THE CHILLICOTHES.
BY R. W. MCFARLAND, LL. D.
In any pioneer history of Ohio, or of
the West in general,
the word Chillicothe is found as the
Indian name of a town. As
there were several of these, it may be
well to mention some points,
so as to identify the one intended:
1. Chillicothe.-Howe's Ohio and other
histories speak of
a town of this name on the Great Miami
river. It was on the
site of the present city of Piqua.
2. Chillicothe.- Often called
"Old Chillicothe." This was
about three miles north of Xenia. In
1780 when Gen. George
Rogers Clark was on an expedition
against the Indians, this old
town was set on fire by the Indians
themselves, and practically
destroyed when Clark reached the place.
About twelve miles
northwest of this village, was Piqua,
the birth place of Tecumseh.
This place was on the north bank of Mad
river, about six miles
west of Springfield. Here Clark attacked
and thoroughly routed
the Shawnees, and destroyed the village
and the growing crops.
Those who escaped destruction retired to
the Chillicothe on the
Great Miami, and thence forward in
general the place is called
Piqua, in commemoration of the Mad river
town. This No. 2 is
the Chillicothe so often mentioned in
connection with Boone and
Kenton. People who read the lives of
these two hunters should
remember this.
3. Chillicothe. -Also often called
"Old Chillicothe." This
was about four miles down the river from
Circleville, and was on
the west side of the Scioto, at or very
near the village of Westfall.
All histories which give accounts of
"Lord Dunmore's War," in-
cluding the battle of Point Pleasant,
when they say "Chillicothe,"
mean this one at Westfall.
4. Chillicothe.- Now called Hopetown,
three miles north
of the present city of that name in Ross
County. When I lived
in Chillicothe over half a century ago,
this village was usually
called "Old Town," in
reference to the old Indian village. The
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The Chillicothes. 231
present city of Chillicothe does not
occupy the site of an Indian
town of this name.
5. Chillicothe. - Frankfort, in Ross
county, twelve miles
nearly northwest of the city; and about
half a mile north of Roxa-
bell, a station on the B. & 0.
Southwestern. This place also was
generally called "Old Town,"
when I was teaching in Greenfield
from 1848 to 1851.
All these were Shawnee villages, and the
word is said to
mean "The place where the people
live," or words to that effect,
but I cannot vouch for it as correct.
Indian names were usually
significant, as were old Jewish names.