THE HARRISON TABLE
ROCK AND BALL'S
BATTLEFIELD.
[On Saturday, September 10, 1910, the
anniversary of Perry's
Victory on Lake Erie, 1813, two of the
most important historical sites
on the route of the Harrison Trail
through Sandusky County were
marked with bronze tablets and
appropriate unveiling exercises by the
ladies of the Colonel George Croghan
Chapter, Daughters of the Ameri-
can Revolution. We publish the report of
the proceedings as appeared
in The Fremont Daily News-EDITOR.]
The two sites recognized in the
anniversary proceedings were
those of Ball's battlefield, near the
resience of Birchard Hav-
ens in Ballville, and the rock known as
the Harrison mess table,
located on the crossroad about six miles
from Fremont, south of
the Greensburg pike, near the residences
of Hugh Havens and
Webb C. Smith.
The exercises Saturday were not only a
tribute to the
heroes of nearly a century ago, but also
commemorated Perry's
victory, which occurred September 10,
1813.
The tablets are of bronze, about two
feet in length and a
foot wide, and bear the following
inscriptions:
"General Harrison's mess table on
the Indian trail leading
from the headquarters of Major General
Harrison at Ft. Seneca
on the Sandusky river to Ft. Meigs on
the Maumee river. War
of 1812.
Erected by Colonel George Croghan chapter,
Daugh-
ters of the American Revolution."
"Ball's Battlefield, Major Ball's
squadron 2nd Light Dra-
goons U. S. army while escorting Col.
Wells' 71th U. S. infantry
from Major General Harrison's
headquarters at Fort Seneca to
relieve Major Croghan of the command of
Ft. Stephenson for
alleged insubordination in refusing to
evacuate the fort, was
ambushed by Indians near this spot, but
gallantly charging them,
killed seventeen with the sabre, 30th
July, 1813. Erected by
Col. Geo. Croghan chapter, D. A. R."
(360)
The Harrison Table Rock and Ball's Battlefield. 361 Under the old elm in front of the Havens residence in Ballville has been placed the hugh boulder on which the bronze tablet was unveiled in commemoration of Ball's battle. The exercises began at 10:30 and were most imposing and appro- priate, the presence of a squad from Co. K, under the command of Lieut. R. B. H. Corey, giving an added spirit of patriotism to the affair. A blast from the bugle announced the opening of the pro- |
|
gram, which began with the singing of America and a prayer by Father Jenkins of St. Paul's parish church.
THE ADDRESS OF WELCOME. Mrs. Louis A. Dickinson, Regent of Colonel George Croghan Chapter, presided and her address of welcome was as follows: In behalf of Colonel George Croghan Chapter I have the pleasure of extending to each one present, to the members of the Daughters of the American Revolution, to our state regent and state chairman of historic sites, to the members of the Sandusky County Historical Asso- ciation, to our county and townspeople, a most cordial welcome to these |
362 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
dedicatory exercises in honor of the
battle which occurred near this
spot on July 30, 1813, when Major Ball's
squadron, Second Light
Dragoons, U. S. Army, while escorting
Colonel Wells of the Seventeenth
U. S. Infantry, from Major General
Harrison's headquarters at Fort
Seneca to relieve Major Croghan of the
command of Fort Stephenson
for alleged insubordination in refusing
to evacuate the fort, was ambushed
by Indians, but gallantly charged them
and killed seventeen with the
saber.
It is a source of much gratification to
know that so many are
interested in this work and to know that
the deeds of the men of nearly
a century ago are not forgotten in the
hearts of the people. It is one
of the objects of the D. A. R. to
perpetuate the memory of the spirit
of the men who helped to achieve
American independence by the
acquisition and protection of historical
spots and by the erection of
markers. In dedicating this marker we
are endeavoring to place before
this generation and the generations to
come, a memorial which will
ever call to mind the great deeds
performed by the men of those early
days which aided in determining the fate
of the Northwest, and the
great debt of gratitude we shall ever
owe to them. And as this stone,
which we hope will endure for ages, is
unveiled, may there be planted
in the hearts of each one present seeds
of patriotism, civic pride, hope
and love which will grow and blossom,
not only in our hearts, but
also in the hearts of those who will
follow after us.
Mrs. Clayton R. Truesdall, state regent
of the D. A. R.,
spoke for the state society and her
first appearance before her
own chapter in such an office was
greeted enthusiastically by the
members of the chapter. Her remarks were
most excellent and
given in her usual attractive and
charming manner.
ADDRESS OF MRS. TRUESDALL.
Several years ago in conversation with a
friend on literary style,
Mathew Arnold said: "People think I
can teach them style. What stuff
it all is! Have something to say and say
it as clearly as you can.
That is the only secret of style."
So this morning is no time for any
special oratory but an occasion while
many are forced to stand, to speak
briefly as ambassador of the Daughters
of the Revolution in Ohio.
Our state has been one of the greatest
battlegrounds in history.
Here the contest took place between the
Indians and the advancing
civilization of Europe. Here was the
scene of the last bitter encounter
between the two races, the Anglo-Saxon
or British, and the Latin, or
French. Then came the reckoning between
the divisions of the Anglo-
Saxon, the English, and Americans. Its
inhabitants have listened to the
war-whoop of many savage nations, and
been subservient to the banner
of France, England and the United
States.
The Harrison Table Rock and Ball's
Battlefield. 363
No other county in the state is so rich
in early history as Sandusky.
A British post was established here
during the Revolutionary War. Here
the first permanent white settlers
located and the first marriage between
whites was performed. Especially during
the War of 1812 was it a
famous battleground.
In marking, one by one, these historical
places, we, as an organi-
zation, are not only showing patriotism
in one of the truest forms--
reverencing the memory and brave deeds
of our heroes--but we are
reminding the present and future
generations of our dearly won liberties,
for very truly has some one said:
"Every spot in a land that marks
the achievement of an heroic deed is to
that land a perpetual fountain
from which flows influences to
strengthen the patriotism of its people."
In imagination we can see Major Ball's
dragons gallantly riding
down this road. They obeyed the order to
charge with bayonets when-
ever smoke was seen and thus in a
hand-to-hand encounter killed
seventeen of the eighteen Indians.
Bravery in battle requires the same
courage, whether the fighting
is on Ball's battlefield with a small
squadron, at Fort Stephenson with
160 men defending the fort, or with the
thousands at Gettysburg. So
today we honor the memory of the men who
won the battle which pre-
ceded Croghan's victory by two days.
From here we will go on to the Harrison
Mess Rock located on
Harrison Trail. It is well known in this
part of the state on account
of its great size and because the
general and his staff lunched from its
spacious board.
As your state regent, I am delighted to
congratulate you on the
placing of these markers, for as the
Fort Kearney Chapter in Nebraska
was the first to erect a tablet on the
Old Oregon Trail in that state,
so you, members of my own chapter, are
the first to place markers on the
General Harrison Military Trail in Ohio.
Mrs. John T. Mack, of Sandusky, state
chairman of the his-
torical sites committee, was next
introduced by the local regent
and gave an interesting account of what
has been done through-
out the state in the marking and
commemoration of historic sites.
A part of her paper was as follows:
ADDRESS OF MRS. MACK.
The committee on historic sites of the
Daughters of the American
Revolution of Ohio wish to congratulate
the Colonel Croghan Chapter
upon the unveiling of two more tablets,
thus adding more laurels to the
wreath you have won in the marking of
historic spots. It was in the year
of 1901-02, under the state regency of
Mrs. John A. Murphy that the
committee on marking Revolutionary
soldiers' graves was formed. A
364 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Publications.
little later, locating and marking
historic sites was added to the work of
this committee. At that time we were
uncertain just how to proceed to
locate such graves. The committee
realized that absolute accuracy was
essential and our early historic sites
seemed few. We did not know how
rich Ohio is in historic associations.
We know now that this beloved
commonwealth, dear to us all, is
exceedingly rich in her history, not only
of the mound builders, her Indian wars,
Revolutionary War and the
War of 1812, in her portages and trails,
but also is she rich in her colonial
history brought forcibly to mind by old
Fort Sandusky, but recently
located, which was built in 1745 on the
northern bank of Sandusky Bay
and destroyed in 1764, long before Fort
Laurens was built in 1778.
It is said that Lord Dunmore's war was
the first struggle in the
War of the Revolution. Lord Dunmore with
his army came from
Fort Pitt down the Ohio to the mouth of
the Hock-Hocking River,
where he built Fort Gower. From thence
he came to the Scioto River
to an Indian camp called Camp Charlotte,
now in Pickaway County near
Circleville. It was about this time that
the battle of Point Pleasant was
fought and the Indians were defeated by
General Andrew Lewis. A
peace conference followed, the Indians
surrendering their claims to
the lands south of the Ohio River. It
was this event which inspired
Chief Logan's famous speech and the elm
tree still stands under which
he uttered those eloquent words that
will be read while American history
is written. The conflicts under General
George Rogers Clark in 1780-82,
against the Shawnees were successful. To
commemorate Clark's victory,
Simon Kenton, having successfully run
the gauntlet there, the Catherine
Green Chapter of Xenia on June 14, 1906,
unveiled a granite boulder on
the site of that old Indian village. One
of the first chapters to mark
a historic site in Ohio was the
Nathaniel Massie Chapter, of Chillicothe,
which joined with the women's clubs and
placed upon a pilaster of the
court house in Chillicothe a bronze
tablet commemorative of the fact
that upon this site stood the first state
house of Ohio, wherein was
adopted the original constitution of the
commonwealth. This tablet
was unveiled on the 100th anniversary of
the settlement of Chillicothe.
The D. A. R. of Cincinnati with other
patriotic societies, erected a mon-
ument to mark the location of Fort
Washington, one of the earliest
historic spots in the Northwest
Territory.
Twenty-five miles up the Miami River
General St. Clair built a
fort which he named after Alexander
Hamilton. A powder magazine
was erected at the south end of the
fort. The building on the fort
was presented by the estate of John
Milliken to the John Reily Chapter,
D. A. R.
The Columbus Chapter has celebrated the
marking of a historic
spot by placing a boulder in Martin
Avenue, on which a bronze tablet
tells its own story: "Near this
spot, June 21, 1813, was held a council
between General William Henry Harrison
and the Indian tribes com-
The Harrison Table Rock and Ball's
Battlefield. 365
prising the Wyandots, Delawares,
Shawnees and Senecas, with Tarhe,
the Crane, as spokesman, resulting in
the permanent peace with the
Indians of Ohio."
The Dolly Todd Madison Chapter of
Tiffin, on October 21, 1906,
placed a tablet commemorative of Fort
Ball which was built by General
Harrison in 1812, as a small stockade
and was used as a depot for
supplies.
In 1899 the Piqua Chapter bought a
triangle of ground on which
they erected a monument in commemoration
of one of the French and
Indian wars. On Flag day, 1906, the
Piqua Chapter unveiled a tablet of
bronze on the house, known as the
Colonel Johnston Indian Agency
House.
On June 25, 1909, the New Connecticut
Chapter of Painesville
unveiled two bronze tablets on the new
court house there. One to the
memory of President James A. Garfield,
who was a citizen of Lake
County, and one to Samuel Huntington,
Governor of Ohio in 1808,
whose early home in Painesville Township
is still standing.
The Old Northwest Chapter at Ravenna has
marked the spot
where Captain Samuel Brady immortalized
the little lake which bears
his name, by erecting a granite marker
there.
Last fall at the conference, when it was
suggested that the D. A. R.
of Ohio, mark historic trails through
the state, especially the old Indian
trail along the Sandusky and Scioto
Rivers from the lake to the Ohio,
and that they place a tablet on a
monument to be erected at Port Clinton
on the north side of the peninsula on
the shore of Lake Erie, to
commemorate the embarkation of General
Harrison and his army for
Maiden and Detroit, and the battle of
the Thames, the Daughters were
enthusiastic over the suggestion and the
money for such a tablet was
pledged then and there. And now,
Daughters of the Colonel George
Croghan Chapter, you have the
satisfaction and the high honor of erecting
the first monument and the first tablet
on this famous trail. I indeed
congratulate you for having accomplished
the most work of any of our
chapters in this direction.
Following the formal presentation of the
tablet to the
county by Mrs. Dickinson, the flag
veiling the tablet was re-
moved by several children under the
direction of Miss Char-
lotte Dillon, secretary of the local
chapter, and Miss Nelle
Gast, state secretary of the D. A. R.,
and the firing of the
national salute by the Co. K squad
completed the formal un-
veiling exercises.
Capt. E. C. Sayles, in behalf of the
county, accepted the
tablet and his remarks were most
appropriate. He congratu-
lated especially the D. A. R. in
their efforts to perpetuate the
366 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
memory of heroic deeds and he urged each
citizen to appreciate
the value of such a gift and let it be
an inspiration to learn
more of the history of the county and
this locality.
The singing of the Star Spangled Banner
concluded the
exercises at the site of Ball's
battlefield.
The children who participated in the
program were: little
Misses Gertrude Hafford, Betsy Bell
Brown, Jessie and Alice
Childs, Mary Elizabeth Truesdall, Jane Phillips
and Helen Wrig-
ley, Masters Harold Fangboner, Hiram Moe
Datesman, Richard
Thatcher, William Haynes and John
Walters.
The exercises which followed at the rock
known as the
Harrison mess table, six miles west of
Fremont on the Greens-
burg pike, were equally as imposing and
patriotic.
Miss Lucy Keeler spoke briefly on the
history of the stone,
and in closing her remarks invited the
two guests of the chapter,
Mrs. Kellogg. of Toledo, regent of the
Ursula Wolcott chapter,
and Mrs. John Mack, of Sandusky, to
remove the table cloth
of red, white and blue, which covered
the stone.
Mr. Basil Meek, whose knowledge of local
history is so ex-
tensive, gave the following interesting
paper on the history and
traditions connected with the Harrison
mess table.
MR. MEEK'S ADDRESS.
The story of the lives and deeds of the
soldiers of the war of 1812,
in their relation to our Lower Sandusky
Valley, is more than a "twice-
told tale," for it has been told
and retold many times, by the pioneer and
historian, but seems not to grow old or
stale by repetition as the years
go by, and, as is believed, interest in
local history increases. It is,
therefore, no new story that is brought
before us today, but acts to
commemorate the old in order that the
same may be preserved and
handed down to succeeding generations.
Commodore Perry's victory on Lake Erie
September 10, 1813, was
a notable event in the War of 1812.
While the British held control of
the waters of the lakes no successful
advance of our army into the
enemy's territory, in Canada, could be
made to attack and destroy the
army of Proctor. The Americans must
submit to be on the defensive.
The gallant and successful defense of
Fort Stephenson by the brave
Major Croghan and his comrades on August
2, was the preparatory step
to Perry's naval battle. It cleared the
landway to the lakes and the
brilliant achievement of Perry opened
the waterway to Canada and
made possible its invasion, which soon
followed, resulting, as we know,
The Harrison Table Rock and Ball's
Battlefield. 367
in the disastrous defeat and flight of
Proctor at the Battle of the Thames
and death of the warrior Tecumseh, the
ruling spirit in the great
uprising of the Indian savages against
our people in the Northwest.
The power of our enemies, both British
and Indian, was now broken
and permanent peace to our harassed
frontier inhabitants assured.
The famous message from Commodore Perry
to General Harrison,
at Fort Seneca, announcing his victory:
"We have met the enemy
and they are ours--two ships, two brigs,
one schooner and a sloop,"
was, on its way, read at Lower Sandusky,
and Captain McAfee in his
history says: "This exhilarating
news set Lower Sandusky and Camp
Seneca in an uproar of tumultuous
joy." He further relates that Gen-
eral Harrison immediately proceeded to
Lower Sandusky and issued
orders for the movement of troops and
transportation of military stores
to the margin of the lake preparatory to
their embarkation for Canada.
It is, therefore, fitting that the
patriotic women of Colonel George
Croghan Chapter, Daughters of the
American Revolution,, residents of
the immediate locality, of events
occurring therein or directly associated
therewith or near by, should, on this
97th anniversary day and year,
of these events, permanently mark some
of the spots connected with
such events, or with the history of the
heroes of the same.
The large boulder before us known as
"Harrison Rock," and thus
appropriately named, by permission of
the Havens family, is in the
north and south public road dividing the
farms of Hugh Havens and
the late W. J. Havens, on the line
between sections 14 and 15 in Jackson
Township, about seven miles
southwesterly from the City of Fremont.
The size of the boulder is nearly 13
feet long, 10 feet average width,
and 31/2 feet out of ground and about
the same beneath the surface,
making it about 7 feet thick, which
would make it contain about 1000
cubic feet and weigh about 80 tons, as
estimated by Prof. Wright, the
eminent geologist, who, by request of
the Secretary of the Sandusky
County Pioneer and Historical
Association, visited it two years ago.
There is a generally accepted and well
founded tradition, that on
one occasion and probably others during
his campaigns in the Sandusky
and Maumee River Valleys, in the War of
1812, General William Henry
Harrison with his military staff partook
of a meal on the surface of
this boulder as a mess-table. That he
must have frequently passed
along by the same is very certain, we
believe. There was an Indian
trail leading from Lower Sandusky,
southwesterly, passing through what
is now Spiegel Grove, the home of the
late President Rutherford B.
Hayes, passing thence southwesterly on
the west side of the Sandusky
River, and at a point about two miles
southeast of the boulder, inter-
secting a similar trail leading from the
site of Fort Seneca, on the
Sandusky River. The two trails here seem
to have united, forming one
continuous trail to Fort Meigs, on the
Maumee River. This became
known as the "Harrison
Trail" for the reason that General Harrison,
368 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
in his military movements between Lower
Sandusky, Fort Seneca and
Fort Meigs, traveled this route, as his
military road between the points
named.
These farms on either side of the rock
have been in the Havens
family for 55 years; the venerable Hugh
Havens says that he well
remembers traces of this trail known
then as the Harrison Trail,
by the strip of timber cut out to form a
passageway for military
vehicles, and that these traces were
plainly to be seen near to the spot
where the boulder lies.
In the field notes of the government
survey in the year 1820
this trail is noted as a "road to
Fort Meigs," in the surveyors' division
of section 14 and 15, the notation
placing the same at a point bringing
the trail or "road to Fort
Meigs," near to the spot where the rock lies,
and therefore making the same a
convenient and certainly a most sub-
stantial mess-table for the brave general
and staff in the then dreary wild-
erness, abounding as it did with the
savage enemy. We may say that it
was to him really something more than
the "shadow of a great rock in a
weary land;" it was more literally
a "table prepared for him in the
presence of his enemies."
Our boulder is certainly not native to
Sandusky County. It is
undoubtedly what we may call an
"immigrant" from some other region.
There is nowhere in Ohio where any
outcrop of bed rock of the forma-
tion like our boulder, can be found. Prof.
Orton says that no drill has
ever penetrated deep enough in Ohio to
reach down to such granitic
bed rock. Where did it and others of its
kind, called hardheads or nigger-
heads, which lie thickly scattered in
portions of the county, come from?
Their generally rounded and smoothed
surface would indicate that
they have been transported from a
distance and been rolled (bowled)
and polished in their transportation
hither. The nearest ledges to this
region of outcrops of granitic bed rock
are in northern New York and
Canada. From one of these regions, most
likely Canada, this boulder
came, that region being more directly
north from us. How and when
did it reach this, to it, a foreign
land? Geology furnishes the only true
answer. Many thousands of years ago,
there was a great ice period,
during which this entire northern region
was covered with glacial ice
to a very great depth, having its origin
in and moving down from the
far north, southward at the very slow
rate of but a few feet each day,
but with such resistless force as to
change the whole surface of the
earth over which it passed, filling
valleys, piling up ridges, damming
up and changing water courses, forming
lakes, creating water falls,
even that of the stupendous Niagara.
It is reasonable, from geological
authority to state that this rock
was taken from its native ledge in the
north and being clasped in the
frozen embrace of this mighty glacial
ice stream was transported in its
tedious and dreary voyage of hundreds of
miles to its present position,
The Harrison Table Rock and Ball's Battlefield. 369
probably requiring more than a century of years to accomplish the journey; and finally when the springtime to this long glacial winter of thousands of years came, the ice melted, the waters ran off and our large boulder was dumped and left a stranger in a strange land, where it now lies, a monumental evidence of the great ice period claimed by geologists to have once existed. Could this rock audibly speak to us today what a romantic story it could tell! It might speak of its native home in the far north, of the interminable snows there falling, which shoved it therefrom; of its journey to its present and final abiding place; of the vicissitudes attending its passage thither; of the long glacial winter, lasting here, before any summer came; of the final change of seasons and coming of summertime and growth of the great forests; of the abounding wild animal life, of the coming of man, the red man first who in his roaming life probably found at times a resting place on this very rock; of the coming of the white man and what we all see about the spot today, the wilderness subdued, the beautiful farms surrounding it on all sides, and the homes of a happy and prosperous people. The rock by natural phenomena is a monument to the glacial age, and now it is by the act of today, dedicated a monument to the heroes who availed themselves of its ample surface for refreshment in their toilsome march in the service of their country. The tablet was then dedicated by the national salute fired by the Company K squad. |
|
Vol. XIX.- 24. |
THE HARRISON TABLE
ROCK AND BALL'S
BATTLEFIELD.
[On Saturday, September 10, 1910, the
anniversary of Perry's
Victory on Lake Erie, 1813, two of the
most important historical sites
on the route of the Harrison Trail
through Sandusky County were
marked with bronze tablets and
appropriate unveiling exercises by the
ladies of the Colonel George Croghan
Chapter, Daughters of the Ameri-
can Revolution. We publish the report of
the proceedings as appeared
in The Fremont Daily News-EDITOR.]
The two sites recognized in the
anniversary proceedings were
those of Ball's battlefield, near the
resience of Birchard Hav-
ens in Ballville, and the rock known as
the Harrison mess table,
located on the crossroad about six miles
from Fremont, south of
the Greensburg pike, near the residences
of Hugh Havens and
Webb C. Smith.
The exercises Saturday were not only a
tribute to the
heroes of nearly a century ago, but also
commemorated Perry's
victory, which occurred September 10,
1813.
The tablets are of bronze, about two
feet in length and a
foot wide, and bear the following
inscriptions:
"General Harrison's mess table on
the Indian trail leading
from the headquarters of Major General
Harrison at Ft. Seneca
on the Sandusky river to Ft. Meigs on
the Maumee river. War
of 1812.
Erected by Colonel George Croghan chapter,
Daugh-
ters of the American Revolution."
"Ball's Battlefield, Major Ball's
squadron 2nd Light Dra-
goons U. S. army while escorting Col.
Wells' 71th U. S. infantry
from Major General Harrison's
headquarters at Fort Seneca to
relieve Major Croghan of the command of
Ft. Stephenson for
alleged insubordination in refusing to
evacuate the fort, was
ambushed by Indians near this spot, but
gallantly charging them,
killed seventeen with the sabre, 30th
July, 1813. Erected by
Col. Geo. Croghan chapter, D. A. R."
(360)