Ohio History Journal

CAMP CHARLOTTE SITE MARKED

A granite monument erected near the site of Camp

Charlotte bears a bronze tablet with the following in-

scription:

CAMP CHARLOTTE

Near this spot -- the famous Treaty was made between Lord

Dunmore, Governor of Virginia, and Chief Cornstalk of the

Shawnees and Allied Tribes, in October -- 1774.

This Camp was named "Charlotte" after the Queen of

England.

Erected by the Pickaway Plains Chapter, Daughters of the

American Revolution.

1774                                            1928

This monument was erected by the Pickaway Plains

Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution. It

was unveiled with appropriate ceremonies on the after-

noon of July 11, 1928, by Miss Ann Gill, whose father

had for many years owned the land upon which it

stands. It is now the property of Mr. C. E. Morris. The

camp was located about eight miles east of Circleville

on the Adelphi Pike.

After the unveiling the audience joined in singing

the Star-Spangled Banner. Reverend Franklin McEl-

fresh gave the invocation. Mrs. O. D. Dailey of Al-

bany, Ohio, State Chairman of the Committee of the

D. A. R. on the Marking and Preservation of Historical

Spots in Ohio, expressed her appreciation of the marker

and patriotic service of the Pickaway Plains Chapter

in placing it there. The principal address was made

by Mrs. Orson D. Dryer of Columbus, who spoke as

follows:

As far back as 1667 the Shawnee tribes of Indians were

known to be in Ohio.

(615)

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616       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

The Indians were very much dissatisfied with the first treaty

which was concluded in 1764.  By that treaty Michigan, Ohio,

Indiana and Pennsylvania were given to the Indians for their

hunting grounds, but when the whites began to encroach upon

their territory trouble commenced and murders followed.  The

first murder committed by the Indians on the Virginia border

was in 1753.

About 1773 trouble started between the Virginians on the

border and the Indians, which was kept up until in the fall of

1774.  Lord Dunmore, who was the last Colonial governor of

Virginia, came with about twelve hundred men from Virginia to

Camp Charlotte. Dunmore was a short, sturdy Scotchman, who

during the campaign of 1774 shared the hardships with the pri-

vates, marching on foot and carrying his own knapsack.  He

held that his first allegiance was due the Crown and he sup-

ported his sovereign, King George, but was also eager to cham-

pion the cause of Virginia against either the Indians, or sister

colonists.

On their way to Camp Charlotte, after untold hardships,

marching through unbroken timber, fording streams, and sur-

rounded by hostile Indians, they were met by a messenger who

told them of the victory of General Andrew Lewis at Point

Pleasant, which caused great joy.  Two days later a messenger

from Cornstalk, the Shawnee chief, came suing for peace, but

the next day they continued their journey to Camp Charlotte.

Upon arriving here Lord Dunmore peeled a white oak, in the

center of the camp, and wrote with red chalk "Camp Charlotte,"

honoring either his queen or his wife, both named Charlotte.

Three days after their arrival at the camp, about the middle

of October, eight Indian chiefs, with Cornstalk at their head,

came to camp with an interpreter. When he learned who Corn-

stalk was, Dunmore, from written memoranda, recited various

infractions on the part of the Indians, of former treaties made

and murders committed. Cornstalk replied, mixing a great deal

of recrimination with the defense of the red brethren.

When he had concluded, a time was set for the chiefs of

different nations to meet at the camp to negotiate a treaty.  Be-

fore the arrival of that period Cornstalk came alone to camp

and told the Governor that none of the Mingoes would come

and he was apprehensive that a full council could not be con-

vened.  Dunmore then requested him to bring as many of the

other nations as possible, as he was anxious to close the war

peaceably.  Meantime, two interpreters were dispatched to

Logan, a Mingo chief, who was encamped near the Logan Elm.

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Camp Charlotte Site Marked             617

 

He replied he was a warrior and not a councillor, and would

not come.

Shortly after the return of the interpreter to Camp Char-

lotte, Cornstalk and two other chiefs made their appearance and

entered into negotiations which terminated in an agreement to

forbear further hostilities, to give up prisoners, and to be at

Pittsburgh with as many Indian chiefs as could be prevailed upon

to meet the Commissioners from Virginia, the ensuing summer,

where the treaty was to be concluded and ratified.

Dunmore required hostages to guarantee the performance

of the stipulations on the part of the Indians.  By this treaty

the war of 1774 was concluded.

If Cornstalk, at Point Pleasant, displayed the generalship of

a mighty captain, at the negotiations at Camp Charlotte he dis-

played the skill of a statesman, joined to powers of oratory rarely,

if ever, surpassed.

My great grandfather, Colonel Benjamin Wilson, was then

an officer in Dunmore's army, and his narrative of the campaign

furnished the facts which were recorded in Withers' Chronicles

of Border Warfare.  When the speeches were delivered, he sat

immediately behind and close to Dunmore.  In remarking on

the appearance and manner of Cornstalk while speaking, he says:

"When he arose, he was in no wise confused or daunted, but

spoke in a distinct and audible voice, without stammering or rep-

etition, and with peculiar emphasis. His looks, while addressing

Dunmore, were truly grand and majestic, yet graceful and attrac-

tive.  I have heard the first orators in Virginia, Patrick Henry

and Richard Henry Lee, but never have I heard one whose powers

of delivery surpassed those of Cornstalk on that occasion."  If

that speech had been preserved it might have been equally famous

with Logan's.

The Circleville Chapter, D. A. R., are to be congratulated

on placing this monument and bronze tablet here to mark the spot

where the famous treaty of 1774 was held. The ground of the

camp, comprising some ten or twelve acres, should be owned and

kept up by the great state of Ohio.

The program closed with the singing of America

and benediction by Reverend Dr. McElfresh. After

the exercises a number of those in attendance at the

attendance at the ceremonies were pleasantly entertained

at the home of Mrs. Clark K. Hunsicker, 146 West

Union Street, Circleville, Ohio.

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