DEFIANCE IN HISTORY
By FRANCIS
PHELPS WEISENBURGER
Today we stand in the heart of
the historic Maumee Valley.
Long before any written records
chronicled the story of the region,
French traders moved up and down the
river in the long journey
between the Great Lakes and the
Mississippi Basin. To the
French, the site of Defiance was known
as Au Glaize or Grand
Glaize. Among the Indians it was the
site of the Tu-en-da-wie
village of the Wyandots and the
En-sa-woc-sa of the Shawnees.1
Here, too, according to the tradition
handed down by the great
chief, Richardville,2 was the birthplace
of Pontiac, the masterful
leader of the Ottawas.3
During the eighteenth century, when
France and Great Britain
were struggling for control of the
region west of the Allegheny
Mountains, Celeron de Blainville was
sent to claim the Ohio coun-
try for the King of France. In 1749 he
buried leaden plates in the
Ohio Valley as a means of asserting the
rights of the French king.
On the return journey, Celeron's French
army traveled down the
Maumee on its way to Detroit. The chaplain of the expedition
tells us in his journal that as the
troops came through the Defiance
region (about October 1, 1749) "at
almost every instant we were
stopped by beds of flat stones, over
which it was necessary to drag
our pirogues by main force. I will say,
however, that at intervals
were found beautiful reaches of smooth
water, but they were few
and short."4 Three years
later (1752) Charles de Langlade, rep-
1 Henry Howe, Historical Collections
of Ohio (Norwalk, 1896), I, 542.
2 Jean Baptist Richardville or Peshewah,
was the son of a French trader and
Tecumwah, sister of Little Turtle. Born
in the vicinity of Fort Wayne about 1761,
he died there in August, 1841. From 1812
until his death he was head chief of the
Miamis and apparently one of the richest
Indians in North America. Bert J. Gris-
wold, ed., Fort Wayne, Gateway of the
West, in Indiana Historical Collections. XV
(Indianapolis, 1927), 29-30.
3 Horace S. Knapp, History of the
Maumee Valley (Toledo, 1876), 585.
4 Reuben G. Thwaites, ed., The Jesuit
Relations and Allied Documents, 1610-1791
(Cleveland, 1896-1901), LXIX. 191.
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66
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
resenting unofficially the French
interests, led an army from
Mackinac to the vicinity of Piqua
(Pickawillany), where they
killed the Miami chief, La Demoiselle or
Old Britain.5 The journal
of the expedition has disappeared,6
but undoubtedly they passed
through the Defiance vicinity on the
journey.
George Croghan, commonly called the
"King of the Traders"
because of his numerous trading posts
among the Indians,7 visited
the site of Defiance (which he referred
to as "the Forks") in
August, 1765.8 During the period of
Pontiac's Conspiracy (1763)
and the period of the American
Revolution, armies of both the
Indian and the white man traversed the
Maumee Valley. One of
these armies, under the British
commander at Detroit, Henry
Hamilton, passed by the site of Defiance
in October, 1778, on its
way to Vincennes, which Hamilton later
surrendered ignomini-
ously to George Rogers Clark.9 Likewise,
a force of British and
Indian warriors under Captain Henry Bird
came from Detroit and
up the river to the present Defiance
during the summer of 1780.
Bird's expedition continued up the
Auglaize and terrorized Ameri-
can frontier settlements in Kentucky.10
The famous Moravian
missionary, John Heckewelder, recorded
that after the massacre
of the Christian Indians at Gnadenhutten
in 1782, some of the
surviving native converts took refuge in
the Maumee Valley,11
probably at Defiance.
Perhaps the first account of a meal
served at what is now
Defiance was recorded by Henry Hay, a
traveler who stopped here
on December 13, 1789. He wrote:
Left this place [what is now Damascus,
Henry County] this morning
about 8 o'clock and proceeded to Glaize
[Defiance], w[h]ere we arrived
about 1/2 past 3 o'clock--we were
received very graciously by Mr. McDon-
5 Louise Phelps Kellogg, The French
Regime in Wisconsin and the Northwest
(Madison, 1925), 413, 420-3, 438.
6 Wisconsin State Historical Society, Collections, ed. by Reuben G.
Thwaites
(Madison), XVIII (1908), 128.
7 Albert T. Volwiler, George Croghan
and the Western Movement, 1741-1782
(Cleveland, 1926) 32ff.
8 Reuben G. Thwaites, ed., Early
Western Travels, 1748-1846 (Cleveland, 1904-
1907), I, 151.
9 Michigan Pioneer and Historical
Society, Historical Collections (Lansing),
IX (1886), 489ff.
10 Louise Phelps Kellogg, ed., Frontier
Retreat on the Upper Ohio, 1779-1781, in
Wisconsin State Historical Society, Collections, XXIV
(1917), 19-20, 185, 269-70.
11 John Heckewelder, A Narrative of the Mission of the United Brethren, ed.
by
William E. Connelley (Cleveland, 1907),
449-50.
MAUMEE VALLEY HISTORICAL
PROCEEDINGS 67
nell who lives there; he gave us good
venison stakes & cyder-grogg &c for
Dinner;--Roasted venison for supper.
&c.12
During the next few years a number of
white prisoners were
brought to the Indian villages here.
Among them were John
Brickell of Pittsburgh captured in 1791,
and Oliver M. Spencer,
a Cincinnati boy captured in 1792. Spencer
recorded that in 1792
near the present fort grounds were
"five or six cabins, inhabited
principally by Indian traders, one of
whom was George Ironside,
"the most wealthy and influential
of the traders on the point," and
that from the point one viewed "a very pleasant landscape" and
Blue Jacket's Town.13
During the period the Indians of the
Maumee Valley were
very restless. A white soldier, William
May, who was taken pris-
oner and was brought to Defiance in 1792, later reported
that
during the summer there was a great
Indian council at the place,
attended by 3,600 warriors, among whom
were Wyandots, Dela-
wares, Ottawas, Chippewas, Miamis, and
other tribesmen. There
Simon Girty and Shawnee chieftains spoke
for the Indians hostile
to the whites, and Red Jacket, a Seneca
chief, for those friendly
to the Americans.14
About this time, after the disheartening
defeats of St. Clair
and Harmar, Anthony Wayne was appointed
by President Wash-
ington to lead the American forces
against the Indians. In August,
1794, he erected his strongest fort at
the junction of the Auglaize
with the Maumee.15 After its completion
Wayne is reported to
have exclaimed, "I defy the
English, Indians, and all the devils in
hell to take it," and General
Charles Scott replied, "Then call it
Fort Defiance."16
Wayne next moved down the Maumee to his
famous victory
at Fallen Timbers and the following
summer the tribesmen signed
the Peace Treaty of Greenville (1795).
By that treaty the Indians
12 Henry Hay, "A Narrative of Life
on the Old Frontier: . . . Journal from
Detroit to the Mississippi (Miami)
River," ed. by Milo M. Quaife, in Wisconsin State
Historical Society, Proceedings for
1914 (Madison, 1914), 215. Published separately,
1915.
13
O. M. Spencer, Indian Captivity, ed.
by M. M. Quaife (Chicago, 1917), 95-7.
14 American
State Papers (Washington, 1832), V, Indian
Affairs, I, 244-322.
15 For the plan of Fort Defiance,
see Justin Winsor, ed., Narrative and Critical
History of America (Boston, 1884-1889), VII, 452; Howe, Historical
Collections, I, 540.
16 Charles E. Slocum, History of the
Maumee River Basin (Indianapolis, 1905),
207.
68
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
surrendered to the whites all of Ohio,
except the northern part
from the Cuyahoga River westward. But,
even in the remaining
Indian country, the whites were to have
reservations including one
six miles square at Fort Defiance.17
This place was one of three
(Ft. Defiance, Ft. Wayne and Greenville)
at which all white
prisoners were to be surrendered within
ninety days.18 The Amer-
icans were also to have free passage
down the Maumee from Ft.
Wayne to Lake Erie and on the Auglaize
to Ft. Defiance.19
Thereafter, peace reigned along the
Maumee for sixteen
years. Then the coming of the War of 1812
brought a renewal
of hostilities. Troops again were
concentrated here to contend
against the British and Indians along
the frontier, and Fort Win-
chester was erected south of the site of
Fort Defiance. It was
named after James Winchester, a
Tennessee planter, who was in
charge of the army at Defiance. During
1812 the troops here
became restless, and mutiny was
threatened. Supplies ran short,
and by December the army was subsisting
on hickory roots and
poor beef.20 Scores died of
typhus (some of them being buried
near Jefferson Avenue, Defiance).21 Harrison ordered
Winchester
to move down the river to the Grand
Rapids of the Maumee. This
was done, but some troops were
incautiously sent, without Harri-
son's authorization, to Frenchtown (now
Monroe, Michigan).
There they were disastrously defeated in
the Battle of the Raisin
River. In the meantime, the youthful
George Croghan (whose
father was a nephew of the famous trader
of the same name) was
in command at Defiance, and he wrote:
"I am determined to
defend this place till the last
extremity. Be not alarmed for my
safety. I have force enough to make a
desperate stand."22 But
Defiance was not attacked, and Croghan
gained his renown as the
rash but successful defender of Fort
Stephenson (Fremont).
17 The Territorial Papers of the U.
S., ed. by Clarence E. Carter (Washington,
1934- ), II, The Territory Northwest of the River
Ohio, 1787-1803, article 3 of the
Treaty of Greenville, p. 527.
18 Ibid., article 2, p. 526.
19 Ibid., article
3, p. 528.
20 Henry Adams, History of the United
States of America during the Administra-
tion of James Madison (New York, 1930), VII, 80.
21 Elbert E. Carter, father-in-law of
the present author, who was born at
the northwest corner of Second and
Jefferson avenues, December 9, 1860, recalled that
as a youth he had witnessed the discovery of skeletons
when the street was graded.
22 Louise Phelps Kellogg, The British
Regime in Wisconsin and the Northwest
(Madison, 1935), 302.
MAUMEE VALLEY HISTORICAL PROCEEDINGS 69
After the war, some soldiers remained in
the vicinity, and
other settlers gradually found their way
to the locality, but for
years the region remained essentially a
wilderness. As late as 1830
a pioneer judge traveling from Findlay
to Defiance observed:
The voyage was a dismal one to Defiance through an unbroken
wilderness of some sixty miles. Its
loneliness was only broken by
the intervening Indian settlement at
Ottawa village, where we
were hailed and cheered lustily by the
Tahwa Indians as would be
a foreign war ship in the port of New
York."23 But the town had
been laid out by Benjamin Leavell of
Piqua and Horatio G.
Phillips of Dayton, in November, 1822,
and new settlers arrived in
some numbers after 1830. One who settled
in the community in
August, 1834, described the charm of the
locality:
The view of the town was wonderfully
beautiful. There was no dam
to check the current of the river; no
bridge to mar the view, nor anything
unpleasant in sight.
The town seemed to set down among groves
of trees, for all south of
Second street was a dense forest of
hickory and oaks, about 12 to 15 feet
in height. The larger trees in the lower
part of town were the Indian apple
trees which lined the banks of both
rivers.24
During that spring, however, a great
flood had swept through
the valley, and the community was almost
paralyzed with dis-
appointment at the loss of crops.
In June, 1837, the principal newspaper
of Cincinnati carried
an advertisement for the sale of four
hundred village lots in
Defiance, the promoters proclaiming:
"Indeed few, if any, places
in the western, or even the eastern
states have so high a reputa-
tion for beauty, pleasantness and
healthfulness; and, when viewed
in reference to its commercial
advantage, its future importance
becomes obvious."25
As early as 1825-26, Methodist services
had been held in
Defiance, and in December, 1837, the
Presbyterian Church was
formally organized.26 The
panic of 1837 retarded the interest of
land speculators, but settlers continued
to pour into the valley.
23 D. Higgins, "Memories of the Maumee Valley." in Knapp,
Maumee Valley, 279.
24 Edwin
Phelps, "Reminiscences," in Defiance Express, July 1, Sept.
1, 1886. Mr.
Phelps was the maternal grandfather of
the present writer.
25 Cincinnati Gazette, June
22, 1837.
26 [Helen D. Phelps] Centenary
History of the First Presbyterian Church of
Defiance (Defiance, 1937), 5-6.
70 OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL
QUARTERLY
One wrote in July 27,
1837: "Defiance is one of the pleasantest
situated towns in the
country. They complain of hard times, but
cash is now as pleanty
[sic] here as it ever was in the best of
times. I get $1.50 per Day for my work."27
The chief guide-book
for Ohio a hundred years ago described
Defiance as a town of
"7 stores, 2 groceries, 3 taverns, a court
house and jail, a
large steam saw mill, and about 8 or 9 hundred
inhabitants."28
By that time the plans
for the building of a canal through
Defiance were being
carried out, and Irish and German settlers
soon came to
contribute their part to the development of the place.
But the splendid
history of the last one hundred years is so well
known to many of you
that we need not recall the onward march
during that period of
the "Central Market of the Maumee Valley."
27 The remainder of
the letter is: "Well . . . by this time you think Father has
forgotten to write but
the reason of my Delaying was to give you my views of the
country and the
prospects of removing to this place. We had a fine passage. We
arrived at Tolledo [sic]
in four Days and was hindered there one Day and the next
day arrived at
Defiance. Found the people all well. Sophronia [a sister]'s health is
better than when at
home. I am much pleased with the country. I think I can say of
a truth that Land far
exceeds my expectation, better crops of Corn, Wheat, and pota-
toes and oats I never
saw in my life. . . . I have put up one frame [building] since
I came here at
Independence for Mr. Stoddard [Sophronia's husband]. 30 by 20 for a
shop. Mr. Stoddard has
gone to Buffalo. Independence is a thriving [village] beyond
Defiance. It is new but
must be a place of Business. I Shall buy me a lot there.
I see nothing why this
is not as healthy a country as St. Lawrence [County, N. Y.],
people here [of] as
ruddy a character as in any place I ever saw. I shall start for
home if nothing
prevents in 4 weeks and you may expect to start as soon [as] con-
venient then for this
place. [T]here is a fine chance for you girls. I shall bring with
me your uncle Wm.['s]
children. I shall write again on Monday next and send you
some cash. Today is
Wednesday 27. I want to see you all. Rollin [a son] be a good
boy and you shall see
Defiance. Harriet and Esther [daughters] likewise. Write to me
the same day you
receive this all of you. My health is good my expense up was just
7 Dollars. From your
father G[ardner] Daggett to Miss Betsey Ann
Daggett [Rich-
ville, St. Lawrence
Co., N. Y.,] Defiance, Ohio, July 27, 1837." MS. letter in the
possession of Miss
Maude Carter of Defiance. The family came to Defiance later in
1837. Rollin was
destined not only to "see Defiance" but to become congressman from
Nevada and United
States Minister to Hawaii. Betsey Ann married William Carter
and became the mother
of the late Elbert E. Carter, president of the State Bank of
Defiance.
28 Warren Jenkins, The
Ohio Gazetteer (Columbus, 1841), 161.
DEFIANCE IN HISTORY
By FRANCIS
PHELPS WEISENBURGER
Today we stand in the heart of
the historic Maumee Valley.
Long before any written records
chronicled the story of the region,
French traders moved up and down the
river in the long journey
between the Great Lakes and the
Mississippi Basin. To the
French, the site of Defiance was known
as Au Glaize or Grand
Glaize. Among the Indians it was the
site of the Tu-en-da-wie
village of the Wyandots and the
En-sa-woc-sa of the Shawnees.1
Here, too, according to the tradition
handed down by the great
chief, Richardville,2 was the birthplace
of Pontiac, the masterful
leader of the Ottawas.3
During the eighteenth century, when
France and Great Britain
were struggling for control of the
region west of the Allegheny
Mountains, Celeron de Blainville was
sent to claim the Ohio coun-
try for the King of France. In 1749 he
buried leaden plates in the
Ohio Valley as a means of asserting the
rights of the French king.
On the return journey, Celeron's French
army traveled down the
Maumee on its way to Detroit. The chaplain of the expedition
tells us in his journal that as the
troops came through the Defiance
region (about October 1, 1749) "at
almost every instant we were
stopped by beds of flat stones, over
which it was necessary to drag
our pirogues by main force. I will say,
however, that at intervals
were found beautiful reaches of smooth
water, but they were few
and short."4 Three years
later (1752) Charles de Langlade, rep-
1 Henry Howe, Historical Collections
of Ohio (Norwalk, 1896), I, 542.
2 Jean Baptist Richardville or Peshewah,
was the son of a French trader and
Tecumwah, sister of Little Turtle. Born
in the vicinity of Fort Wayne about 1761,
he died there in August, 1841. From 1812
until his death he was head chief of the
Miamis and apparently one of the richest
Indians in North America. Bert J. Gris-
wold, ed., Fort Wayne, Gateway of the
West, in Indiana Historical Collections. XV
(Indianapolis, 1927), 29-30.
3 Horace S. Knapp, History of the
Maumee Valley (Toledo, 1876), 585.
4 Reuben G. Thwaites, ed., The Jesuit
Relations and Allied Documents, 1610-1791
(Cleveland, 1896-1901), LXIX. 191.
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