Ohio History Journal

The McGuffey Society at the Logan Elm 367

The McGuffey Society at the Logan Elm 367

accomplishments of the Americans who came here, and out of

a wilderness carved a commonwealth!"

Following this came the illuminative and interesting

address by former Governor James E. Campbell, Presi-

dent of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical

Society, entitled:

LOGAN AND THE LOGAN ELM

"Ladies and Gentlemen:

"Logan, whose Indian name was Tah-gah-jute, was the

chief of the small tribe of Indians known as the Mingos.* In

his early life, before he succumbed to the excessive use of the

fire-water of the palefaces, he was unusually handsome and

attractive. He stood well over six feet; had a dignified bearing,

a benign countenance and a fine disposition; and was especially

noted for his friendly relations with white people. In April,

1774, a party of white men, headed by Michael Cresap, started

out with the avowed intention of attacking Logan and his family.

On the way, however, Cresap, who felt that Logan was not

guilty of the offense for which they were about to punish him,

persuaded his command to return to their homes. A few days

* Robert Thackleton in his Book of Philadelphia says in regard to

"Stenton," the old colonial house just below Wayne Junction and its owner

James Logan:

"Stenton, a mansion put up about 1728 by James Logan, a scholar, a

philosopher, a man of affairs, the secretary of William Penn, and after-

wards personal representative of Penn himself and the Penn family, and

Chief Justice of the Colony. A very important man indeed was Logan,

and liked and trusted by all who knew him. He was a friend of Franklin."

Here follows a description of the house. He continues:

"A great chief came eastward from the Ohio country, Wingohocking,

and he visited here the powerful Logan, Secretary of the Colony and

known to be a friend of the Indians; and Logan and he, in Indian fashion,

exchanged names, that of Logan being given to the stripling son of Wingo-

hocking, and the name of Wingohocking being given to a little stream

near Stenton, with the idea that, as Logan expressed it, 'Long after we

have passed away it shall still flow and bear thy name.' The name is still

known in Germantown as that of the little stream and that of a railroad

station; and as to the stripling, henceforth known as Logan, he rose to

great fame in the region of the Ohio, as both statesman and warrior, and

a speech which he delivered at a council has been rated by no less an

authority than Thomas Jefferson, as among the great speeches of the

world."

[This note was received from Mrs. 0. D. Dryer. - ED.]

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368 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

later another band of whites, led by a man named Greathouse,

cruelly massacred some Indians, men, women and children, near

the mouth of Yellow Creek at a point on the south bank of the

Ohio River opposite Logan's home. Only one person, a baby,

was spared in this treacherous attack. One of the murdered

women was the sister of Logan. He resented this outrage and

started out to obtain revenge. His whole nature was changed;

he became vicious and blood-thirsty and wreaked indiscriminate

vengeance upon the whites. It is said that he caused the death

of thirty whites. A letter from Arthur St. Clair (afterwards

the first Governor of the Northwest Territory) written on June

22 states that Logan had returned with one prisoner and thirteen

scalps. In July he saved the life of a white man named Robin-

son and, a few days after, brought Robinson a piece of paper.

He made a black fluid of water and gunpowder and commanded

Robinson to write a note upon the paper which read as follows:

"'Captain Cresap,

'What did you kill my people on Yellow Creek for? The white

people killed my kin at Conestoga, a great while ago, and I thought nothing

of that. But you killed my kin again on Yellow Creek, and took my cousin

prisoner. Then I thought I must kill too; and I have been three times to

war since; but the Indians are not angry, only myself.

'Captain John Logan.

'July 21st, 1774.'"

"Every member of the family of a white man, named John

Roberts, was cruelly assassinated soon after. A war club was

deposited in the house of this family, and the foregoing note

was attached to it. It was the first deliberate complaint made

by Logan against Michael Cresap. Michael Cresap had nothing

whatever to do with the massacre in which Logan's sister was

killed, but Logan believed him to be guilty and disseminated

that belief far and wide. So thoroughly was it inculcated among

the Indians that, when an Indian woman wished to quiet her

child, she threatentd it with Cresap.

"Six months after the Yellow Creek massacre Logan gave

utterance to his famous speech which will be referred to later in

this address. During these six months much had occurred

which it is necessary to know in order to understand the situa-

tion, and which will here be briefly recited. The Indian tribes

in Ohio and the western part of Pennsylvania and Virginia, at

the instigation of Cornstalk, an able, aggressive and valiant chief

of the Shawnees, had formed a great confederation for the pur-

pose of exterminating or driving out the white settlers. At that

time the Earl of Dunmore, a very arbitrary, stubborn and high-

handed ruler, had long been the royal Governor of the Colony

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370 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

join him. Lewis, however, was on the track of Cornstalk and

intended to fight him. He was a true American, a noted and

experienced soldier and ready to fight either the Indians or the

British, or both, whenever it became necessary. He evaded the

order from Dunmore and fought Cornstalk at Point Pleasant.

Virginia. He won a great victory in the bloodiest, fiercest and

most important battle in the annals of Indian warfare. Randall

and Ryan in their History of Ohio, say that

"'The battle of Point Pleasant was the most extensive, the most bit-

terly contested, and fought with the most potent results of any Indian

battle in American history. At the time it occurred it aroused world-wide

interest. Not only English papers in the mother country but French and

German newspapers published extensive articles descriptive of the battle.'

"Colonel John Stuart, in his Historical Memoirs says: 'This

battle was, in fact, the beginning of the Revolutionary war.'

Theodore Roosevelt, in the Winning of the West, says of this

war that

"'It was of the greatest advantage to the American cause; for it kept

the northwestern Indians off our hands for the first two years of the

Revolutionary struggle.'

"Randall and Ryan also say most cogently:

"'The fate of the Northwest Territory was at stake in that battle

though no British soldier participated therein. Surely America has no

more historic soil than the ground of the Kanawha and Ohio point red-

dened that October day by the blood of savage warriors and frontier

woodsmen.'

"Immediately after the battle Lewis marched his army up

into the Scioto region against the desire of Dunmore who was

then engaged in an attempt to negotiate a treaty with the In-

dians. Logan was not present at the battle of Point Pleasant

but Michael Cresap was. Although Cresap was not a Virginian

but a citizen of Maryland, he was appointed a captain by Dun-

more who solicited him to serve with the Virginia troops be-

cause of his high reputation as a soldier. Soon after this battle

Cresap returned to his home, but the next spring he raised and

commanded the first company which was sent from the South

to join General Washington at Cambridge. He stood high in

the councils of Washington and was promoted to Colonel. He

died in the service, and his remains lie in Trinity churchyard

at New York amid those of many other revolutionary patriots.

Dunmore, soon after the battle, moved his army to Camp

Charlotte, a few miles from where we are now assembled. He

had already notified Lewis through two messengers; one was

the celebrated fighter, Simon Kenton, and the other was the

The McGuffey Society at the Logan Elm 371

The McGuffey Society at the Logan Elm 371

notorious Simon Girty who afterwards deserted to the Indians

and became the most detestable renegade known to the settle-

ments of this state. Dunmore succeeded in persuading Corn-

stalk and all of his associated chiefs, except Logan, to meet him

and enter into a treaty of peace. The treaty was taken back,

in Dunmore's saddlebags, to Williamsburg, then the capital of

Virginia; but the Revolutionary war was impending and Dun-

more was engaged in a controversy with the Virginia patriots

which ended in his expulsion from the country. In this turmoil

the treaty was mislaid.

"Dunmore had been very anxious to include Logan in the

signatories to the treaty and sent General Gibson to try to per-

suade him to appear at the council. Gibson was the reputed

father of the baby saved at the massacre of Yellow Creek, and

it was thought that he might be able to influence him. Logan

refused to attend the meeting and, in an explosion of grief and

anger, burst into tears and uttered the following piece of im-

passioned eloquence which has become so famous:

"'I appeal to any white man to say if he ever entered Logan's cabin

hungry and he gave him not meat; if he ever came cold and naked and he

clothed him not. During the course of the last long and bloody war,

Logan remained idle in his cabin, an advocate for peace. Such was my

love for the whites that my countrymen pointed as they passed and said,

"Logan is the friend of the white man." I had even thought to have lived

with you but for injuries of one man. Colonel Cresap, last spring, in cold

blood and unprovoked, murdered all relations of Logan, not even sparing

my women and children. There runs not a drop of my blood in the veins

any living creature. This called on me for revenge. I have sought it. I

have killed many. I have fully glutted my vengeance. For my country I

rejoice at the beams of peace; but do not harbor a thought that mine is

the joy of fear. Logan never felt fear. He will not turn on his heel to

save his life. Who is there to mourn for Logan? Not one.'

"Logan spoke excellent English, and spoke it readily; and

Gibson declared that he committed Logan's exact language to

paper immediately thereafter; that he delivered it to Lord Dun-

more and that the copy published in Jefferson's Notes on Vir-

ginia was true and accurate. Archibald Loudon, in his Narra-

tives of Indians and Their Wars, says:

"'It was known to the camp where it was delivered; was given out

by Lord Dunmore and his officers; ran through the public papers of the

states; was rehearsed as an exercise at school; published in the papers

and periodical works of Europe, and all this a dozen years before it was

copied in the Notes on Virginia.

"These facts, however, did not deter Luther Martin, a son-

in-law of Michael Cresap, from charging that Jefferson forged

the speech in order to besmirch Cresap. This accusation was

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372 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

made because Martin was a Federalist and Jefferson a Demo-

crat - such was the unparalleled malignity of partisan warfare

in that day. Luther Martin was the greatest lawyer of his time

and the only extenuation for his conduct is that he was not only

devoted to law but also to the spirits--the kind that, at the

present time, are under a cloud owing to the provisions of the

Volstead Law.

"Logan's speech contains many misstatements. Cresap did

not murder any of Logan's family. Nobody murdered his chil-

dren because he never had any. It was not true that none of

his blood ran in any living creature, for he met his death many

years after at the hands of his nephew. To the marvelous

eloquence of this utterance too much praise cannot be given.

Logan was an untutored savage, and yet this specimen of his

oratory has immortalized him. It has been the subject of the

highest commendation. Jefferson said:

"'I may challenge the whole orations of Demosthenes and Cicero,

and of any more eminent orator if Europe has furnished any more eminent,

to produce a single passage superior to this speech of Logan, a Mingo

chief.'

"Roosevelt pronounced this speech to be one

"'Which will always retain its place as perhaps the finest outburst of

savage eloquence of which we have any authentic record.'

"Randall and Ryan's History quotes the following from the

pen of Alfred Lee:

"'Taken in connection with the circumstances which are said to have

inspired it, this is one of the most pathetic deliverances in all literature.

In brevity, simplicity and directness of appeal, as well as in the immortality

of its thought, it bears a striking resemblence to Abraham Lincoln's dedica-

tory address at Gettysburg.'

"The names of twenty white men who participated in Dun-

more's treaty appear upon the tablet here. Much credit is due

to Mr. Frank Tallmadge for his research in ascertaining so

many names at the time the tablet was erected. Since then

Thwaits and Kellogg have published The Documentary History

of Dunmore's War and their labor has resulted in securing the

names of forty-one more who were present. The following is

an alphabetical list of entire sixty-one: Barret, Col. L.; Bonney,

Lewis; Bowman, Joseph; Brinton, Henry; Brinton, James;

Brown, Colman; Caldwell, John; Caldwell, William; Clark, Gen.

George R.; Cox, Lieut. Gabriel; Cox, George; Crawford, Col.

William; Cresap, Daniel, Jr.; Cresap, Capt. Michael; Cresap,

Lieut. J.; Cresap, Lieut. Michael, Jr.; Drennon, Jacob; Gibson,

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The McGuffey Society at the Logan Elm 373

Gen. John; Girty, Simon; Haggerty, Patrick; Hardin, John, Jr.;

Harrison, Lieut. John; Harrod, Capt. William; Heath, Lieut.

William; Hedges, Silas; Henshaw, Capt. William; Helm,

Leonard; Helphinstone, Capt. Peter; Hoagland, Henry; Hoff-

man, John; Johnson, Capt.; Kenton, Simon; Linn, William;

McNeill, Daniel; Mitchell, Captain; Moody, John; Morgan,

Daniel; Morris, William; Murphy, Capt.; Neaville, John; Nea-

ville, Joseph; Ogle, William; Parchment, Peter; Parsons, Capt.

James; Ravenscroft, Thomas; Rogers, David; Scott, Capt.

David; Stephenson, Capt. Hugh; Sullivan, James; Tomlinson,

Benjamin; Trabeu, Lieut. James; Vallandigham, George; Wells,

Samuel; Wetzel, John; Wetzel, Martin; Williams, Isaac; Wil-

liamson, Capt. David; Wilson, Col. Benjamin; Wilson, Capt.

John; Wood, Governor James; Zane, Ebenezer.

"This tree has been known for one hundred and fifty years

as 'The Logan Elm' and so it will be known until its decay. Let

us hope that unavoidable consummation may be long delayed.

It may be of interest to read here the following appropriate

tribute which was written by an unknown visitor upon the fly

leaf of the register kept in the little shelter house yonder, on

June 9, 1921.

"'The Logan Elm looked better, foliage greener and apparently in

better shape than it has been for years. Withstood the storm of June 3,

1921, when its limbs whipped the ground and when it seemed that every

minute it would go over, but nature did its work so well that I am more

confident than ever that it will, with continued care, remain in all its

splendor to greet future generations.

" 'And may it stand as a monument to those who through tireless

efforts and persistence have brought it from a wilderness to surroundings

of beauty where we, the masses may come to worship the Dean of the

forest.'

"A fitting conclusion for these remarks are the following

lines from Joyce Kilmer:

"'I think that I shall never see

A poem lovely as a tree;

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest

Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day

And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear

A nest of robins in her hair;