LUCAS SULLIVANT--HIS PERSONALITY AND
ADVENTURES
BY MISS JANE D. SULLIVANT.*
Aside from court records and a few
lingering oral
traditions, the principal source of
information concern-
ing the life and personality of Lucas
Sullivant, is to be
found in the Family Memorial, written
and published
for private distribution by his
youngest son, Mr. Joseph
Sullivant, in 1873. Upon this source
all subsequent his-
tories of Franklinton, and even of
Columbus and Frank-
lin County have drawn freely, though in
many cases
without crediting the author.
In view of this fact, and since Mr.
Andrew D.
Rodgers, in the address published on
the foregoing
pages, has very properly confined
himself largely to the
legal aspects of his subject, it may
not be amiss to give
here a more personal view of Lucas
Sullivant, from
his own son's account, and to relate
some of the adven-
tures and experiences which he endured
in the hazard-
ous undertaking of surveying in the
wilderness; as well
as to give a glimpse of what it meant a
hundred years
ago to live here on the very borders of
civilization.
LUCAS SULLIVANT.
Lucas Sullivant was born in September,
1765, in Mecklen-
burg County, Virginia, and, when about
sixteen years of age.
volunteered to accompany an expedition
destined for Augusta
and other then western counties, which
were threatened with an
Indian invasion. His courage and good
conduct during that ex-
* Selections from Genealogy
and Family Memorial, compiled by Miss
Jane D. Sullivant, granddaughter
of Lucas Sullivant.
(177)
Vol. XXXVII-12.
178 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications pedition were such as to receive the public commendation of his commanding officer. * * * * * * Having been left an orphan and alone in the world while yet a youth, he acquired knowledge and some skill as a surveyor, after the war, and removed to Kentucky. Here he was appointed a deputy surveyor by Colonel Anderson, and was one of the |
|
band of bold and hardy adventurers who, at a very early day, penetrated the unbroken wilderness which then covered the pres- ent state of Ohio. The land district of which we are speaking was opened in 1787, and soon afterward the surveyors, Massie, Sullivant, Beas- ley, O'Banion, McArthur and others, commenced their adven- |
Lucas Sullivant--His Personality and
Adventures 179
turous and dangerous career betwixt the
Scioto and Miami Rivers,
in the "Virginia Military Land
District."
In some of his first attempts, Mr.
Sullivant was driven back
by the Indians, but finally, having
formed and equipped a larger
surveying party at Limestone, (now
Maysville), Kentucky, he
bade farewell to his friends, and, with
a stout heart, equal to
any fate, turned his back upon
civilization and the settlements,
and, striking out through the
wilderness, arrived in due time upon
the Scioto, and commenced his operations
in the territory of the
present Franklin County. His party
consisted of about twenty
men, including surveyors,
chain-carriers, markers, huntsmen,
scouts and pack-horse men with
pack-horses, carrying blankets,
provisions, axes, kettles and camp
equipage.
Of provisions they carried only some
flour, bacon and salt,
depending for their chief subsistence
upon the skill of the
hunters and the abundance of wild game,
such as bears, deer
and turkeys. When scarce of flour they
substituted for their
bread the dry breast meat of the wild
turkey, or the lean flesh
of the deer, or jerked venison, as it
was called, from the peculiar
mode of its preparation; and the fat and
greasy bear meat fur-
nished a wholesome and palatable
substitute for bacon. Many
times, scarce of provisions, they were
hungry and sore tried
for a full meal, especially when in the
vicinity of parties of
Indians liable to be attracted by the
ring of the hunter's rifle.
Wolves were constant visitors, barking
and howling about
the camp, lying in wait for any odd
scraps, and the panther
(Felis concolor), or American cougar, was more than once found
prowling around, most probably attracted
by the venison which
was generally in good supply in their
camp.
While surveying on Deer Creek in the
present Madison
County, Mr. Sullivant was in advance
running his line, when
suddenly he encountered a Frenchman on
horseback accom-
panied by two Indians on foot, and,
apprehending nothing from
so small a party, he passed on after
exchanging salutations and
signs of amity. Soon after, hearing gun shots, he came
quickly
back, and found that the rear guard of
his own party, upon
discovering the Indians, had fired upon
them, killing the French-
man, who was most probably a trader
among them. When he
fell, one of the Indians instantly
sprang upon the horse and
dashed away; the other plunged down the
bank of the creek
and disappeared. Mr. Sullivant was much
provoked, and severely
reprimanded his men for this unnecessary
attack, and, believing
it would soon be followed by a
retaliation from the Indian villages
on the Scioto, closed up his work as
soon as possible and left
the neighborhood.
180 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
Jonathan Alder, well-known to our old
citizens, had been
captured in Virginia, when he was about
nine years old, by a
roving party of Indians, and carried
into Ohio, where he was
adopted into a family, and, becoming a member of the
tribe
by appropriate rites and ceremonies, he
married and lived among
them for many years. After the
settlement of the county, he
bought land of my father, and was a
frequent visitor at our
house in my boyhood.
Although I had heard my father relate
the incidents of the
Deer Creek attack and the consequences
that followed, it was
gratifying to learn further particulars
from Alder, who told me
he was still living with the Indians,
and, at this very time was
with a small party conveying a lame and
sick man to a famous
doctor, living at the Mingo town, or
encampment, on the east
bank of the Scioto, one mile and a half
below the present city
of Columbus. He said they were so near
as to distinctly hear
the gunshots and shouts of my father's
party, and having sent
one of the number to ascertain the
cause, and finding it was from
a body of white men, they became very
much alarmed, and, appre-
hending an attack, stole away as quietly
as possible from so
dangerous a vicinity, and traveling
nearly all night, they arrived
at their destination early in the
afternoon of the next day, and
found that the Indian who had taken the
Frenchman's horse had
arrived in the morning before them.
This fellow was the hero of the hour,
magnifying the sad
affair into a desperate and long
continued fight, of which he
was the sole survivor, and from which he
had escaped after
deeds of unwonted valor. It is true his
tale seemed somewhat
marvelous and rather incredible, as he
had neither wounds nor
scalps to show, but, as there was none
to contradict, his story
passed current, and indeed seemed to be
strongly confirmed
when Alder and his party related what
they knew. The camp
was hardly large enough to contain the
vain-glorious boaster,
and he was strutting about in full
feather when, unfortunately
for his reputation, the other Indian,
who had precipitated himself
over the bank of the creek, and hid in a
pile of driftwood, now,
on the second day, made his appearance
and gave a true version of
events. Whereupon, said Alder, with his
peculiar and quaint
laugh, the first fellow encountered such
a storm of ridicule and
reproach that he was driven from the
camp village.
I asked Alder what ailed the sick man
and what became of
him. He replied that he had a painful
and swollen knee, and
in the opinion of the doctor, was
bewitched generally, and, from
the signs, he knew it was the work of a
certain woman of the
tribe. The doctor, after half roasting
his patient with hot stones,
Lucas Sullivant--His Personality and
Adventures 181
gave him a decoction of herbs to drink,
and then pretty nearly
melted him with a tremendous sweat, and,
rubbing him off,
stretched him on his blankets, and,
after considerable singing,
smoking and powwowing, proceeded to
scarify the knee, and
(according to Alder), drew therefrom a
mussel-shell about six
inches long, remarking that now he had
got that thing out, the
man would get well, but that the woman
would die. I remarked,
"I don't think such a thing
possible, Mr. Alder." "Oh! but I
stood by and saw it done, and, sure
enough, the woman did die in
three weeks, and the man got well."
No doubt, the cunning old
doctor and conjurer was an expert at sleight of hand,
and took
measures to secure the fulfillment of
his prophecy about the poor
woman, and, perhaps at the same time, to
gratify some private
grudge, and establish his own reputation
more firmly.
After a consultation was held at the
Mingo village, an expe-
dition was sent out to capture or
destroy the surveying party;
but, in anticipation of such a
procedure, Mr. Sullivant was per-
forming his last day's work, preparatory
to leaving the vicinity,
when, on the fourth day from the affair
of the Frenchman, and
late in the afternoon, while engaged in
running and closing up
the last lines of his surveys, and
being, as usual, in advance, he
discovered a body of savages, somewhat
larger than his own
party, crossing a high grassed prairie
or glade, and at such a
distance that the parties would meet if
he continued his course.
He signaled his men to squat in the
grass, and, when they got
together, he said: "Now, here is a chance for a
fight if you
desire it. Say the word and we will go
in. It is for you to
determine." A council was held, and
it was decided to let the
Indians pass by, and for this course
none were more clamorous
than, or so strenuous as, those who,
with insolent bravado, had
scoffed, but a few days before, at any
danger likely to result
from their attack upon the Frenchman and
his little party.
Mr. Sullivant remarked: "It has
turned out just as I
expected, for those most restive and
insubordinate under whole-
some discipline always prove the most
unready and cowardly in
the presence of real danger." After
directing the men to keep
together, and assist each other in any
emergency, he pointed out
the direction of Limestone, in case they
became separated, and
told them they were not to fire a gun,
as it would reveal their
locality to the Indians. Rising from
concealment, he proceeded
to finish his last line and close the
survey at the place of begin-
ning. This was effected just at
twilight, and my father was
making his last entry in his field book,
when a flock of turkeys
nearby began to fly up in the trees to
roost. This sudden
temptation was too much for some of the
men and several shots
182 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
were fired. My father warned the men to
be ready, for the
Indians were within hearing and would be
on them in a few
minutes. He had scarcely ceased
speaking, when they rushed
upon them with a whoop and a volley. He
lifted his compass,
which was on the Jacob's staff standing beside him, and
tossing
it into a fallen tree top, unslung the
light shotgun he carried
strapped on his back, and fired at an Indian who was
advancing
upon him with uplifted tomahawk, and,
turning about to look
for his men, saw they were in a panic
and rapidly dispersing, and
he also took to his heels, and
fortunately, in about a quarter of
a mile, fell in with six of his men.
Favored in their flight by
the darkness, and shaping their course
by the stars, they journeyed
all night and most of the next day
before halting.
The third night, as they were traveling
along, footsore and
weary, they heard voices which seemed to
proceed from a hillock
in front, and they stopped and hailed.
The other party, discov-
ering them at the same moment,
challenged and ordered a halt.
A parley ensued, when, to their great
surprise, those on the
hill appeared to be the other and larger
party of their own men.
But no advance was made by either side,
each fearing the other
might be a decoy in the hands of the
Indians, for it was not an
uncommon trick for the cunning savages
to compel their unfortu-
nate prisoners to play such a part.
After numerous questions and inquiries,
and a good deal
of talk on both sides, the larger body
insisted, under threat of
an immediate volley, that the advance
should be made by the
smaller party. Mr. Sullivant handed his
note-book and papers
to his own men, with the request to
deliver them to his friends
in Kentucky in case anything should
happen to him and they
be fortunate enough to escape, and
promising to give them warn-
ing, at all hazards, if there was
treachery in the case, he went
forward alone, and finding all right,
his own little party ad-
vanced and they had a joyful meeting in
the wilderness.
Upon comparing experiences, they found
that two men were
missing, Murray, and another whose name
I do not recollect,
who had fallen at the fire of the
Indians when they made their
attack.
An interesting sequel to the incidents
here related is the
fact that years afterward, when Madison
County was settling,
and my father had sold this tract of
land, and it was being cleared
up, the compass was found but little
injured, where it had been
flung, and having been recovered, is
still carefully preserved by
the writer as a memento of those
perilous times.
Lucas Sullivant--His Personality and
Adventures 183
Upon one expedition, Mr. Sullivant had
appointed a ren-
dezvous for his party at the Forks of
the Scioto, by which name
the junction of this river and Whetstone
(now called Olentangy)
was known by the early surveyors, and
was so designated on their
maps. He directed his men, if he was not
present by a certain
time, to leave a canoe for him and
proceed up the river, and
await his arrival at the mouth of the
stream now known as
Mill Creek. Mr. Sullivant was detained
and did not join his
men at the Forks of the Scioto, but
found, on his arrival, a
canoe which had been left according to
his directions. It was
late in the evening, but he embarked
immediately, intending to
proceed up the river a few miles before encamping.
Just after pushing out, he discovered
three Indians lurking
in the grove of great sycamores that
used to stand on the west
bank of the Whetstone. He pushed on up
the river, keeping a
sharp lookout, and soon found that the
Indians were cautiously
following, and there was no further
doubt as to their intention,
which was to pursue and come upon him
after he had encamped
for the night.
At dusk, having reached the wooded
island opposite the
stone quarry, three miles above the
present site of Columbus, he
took the north channel and landed on the
island. Here, having
seen that his pursuers were still
following, he proceeded rather
ostentatiously to haul up his canoe and
secure it for the night, in
full view of the Indians, and began to
cut bushes and drive
stakes, as if preparing for a camp, and
soon kindled, on purpose,
a small and smoky fire, sufficient to attract
attention, but without
giving much light.
It having, by this time, become fairly
dark, he took his gun,
compass and pack, and quickly, but
quietly, crossed the island
and waded across the river to the
opposite side, and proceeding
but a little way, stopped to rest and
eat some supper. He
trusted in his strategem to deceive the
Indians, who, he believed,
would wait, according to their usual
custom, until far into
the night before coming upon their
unsuspecting victim when
wrapped in profound sleep, and, before
this attempt, he hoped
to be far on his way toward his men,
whom he did join next
evening.
Soon after he reached the west side of
the river the moon
rose, and, tearing a leaf from his
note-book, he wrote, as well
as the light permitted, a brief account
of the circumstances, and
signing his name, placed it in a cleft
stick stuck into the ground,
and, before leaving, carved his initials
and the date on the bark
of a tree.
184 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications
A long time afterward, when botanizing
on the bank of the
river above the quarry, I took refuge
from a passing shower
under the spreading branches of a large
sugar-tree. Some
ancient ax marks on the bark attracted
my attention, and passing
around the tree, I was surprised at
seeing the letters "L. S."
and a date on the bark. This event,
which I had heard related
in my boyhood, instantly occurred to me,
and I perceived I was
standing on the precise spot where my
father had left this
memorial of himself, in the solitude of
the wilderness, near
fifty years before, when fleeing for his
life, with naught but
his own courage and self-reliance to
sustain him.
* * * * * *
To our present generation the mention of
travel by canoe
may appear strange, and I will here
state that, before there were
any mill-dams or obstructions, the
Scioto River furnished the
most easy access to the valley, and,
during the early settlement of
the State, many families and immigrants
availed themselves of
the transport by pirogues and canoes to
reach Piketon, Chilli-
cothe, Circleville, and other places,
and the first settlers in the
town of Franklinton came in canoes.
* * * * * *
The want of grist-mills was severely
felt by the early settlers.
What few mills were in the county were
distant from Franklinton
and not convenient of access, and the
laborious process by hand
mills and graters was frequently
resorted to, to obtain a coarse
flour and meal for hoe-cakes. The
old-fashioned hominy mortar,
constructed out of a log, was in
constant requisition, the hominy
pot was kept hot winter and summer, and
fried hominy was no
mean substitute for bread.
* * * * * *
At and previous to this time, there
prevailed a very uneasy
feeling in the public mind, owing to the
uncertain and even
unfriendly disposition manifested by the
Indian tribes still re-
siding within our borders. An Indian war
had only been averted
by the opportune victory of General
Harrison over the Indians,
at the famous battle of Tippecanoe, in
the Indiana Territory in
the year 1811.
Now, in the summer of 1812, they were again
restive, having
been tampered with and much demoralized
by the celebrated
Prophet and his distinguished brother,
Tecumseh, a chief among
the Shawnees. Our difficulties with
Great Britain resulted in a
declaration of war against that power in
June, 1812. The Eng-
lish Government had its agents among the
Indians of the North-
west, who were furnishing arms and
inciting them to hostility
Lucas Sullivant--His Personality and
Adventures 185
against our unprotected and exposed
settlements, and the inhabi-
tants, therefore, had just grounds for their
apprehensions.
The Ohio troops, intended for the
protection of our borders
and to operate against the British
forces in Upper Canada, were
assembled at Franklinton, Dayton, and
Urbana, and, under the
lead of our patriotic Governor Meigs,
were marched a short
distance from the latter place, and
turned over to the command
of General Hull. He marched to Detroit,
and the unfortunate
and unnecessary surrender of his whole
army to an inferior
force of British and Indians, without so
much as striking a
blow, is a matter of history known to
all.
Such an unlooked-for and astounding blow
almost paralyzed
the country and created great alarm, for
many of the Indian
tribes, encouraged by this untoward
event, and urged by the
British agents, now openly took sides
against us. Months of
apprehension supervened, and a feverish
anxiety infected the
whole community, for Franklinton was
really a frontier settle-
ment, and the inhabitants were in
constant dread, lest, by some
sudden attack, their houses should be
given to the flames and their
wives and little ones fall a prey to the
tomahawk and scalping-
knife of the remorseless savages, who
spared neither sex nor
age, and marked their track with fire
and blood.
Indian alarms were frequent, and, on
such occasions, the
terrified settlers from up Darby Creek,
Sells' settlement on the
Scioto, from Delaware and Worthington
and the adjacent re-
gions, came flocking into Franklinton,
and at one time a ditch
and stockade was commenced around the
Court-house, to convert
it into a citadel.
During this troublesome and exciting
period, Mr. Sullivant
rendered efficient aid, and, by his own
calmness and conduct,
did much to allay excitement and restore
courage and confidence,
for the citizens looked much to him. He
kept two scouts of his
own, well skilled in wood-craft and
knowledge of Indian signs,
constantly on duty for some weeks, as
far up as the present
Zanesfield, in Logan County, who
reported to him at short inter-
vals. This inspired confidence, and gave
assurance that timely
warning would be given of any real
Indian invasion, and it
became a saying with many that,
"when Sullivant went into a
stockade, or prepared to fly with his
family, they would follow,
but not until then."
The war proceeded with varying success,
till the disastrous
defeat of our forces under General
Winchester, and the atrocious
murder of our wounded and prisoners at
Frenchtown (more
commonly known as the battle of the
River Raisin), under the
very eye of Proctor, the British
commander, showing an utter
186 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications
disregard for the rules of civilized
warfare, carried sorrow and
mourning into many a household in
Kentucky, and still further
revived and intensified the dread of
savage invasion.
Under the circumstances, it was deemed
highly important
that the Ohio tribes, who had hitherto
remained neutral, should
now be induced to take an active part on
behalf of the Govern-
ment in the ensuing campaign, or at
least give a guarantee of
their peaceful intention by removing,
with their families, within
the white settlements.
Accordingly, a meeting was arranged and
held on June 21st,
1813, on the grounds of Mr. Sullivant at Franklinton.
The
Delaware, Shawnee, Wyandot, and Seneca
tribes were repre-
sented by about fifty of the chiefs and
warriors. General Harri-
son represented the Government, and with
him were his staff
and a brilliant array of officers in
full uniform. Behind
was a detachment of soldiers. In his
front were the Indians.
Around all were the inhabitants of the
region far and near,
with many a mother and maid, as
interested spectators.
The General began to speak in calm and
measured tones
befitting the grave occasion, but an
undefined oppression seemed
to hold all in suspense, as, with silent
and almost breathless
attention, they waited the result of the
General's words, which
seemed to fall on dull ears, as the
Indians sat with unmoved
countenances and smoked on in stolid
silence. At length the
persuasive voice of the great commander
struck a responsive
chord, and, when Tarhe, "the
Crane," the great Wyandot chief,
slowly rose to his feet, and, standing
for a moment in a graceful
and commanding attitude, made a brief
reply, and then, with
others, pressed forward to grasp the hand
of Harrison, not only
in token of amity, but in agreement to
stand as a barrier on our
exposed border, a terrible doubt and
apprehension was lifted
from the hearts of all. Jubilant shouts
rent the air, women wept
for joy, and stalwart men thrilled with
pleasure as they now
thought of the assured safety of their
wives and children from
a cruel and stealthy foe, and they
prepared at once, with cheerful
alacrity, to go forth to the impending
battles.
*
* * * * *
In 1816, having procured a charter from
the Legislature,
Mr. Sullivant built a large and
expensive toll-bridge across the
river between Franklinton and Columbus.
This bridge served all
the traffic crossing the river until
1833 when the Government
bridge was built.
About 1820, Mr. Sullivant and a few other
citizens built the
Columbus Academy, a one-story two-roomed
frame building,
Lucas Sullivant--His Personality and
Adventures 187
which stood near the site of the present
Second Presbyterian
Church on Third Street*. This
schoolhouse stood away out in
the commons among the pawpaw bushes, and
in all the neighbor-
hood there were but three houses east of
High Street at this
time. There were none south on Third or
Fourth Streets, which
were covered with stumps and bushes in
that direction, and all
beyond Fourth Street were out-lots, used
for meadows and cow
pastures, and where, occasionally, a few
patches of corn were
cultivated.
In person, Mr. Sullivant was of medium
height, muscular
and well proportioned, quick and active
in his movements, with
an erect carriage and a good walk, a
well-balanced head, finished
off with a cue, which he always wore; a
broad and high forehead,
an aquiline nose, and a blue-gray eye, a
firm mouth and square
chin. He was firm and positive in his
opinions, but courteous
in manners and expression, prompt and
decisive to act upon his
convictions, and altogether a man of
forcible character, exercising
an influence over those with whom he
came in contact.
He died August 8th, 1823, in the
fifty-eighth year of his age.
The following obituary notice, copied
from the Columbus
Gazette of August 14, 1823, was written by some friend who
knew him well:
DIED
In Franklinton, on Friday last, Lucas
Sullivant, Esq. In the death
of this active and enterprising citizen,
the community has lost a member
whose place can not well be supplied,
his relations a valuable friend, and
his children a beneficent protector. He
possessed a great spirit of liberal-
ity, which an ample fortune, acquired by
his own great industry, enabled
him to gratify to an uncommon extent. He
was a man of strict in-
tegrity, of the most persevering
industry and rigid economy. He was a kind
and indulgent father, a sincere and
hospitable friend, a generous neighbor,
and the poor were never turned away empty from his
well-filled granaries.
Dr. John M. Edmiston, distinguished
physician, who came
here in 1812, was a gentleman of much
intelligence and fine cul-
ture. He was the personal friend and
attending physician, and
much attached to Mr. Sullivant, fond of
visiting him and talking
with him, holding him in high
estimation.
He used to say of Mr. Sullivant: "Take him all in all,
with his strong and vigorous intellect,
his knowledge of human
nature, his decision of character, good
judgment, high sense of
personal honor and integrity, he is one
of the most remarkable
men I ever knew. He seemed born to be a
leader, and in
whatever direction he had turned his
attention, he would have
distinguished himself and become a man
of mark."
*This building was razed some years ago.
188 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
SARAH STARLING SULLIVANT.
Sarah Starling, second daughter and
fourth child of Col.
William Starling and Susanna, his wife,
married Lucas Sullivant,
and removed with him to the new village
of Franklinton, where
he owned large and valuable estates. This was before
Ohio was
a State, and while it was yet an almost unbroken
wilderness, but
the young wife was equal to the situation and bore the
hardships
and privations of the period with courage and a
cheerful spirit.
In 1812, after the surrender of General
Hull to the British
forces, at Detroit, the whole frontier
was exposed to an irruption
of bloody savages, the allies of Great
Britain. For months the
inhabitants were harassed with fears of
such an invasion, and
indeed Indian alarms were more than once
wide-spread and
prevalent, all of which she bore with
calmness and fortitude.
Calls for volunteers were frequent on
such occasions, and I
suppose it was when my father was so
absent that, one night
when I was sleeping with my mother,
"Dragon," an unusually
large and intelligent mastiff, kept up a
fierce barking, displaying
an extraordinary excitement, and ever
and anon taking post
under my mother's window, which seemed
the special object of
his defense, she drew me up closer,
saying: "I am afraid 'Old
Drag' smells Indians."
On another occasion, when the newsboy
brought in the
weekly copy of the Freeman's
Chronicle, a paragraph met her
eye, and, letting the paper fall, she
exclaimed: "Thank God, our
troops have taken Malden." Calling
me to her, with the tears
standing in her eyes, she again said:
"My son, thank God, our
troops have taken Malden."* Yes,
"our troops have taken
Maiden," were words of great
significance, and full of comfort
to the women of those days, who devoutly
thanked God that
this stronghold of the savages had been
destroyed--a place
where the bloody and reeking scalps of
our women and children
were paid for with British gold!
In these days of immunity from Indian
alarms, it is difficult
to convey any adequate idea of the dread
of attack and massacre
that possessed all classes at that time.
It must be remembered,
however, that the horrible atrocities,
committed in the Indian bor-
der wars of Virginia, Pennsylvania,
Kentucky and Ohio, were
yet fresh in the recollection of most of
the adult population of
that period. He who has taken part in
Indian warfare, or once
heard the war-cry of the savage, will
never forget how, for the
time being, it strikes terror and
apprehension to the stoutest
heart, and he only can fully
understand and appreciate the dread
of the cruelties and mutilations which
were the general conse-
*Malden, in Upper Canada, was the
headquarters of the hostile In-
dians, where they received arms and
outfits from the English agents.
Lucas Sullivant--His Personality and
Adventures 189
quences and accompaniments of an
irruption of bloody and re-
morseless savages.
After the battle of the Thames in Upper
Canada in October,
1813, and the defeat of General Proctor with his Indian
allies,
and the death of their leader, Tecumseh,
which occurred at the
same time, apprehension from the
Indians, in a great measure,
subsided, and large parties of Ohio
tribes from Sandusky, Maca-
cheek, and other villages and camps on
the headwaters of the
Scioto, were frequent traders in
Franklinton with Lincoln
Goodale, R. W. McCoy, Henry Brown,
Starling and DeLashmutt,
Samuel Barr, and other merchants, or as
they were called in
those days, "store-keepers."
The Indians brought furs and skins,
baskets, maple-sugar, cranberries, dried
venison, hams, etc., which
they sold for hard silver, refusing all
kinds of paper money, and,
as they neither asked for nor gave
trust, they generally bought
or sold one thing at a time, paying out
or receiving the price, as
the case might be, closing each
transaction, never making a bill,
or paying for the whole in a lump. They
bought powder and
lead, tobacco, knives and squaw-axes,
paints for the face, broad-
cloth and squaw-cloth, bright calicoes and
handkerchiefs, blankets,
and above all, but lastly, a good supply
of whisky, for it was
their custom, after completing their
purchases, to celebrate the
occasion by a "high drunk," in
which all participated save a few
old men and women selected to take care of the rest,
and these,
no doubt, afterward had their share in
compensation for present
self-denial. These drunken orgies would
last for three or four
days, and were generally accompanied
with much singing, howl-
ing and dancing, alternated with brawls
and fighting.
Franklinton was the rendezvous of the
second army under
Harrison, gathered after Hull's
surrender, and the Kentucky
troops, under the command of the gallant
and venerable Governor
Shelby, were encamped on the premises of
Mr. Sullivant, and
his house was the welcomed resort of the
officers and men, many
of whom were personal friends and
acquaintances of himself
and his wife.
She was a ministering spirit to the sick
soldiers, in camp and
hospital, supplying their wants from her
own table and stores.
In 1814, a malignant and contagious
typhus, or cold plague, as
it was called, broke out in camp, and
she contracted the disease,
of which she died April 28th of that
year.
She was very much beloved and respected
by all who knew
her, and many an immigrant, in the early
settlement of the
country, had cause to bless her, for, to
the poor and needy, the
sick or afflicted, she was indeed a
"Lady Bountiful," and the
memory of her gentle manners, her good
deeds and abounding
charities long survived her.
LUCAS SULLIVANT--HIS PERSONALITY AND
ADVENTURES
BY MISS JANE D. SULLIVANT.*
Aside from court records and a few
lingering oral
traditions, the principal source of
information concern-
ing the life and personality of Lucas
Sullivant, is to be
found in the Family Memorial, written
and published
for private distribution by his
youngest son, Mr. Joseph
Sullivant, in 1873. Upon this source
all subsequent his-
tories of Franklinton, and even of
Columbus and Frank-
lin County have drawn freely, though in
many cases
without crediting the author.
In view of this fact, and since Mr.
Andrew D.
Rodgers, in the address published on
the foregoing
pages, has very properly confined
himself largely to the
legal aspects of his subject, it may
not be amiss to give
here a more personal view of Lucas
Sullivant, from
his own son's account, and to relate
some of the adven-
tures and experiences which he endured
in the hazard-
ous undertaking of surveying in the
wilderness; as well
as to give a glimpse of what it meant a
hundred years
ago to live here on the very borders of
civilization.
LUCAS SULLIVANT.
Lucas Sullivant was born in September,
1765, in Mecklen-
burg County, Virginia, and, when about
sixteen years of age.
volunteered to accompany an expedition
destined for Augusta
and other then western counties, which
were threatened with an
Indian invasion. His courage and good
conduct during that ex-
* Selections from Genealogy
and Family Memorial, compiled by Miss
Jane D. Sullivant, granddaughter
of Lucas Sullivant.
(177)
Vol. XXXVII-12.