Ohio History Journal

OHIO Archaeological and Historical PUBLICATIONS.     THE CROGHAN CELEBRATION.     LUCY ELLIOT KEELER. It was not bad usage of the old Romans to bring down from its niche the waxen image of an eminent ancestor on the anni-

versary of his natal day, to recall his features and achievements to their own minds and impress them upon the younger generation.   A   like tribute the patriotic citizens of Fre- mont, Ohio, pay from time to time to their local hero, Major George Croghan, on the anniversary of that notable second of August, 1813, when with his little band of soldiers he defeated a foe overwhelming in numbers under the British General Proctor and the Indian Chief Tecum- seh. It was not only a feat of incom- parable bravery, but it marked the

turning of the tide in the War of 1812, which up to that time had been a series of disasters to the American arms. The first formal observance of the anniversary of Croghan's Victory occurred in 1839, at which time messages from Croghan himself were received. Since that date every decade has wit- nessed one or more celebrations, notable among which were those of 1852, when "Old Betsy" was brought back to the scene of Vol. XVI-1.             (1)

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2         Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

her great triumph; 1860, presaging the Civil War, when Cassius

M. Clay was the orator of the day; and 1885, when the Monu-

ment on the fort was unveiled in the presence of the President of

the United States and many other distinguished soldiers and

civilians.

The celebration of August 2d, 1906, was, however, more

notable and imposing than any of its predecessors, since on that

date the remains of Croghan were interred at the base of the

monument erected to the memory of himself and the brave men

of his command, on the very spot they had so gallantly defended

ninety-three years before.

Following the defense of Fort Stephenson Croghan figured

conspicuously in the closing events of the War of 1812. His sub-

sequent career as Colonel Inspector General, United States Army,

during the Mexican War and until his death, will be noted in the

pages following. He died of cholera, in New Orleans, January

8, 1849, his spirit taking flight just as the last gun of the national

salute commemorating the ₃₄th anniversary of Jackson's victory,

was fired.

For many years past it was the general supposition that the

remains of this hero lay in one of the numerous cemeteries of

New Orleans. Colonel Webb C. Hayes, imbued with patriotic

sentiment and historic spirit, began several years ago the search

for the grave of Croghan. Through Colonel Hayes' efforts the

Quartermaster General at Washington took up the matter and

made diligent investigation in New Orleans, but finally was

compelled to abandon the search as fruitless. Colonel Hayes

persevered and in February, 1906, received a letter from Mrs.

Elizabeth Croghan Kennedy, grand daughter of George Cro-

ghan and wife of the late Captain Kennedy, U. S. N., which

gave the information leading to the coveted discovery of the re-

mains in the family burial plot in the beautiful old Croghan

estate, Locust Grove, on the Ohio river, several miles from Louis-

ville, Kentucky.

Col. Hayes, in company with R. C. Ballard-Thruston and

S. Thruston-Ballard, of the Kentucky Historical Society, pro-

ceeded to the old estate, now owned by J. S. Waters, and located

the burial plot about 300 yards from the mansion. Thickly over-

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The Croghan Celebration.                3

 

grown with beautiful myrtle were the moss-covered tombstones of

Major William Croghan and wife, the parents of George Croghan,

his brothers, Dr. John and N. Croghan, and one sister, Elizabeth.

In one corner lay an overturned headstone on which appeared the

inscription, Col. G. C., marking the long-sought resting place.

General George Rogers Clark, brother of Lucy Clark Cro-

ghan and uncle of George Croghan, died at the Croghan home-

stead and was buried in the Croghan family burying ground at

Locust Grove, Ky. In 1869 the State of Kentucky authorized the

removal of the remains to Cave Hill Cemetery, Louisville, Ky.,

where a beautiful and imposing monument was erected in his

honor.

Arrangements were at once made for the disinterment by

Messrs. Ballard and Thruston who, with their wives and Miss

Mary Clark, of St. Louis, were present, all being related to Col.

Croghan through his mother, of the great Clark family.

The mahogany casket, found at a depth of six feet, was

badly decomposed, but the leaden casket within was intact, being

six and one-half feet in length, 20 inches wide and eight inches

deep. It was immediately boxed and taken to Louisville and

thence directly to Fremont.

The remains arrived in Fremont Monday evening, June 11th,

1906, and were conveyed to the city hall on the fort. The room

had been beautifully decorated by the George Croghan Chap-

ter, D. A. R., with flowers and evergreen, and myrtle from the

Kentucky grave. A detail from Company K stood at the head and

foot of the casket as the remains lay in state. On the afternoon

of the 1₃th, the flag-draped casket was lifted to the shoulders

of six members of Company K, who were preceded by the com-

pany's trumpeter, and followed by the five local veterans of the

Mexican War who had served in that campaign under Croghan.

These veterans acted as honorary pall-bearers. The ladies of the

D. A. R. and many citizens followed. The procession passed out

in front of the Soldiers' Monument, where it was photographed,

and then proceeded to Oakwood Cemetery, marching over the

Harrison trail through Spiegel Grove. At Oakwood the re-

mains were placed in the vault, a song was sung by the D. A. R.,

and the trumpeter sounded taps.

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The.surviving members of the Croghan family graciously ac-

quiesced in Col. Hayes' action and gave all assistance in their

power. The following letter, from a nephew of Colonel Croghan,

Mr. R. C. Ballard-Thruston, tells the story of the discovery, to-

gether with other important facts regarding the distinguished

family to which our hero belonged. We give the letter entire:

 

LOUISVILLE, KY., June 13, 1906.

COL. WEBB C. HAYES.

My Dear Colonel: As per my letter of a few days ago I now take

pleasure in writing you of certain data regarding the Clark family, which

you desired and, in addition thereto, the facts regarding the location of

the grave of Col. George Croghan and the exhuming and forwarding of

his remains to you.

Major William  Croghan and wife Lucy, lived about five or six

miles east or northeast of the court house of Louisville, Ky., and probably

something over a mile from the Ohio river, at a place which was called

Locust Grove, now owned by J. S. Waters. What was formerly the rear

of the house is now the front. An illustration of the house with the

present front is shown in Gov. English's work, vol. II, page 887. And it is

north of this house about 300 yards that their family burying ground

is located. A description of this and what we found there will follow

later. Quite an account of them is given by Gov. English in his work,

vol. II, page 1002 et seq., in which there are a few errors that should

be corrected as follows: Page 1003, first line, "1767" should be "1765."

Page 1004, line four, "seventy-first" should be "seventy-third." And on

line 3, after the word "marriage" should be inserted the words "License

issued July 13, 1789-no return made." In the next paragraph on that

page is a list of the children of Major William Croghan and wife, which

I notice does not include "Serina E," mentioned in the foot note on that

page. I think she was Serena Livingston, wife of George Croghan, and

therefore a daughter-in-law.

I have no list of the dates of the births of these Croghan children.

Their names as given in Gov. English's work, page 1004, are correct.

From an original letter which I have, written about the early part of last

century, John, George and Nicholas were among the eldest of the chil-

dren and I have a newspaper clipping giving the death of Nicholas

Croghan in 1825.

The marriage records of this county show that a marriage license

for George Hancock and Elizabeth Croghan, daughter of Major William

Croghan, was issued September 29, 1819, and return made by the Rev.

D. C. Banks on the same day. A marriage license for Gen. Thomas

Jessup with Ann Croghan, daughter of Maj. William Croghan, was is-

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The Croghan Celebration.                       5

 

sued May 15, 1832. Return made two days later by the Rev. Daniel

Smith. My notes on this subject were made some years ago and I fail

to find among them the marriage records of any other of these Croghan

children.

As to the family burying ground at Locust Grove. It lies about

three hundred yards north of the dwelling surrounded by a stone wall

eighteen inches thick and from three to five feet high, the sides facing the

cardinal points, and the entrance six feet wide in the center of the

southern wall. It, however, has since been filled in with stone, making a

north and south walls which are each 48 feet long on the outside, the east

and west walls being 47 feet. There are quite a number of trees within

the enclosure, the most prominent of which is a five-pronged elm. We

also found two red elms, four hackberries, two cherries and two locusts.

Almost the entire space is covered with myrtle and some underbrush.

The walls are largely overgrown with Virginia creeper and poison ivy

or oak. The graveyard seems to have been designed with four parallel

rows of graves running from north to south, in each case the grave

facing the east. The eastern one of these rows apparently was not

used, as we saw neither headstone nor evidence of a grave on that row.

On the next row, five feet from the north wall, we found a headstone

marked "McS."    I am at a loss to know whose grave this could be.

Fourteen feet from the north wall on this line is the center of a one-

foot space between two large marble slabs, each being three feet wide

and six feet long with ornate edges. The northern one of these seems

to have rested on four pedestals, one at each corner. They have since

fallen and the slab is now resting on the ground and covers the remains

of Mary Carson O'Hara, wife of William Croghan, Jr. The inscription

on this slab is as follows:

 

Beneath this slab

are deposited the remains of

Mrs. Mary Carson Croghan

(late of Pittsburgh)

who departed this life

October 15th, A. D. 1827,

In the 24th year of her age.

 

Also

her infant daughter

Mary O'Hara,

who expired July 18, 1826,

in the ninth month of her age.

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Slab B rests on four slabs, each of which is ornately carved. The

inscription being:

Eliza,

youngest daughter of

William and Lucy Croghan,

born April 9th, 1801,

married George Hancock Sept., 1819,

died July 12th, 1833.

 

The next headstone was twenty feet from the north wall and was

marked "Mrs. L. C." The next headstone, twenty-three feet from the

north wall, was marked "Maj. W. C." These were evidently the graves

of Major and Mrs. William Croghan, the parents of Colonel George

Croghan. On this same row south of Major Croghan's grave was quite

a sunken space, which probably marks the spot from which the remains

of Gen. George Rogers Clark were removed in 1869. On the next row

of graves west of the last and fourteen feet from the north wall is a

headstone marked "E. C." This is probably Edmund Croghan's grave.

On this row, seventeen feet from the north wall, is a headstone marked

"N. C.," or Nicholas Croghan, a brother of Col. George Croghan, who

died in 1825. At ten feet from the south wall on this same row is a

headstone marked "Dr. J. C.," Dr. John Croghan, who lived at Locust

Grove after the death of his parents and at whose home my mother was

a frequent visitor in her younger days. As there were no other head-

stones found between those of Dr. John Croghan and Nicholas Croghan,

the probabilities are that other members of the family were buried within

this enclosure whose headstones have since been lost, or whose graves

were not properly marked.

Near the southwest corner in the most western one of these rows,

we found but one headstone, four feet from the western wall and five

feet from the southern wall. It was lying on its face entirely covered

with myrtle and upon investigation bore the marks of "Col. G. C." mark-

ing the grave of Col. George Croghan, which you were searching for,

and whose remains you desired to remove to Fremont, Ohio, having ob-

tained permission of his daughter and other descendants.

When this grave was found, on Thursday, June 7, there were

present yourself, my brother, S. Thruston Ballard, Mr. J. S. Waters

and myself. After definitely locating and identifying the grave, my

brother sent to his country place for two negro hands (John Bradford

and Alex Howard) and after lunch we proceeded to open the grave. At

nearly five feet below the surface we found fragments of a mahogany

casket, now almost entirely decayed, and a leaden case which con-

tained the remains. This latter was broken in several places, and as

would naturally be expected, its top was resting upon the skeleton.

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The Croghan Celebration.                    7   This leaden case containing the remains, the headstone above mentioned, a footstone marked "G. C." which we also found at the foot of the grave, and some myrtle which was growing over the grave, which you desired, were carefully taken to my brother's place, and the following morning brought into Louisville, where I had them properly boxed (the leaden case being covered with a United States flag) and the following day, June 9, expressed them to you at Fremont, Ohio, and I hope, before

this, have reached you in pro- per shape. In addition to those pre- sent at the finding of the grave of Colonel George Croghan, above mentioned, there were present at the exhuming of his remains, my sister-in-law, Mrs.   S. Thurston   Ballard, Miss Mary Clark, of St. Louis, Mrs. J. S. Waters, four of the Waters' children, my little nephew Rogers Clark Ballard, and one or two servants of Mr. Waters. My brother carried a kodak with him and made sev- eral attempts to get kodaks of the old Croghan residence and family burying ground, copies of which will be sent you as soon as they are printed. With sincerest regards, I am yours very truly,

R. C. BALLARD THRUSTON, Member of the Filson Club, Virginia Historical Society.   George Croghan himself left three children; a son, Col. St. George Croghan, a brave soldier on the Confederate side, killed in Virginia, in one of the early battles of the Civil War; Mrs. Mary Croghan Wyatt, who died in California in February, 1906; and the youngest and only surviving child, Mrs. Serena Livings- ton Rodgers, wife of Augustus F. Rodgers, U. S. N. Mrs. Rodgers lives in San Francisco, and is now 86 years of age.

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Col. St. George Croghan left two children, both living, a

son, George, and a daughter, Elizabeth Croghan, now the widow

of Capt. Duncan Kennedy, U. S. N., who has one son.

Mrs. Rodgers has a daughter, and Mrs. Wyatt a son,

Judge Wyatt, of New York. All living descendants of Croghan

were invited to be present at the re-interment of the remains of

their famous father, grandfather and great-grandfather.

On the occasion of the unveiling of a tablet to Croghan, on

Fort Stephenson Park, by the D. A. R., Mrs. Wyatt, to whom

an invitation to be present had been sent, wrote, under date of

July 14, 1903:

"My Dear Miss Keeler: It was indeed most gratifying to receive

your invitation to be with you when the Croghan tablet will be unveiled.

If would indeed be a delight to me to be present when such honor was

paid to my dear father, but with sorrow I must decline. My journeyings

in this world are pretty much over. I have lately injured my knee and

walk with difficulty. * * *           Sincerely,

"MARY CROGHAN WYATT."

 

CROGHAN'S ANCESTRY AND LIFE.

The name Croghan is an illustrious one in the early annals

of our country, especially in the Western annals preceding the

establishment of the Republic.

On the paternal side George Croghan came of fighting blood.

He belonged to the race of "the Kellys, the Burkes and the

Sheas," who always "smell the battle afar off." The first Cro-

ghan we hear of in this country was Major George Croghan, who

was born in Ireland and educated at Dublin University. Just

when he came to America we do not know. He established him-

self near Harrisburg, and was an Indian trader there as early as

1746. He learned the language of the aborigines and won their

confidence. He served as a captain in Braddock's expedition in

1755, and in the defense of the western frontier in the following

year. The famous Sir William Johnson, of New York, who was

so efficient in dealing with the natives and whom George II had

commissioned "Colonel, agent and sole superintendent of the

affairs of the Six Nations and other northern Indians," came to

recognize Croghan's worth, and made him deputy Indian agent

for the Pennsylvania and Ohio Indians. In 1763 Sir William

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The Croghan Celebration.               9   sent him to England to confer with the ministry in regard to some Indian boundary line. He traveled widely through the In- dian country which is now the Central West. While on a mis- sion in 1765 to pacify the Illinois Indians he was attacked, wounded and taken to Vincennes. But he was soon released and

accomplished his mission. He was deeply impressed with the great possibilities of this western country and urged upon Sir William Johnson the importance of securing this region to the English colonies. It is a singular coincidence that this first Major George Croghan was pitted against Pontiac in much the

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same way that Major George Croghan the second was pitted

against Tecumseh. In May, 1766, he fixed his abode near Fort

Pitt, using his good offices and influence in pacifying the Indians

and conciliating them to British interests. He died about 1782.

It is altogether probable that his reports regarding the northwest-

ern country had something to do with impressing George Rogers

Clark with its importance.

The similarity of name and title makes this reference to the

first George Croghan pertinent, although his kinship with the

second George Croghan was but collateral. The father of our

hero of Ft. Stephenson was William Croghan, born in Ireland

in 1752. Just when he came to this country it has been impossible

to ascertain. At any rate the young man was well established

here at the time of the Declaration of Independence.   He

promptly volunteered his services, becoming a captain of a Vir-

ginia company. He served to the end of the war, being mustered

out the senior Major of the Virginia line. He took part in the

battles of Brandywine, Monmouth and Germantown; and he was

with the army that bitter winter at Valley Forge. In 1780 his

regiment was ordered South and he was made prisoner at the

surrender of Charleston. He was present at Yorktown, when the

last great battle of the war was fought, though he could not share

in the fighting, as he was on parole. He served for a time on the

staff of Baron Steuben, and he was one of the officers present at

the Verplanck mansion on the Hudson in May, 1783, when the

Society of Cincinnati was instituted. Shortly after the war Cro-

ghan joined the increasing drift of Virginians over the moun-

tains into the new land of Kentucky and found a home near the

Falls of the Ohio.

There, presumably, he won and wed his wife. She, too,

came of valorous stock. Her name was Lucy Clark, daugh-

ter of John Clark, recently come to Kentucky from Virginia.

She had five brothers, four of whom served in the Revolu-

tionary War. The most distinguished of these was George

Rogers Clark, to whose great and heroic campaign through

the wilderness to Vincennes we owe the winning of the North-

west Territory. It was to this George Rogers Clark, uncle of

Croghan, that Harrison referred in his official report of the

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battle when he said with evident gratification: "It will not be

among the least of General Proctor's mortifications to know

that he has been baffled by a youth who has just passed his

twenty-first year. He is, however, a hero worthy of his gallant

uncle, Gen. G. R. Clark, and I bless my good fortune in having

first introduced this promising shoot of a distinguished family

to the notice of the government." Another brother, William,

who was too young to participate in the Revolution, was the

Clark who, with Captain Lewis, made the famous expedition of

exploration across the continent. He was appointed in 1813 by

President Madison Governor of Missouri Territory.

To William Croghan and his wife, Lucy, at Locust Grove,

Ky., November 15, 1791, was born the boy that was destined to

make the family name illustrious. He was christened George, in

honor of the mother's brother, whose great and daring achieve-

ment had given his name vast renown. We know practically

nothing of George Croghan's boyhood. Doubtless it was like

that of the ordinary Virginia boy of the period, who was the

son of a well-to-do planter, modified by the exigencies of frontier

life.

Our boy had books to read, and lessons to learn; and there

were always his father's and his uncles' tales of the recent Revo-

lutionary War and of the untamed country through which they

had traveled; as well as of the Dublin kindred and society.

George was ready for college at an early age, and went to

William and Mary, in Virginia, next to Harvard the oldest col-

lege in the land. From it graduated four presidents of the

United States, Jefferson, Monroe, Tyler and Harrison, beside

Chief Justice Marshall and Gen. Winfield Scott. After Croghan's

graduation he took up the study of law. War was in the air,

however, as well as in his blood, and in 1811 the youth enlisted

as a private in the volunteer army under Harrison. His hand-

some face, alight with intelligence, won him speedy notice from

the officers, a good impression which was strengthened by his

conduct and ability. He was soon appointed aide-de-camp to Gen.

Boyd, second in command. At the battle of Tippecanoe, shortly

after, his zeal and courage induced Gen. Harrison to recommend

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the lad's appointment to the regular army, and he was made cap-

tain of the 17th U. S. Infantry.

In August, 1812, his command accompanied the detachment

under Gen. Winchester, which marched from Kentucky to the

relief of Gen. Hull at Detroit. Hull's disgraceful surrender made

a change of plan necessary, and Winchester's men marched

through the wilderness to assist Gen. Harrison at Fort Wayne,

and then down the Maumee to Fort Defiance, in September,

1812. Here, in spite of his extreme youth, Croghan was left

in command by Harrison. So successful was he in this trying

ordeal that Winchester left him in command of Fort Defiance,

while he himself marched on to the River Raisin. All know the

frightful massacre which followed, Croghan owing his escape to

his duty at Defiance.

Capt. Croghan then joined Gen. Harrison at the newly con-

structed Fort Meigs on the Maumee, taking gallant part in its

defense during the seige. Here the famous pair, Proctor and

Tecumseh, the one with a thousand British regulars and the

other with twice that number of Indians, were the besieging

leaders. The siege continued during thirteen days of that May,

and included one direful incident. Col. Dudley, with his Ken-

tucky troops, came to the relief of the fort, but owing to an am-

buscade arranged by Tecumseh, Dudley's forces were surrounded

and 650 of the 800 soldiers were killed, wounded or taken

prisoners.

In a sortie made to save these unfortunate troops, Capt.

Croghan so distinguished himself by the vigor and bravery of his

assault on a battery, that Gen. Harrison recommended him for

further promotion. He was soon afterward commissioned major

in the 17th U. S. Infantry. In July of that year he and his

command appeared at Fort Stephenson, the wretched little stock-

ade in Lower Sandusky. When they left this place three weeks

later, they were the heroes of the whole country.

The story of the battle of Fort Stephenson, the hurried prep-

aration therefor, and its results in the War of 1812 are given on

a later page in the words of a contemporary. For this notable

victory Croghan was brevetted lieutenant colonel by the president

of the United States; Congress awarded him a medal, and the

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The Croghan Celebration.             13   ladies of Chillicothe, then the capital of Ohio, presented him with a beautiful sword. The famous repulse of August 2, 1813, marks the turning point in the war that ended in sweeping the haughty British navy from our Lakes, and hurling their army from our borders. Croghan remained in the army after the close of the war till March, 1817, when he resigned. In May, 1816, he mar- ried Serena Livingston, daughter of John R. Livingston, of New York, and niece of Chancellor Robert Livingston, famous as jurist and diplomat, who administered the oath of office to Wash- ington when he first became president of the United States, and

who as minister to France negotiated with Bonaparte the Louisiana pur- chase. She was also a niece of the widow of Gen. Montgomery, of Que- bec fame. After resigning from the army Croghan took up his residence in New Orleans and was postmaster of that city in 1824. The following year he returned to the army as inspector general with rank of colonel and served as such with Gen. Taylor during the Mexican War, 1846-47. With such an ancestry and such an early environment it is slight

wonder that the flame of patriotism burned intensely in the veins of Croghan. There was much of the Irish in our hero, as his impulsive speeches, which sometimes got him into trouble, easily testify; and like well-born Irish everywhere, he was proud of his good blood, proud of his forebears, and determined not to bring dis- credit on their name. It is the best heritage any man can have, and Croghan, for one, knew it. Just before the attack on Fort Stephenson Croghan wrote a friend: "The enemy are not far distant. I expect an attack. I will defend this post to the last extremity. I have just sent away the

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women and children, with the sick of the garrison, that I may

be able to act without incumbrance. Be satisfied. I shall, I hope,

do my duty. The example set me by my Revolutionary kindred

is before me. Let me die rather than prove unworthy of their

name."

THE CELEBRATION.

Thursday, August 2, 1906, dawned auspiciously on the his-

toric city of Fremont. The Toledo battery which had arrived

the night before and was stationed in Fort Stephenson aroused

the people at sunrise with a salute of twenty-one guns, announc-

ing that the events of the day had begun. Thousands of visitors

from far and near, including many prominent officials of state and

nation, made pilgrimage to the historic shrine of Fort Stephenson.

The city was appropriately decorated and every hospitality and

courtesy possible was extended by the citizens to their guests.

At eight o'clock the casket of Major Croghan, which had been

temporarily placed in the vault at Oakwood, was taken therefrom

and borne to the city, with military honors of music and soldiery

escort. The line of march was over the old Harrison trail,

through Spiegel Grove, down Buckland and Birchard avenues

to Park avenue and then to the high school building where, in

the hallway, the casket, draped with flags, was placed. Guarded

by a detachment of state troops the remains lay in state until the

big parade of the day passed the school house, when the casket,

borne on the shoulders of six stalwart members of the National

Guard, was tenderly escorted to Fort Stephenson Park. The

civic and military parade, which was the feature of the forenoon,

was an imposing spectacle. It was headed by the city police force

and fire department, followed by a provisional Brigade of the

Ohio National Guard commanded by Brigadier General W. V.

McMaken, O. N. G. the local and visiting posts of the Grand

Army of the Republic, Spanish War Veterans, Masons, Wood-

men of the World and secret orders, German musical socie-

ties, commercial organizations and school children waving the

American emblem and singing patriotic songs. An interesting

link in the procession brought the present event in close touch

with the historic past, for in a spacious carryall were Fremont's

five Mexican War veterans, Captain Andrew Kline, his brother

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Thc Croghan Celebration.             15   Louis Kline, Grant Forgerson, Martin Zeigler and Jacob Faller. They had all personally known Croghan. The parade passed in review before the handsomely decorated stand at Croghan street and Park avenue, on which stood Vice President Fairbanks, Gov- ernor Harris, Mayor Tunnington, General Chance, Congressman Mouser, Hon. J. F. Laning and Hon. A. H. Jackson; behind them the governor's staff, Col. Kautzman, Col. Weybrecht, Major Hall, Captain Williams, Capt. Knox, Capt. Garner, Capt. Wood and

Lieut. Moulton. Vice President Fairbanks stood up in his auto- mobile almost the entire length of Front street, and with his hat in hand acknowledged the cheers and applause of the crowds, while Governor Harris kept bowing to people on both sides of the street in response to the cheers with which he was greeted. At the high school the procession halted and the Croghan remains were escorted from their resting place at the base of the monu- ment by the George Croghan Chapter of the D. A. R., the mem-

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16         Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.   bers of which had charge of the final interment. The children scattered flowers in the grave, a salute was fired, taps were sounded, and the honored dust of the gallant George Croghan was consigned to its final resting place on the spot and in the sacred soil he had so bravely and loyally defended ninety-three years before. The grave was covered with a large block of Quincy granite bearing this inscription: George Croghan Major 17th U. S. Infantry, Defender of Fort Stephenson, August 1st and 2d, 1813. Born Locust Grove, Ky., Nov. 15, 1781. Died New Orleans, La., Jan. 8, 1849, Colonel Inspector General United States Army. Remains removed from Croghan Family Burying Ground, Locust Grove, Ky., August 2, 1906.

The oratorical exercises were held in the afternoon in the open air within the precincts of the fort. Vast crowds gathered and listened intently to addresses. General Jesse C. Chance, of Fremont, was president of the day and introduced the speakers, after the assembly had been called to order by Mayor C. C. Tunnington. The speeches were interspersed with patriotic songs by the school children and martial strains by the Light Guard Band.     THE INVOCATION.

REV. W. E. TRESSEL, CHAPLAIN. God of our fathers, we praise and worship Thee! Assembled on historic ground, which has been consecrated by heroes' blood, we not only hold in glad and grateful remembrance the noble deeds of valiant men,

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The Croghan Celebration.                    17

 

but we proclaim Thy great glory, O Lord of hosts; for Thou art the

God of battles, and right and truth triumph by Thy blessing. And whilst

we thank Thee for the brave men of that older day who fought so nobly

in freedom's holy cause, we give Thee laud and honor for the pa-

tience, the skill, the industry, through which were won those notable

victories of peace, no less renowned than those of war, that made the

wilderness to blossom as the rose and laid the foundations for the

splendid material prosperity which to-day is our portion. For health,

and peace, and plenty, for home, good government, for our great educa-

tional system, we give Thee thanks, 0 God. And richer gifts than these

have flowed to us from Thy bounteous hand. Thou hast revealed to us

Thy dear son, Jesus Christ, and hast made Him to be our Savior from

the bondage of sin and from eternal death; and in Thy precious word

Thou hast conveyed to us Thy saving grace and power. Eternal praise be

to Thee for these, Thy choicest gifts!

We pray Thee to continue to us Thy favor. To this end bless

with repentance and faith; help us to renounce all sin and error, to love

and to follow truth and righteousness, that we may hold fast what

Thou hast in mercy given. Instil more and more into our hearts love

of country. Do Thou use the exercises of this day to impress on our

mind the responsibilities of citizenship. Awaken and quicken within us

civic spirit. And thus let this memorable day on which we stand before

Thy holy throne, result in countless blessings, for time and eternity, to us

and to our children.

 

"Our God, our help in ages past,

Our hope for years to come,

Our shelter from the stormy blast,

And our eternal home!

 

"Under the shadow of Thy throne

Thy saints have dwelt secure:

Sufficient is Thine arm alone,

And our defence is sure.

 

"Before the hills in order stood,

Or earth received her frame,

From everlasting Thou art God,

For aye wilt be the same.

 

"A thousand ages in Thy sight

Are like an evening gone;

Swift as the watch that ends the night

Before the rising sun.

Vol. XVI-2.

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18         Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.   Time, like an ever-rolling stream, Bears all its sons away: They fly, forgotten, as a dream Dies at the opening day.   "0 God, our help in ages past, Our hope for years to come, Be Thou our Guard while troubles last, And our eternal home!"   Thou, who hearest prayer, for Jesus' sake give ear to these our prayers and praises, which we sum up in the words of our Lord: Our Father, Who art in heaven; Hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; Give us this day our daily bread; And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen!   ADDRESS OF HON. SAMUEL D. DODGE. When your fellow citizen, Col. Webb C. Hayes, asked me to ad- dress you upon this occasion, and I accepted the invitation, I did so

with the full appreciation that I should be able to add nothing to the historical in- formation which you citizens of Sandusky County possessed, I should be able to say no word which could in any way increase your admiration for the distinguished youth, who, almost a century ago, stood near this spot, and with one gun and a few brave soldiers routed the British forces and their Indian allies. You citizens of Sandusky County have studied your histories well; you have shown full appreciation for the courage displayed on that occasion and you have honored many times the memory and deeds of the distinguished Soldier. Stu- dents of American history have related to you the causes that led up to the War of

1812; eminent writers have described to you the campaign preceding the attack on Fort Stephenson; and distinguished orators, with brilliant phrases, have pictured to you the handsome youth standing upon the ram- parts of Fort Stephenson, and amid the yells of savages and the fierce at- tacks of the veterans of Wellington urging his little band to deeds of hero-

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The Croghan Celebration.                    19

 

ism. The life and deeds of George Croghan are familiar tales in every

household of this historic neighborhood. Your fellow townswoman, Miss

Julia M. Haynes, in her admirable paper, "Fremont in History," read to

you a few years ago, has given us a clear, concise and eloquent statement

of the events which have made your city famous. Dr. Charles R. Williams,

in his public address delivered at Spiegel Grove, a few years since, has

added to the historical literature of Fremont a brilliant and polished essay,

and other distinguished men and women have placed before you the

geography, history, and traditions of your town in pamphlet and speech.

You have listened to the thrilling eloquence of General Gibson and the

polished sentences of Governor Jacob D. Cox, and at that memorable

meeting when you dedicated this handsome monument, a meeting pre-

sided over by your distinguished citizen, Rutherford B. Hayes, you lis-

tened to the voices of Sherman, Foraker, Henry B. Payne and others.

That I could add anything to what has been said and written concerning

these historical events, I have not for a moment dared to hope, but per-

haps a personal allusion, if I may be allowed, will partially explain my

presumption and willingness to accept this invitation.

On July 9th, 1813, there was born in my grandfather's house in

Cleveland, a son, and for several weeks no agreement could be reached

as to the name he was to bear. Less than a month after the child's

birth, from every hill top to every valley, from settlement to settlement

of pioneers along shores of Lake Erie came the news that Major George

Croghan, a young man, had put to rout the English and Indians and

saved Fort Stephenson, and my grandfather's family had found a name

for their son, and to-day there is a grave in Lake View cemetery in

Cleveland and at its head a simple granite monument with the inscription

George Croghan Dodge, born July 9th, 1813, died June 6th, 1883; and

so I regard it as a privilege to pay a simple tribute to-day to a man

whose name my father bore, the story of whose achievement told me in

my boyhood was a narrative to which no tale of giants or fairies could

compare.

Fifty years before the defense of Ft. Stephenson or "Sandusky," as

the name was engraved on the gold medal presented by congress to the

peerless Croghan, this historic neighborhood had been the scene of the

capture and utter destruction at the outbreak of Pontiac's gigantic con-

spiracy of old Fort Sandusky, built in 1745 on the left or west side

of Sandusky bay and river on the Marblehead peninsula.

"The storm burst early in May of 1763. *  * *Nine British forts

yielded instantly and the savages drank, scooped up in the hollow of

joined hands, the blood of many a Briton. * * * Sandusky was the

first of the forts to fall, May 16th. Ensign Paully * * * was seized,

carried to Detroit, adopted, and married to a squaw, who had lost her

husband, the remainder of the garrison were massacreed and the fort

burned."

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20         Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

Fort Sandusky, the first fort established in Ohio, was built in 1745 by

British traders from Pennsylvania and Virginia under the instruction, it

is said, of George Croghan, later deputy Indian Commissioner to Sir.

Wm. Johnston. It was located on the Marblehead peninsula on the

left or west side of the Sandusky river and bay at the portage where

Indians and trappers coming from Detroit, in their course skirting

the chain of islands in Lake Erie, would land to carry their canoes

across to the Sandusky river on their way to the Scioto and Ohio.

The French, resenting this intrusion, "usurped F. Sandoski" and in 1754

built another fort, "Junundat," on the east or right side of the Sandusky

river and bay. The maps of John Mitchell and Lewis Evans, both pub-

lished in 1775, clearly show the location of these two forts.

Mitchell's map shows the fort on the west side of the river and

bay with the notation "Sandoski usurped by the French, 1751," while

Evans' map has "F Sandoski" on the west side and also "F Junundat

built in 1754" on the east side of the river and bay and diagonally across

from "Sandoski."

"Sandusky was afterward evacuated and on the 8th of September,

1760, the French governor, Vandreueil surrendered Canada to the Eng-

lish" and then ended French dominion in America. "Major Robert Rogers,

a native of New Hampshire, was directed to take possession of the west-

ern forts. He left Montreal on the 13th of September, 1760, with two

hundred rangers. * * * Proceeding west, he visited Sandusky * * *

after securing the fort at Detroit returned by land via Sandusky and

and Tuscarawas trail to Fort Pitt."

Soon after Major Rogers took possession of the western forts for

the British, Ensign Paully was placed in command of Fort Sandusky and

so remained until his capture, and the massacre of his garrison and the

utter destruction of the fort on May 16, 1763, at the outbreak of Pon-

tiac's conspiracy. As soon as the news of the capture of the nine British

forts reached the British authorities, Detroit and Fort Pitt alone escap-

ing capture, expeditions were sent to relieve the latter and to re-establish

British supremacy in the northwest. Captain Dalyell arrived at the

ruins of old Fort Sandusky in the fall of 1763 and then proceeded up

the Sandusky river to the village of the Hurons and Wyandots at the

lower rapids of the Sandusky river (now Fremont) and utterly destroyed

the Indian villages located there.

In 1764, twelve years before the declaration of Independence, Col.

John Bradstreet started from Albany to relieve Major Gladwyn at De-

troit. Pontiac, the crafty, powerful and ambitious chief of the Ottawa

Indians, the year before, had sent his red-stained tomahawk and his

war belts to the various Indian tribes between the Allegheny mountains

and the Mississippi river, stirring the hearts of the red men against the

pioneers, and was preparing to continue his attacks upon the various

western forts, and in his hatred toward the whites was determined

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The Croghan Celebration.                   21

 

to accomplish by force what he could not accomplish by treachery. He

had returned from Detroit in November, 1763, and it was evident that

he was preparing for a more complete siege of that important military

post. It was then that General Thomas Gage wrote the Colonies and

asked for troops to suppress the growing insurrection of the Indian na-

tions; and Colonel Bradstreet set forth from Albany with his army of

1180 men, 766 being provincial troops from New York, New Jersey and

Connecticut under Israel Putnam. Along they came to Lake Ontario

and with two vessels, 75 whale boats, and numberless canoes, issued

forth and steered westward. Remaining a while at Fort Niagara, passing

on and founding Fort Erie, they pushed on to Detroit after making

short encampments on the banks of the Cuyahoga river, on the present

site of Cleveland, and at the ruins of old Fort Sandusky. All along the

journey Indians had been sent to treat for peace, but knowing from

experience the treacherous character of the Indians, Bradstreet was warned

against putting trust in the overtures of the savages. Yet notwithstanding

the protests of his followers, Bradstreet promised to refrain from march-

ing against the Delawares, Shawanese and other tribes, if within twenty-

five days the representatives of the tribes would meet him at Fort San-

dusky for the purpose of giving up prisoners and concluding a definite

treaty. Bradstreet had, however, been ordered to give to the Wyandots,

Ottawas and Miamis a thorough chastisement, but on the approach of

the English commander these three tribes sent deputies to meet him

and promised to follow him to Detroit and make a treaty there, if he

would abandon the hostile plan against them. It was with this expecta-

tion that he reached Detroit, only to learn that the Indians whom he

had expected to meet on his return to Fort Sandusky for the purpose

of making a treaty, had assembled there to oppose the disembarkment

of the English soldiers. So Bradstreet started with sixty long boats and

one barge and glided down the Detroit river out upon the bosom of

Lake Erie. All expected to engage in a fierce combat with the savage

foe, but Bradstreet soon received better news. With this expedition of

Bradstreet was one Lieutenant Montresor, who kept a journal, and this

journal has been preserved among the collections of the New York

Historical Society. From the journal we learn that "news soon arrived

that the Delawares and Shawanese are assembled at Sandusky where the

old fort stood in order to treat with us for peace." With this information

Bradstreet's "troops entered Sandusky lake or bay" September 18, 1764,

and "encamped on a good clay bank half a mile west of the spot where

sixteen months before Pontiac had butchered the English garrison and

burned the fort." Indians soon appeared and pledged if he would not at-

tack the Indian village they would conclude a definite treaty and surrender

all prisoners they had. Bradstreet did not attack them. After waiting

seven days "Col. Bradstreet then proceeded up Sandusky river to the

village of the Hurons and Wyandots, which had been destroyed by Cap-

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22         Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

tain Dalyell the preceding year." Montresor in his journal says "Brad-

street's whole force proceeded and encamped one mile below the rapids

of the Sandusky River, and here at this camp near the Huron village

on Sandusky river, Major Israel Putnam served as Field Officer for the

picket and presided at a General Court Martial at his own tent to try

all prisoners brought before him."*  So to this very spot, now Fort

Stephenson Park, Fremont, Ohio, fresh with the laurels won while in

command of Provincial troops in the siege of Havana, Cuba, with this

expedition came Israel Putnam, who afterwards became Senior Major

General in the army of the United States of America, one of the heroes

of Bunker Hill, an indomitable soldier, a man of generous soul and

sterling patriotism, and of whom his biographer, Col. David Humphreys,

says, "He seems to have been formed on purpose for the age in which

he lived. His native courage, unshaken integrity, and established repu-

tation as a soldier gave unbounded confidence to our troops in their first

conflict in the field of battle."

The colonial records of Connecticut for March, 1764, says this as-

sembly doth appoint Israel Putnam, Esq., to be major of the forces now

ordered raised in this colony for his Majesty's service against the In-

dian Nations who have been guilty of perfidious and cruel massacres of

the English.

Thus to the long list of patriots and statesmen and pioneers, who

in the early days wandered through the densely wooded trails, over these

plains which smiled to the sun in grass and flowers, and along the banks

of this historic river; to the names of Daniel Boone, Simon Kenton,

William Henry Harrison, George Croghan and a host of others we can

add the immortal name of Israel Putnam.

The fifty odd years between the campaign of Bradstreet and the

War of 1812, the years preceding and following the Revolutionary War

are filled with the stirring events of pioneer history. Northern Ohio was

the scene of border wars and Indian outrages. The massacre of the Mo-

ravians, Crawford's Expedition, the destruction of St. Clair's army, and

the victory of General Wayne at Fallen Timbers are a few of the many

important events that go to make up the history of the region around

the Maumee and Sandusky rivers. The disasters to the American arms

incident to the opening of the campaign of the War of 1812 in the north-

west-the disgraceful surrender of Hull at Detroit, the massacre of Win-

chester's men at the River Raisin, and Dudley's massacre, so-called, in the

otherwise successful defence of Fort Meigs culminated, however, on

August 2, 1813, in the unparalleled discomfiture of the British and In-

dians by a young Kentucky major. This defense, so brilliant and com-

plete, followed by Perry's Victory on Lake Erie and General Harrison's

triumph at the battle of the Thames practically closed the campaign.

 

* Livingstone's Life of Israel Putnam, p. 139.

• 22
 

The Croghan Celebration.                    23

 

The war of 1812 only supplemented the Revolutionary War. We

had become at once independent and feeble. Articles of confederation

bound us loosely together, and we had not yet fully won our place

among the nations of the earth. Other nations looked upon us as an

easy prey-they could seize our ships and imprison our seamen, but these

results were only incidents which gave rise to the conflict for which the

time was ripe and for which there was and could be no postponement.

This war must be had. We must consolidate and finish the work of

independence. It must be a reality and not a name, England must ac-

knowledge us as a distinct member of the family of nations, and this is

what we accomplished by the contest of 1812 and 1813. When that war

broke out the Indians were banded together in this Northwestern quar-

ter of the state under the leadership of Tecumseh, to whom the English

had given the rank of a general in their army. There was no city of

Fremont. The spot called Lower Sandusky was a military reservation two

miles square, established by treaty in 1785. Here was built Fort Stephen-

son-one of the many outposts in the midst of this hostile country. Built

to protect the communications of the army with the more distant posts

at Chicago and Detroit; built perhaps that a crossing at this point of this

then important river might be made in safety. Up this Sandusky river

from the lake came all who wished to reach the Ohio river on their way

from Canada to Mississippi for, with a short portage, they could enter

the Scioto and then on down to the great rivers beyond. It was an im-

portant place then for a growing settlement, a vigorous colony might

be started here and Major Croghan appreciated its importance even if

Harrison did not. The English had made allies of the Indians. Te-

cumseh was made a general. British emissaries were busy among the

Northwest tribes stirring them up to war upon the Americans. Gen-

eral Proctor, with his savage allies had failed to capture Fort Meigs,

and Proctor had withdrawn to his old encampment and there he re-

mained until on July 28th, 1813, the British embarked with their stores

and started for Sandusky bay and river for the purpose of attacking

Fort Stephenson. Again and again have you heard the story of this

fight. How General Harrison had sent word to Major Croghan that

if the British approached with force and cannon and he could discover

them in time to retreat, that he must do so. How Harrison in council

with his other Generals had decided that the fort was untenable and

ordered him to abandon it. How the messenger lost his way, and when

he did arrive Croghan sent back word to Harrison the memorable mes-

sage, "We have determined to maintain this place, and by heavens we

can."  The natural anger of General Harrison at this seeming diso-

bedience to his order and the summoning of Croghan to come to Fort

Seneca and the placing of another in command until the gallant boy

had explained and appeased the wrath of his superior and was sent back to

his post, are familiar facts of history. On the afternoon of August 1st,

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24         Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.   1813, we find the young hero back in command and with 160 men and "Old Betsy," sending back to Proctor with his 700 veterans, 2,000 In- dians and Barclay's gunboats in the river, a defiant refusal to his summons to surrender. General Harrison, in his report to the Secretary of War, thus de- scribes the battle. "Their troops were formed into two columns, one led by Lieut.-Colonel Short, headed the principal one. He conducted his men to the brink of the ditch under a galling fire from the garrison, and by Lieut.-Colonel Shortt headed the principal one. He conducted his men and the light infantry. At this moment a masked porthole was sud-

denly opened and the six-pounder, with a half-load of powder and a double charge of leaden slugs, at a distance of thirty feet, poured destruc- tion upon them, and killed or wounded every man who entered the ditch. In vain did the British officers try to lead on the balance of the column. It retired under a shower of shot, and sought safety in the adjoining woods." And who was this young man who defended this place against a force of British and Indians and drove them discomfited from the field of battle. We seem to see him now as he stood there a model of manly beauty in his youthful prime, "a man in all that makes a man ere man-

• 24
 

The Croghan Celebration.                  25

 

hood's years have been fulfilled"; standing on the threshold of his

career. This young, accomplished, handsome youth was born at Locust

Grove, Ky., November 15, 1791. His mother was Lucy Clark. Of

uncles he had upon his mother's side, George Rogers Clark, whose great

campaign through the wilderness won for us the Northwest Territory

was one; and William Clark, who with Captain Lewis made the famous

Lewis and Clark expedition of exploration across the continent, was

another. His father, William Croghan, was born in Ireland in 1752,

was a soldier in the Revolutionary War and fought at Brandywine,

Monmouth and Germantown, and when young George had finished

his preliminary schooling he entered at the age of 17 the College of

William and Mary and graduated two years later with the degree of

Bachelor of Arts. His purpose was to become a lawyer, but when the

governor of Indiana, William Henry Harrison, called for volunteers to

strike at Tecumseh and his stirring red men, Croghan joined the little

army as a private and began his life as a soldier at the battle of

Tippecanoe.

From that day until General Harrison sent him to this place, the

spirit of the soldier in him had met every test of skill and bravery, and

he took command of Fort Stephenson with the confidence of his su-

periors and with the love and admiration of his soldiers. In a report

of this battle by an English historian occurs this sentence: "The first

division were so near the enemy that they could distinctly hear the various

orders given in the fort and the faint voices of the wounded and dying

in the ditch, calling out for water, which the enemy had the humanity

to lower to them on the instant."

Over in that beautiful cemetery at Clyde, on its sunkissed slopes,

bright with the foliage of this August day, rests one who, fifty years

after the defense of Fort Stephenson, honored this country, his state and

his country by his conduct upon the field of battle-General James B. Mc-

Pherson, as good a soldier, as chivalrous a leader, as gallant a gentle-

man, as pure a man as ever fell upon the field of battle. General Sher-

man says of him "History tells us of but few who so blended the grace

and gentleness of the friend with the dignity, courage, faith and man-

liness of the soldier."  Now Sandusky County has gathered to herself

all that remains of another hero, her first if not her greatest. Here under

the shadow of this monument among the people who love to do him honor,

on the very spot he so gallantly defended, will he lie

 

Till mouldering worlds and tumbling systems burst;

When the last trump shall renovate his dust.

Till by the mandate of eternal truth,

His soul will flourish in immortal youth.

 

Such names as Croghan and McPherson are like the sound of a

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26         Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

trumpet. They are the precious jewels of our nation's history, to be

gathered up among the treasures of the nation and kept immaculate from

the tarnishing breath of the cynic and the doubter.

My Friends; Wars are cruel. They crush with bloody heel all

justice, all happiness, all that is God-like in Man. We have but to

read the History of Nations to discern the hideous slaughters which

have marked their progress, and yet man is such a savage that until

the present generation he has insisted that the only way to settle things

is by the gage of battle. He has covered a hundred battle fields with

men and horses; with the groans of the wounded and the dying. He

has covered the pages of our history with gore, and if history, such

history as you have learned here on the banks of this gentle flowing

river that for a half a century had been the scene of strife and battle,

if such history I say, cannot cultivate out of man the brutal spirit of

war, teach him the wisdom of diplomacy and the need of arbitration,

then has the lesson been lost and he has failed to taste the fruit or

imbibe the philosophy of humanity. It is for us to substitute law for

war, reason for force, courts of reason for the settlement of contro-

versies among nations following up the maintenance of the law with the

vitalizing forces of civilization until all nations are molded into one

International Brotherhood, yielding to reason and conscience. Then can

we draw the sword from its sheath and fling it into the sea rejoicing

that it has gone forever. Let us recognize this truth and today on this

anniversary we will lay a new stone in the temple of Universal Peace.

This temple which shall rise to the very firmament and be as broad as

the ends of the earth. May such occasions as this lead us away from

an era of wars and battleships and new navies and bring us to a time

when Patriotism and Humanity can be compatible one with another and

to a time

When navies are forgotten

And fleets are useless things,

When the dove shall warm her bosom

Beneath the eagle's wings.

 

When memory of battles.

At last is strange and old,

When nations have one banner

And creeds have found one fold.

 

Then Hate's last note of discord

In all God's world shall cease,

In the conquest which is service

In the victory which is peace!

• 26
 

The Croghan Celebration.                   27     ADDRESS OF HON. CHARLES W. FAIRBANKS.   VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. I am gratified, indeed, to be present and participate with you for a brief while upon this historic occasion. I have not come to make a formal speech, nor did I come to make you a speech at all. According to the programme, I am to indulge only in a few "remarks." What I shall say to you shall be born of the moment. I have brought with me no well-turned phrases. I have come simply to join with you in paying tribute to the memory of men who did valiant service

in the cause of the Republic in the long ago. The spot whereon we stand is sacred ground, for wherever men have fought in the cause of American liberty, that ground is sacred and ever will be held so. George Croghan is a name that is in- delibly written in the history of the Re- public, and this great community honors itself when it brings back his remains from the sunny South and gives them sepulcher in the soil hallowed by his genius and valor. We bring to-day beneath this beautiful summer sky a tribute of our gratitude for what he did for us and for our suc- cessors in the centuries which stretch be- fore us with so much promise. We lay the

remains of this brave soldier to their everlasting sleep beneath the shade of yonder monument. I wish we knew the names of the hundred and sixty men who stood with him August 2, 1813, that we might call the roll of them here to- day and pay to them the tribute of our gratitude and our admiration. The brave commander who rendered illustrious service here in a critical period of the war of 1812, is known to us and his name is upon our lips and it will be sung by our children in days to come, but his brave compatriots are unknown. The one hundred and sixty men who stood here--as brave men as ever placed their lives upon the sacrificial altar of their country--are known, for God Almighty knows men who go down to the battle field to preserve American institutions for ages to come. There is one brave young man, who stood with Croghan, whose name we cannot forget, and which we recall with pride and satisfaction, and that is the name of Ensign Shipp. When the British General Proctor

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28         Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

came bearing a flag of truce, supported by an army trained in the art

of arms -five hundred British, eight hundred savages, I believe, twelve

hundred in all, -against an hundred and sixty-one, commander and

soldiery, it was believed that the flag of truce would win a complete

surrender of the small garrison. But the British commander knew little

of the metal that was in George Croghan and Ensign Shipp and the

hundred and fifty-nine others who shared with them the fortunes of

war. The young commander who had barely reached his majority sent

to meet the officers bearing the flag of truce, this young Ensign, younger

still than himself. The British officer demanded the surrender of the

garrison. The Ensign answered--and history can never forget his an-

swer: "My commandant and the garrison," said he, "are determined

to defend the post to the last extremity and bury ourselves in its ruins

rather than surrender to any force whatever."

It was pointed out by the British commander that resistance would

probably result in massacre by the savages. To this suggestion the

Ensign defiantly replied: "When the fort shall be taken there will be

none to massacre. It will not be given up while a man is able to

resist."

This was the note of sublime heroism. It was essentially the

answer of a brave American patriot. It was a sentiment kindred to

one uttered by General Grant during the Civil War. The great General,

as I remember, in one of his campaigns, crossed a river and sought an

engagement with the enemy with the river in his rear, and with only

one transport. When it was suggested that this was, perhaps, inade-

quate provision in the event of the necessity of a retreat, the great

captain of our armies made the laconic reply that if he was obliged to

retreat, one transport would be sufficient.

As Shipp made his way back to the fort, Major Croghan awaited

him. The latter knew the British would demand surrender and that

the brave Ensign would decline to accede to his demand. As the fort

opened for the Ensign's return, Croghan said: "Come in Shipp and

we will blow them all to Hell." That was a naughty word. (A voice:

"But it was the right one under the circumstances.") Yes, you are

right. If it was ever to be used, then was the occasion to use it, and

I think that a word like that, used in the cause of liberty, is a dis-

infected word.

(The Vice-President indicated he was about to close. Several

voices: "Go on! Go on!")

I do not want to talk longer than it took George Croghan to lick

the British and the savages here. He illustrated better than any man

can that it is not words which win victories, but it is deeds that accom-

plish them.

Fellow citizens, American liberty has cost something. It is a

singular fact that those great blessings to the human race which it

most longs for, which it most prays for, always come at the greatest

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The Croghan Celebration.                     29   cost. Humanity, in all her march, back from the early mist of history, down to this present hour, has won her victories for liberty mainly upon the battle field. We who are here to-day are in the enjoyment of liberty which was won upon the field of battle. We are a great, happy, contented nation of eighty millions. We look out across the sea to the Empire of Russia, with her one hundred and forty millions struggling with the great problems of human liberty. We see their wars, we see their massacres, we see their bloodshed unspeakable. We each and every one wish that those people could come out of the bondage of iron rule into the glad sunshine of liberty. America has had five wars: the War of the American Revolution; the War of 1812 which made us forever secure against the efforts of

Great Britain to wrest liberty from us - the liberty fought for by our continental fathers; the war with Mexico was the third, and I am glad to see here to-day and take by the hand several of the survivors of the war with Mexico. Their presence is an inspiration. It is a curious coincidence that there is now present a man who knew Croghan in the Mexican War. It seems to carry us back from the present to the very presence of the hero of Fort Stephenson. Then the war of the great Rebellion-the mightiest war in the history of man. There are here to-day scores of men bearing upon their breasts the evidence of their loyalty to the Union in the hour of its supremest exigency. And later came the war with Spain. These five wars were fought by the people of the United States,

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30         Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

not to enslave men but to make men free, to enlarge in a vast degree

the zone of Republican government.

All honor to George Croghan and his heroic band. All honor

to the soldiers of the revolution. All honor to the soldiers of the

Mexican war. All honor to the soldiers of the Union. All honor to

the soldiers of the Spanish-American war. The American people honor

them. They honor them each and all. They hold them forever within

the embrace of their fondest memory.

Fellow citizens, it would be impossible for me to close these few

words without expressing that appreciation to Col. Webb C. Hayes

which is in the hearts of all of us here to-day. It is a happy circum-

stance that he, a soldier himself, and a son of one of the brave defenders

of the Union in the Civil War, should thoughtfully and generously bring

back from the soil of Kentucky where he was sleeping his everlasting

sleep the remains of this brave, fearless leader, in order that they might

rest here amid the theater of his immortal achievements.

All honor to Colonel Hayes for what he has so splendidly done,

and all honor to the community which respects and preserves the memory

of those who have served so well in the cause of their country.

I will leave you, my friends, and I leave you with regret. I leave

you, however, with the confident hope that you will go forward in the

enjoyment of peace and happiness which are the legitimate fruits of

those who fought here and elsewhere for Republican government.

 

ADDRESS OF GENERAL ANDREW L. HARRIS.

 

GOVERNOR OF OHIO.

The chairman has stated that I will make a few remarks, and this

is truly said. When your committee came to Columbus to invite me to

participate on this occasion I frankly told them that it would be im-

possible for me to make any preparation, but that I could come provid-

ing no speech was expected of me, and, fellow citizens, Col. Hayes

gladly accepted the promise, and it was with that understanding that I

am here to-day, for the purpose of participating with you in my pres-

ence more than by words or speech on this memorable occasion.

I sometimes think that we have never given sufficient importance

in history to the gallant deeds that were performed here in 1813. You

remember that up to that time the results of the war seemed against us.

We had met many reverses, but it was Col. Croghan and his 160 men

who won one of the most important victories, according to the numbers

engaged on our side and the numbers of the enemy, that is recorded

in American history. It was from this moment that the tide of the

battle turned in our favor. From that time victory after victory followed

until in a few months' time the war was ended, and victory seemed

vouchsafed to us so far as the mother country was concerned, the

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The Croghan Celebration.                    31   liberty that we are enjoying to-day, and I wish to say that upon this spot, this historic spot that the tide turned in favor of the American nation, in the war of 1812-13. How unfortunate you are to have within your corporate limits the most historic spot in the United States of America. I never stood upon this ground, upon this battlefield until to- day. My mind turns back to my youthful days, when I read of the

bravery of Croghan and his 160 men, and I often thought it was a miracle, he being a mere youth and only 160 men, and de- fending the fort against so many British and Indians. But it was done, and from that day to this, this spot has been a his- toric spot, a spot that is dear in the minds of our American citizens. Now, there are others to make a few remarks, and I want to give them a chance to make them, and I only want to say in conclusion that I congratulate the city of Fremont in the respect and love that it has shown for this spot, and its great defender. I want to congratulate the city of Fremont for having in your midst a young soldier who is aiding to keep this a historic spot, dearer and dearer each year in the mem-

ory of the American people, in the person of Col. Webb C. Hayes. I thank you for your attention for you must be getting tired and I will leave you, saying that I am glad it was my privilege to be with you to-day, and I will ever remember this meeting as long as I live. This day will be deep in my memory.   ADDRESS OF E. O. RANDALL.   SECRETARY OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY. The only apology I have for the honor of appearing before you on this interesting occasion is that my college friend of years ago, your splendid, patriotic and enterprising fellow-citizen, Colonel Webb. C. Hayes, invited me to come; his apology being that I am an official of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society, whose business it is to gather, preserve and disseminate the lore, historic and prehistoric of our great state. The orator of the day, the Hon. Samuel D. Dodge, has recited to you in graphic terms the history that led up to the siege of Fort Stephenson and the incomparable bravery and patriotism with which the youth George Croghan and his gallant little band defended the crude stockade fort and stemmed the tide that to that moment seemed against the Americans. The successful repulse of Proctor and the British

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32         Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.   soldiers and Tecumseh, with his hundreds of braves, was the first real victory on Ohio soil in the War of 1812. That we may all the more appreciate the extent and significance of that event, let us for purposes of comparison look to other parts of the world, and note some of the stupendous acts that were being performed in the theatre of great things. In this very month, indeed on this very day and the days fol- lowing, in August, 1813, Bolivar, known as the Liberator and often called the Washington of South America, as the head of several hundred vol- unteer revolutionists, was entering as conqueror, Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, which country was thus freed from the oppression of Spanish monarchial rule and became one of the first republics of South America. In Europe a greater scene was being enacted. The incomparable Napo- leon was engaged in that series of military movements on the banks of the Elbe, which were the crowning events of his generalship and the culmination of his career. At this date (August 1813) Napoleon was

approaching Dresden with an army of 100,000 troups and upon that field he defeated 150,000 of the allied forces. Two months later on the nearby famous field of Leipsic with 150,000, the flower of the French army, he was overwhelmed by the tre- mendous host of 250,000 soldiers under the com- bined powers of Europe. It was a crushing defeat for the sublime rogue of Corsica, the greatest mili- tary genius of modern times. These stupendous events shook the foundations of European dynas- ties, but were contests not for humanity and liberty so much as for the supremacy of one form of monarchy over another. Not on the banks of the Elbe, but here on this picturesque spot, on the banks of the peaceful little Sandusky, in the wild woods

of the Ohio Valley, devoid of the "pomp and circumstance" of gigantic war, was being fought the battle for freedom and the best form of demo- cratic government ever given man. Here, in this little stockade fort George Croghan, a native American lad, with but 160 men, heroes of struggle and sacrifice with a might almost miraculous, repelled the forces of the British under Proctor, with 500 of the weathered veterans of the Peninsula War, the trained troops of the victorious Wellington and two thousand or more Indian braves under command of Tecumseh, the most sagacious and daring leader of his race. How did George Croghan do it? He had the versatility as well as the valor of the pioneer soldier. He had but one mounted gun, "Old Betsy," whose venerable presence now stands guard over the new grave of her old commander,-this one cannon Croghan so deftly shifted behind the stockade walls, firing a shot now through one port-hole and then through another, that the enemy were fooled into the idea that Fort Stephenson was "chuck full" of firing

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The Croghan Celebration.                   33

 

Betsies. The bravery of this American boy and his dauntless band ex-

ceeded in results for the betterment of humanity arid the advance of

civilization all the campaigns combined of Napoleon and his antagonists.

Croghan and his 160 followers were victorious because they were typical

pioneer Americans- Americans, a new type of character in the history

of the world. Someone has said that God sifted four races to produce

the American. Each one of you within the sound of my voice can

vividly recollect how on that magnificent May morning, 1898, Dewey

sailed into the Bay of Manila and almost in the twinkling of an eye sunk

the Spanish fleet, without the loss of a single American sailor and

scarcely the scratching of the paint from any of the American ships.

We thought that that was the most unparalleled event in history and

could never be repeated, but in sixty days thereafter it was encored in

the Bay of Santiago when the fleet of Cervera emerged and on that

July Sunday morning left the bay for the sea to encounter the storm

of fire and shot from the ships of Sampson and Schley. The war cor-

respondent of the London Times, one who for the last forty years had

been an eye-witness of the chief military and naval feats, both in the

old world and the new, gave in his paper a most graphic picture of this

battle of Santiago, which he viewed from the deck of one of the American

vessels. At the close of his vivid description, he made the significant

remark that the behavior of the American sailor was one of the most

marvelous exhibitions of coolness, bravery and accuracy he had ever wit-

nessed. Said he, "I verily believe that had those rival seamen exchanged

places, namely, had the Spanish sailors possessed the modern, thoroughly

equipped American ships and thus emerged from the bay, and had the

American sailors possessed the decrepid and time-worn ships of Spain,

the result would have been the same, namely, that the Americans

would have won the victory, because that victory was won by the char-

acter of the American boy who manned the American ships." The

American boy, Croghan, who defended Fort Stephenson against such tre-

mendous odds was the same type as the sailors of Dewey and Sampson

and Schley and the followers of the generals who led in the Spanish

War. It is related that when the Sultan of Turkey heard of the great

victory of the Americans at Manila and Santiago, he sent for the Amer-

ican ambassador and asked him if the reports of the marvelous feats

of the Americans were true. The ambassador replied that they were,

when the sultan asked if he could buy ships and guns like those which

the Americans employed. The ambassador told him that he supposed

the sultan could get them, they were made in America for money by

great manufacturers. "Then," said the sultan, "I will buy some of them

that I may win great victories." "Oh," said the ambassador, "that you

can do; but you cannot buy the American boys to man them for you."

It is of such men and boys as those who fought the American Revolution,

Vol. XVI- 3.

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34         Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

the War of 1812, of 1848, the Rebellion of 61-5 and the Spanish War

that this republic is composed. Your Vice-President and your Governor

have told you in eloquent language of the heroism and patriotism of

the American soldiers in those wars for independence, unity, liberty and

humanity. It is a noble record of a noble people and in that record

Ohio has taken a most conspicuous part. Three thousand Revolutionary

soldiers, scarred and wearied after the battles for independence, came

across the Alleghanies to establish homes for their declining years in the

peaceful and fruitful plains and valleys of Ohio. Their lives had been

dedicated to independence and freedom and their buried bones made

sacred the soil of Ohio. The seed of that Revolutionary patriotism

ripened into an hundred fold in the war for the national Union, for

300,000 loyal recruits went forth from the "Buckeye State" to fight on

the battle-fields of the Sunny South for the preservation of the republic

whose foundation was laid by their revered sires. In the crypt of St.

Paul's Cathedral, London, that splendid temple erected to the faith of

Christianity, lie the remains of its great architect, Christopher Wren.

They repose beneath the floor in which is sunken a simple plate, upon

which is inscribed the name "Christopher Wren," and the Latin inscrip-

tion "si monumentum requiris, circumspice"; if you seek his monument,

look about you. So I say, we may erect monuments, the graven metal

or carved marble, to the heroes of the past, not for them, for they

need them not, but for us that this reminder of their heroic deeds may

lead us to emulate their examples and push on to loftier heights. No,

I would say of George Croghan and the heroes of 1776 and 1812, if you

should ask for their monument, look about you and contemplate the mag-

nificent republic of which they laid the corner-stone, a republic whose

people present the highest of type character and civilization and whose

principles of liberty and humanity are being borne to all the inhabitants

of the earth and the islands of the sea. James A. Garfield, than whom

there was no more exalted example of the American citizen, soldier,

statesman, scholar and orator, a martyred President from Ohio, at the

close of one of his brilliant addresses used these words: "The history

of the worlds is a divine poem; the history of every nation is a canto in

that poem; and the life of every man is a word in that poem. The

harmony of that poem has ever been resounding through the ages and

though its melody has been marred by the roaring of cannon and the

groans of dying men, yet to the Christian philosopher, to you and me,

that poem breathes a prophecy of more happy and halcyon days to

come." What a word was the life of George Croghan in that poem of

universal history--a word that was a clarion note of bravery, heroism

and patriotism, a note that shall ever resound clear and distinct in the

harmony of American history.

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The Croghan Celebration.                  35     HISTORICAL ADDRESS.   BY BASIL MEEK, ESQ., FREMONT, OHIO. We have met today on this ground, famous in history, because of the victorious defence of Fort Stephenson, then standing on this spot,

by Major George Croghan, and the band of he- roes under his command, ninety-three years ago,--not only to commemorate that brilliant achievement, but also to further consecrate and make sacred the spot by the re-interment of the remains of its gallant defender. To Col. Webb C. Hayes great praise is due, for his patriotic, persistent and successful quest for the grave of the hero, and in procuring evi- dence conclusive of the identity of the body, which, with the casket enclosing the same he caused to be brought here for interment. His efforts have been loyally seconded by the ladies of the George Croghan Chapter, D. A. R., of this city, who recently dedicated a commemorative

tablet near the spot from which the British cannon bombarded the fort. The tablet reads as follows:   Near this spot British cannon from Commodore Barclay's fleet bombarded Major Croghan in Fort Stephenson August 1, and 2, 1813. General Proctor attempted to capture the fort by assault with his Wellington veterans, assisted by Indians under Tecumseh. Major Croghan with only 160 men and one cannon "Old Betsy,"repulsed the assault. The British retreated to their ships with many killed and wounded, but leaving Lt. Col. Short, Lieut. Gordon and 25 soldiers of the 41st regiment dead in the ditch. Commodore Barclay was wounded and with his entire fleet including the cannon used against Fort Stephenson was captured by Commodore Perry at the battle of Lake Erie, Sept. 10, 1813. General Proctor, with his British regulars, was defeated and Tecumseh with many of his Indians, was killed by General Harrison at the battle of the Thames, Oct. 5, 1813. Major Croghan was awarded a gold medal and each of his officers a sword by the congress of the United States for gallantry in the defense of Fort Stephenson. Erected by the George Croghan Chapter, D. A. R.   It is not for me, in this paper, to enter into any detailed account of the engagement, or any description of the fort; nor to enter into details of the causes or military movements that led up to the attack,

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36          Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.   as these have been assigned to others. Reference, however, is made to the accompanying cut of the plan of the fort and its environs.   "In long years past, on the banks of this river Whose current so peaceful, flows silently down, Roamed the race of the red man, with bow and with quiver, Where stands fair Fremont, our beautiful town."   Here centuries ago, according to tradition, there were two fortified neutral towns. One on the east and one on the west bank of the river, remains of which, in the shape of earthworks were visible within the remembrance of inhabitants now living.

REFERENCE TO THE ENVIRONS.--a--British gunboats at their place of landing.  b- Cannon, a six-pounder.  c - Mortar.  d - Batteries. e - Graves of Lieut. Col. Short and Lieut. Gordon, who fell in the ditch. f - Road to Upper Sandusky. g -Advance of the enemy to the fatal ditch. i-Head of navigation.   Major B. F. Stickney, for many years Indian agent in this locality and familiar with its history and traditions, in a lecture in Toledo in 1845, speaking of these towns, said: "The Wyandots have given me this account of them. At a period of two and a half centuries ago all the Indians west of this point were at war with those east. Two walled towns were built near each other, inhabited by those of Wyandot origin. They assumed a neutral character. All of the west might enter

• 36
 

The Croghan Celebration.                     37   the western city and all of the east the eastern. The inhabitants of one city might inform those of the other that war parties were there; but who they were or whence they came or anything more must not be mentioned." Gen. Lewis Cass, in an address in 1829 before the Historical Society of Michigan, alluding to these neutral towns, said: "During the long and disastrous contest which preceded and followed the arrival of the Euro- peans, in which the Iroquois contended for victory, and their enemies for existence, this little band (Wyandots) preserved the integrity of their tribe and the sacred character of peacemakers. All who met upon their threshold met as friends. This neutral nation was still in existence when the French Missionaries reached the upper lakes two centuries ago. The details of their history and of their character and privileges are meager and unsatisfactory, and this is the more to be regretted as such a sanctuary among the barbarous tribes is not only a

REFERENCES TO THE FORT. -Line 1-Pickets. Line 2-Embank- ment from the ditch to and against the picket. Line 3. Dry ditch, nine feet wide by six deep. Line 4-Outward embankment or glacis. A- Blockhouse first attacked by cannon, b. B-Bastion from which the ditch was raked by Croghan's artillery. C--Guard blockhouse, in the lower left corner. D- Hospital during the attack. E E E -Military store-houses.  F-- Commissary's store-house.  G - Magazine.  H- Fort gate. K K K-Wicker gates. L- Partition gate.   singular institution but altogether at variance with that reckless spirit of cruelty with which their wars are usually prosecuted." Internal feuds finally arose, as the tradition goes, and the villages were destroyed. Here then the Indians for centuries had their homes and swarmed along the banks and in the forests and plains of the valley of their beloved river. Large game abounded on every hand, the river teemed with fish,

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38         Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

and the marshes were alive with wild fowl. To them it was an ideal

abode and typical of their heaven, the happy hunting ground. They were

mostly of the Wyandot tribe, whose ancestors' home was once on the

north side of the river St. Lawrence, and who, becoming involved in a

war with the Senecas, living on the opposite side, which threatened their

extermination, concluded to leave their country. They settled first in the

vicinity of Greenbay; the Senecas followed them and the war was

renewed with varying fortunes, until finally it came to an end with the

Wyandots victors, but so badly worsted as to be unable to take much

advantage of their victory, and they finally settled here. They were

more civilized than any of the other tribes inhabiting this region, among

whom were Delawares, Shawanees and Ottawas.

The origin of the name of the river has been variously explained.

A map, published in Amsterdam in 1720 founded on a great variety of

Memoirs of Louisiana, represents within the present limits of Erie

county a water called Lac San douske. There is also a map published by

Henry Popple, London in 1733, where the bay is called "Lake Sandoski."

A very probable account of the origin of the name is the tradition of

aged Wyandot warriors given to Gen. Harrison in the friendly chat of

the Wigwam from which it appeared that their conquering tribes in

their conflict with the Senecas, centuries ago, having landed at Maumee,.

followed the lake shore toward the east, passing and giving names to

bays, creeks and rivers until on coming to Cold creek, where it enters.

the bay, they were so charmed with the springs of clear, cold water in

the vicinity that they pitched their tents and engaged in hunting and

fishing, and by them the bay and river was called Sandusky. Meaning

in their language "At the Cold Water." Butterfield gives a conversation

of John M. James, with William Walker, principal chief of the Wyandots

at Upper Sandusky, at Columbus, 1835. He said the meaning of the

word was "at the cold water," and should be pronounced San-doos-tee.

The Lower San-doos-tee (cold water) and Upper San-doos-tee being the

descriptive Wyandot Indian names known as far back as our knowledge

of this tribe extends.

Here at Lower Sandusky was one of the most important Wyandot

villages, named Junque-indundeh, which in the Wyandot language, noted

for its descriptive character, signifies "at the place of the hanging haze

or mist (smoke)," a name applicable and of a poetic tinge when its site

with the surrounding forests, prairies and marshes, and the burning

leaves and grass are considered. Through this village passed one of

the main Indian trails from Detroit to the Ohio River country through

the Ohio wilderness. There was good navigation from here to Detroit

and the upper lakes, and a good waterway for their canoes, with but a

short portage, between the Sandusky river and the Scioto, to the Ohio

river.

For a period of nearly sixty years before the battle of Fort Stephen-

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The Croghan Celebration.                    39

 

son this spot was on the route pursued by military expeditions of France,

Great Britain and our forefathers, and by the war parties of the savage

red man from the St. Lawrence to the Mississippi. The first military ex-

pedition of white men to this place of which we have a record at the pres-

ent time, was that of the French sent out by DeLongueuil, commandant at

Detroit, in 1748, during the conspiracy of Nicolas, the Wyandot chief

who resided at Sandosket, on the north side of the bay of that name,

and who had permitted English traders from Pennsylvania to erect

a large blockhouse at his principal town on the north side of Lake

Sandoski, in 1745, named Fort Sandusky. After the failure of his con-

spiracy, Nicolas resolved to abandon his towns on Sandusky Bay, and

on April 7, 1748, destroyed his villages and forts and with his warriors

and their families moved to the Illinois country.

The French sent another expedition in 1749 under Captain de

Celeron who after passing up the Sandusky river conducted an expe-

dition to the Ohio country, burying engraved leaden plates along the

Ohio river. The first British expedition up the Sandusky was after

the close of the old French War in 1760, when Robert Rogers, a native

of New Hampshire, was directed to take possession of the western forts.

He left Montreal on the 13th of September, 1760, with two hundred Ran-

gers-proceeding west he visited Sandusky--after securing the fort at

Detroit returned by land via Sandusky and Tuscarawas Trail to Fort

Pitt, stopping at the Lower Rapids of the Sandusky, probably on this

very knoll. The succeeding expedition, that of Colonel Bradstreet and

Israel Putnam in 1764, was outlined in the address of Hon. S. D. Dodge.

In May, 1778, the Renegades Alexander McKee, Matthew Elliott

and Simon Girty passed through Lower Sandusky to join the notorious

Lieutenant-Governor Henry Hamilton at Detroit, and lead the savages

in their attack on the settlers. James Girty came from Fort Pitt a few

weeks later to join them. Later in the year 1778 Daniel Boone and

Simon Kenton, then held captive by the Indians, at different times passed

through Lower Sandusky en route to Detroit. Strange to say Simon

Girty saved Simon Kenton's life and sent him to Detroit after he had

been condemned to be burned and tortured.

The next military expedition of which we have knowledge which

stopped at or passed through this place was the British contingent which

served with the Indians in repelling Crawford's expedition which cul-

minated in the terrible scene of Crawford's execution by burning at

the stake. This followed about two months after the passage of the

Moravians through this place on their removal to Detroit.

The pathetic story of the Moravian Indians whose villages were

originally planted on the banks of the Tuscarawas river, in 1772, had a sad

ending some ten years later in the brutal massacre which forms one

of the darkest pages of Revolutionary times. The Moravian missio-

naries and Christian Indians seemed to excite the special enmity of the

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40         Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

savages both white and red, British and American. The renegades, Elliott,

Girty and McKee, finally persuaded the British Commandant at Detroit

to order their removal, and sent the bloody Wyandot Indians under

their war chiefs Kuhn of Lower Sandusky, and Snip of Upper Sandusky,

accompanied by the famous Delaware chief Captain Pipe of Upper San-

dusky, to transfer them to the Sandusky villages or to the vicinity of

Detroit. This was carried out in their usual ruthless manner. While

the Indian converts remained at Upper Sandusky, De Peyster, the Com-

mandant of Detroit, through the machinations of Simon Girty, ordered

the missionaries brought before him. Rev. John Heckewelder, one of

the missionaries, afterward wrote, in his "History of the Mission": "On

the morning of the 13th of March, 1782, a Frenchman named Francis

Levallie, from Lower Sandusky, gave us notice that Girty who was to

have taken us to Detroit, having gone with a party of Wyandots to war

against the Americans on the Ohio, had appointed him to take his place

in taking us to Detroit, and that on the next day after tomorrow (the

15th) he would be here again to set out with us. A little conversation

with this man satisfied us that we had fallen into better hands. He

told us: 'Girty had ordered him to drive us before him to Detroit, the

same as if we were cattle, and never make a halt for the purpose of

the women giving suck to their children. That he should take us

around the head of the lake (Erie) and make us foot every step of

the way.' He, however would not do this, but would take us to Lower

Sandusky, and from that place send a runner with a letter to the Com-

mandant at Detroit, representing our situation and taking further orders

from him respecting us."

Notwithstanding Girty's hard order, the kind-hearted Frenchman

conducted the missionaries with every regard for their comfort and

safety, and boats were sent to take them from Lower Sandusky to Detroit.

A short time after reaching Lower Sandusky they received word that the

almost equally brutal white borderers on the American side, led by the

notorious Col. Williamson, had marched from Fort Pitt and cruelly

slaughtered some ninety or more Christian Indians who still remained

at the Moravian villages on the Tuscarawas. The missionary band at

Lower Sandusky consisted of the senior missionary David Zeisberger,

and his wife; John Heckewelder, wife and child; Senseman, wife and

babe but a few weeks old; Youngman and wife; and Edwards and

Michael Young, unmarried. The two latter were, while in Lower San-

dusky, lodged in the house of Mr. Robbins. The other four missionaries

with their families were guests of Mr. Arundel. Robbins and Arundel

were English traders at this place.

Heckewelder in his History of Indian Nations describes the ordeal

of running the gauntlet as follows:

"In the month of April, 1782, when I was myself a prisoner at

Lower Sandusky, waiting for an opportunity to proceed with a trader to

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The Croghan Celebration.                   41

 

Detroit, - three American prisoners were brought in by fourteen war-

riors from the garrison of Fort McIntosh. As soon as they had crossed

the Sandusky river to which the village lay adjacent, they were told

by the captain of the party to run as hard as they could to a painted

post which was shown to them. The youngest of the three without a

moment's hesitation immediately started for it, and reached it fortu-

nately without receiving a single blow; the second hesitated for a moment,

but recollecting himself, he also ran as fast as he could and likewise

reached the post unhurt. The third, frightened at seeing so many men,

women and children with weapons in their hands ready to strike him,

kept begging the captain to spare him, saying that he was a mason and

would build him a fine large stone house or do any work for him that

he would please.

"Run for your life," cried the chief to him, "and don't talk now of

building houses!" But the poor fellow still insisted, begging and praying

to the captain, who at last finding his exhortations vain and fearing the

consequences turned his back upon him and would not hear him any

longer. Our mason now began to run, but received many a hard blow,

one of which nearly brought him to the ground, which, if he had fallen

would have decided his fate. He, however, reached the goal, and not

without being sadly bruised, and he was beside bitterly reproached and

scoffed at all round as a vile coward, while the others were hailed as

brave men and received tokens of universal approbation."

"In the year 1782," says Heckewelder, "the war chief of the Wyandot

tribe of Indians of Lower Sandusky sent a young white man whom he

had taken as prisoner as a present to another chief who was called the

Half King of Upper Sandusky, for the purpose of being adopted into

his family in the place of one of his sons who had been killed the pre-

ceding year. The prisoner arrived and was presented to the Half King's

wife, but she refused to receive him; which according to the Indian rule

was in fact a sentence of death. The young man was therefore taken

away for the purpose of being tortured and burnt on the pile. While

the dreadful preparations were making and the unhappy victim was

already tied to the stake, two English traders, moved by feelings of pity

and humanity, resolved to unite their exertions to endeavor to save

the prisoner's life by offering a ransom to the war chief; which how-

ever he refused, saying it was an established rule among them to sacri-

fice a prisoner when refused adoption; and besides the numerous war

captains were on the spot to see the sentence carried into execution.

The two generous Englishmen, were, however, not discouraged, and

determined to try another effort. They appealed to the well-known high-

minded pride of an Indian. 'But,' said they, 'among all these chiefs

whom you have mentioned there is none who equals you in greatness;

you are considered not only as the greatest and bravest, but as the

best man in the nation.' 'Do you really believe what you say?' said

• 41
 

42         Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.   the Indian looking them full in the face. 'Indeed we do.' Then without speaking another word, he blackened himself, and taking his knife and his tomahawk in his hand, made his way through the crowd to the un- happy victim, crying out with a loud voice, 'what have you to do with my prisoner?' and at once cutting the cords with which he was tied, took him to his house, which was near that of Mr. Arundel, whence he was secured and carried off by safe hands to Detroit, where the Com- mandant sent him by water to Niagara, where he was soon after liberated; the Indians who witnessed this act, said it was truly heroic; they were so confounded by the unexpected conduct of this chief and by his manly and resolute appearance, that they had not time to reflect upon what they should do, and before their astonishment was well over, the prisoner was out of their reach."

Another description of the same ordeal is related by Jeremiah Arm- strong, who with an older brother and sister, was captured by the Indians in 1794 opposite Blennerhassett's Island and brought to this place. He says: "On arriving at Lower Sandusky, before entering the town, they halted and formed a procession for Cox (a fellow prisoner), my sister and myself to run the gauntlet. They pointed to the home of their chief, Old Crane, (Tarhe), about a hundred yards distant, signifying that we should run into it. We did so and were received very kindly by the old chief; he was a very mild man, beloved by all." Tarhe when critically analyzed means "at him," "the tree," or "at the tree," the tree personified. Crane was a nickname given him by the French on account

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The Croghan Celebration.                    43

 

of his height and slender form. Tarhe's wife was a white woman, a

captive named Sally Frost, who had been adopted by the Wyandots.

 

 

LOWER SANDUSKY.

The two mile square tract which still comprises the corporate limits

of the city of Fremont, was ceded to the government of the United States

by the Indians at the treaty of Fort McIntosh, January 21, 1785, renewed

at Fort Harmar, January 9, 1789, and reaffirmed at the treaty of Green-

ville, August 3, 1795; and has constituted a distinct military or civil

jurisdiction now for 121 years. Gen. George Rogers Clark, the uncle

of our Major George Croghan, was one of the Commissioners of the

United States who made the treaty with the Indians at Fort McIntosh,

by which the spot so gallantly defended by his nephew, twenty-eight years

after, was first ceded to the government.

While this region was within the jurisdiction of Delaware county

(1809-15) the term or name Lower Sandusky was sometimes understood

to apply to all that region within the Sandusky river valley north of

an undefined line dividing the upper from the lower Sandusky country.

On April 29, 1811, as recorded in journal 1, page 35, the board of county

commissioners of Delaware county passed the following resolution:

"Resolved by the board of commissioners of Delaware county in

conformity to a petition from the white inhabitants of Sandusky and by

the verbal request of some of the inhabitants of Radnor township, that

all that part of country commonly known and called by the name of

Upper and Lower Sanduskys shall be and now is attached to Radnor

township enjoying township privileges so far as is agreeable to law."

This is the first record concerning local civil government here, that

I have been able to find.

It is quite reasonable to conclude that more than the two-mile square

tract is meant by "All that part of country commonly known and called

by the name of Lower Sandusky." In further support of this conclusion

may be mentioned a criminal prosecution in the common pleas court of

Huron county at the May term, 1819, while this territory was within

that jurisdiction. - Law Record, Vol. 1, page 217.

The case referred to was the State of Ohio vs. Ne-go-sheek, Ne-

gon-e-ba and Ne-gossum, three Ottawa Indians, indicted for the murder

of John Wood and George Bishop, white men, at a hunter's and trap-

per's camp on the Portage' river, at a point about twelve miles from its

mouth, near what is now Oak Harbor in Ottawa county, April 21, 1819.

The indictment was drawn and the prosecution conducted by Ebenezer

Lane, assisted by Peter Hitchcock, both very able lawyers and not likely

to be mistaken in the averments as to the venue or place where the

crime was committed, which, though known to have been several miles

distant from the two-mile square tract, was nevertheless charged in the

indictment as committed "At the county of Huron in Lower Sandusky."

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44         Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

A very interesting account of this case may be found in the Fire-

land Pioneer, June 1865, page 43. Ne-gossum was discharged without

trial. The other two were convicted and sentenced to be hung, which

sentence was executed at Norwalk, July 1, 1819. Lane and Hitchcock both

subsequently became Judges of the Supreme Court of the State.

On August 1, 1815, while the region known as Lower Sandusky was

within the civil jurisdiction of Huron County, having been transferred

from Delaware County to Huron, January 31, 1815, the Township of

Lower Sandusky was formed by the commissioners of that county, and

provision made for the first election of township officers for the town-

ship, the same to be held August 15, 1815, at the house of Israel Har-

rington.

The order, among other things, provided:    "Said township to

comprise all that part of Huron County west of the 24th range of Con-

necticut Reserve," which meant then all that region of country between

the west line of Huron and the east lines of Hancock, Wood and Lucas

Counties, lying south of Lake Erie and extending to the south line of

Seneca County.

At this election Israel Harrington, Randall Jerome and Jeremiah

Everett (father of Homer Everett) were elected township trustees;

Isaac Lee, clerk; Morris A. Newman and William Ford, overseers of

the poor, and Charles B. Fitch and Henry Dubrow, appraisers.

This immense township thus remained until May 18, 1819, when by

action of the county commissioners of Huron County another township

was formed by detaching from the township of Lower Sandusky all that

part of the same east of the Sandusky river. To the new township the

name of Croghan was given.

 

 

FORT STEPHENSON PARK AND BIRCHARD LIBRARY.

Fort Stephenson Park, the site of the fort, covers a little more than

two acres of ground, and is a part of a 57 acre tract, numbered 9, of

the subdivision of the two-mile square reservation made in 1817, and

about that time platted into inlots and is located near the center of

the historic two-mile square tract. The first purchaser from the gov-

ernment was Cyrus Hulburd, whose deed is dated March 11, 1824.

From him it passed through successive grantees till the title to the three-

fourths part fronting Croghan street was acquired by Lewis Leppelman,

the southwest one-eighth by Dr. W. V. B. Ames, and the southeast

one-eighth by Lucinda Claghorn. The city of Fremont purchased this

property in 1873, the Birchard Library Association, having contributed

$9,000 toward the purchase of the property, and being the equitable owner

of one-third thereof. On March 29, 1878, the Birchard Library Associa-

tion became the owner of the legal title to the undivided one-third of

this ground by deed of conveyance from the City council of Fremont

pursuant to an ordinance duly passed February 18, 1878. This deed

• 44
 

The Croghan Celebration.                     45

 

contained the conditions prescribed in the ordinance which are as fol-

lows: "That said Birchard Library Association are to have the right to

erect, maintain and occupy a building for the Birchard Library on Lots

number two hundred and twenty-one (221) and two hundred and forty

(240), and that said City have the right to erect, maintain and occupy a

building on said premises for a City Hall, where the same is now be-

ing erected on the corner of Croghan and Arch streets, and that no other

building, fence or structure of any kind shall hereafter be erected or

put upon any part of said Lots, nor shall the same ever be used for any

purpose other than as a Public Park or any part thereof sold or con-

veyed without the consent of both the said City Council and the said

Birchard Library Association. The control and supervision of said Park

shall be vested in the City Council and said Birchard Library Associa-

tion jointly, but said City Council shall have the exclusive use and con-

trol of the building now on said Lots."

The Birchard Library Association, which was largely instrumental in

preserving old Fort Stephenson for the public, was founded in 1873 by

Sardis Birchard, who named a Board of Trustees of which his nephew

Rutherford B. Hayes was the president, and arranged to place with such

Board property and securities to the value of $50,000. Mr. Birchard died

January 21, 1874, before the property intended to be given was legally

vested in this Board of Trustees, and his last will, dated August 21, 1872,

contained no provision for the Library.

His nephew and residuary legatee, Rutherford B. Hayes, however,

on February 14, 1874, but fifteen days subsequent to the probating of Mr.

Birchard's will, himself made a will in his own handwriting, witnessed

by J. W. Wilson and A. E. Rice, which will was for the sole purpose of

correcting this omission and securing for the Library the endowment in-

tended by Mr. Birchard. Item 2 of General Hayes's will was as follows:

"To carry out the intention of my uncle for the benefit of the people

of Fremont and vicinity, I give and bequeath to the Birchard Library all

my right, title and interest to the following property, viz."  Then fol-

lowed the description of parcels of real estate in Toledo, out of which

was to be realized an aggregate of $40,000 for the Library.  Subse-

quently this property was conveyed by deed and later it was sold. It

was undoubtedly the expectation and intention of Mr. Birchard to com-

plete his gift while living; hence the absence of any provision for it in

his will, although his cash bequests to educational and charitable institu-

tions and relatives and friends other than his residuary legatees, aggre-

gated some $40,000.

General Hayes, in making this will at the time he did, evidently in-

tended that even in the case of his own death, the people of Fremont

and vicinity should receive the unexecuted gift of Mr. Birchard; so that

the people are indebted both to the benevolence of Sardis Birchard and to

the generosity of Rutherford B. Hayes for Birchard Library.

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46         Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

It is an interesting fact that the existence of the above mentioned

will was only learned during the present year by the finding of a photo-

graphic copy of it, which has since been placed in Birchard Library.

The name Fort Stephenson first appears in the military records as

follows:

"FORT STEPHENSON, May 22, 1813.

May it please your Excellency:

Sir: Agreeably to your orders I have forwarded all the articles

specified therein. * * * Considerable manual labor has been done on

the garrison since you left this place and improvements are daily making.

*   * *One person has been buried since you left this place. He came

from Fort Meigs with a part of the baggage of Major Tod. * * * "

R. E. Post, Adjutant.

 

The Major Tod mentioned became the president judge of the com-

mon pleas court of the district to which Sandusky county was attached

when organized and presided at the first term of that court held in the

county, May 8, 1820, at Croghansville.

At the time of the defense of Fort Stephenson there were but very

few white inhabitants in Lower Sandusky, as is evidenced by the follow-

ing petition to Governor Meigs, dated December 21, 1813:

"May it please your Excellency:-

"The undersigned inhabitants and settlers on the plains of Lower

Sandusky on the reservation beg leave to humbly represent their present

situation."

"In the first instance B. F. Stickney, Indian Agent has denied us

the right or privilege of settling on these grounds * * * and has

actually instructed Gen. Gano, our present Commandant, to dispossess us

of our present inheritance. Many of us * * * have been severe suff-

erers since the commencement of the present war. * * * We do not,

neither can we attempt to claim any legal right to the ground or spot

of earth on which we have each individually settled; but the improve-

ments which we have made and the buildings which we have erected we

trust will not be taken from us. * * * Permission to build has been

granted by Gen. Gano to those who have erected cabins since his arrival."

Signed by Morris A. Newman, Israel Harrington, George Bean,

Geo. Ermatington, R. E. Post, Asa Stoddard, R. Loomis, Jesse Skinner,

William Leach, Walter Brabrook, Louis Moshelle, Wm. Hamilton, Lewis

Geaneau, Patrick Cress.

Whether this petition was granted or not there is no record to

show, but it is probable that it was. But few of the names of the four-

teen signers appear in the subsequent history of the county affairs.

Israel Harrington and Morris A. Newman, however, became Associate

Judges of the Common Pleas Court, and Judge Newman was also County

Commissioner. It was at his tavern on the northeast corner of Ohio

• 46
 

The Croghan Celebration.                   47

 

Avenue and Pine Street, in Croghansville, that the first term of the

common pleas court in the county was held, and Judge Harrington was

one of the associate judges presiding at that term.

 

 

BALL'S BATTLE.

On July 30, 1813, when General Harrison sent Colonel Wells to

relieve Major Croghan from command at Fort Stephenson, he was

escorted from Fort Seneca by Colonel Ball's squadron, consisting of about

100 horse. On the way down they fell in with a body of Indians and

fought what has since been called Ball's Battle. Israel Harrington, a

resident of Lower Sandusky at the time of the battle and one of the

first associate judges of Sandusky county, said that "three days after

he passed the ground and counted thereon thirteen dead Indians awfully

cut and mangled by the horsemen. None of the squadron were killed

and but one slightly wounded." The scene of this battle is about one

and a half miles southwest of Fremont on the west bank of the river,

near what is now the residence of Birchard Havens. There was an

oak tree on the site of the action within the memory of persons still

living, with seventeen hacks in it to indicate the number of Indians killed;

but this tree has unfortunately disappeared as have many other monu-

ments of those stirring times. Howe says: "The squadron were moving

toward the fort when they were suddenly fired upon by the Indians from

the west side of the road, whereupon Colonel Ball ordered a charge

and he and suite and the right flank being in advance first came into

action. The colonel struck the first blow. He dashed in between two

savages and cut down the one on the right; the other being slightly in

the rear, made a blow with a tomahawk at his back, when, by a sudden

spring of his horse, it fell short and was buried deep in the cantel and

pad of his saddle. Before the savage could repeat the blow he was shot

by Corporal Ryan. Lieut. Hedges (now Gen. Hedges of Mansfield) fol-

lowing in the rear, mounted on a small horse pursued a big Indian and

just as he had come up to him his stirrup broke, and he fell headfirst

off his horse, knocking the Indian down. Both sprang to their feet, when

Hedges struck the Indian across his head, and as he was falling buried

his sword up to its hilt in his body. At this time Captain Hopkins was

seen on the left side in pursuit of a powerful savage, when the latter

turned and made a blow at the captain with a tomahawk, at which the

horse sprang to one side. Cornet Hayes then came up, and the Indian

struck at him, his horse in like manner evading the blow. Serj. Ander-

son now arriving, the Indian was soon dispatched. By this time the

skirmish was over, the Indians who were only about 20 in number being

nearly all cut down; and orders were given to retreat to the main

squadron. Col. Ball dressed his men ready for a charge, should the

Indians appear in force, and moved down without further molestation

to the fort, where they arrived about 4 P. M."

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48         Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

Among Colonel Ball's troopers was a private, James Webb, the

father of Lucy Webb Hayes, whose old flint-lock rifle and hunting horn

are among the treasures of Spiegel Grove.

In the plan of the environs of the Fort, it will be noted that the

spot where the British officers, Lieut. Colonel Shortt and Lieut. Gordon

were buried, is marked. The new High School building now covers this

spot, and in 1891, while excavating for its foundation portions of the

graves were uncovered and metallic buttons with the number of the

regiment, 41, stamped on them were found, which have been placed in

Birchard Library by Mr. H. S. Dorr, their owner. Mr. Dorr, soon after

finding these buttons showed them to President Hayes who stated that

in reading an autobiography of a Scotch Bishop Gordon, he found the

following: "The great sorrow of my life was the loss of a son in an

unimportant battle in an obscure place in North America--called Fort

Sandusky."

From an English work, the "Dictionary of National Biography" the

following facts are gathered. The father of Lieut. Gordon was James

Bently Gordon (1750-1819) of Londonderry, Ireland, who graduated from

Trinity College, Dublin, in 1773 took Holy Orders and subsequently was

presented with the living, first of Cannaway on Cork and finally that of

Killegney in Wexford, both of which he retained till his death, in April,

1819. He was a zealous student of history and geography and a volum-

inous writer of books on such subjects, among which were "Terraquea

or a New System of Geography and Modern History," "A History of the

Rebellion in Ireland in 1798," "A History of the British Islands" and

"An Historical and Geographical Memoir of the North American Con-

tinent."

He married in 1779 a daughter of Richard Bookey of Wicklow, by

whom he had several children. His eldest son, James George Gordon,

entered the army and was killed at Fort Sandusky in August, 1813.

 

 

DEFENDERS OF FORT STEPHENSON.

The public is greatly indebted to Col. Webb C. Hayes for his un-

tiring and partially successful efforts in procuring the names, appearing

below, of the officers and soldiers in the garrison at Fort Stephenson at

the time of its heroic defence.

The list is not complete, containing only seventy-eight names out of

the 160 in the fort at the time. The war records at Washington do not

show the names of the volunteers, who were detached and assigned to

this service; hence it was impossible for him to obtain their names.

The following are the names furnished by Col. Hayes:

Major George Croghan, Seventeenth U. S. Inf., commanding.

Captain James Hunter.

First lieutenant, Benjamin Johnson; second lieutenant, Cyrus A.

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The Croghan Celebration.                   49

 

Baylor; ensign, Edmund Shipp; Ensign, Joseph Duncan, all of the

Seventeenth U. S. Infantry.

First Lieutenant, Joseph Anthony, Twenty-fourth U. S. Infantry.

Second Lieutenant, John Meek, Seventh U. S. Infantry.

Petersburg Volunteers.

Pittsburg Blues.

Greensburg Riflemen.

Captain Hunter's company, Capt. James Hunter commanding. Ser-

geants, Wayne Case, James Huston, Obadiah Norton. Corporals, Matthew

Burns, William Ewing, John Maxwell.

Privates: Pleasant Bailey, Samuel Brown, Elisha Condiff, Thomas

Crickman, Ambrose Dean, Leonard George, Nathaniel Gill, John Harley,

Jonathan Hartley, William McDonald, Joseph McKey, Frederick Metts,

Rice Millender, John Mumman, Samuel Pearsall, Daniel Perry, William

Ralph, John Rankin, Elisha Rathbun, Aaron Ray, Robert Row, John

Salley, John Savage, John Smith, Thomas Striplin, William Sutherland,

Martin Tanner, John Zett, David Perry.

Captain Duncan's company, 17th U. S. Inf., First Lieutenant Benja-

min Johnson commanding. Second Lieutenant Cyrus A. Baylor. Ser-

geants, Henry Lawell; Thomas McCaul, John M. Stotts, Notley Williams.

Privates: Henry L. Bethers, Cornelius S. Bevins, Joseph Blamer,

Jonathan C. Bowling, Nicholas Bryant, Robert Campbell, Samuel Camp-

bell, Joseph Klinkenbeard, Joseph Childers, Ambrose Dine, Jacob Downs,

James Harris, James Heartley, William Johnson, Elisha Jones, Thomas

Linchard, William McClelland, Joseph McKee, John Martin, Ezekiel

Mitchell, William Rogers, David Sudderfield, Thomas Taylor, John

Williams.

Detachment Twenty-fourth U. S. Infantry. First Lieutenant Joseph

Anthony commanding.

Privates: William Gaines, John Foster,         Jones, Samuel

Riggs, Samuel Thurman.

Greensburg Riflemen. Sergeant Abraham Weaver.

Petersburg Volunteers. Private Edmund Brown.

Pittsburg Blues.

 

CAPTAIN SAMUEL BRADY.

During the war of the Revolution, Captain Samuel Brady was sent

here by direction of Washington to learn if possible the strength of the

Indians in this quarter. He approached the village under cover of night

and fording the river secreted himself on the Island just below the falls.

When morning dawned a fog rested over the valley which completely

cut off from view the shore from either side. About 11 o'clock a bright

sun quickly dispelled the mist and the celebrated borderer became the

witness from his conealment of a series of interesting horse races by

the Indians during the three days he remained on the Island, from which

Vol. XVI-4.

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50         Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

he concluded that they were not then preparing for any hostile move-

ments, and started to return, and after a perilous tramp of several days

reached the fort from which he had been sent out. This Island where

Brady secreted himself was known among the early settler's as Brady's

Island. Capt. Brady subsequently started on a scout towards the San-

dusky villages as before and had arrived in the neighborhood, when he

was made a prisoner and taken to one of the villages. There was great

rejoicing at the capture of Brady, and great preparation and parade were

made for torturing him. The Indians collected in a large body, old

and young, on the day set for his execution. Among them was Simon

Girty, whom he knew, they having been boys together. Girty refused

to recognize or aid him in any way. The time for execution arrived,

the fires were lighted, the circle around him was drawing closer and he

began sensibly to feel the effects of the fire. The withes which confined

his arms and legs were getting loose and he soon found he could free

himself. A fine looking squaw of one of the chiefs ventured a little too

near for her own safety and entirely within his reach. By one powerful

exertion he cleared himself from everything by which he was confined,

caught the squaw by the head and shoulders, and threw her on top of the

burning pile, and in the confusion that followed made his escape. The

Indians pursued, but he outdistanced them, the crowning feat being his

celebrated leap across the Cuyahoga river at the present site of Kent,

known as Brady's Leap.

Brady's name is perpetuated in the chief island of Sandusky river,

within the limits of the city of Fremont; his exploits are typical of the

emergencies of that early frontier life and of the spirit in which they

were everywhere met.

SANDUSKY COUNTY.

Gen. Arthur St. Clair, governor of the Northwest Territory, or-

ganized Hamilton County, February 11, 1792, with Cincinnati as the

county seat, and the present Sandusky County forming a very small

portion of it. Subsequently Wayne County was organized, August 15,

1796, with Detroit as the county seat, covering a vast extent of terri-

tory from the Cuyahoga river on the east and extending as far west

as Fort Wayne, Indiana, and the present site of Chicago, with its northern

boundary the Canadian boundary line, extending through the Great Lakes

from Lake Superior to Lake Erie. This included the present county of

Sandusky. On the organization of the state of Ohio it was included

in Franklin county with Franklinton as the county seat, until February 17,

1809, when it became a part of Delaware county with Delaware the county

seat, and so remained until January 31, 1815. In April, 1811, Lower

Sandusky by name was attached to Radnor township of Delaware county,

by the county commissioners for township purposes. On January 31,

1815, it became a part of Huron county with Avery, now Milan, as the

county seat, until 1818, and after that date with Norwalk as the county

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The Croghan Celebration.                   51

 

seat. On February 20, 1820, the state legislature organized the terri-

tory ceded by the Indians under the treaty of September 29, 1817, into

fourteen counties, of which Sandusky was one. Sandusky county as

thus organized, extended from the west line of the Western Reserve

to the east line of Wood county, and from the north line of Seneca

county to the lake; and included all of the present counties of San-

dusky and Ottawa, and parts of Erie and Lucas. For the first four

years, Sandusky and Seneca counties were joined for judicial purposes.

Croghansville, on the east bank of the Sandusky river, was the first

county seat, until 1822, when the town Sandusky on the west bank became

the permanent county seat and later these two towns were joined and

known as the town of Lower Sandusky, as mentioned below.

The name of the county is derived from that of the river, which

enters from the south, two miles east of the southeast corner of Ball-

ville township, and flows northeasterly, entirely across the county, a dis-

tance, following its meanderings, of about thirty miles, when it empties

into the bay which by early geographers was named Lake Sandusky.

Originally, as is shown by a plat of a survey made by Josiah At-

kins, Jr. (Plat Record 3, page 3), the term "Lower Sandusky" was ap-

plied to the entire tract of "two miles square on each side of the lower

rapids of the Sandusky River," as originally ceded by the Indians at the

treaty of Fort McIntosh, January 21, 1785, and contained the village of

Croghansville. According to this plat, Croghansville extended across the

river and included several inlots and some larger tracts on the west side,

the 57-acre tract containing the site of the Fort being one.

After the township of Croghan was formed in 1819, this term had

reference to the whole tract on both sides of the Sandusky river; but

thereafter the name "Sandusky" was applied to the west side exclu-

sively, both as to the village and township, the village being sometimes

called "Town of Sandusky."

When the county was organized it contained two townships only,

namely, Sandusky, which included the village of that name on the west

side and all of the county west of the river; and Croghan, which in-

cluded the village of Croghansville and all of the county east of the

river. Subsequently, in 1827, that portion of Croghan township in which

the village on the east side was located, was attached to Sandusky town-

ship by the county commissioners. In 1829 the territory of both villages,

by act of the legislature, was incorporated by the name of the "Town

of Lower Sandusky." It was changed to Fremont at the October term,

1849, of the common pleas court (Journal 6, page 437).

It is a matter of regret that the name about which cluster so many

interesting traditions and local historical associations was ever changed

to one which, however highly honored, carries with it no suggestions of

these traditions or local history. The change was, however, thought to

be called for in order to prevent confusion in the matter of the postal ser-

vice, owing to the quadruplication of names.

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52         Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.   The name Croghansville, for the village, was probably first suggested by Josiah Meigs, Commissioner of the General Land Office, in a letter from Washington City, April 12, 1816, in which, among other words are these: "If it were left to me to name the town at Lower Sandusky I should name it in honor of the gallant youth, Col. Croghan -and should say it should be Croghansville. The name is still preserved in that of the school on the hill on the East Side, known as Croghansville School, as well as in the street abutting on Fort Stephenson.   REMARKS OF J. P. MOORE. I was born in Pennsylvania in 1829 and brought to the Black Swamp in, 1834. All my older brothers attended the Croghan celebra-

tion at Lower Sandusky in 1839 and I have been present at every celebration since that time. My early associations in Lower Sandusky and Fremont were with such men as Thomas L. Haw- kins, dramatist, poet and preacher; David Gal- lagher, a narrator of early history; David Deal, a hotel keeper, who saw service at Fort Meigs, all soldiers of the war of 1812. Also Israel Harring- ton, a neighbor in Sandusky county. James Kirk and a man named Figley, both of whom worked on the old fort before the battle of August 2, 1813, have visited me here in Fremont and while visiting the fort and going over the ground in its vicinity have graphically described to me the location and

construction of the fort and many incidents connected with its building and its defense against the British and Indians. The late David Deal, who was a member of Col. James Stephen- son's regiment of Ohio militia, told me that Col. Stephenson left them at Fort Meigs in January, 1813, to go to Lower Sandusky to build the fort which has ever since been called Fort Stephenson. I had always supposed that the first fort constructed on this site was built by Col. Stephenson's soldiers in January, 1813, but Col. Hayes has shown me a number of official records and a copy of an order issued by Brig. General William Irvine dated at Fort Pitt (now Pitts- burg) November 11, 1782, during the Revolutionary War, to Major Craig as follows: "Sir. I have received intelligence through various channels that the British have established a post at Lower Sandusky, etc., etc., also a copy of the treaty by which the reservation (present corporation limits of Fremont), two miles square, of which Fort Stephenson is about the center, was established by the treaty of Fort McIntosh as early as 1785 and continued in all subsequent treaties. Also an order from Governor Meigs of Ohio to Captain John Campbell dated Zanes-

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The Croghan Celebration.                    53

 

ville, June 11, 1812. "You will take with you the necessary tools for

building two blockhouses at Sandusky." * * *. "You will build two

blockhouses and piquet them so as to protect the United States trading

house and store at the place." * * * "I expect you will meet at San-

dusky Major Butler, from Delaware with a company to assist you."

Governor Meigs' letter shows that the fort was built in 1812, but

the official record also shows that it was abandoned for a short time

after Hull's surrender.

The old soldier Figley, of Columbiana county, came here early in

February, 1813, and worked on the fort until mustered out at Cleveland

on June 1st of that year. He related to me how the pickets were drawn

by oxen from the vicinity of Stony Prairie to the fort and points sharp-

ened and the posts set in the ground close up one against the other.

Many of the oxen engaged in drawing them died of starvation or were

devoured by the wolves howling around the fort.

The company to which James Kirk belonged came to the fort June

1, 1813, and worked here until the arrival of the British and Indians

the day before the battle. James Kirk himself had been detailed to carry

dispatches to Fort Seneca the day before the battle so that he was not

present but came down early on the morning of August 3 and helped

bury the British dead. He distinctly heard the firing of the British can-

non and howitzers and noticed that some discharges were louder than

others.

Kirk was 25 years old at that time and after his discharge opened

a blacksmith shop in Lower Sandusky in 1818 and in 1828 went to Port

Clinton. He said that the well in the fort was not a good one, so that

the garrison got their water from a spring at the foot of Garrison

street, bringing it through a small gate on the east side of the fort,

for which gate Kirk made the hinges.

I sent my son Theodore to visit James Kirk in 188- and get a

description of the fort. Kirk said "Mark off a square plat of ground

containing half an acre with a block house on the northeast corner and

one in the northwest corner, this was the original fort. In June, 1813,

when we came here the fort was found to be too small. He said, "mark

off another square on the west side of the old square and this you will

see will place the northwest blockhouse in the center of the north line

of the enlarged fort. This was the blockhouse from which "Old Betsy"

cleared the ditch when it was filled with Col. Shortt's men. There was

a sealed log house in the new part filled with biscuit for Perry's fleet.

This house was knocked down level with the pickets by the British

cannon balls. The northeast blockhouse was in the center of Croghan

and Arch streets. The center blockhouse was about opposite the monu-

ment. The northwest angle of the fort extended out about 15 feet into

High street. There were many extra guns in the fort, as a company

of Pennsylvania soldiers had deposited their guns there a few days be-

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54         Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.   fore the battle on their way here from Fort Meigs. Their time being out, they were on their way home to be mustered out. The walls of the fort were made of logs, some round, some smooth on one side, half of the other logs averaging about 18 inches in thick- ness, all set firmly in the earth, each picket crowded closely against the other and all about ten feet high, sharpened at the top. The walls enclosed about one acre of ground. After Major Croghan took com- mand July 15, 1813, he had a ditch dug six feet deep and nine feet wide around the outside, throwing about one-half of the earth against the foot of the pickets and graded down to the bottom of the ditch;

the rest of the earth was thrown on the outer bank and the depth of the ditch thus increased. Major Croghan had large logs placed on top of the wall of the fort, so adjusted that an inconsiderable weight would cause them to fall from their position and crush any who might be below. When the British landed opposite Brady's Island they sent a flag of truce under Col. Elliott who was met by Ensign Shipp on the ridge where the parsonage of St. John's Lutheran Church (which was for- merly the court house), now stands. This was eloquently described to me by Thomas L. Hawkins, the poet, preacher and orator. A ravine ran up from the river north of the fort through Justice street across the pike in a southwestern direction near the court house,

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The Croghan Celebration.                    55

 

the British brought their cannon up this ravine. They would load

their cannon and then run them up out of the ravine and after dis-

charging them, back them down again to reload out of range of the

guns of the fort. The next ravine south of this ran up Croghan street,

turning to the southwest at High street, thence northwest through the

northwest corner of the Presbyterian church lot. This ravine formed

the north boundary of the plateau or ridge on which Fort Stephens on

was located and on which ridge ran the Harrison trail to the southwest

up through Spiegel Grove and on to Fort Seneca. The next ravine

south of this extended between Birchard avenue and Garrison street,

one branch ran towards the Methodist church through the Dorr and

McCulloch property. It was from this last named ravine that the British

Grenadiers made a feint against Capt. Hunter's company just before Col.

Shortt made his assault on the northwest corner of the fort.

Lieut. Col. Short and Lieut. J. G. Gordon, of the 41st Regt. were

buried near the south entrance of the high school building.

 

RECEPTION AT SPIEGEL GROVE.

Following the exercises of the afternoon at Fort Stephenson, an

informal reception was held at Spiegel Grove, to the out-of-town guests

of the city and the citizens at large. Col. Webb C. Hayes, the prime

mover of the whole celebration, Mr. and Mrs. Birchard A. Hayes and

Mrs. Fanny Hayes Smith cordially received the guests on the great

piazza, where the Vice-President, the Governor, the Governor's Staff

and the staff and line officers of the Sixth Regiment were guests of

honor. Great numbers of persons moved about through the beautiful

grounds, enjoying the music by the Light Guard Band stationed in

front of the house, the superb weather and the gay spectacle. The week

having been observed as Old Home Week, many former residents of

Fremont were at hand to renew old acquaintances and assist in doing

the honors of the place to the crowds of strangers.

 

 

THE VENETIAN SPECTACLE.

With the falling of dusk the immense crowds commenced to assemble

to witness the glories of as realistic a Venetian night as was possible

to produce, following the plans originated by Dr. Stamm, who has

several times viewed these spectacles in Venice.

The river banks between the L. E. & W. and State street bridges

were thronged with crowds, while the special guests and those, by whose

efforts the day was a success, occupied the guests' stand, built on the

water just north of the bridge.

More than a hundred boats and launches, gaily decorated and illum-

inated, approached the reviewing stand, presenting a beautiful sight

with their swaying colored lights on a background of dark sky,

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56         Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.   emphasized by the hundreds of Japanese lanterns strung along either bank and in sweeping festooons across the big Lake Erie bridge. Near the bridge, and extending across the river, were seven of the largest boats in the river, bearing huge electric transparencies upon which appeared six-foot letters spelling the name Croghan, which was also seen in a set piece. The hit of the evening was the reproduction of Fort Stephen-

son on the southern extremity of Brady's Island. Old Betsy in life-size reproduction belched forth volleys of colored fireballs, accompanied with heavy detonations and clouds of smoke and the sharp re- ports of musketry and small arms, cleverly imitated with fireworks. At brief intervals the entire fort was beautifully illuminated with red fire, which brought out in striking relief the details of the stockade, Old Betsy, her men, the sally posts, etc. The barge on board of which were the Light Guard band, the Maennerchor singers, Miss Reese, the vocalist of the evening, and the orchestra were moored near the Lake Erie bridge and strung with electric lights.

The fireworks, in charge of Chief Reiff, of the fire department, were magnificent and no accidents occurred. Especial praise is due Charles Hermon, the lamplighter, who superintended the illuminations. Commo- dore Coonrod's fleet as managed by Charles Grable, was a thing of beauty. The display occupied three hours and general satisfaction on the part of all was evident in their attention.   HARRISON'S     NORTHWESTERN         CAMPAIGN. The best description extant of General Harrison's Northwestern Campaign is that contained in "A History of the Late War in the Western Country," by Robert B. McAfee, Lexington, Ky., 1816, a rare and valuable volume. Major McAfee was himself an officer in that campaign, serving as a captain in the regiment of mounted riflemen commanded by Col. Richard M. Johnson. In his Preface he acknowledges his indebtedness to Gen. Harrison, Governor Shelby, Colonels Croghan and Tod and Colonel Wood of the Engineers for official correspondence and assistance in procuring material and formation. The chapter relating to the Tippecanoe campaign in 1811 contains the following references to some of the Kentucky Vol- unteers: "Colonel Keiger, who raised a small company of 79 men near Louisville, including among them  Messrs. Croghan, O'Fallen, Shipp, Chum and Edwards, who afterward distinguished themselves as officers in the army of the United States."

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The Croghan Celebration.                     57

 

Governor Shelby in his letters to the War Department speaks

highly of Colonel Boyd and his brigade and of Clark and Croghan who

were his aides.

Of the above, Croghan and Shipp fought together at the defense

of Fort Stephenson. Shipp was the officer sent by Croghan to meet the

flag of truce sent by General Proctor when the formal demand for the

surrender of Fort Stephenson was made. O'Fallen was a cousin of

Croghan and during the campaign was aide-de-camp to General Harrison.

We copy from McAfee his account of the defense of Fort Stephenson

and of Harrison's expedition to Canada and the victorious battle at the

Thames. Also Colonel Croghan's subsequent campaign against the British

at Mackinac in the joint army and naval expedition under the command

of Commodore Sinclair.

"General Harrison had returned from Cleveland to Lower Sandusky

(July, 1813) several days before the arrival of the enemy, and received

at that place from the express the information that Camp Meigs was

again invested. He then immediately removed his headquarters to Seneca

town, about nine miles up the Sandusky river, where he constructed a

fortified camp, having left Major Croghan with 160 regulars in Fort

Stephenson and taken with him to Seneca about 140 more, under the

immediate command of Colonel Wells. A few days afterward he was

reinforced by the arrival of 300 regulars under Colonel Paul, and Colonel

Ball's corps of 150 dragoons, which made his whole force at that place

upwards of 600 strong. He was soon joined also by Generals McArthur

and Cass; and Colonel Owings with a regiment of 500 regulars from Ken-

tucky, was also advancing to the frontiers; but he did not arrive at head-

quarters before the siege of Fort Meigs had been abandoned by the

enemy. * * *

The force which Proctor and Tecumseh brought against us in this

instance has been ascertained to have been about 5,000 strong. A greater

number of Indians were collected by them for this expedition than ever

were assembled in one body on any other occasion during the whole war.

Having raised the siege of Camp Meigs, the British sailed round

into Sandusky bay, whilst a competent number of their savage allies

marched across through the swamps of Portage River, to co-operate in

a combined attack at Lower Sandusky, expecting no doubt that General

Harrison's attention would be chiefly directed to forts Winchester and

Meigs. The General however had calculated on their taking this course,

and had been careful to keep patrols down the bay, opposite the mouth

of Portage River, where he supposed their forces would debark.

Several days before the British had invested Fort Meigs, General

Harrison, with Major Croghan and some other officers, had examined the

heights which surround Fort Stephenson; and as the hill on the opposite

or southeast side of the river, was found to be the most commanding

eminence, the General had some thoughts of removing the fort to that

place, and Major Croghan declared his readiness to undertake the work.

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58         Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

But the General did not authorize him to do it, as he believed that if

the enemy intended to invade our territory again, they would do it be-

fore the removal could be completed. It was then finally concluded, that

the fort which was calculated for a garrison of only two hundred men,

could not be defended against the heavy artillery of the enemy; and that

if the British should approach it by water, which would cause a pre-

sumption that they had brought their heavy artillery, the fort must be

abandoned and burned, provided a retreat could be effected with safety.

In the orders left with Major Croghan it was stated,-"Should the

British troops approach you in force with cannon, and you can dis-

cover them in time to effect a retreat, you will do so immediately, destroy-

ing all the public stores. * * * You must be aware that the attempt

to retreat in the face of an Indian force would be vain. Against such

an enemy your garrison would be safe, however great the number."

On the evening of the 29th, Gen. Harrison received intelligence by

express from Gen. Clay, that the enemy had abandoned the siege of Fort

Meigs; and as the Indians on that day had swarmed in the woods round

his camp, he entertained no doubt but an immediate attack was intended

either on Sandusky or Seneca. He therefore immediately called a council

of war, consisting of McArthur, Cass, Ball, Paul, Wood, Hukill, Holmes

and Graham, who were unanimously of the opinion that Fort Stephen-

son was untenable against heavy artillery, and that as the enemy could

bring with facility any quantity of battering cannon against it, by which

it must inevitably fall, and as it was an unimportant post, containing

nothing the loss of which would be felt by us, that the garrison should

therefore not be reinforced but withdrawn and the place destroyed. In

pursuance of this decision the General immediately despatched the fol-

lowing order to Major Croghan:

"Sir, immediately on receiving this letter, you will abandon Fort

Stephenson, set fire to it and repair with your command this night to

headquarters. Cross the river and come up on the opposite side. If

you should deem and find it impracticable to make good your march

to this place, take the road to Huron and pursue it with the utmost

circumspection and despatch."

This order was sent by Mr. Conner and two Indians, who lost

their way in the dark and did not arrive at Fort Stephenson before 11

o'clock the next day. When Major Croghan received it, he could not

then retreat with safety, as the Indians were hovering round the fort

in considerable force. He called a council of his officers, a majority

of whom coincided with him in opinion that a retreat would be unsafe,

and that the post could be maintained against the enemy at least until

further instructions could be received from headquarters. The major

therefore immediately returned the following answer:

"Sir, I have received yours of yesterday, 10 o'clock P. M., ordering

me to destroy this place and make good my retreat, which was received

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The Croghan Celebration.                   59

 

too late to be carried into execution. We have determined to maintain

this place and by heavens we can."

In writing this note Major Croghan had a view to the probability

of its falling into the hands of the enemy, and on that account made

use of a stronger language than would otherwise have been consistent

with propriety. It reached the General on the same day, who did not

fully understand the circumstances and motives under which it had been

dictated. The following order was therefore immediately prepared, and

sent with Colonel Wells in the morning, escorted by Colonel Ball with

his corps of dragoons.

"July 30, 1813.

"Sir. The General has received your letter of this date, informing

him that you had thought proper to disobey the order issued from this

office, and delivered to you this morning. It appears that the informa-

tion which dictated the order was incorrect; and as you did not receive

it in the night as was expected, it might have been proper that you should

have reported the circumstance and your situation, before you proceeded

to its execution. This might have been passed over, but I am directed

to say to you, that an officer who presumes to aver that he has made

his resolution and that he will act in direct opposition to the orders

of his General can no longer be entrusted with a separate command.

Colonel Wells is sent to relieve you. You will deliver the command to

him and repair with Col. Ball's squadron to this place. By command

etc.; A. H. Holmes, Asst. Adj. General."

The squadron of dragoons on this trip met with a party of Indians

near Lower Sandusky and killed 11 out of 12. The Indians had formed

an ambush and fired on the advance guard consisting of a sergeant and

five privates. Upon seeing the squadron approach they fled, but were

pursued and soon overtaken by the front squad of Captain Hopkins's

troop. The greater part of them were cut down by Colonel Ball and

Captain Hopkins with his subalterns, whose horses being the fleetest over-

took them first. The loss on our part was two privates wounded and

two horses killed.

Colonel Wells being left in the command of Fort Stephenson, Major

Croghan returned with the squadron to headquarters. He there explained

his motives for writing such a note, which were deemed satisfactory and

having remained all night with the General who treated him politely,

he was permitted to return to his command in the morning with written

orders similar to those he had received before.

A reconnoitering party which had been sent from headquarters to

the shore of the lake, about 20 miles distant from Fort Stephenson, dis-

covered the approach of the enemy by water on the evening of the 31st

of July. They returned by the fort, after 12 o'clock the next day, and

had passed it but a few hours when the enemy made their appearance

before it. The Indians showed themselves first on the hill over the river,

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60         Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

and were saluted by a 6-pounder, the only piece of artillery in the fort,

which soon caused them to retire. In half an hour the British gun-

boats came in sight; and the Indian forces displayed themselves in every

direction, with a view to intercept the garrison should a retreat be

attempted. The 6-pounder was fired a few times at the gun-boats,

which was returned by the artillery of the enemy. A landing of their

troops with a 51/2-inch howitzer was effected about a mile below the

fort; and Major Chambers accompanied by Dickson was despatched

towards the fort with a flag, and was met on the part of Major Cro-

ghan by Ensign Shipp of the 17th Regiment. After the usual cere-

monies Major Chambers observed to Ensign Shipp, that he was in-

structed by Gen. Proctor to demand the surrender of the fort, as he

was anxious to spare the effusion of human blood, which he could not

do, should he be under the necessity of reducing it by the powerful force

of artillery, regulars and Indians under his command. Shipp replied

that the commandant of the fort and its garrison were determined to

defend it to the last extremity, that no force however great could induce

them to surrender, as they were resolved to maintain their post or to

bury themselves in its ruins. Dickson then said that their immense

body of Indians could not be restrained from massacring the whole

garrison in case of success-of which we have no doubt, rejoined

Chambers, as we are amply prepared. Dickson then proceeded to re-

mark that it was a pity so fine a young man should fall into the hands

of the savages-sir, for God's sake surrender, and prevent the dreadful

massacre that will be caused by your resistance. Mr. Shipp replied that

when the fort was taken there would be none to massacre. It will not

be given up while a man is able to resist. An Indian at this moment

came out of an adjoining ravine and advancing to the Ensign took hold

of his sword and attempted to wrest it from him. Dickson interfered,

and having restrained the Indian, affected great anxiety to get him safe

into the fort.

The enemy now opened their fire from their 6-pounders in the gun

boats and the howitzer on shore, which they continued through the

night with but little intermission and with very little effect. The forces

of the enemy consisted of about 500 regulars, and about 800 Indians

commanded by Dickson, the whole being commanded by Gen. Proctor

in person. Tecumseh was stationed on the road to fort Meigs with a

body of 2,000 Indians, expecting to intercept a reinforcement on that

route.

Major Croghan through the evening occasionally fired his 6-pounder,

at the same time changing its place occasionally to induce a belief that

he had more than one piece. As it produced very little execution on

the enemy, and he was desirous of saving his ammunition, he soon dis-

continued his fire. The enemy had directed their fire against the north-

western angle of the fort which induced the commandant to believe that

an attempt to storm his works would be made at that point. In the

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The Croghan Celebration.                   61

 

night Captain Hunter was directed to remove the 6-pounder to a block-

house from which it would rake that angle. By great industry and per-

sonal exertion, Captain Hunter soon accomplished this object in secrecy.

The embrasure was masked, and the piece loaded with a half charge of

powder and double charge of slugs and grape shot.

Early in the morning of the second, the enemy opened their fire

from their howitzer, and three 6-pounders which they had landed in

the night, and planted in a point of woods about 250 yards from the

fort. In the evening, about 4 o'clock, they concentrated the fire of all

their guns on the northwest angle, which convinced Major Croghan that

they would endeavor to make a breach and storm the works at that

point; he therefore immediately had that place strengthened as much

as possible with bags of flour and sand, which were so effectual that

the picketing in that place sustained no material injury. Sergeant Weaver

with five or six gentlemen of the Petersburg Volunteers and Pittsburgh

Blues, who happened to be in the fort, was entrusted with the manage-

ment of the 6-pounder.

Late in the evening when the smoke of the firing had completely

enveloped the fort, the enemy proceeded to make the assault. Two

feints were made towards the southern angle, where Captain Hunter's

lines were formed; and at the same time a column of 350 men were dis-

covered advancing through the smoke, within 20 paces of the north-

western angle. A heavy galling fire of musketry was now opened upon

them from the fort which threw them into some confusion. Colonel

Shortt who headed the principal column soon rallied his men and led

them with great bravery to the brink of the ditch. After a momentary

pause he leaped into the ditch; calling to his men to follow him, and in

a few minutes it was full. The masked porthole was now opened, and

the 6-pounder, at a distance of 30 feet, poured such destruction upon

them that but few who had entered the ditch were fortunate enough to

escape. A precipitate and confused retreat was the immediate conse-

quence, although some of the officers attempted to rally their men. The

other column which was led by Colonel Warburton and Major Chambers,

was also routed in confusion by a destructive fire from the line com-

manded by Captain Hunter. The whole of them fled into the adjoining

wood, beyond the reach of our small arms. During the assault, which

lasted half an hour, the enemy kept up an incessant fire from their

howitzer and five 6-pounders. They left Colonel Shortt, a lieutenant

and 25 privates dead in the ditch; and the total number of prisoners

taken was 26, most of them badly wounded. Major Muir was knocked

down in the ditch, and lay among the dead, till the darkness of the

night enabled him to escape in safety. The loss of the garrison was

one killed and 7 slightly wounded. The total loss of the enemy could

not be less than 150 killed and wounded.

When night came on, which was soon after the assault, the wounded

in the ditch were in a desperate situation. Complete relief could not be

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62         Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

brought to them by either side with any degree of safety. Major Cro-

ghan however relieved them as much as possible - he contrived to convey

them waterover the picketting in buckets, and a ditch was opened under

the pickets through which those who were able and willing were en-

couraged to crawl into the fort. All who were able preferred of course

to follow their defeated comrades, and many others were carried from

the vicinity of the fort by the Indians, particularly their own killed and

wounded; and in the night about 3 o'clock the whole British and Indian

force commenced a disorderly retreat. So great was their precipitation,

that they left a sail boat containing some clothing and a considerable

quantity of military stores; and on the next day 70 stand of arms and

some braces of pistols were picked up round the fort. Their hurry and

confusion was caused by the apprehension of an attack from Gen. Har-

rison, of whose position and force they had probably received an exag-

gerated account.

It was the intention of Gen. Harrison, should the enemy succeed

against Fort Stephenson, or should they endeavor to turn his left and

fall back on Upper Sandusky, to leave his camp at Seneca and fall back

for the protection of that place. But he discovered by the firing on the

evening of the 1st inst that the enemy had nothing but light artillery,

which could make no impression on the fort; and he knew that an

attempt to storm it without making a breach could be successfully re-

pelled by the garrison; he therefore determined to wait for the arrival

of 250 mounted volunteers under Rennick, being the advance of 700 who

were approaching by the way of Upper Sandusky, and then to march

against the enemy and raise the siege, if their force was not still too

great for his. On the 2d inst. he sent several scouts to ascertain their

situation and force; but the woods were so infested with Indians that

none of them could proceed sufficiently near the fort to make the neces-

sary discoveries. In the night a messenger arrived at headquarters with

intelligence that the enemy were preparing to retreat. About 9 o'clock

Major Croghan had ascertained from their collecting about their boats

that they were preparing to embark, and immediately sent an express

to the commander-in-chief with this information. The general now de-

termined to wait no longer for reinforcements, and immediately set out

with the dragoons, with which he reached the fort early in the morning,

having ordered Generals McArthur and Cass, who had arrived at Seneca

several days before, to follow him with all disposable infantry at that

place, and which at this time was about 700 men, after the numerous

sick, and the force necessary to maintain the position were left behind.

Finding that the enemy had fled entirely from the fort so as not to be

reached by him, and learning that Tecumseh was somewhere in the

direction of Fort Meigs with 2,000 warriors, he immediately ordered the

infantry to fall back to Seneca, lest Tecumseh should make an attack

on that place, or intercept the small reinforcements advancing from the

Ohio.

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The Croghan Celebration.                   63

 

In his official report of this affair, General Harrison observes that,

"It will not be among the least of Gen. Proctor's mortifications to find

that he has been baffled by a youth who has just passed his twenty-first

year. He is, however, a hero worthy of his gallant uncle, Gen. George

R. Clarke."

"Captain Hunter, of the 17th Regiment, the second in command,

conducted himself with great propriety; and never was there a set of

finer young fellows than the subalterns, viz., Lieutenants Johnson and

Baylor, of the 17th; Anthony, of the 24th; Meeks, of the 7th, and

Ensigns Shipp and Duncan of the 17th."

Lieutenant Anderson, of the 24th, was also mentioned for his good

conduct. Being without a command, he solicited Major Croghan for a

musket, and a post to fight at, which he did with the greatest bravery.

"Too much praise," says Major Croghan, "cannot be bestowed on

the officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates under my command

for their gallantry and good conduct during the siege."

The brevet rank of Lieutenant Colonel was immediately conferred

on Major Croghan by the president of the United States for his gal-

lant conduct on this occasion. The ladies of Chillicothe also presented

him an elegant sword accompanied by a suitable address.

On the 9th of August, at Lower Sandusky, a British boat was

discovered coming up the river with a flag. When it landed below

the fort, Captain Hunter was sent to meet the commander, who proved

to be Lieut. LeBreton, accompanied by Doctor Banner, with a letter

from Gen. Proctor to the commandant at Lower Sandusky, their object

being to ascertain the situation of the British wounded and afford them

surgical aid. Captain Hunter invited them  to the fort. Le Breton

seemed to hesitate, as if he expected first to be blind-folded, as usual

in such cases; but Captain Hunter told him to come on, that there was

nothing in the fort which there was any reason to conceal; and when

he introduced him to Major Croghan as the commandant of the fort,

he appeared to be astonished at the youthful appearance of the hero,

who had defeated the combined forces of his master.

As the letter of General Proctor also contained a proposition for

the paroling of those prisoners who might be in a condition to be re-

moved, the flag was sent by Major Croghan to headquarters at Seneca.

Gen. Harrison replied to the letter of Proctor, that "Major Croghan,

conformably to those principles which are held sacred in the American

army, had caused all possible care to be taken of the wounded prisoners

that his situation would admit-that every aid which surgical skill could

give was afforded," and that he had already referred the disposal of

the prisoners to his government and must wait for their determination.

Dr. Banner in the meantime had examined the situation of the wounded,

and was highly gratified with the humane treatment they had received.

He informed Major Croghan that the Indians were highly incensed at the

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64         Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

failure of the late expedition and were kept together with the utmost

difficulty.

*     *      *

[Governor Shelby.]

HEADQUARTERS, SENECA. 12 Sept., 1813.

"You will find arms at Upper Sandusky; also a considerable quan-

tity at Lower Sandusky. I set out from this place in an hour. Our fleet

has beyond all doubt met that of the enemy. The day before yesterday

an incessant and tremendous cannonading was heard in the direction

of Malden by a detachment of troops coming from   Fort Meigs.   It

lasted two hours. I am all anxiety for the result. There will be no oc-

casion for your halting here. Lower Sandusky affords fine grazing. With

respect to a station for your horses, there is the best in the world im-

mediately at the place of embarkation. The Sandusky Bay, Lake Erie,

and Portage river form between them a peninsula, the isthmus of which

is only a mile and a half across. A fence of that length, and a sufficient

guard left there, would make all the horses of the army safe. It would

enclose fifty or sixty thousand acres, in which are many cultivated fields,

which have been abandoned are now grown up with the finest grass. Your

sick had better be left at Upper Sandusky or here.

HARRISON."

 

Within half an hour after the above letter was written, the gen-

eral received the following laconic note from the commodore, by express

from Lower Sandusky:

"U. S. BRIG NIAGARA, OFF THE WESTER SISTER, ETC.,

September 10, 1813.

"DEAR GENERAL- We have met the enemy and they are ours-

two ships, two brigs, one schooner and a sloop.

"Yours with great respect and esteem,

OLIVER HAZARD PERRY."

 

The exhilirating news set Lower Sandusky arid camp Seneca in

an uproar of tumultous joy. The general immediately proceeded to the

former place, and issued his orders for the movement of the troops,

and transportation of the provisions, military stores, etc., to the margin

of the lake, preparatory to their embarkation.

In bringing down the military stores and provisions from the posts

on the Sandusky river, to the vessels in the lake, a short land carriage

became necessary to expedite the embarkation. The peninsula formed by

the Sandusky Bay on the right and by the Portage river and Lake Erie

on the left, extending between fifteen and twenty miles from the anchor-

age of the shipping in the mouth of the Portage; at which place the

isthmus on which the army was encamped was less than two miles

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The Croghan Celebration.                    65

 

across from one river to the other. The boats in going round the

peninsula to the shipping, would have to travel upward of forty miles,

and to be exposed to the dangers of the lake navigation. It was there-

fore deemed the most safe and expeditious to transport the stores and

drag the boats across the isthmus, which was accomplished between the

15th and 20th of the month, whilst the army was detained in making

other necessary arrangements.

The Kentucky troops were encamped across the narrowest part

of the isthmus, above the place of embarkation; and each regiment was

ordered to construct a strong fence of brush and fallen timber in front

of its encampment, which extended when finished, from Portage River

to Sandusky River. Within this enclosure their horses were turned

loose to graze on ample pastures of excellent grass. The preparations

for the expedition being nearly completed, it became necessary to detail

a guard to be left for the protection of the horses. The commandants

of regiments were ordered by the governor to detach one-twentieth part

of their commands for this service; and Colonel Christopher Rife was

designated as their commander. In furnishing the men, many of the

colonels had to resort to a draft, as volunteers to stay on this side the

lake could not be obtained.

On the 20th, Gen. Harrison embarked with the regular troops

under Generals McArthur and Cass, and arrived the same day at Put-

in-Bay in Bass Island, and about 10 miles distant from the point of

embarkation. Next morning the governor (Shelby) sailed with a part

of his troops, having ordered Major General Desha to remain at Portage

and bring up the rear, which he performed with great alacrity and vig-

ilance. On that and the succeeding day all the militia arrived at Bass

Island. Colonel Rife was left in command at Portage, with Doctor Ma-

guffin as his surgeon. The whole army remained on Bass Island on the

24th, waiting for the arrival of all necessary stores and provisions at

that place.

On the 25th, the whole army moved to the Middle Sister, a small

island containing about five or six acres of ground, which was now

crowded with men, having about 4,500 upon it. Whilst the transport

vessels were bringing up the military stores and provisions on the 26th,

Gen. Harrison sailed with Commodore Perry in the Ariel to recon-

noitre off Malden, and ascertain a suitable point on the lake shore for

the debarkation of his troops.

On Monday the 27th, the whole army was embarked early in the

day, and set sail from the Middle Sister for the Canada shore, Gen.

Harrison having previously circulated a general order among the troops

in which he exhorted them to remember the fame of their ancestors and

the justice of the cause in which they were engaged.

Soon after the British force had surrendered and it was dis-

covered that the Indians were yielding on the left, Gen. Harrison ordered

Vol. XVI-5.

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66         Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

Major Payne to pursue Gen. Proctor with a part of his battalion. * * *

But Proctor was not to be taken. His guilty conscience had told him

that his only chance for safety from the vengeance of those whose

countrymen he had murdered lay in the celerity of his flight. The

pursuers, however, at last pressed him so closely that he was obliged

to abandon the road, and his carriage and sword were captured by the

gallant Major Wood.-Six pieces of brass artillery were taken, three of

which had been captured in the Revolution at Saratoga and York, and

surrendered again by Hull in Detroit."

Lieut.-Colonel Eleazer Wood was one of the first graduates of the

military academy at West Point, 1806, and was a distinguished engineer.

In 1812 he built the fort at Lower Sandusky, which was later named

after Col. Stephenson, and was so gallantly defended by Major George

Croghan on the 2d of August, 1813. He was also the engineer who

planned Fort Meigs in 1813, and participated most gallantly in its siege

and also in the Battle of the Thames. He was killed September 17, 1814.

Proctor's carriage, captured by Major Wood, was brought to Lower

Sandusky; and for many years was shown upon all public occasions as one

of the trophies of the war, second in interest only to "Old Betsy."

One of the "six pieces of brass artillery" referred to above, is

now one of the most cherished relics in the museum on Fort Stephenson.

It is a handsome brass piece, evidently a French gun originally, as it

has near its muzzle the royal cipher of King Louis of France. It was

presented to King George of England, or was captured by him, and has

the monogram G. R., with the crown, near its base. It was captured

from the British under Burgoyne at Saratoga, and in common with other

trophies was elaborately inscribed:

 

 

 

TAKEN AT THE STORM OF

THE BRITISH LINE NEAR SARATOGA.

 

BY

 

October 7, 1777.

 

 

After Benedict Arnold turned traitor at West Point, his name was

carefully erased from all trophies. This gun was one of the number so

ignominously surrendered at Detroit by Gen. Hull, August 16, 1812, to

the British Major General Brock. After being captured for the second

time from the British under Proctor, by the Americans under Gen. Har-

rison at the Battle of the Thames, October 5, 1813, it was retired from

active service and has now for more than twenty-five years been an

object of the greatest interest in the museum on the site of old Fort

Stephenson.

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The Croghan Celebration.                   67

 

McAfee's History continues: In April, 1814, Colonel Butler obtained

leave to return to Kentucky, and the command of Detroit devolved on

Lieut.-Col. Croghan, Commodore Sinclair, who succeeded Commodore

Perry as the naval commander on the lakes, had received orders to

conduct a military and naval expedition against the British on Lake

Huron.

About the time these instructions were communicated to the Com-

modore, the secretary of war thought proper to send a corresponding order

directly to Major Holmes, entirely passing by Col. Croghan, the com-

mandant at Detroit, and merely notifying Gen. Harrison, the commander

of the district, through whom the arrangements for the expedition should

have been made. This course of the secretary was a violation not only

of military etiquette, but also of the most important military principles,

which require that the commander of a district, or of a separate post,

especially when situated on a distant frontier, should have the supreme

direction of minor matters within the sphere of his command. The

interference of the government in such matters must inevitably derange

his plans, and produce confusion and disaster in the service. The gen-

eral should be furnished with the object and outlines of the campaign or

expedition and with the necessary supplies of men, money and munitions

for accomplishing that object; and then be made responsible for their

proper management. But the secretary in this instance issued his or-

ders to Major Holmes under the nose of his colonel, whereby the rank

and authority of the latter were superseded, and the resources of his post

were to be clandestinely withdrawn from his power. This was highly

resented by Colonel Croghan, who communicated his sentiments on this

subject without reserve to Commodore Sinclair and Gen. Harrison. He

assured the Commodore that he had already taken every means to recon-

noitre the upper lakes and the country with a view to obtaining such in-

formation as he requested, and that he would be happy to co-operate

and assist him in the enterprise, but could not pledge himself in the

present state of his resources to furnish any important assistance. To

the general he wrote: "Major Holmes has been notified by the war de-

partment that he is chosen to command the land troops, which are in-

tended to co-operate with the fleet, against the enemy's forces on the

upper lakes. So soon as I may be directed by you to order Major Holmes

on that command, and to furnish him with the necessary troops, I shall

do so, but not till then shall he or any other part of my force leave

the sod."-Croghan.

In answer to a second letter from the commodore, written in the

latter part of May, he proceeds: "I much fear, sir, that in your ex-

pectation of being joined at this place by a battalion or corps of regu-

lars under Major Holmes, you will be disappointed. Major Holmes, it is

true, has been notified by the war department that he is selected to

command the land troops on the expedition up the lakes. But this no-

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68         Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.   tification, even did it amount to a positive order to the major, could not be considered as an order to me; nor can I deem it in itself sufficient to justify me in weakening the present reduced strength of my command. My objection to co-operate with you at this time is not, I assure you, moved by anything like chagrin at this departure from military etiquette, but is bottomed on a thorough conviction that nothing less than a pos- itive order could justify or excuse my detaching a part of the small force under my command from    the immediate defence of this frontier. I agree with you that the promised force under Major Holmes appears too weak to effect the desired end. I cannot speak positively on the subject, as my knowledge even of the geographical situation of the coun- try is but limited; yet my belief is, that if resistance be made at all,

it will prove too stout for 1,000 men. The position of Mackinaw is a strong one, and should the enemy have determined on holding it, he has had time enough to throw in reinforcements. The Engages in the em- ploy of the N. W. Co., generally get down to Mackinaw from their win- tering grounds, about the last of May in every year. Will these hardy fellows, whose force exceeds 1,000, be permitted to be idle? Will it not be the interest of the N. W. Co. to exert all its means in the defence of those posts in which it is so immediately concerned? I send you a few queries on the subject, with the answers as given by an intelligent gentleman, formerly an agent to the N. W. Co., and well acquainted with the geographical situation of that country. Every arrangement is made for securing the entrance into Lake Huron. I am under no solici- tude about the passage up the strait."-Croghan.

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The Croghan Celebration.                    69

 

Although the colonel appears to consider the order to Holmes as

a mere notification of his appointment, yet it was certainly intended by the

secretary to be sufficiently positive and ample to put the expedition in

motion, without any other communication from the war department, ex-

cept the instructions to the Commodore. Soon after the above was writ-

ten, the Colonel addressed another letter to Gen. Harrison, from which

the following is an extract: "I know not how to account for the

Secretary of War assuming to himself the right of designating Major

Holmes for this command to Mackinaw. My ideas on the subject may

not be correct, yet for the sake of the principle were I a general com-

manding a district, I would be very far from suffering the Secretary of

War, or any other authority, to interfere with my internal police.

"I have not yet been able, even by three attempts, to ascertain

whether the enemy is building boats at Mackedash (Gloucester Bay).

None of my spies would venture far enough, being either frightened

at the view of Lake Huron, or alarmed at the probability of meeting

hostile Indians."-Croghan.

This letter was written in the latter part of May. Gen. Harrison,

actuated by similar sentiments, had already resigned his commission of

Major General in the army, which he had received about the time his

appointment in the Kentucky militia had expired. He believed that the

Secretary of War disliked him, and had intentionally encroached on

the prerogatives of his rank to insult him, by corresponding with the of-

ficers under his command, and giving them orders direct which ought at

least to have been communicated indirectly through the commander-in-

chief of the district. He had remonstrated in a spirited manner against

this interference, and finding it again renewed in the present case, he

resigned his commission by the following letters to the Secretary and

President.

"HEADQUARTERS, CINCINNATI, 11th May, 1814.

"SIR, I have the honor through you to request the President to

accept my resignation of the appointment of major general in the army

with which he has honored me.

"Lest the public service should suffer, before a successor can be

nominated, I shall continue to act until the 31st inst., by which time I

hope to be relieved.

"Having some reasons to believe that the most malicious insinua-

tions have been made against me in Washington, it was my intention to

have requested an inquiry into my conduct, from the commencement of

my command. Further reflection has however determined me to de-

cline the application -because from the proud consciousness of having

palpably done my duty, I cannot believe that it is necessary either for

the satisfaction of the government or the people, that I should pay so

much respect to the suggestions of malice and envy.

"It is necessary, however, that I should assure you, sir, that I sub-

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70         Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.   scribe implicitly to the opinion that military officers are responsible for their conduct, and amenable to the decisions of a court martial after they have left the service, for any improper act committed in it. "The principle was established in England, in the case of Lord George Sackville after the battle of Minden; it was known and recog- nized by all the ancient republics; and is particularly applicable I think to a government like ours. I therefore pledge myself to answer before a court martial at any future period, to any charge which may be brought against me.              "I have the honor, etc., "The Hon. J. Armstrong, etc."                       "HARRISON.     OLD BETSY. Fort Stephenson is unique in retaining its original area, armament and the body of its Defender. Armament is an im-

posing name for the one six- pound cannon, affectionately called "Old Betsy" which was Croghan's single piece of artillery. Betsy was old even ninety-three years ago, being a naval cannon captured from the French in the French and Indian wars of 1756-63. Our first knowledge of the gun is upon the occasion of the first 4th of July celebra- tion ever held in this place,

which occured in 1813. On the 3d, a mounted regiment under Col. Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky, "the man who killed Tecumseh" and the future vice president, marched from Fort Meigs to Lower Sandusky to recruit their horses here. "The Fourth was celebrated," says McAfee's History of the Late War, "by the garrison and mounted men together, in great harmony and enthusiasm. Colonel Johnson delivered an appropriate ad- dress; arid a number of toasts, breathing sentiments of the republican soldier were drunk, cheered by the shouts of the men and the firing of small arms and the discharge of a six-pounder from the fort." Major McAfee, in his History of the Late War, says: "A

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The Croghan Celebration.              71

reconnoitering party which had been sent from headquarters to

the shore of the lake, about twenty miles distant from Fort Steph-

enson, discovered the approach of the enemy by water on the

evening of the 31st of July. They returned by the fort, after

twelve o'clock the next day, and had passed it but a few hours,

when the enemy made their appearance before it. The Indians

showed themselves first on the hill over the river, and were

saluted by a six-pounder, the only piece of artillery in the fort,

which soon caused them to retire. In half an hour the British

gun-boats came in sight; and the Indian forces displayed them-

selves in every direction with a view to intercept the garrison

should a retreat be attempted. The six-pounder was fired a few

times at the gun-boats, which was returned by the artillery of

the enemy."

McAfee further says: "Sergeant Weaver with five or six

gentlemen of the Petersburg Volunteers and Pittsburg Blues,

who happened to be in the fort, was entrusted with the manage-

ment of the six-pounder."

On the first and second days of the following month "Old

Betsy" lifted her voice in deadly earnest. How she was shifted

from place to place in the fort to convey the impression that the

defenders had several guns; how she was finally hoisted into the

blockhouse and stationed behind a masked port hole and at the

psychological moment "raked the ditch" with a double charge of

leaden slugs; and the appalling fatal effect--these facts have

been related in preceding pages.

General Harrison winds up his official report to the Secretary

of War, August 4, 1813, as follows:

"A young gentleman, a private in the Petersburg Volun-

teers, of the name of Brown, assisted by five or six of that com-

pany and the Pittsburg Blues who were accidentally in the fort,

managed the six-pounder, which produced such destruction in

the ranks of the enemy." The private Brown referred to was

so severely burned by the frequent explosions of powder in the

priming of Old Betsy, that his condition was graphically de-

scribed by the last survivor of the Petersburg Volunteers, Reuben

Clements, in 1879, who also said that he was quite positive that

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72        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

Brown was the only member of the Petersburg Volunteers pres-

ent during the engagement.

A roster of the Greensburg Riflemen has been furnished

by Richard Coulter, jr., a grandnephew of Major John B. Alex-

ander, who commanded an independent battalion of U. S. twelve-

month Volunteers, consisting of the Pittsburg Blues, Capt. James

R. Butler; the Petersburg Volunteers, Capt. Robert McRae; the

Greensburg Riflemen, Lieut. Peter Drum, vice Alexander, pro-

moted Major. The roster of the Greensburg Riflemen contains

the name of Abraham Weaver as a private in 1812, who was

the Sergeant Weaver in charge of the firing squad of Old Betsy,

and who returned to Greensburg, where he died in 1846.

After the war in which the gun did such valiant service it

was removed to the Pittsburg arsenal. Later Congress ordered

its return to Lower Sandusky. The ingenious Thomas L. Haw-

kins, commissary officer at Fort Stephenson during the campaign,

identified the gun in Pittsburg, recognizing it by the scar on its

breach which he believed was made by a cannon ball while in

action, during the old French and Indian war. Owing to the

duplication of the name Sandusky the cannon was sent to San-

dusky City, which for many years after the battle was called

Ogontz's Place, and later Portland, and of course had no claim

to the gun. The authorities there tried to keep it, and for better

concealment buried it under a barn. Mayor B. J. Bartlett, of

Lower Sandusky, traced the gun and sent men and a wagon to

bring it home. This home-coming of Old Betsy was just prior

to the 2d of August celebration of 1852, when the Tiffin fire

department came down to join in the festivities. William H.

Gibson, clad in the red shirt and white trousers of the fire

brigade uniform, delivered the stirring address of the day, in the

woods back of the Rawson house on State street.

"Old Betsy" is frequently mentioned in press notices of

former years. The Fremont Journal of September 12, 1856, says:

"On the 1oth, about one hundred and fifty Republicans of

Fremont took passage on the Island Queen for Sandusky to

join in the mass gatherings of Freemen. We were accompanied

by "Old Betsy." It talked some, and had many admirers, and

with the Fremont delegation was received by the thousands with

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The Croghan Celebration.               73

 

three tremendous cheers. The day was a glorious one for the

cause of freedom." This of course foreshadows the civil war.

"Who used Old Betsy last?" asks the Journal of January

23, 1857. "It has been standing in the street for several weeks

now. Captain Parrish should see to this old servant."

In a long article on the celebration of August 2, 1860, the

Journal says: "At 6 o'clock Captain Parrish brought out 'Old

Betsy' and fired a salute of thirteen rounds. Soon after the peo-

ple of the county began to pour in. Cassius M. Clay was the

orator of the day." At the celebration of 1852 Thomas L Haw-

kins, a well-known Methodist preacher and the town poet, who

had been appointed commissary of the fort after the battle of

Fort Stephenson, read a poem addressed to the old six-pounder,

apostrophizing her as Betsy Croghan, a name by which she is

frequently called. This poem is printed below. In another

poem on Croghan's victory, Mr. Hawkins calls her "Our Bess,"

while tradition has it that the garrison called her "Good Bess."

But "Old Betsy" she is now and ever will be in local and na-

tional parlance. Little children play about her, the birds often

build their nests in her mouth, visitors pass curious hands over

her breech, and young reporters take her photograph and write

"story" about her. After all she is the only one left who saw

our hero in battle, who heard the quick orders of those two days'

fight, who faced the oncoming veterans of Wellington's troops

and settled it that they should rest thereafter in Lower Sandusky

soil.

"Old Betsy's" voice will probably never be heard again, but

as she stands her silent guard over the remains of George Cro-

ghan, on the scene of their great victory, she "yet speaketh."

 

"OLD BETSY."

 

THOMAS L. HAWKINS.

 

Hail! thou old friend, of Fort MeGee

Little did I expect again to see,

And hear thy voice of victory,

Thou defender of Ohio!

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74         Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

I wonder who it was that sought thee,

To victory's ground again hath brought thee

From strangers' hands at length hath caught thee;

He is a friend to great Ohio!

 

He is surely worthy of applause,

To undertake so good a cause,

Although a pleader of her laws,

And statutes of Ohio.

 

What shame thy blockhouse is not standing,

Thy pickets as at first commanding,

Protecting Sandusky's noble landing,

The frontier of Ohio!

 

Thy pickets, alas! are all unreared,

No faithful sentinel on guard,

Nor band of soldiers well prepared,

Defending great Ohio.

 

Where have the upthrown ditches gone,

By British cannon rudely torn?

Alas! with grass they are o'ergrown,

Neglected by Ohio.

 

O tell me where thy chieftains all-

Croghan, Dudley, Miller, Ball,

Some of whom I know did fall

In defending of Ohio.

 

Canst thou not tell how Proctor swore,

When up yon matted turf he tore,

Which shielded us from guns a score,

He poured upon Ohio?

 

And how Tecumseh lay behind you;

With vain attempts he tried to blind you,

And unprepared, he'd find you,

And lead you from Ohio.

 

Perhaps like Hamlet's ghost, you've come,

This day to celebrate the fame

Of Croghan's honored, worthy name,

The hero of Ohio.

• 74
 

The Croghan Celebration.                  75   I greet thee! Thou art just in time To tell of victory most sublime, Though told in unconnected rhyme; Thou art welcome in Ohio.   But since thou canst thyself speak well, Now let thy thundering voice tell What bloody carnage then befell The foes of great Ohio. (And then she thundered loud.)   PROCTOR'S REPORT OF THE BATTLE OF FORT STEPHENSON. The following letter, recently unearthed by Col. Webb C. Hayes in the Canadian Archives at Ottawa, is most interesting as giving General Proctor's own account of the battle in which he was so badly worsted. It is addressed to Sir George Provist, Lieut. General, at Kingston, and reads: "SIR: It being absolutely requisite for several urgent reasons that my Indian force should not remain unemployed, and being well aware

that it would not be movable except accompanied by a regular force, I resolved, notwithstanding the smallness of that force to move and where we might be fed at the expense of the enemy. I had, however, the mortification to find that instead of the Indian force being a disposable one, or under my direction, our movements would be subject to the caprices and prejudices of the Indian body to a degree in which my regular force was disproportionate to their num- bers. For several weeks after the arrival of Mr. R. Dickson, his Indians were restrainable and tractable to a degree that I could not have conceived possible. I am sorry to add that they have been contaminated by the other Indians.

I was, very contrary to my judgment, necessitated to go to the Miami, in the vicinity of the enemy's fort, where I remained a few days in the hope that General Harrison might come to the relief of the fort which was invested in the Indian mode, when finding that the Indians were returning to Detroit and Amherstberg I moved to Lower Sandusky where, however, we could not muster more hundreds of Indians than I might reasonably have expected thousands. The neighborhood of Sandusky, and the settlement on the Huron river, eight miles below it, could have afforded cattle sufficient to have fed my whole Indian force for some time, had they been induced to accompany us. Sandusky is

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76         Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

nearly fifty miles by water from Lake Erie and nearly forty miles from

several points whence strong reinforcements might be expected; I could

not therefore with my very small force remain more than two days,

from the probability of being cut off and of being deserted by the few

Indians who had not already done so.

The fort at Sandusky is composed of blockhouses connected by

picketing which they flank, and is calculated for a garrison of five or six

hundred men. On viewing the fort I formed an opinion entirely different

from any person under my command. The general idea being that that

garrison did not exceed fifty men, and that the fort could be easily

carried by assault. On the morning of the 2d inst. the gentlemen of

the Indian Department, who have the direction of it, declared formally

their decided opinion that unless the fort was stormed we should never

be able to bring an Indian warrior into the field with us, and that they

proposed and were ready to storm one fan of the fort, if we would

attempt another. I have also to observe that in this instance my judg-

ment had not that weight with the troops I hope I might reasonably

have expected. If I had withdrawn without having permitted the assault,

as my judgment certainly dictated, much satisfaction would have followed

me and I could scarcely have reconciled to myself to have continued to

direct their movements. I thus with all the responsibility resting on me

was obliged to yield to circumstances I could not possibly have pre-

vented. The troops, after the artillery had been used for some hours,

attacked two fans, and impossibilities being attempted, failed. The fort,

from which the severest fire I ever saw was maintained during the

attack, was well defended. The troops displayed the greatest bravery,

the much greater part of whom reached the fort and made every effort

to enter; but the Indians who had proposed the assault and had it

not been assented to would have ever stigmatized the British character,

scarcely came into fire, before they ran off out of its reach. A more

than adequate sacrifice having been made to Indian opinion, I drew off

the brave assailants who had been carried away by a high sense of honor

to urge too strongly the attack. I enclose a disembarcation return to

show how small my disposable force was. The enemy had a six-pounder

and a smaller one in the fort. I also enclose a return of the killed,

wounded and missing. Our loss though severe and much to be regretted,

is less, everything considered, than could have been expected. You will

perceive that the Indian force is seldom a disposable one, never to be

relied on in hour of need, and only to be found useful in proportion as

we are independent of it. Ten Indians were surprised on a plain near

Sandusky and were cut to pieces. The Indians have always had a dread

of cavalry of which the enemy have a considerable number. A troop of

the 19th would be of the greatest service here in the confidence they would

give to our mounted Indians. I have experienced much deficience in my

artillery, another officer at least is absolutely requisite, and one of

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The Croghan Celebration.                    77

 

science and experience. The enemy's defences are composed of wood;

if we knew how to burn them as they did ours at Fort George, Mr.

Harrison's army must have been destroyed long since. The enemy's ves-

sels are out of Presqueisle Harbor, and so decidedly stronger than ours

that Captain Barclay has been necessitated to return to Amherstburg,

and with all haste to get the new vessel ready for sea, where she will

be in eight or ten days at furthest, and then only wants hands.

Whatever may happen to be regretted may be fairly attributed

to the delays in sending here the force your Excellency directed should

be sent. Had it been sent at once, it could have been used to the greatest

advantage, but it arrived in such small portions and with such delays

that the opportunities have been lost. The enemy are in great numbers

at Presqueisle and have been already reinforced at Fort Meigs. Gen.

Harrison's headquarters are near Lower Sandusky where he arrived on

the 3d inst. I must now look for the enemy from two quarters and

will have to meet them with my small force divided, for the Indians will

make no stand without us. You will probably hear of the enemy's landing

shortly at Long Point, where they may gain the rear of the Center Divi-

sion and also affect my supplies. An hundred and fifty sailors would have

effectually obviated this evil. I apprehend the enemy's rapid advance

to the River Raisin in force, and establishing himself there, which he

can do surprisingly soon. If I had the means I would establish a post

at that river, but not having two or three hundred men to send there

it is not in my power. I must entreat your Excellency to send me

more troops, even the 2d Battalion of the 41st Regt., though weak,

would be extremely acceptable. If the enemy should be able to establish

themselves in the Territory it will operate strongly against us with our

Indian allies. Your Excellency may rely on my best endeavors, but I

rely on the troops alone, and they are but few and I am necessitated to

man the vessels with them. I have never desponded, nor do I now,

but I conceive it my duty to state to your Excellency the inadequateness

of my force.

I have the honor to be with much respect, etc.,

HENRY PROCTOR,

Brigadier General Commanding.

 

The British War Office contains the following brief records of the

attack on Fort Stephenson, as mentioned in the colonial correspondence

of that time.

"HEADQUARTERS, KINGSTON, UPPER CANADA, Aug. 1, 1813.

"My Lord - The arrival of Mr. Dickson from the mission with 2,000

Indian warriors, has enabled me to resume offensive operations with the

left division of the Upper Canada army under the command of Brig.

Gen. Proctor. Maj. Gen. Harrison having shown some of his cavalry

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78         Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

and riflemen in the Michigan territory, a forward movement has been

made by the Indian warriors, upon Sandusky, from whence they will

unite with Tecumseh's band of warriors, employed in investing Fort

Meigs.-George Provost." Also:

"St. Davids, Niagara Frontier, Aug. 25, 1813. Maj. Gen. Proctor

having given way to the clamor of our Indian Allies to act offensively

moved forward on the 20th ult. with about 350 of the 41st regiment and

between 3,000 and 4,000 Indians and on the 2nd inst. attempted to carry

by assault the block houses and works at Sandusky where the enemy had

concentrated a considerable force.

He however soon experienced the timidity of the Indians when ex-

posed to the fire of musketry and cannon in an open country and how

little dependence could be placed on their numbers. Previous to the

assault they could scarcely muster as many hundreds as they had before

thousands, and as soon as it had commenced they withdrew themselves

out of the reach of the enemy's fire. They are never a disposable force.

The handful of his Majesty's troops employed on this occasion dis-

played the greatest bravery; nearly the whole of them having reached

the fort and made every effort to enter it; but a galling and destructive

fire being kept up by the enemy from within the block houses and from

behind the picketing which completely protected them and which we

had not the means to force, the Major General thought it most prudent

not to continue longer so unavailing a combat; he accordingly drew off

the assailants and returned to Sandwich with the loss of 25 killed, as

many missing and about 40 wounded. Amongst the killed are Brevet

Lieut. Col. Shortt and Lieut. J. G. Gordon of the 41st Regt."

"The Military Occurrences of the War of 1812," by William James.

an English publication of the time, contains the following story of Gen-

eral Proctor's campaign against Fort Stephenson on the Sandusky, which

is a typical British account, showing the writer's patriotic bias:

"The American headquarters were at Seneca-town, near to San-

dusky Bay on Lake Erie. Fort Meigs, already so strong, had its works

placed in a still more vigorous state of defence; and a fort had since

been constructed on the west side of Sandusky river, about 40 miles

from its mouth, and 10 from the general's headquarters. It stood on a

rising ground, commanding the river to the east; having a plain to the

north and south, and a wood to the west. The body of the fort was

about 100 yards in length and 50 in breadth, surrounded outside of all

by a row of strong pickets, 12 feet over ground; each picket armed at

top with a bayonet. Next to and against this formidable picket was an

embankment, forming the side of a dry ditch, 12 feet wide, by seven

feet deep; then a second embankment or glacis. A strong bastion and

two blockhouses completely enfiladed the ditch. Within the fort were the

hospital, military and commissary store-houses, magazines, etc. As far

as we can collect from the American accounts, the fort mounted but one

6-pounder; and that in a masked battery at the northwestern angle. The

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The Croghan Celebration.                   79

 

number of troops composing the garrison cannot exactly be ascertained.

One American account states that the effective force did not amount to

160 men, or rank and file.

"Major General Proctor when he landed near the mouth of San-

dusky river, on the 1st of August, had it is admitted no other white

troops with him than the 41st regiment. An American editor says that

the major general, previous to his appearance on the Sandusky, had

detached 'Tecumseh with 2,000 warriors, and a few regulars, to make a

diversion favorable to the attack upon Fort Stephenson; and yet the

same editor states Major General Proctor's force before the fort, on

the evening of the 1st, at 500 regulars and 700 Indians.' Of the latter

there were but 200 and they, as was generally their custom when the

object of assault was a fortified place, withdrew to a ravine, out of

gun-shot, almost immediately that the action commenced. Of regulars

there were two lientenant-colonels, four captains, seven subalterns, (one

a lieutenant of artillery) eight staff, 22 sergeants, seven drummers, and

241 rank and file, including 23 artillerymen; making a total of 391

officers, non-commissioned officers and privates.

"On the morning of the 2nd the British opened their artillery

consisting of two light 6-pounders, and two 5½ howitzers upon the fort;

but without producing the slightest impression; and the different Am-

erican accounts, as we are glad to see, concur in stating, that the fort

'was not at all injured' by the fire directed against it. Under an im-

pression that the garrison did not exceed 50 or 60 men, the fort was

ordered to be stormed. Lieut. Col. Shortt at the head of 180 rank and

file, immediately advanced toward the northwest angle; while about 160

rank and file, under Lieut.-Col. Warburton, passed around through the

woods skirting the western side of the fort, to its south side. After

sustaining a heavy fire of musketry from the American troops, Lieut.-Col.

Shortt approached to the stockade; and with some difficulty, succeeded

in getting over the pickets. The instant this gallant officer reached the

ditch he ordered his men to follow and assault the works with the

utmost vigor. The masked 6-pounder, which had been previously pointed

to rake the ditch, and loaded 'with a double charge of leaden slugs,' was

now fired at the British column, 'the front of which was only 30 feet

distant from the piece.' A volley of musketry was fired at the same

instant and repeated in quick succession. This dreadful and, as to the

battery, unexpected discharge killed Lieut.-Col. Shortt, and several of his

brave followers; and wounded a great many more. Still undaunted, the

men of the 41st, headed by another officer, advanced again to carry the

masked 6-pounder, from which another discharge of 'leaden slugs' aided

by other volleys of musketry, was directed against them, and cleared

the 'fatal ditch' a second time. It was in vain to contend further; and

the British retired, with as many of their wounded as they could carry

away.

"Lieut. Col. Warburton's party, having a circuit to make, did not

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arrive at its position till the first assault was nearly over. After a

volley or two, in which the British sustained some slight loss, the troops

at this point also were ordered to retire. The loss amounted to 26

killed, 29 wounded and missing, and 41 wounded (most of them slightly)

and brought away; total 96. The Americans state their loss at one

killed and seven wounded. Considering the way in which they were

sheltered, and the circumstances of the attack altogether, no greater

loss could have been expected.

"The American editors seem determined to drag the Indians, in

spite of their confirmed and to an American well-known habits, within

the limits of the 'fatal ditch.' 'The Indians,' says Mr. Thomson, 'were

enraged and mortified at this unparalleled defeat; and carrying their

dead and wounded from the field, they indignantly followed the British

regulars to the shipping.' 'It is a fact worthy of observation' says Mr.

O'Connor, 'that not one Indian was found among the dead, although it

is known that from three to four hundred were present.' A brave

enemy would have found something to praise in the efforts of Colonel

Shortt and his men, in this their 'unparalleled defeat;' but all is forgotten

in the lavish encomiums bestowed upon Major Croghan and the band

of 'heroes,' who 'compelled an army,' says an American editor, 'much

more than 10 times superior,' to relinquish the attack."

 

LAST SURVIVOR OF FORT STEPHENSON.

A group of distinguished visitors entering unannounced the

Blue Room    at the White House, during the administration of

President Hayes, were surprised to find the beautiful mistress

of the house sitting on the floor, needle and thread in hand,

while before her half reclining on the central divan, sat an old

soldier in the uniform of an ordnance sergeant of the United

States Army.

The callers, who were Sir Edward Thornton, the British

Minister, with some English friends, were about to retire, when

Mrs. Hayes looked up from her work, saw them, and laughingly

called them to stay. She rose from the floor, shook hands warmly

with the old man, and parrying his thanks and assuring him that

his uniform was now perfect, handed him over to the care of

her son.

The story is one of her many kindly, self-unconscious acts.

One of her sons, visiting the Barnes Hospital at the Soldiers'

home near Washington, had examined the list of soldiers living

there and discovered that one was a veteran of Fort Stephenson,

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The Croghan Celebration.              81   at Fremont, Ohio, the home of the Hayes family, named William Gaines, late ordnance sergeant United States Army. Subsequently Sergeant Gaines was granted a pension for his service in the War of 1812 and also for the Mexican War, and a complete full dress uniform was ordered sent to the White House for him. Sergeant Gaines was brought in from the Sol- diers' Home to don his uniform and have his photograph taken in it. After putting on his uniform, the old soldier trembling with excitement and weakness discovered that the sergeant's

stripes for the seam of his trousers had been sent loose to be used at the wearer's discretion, and he was greatly distressed at the thought of hav- ing his photograph taken without this insignia of rank. Mrs. Hayes, who had come down to greet him in the Blue Room, learning the cause of his distress, at once sent for needle and thread, saying that she would herself stitch them on. She was just finishing the task, sitting on the floor with the old soldier standing before her, when the British Minister and his guests entered, and caught the charming picture to carry away to their English home. It was a notable battle when, under Major George Croghan, a youth of twenty-one years, one hundred and sixty men, having but a single small cannon, defeated five hundred British sol- diers and two thousand or more Indian allies; this battle being the prelude to Perry's victory on

Lake Erie and the decisive Battle of the Thames. At the request of the members of the Hayes family, Repre- sentative William McKinley introduced a bill to place William Gaines, late ordnance sergeant, U. S. Army, on the retired list of the army with seventy-five per cent. of the full pay and allowance of an ordnance sergeant; he having served faithfully and honorably in the army of the United States for more than fifty-one years, having been an ordnance sergeant for over thirty- three consecutive years of said service, and having participated Vol. XVI--6.

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82         Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

in the siege of Fort Meigs, the defense of Fort Stephenson, and

the Battle of the Thames in the War of 1812.

Gen. Anson G. McCook        secured  the passage of the bill

through the House of Representatives and Gen. A. E. Burnside

secured concurrent action by the Senate, and the Act was ap-

proved by President Hayes.

Sergeant Gaines' story as told by himself in an interview

with Mr. Webb C Hayes at Washington in 1879, is as follows:

"My name is William Gaines. I was born in Frederick City, Md.,

Christmas Day, 1799. My father and mother were both born in Virginia.

My father and General Gaines were cousins. My father had died and my

mother was not in very good circumstances. We started from Frederick

City, and when we reached Washington stopped for five or six hours

and called on President Madison. Our folks came from Montpelier, Va.,

President Madison's home, and my uncle and President Madison were

well acquainted. I had another uncle in Kentucky named Daveiss. They

both lived in Lexington. During the Indian war in 1811, my uncle,

Colonel Daveiss, raised a volunteer regiment and joined General Harrison.

He took me along with him to take care of his horses and that is the

way that I came to be in the battle of Tippecanoe, November 5, 1811.

"I occupied a tent with the Orderly Sergeant of the company. His

tent was next to that of my uncle, Colonel Daveiss, and then came the

company tent. We were surprised by the Indians, who got in the camp

before we were aware of it. Some rushed into our tent, but we crawled

out on the opposite side. Before getting out, however, the thumb of my

left hand was cut by an Indian tomahawk or knife and laid wide open.

It was sewed up by Dr. Woodward. The Indians were defeated, but my

uncle, Colonel Daveiss, was killed.

"I enlisted on July 18, 1812, as a drummer boy in Captain Arm-

strong's company of the Twenty-fourth Infantry. I was then in my

thirteenth year. We marched from Knoxville to Nashville, and then

against the Creek nation. We marched from Nashville down the Cumber-

land river to the Ohio, which was full of ice and impassable, and were

obliged to stop at a small French fort called Fort Massack, which was

occupied by one company, about forty men of the Second Artillery under

Lieutenant Tanner. We remained there until next spring and then started

for Fort Meigs. We marched first to Newport, Ky., which took us, I

think, twenty days, but we made a stop at Harrisonburg, where we were

invited to the farm of Col. George Harrison and had everything we

wanted. We stopped at Newport three days washing and cleaning our-

selves and then crossed to Cincinnati.  From  Cincinnati we marched

due north through the state of Ohio until we came to Franklinton, which

was the extreme frontier. At Franklinton two deserters were tried and

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The Croghan Celebration.                    83

 

shot. They came from camp Meigs, where they had mutinied and came

near killing the captain. They were taken by some citizens between

Upper Sandusky and Franklinton. General Harrison ordered a general

court martial and charges were sent from Fort Meigs. Both were sen-

tenced to be shot and both were shot the next day. They were buried

on the banks of the Little Sciota.

"We then marched due north to Upper Sandusky. At Upper San-

dusky we drew two days' rations to carry us through the Maumee Black

Swamp. We then marched due north until we reached a point about five

or six miles from Fort Stephenson, and then turning west the road ran

through the Maumee Valley Black Swamp on to Fort Meigs, which we

reached the next day. Gen. Green Clay was in command. While we were

at Fort Meigs, Gen. Harrison established his headquarters at Fort Seneca,

so that he might be handy for the different departments. We were at

Fort Meigs something like a month, and during a portion of the time

were besieged by Indians and British, and kept up a constant fire on

them for about eight days.

"Our company was then ordered to Camp Seneca, in July I think,

and while there a rumor came that Fort Stephenson was to be attacked.

A detail was made from the different companies to relieve Fort Stephen-

son, and that was done that each company should have equal chance in

the glory. All this time I was a private in Captain Armstrong's com-

pany, Twenty-fourth Infantry, having exchanged my drum for a musket,

and was acting as cook for Lieutenant Joseph Anthony of my company.

Lieutenant Anthony, Samuel Thurman, John Foster, James Riggs, a man

named Jones and myself composed the detail from my company. We

started at the break of day, and got to Fort Stephenson between nine

and ten o'clock. We had not been there more than an hour and a half

or two hours before the British hove in sight and began landing their

troops, cannon, etc. Between 11 and 12 o'clock there came a flag of

truce and an officer and six men; they were blindfolded and taken in at

the west gate. It was rumored that the officer was sent to demand the

surrender of the fort or to show no quarter. When they were gone

Major Croghan told us to prepare ourselves, as no quarter was to be

shown. They came around on the northwest side which was covered

with woods, about 150 yards distant, and between the woods and fort

was a ravine down which they would haul the cannon to load and then

push up on the brow of the hill and fire. They could not approach from

the east side because that was an open field, and we could have brought

them down. To the north and south it was also quite open. The

weather was good but warm, and a storm which had threatened finally

disappeared. They fired on us for a time, but Major Croghan would

not let us return it. Samuel Thurman was in the block house and de-

termined to shoot a red coat. He climbed up on top of the block house

and peered over, when a six-pound ball from the enemy's cannon took his

head off. Finally toward evening they made a charge, and when they got

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84         Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

on level ground we got orders to fire. We shot through loop holes in

the pickets and port holes in the blockhouses. I recollect very well

when Colonel Shortt fell. I see it all now as distinctly as I see you two

gentlemen. Our cannon was loaded with six-pound ball and grape. I

was in the blockhouse and after Col. Short fell he held up a white

handkerchief for quarter. Somebody in the blockhouse said, 'That man

is hollering for quarter. He said he would show none. Now give him

quarter.' It passed all through the fort. Then the bugle sounded the

retreat. They had old Tecumseh and about 1,500 Indians, and I think

about 700 or 800 regulars. I only estimated them by seeing them march-

ing away.

There were no buildings near the fort, nor any women in the fort,

as there was not settlement nearer than Franklinton. They landed below

us, near the race track, opposite the Island. The British wounded who

were not taken away lay in the ditch. I do not know anything about the

passing of water over to the wounded. It might have been done unbe-

known to me. The British soldiers were buried the next day. I do not

know how many were killed. You see they took them away at night and

we did not know anything about it.

"At the siege of Fort Meigs there was a large tree into which an In-

dian climbed and thus obtained a view of the interior of the fort. A

man named Bronson brought him down with a rifle. I do not think it

can be true that we loaded our cannon with nails and scraps on ac-

count of lack of ammunition. I have often thought that if General Har-

rison had marched his troops from Fort Seneca down the east side of

the Sandusky river and crossed, it would have brought him between the

enemy and their boats, and thus we could have captured them all. I

have often thought of it and talked it over with men of our company.

When the firing commenced, Lieut. Anthony was panicstruck and secreted

himself, and did not come out until the battle was over. He was put

under arrest by Major Croghan and sent to Fort Seneca and court-

martialed for cowardice and cashiered the service. Gen. Harrison was

a small and very slim man, a little on the dark complected order, and

advanced in years. Major Croghan was a very thin man and stood about

five feet eight or nine inches. He was tall and slim. He became very

corpulent and fleshy some years after. I remember well when Colonel

Croghan was placed in arrest. He had an order from Gen. Harrison to

destroy all public property that he could not bring away and retreat.

When he got the order it was too late to retreat. He was tried and ac-

quitted. He was a very courageous man, afraid of nothing under the

sun. After the battle of Fort Stephenson we were returned to our com-

panies again. Every company got their own men but ours, which had

one killed, Samuel Thurman, who was the only man killed on our side.

We lay at Camp Seneca until the news came from Commodore Perry

that "we have met the enemy and they are ours." We then marched

past Fort Stephenson to the lake, where we were furnished with boats

• 84
 

The Croghan Celebration.                   85   and crossed over into Canada. We landed about one mile below Colonel Elliott's quarters. I must tell you a little story about this. I took six beautiful silver spoons from that man's house. Everybody had left and I was hard up. The house was furnished in the English fashion. I sold them at Detroit. We did not get paid in those days like we do now. We often went eighteen months without pay. From  Elliott's we went to Fort Malden. They had evacuated and taken all they could get from there, and then we went up to Sand Beach. Colonel Johnson followed with more men, and we all followed the British troops until they got to Moravian Town. On the 2d of October we fought the battle of the Thames. I recol- lect that day just as well as I do sitting in this chair. It was their last battle. We made short work of the British. They knew we were com-

ing and General Proctor and an aide fled before we were within a mile of them. We captured all of them but these two. We had more fighting with the Indians than with the British Regulars. The Indians retreated across the river in canoes, but many of them were shot and tumbled over in the water.  We marched to Detroit, where we embarked in Com- modore Perry's fleet. General Harrison and my company were on the same boat with Commodore Perry, and also a British Commodore and other British officers who were prisoners. We sailed to Buffalo, and then marched to Sackett's Harbor, where we joined General Wilkinson's com- mand that was to attack Montreal. We took open boats and started across, but owing to the ice we had to abandon the expedition and return to the shore, from where we marched to a place called Chateaugay Four Cor- ners, on a little lake, and wintered there. The next spring the captain,

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86       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

one officer and myself went to New York on recruiting service. That

was in 1814. I remained in New York about two years. When we left

New York we marched with recruits to fill up the companies stationed

on the northern frontier. I had re-enlisted on the 23d of November,

1816, for five years. We marched to Sackett's Harbor, and I was there

assigned to Company D, Second Infantry. The other recruits were dis-

tributed at the different stations. I was stationed at Sackett's Harbor

something like seventeen years. We remained quietly at barracks all

this time, until the Black Hawk War broke out beyond Chicago. We

started in the month of July, 1832, and got back October 6, of the same

year. We had no battles in that campaign. There was nothing but hard

marching, etc. I was appointed an ordinance sergeant of the U. S. army

October 18, 1833, and was ordered to Boston, but finally exchanged with

the ordnance sergeant at Madison barracks. Colonel Kirby, paymaster,

and others arranged the matter for me. During the Florida War I was

in Sackett's Harbor in charge of all the property at that post. I was

there too during the Mexican War and got an order from General

Augur to enlist all the men that I could and send them to Syracuse. I

got from four to six every day, and sent them to Syracuse for Mexico.

I was a recruiting officer for General Augur. During the war of the Re-

bellion I was left alone in charge of the quartermaster's stores, medical

and other property at Madison Barracks, New York. I was discharged

December 31, 1866, by Secretary Stanton and came to this home. I have

had charge of a great many improvements in the home and was lodge

keeper at the Whitney Avenue gate for a number of years."

Sergeant Gaines was at the time of this interview an active

old man about five feet seven inches in height, of dark complex-

ion. He had bright grey eyes, white hair and strongly marked

features. He stood perfectly erect, and had a very soldierly bear-

ing. His mind was clear and his memory quite remarkable. He

described with great detail the incident of his early service. He

was the last survivor of the gallant defenders of Fort Stephenson.

He enlisted when in his thirtieth year and probably no man served

longer in the United States Army than he.

 

 

REUBEN CLEMENT.

In 1880 there still lived in Petersburg, Va., a survivor of the

War of 1812, one of the Petersburg Volunteers, one member of

which, Brown, fought at Fort Stephenson. A letter from this

aged man, Mr. Reuben Clements, reads:

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The Croghan Celebration.                    87

 

"PETERSBURG, VA., 4th March, 1880.

Colonel:

According to promise I will now attempt to tell you what little I

know about Croghan and Sandusky. The opening of the spring cam-

paign in 1813 found the garrison of Fort Meigs exceedingly weak.

General Harrison having gone in the states to hasten forward rein-

forcements, leaving General Clay in command. The British and In-

dians in considerable numbers, knowing perhaps of the absence of the

General-in-Chief, and our weakness, as also our expecting succor from

Kentucky, surrounded the fort and engaged in a sham battle, hoping

by this ruse to draw us out. Failing in this they left us, taking the

Military Road in the direction of Fort Stephenson, which was said to

have been forty miles in length, and fell upon Major Croghan and

his little band at Sandusky. The fort at this place was quite small,

covering I should say not more than one English acre of ground. In

form it was quadrilateral, without traverses, but having in front of

curtain on its four sides a broad and deep fosse. At the north-east

angle of the fort was a blockhouse, and just here was mounted the

only cannon (a six pounder) which made such havoc with the red coats

occupying the ditch. My impression is that my old comrade Brown

was the only member of my company present on that occasion; and

that he did not (as has been asserted) command the piece but only

assisted in working it. The captain of the gun was a sergeant either

of the Pittsburg Blues, or Greensburg Blues. However Brown was ter-

ribly burned about the face which disfigured him for life. I forgot to

state that the Fort was short of ammunition of all sorts, having only three

rounds in all for the cannon. You ask if I knew Major Croghan. I an-

swer, Yes, I have seen him oftentimes before and after the glorious fight

at Sandusky. He was a beardless stripling; I should say rather below

the medium size, and did not look more than eighteen years of age.

This is about all I know of Croghan and Sandusky. I might add, though

not exactly pertinent, that our Company was quite largely represented

on the decks of Commodore Perry's ships, when he so gloriously fought

and overcame the British Fleet on Lake Erie.

With great respect,

Your obedient servant,

REUBEN CLEMENTS.

 

THE FIRST PERMANENT WHITE SETTLERS IN OHIO, JAMES WHIT-

AKER AND ELIZABETH FOULKE.

The first permanent white settlers in Ohio were James

Whitaker and Elizabeth Foulks, who were captured in western

Pennsylvania in 1774 and 1776 respectively, by the Wyandot

Indians, by whom they were adopted and taken to Lower San-

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88        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

dusky, now Frement, Ohio, where they were brought together

as adopted members of the Wyandot tribe. They were married

in Detroit, in 1781, and returned to a tract of land which had

been given to them by the Wyandots on the Sandusky River,

three miles below the lower rapids known as Lower Sandusky.

Here they lived and raised a family of eight children. Two

of their grandchildren and several great grandchildren are resi-

dents of Fremont and vicinity.

James Whitaker, who became an Indian trader, died of

poison, it is said, in 1804, at Upper Sandusky, where he had a

store; but his remains were brought to his home established in

1781, where he was buried on the tract originally given him as

a wedding gift by the Indians, which tract, containing 1280

acres, was set aside to his widow by the treaty made at Fort

Industry September 29, 1817. His tombstone was brought from

the old Whitaker farm and placed in Birchard Library, just one

hundred years after its erection over his grave. It bears the

following inscription:

 

 

 

IN MEMORY OF

JAMES WHITEACRE

WHO DIED

DEC. 17, 1804

In the ₄8th year of his age.

 

 

The tombstone of his daughter, Mary Whitaker Shannon,

was also brought from the Whitaker family burying-ground to

Birchard Library. Its inscription records her death as occur-

ring August 15, 1827, in the 36th year of her age, which places

her birth in 1791. She was the fourth child of James Whitaker.

The Hon. Homer Everett, who came to Fremont in 1815,

and was the recognized authority and historian of Sandusky

county, relates in his History of Sandusky County an interview

with Mrs. Rachel Scranton, the seventh child of James Whitaker,

as follows:

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The Croghan Celebration.                    89

 

"About the year 1780 two brothers, Quill and James Whitaker, in

company with another young man, left Fort Pitt one morning on a

hunting expedition. They wandered a considerable distance from the

fort, intent upon securing game with which to gratify their friends, but

at an unexpected moment a volley of rifle balls rattled among the trees.

One took mortal effect in the body of the young man, another passed

through the hat of Quill Whitaker, who saved himself by flight; a third

ball shattered the arm of James, the younger brother, and in a few minutes

he was the prisoner of a band of painted Wyandot warriors. After several

days' hard traveling, the Indians with their captive reached a village

within the present boundaries of Richland County, Ohio. Here the lines

were formed and Whitaker's bravery and activity tested on the gauntlet

course. The boy, wounded as he was, deported himself with true heroism.

The first half of the course was passed without a single scratch, but as he

was speeding on toward the painted goal an old squaw who cherished a

feeling of deep revenge, mortified by the captive's successful progress,

sprang forward and caught his arm near the shoulder, hoping to detain

him long enough for the weapon of the next savage to take effect. The

prisoner instantly halted and with a violent kick sent the vicious squaw

and the next Indian tumbling from the lines. His bold gallantry received

wild shouts of applause along the line. Attention being thus diverted, he

sprang forward with quickened speed and reached the post without ma-

terial injury. Not satisfied that this favorite amusement should be so

quickly ended, it was decided that the prisoner should run again. The

lines for the second trial were already formed, when an elderly and dig-

nified squaw walked forward and took from her own shoulders a blanket

which she cast over the panting young prisoner, saying, 'This is my son.

He is one of us. You must not kill him.' Thus adopted, he was treated

with all that kindness and affection which the savage heart is capable

of cherishing."

Miss Helen Scranton, daughter of Mr. Everett's informant

above, relates that her grandfather, James Whitaker, was born

in London, England, in 1756, and brought to New York when

twelve years of age by his uncle, John Whitaker, who was a

trader and the captain of his own ship. The boy wandered

away from his uncle's ship while in New York and was later

reported as having been captured by the Indians.

The first documentary evidence we have of James Whitaker

is found in his signature to a proclamation issued by Henry

Hamilton, the British Lieutenant Governor at Detroit. This

notorious scalp-hunter three months later welcomed the rene-

gades Girty, Elliott and McKee, and sent them forth to lead the

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savages against American settlers on the borders of Pennsyl-

vania and Virginia. The proclamation reads:

 

"DETROIT, January 5th, 1778.

"Notwithstanding all endeavors to apprize his majesty's faithful and

loyal subjects, dispersed over the colonies of his gracious intentions to-

wards them, signified to them at different times, it is to be feared the

mistaken zeal of the deluded multitude, acted upon by the artful and

wicked designs of rebellious counsellors has prevented many from profit-

ing of his majesty's clemency. This is to acquaint all whom it may con-

cern, that nothing can give greater satisfaction to those persons who com-

mand for his majesty at the different posts, than to save from ruin those

innocent people who are unhappily involved in distresses they have in no

ways merited. The moderation shown by the Indians who have gone to

war from this place, is a speaking proof of the truth; and the injunc-

tions constantly laid upon them on their setting out, having been to

spare the defenceless and aged of both sexes, show that compassion for

the unhappy is blended with the severity necessary to be exercised in the

obstinate and perverse enemies of his majesty's crown and dignity.

"The persons undernamed are living witnesses of the moderation and

even gentleness of savages shown to them, their wives and children;

which may, it is hoped, induce others to exchange the hardships experi-

enced under their present masters, for security and freedom under their

lawful sovereign.

"The bearer hereof, Edward Hazle, has my orders to make known

to all persons whom it may concern, that the Indians are encouraged to

show the same mildness to all who shall embrace the offer of safety and

protection, hereby held out to them; and he is further to make known,

as far as lies in his power, that if a number of people can agree upon

a place of rendezvous, and a proper time for coming to this post, the

Miamis, Sandusky or post Vincennes, the properest methods will be taken

for their security, and a safe guard of white people, with an officer and

interpreter sent to conduct them.

"Given under my hand and seal in Detroit.

"Signed, Henry Hamilton[Seal], Lieutenant Governor and Super-

intendent.

"God save the King."

"We who have undersigned our names, do voluntarily declare that

we have been conducted from the several places mentioned opposite our

names to Detroit by Indians accompanied with white people; that we

have neither been cruelly treated nor in any way ill used by them; and

further that on our arrival we have been treated with the greatest hu-

manity and our wants supplied in the best manner possible.

"George Baker, for himself, wife and five children-now here from

five miles below Logstown.

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The Croghan Celebration.                    91

 

"James Butterworth from Big Kenawha.

"Thomas X Shoers, from Harrodstown, Kentucky.

his        mark.

"Jacob Pugh, from six miles below the fort at Wheeling.

"Jonathan Muchmore, from Ft. Pitt.

"James Whitaker, from Detroit, taken at Fish Creek.

"John X Bridges, from Detroit, taken at Fish Creek.

his        mark.

After Whitaker's marriage and return to Lower Sandusky,

he became an influential Wyandot chief and follower of Tarhe,

the Crane, the famous Indian chieftain whose home was at

Lower Sandusky. Charles Johnson, states in his Narrative that

Whitaker fought with the Wyandots under Crane in the defeat

of St. Clair in 1791, and again in the Battle of Fallen Timbers

in 1794, when Wayne defeated the Indians so decisively and

brought permanent peace to the frontier.

James Whitaker died in 1804, but the Wyandots of Lower

Sandusky, under Tarhe, fought on the American side in the War

of 1812. Although compelled through self-interest and the cir-

cumstances of his location to fight the battles of his adopted Indian

brothers, there are many notable instances of his kindness to

white prisoners, and his constant efforts to alleviate their suffer-

ings whenever possible. A number of instances are cited later.

Mr. Everett's narrative, cited above, continues:

 

"About two years after the capture of Whitaker, another party of

warriors made an incursion into Pennsylvania and captured at Cross

Roads, Elizabeth Foulks, a girl eleven years old, whom they carried into

captivity and adopted into a family of the tribe. Both captives lived con-

tentedly and happily, having adopted the manners and customs of their

hosts.

"A few years after--probably here on the Sandusky river, at a

general council of their tribe, these two adopted children of the forest

made each other's acquaintance. A marriage according to the customs

of civilized life was at once arranged and the couple, ardent in their love

and happy in their expectations, set off for Detroit, where the Christian

ritual was pronounced which made them man and wife.

"The Indians seemed well pleased by this conduct of their pale-

faced children. They gave them a choice tract of farming land in the

river bottom. Mr. and Mrs. Whitaker reared a large family for whose

education they expended considerable sums of money.

"Mr. Whitaker entered into mercantile business, for which he was

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well fitted. He established a store at his residence, one at Tymochtee

and one at Upper Sandusky. He accumulated wealth rapidly, having at

the time of his death his goods all paid for and 2,000 pounds on deposit

with the Canada house where he made his purchases. At Upper San-

dusky he had a partner, Hugh Patterson, with whom in the year 1804

he drank a glass of wine and died a short time afterwards, his death

being attributed to poison in the wine. Mrs. Whitaker, to whom a reser-

vation was granted in the treaty of 1817, survived her husband many

years."

Miss Helen Scranton states that her grandmother, Elizabeth

Foulks, was taken prisoner by the Wyandots during the first

year of the War of the Revolution, 1776, when eleven years old,

at Beaver Creek, Pa. The children of the neighborhood were

making sugar when they were attacked by the Indians, her

brother John Foulks was tomahawked and killed, and her brother

George, who was several years older than Elizabeth, was taken

prisoner with her. Both were carried through to the vicinity

of Detroit: She remained with the Indians at Detroit, being

very kindly treated by them, until she was married to James

Whitaker, also a prisoner at Detroit, some five years and three

months after her capture, namely in 1781 or 1782. She was

adopted by the Wyandots, but in common with the white pris-

oners, including her brother George, she was freed a short time

before her marriage. George Foulks returned at once to Beaver

Creek, Pa., where he married, leaving at least ten children.

Elizabeth was married to James Whitaker according to rites of

civilized life, but whether by a civil or a religious ceremony is

not known. In 1782, very soon after their marriage, Whitaker

and his wife left Detroit and returned to the banks of the San-

dusky River, where they built a log cabin three miles below

Lower Sandusky, now Fremont. A few years after settling on

the Sandusky, Whitaker traded his furs and Indian supplies

for lumber from Canada, and after rafting it up the Sandusky

River built a large frame, two-story house, also a warehouse

and store building. When her first child, Nancy, was nine or

ten months old, Mrs. Whitaker started on her first trip home

to Beaver Creek, carrying her baby on her horse in front of

her and being accompanied by two Wyandot squaws. She was

the mother of eight children, from her marriage in 1782 until

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The Croghan Celebration.              93   the death of her husband in 1804, at Upper Sandusky. She made several trips to her old home in Beaver Creek, going for the last time in 1823 to attend a family reunion at the home of her sister. An incident of that occasion is that her sister sat at the table with twenty-two of her own children, two others having died. Of the twenty-two, a quartet of boys, born at one birth, were dressed in suits of handsome green cloth presented to them by President Monroe. Mrs Whitaker died suddenly in 1833,

while on a visit to Upper Sandusky, where her husband also had died neatly thirty years before. She was buried at Upper San- dusky, although her husband's body had been taken back to Lower Sandusky. Her will, dated February 13, 1833, was admitted to probate in this county September 13, 1833, in which are mentioned the names of several of her children, including Isaac and James, the latter being her executor. In her will among other things

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mentioned as her property was "a chest containing valuable arti-

cles." From the inventory of her estate as recorded in the office

of the probate judge the following articles of silver were found

in a chest: Silver castor, cruets, tablespoons, sugar tongs, Indian

armband and shoe buckles.

The children of James Whitaker and Elizabeth Foulks

Whitaker were all born on what was afterward called the

Whitaker Reservation, a tract of 1280 acres set aside for her

by the treaty of 1817, which reads:

"To Elizabeth Whitaker, who was taken prisoner by the Wyandots

and has ever since lived among them, 1280 acres of land, on the west

side of the Sandusky river, near Croghansville, to be laid off in a square

form, as nearly as the meanders of the said river will admit, and to run

an equal distance above and below the house in which the said Elizabeth

Whitaker now lives."

A deed was made to her by the Government in 1822 for

these lands, containing the restriction that she should not con-

vey them to others without permission from the President of

the United States. This permission she obtained from President

Monroe and in 1823, for the consideration named in the deed

of $1200, conveyed the whole tract to her son George Whitaker.

The names of the children of James and Elizabeth Whitaker

were:

Nancy, born in 1782, married William Wilson in 1803.

Isaac moved to Indiana.

James moved to Michigan.

Mary, born in 1791, married George Shannon, died in 1827.

Elizabeth who died during the War of 1812.

Charlotte who died in 1824.

Rachel, born in 1800, who married James A. Scranton in

1823.

George, born in 1803, moved to Missouri in February, 1884.

James Whitaker had a number of trading posts or stores,

one at his home, one on the Tymochtee and one at Upper San-

dusky. While visiting the latter he died suddenly, in 1804, sup-

posedly being poisoned by his partner, Hugh Patterson, a Cana-

dian from Sandwich, Upper Canada, who owed Mrs. Whitaker

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The Croghan Celebration.               95

 

"$1300 on a judgment on which Richard Patterson was surety,"

as stated in Elizabeth Whitaker's will.

James Whitaker did a great deal of his trading at Montreal,

making one or two trips thither a year. On one of these trips

he took his eldest daughter, Nancy, a young girl, to Montreal,

where she visited an English family named Wilson. The Wil-

sons proposed sending one of their daughters to Scotland to be

educated, and Nancy Whitaker accompanied her and remained

at Glasgow, Scotland, at school for nearly three years. Shortly

after Nancy's return to her father's home near Lower Sandusky,

William Wilson, an English officer and son of the Montreal

Wilsons, came to visit the Whitakers, and on a second visit some

months later he was married to Nancy at the Whitaker home,

when she was between seventeen and eighteen years of age.

William Wilson, the British officer, and his wife Nancy lived

with the Whitakers, where they had many English officers as

visitors. Two girls and a boy were born to them before the

death of Nancy Whitaker Wilson, which occurred shortly before

the death of her father, James Whitaker, in 1804. The British

officer, Wilson, was recalled to England in 1810 or 1811 to

assume the position of Captain in his regiment, and left his

three children with their grandmother, Elizabeth Whitaker, who

had charge of them until after the close of the war between

Great Britain and America, as well as of her own seven children.

One of her children, Mary, married George Shannon. She

died in 1827, leaving five sons and one daughter; two sons,

James and John, lived and died here, leaving large families who

are prosperous people. Rachel Whitaker Scranton died Octo-

ber 7, 1862, eleven years after the death of her husband, James

A. Scranton, who died while Sergeant-at-Arms of the Ohio State

Senate, in 1851. They had ten children, of whom two survive:

James A. Scranton, a farmer near Fremont, and Mrs. Hannah

Scranton-Stoner, a widow.

Charles Johnston of Botetourt County, Virginia, while engaged in

securing depositions of witnesses in litigation in relation to lands in

Kentucky, left his home in 1789 and repaired to what is now Point

Pleasant on the Ohio river, While passing down the river with Mr.

May, Mr. Skyles, William Flinn and Peggy and Dolly Fleming, one of

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whom   was a particular friend of Flinn who with the young women

were residents of Pittsburg, the party was hailed by two white men who

implored to be taken on board and rescued from the Indians by whom

they had been captured. These white men were simply used as a decoy,

and when the boat containing Johnston and his companions approached

the shore they were fired on by a body of 54 Indians, killing Dolly

Fleming and Mr. May, and capturing Skyles, Flinn, Peggy Fleming and

Charles Johnston. The date was March 20, 1789. The prisoners were

separated and later Flinn was burned at the stake on the Sandusky

river, Skyles was condemned to a similar fate on the Miami of the

Lakes, but providentially escaped to Detroit. In 1827, Johnston, then a

prominent citizen of his native state, printed a "Narrative of the Inci-

dents attending the Capture, Detention and Ransom of Charles Johnston."

The following extracts relate to his fellow captive, Peggy Fleming, and

to his experiences at Lower Sandusky. When he reached Upper San-

dusky, he met a Canadian trader, named Francis Duchouquet, who suc-

ceeded after many efforts in purchasing Johnston from the Indians for

600 silver broaches. "This event" says Johnston, "to me the most im-

portant of my life, by a singular coincidence occurred on the 28th of

April, in the year 1790, the day on which I attained the age of 21 years."

"The small band of Cherokees, three in number, to whom Peggy

Fleming had been allotted in the distribution made of the prisoners on

the Ohio, brought her to Upper Sandusky while I was there. She was

no longer that cheerful, lively creature such as when separated from

us. Her spirits were sunk, her gayety had fled; and instead of that

vivacity and sprightliness which formerly danced upon her countenance

she now wore the undissembled aspect of melancholy and wretchedness.

I endeavored to ascertain the cause of this extraordinary change, but

she answered my inquiries only with her tears; leaving my mind to its

own inferences. Her stay with us was only for a few hours, during

which time I could not extract a word from her, except occasionally

the monosyllables yes and no. Gloom and despondency had taken entire

possession of her breast; and nothing could be more touching than her

appearance. Her emaciated frame and dejected countenance, presented

a picture of sorrow and of sadness which would have melted the stoutest

heart, and such was its effect upon me that I could not abstain from

mingling my tears with hers. With these feelings we parted. When we

met again it was under far different and more auspicious circumstances,

as will hereafter be seen.

"Mr. Duchouquet sold his goods and collected his peltry at Upper

Sandusky. The season had arrived for transporting his purchases to De-

troit; and with a light heart I began the journey to that post in his

party. The Sandusky river is not navigable from the upper town: and

Mr. Duchouquet's peltry was carried on pack horses to Lower Sandusky;

whence there is a good navigation to Detroit. When we reached Lower

Sandusky, a great degree of consternation prevailed there, produced by

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The Croghan Celebration.                     97

 

the incidents of the preceding day, and of the morning then recently

past. The three Cherokees, who had possession of Peggy Fleming, had

conducted her to a place where they encamped, within a quarter of a

mile's distance from the town. It was immediately rumored that they

were there, with a white female captive. The traders residing in the

town instantly determined to visit the camp of the Cherokees and to

see her. Among them was a man whose name was Whitaker, and who

like the one that I had met at Upper Sandusky had been carried into

captivity from the white settlements by the Wyandots in his early life.

He was not so entirely savage as the first; could speak our language

better; and though naturalized by his captors retained some predilection

for the whites. The influence which he had acquired with his tribe was

such that they had promoted him to the rank of chief; and his standing

with them was high. His business had led him frequently to Pittsburg

where the father of Peggy Fleming then kept a tavern in which Whit-

aker had been accustomed to lodge and board. As soon as he appeared

with the other traders at the camp of the Cherokees, he was recognized

by the daughter of his old landlord, and she addressed him by his name,

earnestly supplicating his efforts to emancipate her from the grasp of

her savage proprietors. Without hesitation he acceded to her request.

He did not make an application to the Cherokees but returned to the

town and informed the principal chief, distinguished by the appellation

of King Crane, that the white female captive was his sister; a misrepre-

sentation greatly palliated by the benevolent motive which dictated it.

"He had no difficulty in obtaining from the King a promise to pro-

cure her release. Crane went immediately to the camp of the Cherokees;

informed them that their prisoner was the sister of a friend of his, and

desired as a favor that they would make a present to him of Peggy

Fleming, whom he wished to restore to her brother. They rejected his

request. He then proposed to purchase her; this they also refused with

bitterness telling him that he was no better than the white people and

that he was as mean as the dirt; terms of the grossest reproach in their

use of them. At this insult Crane became exasperated. He went back

to the town; told Whitaker what had been his reception and declared

his intention to take Peggy Fleming from the Cherokees by force. But

fearing such an act might be productive of war between his nation and

theirs, he urged Whitaker to raise the necessary sum in value for her

redemption. Whitaker, with the assistance of the other traders at the

town, immediately made up the requisite amount in silver broaches.

This was not accomplished until it was too late to effect their object

on that evening. Early next morning, King Crane, attended by eight

or ten young warriors, marched out to the camp of the Cherokees, where

he found them asleep, while their forlorn captive was securely fastened,

in a state of utter nakedness, to a stake, and her body painted black;

an indication always decisive that death is the doom of the prisoner.

Vol. XVI-7.

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98         Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.   Crane, with his scalping knife, cut the cords by which she was bound; delivered her the clothes of which she had been divested by the rude hands of the unfeeling Cherokees; and after she was dressed, awakened them. He told them in peremptory language that the captive was his, and that he had brought with him the value of her ransom. Then throwing down the silver broaches on the ground, he bore off the terri- fied girl to the town, and delivered her to Whitaker; who after a few days sent her, disguised by her dress and paint as a squaw, to Pitts- burg, under the care of two trusty Wyandots. I never learnt whether she reached her home or not; but as the Indians are remarkable for their fidelity to their undertakings, I presume she was faithfully con- ducted to her place of destination. "The Cherokees were so incensed by the loss of their captive, that

they entered the Wyandot town of Lower Sandusky, declaring they would be revenged by taking the life of some white person. This was the cause of the alarm, which was spread among the traders at the time of our arrival, and in which our party necessarily participated; as it was indispensable that we should remain there several days, for the purpose of unpacking Mr. Duchouquet's peltry from the horses, and placing it on board the batteaux in which it was to be conveyed to Detroit. The Cherokees painted themselves, as they and other savages are accustomed to do when they are preparing for war or battle. All their ingenuity is directed to the object of rendering their aspect as horrible as pos- sible, that they may strike their enemies with terror, and indicate by external signs the fury which rages within. They walked about the town in great anger, and we deemed it necessary to keep a watchful eye upon

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The Croghan Celebration.                    99

 

them and to guard against their approach. All the whites, except Whit-

aker, who was considered as one of the Wyandots, assembled at night

in the same house, provided with weapons of defence, and continued

together until the next morning; when to our high gratification they

disappeared and I never heard of them afterwards."

Mr. Johnston's Narrative continues:

"At Lower Sandusky we found Mr. Angus McIntosh, who was

extensively engaged in the fur trade. This gentleman was at the head

of the connection to which Mr. Duchouquet belonged, who was his factor

or partner at Upper Sandusky, as a Mr. Isaac Williams was here.

Williams was a stout, bony, muscular and fearless man. On one of those

days which I spent in waiting until we were ready to embark for Detroit,

a Wyandot Indian, in his own language, which I did not understand,

uttered some expression offensive to Williams. This produced great

irritation on both sides and a bitter quarrel ensued. Williams took down

from a shelf of the store in which the incident occurred two scalping

knives; laid them on the counter; gave the Wyandot choice of them;

and challenged him to combat with these weapons. But the character

of Williams for strength and courage was so well known, that he would

not venture on the contest and soon afterward retired.

"Lower Sandusky was to me distinguished by another circumstance.

It was the residence of the Indian widow, whose former husband I had

been destined to succeed, if the Mingo had been permitted to retain and

dispose of me according to his intentions. I felt an irresistible curiosity

to have a view of this female, and it was my determination to find her

dwelling, and see her there, if no other opportunity should occur. She

was at last pointed out to me as she walked about the village, and I

could not help chuckling at my escape from the fate which had been

intended for me. She was old, ugly and disgusting.

"After the expiration of four or five days from that on which we

reached Lower Sandusky, our preparations were completed; the boats

were laden with the peltry of the traders; and the whole trading party

embarked for Detroit. On the afternoon of the second day, having de-

scended the river into Sandusky Bay, we landed on a small island near

the strait by which it enters into Lake Erie. Here we pitched a tent

which belonged to our party. The island was inhabited by a small body

of Indians, and we were soon informed that they were preparing for a

festival and dance. If I then understood the motive or occasion which

induced this dance, it is not now within my recollection. Several canoes

were employed in bringing guests from the main, which is at a short

distance, separated from the island by a narrow arm of the bay. We

were all invited to the dance by short sticks, painted red, which were

delivered to us, and seemed to be intended as tickets of admission. A

large circular piece of ground was made smooth, and surrounded by

something like a pallisade, within which the entertainment was held.

We had expected that it would commence early in the evening, but the

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delay was so long that we laid down to sleep in the tent, which stood

near the spot of ground prepared for the dance.

"About eleven o'clock we were awakened by the noise of Indian

mirth. One hundred, perhaps, of both sexes had assembled. Both men

and women were dressed in calico shirts. Those of the women were

adorned with a profusion of silver broaches, stuck in the sleeves and

bosoms; they wore, besides, what is called a match-coat, formed of

cloth, confined around the middle of their bodies by a string, with the

edges lapping toward the side, and the length of the garment extended

a little below the knees. They wore leggings and moccasins. Their

cheeks were painted red, but no other part of their face. Their long

black hair was parted in front, drawn together behind, and formed into

a club. The liberal use of bear's oil gave it a high gloss. Such are

the ornaments and dress of an Indian belle, by which she endeavors to

attract the notice of admiring beaux. The men had a covering around

their waists, to which their leggings were suspended by a string, extend-

ing from their top to the cord which held on the covering of the waist;

and a blanket or robe thrown over the shoulders and confined by a belt

around the body, of various colors and adorned with beads. The women

were arranged together and led the dance, the men following after them

and all describing a circle. The character of this dance differed essen-

tially from that of the war dance, which I had witnessed on a former

occasion. The one was accompanied by horrid yells and shrieks and

extravagant gestures, expressive of fury and ferocity, with nothing like

a mirthful cheerfulness. The other which I saw in this last instance

was mere festivity and lively mirth. The women were excluded from

the first, but had an active share in the second; and both sexes were

highly animated by the music of the tamborine. An abundant supper

had been provided, consisting altogether of the fresh meat of bears and

deer, without bread or salt and dressed in no other manner than by

boiling. It was served up in a number of wooden trenchers, placed on

the ground and the guests seated themselves around it. We were in-

vited to partake but neither the food nor the cookery were much to our

taste; yet we were unwilling to refuse their hospitality, and joined in

their repast. We were not gainers by it; for when we were faring

not very sumptuously on their boiled meat, without bread or salt, they

entered our tent and stole from our basket which contained provisions

enough for our voyage, a very fine ham on which we had intended to

regale ourselves the next day."

It is a curious fact that of the first settlers of the Ohio

Company at Marietta, the first organized settlement in the

Northwestern Territory, who were captured by the Indians to

be taken for ransom to Detroit, two of their number, Major

Nathan Goodale, the Revolutionary hero, and Daniel Convers,

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The Croghan Celebration.             101

 

then a young lad, should have been treated with great kindness

by the Indian trader James Whitaker and his family, the first

permanent white settlers in Ohio, at their home near Lower

Sandusky. In fact Major Goodale died at the home of the

Whitakers and was buried by them; while young Convers makes

personal mention of their kindness to him, in his Reminiscences.

The lad Daniel Convers was captured by nine Indians on

the 2₉th of April, 1791, just outside of Fort Frye, while engaged

with three armed soldiers in cutting a tree for the purpose of

making a hoop for the body of a drum. They were fired on,

when the three soldiers ran, leaving Daniel, who was unarmed,

to be captured by the Indians. He was hurried into a canoe

on the river which crossed over to the mouth of Wolf Creek.

On arriving at Lower Sandusky, on the 9th of May, he found

oxen and other cattle that had been taken from the settlement

at Marietta.

Some young Indian boys ran with him up the river bank

to keep him out of sight of the other Indians who lived in the

large Indian village, and he thus received only kind treatment,

except in the case of a drunken Indian, who knocked him down

several times. Hildreth's Pioneer History says that they moved

the next day down the Sandusky, "and stopped a short time at

Mr. Whitaker's, an Indian trader. He had a white wife who

like himself had been taken prisoner in childhood and adopted

into the tribe. The trader made them a present of a loaf of

maple sugar, giving Daniel a share. Whitaker said but little

to the prisoner, lest he should excite the jealousy of the war-

riors."

On arriving at the mouth of the Portage River, near the

ruins of old Fort Sandusky, Convers was delivered to his new

master, a Chippewa. The price paid for him was a horse and

several strings of wampum.

He was then taken to Detroit, where on the 14th of July

he escaped and after secreting himself for several weeks was

finally taken to the hospital by the son of the British Command-

ant, who treated him kindly and sent him on down to Montreal

and then on to his relations in Killingly, Connecticut. He re-

turned to Marietta in February, 1794, and became an influential

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102       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

citizen. He drew the sketch of Fort Frye found in Hildreth's

Pioneer History, which he assisted, as a boy, in building.

Of the many acts of kindness extended by James Whitaker

and his wife during their residence among the Indians at Lower

Sandusky, the most noted person whom they were able to assist

was Major Nathan Goodale. Gen. Rufus Putnam, the intimate

friend of Washington and his chief engineer and the "Father

of Ohio" in its first organized settlement, was warmly attached

to Major Goodale, who had served as an officer in his regiment

through the entire war. General Putnam, in a remarkable letter

to General Washington written at Massachusetts Huts, June 9,

1783, calls Washington's attention to the numerous conspicuous

acts of personal bravery and of the gallant duty performed by

Major Goodale during the Revolutionary War.

Major Goodale was a native of Brookfield, Mass., but

joined the Ohio Company in 1788. He removed to Belpre, near

Marietta, in 1789, where he was captured March 1, 1793, while

working on his farm within fifty rods of the garrison, by eight

Wyandot Indians, who hurried him off toward Detroit in order

to secure a large ransom. While en route, near Lower San-

dusky, he fell sick and could not travel. The Whitakers learn-

ing of his condition took him to their home, where Mrs. Whitaker

carefully nursed him until he finally died and was probably

buried in what afterward became the Whitaker family grave-

yard. Mrs. Whitaker said "the Indians left him at her house,

where he died of a disease like pleurisy without having received

any very ill usage from his captors other than the means neces-

sary to prevent his escape."

James Whitaker may be regarded as the first educator of

this region. About 1800, at large expense, he hired a teacher

from the east to instruct the older children. His oldest daugh-

ter, Nancy, had been taken to Montreal, and then sent to Scot-

land, where she remained three years at school, returning well

qualified to teach her younger brothers and sisters.

The Sandusky and Maumee Valleys, as well as Detroit and

the Michigan peninsula, practically remained under British do-

minion until after the Battle of Fallen Timbers and the subsequent

treaty of Greenville. Detroit was evacuated by the British in

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The Croghan Celebration.             103

 

1796, nevertheless the British through their Indian allies kept

an envious eye on this region and almost immediately after the

declaration of war in June, 1812, again took possession of much

of this territory through the ignominious surrender of Detroit.

Under these circumstances and on account of James Whitaker's

almost semi-annual business trips to Montreal it was but natural

that he and his family, including his son-in-law, Captain Wilson

of the British Army, should be counted on as having warm British

sympathies, many British officers, including Proctor himself it is

said, visited at the Whitaker home at Lower Sandusky prior to

the War of 1812. After James Whitaker's death in 1804, and for

nearly thirty years thereafter, Mrs. Whitaker resided in the old

home and transacted the business of a frontier trader, but her

connections were more with the Americans on the Ohio River

and at Pittsburg than with the British at Montreal. Many acts of

kindness on her part to the foreign missionaries are recorded.

The Rev. Joseph Badger, born in Springfield, Mass., and a

Revolutionary soldier who fought at Bunker Hill, was appointed

a missionary in the Connecticut Western Reserve in October,

1800, and in 1801 began his work which also extended into the

Sandusky Valley. In 1805, in the records left by him, we read

of his swimming his horse across the Sandusky River by the

side of his canoe. Associated with him was Quintus F. Atkins,

whose diary is in the W. R. Historical Society. There we read

that in 1806 these two men sailed up the Sandusky River to

Mrs. Whitaker's, where they unloaded and had family prayers.

A little later they heard Crane, the Wyandot chief, "expressing

his pleasure in granting permission to work their land and to

get food and hoping they would dwell together in peace." In

the fall of 1809, when war rumors were afloat, Mr. Badger

made an appointment for the Indians to meet him at Mrs.

Whitaker's, at Lower Sandusky. His address to them was so

convincing and his influence over them for four or five years

had been so powerful for good, that they resolved to take no

part against the Americans. This was doubtless one of the rea-

sons together with the influence of Mrs. Whitaker, why the

Wyandots under Tarhe at Lower Sandusky, kept their faith with

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104       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.   the Americans and did not join the other Indians in behalf of the British. General Harrison often stopped at her house and she nursed him there through an illness of over six weeks. When the British expedition set out from Detroit under Proctor late in July, 1813, against Fort Meigs and then against Fort Stephenson at Lower Sandusky, it is only fair to presume that they counted on Mrs. Whitaker being friendly or at least neutral, as it was known that she had in her house the three children of a Captain in the British Army in the persons of the children of her daughter Nancy. The British gun-boats stopped at Whitaker's wharf three miles below the fort, where the large fine dwelling-house, store-house, factory

and wharves of the Whitakers were located, but Mrs. Whitaker with her children and grandchildren on the approach of Tecum- seh's horde of Indians had fled to the protection of Fort Stephen- son and had been sent but a day or so before the battle, with other refugees, women and children, on toward Upper Sandusky and Delaware. She, herself, was fired on by the Indians, whose bullets riddled her cape. Her descendants, and in fact many old residents, ascribe much of Major Croghan's success to the information and advice given him by Mrs. Whitaker. She certainly had every opportunity of learning of the intention of the Indian allies of the British and this information she undoubtedly im- parted to General Harrison and Major Croghan, although it

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The Croghan Celebration.             105

 

is hard to estimate the actual value of the assistance given to

Croghan in the battle. Nevertheless the British were so in-

censed at her conduct that they stopped at the Whitaker home

on their retreat down the river from Fort Stephenson and re-

mained long enough to utterly destroy the old home, the ware-

house, the factory and the wharves. Before Mrs. Whitaker fled

from her riverside home, she buried a handsome silver service

which had been presented to her and her husband, years before,

by British officers. It was unearthed and carried off by the Brit-

ish. Among the evidences of the landing of British soldiers at

the Whitaker homestead and also of the character of the troops

engaged against Fort Stephenson is a Wellington half-penny

token, coined in 1813, and presented to British troops participating

in Wellington's Peninsular Campaign in Spain and Portugal,

which was found within the last ten years near the Whitaker

homestead and was placed in the Birchard Library Museum. After

the close of General Harrison's Northwestern Compaign he ap-

pointed a commission to appraise the damage and loss sustained

by American citizens by the British invasion of Ohio during the

War of 1812. This commission awarded Mrs. Whitaker $8000

as the damage and loss sustained in the destruction of her prop-

erty by the British forces under General Proctor. "I have claims

on the United States," says her will, probated in 1833, "to $8000

for spoilation during the last war." Voluminous papers were pre-

pared many years ago containing original affidavits of settlers

of that period, and placed in the hands of Congressman Frank

H. Hurd, who represented this Congressional District some

twenty-five years ago.

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