Ohio History Journal

MINUTES

 

 

0F THE

Sixth Annual Meeting of the Society,

 

 

HELD IN

 

COLUMBUS, FEBRUARY 18 AND 19, 1891.

 

 

 

Thursday, February 19th the society came to order in the

State Library. There being present the following members:

Wm. E. Moore, of Columbus; A. A. Graham, of Columbus;

N. S. Townshend, of Columbus; H. A. Thompson, of Wester-

ville; J. A. Anderson, of Columbus; L. B. Wing, of Newark;

Geo. F. Bareis, of Canal Winchester; A. R. McIntire, of Mt.

Vernon; D. J. Ryan, of Portsmouth; J. J. Janney, of Colum-

bus; S. S. Rickly, of Columbus; Thos. E Van Home, of Co-

lumbus; J. A. Shawan, of Columbus; J. C. Reeve, of Dayton;

Cyrus Falconer, of Hamilton; B. D. Hills, of Columbus; Mrs.

N. E. Lovejoy, of Columbus; Edw. Orton, of Columbus; R.

Brinkerhoff, of Mansfield; John G. Doren, of Dayton; Thos. F.

Moses: Urbana; Rev. J. A. Snodgrass, of Columbus; A. H.

Smythe, of Coumbus; Isaac Kagy, of Tiffin; Frank H. Leib,

of Millersport; W. H. Morton, of Cincinnati; John T. Gale, of

Columbus; Charles Parrett, of Columbus; Henry Howe, of Co-

lumbus; James Poindexter, of Columbus; Chas. P. Griffin, of

Toledo; R. W. McFarland, of Oxford; Ralph Reamer, of Co-

lnmbus.

In the absence of the President of the Society, F. C. Ses-

sions, Rev. Wm. E. Moore, First Vice Presidsnt, presided. The

Secretary, A. A. Graham, presented and read his annual report,

which, upon motion, was accepted and ordered filed.

(261)

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262       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.  [VOL. 3

 

On motion of Mr. Doren, a committee was appointed to

nominate to the society the names of five members to serve as

trustees for three years. The chair appointed as such commit-

tee, Messrs. Doren, Anderson and Janney.

The report of the Treasurer, S. S. Rickly, was then read,

and on motion approved, and on his request a committee was ap-

pointed to examine the books at a time suitable to its con-

venience. The chair appointed Messrs. Hancock and Town-

shend as such committee.

The Secretary made report of the circular issued to the

members concerning proposed changes in the act of incorpora-

tion and by-laws regarding change of name, and increasing num-

ber of trustees. The circular had been sent to all of the mem-

bers. Out of 54 replies, 52 voted for both changes and two

against change of name. After discussion of the matter, in-

volving the legality of such change, it was decided to refer the

matter to the trustees with authority to take the ncessary steps

looking to a change of name.

The committee appointed to nominate five trustees for three

years reported the following names: F. C. Sessions, of Colum-

bus; Calvin S. Brice, of Lima; Robert W. Steele, of Dayton;

A. R. McIntyre, of Mt. Vernon.

The report of the committee was accepted, and on motion

the rules were suspended and the Secretary was instructed to

cast the vote of the members in favor of the names proposed.

John S. Rhodes and George R. McDaniels, of Fort Recov-

ery, presented the matter of the anniversary of the Centennial

of Gen. St. Clair's defeat by the Indians in the site of that

town in November, 1791, and asked that some action be taken

by the society looking to the proper observance of this Centen-

nial. After discussion of the matter, it was on motion referred

to the Executive Committee with power to act.

A committee of the citizens of Newark came before the

society, asking its aid and co-operation to secure the purchase

and preservation of that part of the extensive system of earth-

works near the city, known as the "octagon and circle." The

design being that when purchased the State could use the land

for the erection thereon of such institution as might be best.

• 2
 

Minutes of the Sixth Annual Meeting.       263

 

After a full discussion, in which it was stated the society could

not be engaged to secure for any distinct institution, the follow-

ing resolution was, on motion of Mr. Wing, adopted:

Resolved, That the members of the Ohio State Archaeologi-

cal and Historical Society are heartily in favor of the passage of

the bill introduced in the Senate by Senator Gaumer, for the

purchase by the State of the pre-historic earthworks at Newark,

and that the Executive Committee of this society be instructed

to use all proper effort to aid the passage of the bill.

This done, after discussion of various miscellaneous matters,

the society on motion adjourned to meet the following evening at

the American Hotel, at 8 p. m., for the annual dinner.

Friday evening, 8 p. m., the society met in the parlors of

the American House, and after a short time spent in a social

way, met around the tables in the dining room. Rev. W. E.

Moore, the First Vice President presiding. After the dinner,

which was greatly enjoyed, the members were called to order by

the chairman, Dr. Moore, and the following toasts were pre-

sented: "The Miami Valley," Governor James E. Campbell;

"The Old School Mistress," Miss Margaret Sutherland; "Gen.

Arthur St. Clair and the Indian Campaign of 1791," Gen. E. B.

Finley; "The Maumee Valley in History," Hon. Chas. P. Griffin,

"The Old Moravian Missions in Ohio," Hon. Wm. Farrar;

"Ohio at the Columbian Exposition," Gen. R. Brinkerhoff.

In the absence of the Governor, to whom had been as-

signed the place as toastmaster, Mr. Claude Meeker, his private

secretary, was called to the chair, and in that capacity filled the

place most acceptably.

At the conclusion of the responses to the toasts, the follow-

ing resolution, offered by Dr. H. A. Thompson, was unanimously

adopted:

WHEREAS, Having listened with pleasure to the interesting

remarks of General Brinkerhoff as to the part Ohio should take

in the Columbian Exposition in 1893, and believing with him

the State we represent, occupying as she does so conspicuous a

position among the Mississippi Valley States, should be repre-

sented in a manner in keeping with her position and history;

therefore, be it

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264       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.  [VOL. 3

 

Resolved, That we most heartily commend the effort being

made by Representative McMakin to secure from the General

Assembly such an appropriation as will enable the State to make

a creditable representation of her material and educational in-

terests in said exposition. In the event of an adequate appro-

priation for such purpose by the General Assembly, we believe

that no small place should be given to the work of the Ohio

Archaeological and Historical Society, and do hereby pledge our-

selves to make such an exhibit as shall do honor to the State.

The society, through Prof. John Hancock, expressed its

thanks to the proprietors of the hotel for the excellent manner

in which the dinner was served, and upon motion the sixth

annual meeting adjourned.

WM. E. MOORE,

A. A. GRAHAM,                      First Vice President.

Secretary.

 

 

MEETING OF THE TRUSTEES, THURSDAY, FEBRU-

ARY 19, 1891, FIVE P. M.

 

The Trustees met in the State Library. Dr. Townshend in

the chair. The selecting of officers was considered. On motion

of Dr. H. A. Thompson, Mr. F. C. Sessions was elected

President.

On motion, Rev. W. E. Moore was elected First Vice Presi-

dent, and R. Brinkerhoff Second Vice President.

On motion, Mr. S. S. Rickly was elected Treasurer, and

A. A Graham elected Secretary.

The following were elected as an Executive Committee:

F. C. Sessions, Wm. E. Moore, S. S. Rickly, D. J. Ryan, John

Hancock, H. A. Thompson, N. S. Townshend. The committee

was authorized to fill vacancies and to appoint such standing

committees as should be deemed necessary. There being a

vacancy in the Board of Trustees, Mr. George F. Baries, of

Canal Winchester, was appointed to the place to serve three

years, from February 19, 1891.

The Executive Committee was instructed to meet the next

day, Friday, at 10:00 A. M., to consult further with the commit-

• 4
 

Minutes of the Sixth Annual Meeting.       265

 

tee from Fort Recovery, relating to the centennial exercises to

be held at that place in November, 1891.

The question of the contemplated change in the society's

name was then considered. The Secretary presented the circu-

lar which had been sent to the members, and after discussion, it

was, on motion of Mr. A. R. McIntyre,

Resolved, That the Board of Trustees of this Society deem

it desirable that the articles of incorporation of this Society be

amended by striking out the first, or naming clause, and insert-

ing in lieu thereof the following: The name of this corporation

shall be "The Ohio Historical Society," and the proper steps be

at once taken to submit the question of making the amendment

to a meeting of the members called for that purpose.

After which, upon motion, the Board of Trustees adjourned.

N. S. TOWNSHEND,

A. A. GRAHAM,                       Chairman pro tem.

Secretary.

 

 

Meeting of the Board of Trustees May 7th, 1891, in the

State Library. Present, Messrs. Sessions, Brinkerhoff, Rickly,

Thompson, Read, Griffin, Gilmore, Bareis, McIntyre, Hancock,

and Lockwood.

Minutes of the last annual meeting of the Society and of

the Board of Trustees, February 19th and 20th, were read and

approved. The memorial regarding the work of the Society in

the Ohio exhibit at the Columbian Exposition, was read, dis-

cussed and approved. The Secretary was instructed to arrange

for a conference with the Ohio Commissioners, in session in the

office of the State Board of Agriculture, and it was resolved that

the sum of $ 2,500 be requested for this year's work.

On motion of Dr. Thompson, the Secretary was authorized

to draw an order upon the Treasurer for the expenses of the

Trustees in attendance at this meeting. A conference having

been arranged, the Board met the Ohio Commissioners and

through Messrs. Brinkerhoff and Read, presented the memorial

of the Trustees regarding the Department of Archaeology and

History in the Ohio exhibit at the World's Fair.

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266       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.  [VOL. 3

 

After the conference, the Board renewed deliberations. On

motion, a committee consisting of Messrs. Brinkerhoff, Wright,

Baldwin, Read and the Secretary was appointed to appear before

the Ohio Commissioners at their meeting in Cleveland, June 4th,

the Committee to present a plan of the proposed department,

and to report the same to the Executive Committee. The Sec-

retary was instructed to send each member of the Board the

names of the Ohio Commissioners to the World's Fair.

The Board then adjourned to meet at Fort Ancient the next

day, Friday, May 8th.

Fort Ancient, Friday, 2 p. M. Present, Messrs. Brinker-

hoff, Read, Lockwood, Bareis, Williams, Gilmore, Harris, Mc-

Intyre and Thompson, and by invitation, Senator Jesse N. Oren.

Second Vice President Brinkerhoff in the chair. The minutes

of the previous day were read and approved. The "Care and

control of Fort Ancient" was considered. After discussion, the

the appointment by the Executive Committee of Messrs. Oren,

Harris and Williams, as a special committee in charge of Fort

Ancient, was confirmed; this committee to enter upon its duties

as soon as the transfer of the property is made. This committee

was authorized to appoint a custodian for the property, and to

establish such rules and regulations for its care and control as

may be necessary, the action of the committee in these matters

to be submitted to the Board of Trustees for approval. After

an informal discussion of matters connected with the Fort, the

board adjourned.

R. BRINKERHOFF, Chairman.

A. A. GRAHAM, Secretary.

 

 

 

SECRETARY'S REPORT.

 

To the Executive Committee:

The year closed has been marked by steady progress. Lit-

tle in detail need be said. The publication of the Quarterly to

the end of Volume II was completed. Owing to the expense of

fitting the Society's room with the necessary cases and furniture,

• 6
 

Secretary's Report.               267

 

an expense of near $300, sufficient money did not remain to con-

tinue the Quarterly last year. Another item which entered into

this matter was the fact that the Society had been for some time

engaged in gathering the material on the question of the bound-

ary between Ohio and Virginia, with a view to publication, in

connection with the reprint of the notable and strong argument

on that question by Mr. Samuel F. Vinton, before the Virginia

Supreme Court in the Garber Slave case, the intention being to

issue the argument and accompanying papers in a single bound

volume, as Volume III. An examination of the matter devel-

oped the fact that some time would be necessary to secure and

prepare, as it should be done, such an important matter, and the

publication was therefore deferred for the present. In the

meantime, the Centennial of the settlement of Gallipolis by the

French, October, 19, 1790, was brought before the Society, and

it was decided to assist in that event, as the Society had done at

Marietta in the centennial of April 7, 1888. The present volume

will be the result, and will speak for itself.

The Society not finding sufficient encouragement in the

effort to unite the Society and the State Library upon the plan

followed in Wisconsin, Kansas and several other states, turned

its attention elsewhere, upon the request and suggestion of sev-

eral members, a publication fund was started. Each active

member who desired to pay an amount of money in addition to

what each had paid as active members to equal a life member's

fee, $50, was given the opportunity. The treasurer's report

shows the present condition of the fund.

The necessary care of the rooms, the work of the Society

in its various branches, required all the secretary's time, which

could not be given gratuitously. No fixed amount until this

year was paid, only such as could be spared, and without which

I could not have continued, and no one capable of carrying it

forward could be found to do the work free.

During the last term of the General Assembly an appeal

was made to that body to aid the Society. This was cheerfully

done, the Society being required to place all its library collec-

tions in the State Library. A grant of $2,000 was made, and

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268       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.  [VOL. 3

 

the Society placed in the State Library some 900 bound volumes

and pamphlets.

It is expected that this policy will be continued, and a closer

union between the State Library and the Society be maintained.

A safe receptacle will be provided for the library accommoda-

tions of the Society, where they can be consulted by any who

may want them.

The coming World's Fair at Chicago will afford the Society

an opportunity to extend its usefulness, and its aid in making a

proper display of articles illustrating the history of the State.

The General Assembly has already taken steps to assure an ex-

hibit of Ohio's industries and Ohio's history, and the Society

should be not only recognized, but required to aid in the exhibit.

At the close of the exposition, the Society can assume full care

of such articles as may be secured from the exhibit there. By

such means, at the centennial expositions held in Ohio in 1888,

a large and valuable collection illustrating our archaeology and

history was secured. These collections can now be seen in the

rooms of the Society, which, now contains some four thousand

articles of archaeology. A large number of maps, charts, carts,

photographs and other articles illustrating the archaeology and

history of Ohio. The room is now crowded, and the question

of larger and more convenient quarters confronts us.

The interest in the approaching centennials of many settle-

ments and many important events in our history is apparent.

All turn to this society to see that these are properly celebrated.

They tend to stimulate historical enquiry and interest, and their

proper observance is a part of our work and should receive the

attention each demands. The year closed emphasizes the fact

that the growth of the society, its usefulness, and its utility de-

pends on unremitting steady efforts. This we shall try to do as

long as strength and support continues.

A. A. GRAHAM, Secretary.

• 8
 

Report of Trustees.               269

 

 

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES TO THE GOVERNOR

FOR THE YEAR ENDING FEBRUARY 19, 1891.

 

To His Excellency, JAMES E. CAMPBELL,

Governor of Ohio:

The following report of this Society for the current year is

herewith presented:

The fiscal year of the Society ends February 19th, at which

time a full and detailed report of our proceedings, receipts, and

expenditures is annually made.

At the last sesion of the General Assembly an appropriation

of two thousand ($2,000) dollars was made to this Society "for

books, manuscripts, etc., to be placed in the State Library."

Under this authority the Society has catalogued to date, and

placed in the State Library, about four hundred (400) bound

volumes, about six hundred (600) pamphlets, not including files

of magazines, many manuscripts, etc. This enumeration does

not include duplicates nor remaining parts of the Society's pub-

lication, which will be used for exchange purposes, and the

works so received be placed in the Library. It also has twenty-

nine framed charts, illustrating the archaeology of Ohio, costing

originally about ten dollars each, which were donated to the

Society; and several paintings, drawings, and charts, which the

Library, owing to lack of wall-space, cannot receive, and which

will therefore be left for the present in the Society's room. The

Society has increased its permanent fund to seven hundred ($700)

dollars, the intention being to secure eventually twenty-five

thousand ($25,000) dollars, this fund to be known as the "Pub-

lication Fund," the income derived therefrom to be devoted to

publications. The experience of all historical societies shows a

very slow growth, and years must elapse before the fund will

reach the desired limit. In other States more than half a cen-

tury elapses before such a fund is secured. Several subscriptions

not yet due have been made, and as time progresses more will be

secured. The report of the Treasurer is as follows, and exhibits

in detail the financial transactions of the year:

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270          Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.        [VOL. 3

 

 

RECEIPTS.

Balance on hand from 1889 ..................................... $ 527 13

From active membership fees ..................................                                     470 00

Subscriptions to publication fund ..............................                                     580 00

From appropriations...................   ......................                                         2,000 00

From interest on permanent fund ..............................                                   27 33

$3604 46

DISBURSEMENTS.

For postage ........... ...............   ................ ...      $                                        175 00

Railway fares of Secretary ....................................                                        22 00

Janitor and clerk hire  ...................................... .                                          163 15

Office desk ................................................         25 00

Repairs in room .............................................    14 50

Sundry expenses, chiefly in connection with Gallipolis Centennial                 162 34

Secretary's salary for February, March and April, 1890 ..........                       300 00

Expenses, same period ................. ................... ....                                        22  11

Salary Secretary, May 1, 1890, to March 1, 1891 .................. 1,000 00

Job Printing  ................................................      298                                    50

Balance printing  of Volume II ................  ...... .........                                   96   29

Money expended for books ................ ..................                                       5 40

Transferred to publication fund ...............................                                     500 00

 

Total  ...............................                         .. ..... ..   ....... $                  2,815 67

Balance on hand  ......... ..............                        ................. ....                    788 79

 

$ 3,604 46

From the balance on hand will be paid the printing of Vol-

ume III, now in press, about $400, a copy of which will be

placed on the desk of each member of the Senate and House,

and the necessary expenses, including the Secretary's salary,

until May 15th.

 

 

 

 

 

VALUE OF PUBLICATIONS AND STOCK ON HAND, FEBRUARY 19, 1891.

Plates of Volume I cost ........................................ $182                 10

Matrices of Volume II cost .....................................                                      73 22

Single copies of Quarterlies, value ..............................                                  72 00

Eight bound copies Volume II ...................    ...........                                     40 00

Total value publications, etc., on hand ......................                            367 32

• 10
 

Report of Trustees.               271

 

The supply of volumes one and two, bound and unbound,

and of single numbers of the Quarterly, is constantly being de-

pleted by calls for them from all parts of the country. As soon

as the funds of the Society permit, these volumes will be re-

printed from the plates.

The permanent fund is now $700, invested and drawing

annual interest.

The Society will now issue Volume III of its publications.

This will embody the Centennial exercises, addresses, etc., at

Gallipolis, October 16-19 last, and also several valuable papers

relating to the important historical questions.

Arrangements have been made to exchange the publications

of this Society with all other societies of a similar nature, not

only in Ohio and the United States, but also in many foreign

countries.  The publications of all scientific, historical and

kindred societies are exceedingly valuable. They do not con-

tain, as a rule, reading that interests every citizen, but they do

contain monographs, carefully prepared, of great value to stu-

dents of history, government, science, political economy, and to

those whose vocations necessitate the use of such material.

The publications of such societies are not, as a rule, on sale,

hence no commercial value can be placed on them. They are,

like the issues of this Society, given to those who support the

organization, and to those who give in return the results of their

labors.

Under the appropriations given the Society, we are required

to place in the Library not only our present collection, but also

the accumulations received during the year, whether by gift, pur-

chase or exchange. It also places an injunction on the Society

to be diligent in acquiring documents, publications, etc., of a

governmental, scientific, historical and economic nature, and by

a system of exchange to secure as many as it can. This it has

labored faithfully to do. The issues of its first two volumes are

entirely exhausted, and as calls for them are constantly being

made, the Society will, as soon as its funds permit, republish

them. It will also, as has already been said, issue its third vol-

ume soon, and through it receive a large number of exchanges.

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272       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.  [VoL. 3

 

These, with all other accumulations, will be placed in the State

Library.

The Society desires to commend the efforts to secure and

build up pamphlet and manuscript departments in the State

Library. The move is most excellent. So careful a student of

history as ex-President Hayes, when Governor of Ohio, saw the

value of such departments, and did what he could to establish

and maintain them.

Such material is of inestimable value. Pamphlet publica-

tions are the cream of economical literature. The great libraries

of this country are exceedingly careful to secure such collec-

tions. A system of exchange can and should be systematically

arranged with all other libraries, and, through this Society, with

societies issuing such publications. The Legislator, the man of

business, and the student of government should have them at

ready command. We are well aware this entails additional labor

on the Librarian, who now, with a Library of some sixty thou-

sand (60,000) volumes, has the same assistance as the Librarian

of twenty-five years ago with less than half the number of

volumes and not one-fourth the applicants to examine them. If

this Society can be of any aid in this matter it will be glad to do

so. In view of the labor which these collections with its own

will impose, and the necessary work of caring for the sections

of pamphlets and manuscripts, the Society will assist, by its

Secretary, in such manner as the Library Commissioners and its

Trustees may decide. It is the earnest desire of the member-

ship, which comprises the intelligent citizens of the State, to co-

operate with the Library Commissioners to secure in our Capitol

a State Library of reference works such as Ohio should have

and such as the State can have if the proper efforts be encour-

aged.

In regard to future publications, the Society desires to call

your attention to unpublished manuscripts and documents in the

archives of the State House. Many are valuable and are giving

way to the "tooth of time," which will ere long destroy them.

We wish to collect them and publish such as are valuable. We

can do so should the small aid hitherto given be continued.

As far back as the year 1814, the Historical Society of New



• 12
 

Report of Trustees.               273

 

York sent to the Legislature of that State, through their dis-

tinguished Vice President, Dewitt Clinton, Esq., a memorial

drawn by his own hand, in behalf of the perishing records of

that Commonwealth. This document presented in strong terms

the urgency and importance of the measure suggested. It ap-

pealed to the patriotism of the people, whose State pride should

prompt them at once to rescue their history from threatened

oblivion. The eloquent author called upon the State to assist

the Society he represented, "in drawing from their dark abodes

documents that would illume the obscure, explain the doubtful,

and embalm the memories of the good and great." This effort

was not in vain-funds sufficient to carry out the purpose sug-

gested, were at once appropriated; competent persons were em-

ployed to translate the earlier records of the Colony while under

the Dutch, and agents were sent abroad to collect in England,

Holland and France, original documents and copies of every-

thing relating to the history of the Empire State of America.

At a subsequent period, and after the materials had been

collected, a proper person was appointed "to compile the Docu-

mentary History of New York," which work is now to be found

in an imposing array of folio volumes upon the shelves of our

State Library, secured through this Society.

Other American Commonwealths, in the meantime, have

not been idle. The Historical Society of Massachusetts has

rescued from loss most of the records of that ancient colony and

influential State. They have been collected, printed and bound

in series, each one of which consists of numerous volumes.

The Historical Society and other agencies of that State were

stimulated to this action by occurrences, such as the burning of

the old State House at Boston; the destruction of part of old

Cambridge College, and of certain private residences which in-

volved the loss of many valuable documents. Convinced by

such disasters that no depository at that time was free from dan-

ger, it was wisely determined to multiply copies of their records

through the printing press.

In the year 1851, the Executive of Pennsylvania, by special

message to the Legislature of that State, set forth the great im-

portance of preserving the perishing records of the Common-

Vol. 111-18

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274       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.  [VoL. 3

 

wealth. A committee was at once appointed to consider the sub-

ject, and now the "Documentary History of Pennsylvania" ap-

pears in more than a dozen large volumes, beginning at the year

1664 and coming down to the latest dates.

Further south Maryland has accomplished much, and the

States of Georgia and Louisiana have not been idle. The records

of the latter have been preserved, in part, from the time when

the royal standard of Spain was first set up in the Floridas, until

the period of the American Revolution.

Even some of the newer States, Wisconsin and Michigan in

particular, have already taken steps to preserve their early

records. In Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Kansas, the State His-

torical Societies are entrusted with this work. The annual vol-

umes of these Societies, and their various publications, attest the

fidelity with which it is done.

Dr. Palmer, of the Virginia Historical Society, speaking of

manuscripts, says:

" The real value of manuscripts is not always at once appre-

ciated. A paper cannot be without interest, for instance, should

it but preserve the peculiarities of style, the quaint phraseology

and antique orthography in use when it was written. In the

earliest papers before us these are prominent characteristics.

They appear as much in the private correspondence as in official

documents, in which latter, however, as may be expected, a

more stately, and often-times pompous, diction prevails.

" It should be remembered that the best educated of our

fore-fathers were compelled to employ the only vocabulary

known to them.  They had inherited the style transmitted from

a more primitive age in letters, than that even in which they

lived, and which did not begin its approach to the smoother dic-

tion of the present day until about the beginning of the second

century after the founding of the colonies.

"Another merit of these documents consists in their perpet-

uating certain phrases and expressions, the only vehicles of a

class of ideas purely technical in their signification. In many of

the oldest may be recognized also much of the ruggedness of the

ancient Saxon tongue, as it appeared before the Norman dialect

had added its softer elements, whereby what may be termed the

• 14
 

Report of Trustees.              275

 

stone-age of our language began to pass away. The papers of

this description are common until about the time of Spotswood

when their style begins sensibly to change. A little latter a

taste for the ornate becomes more apparent; quaintness and sim-

plicity gives way to decoration, and as we pass on to times

nearer our own day, the measured sentences and rounded periods

of the more modern diction come into frequent use.

"Still another value attaches to these fading manuscripts

which may not, at first view, be recognized. In the letters and

other communications interchanged by people of every class of

society, one is impressed with the courteous regard for the

amenities of social life exhibited in them, although often couched

in awkward and commonplace language."

The foregoing presents cogent reasons why such materials

should be preserved, and should have attention from those who

possess the power to do for Ohio what has been done in New

York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Virginia, Wisconsin and in

other American states, not to speak of what has been done by

the National Government through such men as Peter Force, the

compiler of the "Annals of Congress," and by the publication

of such documents as the "American State Papers."

Ohio has many valuable official letters, orders, correspond-

ence, etc., etc., some of official nature, much unofficial, yet all

of such a nature not at the time it was issued best to print; yet

of such a nature that it should now be preserved, and which

would go far toward correcting many matters of history.

A little encouragement granted to the Society will secure

the publication of all such a competent committee would deem

of value. We trust some attention will be given this matter,

and other volumes, like the " St. Clair Papers," be issued, e'er

the material for them is irretrievably lost.

We also wish to call attention to the coming World's Fair.

Ohio should not be behind. Already the Society possesses many

valuable articles, charts, maps, etc., of a historical nature that

should be there, and it will cheerfully do all it can for this work.

The appropriation for our general work could include this,

and thus no little expense be spared to the State. The appro-

priation for publication purposes can also be included. This,

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276       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.  [VoL. 3

 

with its annual receipts from members' dues, interest, sale of

publications, etc., will keep it on a plane with the best societies.

in the country and enable it to do its full share of usefulness.

The General Assembly has provided for the purchase and

preservation of that remarkable earth-work--Fort Ancient-in

the Little Miami valley. It is the largest and most extensive

prehistoric remains now in Ohio. The move was most com-

mendable, and will result in its preservation, whatever may be

the use of the grounds enclosed by the embankments. The

Society was invited by the Legislative Committee to visit the

place with them, and many members did so. The Society will

assume the care of the "Fort," and place it under such use as

the General Assembly may direct. We would also say that by

resolution of the members, such legislation is requested as will

represent the state on the Board of Trustees of the Society.

FRANCIS C. SESSIONS, President.

S. S. RICKLEY, Treasurer.

A. A. GRAHAM, Secretary.

By order of the Board of Trustees.

 

 

 

THE MORAVIAN MASSACRE.

 

[A paper read at the Sixth Annual Meeting of the Society at Columbus,

by William M. Farrar.]

It is now more than a century since what is known to history

as "The Moravian Massacre," occurred at Gnadenhutten, on

the Tuscarawas branch of the Muskingum river; so long ago

that all those concerned in that affair have long since passed to

their graves and been forgotten. This sad affair was unique in

character, from any thing of the kind recorded in ancient

or modern history, and has been more persistently misrepre-

sented than any other event relating to the early history of the

country, many of those misrepresentations have passed into

history and been accepted as true.

It is the duty of this society to vindicate the truth of history

and place upon record any facts that time may have developed

• 16
 

The Moravian Massacre.              277

 

tending to explain, or throw light upon, what has always been a

subject of much controversy.

This expedition which originated in the western townships

of Washington, County, Pennsylvania, during the fall and

winter of 1781, has been represented as a military one, author-

ized by the lawfully constituted military authority of that county,

commanded by a regularly commissioned militia officer, and called

out in the regular way. And yet no such order has ever been

found, nor is there any muster roll* in existence giving the list

of names of the officers and privates composing the expedition,

showing to what companies or battalion of the enrolled militia

of the country they belonged, nor has any claim for services

rendered, damages sustained, provisions furnished, arms pro-

vided, or property lost, ever been presented either against the

State or general government, by any person claiming to have

been a member of the expedition. Neither is there any official

report of the expedition extant, made by either Col. Williamson

the officer in command, by James Marshel the lieutenant of the

county who was responsible for it, if any such expedition was

ordered out, or by Brigadier General Irvine the commandant at

Fort Pitt in whose department it occurred.

It is true that so accurate and careful a historian as Mr.

Butterfield has pronounced otherwise, but a review of the author-

ity upon which he relies does not seem to justify his conclusions,

based as they are upon a single statement made by Gen. Irvine

in a letter written from Fort Pitt, May 3, 1782, to President

Moore of the executive council of Pennsylvania.+

Brigadier Gen. Wm. Irvine was appointed to the command

of the Western Military Department, October 11th, 1781. At

that day the Ohio river marked the dividing line between

barbarism and civilization, east of it, the hardy pioneers, after

making their way across the Alleghany mountains with Fort

Pitt as their objective point, had extended their settlements

north and south along the rich valleys of the rivers forming the

Ohio, and pushed them westward until the smoke of their cabins

 

* See Crumrine's History, Washington County, Pennsylvania, page 110.

+ See W. & I. cor. 239 and 245.

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278        Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.   [VOL. 3

 

could be seen, and the sounds of their rifles and axes heard by

the red men who dwelt among the deep forests beyond. To

guard this frontier line and protect the settlements against

Indian raids, was the work assigned to the commanding officer

of the Western Department, and for that purpose small garrisons

of regular troops were stationed at the several forts built along

this frontier line, and companies of militia drawn from     the

counties of Westmoreland and Washington kept constantly rang-

ing along the border, to give timely notice of the approach of

hostile bands of savages.

To assist the commandant at Fort Pitt in this work, an

officer with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, and known as the

County Lieutenant, was appointed by the Supreme Executive

Council of the State of Pennsylvania, for each of the several

counties embraced in the Department, whose duty it was to attend

to the enrollment and equipment of the militia of the county,

and provide for their subsistence when called into actual service;

also to make return of the number and names of those subject

to military duty, together with the names and rank of the officers

commanding the different companies composing the several

Battalions to the commanding officer at Fort Pitt, upon whose

requisitions they were called into active service as necessity

required, whether by battalions, companies, or in smaller details,

the officer in each and every case being required to wait upon

the commandent at Fort Pitt for instructions as to the kind

of service required and his own duty in the premises.*

The orders of Congress and the Executive Council, which

were the law in the case, together with the explicit instructions

 

See History Washington County, Pennsylvania, by Crumrine, page 136.

See Res. of Congress assigning General Irvine to command of Fort

Pitt and his instructions dated September 24, 1781.

See order Supreme Executive Council, Pennsylvania, October 11, 1781.

See Letters Marshel to Irvine, November 20, 26 and 28, 1781.

See Requisition of Irvine to Marshel, January 10, 1782.

See Letter of Irvine to Cook, January, 1782.

See instructions to Lieutenant Hay, November 28, 1781, and January,

1782.

See Instructions to Major Scott, April, 1782.

See Letter, Marshel to Irvine, Washington County, April 2, 1782.

• 18
 

The Moravian Massacre.               279

 

given to the general and subordinate officers employed in this

frontier service, and the uniform manner of calling out the

militia, are so plain and so consistent with good military sense,

that it seems strange that any person could be misled as to the

true character of the Moravian Expedition, and yet Mr. Butter-

field has taken a single expression used by General Irvine in his

letter of May 3, 1782, to President Moore, of the Executive

Council, as "unequivocal" evidence that the militia who went

to the Muskingum were "ordered out" by Colonel James Mar-

shel, the Lieutenant of Washington County, Pennsylvania.

The letter reads as follows:

FORT PITT, May 3, 1782.

Sir: Immediately on receipt of your excellency's letter of

the 13th of April, I wrote to Colonel James Marshel, who or-

dered out the militia to go to Muskingum (to that branch known

as the Tuscarawas) for his and Colonel Williamson's report of

the matter, Colonel Williamson commanded the party. Inclosed

you have their letters to me on the subject, by way of report. I

have inquiries making in other quarters; when any well authen-

ticated accounts come to my knowledge, they shall be trans-

mitted.                           WM. IRVINE, B. Gen'l.

It is somewhat difficult to reconcile the statements con-

tained in the foregoing letter with the facts and circumstances

of the case, for, if true, Marshel, as County Lieutenant, had

been guilty of a palpable violation of law, in calling out the

militia of the county without authority, and sending them upon

an unauthorized expedition beyond the limits of the state, with-

out the proper instructions, where they had committed excesses

unheard of in civilized warfare, excesses that were being very

generally condemned as a lasting reproach to the good name of

the state, and yet he was never court-martialed, investigated, or

even called upon by the Executive Council of the state from

whom he held his appointment for an explanation of his conduct.

That General Irvine wrote to Marshel and Williamson for

their reports of the matter, and transmitted the letters received

from them in reply to the President of the Council, "by way of

report," as stated, is no doubt correct. But to assume that these

were the official reports of the transaction is not warranted.

• 19
 

280       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.  [VOL. 3   The President of the Council, in acknowledging their receipt, speaks of them as not reports, but as "the representations made by Colonel Williamson and Colonel Marshel." It is greatly to be regretted that these letters cannot be found, as they would no doubt settle the question whether Mar- shel had anything to do with calling out the militia that went to the Muskingum, and would show to what extent, if any, he was responsible for the movement. James Marshel survived the massacre forty-seven years, and for almost twenty years thereafter was continuously in public office; Lieutenant of Washington county in 1781-2-3; Register in 1781; Recorder in 1791; Coroner from 1794 to 1799; and

Sheriff from 1786 to 1787, when he was succeeded by Col. Williamson, whose election was opposed because of his connec- tion with the massacre, while no such objection was ever made against Marshel, who was certainly more to blame for ordering out the expedition, if he did so. But no such charge was made during his lifetime, nor until more than fifty years after his death, when the letter of May 3, 1782, was found among the Pennsylvania Archives and given to the public by Mr. Butter- field. (W and I cor. p. 239). About 1799, Col. Marshel removed to Wellsburgh, Virginia, where he died in 1829. For many years he was the neighbor and friend of Doddridge, the historian, and during the time his history was being written and published (in 1824) they were intimate personal friends, and it is at least reasonable to suppose that if Marshel had ordered out the militia that went to the Muskingum it would have been known to the historian and so stated. Had it been a military expedition, acting in pursuance of any competent authority, would Doddridge have stated (after detailing the events that led to it, as he does on page 248) "ac- cordingly between eighty and ninety men were hastily collected together for the fatal enterprise?" That "each man furnished

• 20
 

The Moravian Massacre.                281

 

himself with his own arms, ammunition and provisions." * * *

That "many of them had horses;" that "the murder of the

Moravians was intended;" that "no resistance from them was

anticipated" (page 253); that "in the latter end of the year

1781, the militia of the frontier came to a determination to break

up the Moravian villages on the Muskingum" (page 259); and

that "it (the massacre) was one of those convulsions of the

moral state of society, in which the voice of the justice and

humanity of a majority, is silenced by the clamor and violence

of a lawless minority." (Page 261.)

His son, John Marshel, who died in 186-, was for many years

a well known resident of Washington, Pennsylvania, cashier of

the old Franklin Bank, a man of much intelligence and integrity

of character, with whom the writer often conversed about the

Moravian Massacre, and he repeatedly said that his father always

spoke of it as the outgrowth of a mistaken belief that prevailed

at the time; as a matter of course his father's connection with it

was not spoken of, because he was not implicated.

It may, and does seem strange, that an officer like Gen.

Irvine should write such a letter unless there was some founda-

tion for it, and yet to take the statement as correct, shows a dis-

regard of the instructions contained in his letter of January 10,

1782, so gross and inexcusable, that it would not have been

passed over with so much indifference. By that letter the Lieu-

tenants were notified of his intended absence, that Colonel Gib-

son would be left in command, that he would be the best judge

of the necessity for calling out the militia if one should arise,

and that they should "on his requisition," order out such mem-

bers of the militia as he will call for.

These orders Colonel Gibson exercised during his absence,

by making a requisition upon the Lieutenant of Westmoreland

county for militia to protect the frontier, and to presume upon

no better authority than the statement contained in the letter of

May 3, 1782, that a much larger and more important expedition

to extend beyond the borders of the State, was ordered out by

the Lieutenant of Washington county, upon his own motion and

without even consulting Colonel Gibson, would be very un-

reasonable, and yet, Colonel Gibson's letter of May 9, 1782,

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282       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.  [VOL. 3

 

written to the Rev. Nathanial Seidel at Bethlehem, Pennsyl-

vania, shows that he had no knowledge of such an expedition,

and that if he had, " he should have prevented it by informing

the poor sufferers of it."

Gen. Irvine left Fort Pitt on the 16th day of January, 1782,

on a visit to his family at Carlile, and did not return until the

25th day of March following, and it was during his absence on

the 8th day of March that the massacre occurred. Nineteen

days after his return, on the 12th day of April, he wrote his wife

a letter, showing that he then knew all that could be learned of

the massacre, as he details all the terrible features of the affair,

including the fact that " Many children were killed in their

wretched mothers' arms."  And then adds, " Whether this was

right or wrong, I do not pretend to determine." But the key to

such inexcusable indifference on the part of General Irvine is

found further along in the same letter, as follows: " Whatever

your private opinion of these matters may be, I conjure you by all

the ties of affection, and as you value my reputation, that you will

keep your mind to yourself, and that you will not express any

sentiment for or against these deeds; as it may be alleged the

sentiments you express may come from me or be mine. No man

knows whether I approve of killing the Moravians."

It is evident from this correspondence that General Irvine

was much alarmed about his own reputation; that he withheld

from the council the information written to his wife on the 12th

of April; that in his reply to Pres. Moore, of May 2d, he sought

to give the impression that he was in possession of no news

upon the subject, and on the 9th of May, after due consultation,

he joined with Pentecost in advising against an investigation.

The first news the people residing to the east of the Alle-

gheny mountains received of the massacre, was from a notice

published in the Pennsylvania Packet, of April 9th, 1782, one

month after it had occurred, and which came through Moravian

sources by way of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and read as follows:

" A very important advantage has lately been gained over

our savage enemies on the frontiers of this State, by a party of

back-country militia; we hope to give particulars in our next."

But before the next issue of the Packet came to hand, fuller

• 22
 

The Moravian Massacre.              283

 

information received through the same sources, showed a very

different state of affairs; the killing was confirmed, but instead

of the victims being "savage enemies," they were found to have

been Christian Indians, reclaimed from savage life by the Mora-

vian missionaries, who ten years before had planted their mis-

sions in the deep wilderness, and succeeded in christianizing

several hundred of the rude and warring savage tribes, who had

become converts, abandoned savage life, and made considerable

progress in civilization. It was these converts who had been

killed, their villages destroyed, and the missions broken up, and

what was worse, even the women and children, the old and in-

firm, had been cruelly slaughtered in a manner that was shocking

to humanity, and a lasting disgrace to civilization. And as the

details of the massacre became more fully known east of the

mountains, a strong public sentiment developed in condemnation

of an outrage so manifestly in violation of the rules and usages

of civilized warfare. Whereupon, Dorsey Pentecost, a member

of the executive council from Washington county, left his post

of duty and hastened home, to stay, if possible, the tide of popu-

lar indignation that seemed to be setting in so strong against his

constituents. He reached Pittsburg on the 2d of May, and on

the 8th wrote his chief as follows:

 

"PITTSBURGH, May 8th, 1782.

Dear Sir :--I arrived at home last Thursday without any

particular accident. Yesterday I came to this place; have had a

long conference with General Irvine and Colonel Gibson on the

subject of public matters, particularly respecting the late excur-

sion to Kushocton. * * That affair * is a subject of great

speculation here-some condemning, others applauding the

measure; but the accounts are so various that it is not only

difficult, but almost, indeed, entirely impossible to ascertain the

real truth. No person can give intelligence but those that were

along; and notwithstanding there seems to have been some

difference amongst themselves about that business, yet they will

say nothing; but this far I believe may be depended on, that

they killed rather deliberately the innocent with the guilty, and

it is likely the majority was the former. I have heard it insin-

uated that about thirty or forty only of the party gave their con-

sent or assisted in the catastrophe. It is said here, and I believe

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284       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.  [VOL. 3

 

with truth, that sundry articles were found amongst the Indians

that were taken from the inhabitants of Washington county.

DORSEY PENTECOST.

Before this letter had been forwarded, and on the next day,

he wrote again as follows:

" PITTSBURGH, May 9, 1782.

"Dear Sir: --Since writing the letter that accompanies

this, I have had another and more particular conversation with

General Irvine on the subject of the late excursion to Kushoc-

ton, and upon the whole, I find that it will be impossible to get

an impartial and fair account of that affair; for although sundry

persons that were in the company may disapprove of the whole

or every part of the conduct (of those engaged in the killing),

yet from their connection they will not be willing, nor can they

be forced to give testimony, as it affects themselves. And the

people here are greatly divided in sentiment about it; and on in-

vestigation may produce serious effects, and at least leave us as

ignorant as when we began, and instead of rendering a service

may produce a confusion and ill-will amongst the people. Yet

I think it necessary that the council should take some cognizance

or notice of the matter, and in such a time as may demonstrate

their disapprobation of such parts of their conduct as are cen-

surable; otherwise it may be alleged that the government,

tacitly at least, have encouraged the killing of women and chil-

dren; and in a proclamation of this kind, it might be well not

only to recommend but to forbid, that in future excursions that

women and children and infirm persons should not be killed-

so contrary to the law of arms as well as christianity. I hope a

mode of proceeding something like this would produce some

good effects, and perhaps soften the minds of the people, for it

is really no wonder that those who have lost all that is near and

dear to them go out with determined revenge and extirpation of

all Indians.                     DORSEY PENTECOST."

By way of contrast to these apologetic letters of Mr. Pente-

cost, we have that of Col. Edward Cook, Lieutenant of West-

moreland county, who was called upon during General Irvine's

absence from his post of duty for a detail of men for frontier

service, by Colonel Gibson, and furnished the same, the officer

in command waiting upon Colonel Gibson for instructions. It

bears date September 2, 1782, and addressed to President Moore

of the Executive Council, as follows:

• 24
 

The Moravian Massacre.               285   "I am informed that you have it Reported that the Massacre of the Moravian Indians obtains the approbation of Every man on this side of the Mountains, which I assure your Excellency is false; that the better part of the community are of Opinion the Perpetrators of that wicked Deed ought to be brought to Condein Punishment; that without something is Done by Government in the Matter, it will disgrace the Annuls of the United States, and be an Everlasting Plea and cover for British cruelty."* These letters of Pentecost serve to show the difference in public sentiment that then prevailed east and west of the Alle- gheny Mountains in regard to the massacre. Pentecost was a politician, and therefore anxious to avoid a public investigation of the matter, and Irvine, in great alarm for his own reputation, readily joined him in advising against one.

Colonel David Williamson, who commanded the expedition, has probably received a great deal more than his share of public censure, because of the prominent part he acted in the affair. Whether he held a commission at the time as a militia officer is uncertian; he certainly did soon after, and if so, that was about all the military character the expedition had. the fact that Williamson was chosen commander after they had assembled at Mingo, goes to show that he commanded by virtue of that authority, whatever it was, rather than because of any he exer- cised as a militia officer. The expedition was neither infantry nor cavalry, mounted nor dismounted, but a mixed crowd made up from that reckless and irresponsible element usually found along the borders of civ- ilization, boys from eighteen to twenty years of age, who joined the expedition from love of adventure, and partly of such well-known characters as Captain Sam Brady, of West Liberty, Virginia,   * See Crumrine's History Washington County, Pennsylvania, page 110.

• 25
 

286       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.  [VoL. 3   and at least one of the Wetzels from near Wheeling, who, from their experience and well-known bravery as frontiersmen, are said to have exercised very great influence in deciding the fate of the Indians. It has always been a matter of some surprise that the brothers, Andrew Poe and Adam Poe, were not members of the expedition. They were well known as stout, hardy, fearless backwoodsmen, experienced leaders in Indian warfare, and on hand wherever courage and endurance were required. But for some reason, now unknown, they were not along, and, so far as known, do not appear to have been advised of the movement. Their absence is all the more unaccountable as they had, in the September previous, greatly distinguished themselves by a vigorous pursuit of a Bigfoot party, which was overtaken at the Ohio River and dispatched, after a struggle that has made the name of Poe famous in pioneer history.

The greater portion of the crowd were mounted, the others on foot; each man provided his own horse, arms and provisions, and it was noisy, turbulent and disorderly from the start,1 and the authority exercised by Williamson over it, about equivalent to that usually conceded to the leader of an ordinary mob. Who suggested that the question, whether the Indians should be killed or taken prisoners to Fort Pitt be submitted to a vote, is not known, but the fact that he did so only serves to show the extent of Williamson's authority. It has never been claimed, however, that he cast his own vote or participated in the slaughter. He is represented by those who knew him per-   Note 1.- Statement of a member of the expedition.

• 26
 

The Moravian Massacre.              287

 

sonally as a man of naturally pleasant and agreeable disposition,

six feet in height, rather fleshy in his make-up, of florid com-

plexion, and of "too easy a compliance with public opinion," as

Doddridge says.

In the Sandusky expedition that followed closely upon the

Moravian massacre, Williamson was in command, and it was

largely to his unremitting activity, courage and judgment, that

any considerable number of the men were kept together after

the defeat and brought back in even tolerable order. He after-

ward filled a number of important and responsible offices in

Washington County, Pennsylvania, and in 1787 was elected

sheriff of the county after a warm canvass, during which his

connection with the Moravian expedition Was strongly urged

against him. He was born in Carlile, Pennsylvania, in 1752,

was thirty years of age in 1782, and died at Washington, Penn-

sylvania, in 1814, aged sixty-two years, and is buried in the old

graveyard on North Main street, but no stone or other monu-

ment marks his last resting place. He married Polly Urie, the

daughter of Thomas Urie, a well-known family of Washington

County, Pennsylvania, and left a family of four sons and four

daughters. Two of his daughters married into the well-known

McNulty family, of West Middletown, Pennsylvania, and Caleb

J. McNulty, of Mt. Vernon, Ohio, who died on his way to

Mexico during the war with that country, was his grandson.

He was the one member of the expedition who, by reason of the

position he filled, could not hide from public censure, and hence

his undue share of it. During a large part of his lifetime he re-

sided on Buffalo creek, near to the Virginia line, where he was

personally acquainted with the historian, Doddridge, whose

statements concerning his character and disposition may be

safely taken as correct.

John Carpenter has always been quoted as an authority

whose statements go to extenuate the massacre. The story is

that about the time of the Wallace tragedy, or very soon after-

ward, he was captured on the waters of Buffalo creek by six In-

dians, two of whom spoke good Dutch, and called themselves

Moravians; that he was carried a prisoner to the middle Mora-

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288       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.  [VOL. 3

 

vian town, where, among other things, he saw the bloody dress

of Mrs. Wallace.

This was accepted as proof positive that the Moravians were

in the habit of raiding the settlements, or of harboring and

trading with those who did, and therefore should be exter-

minated.

The value of this evidence, however, depends upon the date

of Carpenter's capture. If it occurred prior to the Wallace

tragedy, the conclusion is inevitable that he did not see the

bloody clothing of Mrs. Wallace at the Moravian town, as stated.

John Carpenter was among the first, if not the very first,

white man to settle on the west side of the Ohio river. He lived

for some years on Buffalo creek, ten or twelve miles east of the

river, and in his hunting excursions often crossed to the west

side, where game was more plentiful, and believing, as many

settlers did, that the Indian titles would, ere long, be extin-

guished and the rich lands on that side of the river come into

possession of the government, and be opened to settlement, he

determined to secure a claim by making an improvement in ad-

vance, and therefore in the summer and fall of 1781, he pro-

ceeded to clear a piece of ground and build a cabin near the

mouth of Rush Run, the same that was afterward strengthened

and became Carpenter's Fort. It was this work he was engaged

upon in the month of September, 1781, when the second Indian

attack upon Fort Henry (at Wheeling) took place, and barely

received warning of their approach in time to escape to the east

side of the river and remove his family to a place of safety.

After the raid was over and all again quiet, Carpenter re-

turned and continued his work, which he finished late in the

fall, when he removed the game he had killed across the river,

where it was loaded upon horses and carried to his home on

Buffalo.

Having done this, he took a pair of horses and started to

Fort Pitt in order to secure a supply of salt, and while on his

way was captured, taken to the Moravian town, and started from

there in charge of two of his captors, from whom he escaped

and made his way back to Fort Pitt as has been related, but all

this took place two months or more prior to the 17th day of

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The Moravian Massacre.                289

 

February, 1782, when the Wallace cabin was destroyed and his

wife and children carried into captivity.

In 1801, Edward Carpenter, the oldest son of this John

Carpenter, took a government contract to open a road from

Steubenville to the Wills creek crossing on the Zane Trace, and

while so engaged entered a quarter of land in section 26 of

township 11 of the 6th range, where he continued to reside until

his death, January 12, 1828. And upon the same quarter section

of land his son, Edward, lived until March 22d, 1882, when he

died at the age of 80 years, and it is from him that the facts

stated concerning the capture of his grandfather were obtained.

He was a gentleman of much intelligence, served for many

years as a justice of the peace, took much pride in the history

of his ancestry, and had learned many of the incidents relating

to his grandfather from the pioneer himself, and many more

from his own father, both of whom were very reliable men,

whose statements are much more likely to be correct than the

indefinite rumors published in the Pennsylvania Packet at that

time, based as they necessarily were upon the most meagre

information concerning a transaction that occurred several hun-

dred miles distant, the true character of which it was the interest

and purpose of those implicated to conceal.

Another misrepresentation that has passed into history

and been often repeated, even as late as 1882 in Crumrine's

history of Washington county, Pennsylvania,¹ is, that the mas-

sacre was an after-thought, the result of frenzied feelings, pro-

voked by finding the dead body of Mrs. Wallace impaled on the

wayside, directly leading from Mingo bottom to the villages on

the Muskingum, and also by finding in possession of the

Indians, property stolen from the plundered cabins of the set-

tlers, trinkets and clothing of murdered relatives, at the sight of

which they became exasperated and forgot themselves. In all

such statements, which have times without number been urged

in excuse of the massacre, there is no truth whatever.

The site of the Wallace cabin was a short distance north of

 

NoTE 1. See Crumrine's History, Washington county, Pennsylvania,

page 104.

Vol. 111-19

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290       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.  [VOL. 3

 

what was long known in the early settlement of the country as

Briceland's cross-roads, and the Indians that committed the out-

rage reached it by crossing the Ohio river at the mouth of

Yellow creek and thence following the well known trail along

the dividing ridge between the waters of King's creek on

the south, and those of Travis creek on the north, until the

advanced settlements were reached, when having killed the

stock and plundered the cabin they set it on fire and retreated by

the same route, carrying with them as prisoners, Mrs. Wallace

and her three children, one being an infant. This soon became

too much of an incumbrance for the mother to carry and keep up

with the party as they feared pursuit and were anxious to reach

the river and cross to the west side, but when they attempted to

take it from her, or dispatch it in her arms, she resisted so vigor-

ously that the Indian having her in charge became enraged and

struck his tomahawk into her own skull. The bodies of mother

and child were then carefully hidden, that they might not aid the

pursuit, and remained concealed until found years afterward.

The Indian trail followed by this party, and within a few

rods of which the remains of Mrs. Wallace* were afterward

found, was as much as twenty-five or thirty miles further north

than the one followed by the Moravian expedition through

Mingo, hence the absurdity of finding the body of either mother

or child impaled by the wayside.

At the date of the massacre, Robert Wallace did not know

that his wife was dead, but supposed her to be a prisoner among

the Indians, nor did he learn otherwise until nearly three years

afterward, when an Indian trader who had been among the

Wyandots at Sandusky, learned that his younger son (Robert)

was still living, but that the elder one was dead, and that the

mother and youngest child had been killed before reaching the

Ohio River, as has been stated. In a letter written by the Lieu-

tenant of Washington county, Pennsylvania, addressed to Gen-

 

* NoTE--Her maiden name was Jane McKay, and Mr. Wallace always

insisted that she could easily have kept up with the party and carried her

babe, had it not been that an old pair of shoes she happened to have on

that day impeded her, as she was a strong, hearty woman. (Statement of

her surviving son, Robert.)

• 30
 

The Moravian Massacre.              291   eral Irvine, and dated October 21st, 1782, it appears that at that time, more than eight months after the capture, Wallace believed his wife to be living, and was making efforts, through General Washington, to find out where she was and effect her recovery. He finally secured possession of the younger boy, and ascer- tained about the locality where the mother and child had been killed, when he made search and found the remains, which he gathered up carefully, carried back to his home and buried in the graveyard at Cross Creek, Pennsylvania. In 1792 he married Mary Walker, by whom he had five children, and died in 1808 at the age of seventy-three years. He is buried in the old cross-roads burying ground at Florence, Pennsylvania.

The son Robert, redeemed from the Wyandotts, lived to be seventy-seven years of age, and died in 1855. He had a large scar on his right ear, given him while a prisoner, made by a squaw who became offended and swore she would kill him, but was prevented by another Indian from doing so. Whoever follows the affair carefully from beginning to end, will be convinced that the massacre was no accident or after-thought, but the result of a fixed and predetermined pur- pose, of which there is conclusive evidence, traditional, to be sure, but of the most reliable character. The Lyles removed from Northampton county, Pennsyl- vania, to the headwaters of Cross Creek, in 1784, two years after the Moravian massacre took place. East of the moun- tains the affair was almost universally condemned as being an inhuman outrage, and Robert Lyle so continued to speak of it after his removal west, but was soon given to understand that he must not so express himself, as public opinion would not permit it. In 1792, Robert Lyle and Joseph Vance, the proprietor of Vance's Fort, who had become brother church members and

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292       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.  VOL. 3   fast friends, were riding together in advance of the funeral pro- cession of David Hays, when Lyle asked his friend if the de- ceased had not been a member of the Moravian expedition, to

which Vance replied, "No, he was not," and after a few min- utes' silence said, "Did you ever know how that affair hap- pened?" and then went on to say that it originated in Vance's Fort in the fall of 1781, at a time when some twenty-five or thirty families were forting from the Indians. The opinion had long prevailed among the frontier settlers that the half- way houses, as they characterized the villages on the Mus- kingum, were simply resting places for the Sandusky war- riors on their plundering raids into the settlements, and that the settlers would get no permanent relief until those villages were broken up and destroyed. The military authorities at Fort Pitt knew  better, knew  that the Moravian missions were not only what they pretended to be, but that they had frequently received information from them of Indian expeditions into the settlements that enabled them to counter- act and defeat them. But they dared not communicate the same to the settlers, as it would have exposed the Missions to sure destruction by the Sandusky warriors, as eventually hap- pened. Driven from their homes and shut up within the fort, the men became very impatient and frequently discussed the situation with much earnestness. Prayer meetings were held daily, and often in the Vance cabin, which stood outside of but near to the stockade. After one of these meetings, Vance and two of his neighbors remained after the others had returned into the fort, and while talking over their troubles one of them said, "There is no use in talking, this thing will never be better until the half-way towns are destroyed."  "Yes," replied another, "and I will be one of a company to go and wipe them out," to which the others assented, and that then and there the Moravian Massacre originated. The proposition was thereupon stated to

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The Moravian Massacre.               293

 

those in the fort, who approved it and pledged their assistance

to carry it into execution, but what steps were taken to com-

municate with the other frontier settlements and secure their co-

operation is not known. The organization was, however, com-

plete, and the intention to move promptly on the half-way towns

about to be carried out, when the movement was frustrated for

the time being by two companies sent out by the commandant

of the Western Department, under Colonel Williamson, for the

purpose of taking the Indians at the Muskingum towns back

to Fort Pitt. The Pennsylvania Archives, page 753, contains

what is believed to be a complete roll of these companies, in-

cluding the names of two captains, two lieutenants, one ser-

geant and fifty-one privates, but it bears no date and only con-

tains the names of four persons known to have been present at

the massacre in March following. But Williamson found him-

self anticipated by an expedition from Detroit that had already

removed the Missionaries and their converts to Sandusky, and

finding but half a dozen Indians there, who had either strayed

into the place or found their way back after the removal, they

were taken back and delivered to the authorities at Fort Pitt,

who soon after released them, thereby giving great offense to

the settlers, who thought they should have been killed. The

authorities were denounced, Williamson severely censured, and

the frontier filled with exaggerated rumors of Indian depreda-

tions and plots that were really without foundation.

The expedition to the Muskingum was not abandoned, only

in abeyance, when the Wallace tragedy set the frontier in a blaze

of excitement, the word was passed around, and on Monday,

the 4th of March, men in couples, squads and singly, on horse-

back and on foot, appeared suddenly on the east bank of the

river at Mingo, crossed over to the west side, where, when all

had assembled, they chose officers, and on the next morning dis-

appeared, going west along the old Moravian trail up Cross

Creek. Doddridge says,¹ "They chose their own officers, fur-

nished their own means, and conducted the war in their own

way." On Wednesday evening they encamped within one mile

 

NoTE 1.- See Doddridge's Revised History, p. 256.

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of the middle Moravian village, but carefully concealed.their ap-

proach until the next morning, when, having discovered that

some of the Indians were at work on the west side of the river,

they divided their force, part of which crossed the river, when

they approached the town from different directions. To show

the purpose with which they went there to be murder, and mur-

der only, the party that crossed to the west side killed and

scalped the first Indian they saw, while he was pleading with

them not to kill him, that he was the son of John Schebosh, a

well-known Christian convert. Others were shot and killed be-

fore, the town was entered, proving that it was not the sight of

what was found in the town that induced the killing.

They deliberated all day of the 7th while waiting for the re-

turn of the parties sent out to bring in the Indians from Salem

and Schoenbrun, and it was during this delay that some of the

better element among them began to relent, to realize that they

had misjudged the Moravians, and that it would not do to kill

them.

Among others who had joined the expedition burning with

revenge, was a young preacher whose affianced bride had been

carried off a prisoner by Indians, but the prayers and songs of

the poor creatures softened his heart and turned aside his wrath,

until he not only voted to take them prisoners to Fort Pitt, but

remonstrated against the killing; all in vain; the demon had

been roused, and only blood could stay his hand. Whether

Colonel Williamson witnessed the slaughter or retired from the

scene with those who voted against it, we are not told, but to

those who have visited the place and are familiar with the local-

ity, that excuse is valueless.

The river on the west side of the village runs deep in the

earth, and it was under the bank where the eighteen retired,

distant by measurement not more than seventy-five yards from

the church out of which the victims were dragged to the slaugh-

ter houses. Standing there, they could not see, but could dis-

tinctly hear all that was going on above. And one of those who

stood there and lived to be the last survivor of the eighteen, has

told persons yet living, that while so waiting, a young Indian

escaped from his murderers, and all covered with blood, came

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The Moravian Massacre.              295

 

running to the river, plunged in and swam to the other side and

was already clambering up the bank, when one of the party

raised his gun and shot him through the body.

Of the details of the massacre little is known. The sur-

vivor of the eighteen referred to, who died in 1839 at the age of

ninety-six years, said that after all was over, Robert Wallace

came to where several of the company, including himself, were

standing, and bursting into a flood of tears, said: "You know

I couldn't help it!" His clothing was soiled and bloody, and he

was laboring under great excitement and exhaustion.

Gathering together the plunder found at the village, and

fastening it upon the backs of their horses, they set fire to the

houses and set out upon their return. They must have traveled

nearly all night, for they reached Mingo late in the afternoon of

Saturday, where they halted only long enough to readjust the

packages of plunder to their horses, when they recrossed the

river and disappeared from the public notice almost as com-

pletely as if they had perished in crossing the stream.

Whether they had agreed among themselves to say nothing

is not known, but it is more than likely that on the way back

to the river they had begun to realize what they had done, that

they would be called to account for it by the military authorities

at Fort Pitt, and therefore the less said about it the better. And

no expedition of equal importance, military or civil, so suddenly

and so entirely disappeared from public notice. Even the fam-

ilies of many of the members being entirely ignorant of their

connection with the affair.

One example may be given; a colored man (the slave of

one of the parties) who died in 1812, was wont to tell that upon

going to the stable one Monday morning, he discovered that the

horse his master usually rode when absent on hunting or scout-

ing expeditions, was missing from his accustomed place, but as

such things were not uncommon, nothing was thought of it, nor

did any member of the family speak of it. But on the next

Sunday morning, upon going to the same place, the horse was

found in his stall, bearing marks of hard usage, and his sides

and flanks streaked with blood; that nothing was seen of his

master until the following morning, when he shaved, washed

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296       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.  [VOL. 3

 

and dressed himself carefully and ate his breakfast, after which

all the family were called in to prayers, and that during the day

his master busied himself in stretching a couple of scalps upon

a hoop, which was then hung up in the great wooden chimney

to dry.

Although born and raised in the community from which the

expedition was mostly raised, the writer, in a peried of forty

years, has only been able to collect the names of about thirty

persons that he has reason to believe were members of the ex-

pedition, and as to only a few of those is there absolute

certainty.

A gentleman born in 1796 said that he was present at Bur-

gettstown, Pennsylvania, in August, 1812, upon the day when

volunteers were raised to march to Detroit to repel the British

and Indians reported to be marching upon the frontiers in con-

sequence of Hull's surrender of the post at Detroit. It was a

day of great excitement, and called together a large crowd of

people from the surrounding country. That among other sights

that drew the attention of a boy of sixteen years, he came

across a crowd being entertained by an old man much the worse

for liquor, who was singing maudlin songs, when some person

said, "Now, Uncle Sol, show us how they killed the Indians."

That at once the old fellow's whole manner changed from the

gay to the grave, and he began crying and cursing the cowards

who killed women and children.  Presently he ran forward,

making motions as if throwing a rope over the heads of those in

front of him, and then running backwards as if dragging an

object after him, seized the large stick held in his hands, and be-

gan beating an imaginary object, all the time howling and curs-

ing like a demon, when somebody pulled him away, saying it

was a shame. That having but imperfectly comprehended what

he saw, my informant made inquiry, and learned that Uncle Sol

had been at the Moravian Massacre, and when in his cups, as he

had seen him, would show how they killed the Indians, but

when sober could not be induced to open his mouth upon the

subject.

But little more remains to be said. None of the excuses

urged in extenuation of the affair are tenable. No murder was

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The Moravian Massacre.              297

 

ever so well kept. The early historians were meagre and in-

definite in their accounts of it, because there was nothing known

to tell, and it was only after half a century that a few details

leaked out and became known, as already stated.

The Sandusky expedition followed so soon after, with Col-

onel Williamson second in command, that many of the same

persons joined it and took part in the disastrous defeat at San-

dusky, resulting in the terrible death of the commanding officer,

who was burned at the stake in retaliation for the Moravian

Massacre, and in the shocking details of his sufferings and death

the Moravian affair was lost sight of and forgotten.

The men concerned in the affair returned to their homes,

where many of them lived to a good old age and spent exem-

plary lives, a number having become ruling elders and leading

members in the churches at Cross Creek, Upper Buffalo, and

other places. And it is a curious fact that in the great religious

movement that swept over Western Pennsylvania during the

latter part of the eighteenth and beginning of the nineteenth

centuries, many of these same men were active and leading par-

ticipants; and that the great religious movement had its origin

at Vance's Fort* and among the same men with whom      the

Moravian Massacre originated. But time has drawn the veil of

oblivion over their names and nothing could now be gained by

removing it.

Ninety years after the occurrence of this sad event the

Moravian brethren met at Gnadenhutten, and with appropriate

ceremonies dedicated a monument to the memory of the poor

Indian converts who perished there with a heroism worthy of all

praise.

This monument stands upon the site of the old Mission

Church, and the shaft, which rises 25 feet above the base, was

unveiled by four Moravian Indians, one of whom was the great-

grandson of Joseph Schebosh, the first victim of the Massacre.

On its western face the shaft bears this inscription:

 

* See historical discourse of Rev. John Stockton, D. D., on fortieth

anniversary of his ministry at Cross Creek, Pa., page 7.

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298       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.  [VOL. 3

 

 

 

HERE

TRIUMPHED IN DEATH,

NINETY

CHRISTIAN INDIANS,

MARCH 8, 1782.

 

 

In the address of Bishop DeSchweinitz, delivered on that

occasion, the names of the victims were given and are herein

copied that they may go upon record and never be forgotten.

 

 

 

 

NAMES OF THE VICTIMS OF THE MASSACRE.

Members of the Gnadenhutten Mission.

1. JOSEPH SCHEBOSH, a half-breed, son of John Joseph

Schebosh or John Bull (which was his real name), a white man

and assistant Missionary.

2. CHRISTIANA, his wife, a Sopus Indian from New Eng-

land.

3. JOHN MARTIN, a distinguished national assistant.

4 and 5. LUKE, and his wife, LUCIA.

6, 7 and 8. PHILIP and his wife, LOVEL, and their little

daughter, SARAH.

9. ABRAHAM, surnamed the Mohican.

10 and 11. PAUL and ANTHONY, John Martin's sons.

12. CHRISTIANA, a widow, educated in the Moravian

schools at Bethlehem, a refined and cultured woman.

13 and 14. MARY, another widow, and her little daughter,

HANNAH.

15, 16 and 17. REBECCA, RACHEL and MARIA ELIZABETH,

a young daughter of Mark.

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The Moravian Massacre.             299

 

18 and 19. GOTTLIEB and BENJAMIN, two little sons of

Joanna.

20 and 21. ANTHONY and JOHN THOMAS, two other little

boys.

Members of the Salem Mission.

 

1. ISAAC GLIKKIKAN, one of the most illustrious of Mora-

vian Indians, formerly a great warrior, and after his conversion

a faithful assistant of the Missionaries, baptized on Christmas

eve, 1779, by Zeisberger, at Friedenstadt.

2. ANNA BENIGNA, his wife, who took the pony of one of

the Sandusky warriors and rode all night in order to notify the

garrison at Fort McIntosh of the Indian movement upon Fort

Henry.

3 and 4. JONAH, another assistant, and his wife AMELIA.

5 and 6. CHRISTIAN and his wife, AUGUSTINA.

7. SAMUEL MORE, a Jersey Indian.

8. TOBIA, a venerable sire.

9. ISRAEL, a celebrated Delaware chief, known as Captain

Johnny.

10. MARK, surnamed the Delaware.

11 and 12. ADAM, and his wife CORNELIA.

13 and 14. HENRY, and his wife, JOANNA.

15, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20.  SALOME, PAUL, MICHAEL,

PETER, GOTLEIB, DAVID.

21 and 22. LEWIS, and his wife, RUTH.

23 and 24. JOHN, and another John, a young man who

was shot after swimming the river.

25. HANNAH, Joseph Peepis' wife.

26. JUDITH, an aged gray-haired widow, the first killed

among the women.

27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33. CATHARINE, MARIA SUSANNA,

JULIANA, ELIZABETH, MARTHA, ANNA ROSINA, SALOME, to-

gether with the following little boys and girls:

34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49,

50. CHRISTIAN, JOSEPH, MARK, JONATHAN, CHRISTIAN, GOTT

LIEB, TIMOTHY, JONAH, CHRISTIANA, LEAH, BENIGNA, GER-

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300      Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.  [VOL 3

 

TRUDE, CHRISTINA, ANNA CHRISTINA, ANNA, SALOME, and

ANNA ELIZABETH.

Besides these there were five adults, one man, SCHAPPIHIL-

LEN, the husband of Helen, together with four women and thir-

teen babes not yet baptized, and the following members of the

Mission at Schoenbrun, who happened to be at Gnadenhutten,

to-wit: NICHOLAS and his wife, JOANNA SABINA, ABEL, HEN-

RY, ANNA, and BATHSHEBA, the last two daughters of Joshua,

the founder of Gnadenhutten; in all, twenty-eight men, twenty-

nine women, and thirty-three children. Two boys, Thomas and

Jacob, escaped.

I cannot better close this paper than by quoting the words

of Charles McKnight, who, in his centennial work entitled,

"Our Western Border One Hundred Years Ago," says:

 

"The whole massacre leaves a stain of deepest dye on the

page of American history. It was simply atrocious and execra-

ble-a blistering disgrace to all concerned, utterly without ex-

cuse, and incapable of defense. It damns the memory of each

participator to the last syllable of recorded time. All down the

ages the Massacre of the Innocents will be its only parallel."

WM. M. FARRAR.

 

 

THE MILITARY POSTS, FORTS AND BATTLEFIELDS

WITHIN THE STATE OF OHIO.

 

The centennial is approaching of the greatest battle fought

on the soil of Ohio, the battle between the Indians and the army

under General Arthur St. Clair, November 4, 1791. It is well

to note in detail the important military posts in our State. An

examination of the map accompanying this article will show

that not many northwestern states have such a military record.

The accompanying sketches are compiled from so many

sources that it is impossible to give credit to all, and hence none

will be mentioned. The description of each is brief, and con-

fined to the important facts connected with each. On each of

these places pages could be written, but the object of this

article, however, is to place in compact form the salient points

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Military Posts in the State of Ohio.      301

 

only. The narrative will, as far as possible, follow the chron-

ological order.

FORT MIAMI, the oldest fortification in Ohio, was built by

an expedition sent by Frontenac, Governor of Canada, in 1680,

as a military trading post, about fifteen miles up the Maumee

from its mouth. It stood on the left bank of the river, in what

is now Maumee City. It was used but a short time, the trading

of the French being moved farther into the Indian country. In

1785 the abandoned fort was rebuilt and occupied by the British,

who remained in possession until the treaty of peace with the

Indians in 1795. They again occupied the fort during the war

of 1812. After its close, the post came into use as a trading

place, being such when the Maumee valley was settled by

Americans.

FORT SANDUSKY, a small stockade trading place of the

French, was built about 1750, on the left bank of the Sandusky

River, not far from the site of Sandusky City. It was a trading

post only, and was abandoned soon after the Peace of 1763.

 

LORAMIE'S FORT, as it was called, was originally a trading

post, occupied by the English as early as 1750 or 1751 as a trad-

ing station. It was then known as Pickawillany. In 1752 the

place was attacked by an Indian and French force sent from

Canada, the station being considered an encroachment on French

territory. Not long after a Candian Frenchman named Loramie,

established a store and trading post here, and the place became

a hostile center against the American settlements. In 1782,

Gen. George Rogers Clarke and a body of Kentucky troops

invaded the Miami country and destroyed this post. In 1794,

Gen. Wayne built a fort here called "Fort Loramie." The fort

became a prominent point on the Greenville Treaty line, and

soon afterward was abandoned as a military post.

FORT JUNANDAT. A trading station on the right bank of

the Sandusky river, was built about 1754 by French traders. It

was occupied but a short time, and with other French posts, was

abandoned soon after the close of the French and Indian war.

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302       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.  [VOL. 3

 

FORT GOWER-named for Earl Gower-a small stockade,

was built by Lord Dunmore, at the mouth of the Hocking river

in 1774, when on his march against the Indians in the Northwest

Territory. From this place he marched his troops up the river

to an encampment-Camp Charlotte-in what is now called Ross

county, on the Scioto river, about seven miles south of the

present city of Circleville. Here a treaty of peace was con-

cluded with the Indians, and the army returned to Fort Gower,

and then to Virginia.

FORT LAURENS-named in honor of the first President of

Congress, was erected in the fall of 1778, by a detachment of

one thousand men under command of General McIntosh, com-

mander at Fort Pitt, to act as a check on the Indians who were

at that time hostile to the Americans, and who gave the western

settlements no little cause for alarm. After its completion a

garrison of one hundred and fifty men was placed therein, under

charge of Col. John Gibson. The Indians attacked the fort in

the winter following and gave the garrison much trouble, killing

some of the soldiers who ventured outside the walls of the

stockade. The Indian siege lasted until late in February, reduc-

ing the garrison to close straits. Couriers were sent to General

McIntosh, who brought provisions and aid. The fort was

evacuated in August, 1779, being untenable at a such a distance

on the frontier.

The fort stood "a little below the mouth of Sandy Creek,"

on the west bank of the Tuscarawas river, half a mile south of

the present village Bolivar. The walls were octagonal in shape,

enclosing about an acre of ground. The palisades were split

tree trunks, inside of which were the soldiers' quarters. Col.

Charles Whittlesy visited the spot about the time the canal was

made and traced the old embankment now almost obliterated.

FORT HARMAR was built by Maj. John Doughty in the

autumn of 1785 at the mouth (right bank) of the Muskingum

river. The detachment of United States troops under command

of Maj. Doughty, were part of Josiah Harmar's regiment, and

hence the fort was named in his honor. The outlines of the

fort formed a regular pentagon, including about three quarters

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Military Posts in the State of Ohio.      303

 

of an acre. Its walls were formed of large horizontal timbers,

the bastions being about fourteen feet high, set firmly in the

earth. In the rear of the fort, Maj. Doughty laid out fine gar-

dens, in which were many peach trees, originating the familiar

"Doughty peach." The fort was occupied by a United States

garrison until September 1790, when they were ordered to Fort

Washington (Cincinnati). A company under Capt. Haskell con-

tinued to make the fort headquarters during the Indian war of

1790-95. From the date of the settlement at Marietta across the

Muskingum in the spring of 1778, the fort was constantly occu-

pied by settlers, then rapidly filling the country.

FORT STEUBEN was built in 1789, on the site of the present

city of Steubenville. It was built of block houses connected by

a row of palisades and was one of the early American out-posts

in the Northwest Territory. It was garrisoned by a detachment

of United States troops under command of Col. Beatty. The

post was abandoned soon after Wayne's victory in 1794.

FORT WASHINGTON was built by Maj. John Doughty, who

was sent with a detachment of troops from Fort Harmar in Sep-

tember, 1789, to build a fort for the protection of the settlers in

the "Symmes Purchase," between the Miami rivers. It was

completed during the winter following, and under date of Jan-

uary 14, 1790, Gen. Josiah Harmar wrote that "It is built of

hewn timber, a perfect square, two stories high, with four block

houses at the angles. The plan is Maj. Doughty's and on ac-

count of its superior excellence I have thought proper to honor

it with the name Fort Washington."  This was an important

post during the Indian war of 1790-1795, being headquarters for

all military operations.

FORT HAMILTON, built in September, 1791, by Gen. Arthur

St. Clair, governor of the Northwest Territory and commander

of the troops raised to pursue and punish the Indians who the

year before broke out in open hostility to the young American

settlements. The army under St. Clair had rendezvoused at

Fort Washington, and after being divided into three military or-

ganizations had started northward into the Indian country.

Fort Hamilton, built principally as a depot for supplies, stood

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304       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.  [VOL. 3

 

on the east bank of the Great Miami river, on the site of the

present city of Hamilton, Ohio, at the east end of the bridge

connecting Hamilton and Rossville. The fort was a stockade,

somewhat triangular in shape, with four good bastions and plat-

forms for cannon. The officers' quarters were near the river.

Eastward stood the soldiers' barracks and southward was the

magazine. The next summer an addition to the north was

erected by General Williamson, commander of the army. The

fort was occupied until the close of hostilities and was almost

the equal of Fort Washington in importance.

FORT JEFFERSON. This post was erected in 1791 by Gen-

eral St. Clair, forty-four miles north of Fort Hamilton. It

stood in a rich tract of country about six miles south and a little

west of the present city of Greenville. It was used chiefly as a

depot of supplies, and hence was not a fortification nor a place

to harbor troops. No plan of this fort is known to exist, but

examinations have shown it was probably erected somewhat

square within, with projecting corners, these being protected by

block house defenses.

FORT ST. CLAIR was built about a mile north of the site of

the present town of Eaton, in Preble county, in the winter of

1791-92, by a detachment of Gen. Wilkenson's troops under

command of Major John S. Gano. Gen. William Harrison,

then an ensign, commanded the guards each alternate night.

During its building no fires could be built, hence the soldiers

suffered greatly from the cold. The fort was a stockade, used

for storage and supply purposes. On the 6th of November,

1792, a severe battle was fought near the fort between a corps

of riflemen and a body of Indians under command of Little

Turtle, the latter attacking the former about runrise. After

severe fighting the Indians were defeated and driven away, hav-

ing suffered disastrously in the action.

FORT GREENVILLE, on the site of Greenville, Ohio, was

built in December, 1793, by Gen. Anthony Wayne, while on his

march to the Indian country on the Maumee river. The fort

occupied a large part of the town site, and was an irregular

fortification. It was occupied as a storage place for supplies



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Military Posts in the State of Ohio.      305

 

until after the Indians were conquered in the summer of 1794,

when General Wayne and his army returned, increased its de-

fenses, and improved its quarters. Rows of log houses were

built for the soldiers, and comfortable quarters for the officers.

At this fort, in August, 1795, General Wayne concluded a treaty

of peace with the following tribes of Indians: Wyandots, Dela-

wares, Shawnees, Ottawas, Chippewa, Pattawatamies, Miamis,

Weas, Kickapoos, Piankeshaws and Kaskaskias. In all, about

thirteen hundred persons. The geographical limits of these tribes

included the country north of the Ohio river, westward to the

Mississippi. The Indian boundary line established at this time

began at "the mouth of the Cuyahoga river, thence up the

same to the Portage between that and the Tuscarawas branch of

the Muskingum; thence down that branch to the crossing place

above Fort Lawrence; thence southwesterly to a fork of that

branch of the Great Miami river running into the Ohio, at or

near which fort stood Loramie's store, and where commenced

the portage between the Miami and the Ohio and St. Mary's

river, which is a branch of the Miami (Maumee) which runs

into Lake Erie; thence northwest to Fort Recovery, which

stands on a branch of the Wabash; thence southwesterly in a

direct line to the Ohio so as to intersect that river opposite the

mouth of the Kentucke or Cuttawa river."

No plan of the fort other than that of the survey made by

James McBride of Hamilton, can be found. The embankments

could plainly be seen in many places as late as 1840. It was a

large irregular work, not only a fortification, but a depot of sup-

plies and a rendezvous for the army. After the Treaty of 1795

it was soon abandoned.

 

FORT RECOVERY was erected in December, 1793, by a de-

tachment of troops from Gen. Wayne's army. The troops ar-

rived Christmas day, and built at once a stockade on the site of

the disastrous defeat of Gen. Arthur St. Clair by the Indians,

November 4th of 1791. No plan of this stockade has been pre-

served, and but little regarding its construction is known. It

stood on the left bank of the river (the Wabash) and was, no

doubt, somewhat octagonal in shape, the corners protected by

Vol. III-20

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306       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.  [VOL. 3

 

block houses. The palisades forming its walks were firmly set

in a small embankment made by digging a trench about the cir-

cumference. On June 30, 1794, while the main army was still at

Fort Greenville, the detachment at Fort Recovery was subjected

to a short but severe siege by the Indians, whose actions showed

them to be under superior leadership, probably British.  The

fort was used but little after 1794, being simply a "way station"

for supplies for the army.

Fort Recovery occupied the site of the greatest and most

disastrous defeat of Americans by the Indians in western history.

Gen. St. Clair, with his army, gathered hastily in Pennsylvania,

Maryland and Virginia, had left, after an imperfect organization,

Fort Washington in August, 1791; moved forward Ludlow's sta-

tion six miles distant, remaining there until September 17th.

From there the army moved farther up the Great Miami, erect-

ing first Fort Hamilton (already noticed), thence to Fort Jeffer-

son, which they left October 24th, and began their march farther

northward, expecting to find the Indians in the country about

the head waters of the Maumee. On the 3rd of November the

army reached the banks of a small river, supposed to be the St.

Mary's, but really the head waters of the Wabash river. That

afternoon the army camped in a commanding rise of ground, the

river in the front. The militia had gone about a mile farther,

crossing the river, and a low wooded meadow half a mile wide,

and camped in the forest on the high land beyond. It was the

intention of Gen. St. Clair to fortify this position and await the

arrival of the first regiment sent back at Fort Jefferson for pro-

visions. Weary with their march the soldiers lay down to rest.

About daylight the next morning, just after the parade, and as

the soldiers were preparing their breakfast, the militia were sud-

denly and vigorously attacked by an unseen foe, and becoming

frightened, ran back toward the camp of the regular troops.

The onslaught was checked by the first line of troops, but soon

a heavy and constant firing came from all quarters, and, concen-

trating upon the artillery stationed in the center, soon silenced it

by killing the gunners and wounding and killing the horses.

The artillery being useless, several vicious onslaughts were

made, and though repulsed again and again, the wary foe steadily

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Military Posts in the State of Ohio.      307

 

gained ground. A retreat was necessary and was ordered. A

panic seized the soldiers and the retreat became a disorderly and

unmanageable rout. The soldiers and camp followers fled in

great confusion, despite all attempts of the officers, many of

whom were slain while in their efforts to restore order. The fire

of the savages had been fearfully destructive; fully 600 persons

perished, and of those wounded none were spared the horrible

tortures of Indian warfare. The army fled precipitately to Fort

Jefferson, where, meeting the first regiment, they were stayed,

and where an account was taken of their awful losses. From

this place they retreated to Forts Hamilton and Washington,

and further attempts to conquer the Indians were, for a time,

abandoned.

FORT PIQUA was a small stockade built for storage pur-

poses by General Wayne's army in 1794, in what is now Miami

county, about three miles north of Piqua. It was in the portage

between Fort Loramie and St. Mary's. The garrison was under

command of Captain J. N. Vischer. After the treaty of peace

in 1795, the place was abandoned.

FORT ST. MARYS was built by a detachment of General

Wayne's army in 1794 on the site of the town of St. Marys in

Mercer county. It stood on the west bank of the St. Marys

river. It was erected as a supply depot, and was under com-

mand of Captain John Whistler, during what time the garrison

was kept within its palisades.

FORT DEFIANCE was built by General Wayne's army in

August, 1794, when on their march against the Indians. It

stood in the angle formed by the junction of the Auglaize and

Maumee rivers. The fort was built in the form of a square, at

each corner of which were block houses projecting beyond the

sides of the fort, thus protecting the external sides. These

block houses were connected by a line of strong pickets. Out-

side of these, and also of the block houses, was a wall of earth

eight feet thick, a ditch fifteen feet wide and eight feet deep sur-

rounding the whole except the side next the Auglaize river.

The stockade was well built, characteristic of the General's ac-

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308       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.  [VOL. 3

 

tions, affording the garrison which might occupy it a safe retreat.

It was little used after the treaty of peace in 1795.

FORT DEPOSIT was built by General Wayne in August,

1794, as a depot for supplies. It stood on the left (north) bank

of the Maumee. No plan of the fort exists. It was simply a

palisaded stockade, built for storage and not for defensive pur-

poses. Leaving this place, General Wayne marched toward the

Indian encampment, about two miles south of the present town

of Maumee City, and about four miles from Fort Miami, erected

and occupied by British troops. The Indians were met and a

decisive battle fought, a complete victory being gained by the

Americans.

THE BATTLE OF FALLEN TIMBERS. This famous battle

decided the fate of the Indians in the Northwest. Their power

was broken, and after the treaty at Fort Greenville the next

summer, their claims to Ohio's territory were practically ended.

The battle occurred August 20, 1794. That morning, General

Wayne having decided his plan of operations, moved from Fort

Deposit down the left bank of the Maumee toward the Indians,

who had refused all overtures of peace, and who were arranged

in camps on the river bluffs. The army had marched about five

miles when the advance guard was suddenly attacked by a

vigorous fire from an unseen foe, and was compelled to fall back.

The army was at once formed in two lines in a dense wood on

the borders of a swampy prairie, where a tornado had at some

preceding time blown down many trees. This fallen timber

gave the name to the battle-ground. This timber afforded good

shelter to the foe, who were aided by many Canadians, all under

superior discipline. General Wayne's troops fell upon them

with relentless fury, and in a short time put them to flight

toward the guns of Fort Miami, a few miles down the river, and

then garrisoned by a British force under command of Major

Campbell. Wayne's army pursued the Indians under the very

walls of the fort, despite the protests of the British commander

and the British trader, Colonel McKee, whose property was de-

stroyed, General Wayne maintaining the attitude that the fort

stood upon American soil. For three days and nights this war-

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Military Posts in the State of Ohio.      309

 

fare was continued until the Indians were thoroughly subdued,

and promised, through their chiefs, to treat for peace the next

year at Fort Greenville. At this battle the celebrated chief,

Turkey Foot, was slain, whose rock, marked by prints resem-

bling turkeys' feet, perpetuates his memory and his death.

FORT WAYNE. Though not in the confines of Ohio, it

should be mentioned here. At the junction of the St. Jospeph

and St. Marys rivers, the head of the Miami of the lakes-

the Maumee-it appears in French history, first as a trading

post and station. After the defeat of the battle of Fallen Tim-

bers, General Wayne's army went first to Fort Defiance, and

soon after, in September, to the head of the Maumee, and there

built a strong fortification, calling it Fort Wayne. It was com-

pleted by the 22d of October, and garrisoned with infantry and

artillery, under command of Colonel John Francis Hamtranck.

Soon after the treaty at Greenville, in 1795, the fort was practic-

ally abandoned, though the place was always well noticed as a

great outpost. In the war of 1812 the fort was built new, be-

came a conspicuous place, and withstood several sieges. It was

an excellent fortification, and after peace was declared in this

war, became a peaceful trading village, and is now a prosper-

ous city.

FORT INDUSTRY was built by a detachment of Wayne's

troops soon after his victory over the Indians. It stood on a

bluff on the left bank of the Maumee, a few miles above its

mouth, in what is now the city of Toledo. It seems to have

been used but a short time.

FORT FINDLAY, a small stockade about fifty yards square,

was built on the south side of Blanchard's Fork, in what is now

Hancock county, during the war of 1812. At each corner was

a block House, the soldiers' quarters and the palisades protect-

ing the other portions. It was, like many others of its nature,

erected as a supply depot, and was little used for defensive pur-

poses. It was abandoned at the close of the war.

FORT AMANDA, a small stockade, was built during the war

of 1812, in what is now Allen county, on the west bank of the

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310       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.  [VOL. 3

 

Auglaize River, near the west line of the county, on.the site of

an old Ottawa town. It was used but a short time as a supply

depot and a halting place for the troops.

FORT MCARTHUR was built during the war of 1812, on the

Scioto River, in what is now Hardin county. It was a stockade

enclosing about half an acre. A block house in the northwest

and southeast angles, a row of log cribs covered with "shed"

roofs sloping inward, and palisades completed its defenses. The

soldiers' huts were just inside the palisades. It was in a danger-

ous locality and more than once was attacked by Indians. The

garrison was commanded by Captain Robert McClelland. After

the war the post was abandoned.

FORT BALL was built during the war of 1812 by a detach-

ment of General Harrison's army, on the west bank of the San-

dusky River, in what is now the city of Tiffin. It was a small

stockade, enclosing perhaps one-third of an acre, and was used

as a supply depot.

FORT SENECA was built during the war of 1812, by a de-

tachment of Gen. Harrison's army, as a depot for supplies. It

was a stockade, including several acres, and stood on the right

bank of the Sandusky, a few miles above Fort Stevenson. It

was used only during the war.

FORT STEVENSON was built during the war of 1812 at the

head of navigation on the Sandusky river, on the site of the

present city of Fremont. The fort was a well built structure,

enclosing an acre of ground. Col. George Croghan, the com-

mander, with a small body of troops, on the 2d of August, 1813,

successfully defended the fort against a vigorous attack of the

British and Indians. Commanded by Gen. Proctor, the British

force consisted of some five hundred regulars and eight hundred

Indians, their gun boats from the river carrying five six-pound

guns, and their howitzer on shore, bombarded the fort all night

of the first. The next day the enemy massed his troops at one

angle of the fort and attempted to capture it by assault. The

one six-pound gun of the garrison, loaded with small missiles,

was discharged into their ranks when they neared the fort, with

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Military Posts in the State of Ohio.     311

 

such fearful destruction, that with the effective fire of the

soldiers they were repulsed, and retreated. Soon after, fearing

an attack by General Harrison, whose troops had so valiantly

defended Fort Meigs but a few days before against the same foe,

they suddenly retreated, leaving the gallant Croghan and his

handful of men in victorious possession of the fort. After the

war the post was abandoned.

FORT MEIGS was built by Gen. William Henry Harrison, in

the winter of 1812-13, on the right bank of the Maumee, op-

posite the rapids. It was a large palisaded ground, occupying

about ten acres in all, protected by block houses, soldiers' bar-

racks, and a strong line of palisades. Early in the summer of

1813 the fort was attacked by a large force of British and In-

dians under Gen. Proctor, who formed artillery encampments on

both sides of the river. Reinforcements came, and the British

were repulsed in July. It became an important frontier post,

and after peace came was abandoned.

PERRY'S VICTORY.-This remarkable victory occurred on

the waters of Lake Erie, September 10, 1813. At ten o'clock on

that day Commodore Oliver H. Perry, in command of the United

States lake squadron, consisting of two ships, the Lawrence and

the Niagara, and four small vessels, formed in line and advanced

to attack the British squadron. The action was sharp and de-

cisive, and lasted only three hours, resulting in the capture of

the enemy, The losses of both combatants on the leading ships

were heavy. Commodore Perry's memorable dispatch reporting

the victory to General Harrison is well known in American

annals: " We have met the enemy and they are ours; two ships,

two brigs, one schooner and one sloop."

A large painting in the rotunda of Ohio's capitol represents

the conflict at the time Commodore Perry is leaving the Law-

rence, almost disabled, for the Niagara.

A. A. GRAHAM.

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FORT ANCIENT.

 

The General Assembly at the last session passed an act to

purchase this remarkable earth-work on the bluffs on the left

bank of the Little Miami river in Warren county. By some

oversight, the number of acres authorized to be purchased did

not include the entire fortification, and there still remains a por-

tion of the south or "old" fort and little of the north end un-

purchased. A bill was afterward introduced by Senator Jesse

N. Oren, through whom the first bill was introduced, to buy the

remainder; but by an oversight it was omitted in report of the

House Committee, after having passed the Senate. The meas-

ure will be again introduced at the coming session, and it is con-

fidently believed the next General Assembly will complete the

work. The "care and control of Fort Ancient was," by an-

other act of the Assembly, " vested in the Trustees of the Ohio

Archaeological and Historical Society."  The trustees have

accepted the trust, and placed the Fort in charge of a commit-

tee, consisting of Jesse N. Oren of Wilmington, Israel Harris of

Waynesville, and Israel Williams of Hamilton. A competent

custodian has been placed in charge of the grounds, and will

proceed at once to put the same in proper keeping. In time, it

is hoped to have a fine park here, such as is now the "Serpent

Mound Park" in Adams county, enclosing the famous effigy of

the serpent.

Mr. Warren K. Moorehead, of Xenia, has spent almost a

year measuring, surveying, and exploring Fort Ancient. He

has written a very creditable work of 130 pages on the subject,

and at my request has furnished the following brief description

of the fort. The following map used to illustrate this article is

a reduced copy of the large map in his work.

A. A. GRAHAM.



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Military Posts in the State of Ohio.      313

 

 

FORT ANCIENT, AN OUTLINE DESCRIPTION.

 

The accompanying map from the survey made under my

direction by Messrs. Fowke and Cowen will acquaint the reader

with the hillsides and the embankments. The walls run in very

crooked lines, always following the brink of deep ravines,

twisting and turning in the directions which would afford best

protection. The following briefly narrated facts regarding the

embankments should be carefully noted.

The composition is tough, glacial clay. A stone wall is

frequently found within the earth embankment. The stones

average in size 14x20 to 9x14 inches and in places remain stand-

ing to a height of eight feet. The earth from the top of the

embankment washes down and covers them, hence the wall can-

not be witnessed save by excavation.

Height and breadth. The embankments average 13½ feet in

height. The average 431/2 feet wide at base, 4 feet at summit.

Maximum height 3391/2 feet. Minimum, 41/3 feet.

Number of gateways 74.

Number of natural washes, occasionally mistaken for gate-

ways 9.

Average length of walls between gateways, 239½ feet.

Height above Atlantic Ocean level, 941 feet.

Divisions. The portion north of the Isthmus is called upon

the map New Fort. A better name is South Fort. The central

part, Middle Fort; the portion south of Great Gateway has been

called Old Fort. A better and not so confusing a name would

be South Fort.

Terraces, bastions, etc. There are artificial "roads" or

terraces extending around the hillsides on the river side of the

fortification. One or two short ones follow the foot of the wall

just east ot the Great Gateway for a few hundred yards. These

terraces are covered with stone graves. Many spurs or bastions

run out for varying distances from each gateway, and overlook

or command the ravine. This is particularly true of the great

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314       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.  [VOL. 3

 

hollow east of the structure, against which the builders seem to

have protected themselves with the greatest of care.

Washes and erosion. The fort walls do not easily erode,

being composed of very tough clay. They are covered with

shrubs and large trees, the roots of the latter, together with grass

and moss, forming a considerable protection against storms and

wearing paths such as the thousands of visitors to the enclosure

would undoubtedly make.

"Some ravines were probably small when the fortification

was built, and others were large and deep. The wall was carried

across the smaller ones, but stopped on the edge of the bank of

the larger ones. Many of these have since washed out, and the

washes in some of them are very old. A good idea of the age

of this fortification can be obtained by studying these washes.

Length of Embankment. Total length. 18,712.2 feet or

32/3 miles.

Two races fought for position and supremacy at Fort

Ancient. The one had a skull of Brachycephalic type, the

cranium of the other was Solichocephalic. One buried in hol-

lowed vaults or stone graves, the other underneath small mounds

rudely thrown up upon the terraces. Both were savages, the

"stone-grave people," being but a degree removed from their

enemies in that they were able to construct the fortification.

The proofs of the two races are:

(a) Two types of crania.

(b) Two modes of burial.

(c) Two classes of implements and pottery.

(d) Two kinds of lodge or house circles.

That neither of these peoples were "civilized" is set forth

in the manner employed in the construction of the embankments;

in the cemeteries, in the village site debris. Dark patches of

earth of the size of peck measure, several of which still retain

the imprint, the laced work of a basket around them, have been

found in the walls. In the village sites twenty-seven birds,

animals, fish and reptiles in ashes and cooking places have been

found, together with a multitude of bone shell, stone and clay

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Military Posts in the State of Ohio.     315

 

objects used by the woman, the man and the child of the fort-

construction-period.

We have found a complete chain of testimony regarding the

purpose for which the fort was erected, we now know how it was

built, the characteristics of the builders and their enemies; in

short, old Fort Ancient is no longer a mystery. In the near

future, the writer hopes to be able to give to the public a lengthy

and comprehensive account of the discoveries made this summer.

WARREN K. MOOREHEAD.

• 55