Ohio History Journal

LUCY BACKUS WOODBRIDGE, PIONEER MOTHER

 

January 31, 1757--October 6, 1817

 

By LOUISE RAU

 

Distant secluded, still, the little village of Grand-Pre

Lay in the fruitful valley.

At the confluence of the Ohio and the Muskingum Rivers,

hidden beneath its giant elms and maples, Marietta, named for the

fascinating Marie Antoinette, takes one back to bygone days when

Ohio was a wilderness peopled by red men. Here in the foot-

hills, New England made her first outpost during the early years

following the Revolution. Here speculation in real estate was

inaugurated on a vast scale by the Ohio Company. Here came

men of ambition, soldiers of the Revolution, to seek the livelihood

which was growing increasingly difficult to earn in the villages of

the East. Fortunately for the present generation, many papers1

of those early days are still to be found in attics, and it is from

one of these collections that the following sketch has been pieced

bit by bit.

 

1 It was many and many years ago in the little village of Nor-

wich on the Thames River that Lucy Backus opened her eyes

upon a world that was to bring her varied adventures and trans-

plant her to distant climes. The Backus family is said to have

been founded by William     (or, according to some, Stephen) who

came from Norwich, England, and was living in Saybrook, Con-

necticut, as early as 1637. He was twice married, his wives having

been Sarah Charles and Mrs. Anne Bingham. About 1659, accom-

The manuscripts used in this paper belong to the Woodbridge-Gallaher Collec-

tion of 1,100 items in the Library of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical

Society, recently acquired from Charles Penrose, grandson of Mrs. J. A. Gallaher of

Marietta, Ohio, a great-granddaughter of Lucy Backus Woodbridge. A few items

from the Burton Historical Collection of the Detroit Public Library have also been

used, as noted. For further information concerning the Woodbridge-Gallaher Collec-

tion see description of same by Dr. Harlow Lindley, pages 443-450, this issue.

(405)

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406   OHIO ARCH AEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

panied by his three daughters, two sons, and stepson, Thomas

Bingham, he settled upon the site of Norwich, giving the place

its name in honor of his English home.

William Backus, Jr., married Elizabeth, daughter of William

Pratt of Saybrook, and their son Joseph became the husband of

Elizabeth Huntington. In the fourth generation came Samuel,

born January 1, 1693, "a quiet, enterprising farmer, prosperous

in his own business, but having little to do with public affairs."

Farming, however, did not take all of his time, and, with his

eleven children and wife Elizabeth Tracy, he removed to the Land-

ing, now Yantic, Connecticut, and there erected a grist-mill and

an iron works. Their son, Elijah, born March 14, 1726, married

Lucy, daughter of the Hon. John Griswold, and into this home

came the Lucy of this narrative on the last day of January, 1757.

Norwich houses were gracious affairs, built for large families

and hospitality. When Elijah Backus erected his iron foundry

in Yantic, there also, he set his house in a wooded tract near by.

A picture of it in the Backus genealogy shows a long, two-storied

structure with an attic running its length; great chimneys sug-

gesting many fireplaces; windows large and multi-paned after the

old style when big sheets of glass were hard to procure. Lilacs

blossomed near the doorway, and many trees furnished a friendly

shade, while the Thames flowed near by, truly a delightful spot

for a home. Elijah Backus was one of the first in the village to

own a chaise, a fact which leads one to think that his family lived

in a degree of comfort beyond that of his neighbors. That Lucy

was educated, probably in some select seminary for females, there

can be no doubt. Her penmanship, although leaving much to the

imagination, has recorded the thoughts of a cultured mind in a style

of sophistication. True, her spelling was often phonetic, but whose

is not at times. From her later life, one surmises that Lucy, as

eldest of a family of five (Four children had died.), was an im-

portant member. Clarina, who was to offer her so much com-

panionship in later years, was the baby, being twelve years

younger. Elijah, Jr., James, and Matthew, each in his turn,

sought his fortune on the Muskingum, then went his way.

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LUCY BACKUS WOODBRIDGE               407

Meantime, there had been graduated from Yale, in 1766, Dud-

ley Woodbridge, son of a long line of ministers who had migrated

from England in 1643. Born in Stonington, Connecticut, October

9, 1749, he was the son of Dr. Dudley Woodbridge, a graduate

of Harvard in 1724, and Sarah Sheldon. The rumblings which

grew into the Revolution made it difficult for young men to be-

come established, and the village of Norwich seemed to offer

better prospects for the practice of law than did his native Ston-

ington. Not content with law alone, he, together with his brother

Samuel, opened a mercantile business, carrying on an extensive

trade with the West Indies, at times engaging in privateering.

This was probably about 1770.

Those were the days when feminine charms were enhanced by

bouffant styles, trains, little sharp-toed slippers delicately em-

broidered, camlet capes, and velvet hoods. The West Indian

trade brought exotic stuffs for the dresses and ornaments to set

them off. Pure yellow gold was the favorite metal, though silver

was sometimes substituted for the shoe buckles and cloak clasps.

A young man's fancy needs amusement in leisure hours, and this

Dudley found at the hospitable Backus home where the sparkling

eyes of Lucy, then in her teens, could make him forget that a

cargo had been lost to the pirates and that legal affairs were slow.

On April 28, 1774, they were married, and the next year Wood-

bridge was enrolled as a Minute Man in the War for Inde-

pendence. Unfortunately there are no letters or diaries covering

these trying years. The Woodbridges had purchased the house

and shop of Ebenezer Lord on the Norwich Green, and one may

surmise from her later business interests, that Mrs. Woodbridge

was a competent manager during her husband's absence. After

his return from the war, Woodbridge was postmaster from 1782

until his departure for the Ohio country.

Lucy, their first child, was born in August, 1775; then Sarah,

or Sally, in 1777; Dudley, Jr., in 1778; William, who was to

become the governor of Michigan, in 1780; David in 1783; and

finally, John, in 1785. Ere this the war was over, and the infant

colonies were reaping a stubbly aftermath. Trade was upset, rest-

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lessness was in the air, and no one seemed able to settle back into

the easy comfort of earlier days.

One child of this discontent was the Ohio Company, organized

in the 'eighties by a group of Revolutionary veterans headed by

General Rufus Putnam, Winthrop Sargent, Manasseh Cutler, and

others, who became interested in a scheme for colonization in the

Ohio Valley, with the junction of the Ohio and the Muskingum

as its governmental head. In September, 1776, Congress had

passed an act promising land grants to the soldiers who should

serve until the close of the war, and it was upon this offer that

the Directors of the Ohio Company, as they termed themselves,

based their plea. In this sketch there is no need of going into the

tangle of claims for that region, which was later to become a part

of the Northwest Territory, and the intricacies of organizing the

company and disposing of its shares. Archer B. Hulbert, in his

Ohio Company Series, has written so fully and lucidly that all who

are interested may therein read the true story. For the present

article it is sufficient to know that on October 27, 1787, Cutler

persuaded the Treasury Board to sign a contract giving the Ohio

Company the right to take up 1,500,000 acres of land at approxi-

mately eight cents per acre. Technically, all this land was un-

occupied, that is, if one did not consider the scattered red men

and few white squatters who had drifted down the Ohio and

settled along its tributaries. It was, therefore, necessary for the

surveyor to run his lines before actual settlement could be com-

menced.

No land company in America was ever formed with an eye more single

to the welfare of the poorest investor; no land company in our history

surpassed--if any approximated--the Ohio Company in its manifold efforts

to better the case of its "common people." All the shares could be repre-

sented at the official meetings by proxies; all lands were to be awarded by

lot. For the accommodation of the first emigrants houses were to be built

at the expense of the Company. Before migration started the Company

asked for proposals from subscribers for options to erect saw-mills and

corn-mills.

The advance party of surveyors were made proprietors in the Com-

pany; their tools were to be supplied, their baggage carried free, and their

subsistence was to be provided by the Company; upon their arrival the

workmen were to be paid four dollars wages per month in cash or lands.

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LUCY BACKUS WOODBRIDGE                    409

 

All were to be liable to military service during the time of their em-

ployment.2

General Samuel Holden Parsons, the son of a sister of Mrs.

Elijah Backus (Lucy Griswold), after his splendid service in the

Revolution, became a member of the Ohio Company, and one

may suppose that it was this connection which first drew the

Backus attention to this enterprise. Mrs. Woodbridge's younger

brother, James, born in 1764, was appointed one of the surveyors

of the western lands, and left for the Muskingum in April, 1788.

Half a dozen little yellowed notebooks3 record the incidents of his

journey to Pittsburgh which he described as

pleasantly situated on the Monongahale & Alaghany rivers at the head of

the Ohio there are said to be about three hundred houses in it but gen-

erally small there is a considerable resort of people & of every description

the emigrations down the river are surprising 200 boats since the opening

of spring have past this place & they compute 14 persons to a boat I

think there cannot have been less than three thousand people pas'd down

since the commencement of the Year.

The site of Marietta he reached early in June, and wrote to

his father: "The lands are extremely fine & the situation healthy

& agreeable--about 120 Acres of Corn are planted this year & a

number of gardens but no houses are yet erected that are any

way convenient."

When Congress turned its attention to the Ohio Valley in

1785, General Richard Butler was detailed to establish several

forts for the protection of the scattered settlers of that region,

and the confluence of the Muskingum and the Ohio was selected

as an advantageous point. Here in the spring of 1786 was raised

Fort Harmar, named in honor of General Josiah Harmar. It

was to the east bank of the Muskingum that the Ohio Company

turned its attention. On December I, 1787, the first party con-

sisting of twenty-two men, including the boat-builders and me-

chanics, started from Danvers, Massachusetts, under the command

of Major Haffield White. The second group commanded by

Colonel Ebenezer Sproat, met in Hartford, January 1, 1788. Why

they set out across the mountains at the most trying season of

 

2 Archer B. Hulbert (ed.), Records and Proceedings of the Ohio Company, in

Marietta College Historical Collections: Ohio Company Series (Marietta, 1917), I,

xcviii.

3 Woodbridge-Gallaher MSS.

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410   OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

the year, one can but wonder. True, they had become inured to

hardships during the Revolution, and were men of resource and

determination. Putnam recorded that they "found nothing had

crossed the mountains since the great snow and in the old snow,

twelve inches deep, nothing but pack horses." For weeks the

little company wound through the mountain passes, breaking the

way for their jaded horses, sleeping around the huge fires at

night, and fighting to keep up morale under the greatest physical

discomfort. When they reached the Youghiogheny about the

middle of February, they were unable to obtain boats, and it

was the first of April before further progress could be made.

Then the Adventure Galley, or Mayflower, a flatboat of about

three tons burthen, with curved bows, accompanied by canoes,

left Simrill's Ferry on the Youghiogheny, and having floated down

stream to the Monongahela, at last came to the Ohio. Here a

four-mile current bore them towards the Muskingum.

April 7, 1788, dawned cloudy. Rain fell the greater part of

the day, obscuring the banks and making navigation difficult.

Along in the afternoon, Captain Jonathan Devol told Putnam, the

leader of the expedition, that the Muskingum was certainly near

by, and took an observation to ascertain their exact location. He

was just a few moments too late. Before their position was

known, they had passed the mouth of the swiftly flowing little

stream and had been carried down the Ohio a short distance,

where the soldiers from Fort Harmar, who had been on the

watch for them, put out in small boats and jubilantly towed them

to land.

On the shore they were greeted by the garrison and a party

of about seventy Wyandot and Delawares. All hands fell to to

unload their provisions and set up temporary shelters; and soon

the sound of the ax and the sight of the plow had come never to

disappear from the banks of the Muskingum. The surveyors

carried their chains through the forest, corn was planted, fruit

trees set out; these were men who had come as home-builders,

not as despoilers of the West. They were bred-in-the-bone New

Englanders, graduates of Harvard and Yale, who had honorably

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LUCY BACKUS WOODBRIDGE                411

 

done their bit in the Revolution, and were now with equal earnest-

ness establishing homes in the western wilderness. With them

came educational and religious standards which were forever to

be imprinted upon their society. There was a homogeniety of

ideal not often found in the settlements which grew from scat-

tered voyageurs and fur traders. As soon as a few rude log

cabins were constructed, their families came from the East.

John Mathews, a nephew of Putnam, who was later to marry

Sarah Woodbridge, had been on the Muskingum since 1786 as a

surveyor, and his journal gives many interesting sidelights upon

activities. The first houses were built at the angle made where

the Muskingum meets the Ohio, known even today as Picketed

Point. Back from the river was a rise of ground, and to this a

pathway was cut from the Point. Here, as a barrier against the

ever-lurking red man, a stockade 180 feet square was built, its

sides formed by a continuous line of dwellings two stories high,

constructed of timber four inches thick, hand-sawn, and fitted

together at the corners in the same manner as those of a hewn-log

house. At the corners were blockhouses, a trifle higher than those

forming the sides. Three of these were surmounted with towers

intended for sentry boxes, and on the fourth was a tower capped

by a cupola with a bell, which it is said Joseph May of Boston

sent out to the infant settlement. The blockhouses projected six

feet beyond the sides of the stockade, and were twenty feet square

on the ground. Heavy gates were hung at the entrances in the

south and west fronts.

Today an historical museum commemorates the past. In one

of its wings are housed garments, furniture, and utensils of the

settlers; the other wing is a large glass enclosure in which is

Putnam's three-story house complete. Only the rear part of it

was constructed in 1788, the front and third floor having been

added in less anxious times.  Some of the original furniture

recreates the life when fireplaces furnished not only warmth but

the only means of cooking, and beds had testers and curtains to

keep out those foul night breezes which the pioneer knew were the

cause of all his bodily ailments. In the basement of the museum

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412    OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

is an old Conestoga wagon, showing the scars of crossing the

mountains, its wheels battered, and the links by which the oxen

were attached, all but worn through. In it the good man piled

his wife and children together with their household goods, perhaps

tying a couple of cows and other live stock on behind. This was

their home in the weary trek across the mountains. If the weather

was fine, they might sleep around a fire; often the rain caused

them to spend their days and nights within the shelter of the great

hood of the wagon.

And what did Lucy Backus Woodbridge back in Connecticut

think of these adventures? She was elated. Seldom does one

find a more devoted family. When, the next year, she also

harkened to the westward call, her chief sorrow was the separa-

tion from family and friends; and it was from the presence of

brothers and sister that she derived the most comfort in the wilder-

ness. To her brother James on July 21, 1788, she wrote:

Not even the news I have just reseivd of my G-d M-s arrival in

New York from the West Indias has given me half the pleasure that I

felt on the receipt of Your favor by Co1 Olney which not only told us

that you had arriv'd at Muskingum in good health but that you was safe

and happy, and next to enjoying the society of our friends is the pleasure

of knowing the[y] enjoy themselves.

I am delighted with the descripti [MS. torn] you give us of your New

Citty I hope your success will equal your expectations.

I suppose you are now with the Indians at the mouth of the River I

shall be solicitous to hear from you after you return You will then tell

us when we may expect to see you You must let us partake in your

amusement by giveing us a description of the sceene.

I can only add that we are all in health that Elijah and Matthew are

in New York no one knows of the opportun [MS. torn] of writing but

my self and I am transgressing on the gentlemans patience who is obliging

enough to wait for me

You must Remember us all to the General [probably their cousin,

General Parsons] of whose family I suppose you are a member. my little

ones all join their best wishes with your affectionate Sister L-- W--4

Law and the West Indian trade were not flourishing. Fields

afar, even though they be Indian-infested, tease the imagination.

A family of eight is no small responsibility, and Woodbridge began

turning over in his mind the possibility of seeking a livelihood to

the westward. In December he wrote to James:

Your residing at Muskingum half a Year, must give you a perfect

knowledge of the Country, and what the prospects of Business are. here

4 Ibid.

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LUCY BACKUS WOODBRIDGE                     413

 

it is more and more gloomy and dull, its so much so; that I have some

thoughts of visiting you in the Spring. Would therefore request the fav^r

of you as soon as possible to answer the following Questions. What is

the Climate a Healthy or an unhealthy one. What is the Danger in going,

or after you are their. Where can Vessels go, and have the least Land

Carriage [via] Phila Virginia or where. Are Vessels Suffered To go

down & up the Mississippia unmolested [He feared Spanish interference.],

how far can a Vessel of a Hund Tons get up the Ohio. . . .   In Short, I

should be glad of a particular & Minute Information with regard To what

does now or may Relate to the Mercantile Line that part especially which

relates To Navigation vis Building Loading, and kind of Cargo &c &c.

As for news we have none Business is exceeding dull, & Money

grows Scarcer. Our Freinds are all well your Sister sends Her Love To

you . . .5

Lucy entertained qualms about transplanting her family from

the established settlement in Connecticut with its atmosphere of

comfort and culture to the unknown banks of the Muskingum.

However, with her usual fortitude and forgetfulness of self in

the interest of her husband and children, she was willing to hazard

anything, and wrote to James:

You will be not a little surprized I fancy when you read the Intelligence

in Mr W-- Letter

It is a plan verry hastily formed But I hope will prove successfull in

the Event

I feel reconcile'd myself to any step that will promote the interest of

my family. In this place their is very little for any one to expect of

course we do not hazard much in the attempt, and the discriptions of the

western world are truly flattering If the half of them are just I shall

chearfully quit my prospects here. It will be painful parting with the

connections I must leave behind me, but the society of our friends but

poorly compensates for the want of a subsistence. we have a large circle

of little ones dependant on us, and I know of no persuit that would give

me more pleasure than that of provideing an easy Liveing for them.

I wish to know what society You can furnish us with provided we go

on and wheather the climate is healthy. Indeed I wish to hear every thing

relating to the sicuation you shall think necessary for us to know. But I

will still hope for a verbal answer to the thousand questions I wish to

ask you. . . .

I would not wish you to mention the subject of our Jorney to any of

our friends; were I determind on going I should wish to conceal it from

our good Parents; It would be an affliction to them tho they can very well

spare me.6

Lucy was not bred a pioneer, her home having been one of

the most spacious and luxurious in Norwich; but for the good of

her family, she willingly braved anything. On Christmas eve she

wrote to James:

Mr Woodbridge wrote about too weeks since acquainting you with his

5 Ibid.

6 Ibid.

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414    OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

intentions of becomeing an inhabitant of your new world and requesting

a particular description of the Country and the prospects of doing Business

there.

He has since been offered a wright in the muskingum [Ohio Company]

by Esqr Christopher Leffingwell for 10 D0l more than the first Cost and

wishes you in inform him where his lots lie wheather the situation be good

and wheather you would advise him to purchase before He goes on. I

hope you will give him the Earliest information It will soon be necessary

to make provision for the jorney provided he goes on in the spring. . . .7

If ever one were prone to think that the picturesque styles of

the olden days attested to the unpracticality of their wearers,

Lucy Backus Woodbridge, with her grasp of business affairs, is

a strong argument that feminine minds have ever been a power

behind the throne. Would Woodbridge have ventured to leave

the security of Connecticut and take his family to the Muskingum

had his wife shown reluctance? Through the thirty years cov-

ered by these letters, it is always she who plans, she who insists

that the children must be educated, she who urges the purchase

of more land that future security may be assured.

Some time in the early spring, Woodbridge set out, taking

with him a small stock of goods, hoping to turn an honest penny

and to obtain first-hand information before cutting the threads

which bound him to the East. He reached Marietta on May 9,

1789 (according to an entry in James Backus' journal), and was

favorably impressed. Another merchant, James May of Boston,

also visited the West about this time, and recorded in his diary

under date of July 15, 1789:

At Marietta I found the people in high spirits, and, I may say, in a

flourishing situation; the place much altered [This was his second visit.];

and great improvements made. The fields are covered with wheat and

corn; the gardens are large and full of good things. More than fifteen

thousand fruit trees are now growing here, many of which, no doubt, will

bear next season. Madder, rhubarb, cotton, and rice grow luxuriantly.

The last article, though sowed late, is three feet high; and the leaf as

wide as wheat.8

It would be interesting to know what Woodbridge wrote to

his anxious wife awaiting news in Norwich. Perhaps there were

no "oppertunities"--certainly there was no regular post.        The

imagination must fill in the chinks. From a letter dated Marietta,

 

7 Ibid.

8 William M. Darlington (ed.), Journal and Letters of Col. John May of Boston

. . . (Cincinnati, 1873), 136.

• 10
 

LUCY BACKUS WOODBRIDGE                  415

 

June 14, 1789, to James who was absent upon a surveying expe-

dition, it may be assumed that he had determined to settle there,

and was on the eve of departure for the East.

You may remember, that I spoke To you respecting the Buying of 2

City Lotts. . . . Should chuse one that a House would face the Muskg

& Ohio Somewhat between the Mound [an Indian mound, now the center of

Mound Cemetery] and Co ?? Gilman's, or between Co ?? Gilman & Market

Square. . . . If I come in the spring shall want a House To put my

Family into. . . .  Should like To Hire for 1 Month to 12 as best suted

me. . . .9

From early summer until October the record is missing. Scat-

tered bits in subsequent letters leave one in doubt as to whether

Woodbridge made a hurried trip to Norwich, or remained to await

his family on the Muskingum. The preparations for the move

were stupendous. Even in this year 1935 when a motor truck

manned by a competent crew takes the burden from the housewife,

a treck from East to West is no slight task. There was sorting of

household goods, what to take, what to leave for later shipment,

what to discard; farewells to friends; and finally, the important

decision as to which children should remain in Norwich to attend

school. Every woman has her moments of sentiment and frivolity

even in the face of life's sternest realities. Today there hangs in

Marietta a very lovely mirror, delicately framed in brass, which,

somehow, Lucy brought over the mountains. It is that ability to

veer swiftly from the starkness of life to its beauty which enables

women to live through periods of stress which at times snap that

one last string of hope in men.

Accompanied by her sister Clarina, the two daughters, Sally

and Lucy, and her younger sons, David and John, Mrs. Wood-

bridge set out for her new home in the early autumn of 1789.

One could journey down the coast to Philadelphia, thence overland

to Pittsburgh, then down the Ohio River. On October 10, Clarina

wrote to her parents from Shippensburg, just before crossing the

mountains, saying it was their last chance for communicating until

reaching Pittsburgh. October 30 found them in Wheeling await-

ing Woodbridge.

I expect him here this evening and day after tomorrow I expect to

conclude my journey when I hope to enjoy a little interval of ease--Such

9 Woodbridge-Gallaher MSS.

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416    OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

a train of misfortunes as have been working on me for twelve months

past as I believe have [n]ever [been] experience[d]10

Wise schemes often miscarry, and the party was forced to

complete their journey as they had begun. Woodbridge, having

been detained by business, had sent his clerk, William Rogers, to

escort them from Wheeling. Rogers, unfortunate man, was

drowned with his horse while crossing a swollen creek.

Picture the rejoicing of Woodbridge when his wife and chil-

dren landed at Marietta on Sunday, November 8. It put heart

into him, and made him feel that the anxious and wearisome

months had not been in vain. His wife's courage was contagious,

and having a home and children again gave him a feeling of

stability.

Three days later she wrote to her parents:

Last Sunday I was releas'd from the fatigues of traveling in the

afternoon I arrived on the banks of the Muskingum where I found Mr W.

just preparing to imbark for whealing to meet me He had never heard of

my haveing left home until the day after Br James set of[f] for Con-

necticut

He immediately sent one Mr Rogers after him with a request that he

would return with me down the River but unfortunately in crossing a

creek he got thrown from his horse and lost his life.

I hope Br Jimmy will arrive safely [in Norwich]  I have been visited

with such a train of misfortunes for six Month past I have become quite a

coward.

I wish I could tell You what my prospects are here Br James can

perhaps better inform You than I can myself Mr W-- has a few goods

which if they were all paid for might do something towards providing for

his family but the profits on so small a quantity cannot I think furnish us

with much more than a liveing for the winter Mr Woodbridge is however

in good spirits he flatters me with a prospect of takeing a farm in the

spring I hope it will be in my power to get one of my own I shall then

feel secure. we have a house already a building [They were temporarily

occupying that of James Backus which is said to have been the first built

in the settlement.] which I expect to get into in 2 or 3 weeks Mr Wood-

bridge expects it will cost him between ??20 and ??30 You may judge

of the size and convenian[c]e by the cost. it is however a comfortable

shelter much preferable to the one I am now in

I feel very impatient to hear from home. . . . Sister Clary is afflicted

with the toothach she will write if they grow esayer. my little ones are

hearty. . . .11

The sheer pluck of this letter is splendid. For a woman bred

to the comforts and culture of the East to settle in a raw, newly

established village in the Northwest Territory with a smile is in-

10 Ibid.

11 Ibid.

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LUCY BACKUS WOODBRIDGE                     417

dicative of the feminine spirit which was to turn the infant Mari-

etta from a rough frontier into a cultural center. A cluster of

log huts, a stockade for protection against the red men, a beautiful

natural background formed by the two rivers, the Muskingum and

the Ohio, surrounded by the picturesque foothills with their ever-

changing lights and purple hazes. Perhaps a touch of brilliant

autumn coloring yet lingered, the scarlet and gold of the maples,

and the rich reddish brown of the oaks.

News from the East concerning the firm of Dudley and Joseph

Woodbridge was not cheering, and the former wished the con-

nection terminated as soon as possible that he might concentrate

all his funds and attention upon his new venture. To James

Backus, who had returned to Norwich in early November, he

wrote:

My Losses were so great the Summer past that I find my matters at

Home are in a confused scituation; I wish them soon terminated. . . . I

understand it is reported that I brot a great Deal of property with me,

which as it is not true I wish Contradicted One Hund & twenty pounds

after deducting Expences is but a Small pittance. . . .12

Lucy in her new surroundings was desperately lonely. To her

parents she wrote late in 1789:

My anxiety for your welfare makes me quite unhappy I can hear

nothing from home nor any of my friends I have directed the black boy

who takes this to call on my friends for their commands when he returns--

he is I believe a trusty poleon [person?] I hope You will not keep me in

Suspence let what be the course of your Silence I cannot help fearing

some misfortune has befallen you13

That the eastern relatives were keenly interested is indicated

by a letter from Roger Griswold, a cousin of Mrs. Woodbridge,

who was later to become a member of Congress and governor of

Connecticut:

Your little Sons [Dudley, Jr., and William, who were attending school

in the East] shall receive every attention which it is in my power to pay

them, and I really believe, that the circumstances of being placed at a

distance from their Parents will eventually be attended with no injury to

them, it will teach them, to depend (even in early Life) more upon their

own exertions and improvement for success in the world. . . .14

As Christmas approached, thoughts turned eastward. Mail

was still a paramount issue and household equipment incomplete.

 

12 Ibid.

13 Ibid.

14 Ibid.

• 13
 

418    OHIO ARCH AEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

Lost luggage is always a tragedy, and how much more desperate

is the situation when there are no willing merchants to supply

current needs.

 

MUSKINGUM, December 24, 1789:

My anxiety to hear from you will not let me rest. . . .     I am not

willing to think I am quite neglected.

I have not received either of my trunks which I expected would go by

Philidelphia. . . . if they have not been sent on I wish You to keep the

trunk with a flat top the others I beg Brother James would take charge

of I must likewise request he would enquire for a Box I forwarded to

Philidelphia I hope he will be on early. He will I imagine regret have-

ing left this place the surveyors are now a comeing in many of them

cleared 4 and 500 Dol

Mr Megs of Midletown [Return Jonathan Meigs] is expected on here

the last of winter or early in the spring if Br James should not come

with him I beg you would write by him. I must request you would take

what care you can of the little property I left behind I hope to see you

next summer tho I can see no way at present of getting back. . . .

Be pleased to remember me affectionately to my Brothers and Believe

me with every sentiment of Gratitude and esteem My dr Parents

YOUR AFFECTIONATE DAUGHTER, L-W-15

Late in January, 1790, Elijah Backus, another brother, came to

the Muskingum bringing the lost trunks, news of Norwich, and

an ambition to become a part of this frontier community. The

two sons, Dudley, Jr., and William, yet tarried in Norwich.

 

You write me about bringing on my two Little ones [wrote Wood-

bridge to James Backus, February 8, 1790] which I could not, nor can [get]

their Mama's Consent to; we shall make Norwich a Visit, am in hopes

next Faul; shall then take the matter under Consideration. . . . I wish

you To bring on the following seeds -- Baits a large Quantity, Carrits do

-- Onion Seeds, Pepper seed, Turnip, Cabbage, and in Short all Seeds for

Garden as they are not procurable here.

Dudley, Jr., in Norwich at the age of twelve, seems to have

been spokesman for himself and ten-year-old William:

 

HONORED PAPA

Joy filled my breast on perusing a letter from a parent so dear to me

and from one who has been absent from me so long; and am very thankful

for the good advice I received from it. I now pursue the study of Greek

and latin according to Mama's Orders. May Heaven bless you with health,

peace, and all the necessaries of life. Uncle james is now a going. I must

bid you adieu

D WOODBRIDGE

15 Ibid.

• 14
 

LUCY BACKUS WOODBRIDGE                      419

N B I spoke to Mr Charlton about making you a couple pair of shoes

but [he is] now so hurryed with buziness that he would not; Mr Thomas

had made you two pair and I believe they are good ones Uncle James will

take them to Philadelphia together with your Pistol. I shall send you your

blunderbuss and rifle in a fortnight by Mr Carpenter's vessel to Philidelphia

to be sent.16

Here, as always, is seen the mother's hand. How much educa-

tion she herself had, is not known, but letter after letter attests her

thoughtful direction of her sons. Woodbridge was willing for

them to remain in the East at school; his wife felt it of prime im-

portance, planned their courses of study, considered the social

amenities they would thereby acquire, and was ever ready to send

what money she had to insure their continuance.

Spring brings hope. The hillsides around Marietta were

abloom with wild cherry and plum; colorful redbud, or Judas trees,

contrasted with the white purity of the dogwood. Lucy Wood-

bridge's spirits were high, though she was still looking longingly

for those infrequent letters from the East.

MY DEAR PARENTS                                MUSKINGUM, May 9

Mr. Megs last week arrived here from New England and though I was

not fortunate enough to get letters from you I was made happy by infor-

mation from Mr. Matthew that you were enjoying health. . . . I have like-

wise the pleasure to announce [to] you that my prospects are much better

than they have been that though we are [not?] possessed of any land we

are provided [with] everything that a little farm would produce you would

be pleased to see our little stock it consists of six cows four calves, four

horses, four pigs, six geese, forty-two sheep we have corn grass potatoes

& enough in the ground for another season I am in nothing so unhappy as

a sensation from my friends I can add nothing more than that I am with

unalterable affection Your dutiful Child L-W-17

The following month Clarina wrote to her parents:

I have not seen Jimmy since I have been in this Country and I am

afraid I shall not before I return. He contracted with General Putnam

to purchase provisions for a large number of people who are coming out

in the Fall he came to the river a few miles above this place staid a few

weeks and has now gone back to Alexandria.18

Then a lapse of two months and Elijah Backus wrote home:

Jimmy went from this place some weeks since for Alexandria to con-

duct about five hundred Frenchmen into the western country; he must have

arrivd on the Ohio by this time, as he was on his road when I came Past

the head-Waters of that River. I can inform you he has a better Pros-

pect before him than any young man I know in that country, if he will

improve it.19

16 Ibid.

17 Ibid.

18 Ibid.

19 Ibid.

• 15
 

420   OHIO ARCH AEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

The "five hundred Frenchmen" referred to the Royalist

emigres who, in February, 1790, sailed from Havre de Grace to

seek homes in the New World. A group more poorly adapted to

frontier life cannot be pictured. Artisans of the court, highly trained

professional men, and women accustomed to all the comforts that

the pre-revolutionary civilization of effete France afforded--these

were not the stuff from which pioneers were made. Their world

had tottered and crashed; and, like Humpty Dumpty, could not be

put together again by all the king's horses and all the king's men,

because Louis himself had fallen with a more resounding crash

than their own. As the above letter indicates, to James Backus

had been given the task of conducting one group from Alexandria

where they had landed after many terrible weeks on the winter

ocean, to Gallipolis, a spot on the Ohio River about seventy miles

below Marietta, where they were to start life anew under the

American flag. Their sufferings of adaptation paint one of the

most tragic and dramatic episodes of early Ohio history. To put

a man accustomed to making exquisite watches for the court to

felling trees, was suicidal. Their brave attempts at gayety are

heartbreaking. However, the settlement of Gallipolis and the pecu-

lations of its promoters belong to another story. Among its mem-

bers was one, Dr. Jean Georges Petit, who later married Lucy

Woodbridge.

One wishes that Lucy had found time to keep a diary of the

happenings in Marietta; how the daily household tasks were per-

formed; the social life of the village; the beginnings of city govern-

ment. Her active mind could not but have been interested in all

that transpired, yet when she wrote to the East, the letters were

sketchy and hurried. After James Backus' activities with the

French, he concluded to return to Yantic, there to manage the

paternal iron foundry. In July, presumably 1791 (The letter lacks

the year.), Lucy wrote:

It is a misfortune I am not to bear with any degree of steadiness. my

whole enjoyment & almost my existence depends on my friends. I have

been earnestly saliciting Sister Clary to Visit me this Winter, I hope our

Parents will not object to parting with her for a few months. I must

request You my good Brother to encourage her coming, she will have an

• 16
 

LUCY BACKUS WOODBRIDGE                      421

 

excellent opportunity to come with Col Sproat and as good a one to return

in the Spring. I have many reasons for wishing her to come particularly

at this time, if You knew my feelings and how much I lament the absence

of You all You would I am confident use Your influence to gratify me.

. . . for other particulars I must refer you to Lucy [her daughter]

whough notwithstanding the mortification of being neglected intends to

write to You. she is much happier in this Country than I feared she would

have been the independence of her situation & the particular attention she

meets here [The beaux greatly outnumbered the belles.] has a very happy

effect on her disposition & Manners. I wish to know wheather their will

be any thing a coming from stonington to defray Dudley's expences if

their [is,] I beg it may be called for. . . . Sally & the little Boys send their

love. You may perhaps see Sally in Connecticut Nex sumer I have a

prospect of sending her to Bethleham.20

This hope was fulfilled. Sally is recorded as a student at

the Moravian Seminary in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, during the

year 1792.

The nonchalance with which Lucy Woodbridge and her kin

journeyed back and forth across the mountains is rather surprising.

A century and a half later a visit to the East from Ohio is no

mere commonplace.       October, 1791, found      her returning   to

Marietta.

SHIPPINGS BURG Oct 15, 1791

MY Dr PARENTS

It will gratefy you to hear I am within one Hundred and Sixty miles

of Pitts Burg I have met no detention since I left Philadelphia save two

days confinement with a nervous Head ach which has now quite left me

I am furnished with a strong waggon excellent Horses an honest Care-

full driver and the Company of Daniel Adgate whough is extremely

obliging, and in adition to every other convenianc we have good Roads and

a prospect of dry weather I hope this letter will reach you soon as it may

save You some anxiety. I should have Written by the Lancaster stage but

I was confined to my Bed at the time it passed

. . . I feel very anxious to hear from Dudley  I left the poor little

fellow at New York quite broken Hearted I could find no one to take

care of him on his passage nor any opportunity to return to Norwich. He

must write to me by His Uncle Elijah. I hope my Brother will be able to

cross the mountains before the heavy Rains come on, it is now excellent

travelling. L W21

PITTS BURGH October 28 1791

MY Dr PARENTS

I have the Happiness to inform You of my safe arrival at Pitts Burgh

where I have very fortunately found a passage in a Milatary Boat Com-

manded by Mr Hartshorn which starts early in the morning. I shall write

to Sister Clary and my Brothers this Evening by the Waggons. . . . We

were Sixteen days a travelling from Shippings Burgh to Pitts Burgh with

only one clear day in the whole time the stormes of Hail and Snow were

so severe and incessant we were under the necessity of travelling with our

20 Ibid.

21 Ibid.

• 17
 

422    OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

Waggon cover drawn close on every side and the Roads so deep and worn

down with Waggons we were under constant aprehension of oversetting.

I am the more particular in giving an account of the Roads as I wish Br

Elijah to provide a carefull steady man to drive his Waggon we were

twice stop'd by people who had overset. One Man lost his life by falling

under his Waggon.

I heard last week from home my little ones and family were in good

health.

I am my Dr Parent with Much Esteem Your affectionate Child L W

All aches grow less with time; Mrs. Woodbridge was taking

root in her new home, and wrote to James, February 1, 1792:

Col. Putnam will tell You how we fare--we have had quite a lively

Winter the Sleighing for three Weeks has been excellent & You may be

asured we have all improved it--I very much regret that You and Sister

Clary are not here I am sure You would pass your time more agreeably

than you have ever done in this Country I am happy to feel my atteach-

ment for this place and its inhabitants streanthen--the affectionate atten-

tions I have meet from my old Neighbours since my return has very much

endeared them to me and the frendly intercourse that subsists between us

makes me forget passed scenes and passed enjoyments which I can never

recall

I wish to hear what is become of Brother Matthew Mr W-- is confi-

dent he would do very well at the french settlement [Gallipolis] I hope

he has not gone to Canady--I have no faith in his suceeding there. . . .23

It is surprising that so little of the Indian wars crept into her

letters. When the first settlers came in 1788, the local Indians,

with Cornplanter in command, greeted the whites with friendly

overtures. In June of the same year, the attempted treaty was

thwarted, when the savages fired on the soldiers from ambush

on the day appointed for the alliance. On January 9, 1789, Butler

negotiated an agreement; but soon after, Captain Zebulon King

was killed at Belpre, a settlement a little to the west of Marietta.

All during that winter there were rumblings that lasted through

1790, and finally culminated in the terrible massacre of the settlers

at Big Bottom (up the Muskingum) on January 2, 1791.

Marietta was fortunate in not suffering any particular Indian

depredations, though there were occasional deaths of settlers who

strayed too far from the stockade. In March, 1792, Lucy Wood-

bridge wrote to James:

We are told by Major Sargent that fourteen [hundred] Warriors were

opposed to our army, that six Hundred of them from the Lakes quarrelled

with the Omie [Miami] Indians upon the division of plunder, and went

home without participating, saying at another Day they might fight their

22 Ibid.

23 Ibid.

• 18
 

LUCY BACKUS WOODBRIDGE                      423

 

own Battles. to this event I think we owe the tranquility we have enjoyed

this winter there has been no discoverys of Indians near this place since

the Campaign, the inhabitants go about their work as though they had noth-

ing to fear. I suspect some of them will ere long pay dear for their fool

hardyness Large numbers of people are now out two and three miles

distant a manufacturing sugar, which they do with great success and very

little trouble. they calculate the expence not to exceed 4d on the pound, a

great acquisition for this Country

Yesterday a Mr How from Boston arrived with a detachment of thirty

men which added to the troops Before stationed here make about Ninety,

another Company is daily expected, we have a guard of four soldiers before

our door, two Officers in our chambers, and we expect the vigilent Major

sargent will soon take possession of the 4 Rooms now occopied by Mr

[William] Skinner. all circumstances considered I think you need be under

no apprehensions for our safety.

My impatience to hear from home exceeds all bounds. I had deter-

mined never to write again untill I had had the attention of a letter from

some of You, but the threats proclaimed by the Indians against this place

I feared might give you some [un]easiness, while you were ignorant of

our streangth. . . .

If Br E[lijah] is with you tell him his favorite Island is garrison'd

by a party from Bell Prie as we [MS. torn] nothing from him we flatter

ourselves he has gone into Virginea to purchase the Island . . .24

"Elijah's Island" was that delightful bit of verdure, set in the

Ohio River about twelve miles west of Marietta. This historic

island originally belonged to George Washington, who in 1771

located but did not survey a tract of land lying in Virginia (now

West Virginia) to which state it has always been tributary. It

was first surveyed in 1784 on a land warrant issued some four

years previous. In 1786, in accordance with a patent made out

by Patrick Henry when he was governor of Virginia, the island

was ceded to Alexander Nelson of Richmond, Virginia. By the

latter it was sold to James Herron of Norfolk, Virginia, who later

transferred it to Elijah Backus. The price paid at this sale was

£250 Virginia currency, or about $883 present-day money. The

island is about three and a half miles long, spectacle-shaped, being

one-half mile wide at either end and narrowing in the center to a

width only to permit a wagon road. It contains 297 acres.

But it was not the ownership of Elijah Backus which was to

bring the island into history. As later letters will show, here

came Harman Blennerhassett and his beautiful wife in 1798; and

here in 1805 came Aaron Burr with his schemes to wreck the

 

24 Ibid.

• 19
 

424    OHIO ARCH AEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

Union, with his trial for treason resulting in the expulsion of the

Blennerhassetts forever from this miniature Eden.

In July Mrs. Woodbridge was relieved by good news from

home, and hastened to reassure them all was well on the Mus-

kingum.

. . . I have been much gratified by a letter I received from Br Matthew

informing me he had been admitted to the Bar at East-ton [Pennsylvania.]

if he had pursued his intentions of going Southward I am confident he would

not have lived long. I have regretted that he did not return to me. Law busi-

ness increases vere fast here. Should one or too more of the family come

here I think I should hope You would some time take the trouble to visit us.

I hope You will never more give Yourself any anxiety for our safety

if You knew our situation I am sure You would not. Our fortifications

with the increase of inhabitants are sufficient to protect us without the

aid of Military force. We have however one Company of soldiers already

here & another expected which it is supposed will continue with us untill

nex Summer

Dudley [Jr.] My Br writes me has made good progress in his studies.

I fear his impetuous temper has given you & my Mama some trouble. it

was with great reluctance I left him it greived me that I should add to

your cares. the time will now soon arrive when he will go to New Haven.

. . .25

At some time during this summer, a new house was built.

Late in September Elijah Backus wrote his parents that "sister

is furnishing the new house elegantly and is in good spirits." A

plan of Picketed Point shows the location of these early houses,

the few stores, and the inn. The Woodbridge house was next to

that of Meigs. On the other side, Woodbridge had a small block-

house in which he kept his store, the first in Marietta. Present-

day streets place this at the corner of Muskingum and Ohio.

Previous to his arrival in Marietta, merchants in Pittsburgh and

Wheeling had carried on a trade, bartering staples for the furs

and ginseng which grew in the neighborhood. Bookkeeping was

a complicated matter for the country had so recently adopted the

decimal system that many clung to the English counting, with the

result that a man's ledger was often a jumble of pounds, shillings,

and pence among the dollars and dimes. Six shillings were con-

sidered to equal a dollar, but that same dollar varied in value in

different counties.

The young matron did not describe the home to her parents;

25 Ibid.

• 20
 

LUCY BACKUS WOODBRIDGE                      425

 

perhaps she did not wish them to know its contrast with the one

in Norwich. Notwithstanding the crudeness and inconveniences

of the log house, there was happiness within, and Mrs. Wood-

bridge felt security return as she viewed her possessions and con-

sidered their live stock and the orchards that were soon to bear.

Meantime, the boys, Dudley, Jr., and William, were pursuing

their studies in Connecticut, while Uncle James kept a watchful

eye upon their expenditures and well being. To him in Novem-

ber, 1792, Dudley, Jr., wrote:

. . . I cannot get my cloaths washed under four pence a piece. Wood

& candles I have to find [furnish] unexpectedly. I have bought a pound of

Candles had some cloaths washed and paid my part for the recitation room.

I have about 2/ left. But have no wood. William Prince [apparently his

roommate at Yale] and I must get a table. . . . I should be very glad to

have a pair of Buckles & gloves. you told me that I could wear ribbon in

my shoes; there is none that I have seen wear them in this town except

Negroes [perish the thought!] even if they did it is much cheaper to wear

Buckles; for ribbons will not wear much more than a fortnight. The

things which I left at home were a cravat and toothbrush. . . .26

How little the arguments of youth change from generation to

generation!

The following February, Matthew Backus came from Nor-

wich to seek a niche in the legal profession. He was always the

family misfit, well-educated, charming, keen-witted, he had that

unfortunate temperament which cannot bend to circumstances, but

breaks when the load becomes too heavy. His sister was delighted

over his arrival:

[February 24, 1793]

. . . Matthews arrival here was to me an unexpected pleasure which

I find has involved in it the anticipation of seeing many more of my Con-

nections. were this miserable war [the Indian troubles] at an end we

should not long want society but I think there seams less prospect of it than

there was at the beginning, the terror of war however has less effect on

the minds of the people than it had last year it will not I think the insuing

season entirely check emigration into the country.27

An undated latter, perhaps of 1793, plead for a visit from

Sister Clary and announced Elijah's removal to his island:

. . . He is prepareing to build on his Island where he will spend the

summer in Cultivating Lands. He seems to anticipate the time with pleas-

ure, and I hope will be satisfied with the imployment. it is a situation that

affords every amusement that a spot of ground can do without society. at

one end of the Island is a thick wood of about fifty Acres excellent hunting

26 Ibid.

27 Ibid.

• 21
 

426    OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

ground which is cut of[f] in the Winter by the Water from the River that

forms fine smoath Ice for scating. at the other extream is a cove that at

all seasons produces fish in great abundanc of every kind that swims in

this River. he has a beach in summer that affords an excellent Road either

for a Carrage or horses which extends the leangth of the Island the whole

of which is beuitifully situated in the River, and affords many Elegant

building spots. He has likewise a Sugar Orchard that will produce sports

Eight or ten Hundred of sugar. My Bro [obliterated by seal] having it

Cleared and sown in White clover it affords a pleasant view of the River

from every part of it, I hope before many Years You will be induced to

visit your Children in this Country, should peace soon [take] place in a

very short time the Rhoads would become thickly inhabited and afford

excellent accomodation.28

David, Lucy Woodbridge's youngest son, had some affliction,

the nature of which is not quite clear. In March, 1793, Clarina

who was visiting the Woodbridges, wrote home, "Sister talks of

taking David down to Galiapolis, to get the assistance of a French

Surgeon--he has a something on his hip that must inevitably ruin

his leg if he has not some assistance soon."²⁹ Who the surgeon

may have been is not known. Among the French emigres was

the famous Dr. Antoine Francois Saugrain. His may have been

the skill to which Lucy Woodbridge turned in her distress. He

it was who took the silver from his wife's mirror to fashion the

thermometer for the Lewis and Clark expedition. A small wiry

man, four and a half feet high, he was always full of good humor,

and took great delight in mystifying the Indians who visited the

settlement by performing chemical experiments before their awe-

struck faces. With David his powers failed, if indeed he were

David's physician, for the little boy's death is recorded some

time later.

In May, 1793, Woodbridge returned from a trip to Connecticut,

laden down with mail and news of the homeland. His wife wrote:

You know my sentiments and will readily conceive what were my

sensations on Mr. Ws arrival to be assur'd Your health was restored, to

be gratified with so large a Packet, to converse with one who had seen

my best friends and knew their affairs was a pleasure I had not before

enjoyed. I feel myself indeed rich in possesing so great a degree the

affection of my Connections. I only regret that You are so distant from

me. I am well pleased that Dudley is placed at Mrs Hillhouse's if his

Conduct is such as to merit her aprobation I shall rest quite easy. a little

restraint will not come amiss to him. I am sorry You did not take the

money for his expences. . . .

28 Ibid.

29 Ibid.

• 22
 

LUCY BACKUS WOODBRIDGE                      427

 

I have no news to tell you only that general wane [Anthony Wayne]

with his Legions and sub Legions have passed down the River. the old

fellow in a pet refused his Officers the priveledge of setting their feet on

shore untill they arrived at the French station, which I suppose deprived

us the pleasure of seing many a Gallant gentleman. I however feel some

what interested in the End of the Campaign. . . .30

[Meantime] Br Elijah's situation has become quite Ellijable You would

be pleased to see with what chearfullness and industry He prosicutes his

Business. He is now Building on his Island where he spends the principal

part of his time although he has never been more than ten days absent

from here at a time.31

[By the end of August] A prospect of peace has brought a train of

speculators from almost every State in the Union into this Country but the

bad reverse has I believe sent them all back without having made any

purchases, they however, encourage us by a promise to return as soon as

they can do it with safety.32

Death in any family circle is distressing, but the first is always

the greatest shock. Many long months little David had been

wracked with pain, and the mother's heart had been wrung by her

son's sufferings. A flickering hope of recovery buoyed her down-

cast spirits as the weeks slipped into months. Late in 1794 the

end came unexpectedly, and her ever-present fortitude in the face

of grief is expressed in a letter to William, then in school in

Coventry.

David (My dr William) expired before I could reach Gallipolis [where

he was under the care of the French surgeon]  His death was sudden &

the circumstances attending it extremely aggravating--we had sent for

him home the week before his death but when the Boat arrived he said he

felt himself two ill to be removed at that time he would wait untill the

Next week & still pleased himself with the hope of returning untill the

morning previous to his death. . . . his sufferings were exquisite and the

finness with which he bore them astonished all who saw him. . . .33

Dudley, Jr., had followed family tradition and enrolled at Yale,

where he remained until January, 1795, when family finances

seemed to make it advisable for him to return and assist his father

in the store. While attending school he had been under the gen-

eral oversight of his Uncle James, who wrote to Dudley, Sr.:

Dudley goes forward to you in fine health & with a tolerable supply

of cloaths to be sure he brings a round bill with him & whither his Latin

& Greek is really worth the money perhaps will admit of a question; you

may however I think safely flatter yourself that in future he will show

himself a much better Occonomist.34

30 Ibid.

31 Ibid.

32 Ibid.

33 Ibid.

34 Ibid.

• 23
 

428    OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

Among the French emigres in Gallipolis was Petit, a talented

young physician who was captivated by the charms of young

Lucy Woodbridge, now about twenty years of age. One can easily

imagine how the girl from New England, for several years par-

ticipating in none but frontier society was thrilled by the dash and

sophistication of a real Parisian. Romance and all the glamour

of court life in the great metropolis were his background, and

Lucy was swept off her feet. Too bad there is no description of

the wedding. Time is a trickster in often destroying the very

letter one should so much like to see. On account of some in-

heritance in France, the Petits considered crossing the Atlantic,

and Mrs. Woodbridge wrote to William about the proposed trip:

. . . The boat has gone again and left me I must now wait another

week. . . . I will inform you when I arrive in Gallipolis at what time your

sister expects to leave us and if possible give you an opportunity of seeing

her was there peace in Europe I would solicit your Papa to let you ac-

company her to France the thot of having her imbark without any of her

freinds distresses me extreamly but I will not dwell on a subject that must

depress your spirits. [Then a little motherly pride in his scholastic achieve-

ments.] Rather let me tell you how much it gladdens my heart to hear you

persue your studies with industry and that your conduct in every respect

is such as meets the approbation of your Preceptor Continue my Dr Boy

to merit that partiallity which He evidently feels for you I had the honor

of receiving a letter from Mr Skinner [his teacher] by your Papa express-

ing his approbation of your conduct which has been a source of the greatest

enjoyment I have felt since I parted with you dont disappoint our hopes

my Dr Boy hopes which from a knoledge of your tallants and disposition

we are authorized to incourage reflect that this is probably the last op-

portunity you will have to prepare yourself to act your part in the world

let not a moment pass unimproved.35

This was sound advice for the youngster who was later to be

governor of Michigan and then to represent that state in the

United States Senate.

Woodbridge, busy in the affairs of his business, more or less

left the training of the children to his wife in whose judgment he

had absolute faith. On January 5, 1796, he wrote to his son,

William:

In all matters I wish you to consult & Advise with your Mama--You

cannot but be sensible that She is a kind tender & affectionate Parent and

who wishes To promote your greatest welfare & Happiness I beg you not

to be wanting in your Duty To her Consult and Advise with her, she is

ever willing To give you Advise it will Add greatly To your Happiness

 

35 Ibid.

• 24
 

LUCY BACKUS WOODBRIDGE                      429

as well as to Hers, and not a little to Mine--This will be a great means

of making you chearfull Happy & Content36

And again the following month:

Wheather you are Suted with your Sutuation, or wheather the Knowl-

edge you acquire will be Adequate to the Expense I know not, this I can

better tell when I see you; and determine me with regard To your Con-

tinuance their. . . . As exercise is necessary to promote Health, amuse your-

self with Dancing, Walking, Riding &c I would recommend to you Stating

accounts, It gives you a use of your Pen, would recommend you Associating

with Good Company. It will not only be instructive but Contribute to your

health. What Money you Judiciously & prudently Spend shall chearfully

pay. . . .37

A thorough preparation for life was Lucy Backus Wood-

bridge's ambition for her sons. William continued his studies

under Skinner in Coventry, and every letter from the Muskingum

urged application and an intelligent plan for the future. There

were no orders, rather a surprising fact in that age when children

were to be seen and not heard. It was a meeting of minds on

a basis of equality, minds with a singleness of purpose.

I am sorry to hear [wrote Mrs. Woodbridge to William] that your

time the last summer has not been more usefully imployed. . . . if we had

any school here or in the Neighbourhood of this place suitable for You to

attend, Your Papa would send for you immediately, but if you return it

must be either to go into the store or the Office. Consult Your own Judge-

ment and feelings on the subject if they lead you to pursue Your studies

Your Papa will not I presume be averse to giving you an academical Edu-

cation. if You wish to continue at Coventry thro' the summer and then

return you will be at liberty to do it. if You feel any hesitancy You had

better consult Your Uncle James & Aunt Clary on the subject or any

freind You may think capable of advising you. Your Uncle Elijah seems

very Solicitous to have You continued at school and both Your Papa and

myself are two warmly interested in Your Welfare to refuse You anything

that can promote your future enjoyment38

And what was young William        wearing these days?    Striped

nankeen for every day, but "I want very much that you should

get my best cloths in Philadelphia--viz a broadcloth coat &

trowsers silk or plaited stockens, waiscoat &c    I had rather have

my coat pretty dark"³⁹

The winter of 1797 was unexpectedly severe.

. . . We have no passing [on the river] except by foot by land--the

River is intirely closed and the creaks so low and their banks so steep and

icy that it is next to impossable for a Horse to travel the season has been

most extreordinary that has ever been known by any of our present in-

36 Ibid.

37 Burton MSS.

38 Ibid.

³⁹ Woodbridge-Gallaher MSS.

• 25
 

430    OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

habitants many people have perished by the intenseness of the cold our

Mills are all frozen and we are reduced to the necessaty of grinding our

grain in hand mills. . . . Elijah and his famely were well a few days since

--he has removed onto his Island & lives as independantly as a Prince--

our cir[obliterated by seal] stances two are flourishing as we [obliterated

by seal] reasonably expect Mr Woodbridge has lately bout him a very

valuable tract of Land within a few Miles of this place which I think will

eventually be our place of residence. . . .40

William had worked out his own salvation on pretty level-

headed lines for a seventeen-year-old:

NORTH COVENTRY Feb^r 19, 1797

DEAR PAPA,

I receiv'd a letter from you dated Novr 28 a few days since.

I had advis'd with Mr Skinner respecting my entering Colledge. I

have concluded that if it is agreeable to you, I would not. Since I have

been with Mr Skinner, I have studied the English Grammar, Rhetoric, Com-

position a little Arithmetic, Geometry Trigonometry, Surveying, Navigation,

Mensuration of Superfines & Solids &c, as much perhaps more, than is

done at Collidge & they include all what is studied there except the Dead

Languages, Natural Phylosophy, Astronomy, & perhaps a few other things,

the most of which if necessary may be learnt out as well as in Colledge.

What I have learnt will be in a manner superceeded at Colledge, for I shall

be obliged to spend as much time upon them as if I had not learn'd them.

Not only this, but it will keep me out of business a great while, & I con-

clude that a practice is at present of importance to me if I prepare for

Commerce. Mr Skinner observed that there were but few openings for

professional men at present.

It appears to me, it would be more advantagious after leaving This

place, to perfect myself in the French Language, which by long neglect has

become quite unfamiliar to me; Then to begin some active employment.

I should admire to go to France with Sister Lucy if she goes. Such

a voyage would perfect my knowledge of a Country render'd so noted,

would perfect me in their Language, & would give me a more perfect

knowledge of the World which would be of advantage to me in whatever

situation I may be.

But whatever your pleasure be, I shall endeavor to conform mine to

it, & I doubt not but with success Mr Skinner told me last summer that

if I concluded to go to Colledge he would engage to fit me for the Sophe-

more Class in a Year.

I have attended some to Vocal Musick as you advis'd me to.

Mr Skinner is now quite at leasure & pays good attention to me. He

is now studeing the French with me. So perfect a knowledge of the dead

Languages as he has renders it very easy for him, & requirs but little

knowledge from me Mr Skinner has neglected giving me my Account till

of late, I will enclose it to you.41

The inhabitants of Marietta were, one might say, "all of a

stripe." Founded by veterans of the Revolution from New Eng-

land, the village grew and prospered, preserving to a great extent

 

40 Ibid.

41 Ibid.

• 26
 

LUCY BACKUS WOODBRIDGE                 431

much of the atmosphere of the homeland. Many of the men were

college graduates, all keenly interested in educating their children,

in establishing churches, and in enjoying, so far as they were able,

the comforts of the East. These men held a very different outlook

upon life than did a community like Detroit, the metropolis of the

northern part of the Territory where Frenchmen, Englishmen,

Scottsmen and Indians met and mingled.

Without Burr, the name of Blennerhassett might have re-

mained unknown save to the few neighbors along the banks of the

Ohio. His advent in the West was unannounced until the pre-

sentation of a letter to Woodbridge from a business friend in

Philadelphia, Edward D. Turner, the last day of July, 1797.

Presuming upon a short acquaintance I take the liberty of Introducing

to you my Friend Harman Blennerhasset Esq a gentleman from Europe

who wishes to become a resident of the Western Country. he visits Mari-

etta and the adjacent settlements for the purpose of observation. any in-

formation you may offord him as any attentions you may please to bestow

him will be fully compensated by his acquaintance and gratefully acknowl-

edge by your very Humble Servt42

What a strain of romance this note presaged! Blennerhassett,

son of an Irishman, was born, October 8, 1765, educated at Trinity

College, Dublin, and admitted to the bar in 1790. After a bit of

travel on the Continent, he chanced to be in England at the time

the beautiful Margaret Agnew was returning from school. Fate

so arranged it that the young Irishman was delegated by her aunts

to conduct her to their home. Dan Cupid interferred, with the

result that the couple eloped and came to America. All that one

reads of Blennerhassett paints him a man of unusual scholastic

ability, a dreamer for whom life was filled with romance. Bring-

ing a patrimony of very comfortable figures, he and his girl bride

set out on what promised to be a life of pleasant dalliance and

romance. What directed him to Marietta, can only be surmised.

He wanted to set up an estate, and chose Elijah Backus' island,

about twelve miles below the village, as an ideal spot. He bought

170 acres for $4,500, and there spent $40,000 in erecting a lovely

home, in severe contrast to the stark log houses of Marietta.

Gracious rooms opened into one another; furniture came over the

 

42 Ibid.

• 27
 

432   OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

mountains in vast quantities, velvets and silken stuffs were ordered

for hangings, the walls were hung with pictures, and mirrors re-

flected pleasing vistas. Here the Blennerhassetts lived in their

self-created paradise, dispensing kindly hospitality and introducing

into the quiet village life a tang from European ballrooms. Al-

though the house and grounds were costly in their equipment and

upkeep, he had additional capital, and this he invested in a part-

nership with Dudley, Jr., who had taken over his father's mer-

cantile business. A vast quantity of manuscripts tell of their deal-

ings, orders upon Philadelphia merchants, supplies for the estate,

etc. The pouring in of so much cash was a bonanza to the village,

as was the excitement caused by the presence of the exotic couple

to the staid New England minds. It was natural the Blenner-

hassetts and the Woodbridges should be friends: visits were ex-

changed, balls given, and skating parties made the frosty air re-

sound with laughter. Mrs. Blennerhassett was an excellent horse-

woman, and tales of her dashing through the woodlands clad in

a scarlet velvet habit, a white plume waving above her dark hair,

still linger in Marietta.

When Mrs. Woodbridge first came to Marietta, she expressed

the sentiment that not until she owned a farm would she have a

feeling of safety. The closing days of 1798 saw the realization

of the dream. From the estate of her father, who died in that

year, she inherited a sum of money, and she wrote to James to

see if it were available.

I have an opportunity to purchas a valuable farm containing between

2 & 300 Acres which I suppose can be bot on a short Credit. can you tell

me when I might venture to engage a sum of 12 or 1300 D01 from the

avails of My Fathers Estate. I feel very much disposed to secure to my-

self that property to do it I presume it will be necessary for You to take

a Deed of the Land before the money goes out of your hands.43

The chemistry of temperament is beyond human comprehen-

sion. One says, He is kind, generous, well educated, courteous,

etc.; she is devoted to her mother and friends, is sprightly and

intelligent; but none can say whether he and she together will

create a happy home. Soon after the marriage of Lucy and Petit,

there were little family unheavals. These grew in volume, and the

43 Ibid.

• 28
 

LUCY BACKUS WOODBRIDGE                 433

close of 1800 found Lucy seeking a divorce, henceforth to live in

her father's home. The act was not out of the ordinary; men

and women have fretted against these bonds since ancient days.

The interest in this divorce lies in the fact that it was the first ever

granted in the Northwest Territory, and had to be procured by an

act of the Legislature.

The next few months found the family jogging along its

usual course. William was in school; Dudley, Jr., was carrying

on the major work in the store, of which Blennerhassett seems to

have been rather a silent partner except for personal purchases;

John was aiding in the clerical details and longing for the day

when he might go east to school; while the two sisters were en-

joying local society and visiting their friends in nearby villages.

The post continued to be a matter of irritation, and Mrs. Wood-

bridge wrote William, "You will have the political News in our

Papers, if the Post Master is honest enough to forward them to

you the printer is directed to send one weekly."44 Such a state

of affairs is hard to contemplate in these days. Woodbridge had

erected a mill at Wakatomika. His wife was dickering to buy

some land in the new Connecticut Reserve. Her business alert-

ness and keen interest in politics surely belie the picture too often

painted of the stolid, though brave, pioneer mother whose interest

did not cross her threshold save through her menfolk. To her

dying day she was a person of affairs, planning, looking ahead

for her family, and ever watchful of the small matters, which,

woven together, make for stability in life.

Today the convenient check or money order relieves one of

all responsibility for the safe carriage of money. In I802 the

paying of bills at a distance was a real problem, and Lucy Wood-

bridge was always anxious about William's expenses at school.

Letter after letter relates her sending money by this person

and that.

I inclose to You one twenty Dol Bill Manhattan Bank. two Do Bank

United States two ten Dol Bills United States Bank, two Providence Bills

two Dol each with two guinias Nine Dol 50 cents amounting to Ninety

three Dol fifty cents it being all the bills I can procure.45

44 Burton MSS.

45 Ibid.

• 29
 

434    OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

How she would have rejoiced in a neat little check-book and

savings bank in which to put her money. The much-advertised

budget-books would have been meat and drink. One doubts not

that she had her own finances well systematized, and knew to a

penny just what could be counted upon.

And now her dream of sending her son, John, east was about

to materialize.

I intend he shall go the last of Winter or the first of Spring, and if

Your Papa will consent to stay three or four Months in Connecticut. if

You have any schools in Litchfield [Her William at this time was studying

law with the famous Tapping Reeve.] suitable for him to attend I should

like to have him spend the principal part of his time with You. I should

like to have him taught dancing & something more substantial I wish You

would write to me on the Subject and if You approve the thing recommend

it to your Papa, but not as coming from me.46

Ever do women gain their way by devious means.

It is evident also that Dudley, Sr., was not told all the details

of his wife's finances with her son.

I was very sorry [she wrote] to see the 100 dollars come inclosed to

Col. Sproat. Your Papa I believe calculated to pay the whole of that sum

and I must doubt wheather he will forward you anything more. His

feelings you know are variable and often effected by trifles; they have of

late been opperated upon by some little vexatious occurrences respecting

his business; and he at the present moment feels himself uncommonly poor.

The Mills at Wactatomica have stood still all Summer partly for want of

a Man to attend them & partly for want of some repairs which with Energy

and attention might soon have been accomplished. The Farm up the Ohio

is likewise badly Husbanded and unprofitable. . . . the business of the store

and collecting of debts is much in the same train. if your Papa had health

and management he might soon set things right. . . . I hope you will not feel

yourself greatly incommoded for want of Money; if You have enough to

meet the expences of your living You can send for Your Books after you

return. You may depend on what assistance I can give you which will I

think be sufficient to purchase the whole of Your library.47

William in Litchfield felt he must take home with him any

reference books he might need in his practice of law.

Although slavery was never an institution in Marietta, service

was secured through indentured servants, and Mrs. Woodbridge

wrote in November, 1802, "You will be better pleased to hear that

I have bought a good natured Negro boy who has five Years to

serve & that my health is much improved by the acquisition."48

 

46 Ibid.

47 Ibid.

48 Ibid.

• 30
 

LUCY BACKUS WOODBRIDGE                     435

Most of life is composed of little daily happenings, no one of

itself important, yet each sketching daily concerns. Lucy Wood-

bridge was seemingly very dependent upon William and wrote long

letters about the events in Marietta.

Although I have twice written in answer to your last letter of Sept 4 I

will again inform you that Your Papa complies with your wishes respecting

the time of your continuance at Litchfield the communication by the Post

is at present so unsertain we place but little dependance on it the Post

from here to Zanesville has been stopped this five weeks [At that time the

mail left Pittsburgh on Friday at two P. M. and arrived at Zanesville the

following Monday at 8 P. M.] Mr Jackson who has lately contracted to

carry the Mail it is said cannot yet agree with any one his own terms to

ride Post from here to that Place. Private persons who were anxious to

get letters have twice sent for mail at their own expence Your Papa

Brought down the last when he was permitted without evidence to take

Packages he chose from a table in Howeys Bar Room where the letters

and papers were loosely thrown together. . . .

I feel a degree of impatience to see you that will hardly permit me to

look forward to that time of your return I think I shall never consent

again to be left so destitute as I am at the present moment Lucy is with

Sally at Springfield and Dudley [Jr.] at Philadelphia your Papa came

down but yesterday from Wactatomica [his mill site] and returns again in

a few days my time is so wholly occupied with the store, sister is obliged

to seek amusements abroad the house is like a deserted Castle

If I could be assured that you were all enjoying health and happiness

I should feel a degree of satisfaction in reflecting that my loss was your

gain but I much fear you are a loosing more in health than you gain

in knowledge  [William was always subject to attacks of asthma and suf-

fered from it considerably during his school years.] . . . I enclose a twenty

dol Bill which you will divide with Jack [John, who was now attending

school in the East] for Pocket money . . . .49

The spring of 1803 was filled with letters dealing with land

purchases in the Zanesville district where Mathews had located a

store and mill. In May of that year came the news that he "has

been engaged in a Matrimonial expedition as you will learn by

our Paper and is now on a tower with your Sister to Charleston

Pitts Burgh & C[hambersburg]      when they return I expect Sally

will remove immediately to Zanesville. . . .50

As the time approached for William to return to Marietta,

Mrs. Woodbridge grew more impatient, worried about his ac-

quiring a library, and was greatly concerned

that by a late law of our State law students are obliged to read four years

with a practizing attorney in the State before they can get admitted to

the bar, and that Lawyers from other states must reside one year in this

state previous to their admission I cannot learn when the law is to take

49 Ibid.

50 Ibid.

• 31
 

436   OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

effect. I hope William may still arrive in time to avoid it, if he could with-

out much loss of time get admitted in Connecticut or Rhode Island it would

be a safer way. . . .51

A week later William was instructed to buy for his sister Lucy

a "Saddle plain leather like Mrs. Blennerhassets . . . [and] that

you would likewise bring her a fashionable pair of Earrings. . .52

From this point there is a gap in the letters. Death and time

were separating the family from Norwich interests; the children

were married and lived in Ohio. Sally was in Zanesville, the wife

of Mathews, the surveyor, who had a mill and shop at the forks

of the Muskingum. Dudley, Jr., had married Jane Gilman, whose

tragic death followed almost immediately the birth of their daugh-

ter, another Jane, who came under the watchful eye of her Aunt

Lucy. Later Dudley courted and married the lovely Maria Mor-

gan from Morganza, Pennsylvania, whose father was the famous

Colonel George Morgan of Revolutionary days. A granddaughter

related that when Maria was an old, old lady, blind, but still alert,

that she (the granddaughter) was called into the room, seated

upon a high chair, and told to relate the news, not the gossip of

the day. William completed his law course, married the beautiful

Juliana Trumbull whose father had written "McFingal," and was

now dividing his time between his practice and local politics. John

and his wife Elizabeth lived in Chillicothe, where he had become

an affluent banker. All of these events tended more and more to

center their mother's interests in southern Ohio. No longer did

she chafe over the non-arrival of eastern mail. Her family circle

was within the bounds of the State of Ohio.

To tell the activities of the various members of her family

would cover many pages. Their lives are another story. At the

age of sixty Lucy Woodbridge's glass was running low. Born

amid the culture and comforts of the East, she had brought ideals

with her across the mountains, nurturing them in her garden on

the Muskingum. Here she had founded a home, encouraged her

husband during the lean years of his business, planned the educa-

 

51 Ibid.

52 Ibid.

• 32
 

LUCY BACKUS WOODBRIDGE                      437

tion of their children, and now, in the spring of 1817, she was

packing her bags for a grand adventure.

William, two years previously, had been appointed secretary

of Michigan Territory of which Lewis Cass was the governor.

Thither he and Juliana had moved with great trepidation, and now

his mother was journeying to far-distant Detroit, the fair City of

the Straits, to officiate at the arrival of a grandchild due late in

the summer. Not since the years when her parents were alive

and she made frequent visits to Norwich, had she undertaken such

a journey. Those were not the days when the "Sportsman" whisks

one the length of Ohio in luxurious comfort. Horseback was the

mode of travel, and one hoped to sight a friendly cabin along

about sunset.

Accompanied by her grandson, William Petit, she set out, and

from Moxahala (in Perry County), May 14, wrote to her hus-

band of her adventures:

Dudley [her son who had accompanied her upon the first stage of the

journey] will give you an account of our progress thus far that we found

Sally [in Zanesville] in tollorable health and that she was making prepa-

rations to visit us I think she will still go down and spend a few weeks

with you: I have urged her to do it knowing how much You would be grati-

fied to have her. [Lucy, the other daughter and mother of William Petit,

had died the previous year.]

You will be pleased to hear that I am like to have other company than

William Petit I have not heard directly from Franklinton [now a part of

Columbus] but William tells me that Col Lord was at Chillicothe last week

who informed him that both Cousin Thomas [Backus, really her nephew,

the son of Elijah who had married Eunice Lord] and himself would set

out in ten or twelve days for Detroit You may therefore rest easy as it

respects my escort Joseph Monroe & some of Major Casses family are

likewise going in a short time [The leisure of their travel is delightful: visit

a while here, then wander on to the home of the next friend.]

I have requested Peggy to sell my Wool to Tuttle and hand you the

Money which I wish You to place to my account and if You please when

You write to me state what still remains due & I will try to make up the

ballance when I return it is possable that old man from Owl Creek [where

she owned a considerable parcel of land] (I dont recollect his name the

father in law of Acherton) may send down the ballance of his account.

. . .53

Then a stop in Chillicothe to see John and Elizabeth with their

children, was made five days later.

You will be gratified to hear that I have progressed thus far without

accident and that our Children here are well. . . . I hope in three or four

53 Woodbridge-Gallaher MSS.

• 33
 

438    OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

weeks You will hear from me in Detroit I cannot yet determine wheather

I shall go through by land or cross the Lake. . . .54

At last Franklinton and the hospitable Lord mansion were

reached, a good two weeks after leaving Marietta, which is now

traveled in a few hours over wonderfully engineered roads.

. . . A desire to be with William and the fear that our delay may

excite his anxietude makes me extreamely impatient and were I to follow

the dictates of my own inclination and judgment I should go immediately

with William alone [MS. torn] weather is fine and the roads in good order

[MS. torn] it is the oppinion of both Cousin Thomas and William that

we had better wait for Company. . . . do write to me at Detroit I feel

anxious to hear from home I hope the fine weather and exercise has im-

proved your health. I have been gaining strength by every days jorney

[stiff treatment for a woman of sixty!] I never traveld with so much ease

--the little Mare is an admirable creature. . . . I expect to reach Detroit

in ten or twelve days when you will hear from me again.

[And two days later] We are now within 28 Miles of Lower Sandusky.

. . . Compelled to take passage by water the [Black] Swamp being ren-

dered impassable by the rain which fell in torrents during our stay at

Sandusky55

This swamp was the bate noire of all travelers through north-

ern Ohio. A tract of country about forty by 120 miles in extent

lying south of the Maumee River and the western end of Lake

Erie, it was covered by a dense forest of uniform growth, and

beneath the surface soil of decomposed vegetable matter was a clay

formation several feet in thickness. Forest and soil combined

with the level conformation of the surface to render it a region

peculiarly difficult to travel over at most seasons of the year, and

utterly impassable during rainy weather. June 18 found them in

Detroit, disappointed over not finding any mail from home.

When William brought his bride, Juliana, to Marietta, he built

for her a lovely home, spacious, surrounded by giant trees, a cen-

tral hall leading back to a beautiful garden. A delicate etching is

now all that is left of the old place. Upon his removal to Detroit,

the house was taken over by his brother Dudley. At the time

of his appointment to the secretaryship, territorial law required

officials to be property owners, the amount to be determined by

their rank. His early letters are filled with the difficulties entailed.

Many of the owners of real estate were French, notably loathe to

sell their land. After several futile attempts to purchase, William

54 Ibid.

55 Ibid.

• 34
 

LUCY BACKUS WOODBRIDGE                     439

rented the Brush house whose background is particularly interest-

ing. The plot of ground, 365 feet along the river and three arpents

(about 594 feet) deep, is still known as Private Claim No. I,

having been the first private claim granted by the American Land

Board. For many years it was the home of John Askin, a promi-

nent merchant, who, upon his removal to the Canadian side, turned

it in to Todd and McGill of Montreal, as a partial payment upon

his debt to them. They in turn sold it to Askin's son-in-law,

Elijah Brush, in 1806. Hence, French, British, and American

had enjoyed its fertile acres, and the view of the broad Detroit

sweeping majestically by. This highway had borne the gay voy-

ageur as he paddled his fur-laden canoe towards the market; the

military men carrying their country's flag to far-off posts; the

missionary priests to the Indian tribes. And now, after the dis-

tressing days of 1812-1815, peace reigned and commerce and

travel were falling into that stride which in years to come was

to make this waterway bear more tonnage than any other in the

world.

One could wish that Lucy Backus Woodbridge had kept a

diary during her stay in Detroit, or that her letters had been more

frequent and descriptive. The few notations available picture

days of sociable tea-drinking, drives about the town, and parties.

President James Monroe, on his official tour, spent some time in

Detroit, and one may rest assured that he was entertained by the

secretary of the Territory and his charming wife. Mrs. Wood-

bridge was interested in the economic outlook, and of it she wrote:

. . . William has not yet bought his a place property has risen so

much here and his funds are so inconsiderable I am fearfull he has but a

faint prospect of doing it. there is now he tells me but three farms in

this place that can be bought on any terms those belong to a foreigner

who is soon to embark for England and are to be sold at auction on the

twentieth. one of these William is very desirous to obtain and if it is sold

on any considerable leangth of credit he will I think venture to buy it in

the hope that he may be able to turn his house at Marietta into money at

some price. it is important to his comfort that he should own a house

here. he cannot ingage the one he lives in [the Brush house] for more than

one year and there is not a house in town beside this to be rented. it is

likewise necessary that he should possess himself of five hundred acres

of land to qualify him for the Office of Secretary. fearing he may not

be able to obtain lands here he has requested Mr Fletcher to chuse a sec-

tion for him. he is a surveying about sixteen miles below here on the

• 35
 

440    OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

River Detroit. Fletcher sais great speculations may be made in those lands.

Governor Cass bought him a farm in the Neighhood last year already

[it] brings him a handsome income he is accumilating property rapidly

indeed he bought a farm in this town last summer for twelve thousand

Dollars which William sais he is confident Cass would not sell for thirty

thousand. I heard him observe that his orchard would this year produce

him from Eight to nine hundred dollars that he had fifty Acres of wheat

he has extensive meadows on the place and will I presume support his

family from the produce of [MS. torn] farms, for living is really not so

very expensive here as has been represented. . . .56

The grandson, William Leverett Woodbridge, made his debut

late in July, and August found the grandmother looking for com-

panionship on the homeward journey.

Mrs. Dudley Woodbridge and William Petit left Detroit, prob-

ably the last week in August or the first in September, on horse-

back. A letter dated "Friday Morning" carried the news of the

journey:

I have accomplished this draft with less fatigue than I had anticipated

although the weather has been uncomfortable and the riding some part of

it bad. the horse carries more easily if possible than Bute he goes the

mire remarkably well we have passed through several mire holes, as bad

(Fletcher tells me) as any part of the swamp. William met with an acci-

dent at Huron River which for a moment terrified me. In attempting to

cross with the two horses we rode which were as many as the Boat would

support, Bute who was Loose and we expected would have swam the River

sprang into the Boat and sunk them. William saved himself from going

under by mounting her but in the effort strained his lame side which causes

him to suffer by the motion of the horse. I proposed to him to return this

morning but he is not willing. I should insist on it but that I know it is

your wish that he should accompany me through the swamp [Lucy Wood-

bridge is reported to have been the first white woman to brave the terrors

of the Black Swamp, and it is thought that it may have been due to the

hardships then suffered that she later contracted pneumonia.] He slept very

quietly through the Night, he is not yet up if his no better I cannot con-

sent to his going farther. His uneasiness may have been occasioned partly

by having drunk too much brandy which he took first as a medicine and

afterwards because he loved it for it was the finest I have tasted for many

years. . . . the road I am told is very good to fort Meigs. the jorney ap-

pears less formidable to me than it did at the outset. . . .57

[Fort Meigs was reached on September 6.] I arrived here last evening

in good health but very tired owing I think partly to having been desturbed

by William the night before and partly to looking back after my horse

who lost a shoe from one of his fore feet and became very lame soon after

we left Laselles. I had my saddle shifted and let him loose he followed

very well but owing to his lameness I presume he would walk on untill we

had almost lost sight of him and then gallop after us but I expect that evil

will be removed. Mr Fletcher took him to the blacksmith, by day break

this morning by the time he stays expect he will get him shod he is very

56 Ibid.

57 Ibid.

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LUCY BACKUS WOODBRIDGE                     441

 

obliging as are all the party at this place I was treated with every attention

due to the Mother of the Secretary of the Michigan Territory I soon

learned that the report of my coming had gone before me the Landlady

told me some gentlemen had informed her I was on the road that she was

sorry her house was no better & that her best room was occupied by a

sick gentleman from Albany he at that instant sent his servant to inform

her that he would give it up which I declined accepting. she gave me a

good cup of tea which refreshed me very much and a variety of tarts

cakes and sweetmeats which William would have feasted on but of which I

did not taste. she then shew me into a snug little bedroom covered with

blankets and made comfortable by a fire and then insisted on undressing

and putting me to bed and that I would suffer a little black boy to sleep

by my bed side that I might send to her in the night if I should want any

thing both of which I declined I took no part in the play except to ex-

press a regret which I sincerely felt at having been obliged to part with

my company and to relate the story of the sinking of the boat.

I have just made a hasty breakfast Mr Fletcher is a coming with the

horse I expect by tomorrow noon to be able to inform you of our arrival

at Sandusky we have a good report of the roads

Sandusky Sunday 11 O'Clock We have at leangth got throug the

swamp without accident and in good health Mr. Fletcher is extremely

accomodating  his son ingages to wait at Franklinton [Columbus] to ac-

company me to Chillicothe I shall write to you from thence. . . .58

From Franklinton, she wrote to William the following Sun-

day, September 14:

If you have had half as much rain in Detroit as I have met with on

the road and love me half as well as I think you do You will be glad to

hear that I am safe landed at Franklinton. the rains commenced the eve-

ning that we reached Spicers, and in the morning the surface of the earth

was covered with water and so continued untill we reached Worthington

Yet strange to tell we did not ford a stream that came above the skirts

of our sadelles, I am here weather bound but fortunately among our

friends. I might have proceeded on with Fletcher and as we had before

done kept before the high water but I felt so much werried with the jorney

from Tonches by here that I thought it prudent to wait a few days. the

rain kept of [f] just long enough to have enabled me to have reached

Chillicothe but I did not improve it I had my horses brought out Yester-

day morning and was just ready to set of[f] for Chillicothe when it again

[began to rain] and has continued without cessasion ever since the streams

are rising rapidly but fortunately they are all bridged between this place

and Chillicothe except Big belly at which place there is a ferry. I expect

Col Lord will accompany me he has business at Chillicothe we shall set

out as soon as the weather becomes pleasant and not untill then for I am

not disposed agin to incounter the storms although my health has not ma-

terially suffered by past exposure. I feel extremely anxious to hear from

you all. . . .59

She reached her son John's home in Chillicothe the following

Wednesday, tired and ill.

Mama arrived here on Wednesday Since which she has been indis-

posed but was not she thought, seriously ill untill today, when she con-

58 Burton MSS.

59 Woodbridge-Gallaher MSS.

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442    OHIO ARCH AEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

sented to have a Physician called in. He found her in a high fever &

apprehends that her illness will be of some duration. She has the advice

of our best Physician & will receive every attention which it is in our

power to give.60

Woodbridge at home in Marietta was torn between the desire

to go immediately to his wife's bedside and the advice of his

physician that his health would not permit the trip.

If your Mamma Should be thought dangerous, what ever hazard I may

run in the attempt I shall set out. I have thought To request of you by

every mail To give me information. . . . tell your Mama that my health is

in many respects as it was. That I am anxious To be with her though my

suffering would not alleviate her pain. I am happy when I reflect that she

can [have everything that she may] wish or need as well as every assistance

of Medical attendance will be afforded her. When Dudley will be their

you can Tell as well as myself. He I understand went in a Shais & your

Aunt [probably Clarina] on horseback. let not a mail slip without advise-

ing me of her health &c. . . .61

There was a turn for the better, then the end came suddenly.

Dudley, Jr., wrote to William:

. . . Our good & dearly beloved Mother is no more. She breathed her

last at half past eight oclock this morning [October 6, 1817] after an illness

of 2 weeks & three days. She caught cold the afternoon of her arrival

here & as she thought exercised too violently the next day in attempting to

shake it off. . . .62

And so ended a life--not amid the blare of trumpets, not with

flags at half-mast. History seldom notes such figures; and yet,

were it not for women like Lucy Backus Woodbridge, American

national life would be impoverished. The men who bore the torch

of civilization towards the setting sun would have been less brave,

less ambitious, had not a woman tended the hearth in the log

cabin, borne the children, and cherished the ideals that she had

brought over the mountains from the East. Education, religion,

culture in their broadest meaning--these were the gifts of the

pioneer mother.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

60 Ibid.

61 Ibid.

62 Burton MSS.

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