perry in the battle of Lake Erie were made in this fur-

nace and carried on the backs of horses to the lake shore. And,

by the way, Perry's mother was Scotch-Irish and, for years after

fought, the battle of Lake Erie was called Mrs. Perry's victory

by the people of Rhode Island who appreciated her force of

character. It may not be amiss to say in this connection that some

of the men who gave the New Englanders basis for their claims

as to Ohio got their forceful characteristics from the Scotch-

Irish blood of their mothers, notably bluff Ben Wade - born in

Massachusetts, was educated by his mother, his father being with-

out means, and coming to Ohio, settled in the Western Reserve,

and ever since has been in the galaxy of Puritan greatness. Chief

Justice Chase was born in Vermont, his mother being Scotch, but

his achievements have been placed to the glorification of the Puri-

tan blood. Joshua Reid Giddings, who gave the Reserve its

greatest renown as the producer of great men, was a native of

Pennsylvania, his birthplace being Athens. I do not claim him

as a Scotch-Irishman, but he had all the distinguishing traits,

and his name will ever shine as one of the brightest stars in the

Buckeye diadem. If Pennsylvania had given birth to but one

man, and that man Joshua Reid Giddings, her place in the pan-

theon where we celebrate immortals would be assured. James

Geddes and Samuel Forrer, the pioneer engineers, who did much

to develop Ohio and give her her proper place in the progress of

nations, were natives of the Keystone state. The father of J. Q.

A. Ward, America's most noted sculptor, was a pioneer, coming

from the great commonwealth.

The most notable events that mark epochs in the history of

Ohio are monuments of Pennsylvania Scotch-Irishmen:    The

first settlement at the mouth of the Scioto; Wayne's treaty with

the Indians; adoption of the Constitution; the building of the first

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steamboat on the Ohio river by Fulton; the building of the

National pike and the canals; the formation of a public school

system; and, coming down to the present, the nomination and

election of a President by Mark Hanna. McKinley was a Scotch-

Irishman with the sign of the Keystone blown on his front; and

Mark Hanna - I made an effort to discover that he was a de-

scendant of Judge Hanna of Hanna's town, but was discouraged

by running against the fact that the old gentleman never had

a son. Pennsylvania may not be the mother of presidents, but

she holds a higher position in the sisterhood - she is the grand-

mother of the Ohio man. General Grant was born in Ohio, but

his mother was a Bucks county Simpson. And however strange

it may appear to us, Jefferson Davis was one of the same family

of Simpsons! The generals Ohio gave to command Federal

troops in the war of the Rebellion were largely of the royal fam-

ily. I have mentioned Grant, the greatest captain of the age; and

there is General Porter, his companion and commander of the

Ohio division; he was a native of the Juniata Valley, and has

been selected by the President to represent our country as ambas-

sador to France. There were the McDowells, the Gilmours, the

brilliant Steedman, the hero of Chicamauga -he was born in

Northumberland county; George W. Morgan, the hero of two

wars, was a Washington county product; and as further evidence

that blood will tell, I need only mention the fact that Major Daniel

and Dr. John McCook, the fathers of nine commissioned officers

in the army, were born in Washington county. And how appro-

priate it all was that Gen. George B. McClelland should be placed

in command of the Ohio troops! General Harmar, who procured

Grant's admission to West Point, was a Pennsylvanian, but I am

not certain as to his race. And John Randolph said that Penn-

sylvania produced but two great men, one from Massachusetts,

the other from Switzerland!

But I should not close without giving credit to the Palatinate

German for the introduction of the long rifle, which made possible

the settlement of Ohio by the Scotch-Irish of Pennsylvania.

The long rifle was brought to the interior of your state by

German immigrants; it was a true weapon, and with it the Indian

fighters became marksmen. When a pioneer went out with a

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Influence of Pennsylvania on Ohio.        309

 

long rifle and a dozen charges he returned with that number of

game or the unused bullets. It was with this weapon that the

sharpshooters of the Revolutionary war were armed, and these

sharpshooters were largely Pennsylvania Scotch-Irish pioneers;

although without the German rifle they would have been ineffec-

tive. The rifle was not in use at tide-water; it was unknown in

New England. Had the brave men at Bunker Hill possessed these

weapons instead of muskets, it would not have been necessary

for them to await the sight of the whites of the British eyes.

Had it not been for the long rifle, Ohio never could have been

settled.

The authorities consulted are-

The Scotch-Irish in Augusta; Col. Boliver Christian's Notes;

Caldwell's History of Belmont and Jefferson Counties; Path-

finders of Jefferson County (Hunter's); J. B. Finley's Autobiog-

raphy; Dr. Morgan's Biography of Col. John McDonald; Dr.

Perry, Williams College; Dr. Alexander White's Presidents of

Washington and Lee; Howe's Historical Collections; Rev.

Thomas Robbins' Dairy; Hildreth's Pioneer History; Scotch-

Irish in America.

• 286
 

GREATNESS OF OHIO.

[Address delivered at the Centennial Celebration of the Admission of

Ohio into the Federal Union, held under the Auspices of the Ohio

Republican Association of Washington City, May 23, 1903.]

 

BY HON. D. K. WATSON, PRESIDENT OF THE ASSOCIATION.

One hundred years ago a portion of what was known as the

Northwest Territory was admitted as a State into the Federal

Union. By an act of Congress the people of the future state were

to give it a name. Subsequently the name Ohio was selected.

It was the fourth state admitted into the Union since the

establishment of the Federal Government on the 4th of March,

1789.

During the present week the people of Ohio have duly

celebrated this event, and it is eminently proper for this Associa-

tion, in this formal way and in the capital of the nation, to recog-

nize the centennial of the admission of its state into the Federal

Union. It is the only time in a hundredyears such a celebration

would have been appropriate, and it will be another hundred years

before it will be appropriate again.

In area the state is not large, being less than the average area

of the states which constitute the Union and embracing about

twenty-six million acres of land or forty-four thousand square

miles of territory, which is subdivided into eighty-eight counties.

Geographically, the location was exceedingly favorable for

future development. The great Northwest Territory a hundred

years ago was attracting the attention of the nation and the

world. Ohio, bounded on the south by the Ohio river and on the

north by Lake Erie, constituted the gateway through which the

mighty tide of population passed on its western march, and in

addition to those who moved there for the purpose of establishing

homes, many who had determined to locate farther west were in-

duced by the fertility of her soil, her favorable location, and her

bright prospects, to settle and remain within her boundary. From

the day when she was admitted as a state she has been a most

conspicuous part of the Federal Union.

(310)

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Greatness of Ohio.                      311

 

Her first capital was Chillicothe; her first United States

Senators, Thomas Worthington and John Smith; her first repre-

sentative in Congress, Jeremiah Morrow.

Her first constitution was adopted in 1802, which she was

required to adopt before she could be admitted into the Union.

Her present constitution was adopted in 1851.

So marvelous had been the progress of the state to the year

1825, that General Lafayette who visited it in that year, said it was

"the eighth wonder of the world."

It was not within the wisdom of man at the time Ohio was ad-

mitted into the Union to foresee how wonderful was to be her

progress and how marvelous was to be her social, religious, edu-

cational, political and military influence upon the Republic. Plant-

ing herself upon the principles of religious liberty and political

freedom, as enunciated in the ordinance for the government

of the Northwest Territory, the Bill of Rights in the first consti-

tution provided:

1st. All men are born equally free and independent, and have certain

natural, inherent and unalienable rights; amongst which the enjoying and

defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing and protecting property,

and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety.

2d. There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in this

State, otherwise than for the punishment of crimes, whereof the party

shall have been duly convicted.

3d. All men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Al-

mighty God, according to the dictates of conscience; that no human au-

thority can, in any case whatever, control or interfere with the rights of

conscience; that no man shall be compelled to attend, erect or support any

place of worship, or to maintain any ministry, against his consent; and

that no preference shall ever be given, by law, to any religious society

or mode of worship, and no religious test shall be required, as a qualifi-

cation, to any office of trust or profit. But religion, morality and knowl-

edge, being essentially necessary to good government and the happiness of

mankind, schools and the means of instruction shall forever be encour-

aged by legislative provision, not inconsistent with the rights of con-

science.

Concerning the freedom of the press, the constitution con-

tained the following:

The printing presses shall be open and free to every citizen who

wishes to examine the proceedings of any branch of government, or the

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312         Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

conduct of any public officer; and no law shall ever restrain the right

thereof. Every citizen has an indisputable right to speak, write or print,

upon any subject, as he thinks proper, being liable for the abuse of that

liberty. In prosecutions for any publication respecting the official con-

duct of men in a public capacity, or where the matter published is proper

for public information, the truth thereof may always be given in evidence.

On the subject of education, it provided:

That no law shall be passed to prevent the poor in the several coun-

ties and townships within this State from an equal participation in the

schools, academies, colleges and universities, which are endowed, in whole

or in part, from the revenue arising from donations made by the United

States, for the support of schools and colleges; and the doors of the said

schools, academies and universities, shall be open for the reception of

scholars, students and teachers, of every grade, without any distinction or

preference whatever, contrary to the intent for which said donations were

made.

The result of her wise and liberal course in reference to

education may be seen when we recognize that there are to-day

in Ohio more colleges than in any state in the Union, and that

of her population which numbers more than four millions of

people, more than ninety per cent can read and write.

Some conception of her commercial progress may be had

when we realize that there are almost twelve thousand miles of

railroad within her borders, that each of her eighty-eight counties

is traversed by railroads; and that her five largest cities con-

sidered in their numerical order are larger than any five cities in

their numerical order in any state in the country.

Conspicuous as Ohio has been in every attribute which con-

tributes to the dignity and worth of statehood, her preeminence

is more marked by reason of the world-wide fame and influence

attained by so many of her distinguished citizens than from any

other cause. I have always thought that the union of the thirteen

original states into one republic was the world's greatest achieve-

ment in the domain of civil or political government, and that it

was a great thing for a single state to be a member of the Federal

Union. It brings it strength and solidity, and safety in time of

war; but while it is a great thing for a state to be an integral

part of the Union, it is a far greater thing to be a presidential

state of the Union, -a state to which the other states look for

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Greatness of Ohio.                 313

presidents, to have one of her citizens, or one who had been born

within her borders, and had become a citizen elsewhere, selected

as the representative citizen of the nation. Such is the highest

honor a state can achieve. Such a state is Ohio. Counted by this

test, she has furnished six presidents of the Republic, or more

than one-fourth the whole number of presidents who were elected.

By the same test, she has also furnished one-tenth of the present

United States Senators, one-twelfth of the members of the present

House of Representatives, one-fourth of the Chief Justices of the

Supreme Court of the United States, five Associate Justices of

that court, sixteen cabinet officers, one chief justice and two asso-

ciate justices of the Court of Claims, and two chief justices and

one associate justice of the Supreme Court of the District of Co-

lumbia, and one Speaker of the House of Representatives. A

little more than fifty years ago five native boys were living in

Ohio each of whom became president of the United States.

In addition to this array of genius our state has sent forth sons

who have become eminent as leaders in other states; for forty

years the State of Indiana has been represented and is still being

represented in the United States Senate by men born in Ohio,

and almost every state in the mighty West is represented in official

life by men native of our own state.

But our State has made other conquests in the domain of

civil affairs. The history of her judiciary is the history of a long

line of eminent judges, many of whom acquired national fame

as jurists, while her representatives in Congress have been prom-

inent as orators, financiers and statesmen. Thomas Corwin was

probably unsurpassed as a popular orator by any American, while

as great debaters in the National House of Representatives,

Schenck, Shellabarger, Bingham, Garfield, McKinley, and others

I might name, were hardly equaled, and Simpson, a native of the

state, was the most eloquent bishop of the republic, and Gun-

saulus, another native, is the ablest pulpit orator of the country.

Yet more distinguished have been her sons in the camp,

on the march, and in the field of battle. In the War of 1812,

though she was young and weak in numbers, she furnished her

just proportion of troops, who fought valiently for their flag

and country. In the war with Mexico her soldiers were brave

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314       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

and gallant and the brilliant Hamer, whose eloquence as an orator

had won him national fame and who as a member of Congress

had appointed Grant to West Point, met his death in the storming

of Monterey. But it was in the great civil war between the states

in which she received her greatest renown because of the radiant

glory which her sons won in that immortal struggle. The greatest

generals of that war were from Ohio. The three who, by the

common consent of the world, displayed the greatest military

genius and led the armies to the greatest success in that awful

struggle, and whose names fill the universe with glory, were her

sons. In addition to this, she furnished nineteen major-generals

and fifty three brigadier-generals.

Proud as we are of this wonderful record of the sons of

our noble state in the conflict for the preservation of the Union,

we are equally proud of the fact that her contribution to the

rank and file of the army was three hundred and forty thousand

men. Of this number it has been said six thousand five hun-

dred and thirty-six were killed outright in battle; four thousand

six hundred and seventy-four were mortally wounded and died

in hospitals; thirteen thousand three hundred and fifty-four

died of disease contracted in the service; and that eighty-four

out of every thousand enlisted men from Ohio lost their lives

in the war for the Union. With the exception of those who

were taken prisoners at Saratoga and Yorktown, the entire loss

in battle of every kind, in both the British and American armies

during the war of the Revolution was twenty-one thousand five

hundred and twenty-six, being four thousand less than Ohio's

loss in the War of the Rebellion.

No wonder it has been said that President Lincoln was

accustomed to ask, just before a great battle was to be fought,

"How many Ohio soldiers would take part;" and on one occa-

sion when some one inquired why he always asked that ques-

tion, replied, "Because I know that if there are many Ohio-

soldiers to be engaged, it is probable we will win the battle,

for they can always be relied upon in such an emergency."

Flattering as this record is, it hardly surpasses the con-

tribution which Ohio made to the civil side of that great con-

test. So conspicuous were her sons in the administration of the

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Greatness of Ohio.                315

civil affairs of the Government during that crisis that a dis-

tinguished citizen of Ohio, who was an eminent member of

Congress, and a general in the Civil War, has said that "eight

Ohio men in civil life did as much or more probably to ensure

the success of the Union cause than any eight of the generals

whom the state sent to the field. Those were Edwin M. Stan-

ton, Salmon P. Chase, John Sherman, Benjamin F. Wade, Wil-

liam Dennison, David Tod, John Brough and Jay Cooke."

A single reference will illustrate the prominence of Ohio

men in the political affairs of the country. In the attempt to

impeach President Johnson, the Chief Justice who presided at

the trial was from Ohio. If the President had been convicted,

Senator Wade of Ohio would have succeeded to the Presidency.

The manager of the impeachment proceedings was the eloquent

John A. Bingham, of Ohio, one of the foremost members of

the House of Representatives. Among the eminent counsel for

the President were Henry Stanbery and William S. Groesbeck,

each from Ohio, and each among the most eminent lawyers of the

nation.

At the very beginning of the great Civil War, Governor

Dennison telegraphed this patriotic message to President Lin-

coln, which deserves to be engraved on the front door of our

State capitol: "Ohio must lead throughout this war." How

prophetic were those words, for Ohio did lead throughout the

war and she has led the nation ever since. Her ascendency

has universally been recognized, and her future promises to

be as glorious as her past.

The marvelous success of our State is not due to the wheel

of chance. Chance is fickle, but our State has maintained her

supremacy for a hundred years, not only in the distinction which

her sons have achieved in every avenue of life, but by the great

body of her people. Her sons have been honest, laborious,

frugal, and constant to the best instincts and purposes of life.

Her daughters have been noble, Christian, virtuous and beautiful

in every attribute of womanhood, while almost every home was

consecrated to education, patriotism and the refining influences

of Christianity. The people of Ohio believed in the schoolhouse

and the church. They educated in the one and worshipped in

9 Vol. XII-3

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316        Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

the other. It would, perhaps, be impossible to assign any special

cause for the remarkable success of our State as represented by

her sons in public estimation, but I have always felt that it

was largely the result of the different characteristics of the

early settlers of the State. There poured into northeastern Ohio

the shrewd, far-seeing, calculating, intellectual New Englander;

while into the southern portion of the State there went the

warm-blooded, impulsive, passionate, generous, brave, and elo-

quent Virginian. The representatives of these civilizations be-

came distinguished men. In the order of time their children

intermarried and produced the best combination of brain and

blood and heart the nation has seen, and to this cause I largely

attribute the ascendency of our State.

Daniel Webster once said, in speaking of Massachusetts:

"I have no encomium to pronounce upon Massachusetts. She

needs none. There she stands." I have an encomium to pro-

nounce upon Ohio, not because she needs it, but because she de-

serves it: There she stands, the foremost state in the American

Union.

• 293
 

ARE THE HOPEWELL COPPER OBJECTS PREHIS-

TORIC?*

 

BY WARREN K. MOOREHEAD.

At the Washington meeting of the American Anthropologi-

cal Association, held conjointly with Section H of the American

Association for the Advancement of Science, I read a brief paper

on the Hopewell copper objects, and it is now my wish to present

a more extended communication on the subjest.

Mr. Clarence B. Moore, whose valuable work in southeastern

United States is so favorably known to all who are interested in

American archaeology, has recently called my attention to two

sentences in my review of Mr. Fowke's Archaeological History

of Ohio, published in the American Anthropologist (volume IV,

No. 3), which might be regarded by some as evidence that Euro-

pean objects were found in the Hopewell mounds of Ohio. If

any one so construes these sentences, he gives to them an interpre-

tation exactly the opposite of that which I wish to convey.

When the land on which the Hopewell group of mounds is

situated was cleared, about the year 1800, it was covered with a

heavy forest growth of oak, walnut, etc., but on the upper one of

the two terraces of the enclosure the growth was largely of oak.

Evidence based on the age of timber is very unsatisfactory, and

one cannot say with certainty whether the largest trees growing

from the mounds were two hundred or four hundred years of

age. The fields have been cultivated for many years, and the

height of each tumulus has been reduced and the diameter greatly

extended. Our best evidence as to the antiquity of the mounds,

therefore, is obtained from the excavations. These evidences

are:

First. Five or six of the mounds contain peculiarly shaped

altars of burnt clay. These are confined to Southern Ohio and

are not mentioned by the earliest travelers who witnessed the

* The above article appeared in American Anthropologist (n. s.), Vol.

5, January, March, 1903.- E. O. R.

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318       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

Southern Indians building mounds. The altars here referred to

are those of the type described by Squier and Davis and in my

own writings, and not those formed of blocks of wood, squares

of stone, and similar structures.

Second. The presence of chalcedony from Flint Ridge. So

far as can be ascertained the Flint Ridge material was not used

in historic times.

Third. Substances not native to Ohio. In reviewing Mr.

Fowke's book I used the term "foreign" in allusion to objects

found outside of Ohio; if I had been writing on the United States

in general, I should not have employed the word, for in matters

of such importance as the antiquity of the Hopewell group, one

cannot be too careful in the use of explanatory terms. In no other

mounds have so many different substances been found. Without

going into detail I may mention as having been unearthed dur-

ing the Hopewell excavations, copper, mica, obsidian, galena, a

fossil, sea-shells, sharks' teeth, and Tennessee flint. Cannel coal,

Flint Ridge material, and graphite slate were also found, but

these cannot be considered to have come from a distance exceed-

ing eighty or a hundred miles. Excepting the copper, these

materials in themselves, whether obtained by barter or by travel,

might not be evidences of antiquity, but the copper alone is suffi-

cient to prove the pre-Columbian origin of the Hopewell group.

The careful analysis made by Mr. Moore and published some

years ago in his "As to Copper from the Mounds of the St. John's

River, Florida," showed that copper not only from other mounds

but that from the Hopewell group contained a higher percentage

of pure copper than the European commercial copper of two

centuries or more ago. This cannot be gainsaid. The presence

of half-hammered nuggets in the Hopewell effigy mound was,

to my mind, conclusive evidence. These nuggets do not present

the smooth surface of copper beaten with an iron hammer, nor

are the forms regular. They have undoubtedly been rudely

shaped with stone hammers, showing a process but begun. In

June last I visited Wisconsin and was astonished at the amount

of drift-copper occurring on the surface between Two Rivers and

Princeton, a distance of about one hundred miles. I obtained a

hundred and thirty-eight pounds of specimens of varying sizes,

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Are the Hopewell Copper Objects Prehistoric?    319

 

some of which have been partly worked by man. The hammered

pieces were larger than those found in the Hopewell group.

None of them was cut from European commercial bars; all are

from the drift or were mined in the Superior-Michigan region.

Can the advocate of the modern origin of all our mound-

groups, in which the highest culture is in evidence, claim that

French, Spanish, English, Dutch, or American traders obtained

metal carrying a higher percentage of copper than the European

copper of the times in which they lived, worked some of it into

such strange symbols as the swastika and many cosmic figures

and combinnations, or into thin sheets; made immense copper

axes (one of which weighed nearly thirty-eight pounds), and

long bar-shaped objects of solid copper weighing from ten to

thirty pounds, such as have been found in Wisconsin; and after

doing this skillful work have hammered with stones some ill-

shaped nuggets and traded these masses of varying forms, rep-

resenting many stages of workmanship, to the natives to be placed

by them in the mounds? Is there any field evidence of such a

contention?  Can we logically conceive of an illiterate trader

(for not one in a dozen of the early traders could either read

or write) knowing aught concerning the swastika or the cosmic

symbols? It is well known that traders did carry brass, beads,

kettles, and the like into the Indian country; but imagine a trader

visiting the Hopewell group with sixty-eight copper axes in his

possession ranging from four ounces to thirty-eight pounds in

weight! And there is no European or American axe of white

man's make of the peculiar form of the Hopewell specimens.

The designs in sheet-copper are so intricate that up to the

present no one has been able to correctly interpret them. Pro-

fessor Putnam and Mr. Willoughby have published a paper on

these strange designs which, up to the present time, is the only

attempt at explanation that has been made.* To assert that any

of the objects found during the Hopewell explorations are of

Euorpean origin, or that the art products of these mounds were

inspired by a knowledge of the white man's methods, is to assume

* "Symbolism in Ancient American Art," Proceedings of the A. A.

A. S., 1896.

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320        Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

a position, it appears to me, directly contrary to that which the

facts warrant.

There is another strange argument in favor of the pre-Co-

lumbian origin of the copper objects from the Ohio mounds.

La Salle's chroniclers are silent in regard to the Lower Scioto

region, and it is not probable that any explorer or trader visited

the Ohio valley prior to La Salle's time. If the villages of this

section had been occupied by the Indians in 1669, when La Salle

conversed with the Shawnee prisoner, he surely would have

mentioned them.

Let us consider the field evidence again. An inspection of

the village sites on the Scioto and its tributaries, where the

Shawnees lived for so long, reveals very little village refuse.

Save at Frankfort (in Ross county, six miles from Hopewell),

there are no mounds or other works near the village sites. Now,

curiously enough, the Frankfort site (Chillicothe-on-Paint*) was

to the east, and extended over the edge of a fortification of pre-

Columbian character. There were four mounds in or near the

enclosure, and it is well known that the Shawnees did not use

them, and in these mounds we found the usual Lower Scioto

copper objects, etc., when we opened them in 1888 and 1889.

The Shawnees buried their dead in trenches and graves in

the eastern part of the town, and as these graves have frequently

been opened, an excellent opportunity has been afforded of con-

trasting the modern with the pre-Columbian mortuary accom-

paniment. In these trenches and graves glass beads, brass kettles,

and iron knives have been found with the human remains; in the

mounds there were two small altars, pyrula shells, pipes, etc.;

but in the graves no pyrula shells, no monitor pipes, no copper,

no slate ornaments were found.

On the known historic sites in Southern Ohio so little is

found that, were it not for our records of Logan, or Tecumseh,

or Cornstalk, we would be inclined to conclude that roving hunt-

ers incapable of producing men of ability lived there. The great

Illinois sites mentioned by La Salle are covered with the usual

village debris of bone, shell, stone, and clay, but not in such

* Chillicothe means "Place of residence," There were several towns

bearing the name- Old, Upper, Lower, etc.

• 297
 

Are the Hopewell Copper Objects Prehistoric?    321

 

quantity as at Madisonville, at Two Rivers (Wisconsin), or at

Highbys and other points on the Scioto. These Scioto sites not

only display evidence of long occupancy by a few people or of

a large population for a limited period, but they are surrounded

by or are in combination with great enclosures or mound-groups.

In them the art is not confined to the scanty scrapers, rude ham-

mers, and knives or axes of the Shawnee and Illinois sites. On

the contrary, the art is the best found east of the Pueblo country.

If these tribes were living when Sir John Hawkins' men passed

through the middle of the continent, about the year 1570, on

their way from Nicaragua to Cape Breton, supposing that the

sailors traversed the Ohio valley, they would have left us a

glimpse of these Scioto sites. But the book on their wanderings

is, of course, silent on the subject. It mentions the Iroquois, but

that is about the only tribe we can recognize with certainty.

Dr. Cyrus Thomas has said that the Shawnees came to Ohio

in times of antiquity. I do not believe he has determined the date

of this move -if he has, I court correction. That their village

was alongside one of the earth enclosures, yet totally distinct

from it; that the art products of the two are quite dissimilar -

one being crude, the other more advanced, -are further evi-

dences, to my mind, of the pre-Columbian origin of the mound-

groups and their contents in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana.

• 298
 

KENTON'S "CHILLICOTHE."

 

BY T. J. BROWN, WAYNESVILLE, OHIO.

Having been born, and lived most of my life in Greene

county, and within easy driving distance of "Old Town," the

site of what I learned to designate as "New Chillicothe," and hav-

ing known, when a boy about 1840, an old Indian fighter who was

a participant in the ill-conducted Bowman expedition intended to

capture and destroy that village, I read up, very early in life, all

the adventures I could find, connected therewith.

As to the advance upon Chillicothe by Bowman's expedition

I think it can be safely said, and it is a matter of common tradi-

tion, that it crossed the Little Miami, from the west to the east a

couple of miles south of Waynesville, a quarter of a mile south of

the mouth of Caesar's Creek. Then after reaching a point about

three miles north, or rather, up the river from Waynesville, for

although the general trend.of the river is towards the south, it

has many large curves, it bore well to the east to escape a large

tract of marshy prairie opposite Mount Holly, which reached

from the river, nearly to the hills, and has not even yet been all

drained, then turned westward in the direction of our Chillicothe.

It is not my purpose to give an account of the attempted

surprise and its failure-it is well known that the retreat was

precipitant, the Indians' following and harrassing the Kentuckians

for many miles, but Mr. Snodgrass, to whom I have alluded,

said, the line of retreat was on the west side of the river, prob-

ably crossing the Miami at Indian Ripple, a couple of miles up

the river from Bellbrook, on the Upper Bellbrook and Xenia

road. The Kentuckians passed between Bellbrook and the river

and Mr. Snodgrass said they were attacked very fiercely at a point

on the farm on which I was born-long owned by my father.

The route designated, was a more direct one to come in touch

with the military trail south of Waynesville, than was the line of

advance, for be it known, Bowman was in a hurry to get south of

the Ohio.

(322)

• 299
 

Kenyon's "Chillicothe."              323

 

Now as to the identity of the Chillicothe which was the

scene of Kenton's running of the gauntlet, I am acquainted with

a little incident which bears upon that point. I was acquainted

for many of the later years of his life, with John Carman, who

was brought by his parents at 2 years of age, to the extreme

southwest corner of Greene county, about the year 1802. He

told me a few years before his death, now probably ten years

ago, that when he married he moved upon a tract of land some

miles east of Wilmington and about the year 1830, perhaps a lit-

tle earlier or later, he saw a man passing his premises who

was making very, leisurely progress but was closely scanning the

lay of the land and the appearance of the woods, and there was

plenty of woodland then. He measured his surroundings in the

keenest manner, so much so as to excite Mr. Carman's curiosity,

so he accosted him and inquired his object in scrutinizing the land

in such a manner, to which the stranger replied, he was Simon

Kenton, and that he was following up the line of his retreat when

he and his two companions escaped from the Indians. Kenton's

first gauntlet was run at Chillicothe, evidently on the Little Miami.

The next stage of his captivity brought him to Old Piqua, or

Pickaway, he was then taken farther and farther north, running

the gauntlet a number of times, and escaped at last, at Detroit,

and it seems, tried to keep as far away as possible from the

Miami villages, and still maintain as direct a route as safety would

allow.

• 300
 

FOWKE'S BOOK AGAIN.

[The following review of Mr. Fowke's volume appears in the Nation

of December 25, 1902. As it is the policy of the Nation to expose defects

wherever they exist and to speak well only of that which deserves high

praise, its general approval of Mr. Fowke's work is something upon which

he is to be congratulated.- E. 0. R.]

"Archaeological History of Ohio: The Mound Builders and

Later Indians. By Gerard Fowke. Published by the Ohio State

Archaeological and Historical Society. Columbus, 1902.

In Ohio are found the most remarkable of the works at-

tributed to those ancient Americans called the Mound Builders,

and here, too, is the field of much that is important and interest-

ing in our later aboriginal history. Probably more nonsense has

been written about the Mound Builders than any other people

that ever existed, the "Ten Lost Tribes of Israel" not excepted.

Fables of "a lost civilization" "geometrical instruments," "a com-

pact civil organization," "myriads of people," "magnificent cities,"

"an extensive empire," have been rolled from writer to writer,

increasing like a snowball as they progressed, until there are

many intelligent persons who believe that there dwelt in the

Ohio Valley an intellectual and civilized race vastly superior to

and totally different from our Red Indians. Hence it is gratify-

ing in the highest degree to have presented in the graphic and

attractive manner of the present work the facts as they exist,

and the conclusion to which they inevitably lead: "Nothing yet

discovered proves for any of the Mound Builders a higher intel-

lectual capacity than is or was, possessed by more than one well-

known tribe of American Indians.

To the demonstration of this thesis Mr. Fowke gives two-

thirds of his book analyzing, ridiculing and demolishing the

reckless statements of many a romancing predecessor, and estab-

lishing beyond cavil such points as these: To erect the works

required neither great skill, large numbers, nor long time. The

artifacts found in the mounds do not in any particular surpass

those picked up on the surface and known to be the work of the

(324)

• 301
 

Fowke's Book Again.                 325

recent Indians. In no particular were the Mound Builders in

advance of many known tribes. The 'mathematical figures,' ex-

cept those at Newark, are of the rudest character. The perfect

circle at Newark could have been made by any one possessed of

the knowledge that a string continues of the same length in what-

soever direction from a center it may be extended. The square

at Newark, alone, requires a geometrical operation, but not one

of a highly complicated order (and, indeed, a square can be laid

out by a formula even simpler than that used by Mr. Fowke).

It is disinctly refreshing to find a book so accurate and sane in

treatment of this mania-producing subject.  Here is, however,

no history of the Mound Builders, for this author is no more able

than his predecessors to tell us who and when they were, nor why

they constructed such extraordinary works. The Indian history

of the state where was, as now seems probable, the early home of

the Siouans, and perhaps also of the Iroquoians, is ignored; and

we pass from the Mound Builders to a brief account of the recent

Indians and a long account of their stone implements, including

a good description of the famous Flint Ridge, the chief armory

of the Indians.

Excellent as this book is, the author's zeal in demolishing

venerable fables leads him by mere momentum to overrun his

objective, and to belabor quite indiscriminately all his prede-

cessors in the field, both the sensible and the foolish. To those

early and industrious Squire and Davis, Mr. Fowke does try, not

always with success, to be just; but in exploiting his rather neat

vein of sarcasm he treats Messrs. Shaler and Putnam with no

more respect than if they were the "silly" Larkin or Hosea of the

mighty imagination. When Mr. Fowke reads his own book crit-

ically he will discover that he is not infallible himself. Yet, all

in all, his is a valuable book, and if properly circulated will do

much to substantiate in the popular mind fact for romance con-

cerning our Mound Builders and later Indians. It is a great pity

that such excellent matter is not presented in better print and

binding. We do not know who prepared the bibliography found

in an appendix. His work would have been more valuable had

he known that the citation of a book is improved if title, date

and name of the author are correctly [fully] given.

• 302
 

326        Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

 

PROF. MOORHEAD'S CRITICISM.

[Prof. Warren K. Moorehead was formerly Curator of the Ohio

State Archaeological and Historical Society. He is now the Curator of

the Archaeological Museum of Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass. The

following article from his pen appeared in the Science for April, 1903.-

E. O. R.]

Mr. Fowke's book is not written, so he claims, for scientists

or specialists, but to give laymen an idea of the extent and char-

acteristics of the prehistoric remains found within the borders of

the state of Ohio. It fulfils its mission and presents in its 760

pages a complete resume of all the antiquities of the state, and

also refers to nearly every publication upon the subject. The

work is well done, and as Mr. Fowke compassed a task which

required a great deal of time, and would not have been possible

to any person who had not studied the Ohio field, as he has, for

twenty years, he is deserving of our meed of praise.

But while the above is true, the book itself may not further

the study of archaeology in the United States. Unfortunately the

author is even more than controversial, he is dogmatic, and to

most of the writers and authorities on Ohio antiquities, he is un-

just. Such a book as this is, evincing years of study in its prep-

aration, may do a deal of harm or an equal amount of good.

That is, it may give an erroneous conception of the culture of the

mound-building tribes in Ohio. A scientific critic should be in-

fallible. Mr. Fowke is not infallible. Beginning with the year

1803 and coming down to the present, he has resurrected the pub-

lished opinions of scores of writers, and has held up their theories

to ridicule and contempt. But they were the pioneers in Ameri-

can archeology. These men made many mistakes. It would be

as logical for one interested in the development of steam naviga-

tion to contrast Fulton's steamboat with the Kaiser Wilhelm der

Grosse to the detriment of Fulton, as it is for Mr. Fowke to

measure these pioneers by our present standard of knowledge.

The whole tone of the book is that prehistoric man in Ohio

is scarcely worthy of study; that nothing new has been learned

regarding him; that (p. 148) "Our museums are filling up with

material from all sources, and yet, for years, the accumulation

• 303
 

Fowke's Book Again.                 327

 

has added nothing in the way of real information to what we

already know."

If this is true, why continue work in prehistoric anthro-

pology ?

Mr. Fowke does not believe the prehistoric earthworks and

mounds required the time in their construction assigned by other

investigators, who made many exaggerations. But he presents

a rather illogical argument. I have space for only part of it:

"Forty deck hands on a western steamboat, working steadily,

will transfer ten thousand bushels of corn from the bank to the

vessel in one day. An equal weight of dry earth will make a

mound forty feet in diameter and ten feet high" (p. 85). No

Indian ever worked as deck hands work. The corn in sacks and

usually handled on trucks, is rushed from the deck into the ware-

house, the negroes stimulated to run by the curses of the mate.

Mr. Fowke places the native, who had no shovels, no trucks, and

no inclined planes or board floors on which to move the "dry

earth" - even as negroes hustle sacked corn- on a par with the

fastest workers of modern times. The field testimony is that the

earth for mounds was scooped up in the immediate neighborhood

and carried in baskets or skins. This was naturally a slow pro-

cess, as the natives used stone or shell digging tools.

On page 88 there is a sentence which is calculated to preju-

dice the author in the eyes of fair-minded men. Mr. MacLean,

in one of his books, refers to the Mound Builders as selecting

the region between the lakes and the gulf, the reason for which

is apparent to any observer. As to this opinion, Mr. Fowke says,

"The last quotation is about as sensible as to say that a man dis-

played great literary inclination by electing to be born in Boston."

He contends that the number of rings in a tree is no evidence-

as to its age, to all of which we may subscribe. But, unfortun-

ately, he cites all the trees of rapid growth in support of his argu-

ment, even bringing in trees of tropical regions, as in Yucatan,

where M. Charnay found trees twenty-two years old two feet

in diameter. As to the great oaks four or five feet in diameter,

found on some of the earthworks, he has nothing to say.

Mr. W. C. Mills's important investigations of the last few

years are almost entirely omitted. In many places Squier and

• 304
 

328       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.

 

Davis are cited because their measurements are not in accord

with those of the author, who ignores the fact that the diameter

of an embankment or of a mound may have been enlarged many

feet through continuous cultivation. The Hopewell exploration,

for example, showed that the Effigy mound was originally much

higher and narrower than even in Atwater's time; to-day it is

nearly one-half larger and broader than it was found to be in

1891. Applying to this Mr. Fowke's method of reasoning, the

structure could never have had the dimensions assigned to it by

early observers.

The chapter on Flint Ridge gives an exhaustive account of

that famous site. The pages devoted to the manufacture of im-

plements and to the finished products are also, with the exception

of a few remarks on ceremonial stones, above criticism. In such

descriptions and in field work the author is seen at his best, and

the critical student would be unjust did he not accord due praise

in these directions. It is only in Mr. Fowke's attitude toward

others, in which there is manifest such a spirit of intolerance,

chat he is open to severe criticism.

His conclusions are that several tribes may have occupied

Ohio (p. 470), yet he does not agree with the "long and short

heads" theory.

He uses the terms "tribe" and "race" interchangeably

throughout his book. He says mound finds and surface finds

differ little - a statement not borne out by field testimony. Dif-

ferent sites present varying degrees of culture, and the Turner

site where Putnam found so many evidences of a considerable

advance in art, and the Hopewell were substances from the Yel-

lowstone, the Gulf and other distinct points, together with beau-

tiful carvings in stone and bone, were exhumed, are classed with

sites which evince a very low degree of culture.

No sensible person believes in "civilization of the Mound

Builders" or that there was a "race of Mound Builders." But to

swing to the other extreme and classify a tribe able to construct

the strange "combination-works" of the Lower Scioto with the

Pai Utes or the Comanches is manifestly wrong.

• 305