Ohio History Journal

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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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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94        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

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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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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