Ohio History Journal

JOHNSON'S ISLAND.

 

 

BY HEWSON L. PEEKE.

This island lies three miles north of Sandusky in the bay.

It is nearly a mile long, half a mile wide, and contains about

three hundred acres rising gradually in the center to a height

of fifty feet. It was originally covered with heavy timber and

was a favorite resort of the Indians who came there to fish, feast

and torture their captives.

Its first owner was E. W. Bull and it was originally called

Bull's Island until 1852 when it was called Johnson's Island after

its purchase by L. B. Johnson. In 1811 an effort was made to

found a town on the island and to plat a village, and the custom

house was located there but the attempt was abandoned. Some

time later the island was sold under an execution levied on a

jackass and the island itself and it is amusing to note that the

donkey brought the most money.

The first historical mention of Johnson's Island is by Joshua

R. Giddings who enlisted in the war of 1812 when only sixteen

years old and on October first, 1812, wrote his parents a letter

describing the landing on Johnson's Island (then called Bull's

Island) from which the following quotation is taken:

 

OCTOBER 1, 1812.

HONORED PARENTS,

Having got a little refreshed I take my pen in hand to inform

you of the past battle that has taken place in our troops in which some

of our countrymen have lost their lives to maintain the freedom of our

country. One week ago 150 of our men volunteered to go to Sandusky

to fetch some property away from there. They accordingly arrived

there on Friday. On Saturday four boats set sail from there loaded

with salt fish and apples. On Sunday night they landed on Bull's Island

near the middle of Sandusky Bay, etc."

 

The Register of August 8, 1884, described a visit of Joshua

R. Giddings to Sandusky in 1853. He was nearly seven feet

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Johnson's Island.                471

 

high, and in order to honor him Capt. Orr's Island Queen was

chartered, and Eleutheros Cooke, Henry D. Cooke, Earl Bill

and Toby Green and other prominent citizens formed a party

and Mr. Giddings pointed out to them on Johnson's Island the

spot where Gen. Harrison's army party encamped; after their

return from the disastrous sortie at Fort Meigs in the war

of 1812.

In 1861 the property was leased by the government as a

depot for rebel prisoners. The necessary buildings having been

erected, the first prisoners were installed in their quarters in

April, 1862, under the charge of Company A, Hoff battalion

which was subsequently increased to a full regiment, the 128th

O. V. I. The number of prisoners was constantly varying, the

largest number at any one time being over three thousand; but

from its beginning till the close of the war over fifteen thousand

rebels were confined there, mostly rebel officers.

In a letter published in the Register, August 20, 1891, Wm.

T. West says that he bought the lumber for Johnson's Island

prison from R. B. Hubbard at $8.00 a thousand, and used 1,500,-

000 feet of lumber. He states that he took the contract Novem-

ber 12, 1861, and gave bond in $40,000 to have the buildings

ready for occupancy January 31, 1862, and that he was favored

by the weather and completed the buildings on time.

The buildings were frame buildings neither ceiled nor plas-

tered, 100 feet long and two stories high, each story divided into

two rooms, box style and built of drop lumber full of knot

holes. The winter of 1862, 1863 and 1864 were all severe, and

many of the prisoners had never seen snow or ice, and when

they were conducted to Johnson's Island on the ice and came to

a smooth place they would fall down on their hands and knees

which was very amusing to the guards.

Among the prisoners on Johnson's Island was H. H. Lurton

who was afterward Judge of the Supreme Court of Tennessee,

and later Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.

At the conclusion of the war on April 12, 1866, the build-

ings on Johnson's Island were sold by the government and most

of them bought in by L. B. Johnson. Nothing now remains of

them except one or two guard posts used as a pig sty.

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472        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

The Register of June 11th, 1862, quotes a letter from a

rebel prisoner on Johnson's Island, published in the Memphis

Appeal:

"After a week at Camp Chase I was sent to Johnson's Island in

Sandusky Bay. This is purely a military prison. It is designed for

company officers; the buildings are large, new and commodious, and

the grounds extensive. * * * The prison covers about fifteen acres

of ground enclosed by a fence similar to that at Camp Chase. The

grounds slope to the east where they border upon the lake. Upon the

west the trees of a dense forest reach to and within the enclosure,

and furnish abundant shade, while a carpet of fine grass covers the

ground everywhere. Altogether Sandusky is the least disagreeable prison

I ever saw  or heard of.   The officers in command are civil and

courteous-the lake breeze robs the summer sun of his heat, the view

of the city, lake and neighboring islands is fine, the restrictions upon

the prisoners are few, and altogether it is a salubrious pleasant place."

 

The following shows the view point of the soldiers guard-

ing the rebel prisoners on Johnson's Island and is quoted in the

Register of January 19th, 1863, from the Cleveland Plain Dealer

of January 14th.

"Visit our barracks and take a look at things as they really are.

Opening the door you see before you a vast army of bunks in three

tiers, one above the other, each bunk supposed to contain two men.

Immediately after breakfast you will find all bunks made up, floor

swept, benches and tables piled up, arms and accoutrements in their

respective places, and everything in good order. One table being left

in the center of the room is occupied the prinicple part of the day by

groups at their honest little games of seven-up and poker-merely to

pass the time-as the paymaster has not yet been seen. In another

corner of the room is a musical soiree composed of two one-horse

fiddlers, trying to squeeze out 'The Girl I Left Behind Me' in a

manner to set a fellow's teeth on edge and to cause the blood to run

cold. Another group seated around the stove are conversing on politics.

At another end of the room a corporal is drilling new recruits (called

the Awkward Squad) in the manual of arms in which they take every

position but the right one.

"We have between 300 and 400 rebellious individuals in our pen.

The principal part of them  were captured in Kentucky. They are

mostly bush-whackers, and not a very intelligent looking set, I assure

you. They somewhat resemble the 'Last Rose of Summer' run over by

a small wagon. We have 46 men detailed for guard every day, so we

make out to keep things straight in the prison yard. Everything is

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Johnson's Island.                    473

 

satisfactory to the 'rebs' with the exception of the cold weather which

keeps them in the buildings most of the time. We have good living

as there is considerable variety about it. For breakfast fried beef,

bread and coffee; dinner, boiled ditto, potatoes, bread and water; supper,

bread, molasses and tea. Sometimes for a change, beef soup or rice."

 

The Register of May 16, 1863, contains a two column ac-

count of the execution of two rebel prisoners William Corbin

and T. P. McGraw convicted of recruiting for the Confederate

army within the lines of the U. S. forces, and of carrying mail

and information to the rebels.

The Register of January ₄th, 1866, contains the following

article:

"When the rebel prisoners all officers and many of them high in

rank were confined on Johnson's Island opposite this city, they ex-

hibited a far greater amount of ingenuity than they were ever willing

to acknowledge previous to their undertaking the task of rearing a

southern confederacy. Previous to that event they considered it de-

grading and beneath the dignity of a gentleman to perform manual

labor of any kind. Be that as it may, we know they manufactured

many little articles such as chairs, tables, bedsteads, etc., with which

to render prison life comfortable.  Many of the articles were very

fair specimens of southern furniture and mechanism  and not totally

devoid of rustic beauty. In the line of chairs they manufactured

hundreds of the old split bottom variety, bottomed with the leather

of old boots, cut into strings and neatly interwoven together. Owing

to a scarcity of tools the wooden frames were made with only the

use of the jackknife and auger, and were really a very staunch made

chair. On the release of the prisoners hundreds of these chairs were

sold at public auction. * * * Every chair was marked with the

name of the owner on the top slat of the back, together with the

number of his regiment, and the state from which he came. They

were not marked, we suppose, because they suspected the honesty of

their fellow prisoners, but simply that they might be able to tell their

own and be able to reclaim their property should it stray from their

quarters. It is not an uncommon thing now to see a chair sitting

around once owned by Colonel Sawyer of the 14th Mississippi or of

Brigadier Generals Johnson, Marmaduke or other notables of the once

rebel bull pen. Fifty years hence such articles will be looked upon as

greater curiosities than many that grace our public museums and cost

hundreds of dollars."

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474        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

The Register of October 1₉th, 1876, contains the following

extract from the report of Jake Thompson the Canadian agent

of Jeff Davis to the Conferedate Government which report was

made in 1864 from Toronto:

 

"It had been previously ascertained that an organization existed

among the prisoners on the island for the purpose of surprising the

guard and capturing the island; the presence of the steamer Michigan

which carried fourteen guns being the only obstacle.   Secret com-

munications were had by which they were advised that on the night of

the 19th of September an attempt to seize the steamer would be made.

On that night Captain Cole who had established the friendliest rela-

tions with officers of the steamer was to have a wine drunk with them

on board and at a given hour Acting Master Beall was to appear on

the boat to be obtained for that purpose, with a sufficient number of

soldiers to board and take the steamer. Should they capture the steamer

a cannon shot was to announce to the prisoners that the hour for their

release had come. Should they take the island boats were to be im-

provised and Sandusky was to be attacked.    If taken the prisoners

were to be mounted and taken to Cleveland, the boats co-operating, and

from Cleveland the prisoners were to make for Wheeling and thence

to Virginia. The key to the whole movement was the capture of the

Michigan. On the evening of the twelfth by some treachery Cole was

arrested and the messenger who was to reach Acting Master Beall at

Kelley's Island did not reach him. Disappointed but nothing daunted

Acting Master Beall having possession of the Philo Parsons passenger

steamer from Detroit to Sandusky went on his way to Johnson's Island.

Having landed at Middle Bass to procure a supply of wood the Steamer

Island Queen with a large number of passengers and thirty-two soldiers

came up alongside and lashed herself to the Parsons. An attack was

at once resolved on. The passengers and soldiers were soon made

prisoners and the boat delivered up to our men. The soldiers were

regularly paroled, the passengers were left on the Island having given

their promise not to attempt to leave for twenty-four hours; and the

boat was taken out into the lake and sunk. The Parsons was then

steered directly for the Bay of Sandusky. Here the men for certain

reasons not altogether satisfactory refused to make an attack on the

Michigan. Beall returned, landed at Sandwich Canada West and the

men scattered through the country. Most of them have returned to

the Confederate States. But a few days since Acting Master Bennett

C. Burley was arrested and his trial is now going on under the extradi-

tion treaty. If we had Cole's, Beall's or his own commission I should

not fear the result; as it is they will have to prove they acted under my

order, and that will in all probability secure his release but it may

lead to my expulsion from the provinces, at least I have it from a

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Johnson's Island.                     475

 

reliable source that this last proposition has been pressed on the

Canadian authorities and they have considered it. Should the course

of events take this direction, unadvised by you I shall consider it

my duty, to remain where I am and abide the issue. I should prefer

if possible to have your views on  the subject. Captain Cole is still

a prisoner on Johnson's Island."

 

The following is a copy of the order releasing four Sandusky

citizens arrested for conspiracy to release the rebel prisoners

on Johnson's Island, and now in the possession of Fred Frey.

 

HEADQUARTERS U. S. FORCES.

At Johnson's Island and Sandusky.

Johnson's Island, Ohio, Sept. 21st, 1864.

Special Orders 227.

2. John H. Williams, Dr. E. Stanley, John M. Brown, and Abraham

Strain, citizens of Sandusky, having been arrested by Captain J. Steiner,

Pro. Marshal, 9th district of Ohio, and awaited at this post further

investigation upon allegations understood to implicate them with others,

in a conspiracy to capture the U. S. Steamer Michigan, and rescue the

rebel prisoners at this port, or to aid and assist them and the facts

having been more fully inquired into, and they failing to make out a

case against the said Williams, Stanley, Brown and Strain, they are

hereby released from further detention.

By command of Col. Chas. W. Hill.

JOHN LEWIS,

JOHN M. BROWN, Citizen,                  Capt. and A. A. A. Gen'l.

Sandusky, Ohio.

 

In the report on the treatment of prisoners of war by the

rebel authorities third session fortieth Congress 1868-1869, page

151, will be found the following statement by a rebel surgeon

who was released from Johnson's Island which was also printed

in the Richmond Enquirer:

"The sleeping accommodations are very comfortable consisting of

a bunk with straw bed and if the individual has no blanket one is fur-

nished and he is allowed to buy as many more as he wants. Every

room has a good stove and is furnished with a sufficiency of wood.

This the prisoners have to saw for themselves after it is brought to

their doors-by the way a very good exercise. The prison consists

of thirteen large wooden buildings. The space of ground is sixteen

acres of which the prisoners have full liberty to exercise in, to sing

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476       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

Southern national songs, to hurrah for Jeff Davis, to play ball or any

other game they see fit.

The rations are exactly the same as are issued to the garrison, con-

sisting of fresh beef, pork, baker's bread, sugar, coffee, beans, hominy,

soft soap and candles. Besides these up to the time I left there was

a sutler's store inside the enclosure at which we could obtain any kind

of meat or vegetables or knick-knacks if we chose. We could purchase

anything we wanted. Clothing and eatables were allowed to be sent

the prisoners by their friends in the North in any quantity and money

without stint."

 

The Register of June 20th, 1888, says twenty-five cows were

kept on the milk sold to the prisoners at six cents a quart. The

number of prisoners was about five thousand of whom 206 died

over there, most of whom were sick or wounded on their arrival.

The Register of October 12, 1889, prints the full list of

those buried on the island and states that L. B. Johnson and the

Register own the only two lists in existence. Owing to the visit

of a delegation from Georgia an effort was started to fix up the

graves on the island which plan had hitherto failed because L. B.

Johnson would not sell the land where the cemetery was located.

For many years since the graves have been decorated on Decora-

tion Day, the grass mowed and the undergrowth kept trimmed.

After the war the graves of the confederate prisoners on

Johnson's Island were neglected for many years, until finally on

March 30, 1890, the 206 graves were marked with headstones.

In 1891 an effort was made by the 5th Regiment of Ohio In-

fantry to buy a camping ground on the island but the project fell

through. On January 20th, 1898, L. B. Johnson died at the age

of 97 and the island passed out of the hands of the Johnson

family.

On November 18, 1904, an option was given the Daughters

of the Confederacy to buy the cemetery, and on March 14, 1905,

they purchased a strip of land 100 feet wide by 485 feet long

including the cemetery 100 feet wide by 2091/2 feet long. On

June 8th, 1910, the beautiful monument now standing was un-

veiled, and the statute of the confederate soldier faces the east

waiting for the arising of his brethren.

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