Ohio History Journal

Winthrop Sargent                 273

 

became adopted amongst them, his head shaved, painted, etc., as

is their custom upon such occasions, and has since, by his own

account, been much in favor with them. He relates that he has

been with them to the British posts, Michilmackinac particularly.

That they are there equipped with all the necessaries to come to

war against the United States--march out upon these occasions

under English colors, and are received when they return with

scalps with military parade and every mark of approbation and

encouragement. This man has brought to me from Michilmack-

inac a couple of small memorandum books in manuscript which I

left in the field upon the 4th of November at General St. Clair's

defeat. They were sewed up under a blank cover to my address,

but without any information of the person sending them to me.

 

 

 

EXTRACTS FROM WINTHROP SARGENT'S JOURNAL.

1793-1795

 

In the library of the Ohio State Archaeological and

Historical Society is a typewritten copy of the Journal

of Winthrop Sargent, Secretary of the Territory North-

west of the Ohio River, covering the period from Oc-

tober 1, 1793, to December 31, 1795. This for the most

part is made up of weather reports day by day but oc-

casionally other items of interest are included. It shows

that the writer by no means spent all of his time at his

post in the Northwest Territory. There were visits to

the East covering a number of months. The Journal

begins when he was in New York, setting out on a jour-

ney to Mount Vernon where he visited General Wash-

ington October 13 and 14, 1793. He describes Mount

Vernon and its environs. Washington's farm, he tells

us, includes about 10,000 acres of land, "⁷⁰⁰ of which

are in plantations the present season, cultivated by

slaves of which the President has now fully 200, better

Vol. XXXIII--18.

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274       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

clothed and fed than negroes generally are in this coun-

try." The writer then continues:

I saw and conversed with many of them in my walks of this

morning, who seem well contented in their situation and most

attached to their master.

A very advantageous situation for a fortress was pointed out

to me by the President nearly opposite to Mount Vernon, com-

manding perfectly the channel of the Potomac both up and down

the river to a very considerable distance. The mansion house,

which is of wood, has been considerably improved since it came

into the possession of its present dignified owner. It is about 120

feet in length with a capacious open piazza towards the water,

supported by a proper number of pillars, very lofty and majestic

columns.

Then follows a detailed account of the Mount Ver-

non residence, its gardens, greenhouse and surround-

ings. He has an interesting account of the meeting

with President Washington and his family:

Around the breakfast table were collected the party of yes-

terday, all in health and cheerful. Mrs. Washington and the

President seem as yet to have suffered but little since the close of

the last war by the ravaging hand of time. He endures exercise

unremitted and even fatigues of body and mind very uncommonly

for his season. After a very substantial repast in which Indian

hoe cake with butter and honey seemed the principal component

parts, we withdrew till dinner at which and till late this evening

we were favored with his company. Our conversation general

and the subject of politics avoided. I am a little disappointed,

coming from the western country now the theater of war and

having borne some considerable part in the unfortunate campaign

of General St. Clair which is still a subject of public discussion,

that the President did not avail himself of the information I

might have reasonably been supposed to be capable of imparting

His silence, however, upon this head was a good lesson to me

and for once I suffered prudence to assume the government. A

total apathy to friendship, all affectionate attachments or en-

couragements to friendly confidential communications should

mark the character of that public man who would appear im-

maculate to the jaundiced eye of a diversified multifarious re-

publican government. Upon the topics of old campaigns under

the unfortunate General Braddock and his successor, Forbes, I

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Winthrop Sargent                 275

 

obtained information, by queries however, for the President cer-

tainly is never communicative. He bore a material part under

these officers and I learn from him that the British were very

much indebted to chance for the possession of Fort Duquesne

(now Pittsburgh) in the campaign. * * * For the French com-

mandant had dismissed the Indians at a late period when his

enemy was about making winter cantonment, not having supplies

of provisions to advance; but convoys accidentally arriving,

Forbes pushed on and acquired his object without any opposi-

tion--except some skirmishings which had previously taken place

between his advanced guards and small parties of Indians.

The family by whom Sargent was entertained con-

sisted of the "President, Mrs. Washington, Mr. Dand-

ridge, the President's secretary, three Miss Custises

and a Mrs. Washington, widow of the President's

nephew." The diary continues:

Between the President, Mr. Dandridge and the ladies we

have passed the afternoon and evening very pleasantly. The

Miss Custises are granddaughters of Mrs. Washington through

a first husband, all of them handsome and agreeable, but Nelly

who has of late accompanied her grandmamma in public life is

of acknowledged excellence; with their vocal and instrumental

music we have been much charmed; Mrs., the widow Washing-

ton, is of most amiable person and manners. On the morrow

after breakfast we were necessitated to bid adieu to this honored

assemblage, deeply impressed with a sense and esteem of and for

the private virtues and accomplishments of each and every one of

them and with added veneration and respect for the august chief,

our illustrious President.

On February 10, 1794, Sargent was in Philadelphia

and was somewhat surprised at a distinguished arrival

in that city. He writes:

The governor of the Western Territory arrived in the city

last evening, upon which occasion I feel more than a little awk-

ward, for though I left him there and may in propriety myself

be absent, yet there being no provision for the administration of

the government when we are both away, to those ignorant of

circumstances a degree of censure may be implied in which I

must come in for a share; and the subject is too delicate to suffer

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a general public explanation unless I should be called upon

officially for the purpose.

From the foregoing we gather that Sargent felt that

he and St. Clair were subject to criticism  for having

left their distant post at a time when the country was

at war with the Indians in that quarter.

By the 4th of July following he had reached Pitts-

burgh where the day was appropriately celebrated.

That city was still subject to annoyance from the In-

dians and the whites on its outskirts had recently been

attacked and a number of them killed. On the after-

noon of the 4th he started on his voyage down the Ohio.

On July 8 he spent a day at Marietta and continued his

voyage, making extended notes on the weather and giv-

ing much space to a description of the river. At about

noon July 15 he arrived in Cincinnati. On the 16th he

makes a somewhat extended entry in his diary com-

mencing with the following observations:

The army has moved since I quitted this place, but so many

of the retainers of it remain behind that quarters are extremely

difficult to be obtained and I am obliged to continue on board

my boat. Almost all the bad habits and practices of military

people seem to have been imbibed by the people of Cincinnati

and none of their virtues, so that it is at present infinitely a more

vitiated place than has fallen within my observation from the

extreme of Massachusetts to Alexandria in Virginia.

Then follows an account of Indian depredations

which shows that while St. Clair and Sargent were

away the pioneers of the territory had been having a

rather lively time of it. Here is a portion of the sum-

mary:

After receiving since my arrival the following in-

formation of Indian hostilities, viz:

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Some time last autumn they attacked White's Station, the

people almost all absent, killed one man and two children and

lost two or three of their own party; in April took some plunder

from near the house of a Mr. Smith, clergyman, of Columbia;

were pursued by Captain Kibbey the next morning, plunder

retaken and two Indians killed; in the same month one Jennings

near Columbia wounded and died in a day or two; in the month

of January, three of the inhabitants attacked near Fort Hamil-

ton, one made his escape, one was killed and the other taken

prisoner; in March, Scott Travers, another of the inhabitants of

Cincinnati, was killed near Hamilton; in the month of May a

convoy was attacked upon the way to Fort Hamilton, about six

miles from Cincinnati, the vanguard defeated and the Indians

in the act of plundering the pack horses were charged by a party

of dragoons and routed--seven or eight supposed to have been

killed on each side,--a Major Winston commanding the com-

pany and escort had remained in Cincinnati over night and was

not out in season to conduct the march and defense; in the same

month some Indian horse thieves were pursued by the Columbians

and one killed; in June Mr. Stites and Mr. Reeder from Co-

lumbia to Cincinnati were fired upon and pursued some distance,

but though the latter was wounded they made their escape; upon

the 1st inst. at the ground of General St. Clair's defeat (now

Fort Recovery) an escort which had upon the preceding evening

disposed their convoy were attacked by a very large force of

Indians; the major commanding the party and three other com-

missioned officers were killed and two wounded; twenty-one

rank and file killed and twenty-nine wounded and 300 pack and

cavalry horses taken, and it is presumed by an observer that this

was a very complete defeat, but the General with very great

policy establishes it as a victory in his orders of ----------.

It is probable about thirty Indians were killed, for they exposed

themselves very much in a continued firing upon the fort for

some long time after the defeat of the before mentioned party,

and in aid of a few good marksmen behind the walls there were

about a dozen Chickasaws and Choctaws who stole out of a

sallyport and got into the rear of the enemy undistinguished

from them, and brought off ten scalps. I am told by a Mr.

----------, a very candid young man who was in the action,

that there was a great confusion among the men--that they

could not be brought to take aim on level well, and that from the

very heavy cartridges which they were directed to charge with,

he believes an extreme apprehension of the recoil prevailed, and

to the detriment of service upon that day. * * * The mounted

volunteers of Kentucky, (so-called) are coming for the purpose

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of acting with the regulars under General Wayne against the

Indians.

Tuesday (July) 22.--General Scott, commmanding the

mounted volunteers of Kentucky, moved forward with a strong

escort to join General Wayne at the head of the line. His whole

corps are encamped a mile from town and are to advance soon.

It is said that they amount to about 1700. Some of the horses

and men are of very shabby appearance--riotous and disorderly

while in this town and seem not to be capable of fulfilling the

public expectations.

Under date of July 31 Sargent adds to his previous

list casualties in minor engagements with the Indians

above Cincinnati aggregating a loss of about twelve

killed and a supposed greater loss on the part of the

Indians. Later follows an account of the killing of

Colonel Elliot:

Tuesday (August) 7.--Last evening within five miles of

Fort Hamilton was killed Mr. Robert Elliott by the Indians; a

servant, the only person in his company, escaped. He was of

the state of Massachusetts and for several years one of the pro-

vision contractors for the army; a man of much public spirit,

intimately acquainted with the resources of this western country

and very influential therein. At any time such a character would

have been important to the government, but in the present mo-

ment when infinite exertion is required to forward any supplies

to the army in its advanced situation, it seems arduous indeed to

fill his place and the public will join with his friends and par-

ticular acquaintances in most unfeignedly regretting a loss of

so much more than common and private concern.

Wednesday 8.--Last evening a party of fifty men in the

contractor's service, thirty-seven of whom were armed with guns,

coming from Hamilton with the body of Mr. Elliot in a wagon,

were fired upon fifteen miles from this place by about twenty-five

Indians and completely routed in an instant, without returning a

shot. Some few of them were killed and the rest got back to

Hamilton, leaving the wagon and corpse with the enemy. In the

night an express coming in here believes he saw the Indians en-

camped not far from the place of action, which, together with

some reports of British deserters (five of whom have come in)

that a considerable body of Indians have left their towns to

commit depredations upon our settlements, induced me to order

out fifty of the militia from Cincinnati and eighty from Columbia

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Winthrop Sargent                 279

 

under the command of Major Gano to scour the country as far

as Hamilton and return on the morrow.

Thursday 9.--The militia returned at noon that were ordered

out yesterday, having seen no Indians and bringing in the body

of Mr. Elliot, which, with that of his servant, the lad who escaped

when his master was killed and who was shot in the attack upon

the wagon and party with the corpse, were interred this evening

with the usual ceremonies of respect. From the observation of

the officer commanding the militia it seems the Indians were not

so numerous as was imagined and appeared to have been in

great haste after attacking the wagon, not taking time to plunder

it or even pick up knapsacks and blankets which had been thrown

away by the party they defeated. They opened the coffin but

did not disturb the body. It is a little remarkable that Mr. Elliot

was not scalped. Some false hair worn upon the part usually

taken off by them, was, however, carried away, perhaps in lieu

of a scalp. One man was shot through the body within four

miles of Hamilton last evening.

Later he gave some extended accounts of the re-

ports brought by letter and messengers of Wayne's vic-

tory over the Indians in the battle of Fallen Timbers.

He then records some serious difficulties in Cincinnati

between the friendly Indians there and the citizens:

Monday (September) 8.--Some Chickasaw Indians violently

set upon this day with little or no provocation at Cincinnati;

many of them badly wounded and the authors of the tumult in

considerable concern for their property. In the afternoon those

same Indians in their camp, (about 55 in number) surrounded

by an armed party of the inhabitants--perhaps almost all of

them concerned in this outrage. Interfered myself and by the

assistance of one of the magistrates dispersed the people without

mischief and violence; the ostensible cause of their collecting a

report industriously circulated that a poor white child, naked,

was confined and suffering in captivity and was to be carried to

their nation. Upon inquiry there appears no foundation for the

tale. But still the people seem in a ferment--have combined

with some of the inhabitants of Columbia to raise a party in the

night and attack the Indian camp. Fort Washington unequal

at present to protect them; have thereupon ordered out a militia

guard and shall be upon duty myself. Indians very much in-

timidated. In the course of this business I have become well

acquainted with them; find that they are great cowards and very

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280       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

much attached even at this time to the British nation--have left

our army in consequence of an idea that the post upon the Mis-

souri would be attacked by General Wayne; however they are

under the protection of the laws of the land and our national

dignity interested most amply in affording it to them.

Tuesday 9.--Very extravagant conduct last night and this

morning by some of the people of the town; my own house and

several others fired into by persons unknown; two rifle balls near

the bed I lodged in; soon after daylight and dismission of the

militia guard one McLeod, a discharged soldier, with several

others in arms, visited the Indian camp menacing their lives, but

were prevented doing mischief by a small party of regular troops;

soon after they took protection at Fort Washington and will de-

part on the morrow.

Wednesday 10.--The Indians were unmolested under the

guns of the fort last night, but a number of disorderly persons

paraded the streets discharging their muskets. Issued a proclama-

tion in the morning detailing many of the violences which have

taken place and enjoining it upon the magistrates immediately to

inquire into the same, as also to suppress disorderly taverns and

tippling houses which are amongst the principal causes of the

disturbances at Cincinnati. The Indians departed this day, a

good deal provoked at the abuse and insults offered them, but

persuaded that the general government must disapprobate the

same and that proper measures have been taken by me to bring

the offenders to justice.

Winthrop Sargent was not only interested in the

weather recording the temperature, precipitation and

direction of winds but he found much time to spend in

his garden and relates in this diary some of his horti-

cultural experiments in the new country.

 

Monday (March) 30, 1795.--Put turnips and cabbage stumps

in the ground for early greens.

Wednesday (April) 1.--Put in the ground sweet marjoram,

parsley, pepper, sage, cauliflower, pepper grass and variety of

other seeds; also planted early potatoes in beds.

Thursday 2.--Pepper grass, mustard, radishes and spinach

sowed the 20th ult. Have come up some days but not a healthy

appearance.

Saturday 4.--Planted corn and sowed turnips for a general

summer crop.

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Sunday 5.--Peas planted upon the 23d are coming up.

Monday 6.--Planted asparagus and beet seed.

Tuesday 7.--Sowed currant seed. Was drowned yesterday

a Mr. Conrade, ferryman, at this place.

Saturday 18.--Peach trees have been in bloom a day or two.

Wednesday 22.--Grafted a number of apples, viz.: in the

two southwestern rows from the north post 25 pearmain, 3 cider

apples succeeding in western row, following immediately in both

rows 33 red streaks--2 sorts, total 61. From the state of the

season little prospect of success.

Monday 27.--Planted watermelon seed and some soft In-

dian corn.

Wednesday 29.--Planted dwarf marrow-fat peas and some

Indian corn.

May 10.--Planted a few days past 19 pecan nuts cracked,

in the western strawberry beds longitudinally between the vines.

The cut worms have commenced their ravages upon the corn

and beans, against which as yet has been discovered no pre-

ventative.

Saturday 16.--Planted melons to supply those destroyed by

the yellow bug. Also corn and winter squash.

Monday 18.--Second planting lima beans and watermelon

seed to supply those destroyed by the worms.

Saturday 23.--Second and third planting of corn and beans

to supply those destroyed by the cut worms which still continue

to ravage.

Wednesday 27.--The cut worms now abating some of their

depredations upon our gardens are followed by numberless green

worms of the size of common caterpillars, preying upon every

green thing and even destroying whole fields of corn and grass.

Friday 29.--The worms, bugs and caterpillars still continuing

to ravage and great numbers of grasshoppers.

And thus continued the warfare with the bugs and

worms followed for a season with weather discour-

agingly dry. In spite of this, however, we have later

records of roasting ears and vegetables from the

garden.

Later in the year Sargent made another trip to the

East. As he ascended the river he stopped at Man-

chester Wednesday, August 9. Among other things

he has entered the following record:

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This settlement seems to have increased a little since my

observations of 1793. The Indians are now troublesome about

it; lately have stolen five horses, killed a man also up the Scioto

River, and a short distance across the Ohio have killed and

taken two or three of a family which, notwithstanding the peace

concluded with the Indians lately by General Wayne, has so

much alarmed the people that they are getting into stations for

security. This as well as the other late mischief of the Indians

will probably be ascribed to the attack of Mr. Massie's upon

a hunting camp this spring after the preliminary articles were

made and which is very much complained of by them and repre-

sented to the executive of the Territory and of Kentucky.

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