Ohio History Journal
DEDICATION OF THE
LOGAN ELM.
BY MISS MAY LOWE, CIRCLEVILLE.
The second day of October, 1912, marked
an epoch in the
history of Pickaway county, Ohio, for
that day witnessed an
event unusual even in the history of a
nation. This was the
transfer, with appropriate ceremonies,
of the famed "Logan
Elm," which, with the turning over
of certain papers at the hands
of the President of the Pickaway
Historical Association to the
President of the Ohio Archaeological and
Historical Society,
passed forever from the county to the
state.
For a number of years some of the
residents of Pickaway
county had regretted the fact that many
objects which played
an important part in the early history
of the region were being
ruthlessly destroyed, one by one, or
were carelessly left to pass
into oblivion, unmarked in any way which
would show future
generations that this locality,
"more than any other in the West
deserves to be called classic
ground."
One of these objects (our most important
landmark, in a
certain sense) was the Logan Elm-that
grand old monarch of
the forest, which stands seven miles
south of Circleville, and
which was a witness of some thrilling
deeds enacted in that
bloody prelude to the drama of the
American Revolution (the
Dunmore war), and whose leaves, rustling
in the Autumn breeze,
first heard the utterance of those
impassioned words which, be-
ing repeated to the gifted Thomas
Jefferson, were pronounced
by him to be a production unsurpassed by
any single passage of
either Demosthenes or Cicero, and which,
transcribed by the
statesman in his "Notes on
Virginia," were preserved for future
generations as "Logan's
Speech." But the Indian chief gave
expression to these words, not as a
speech but as an expression
of feeling, leaping from his heart to
his lips, and in explanation
of his refusal to join in a conference
between Lord Dunmore
and his officers and the Indians of the
Pickaway Plains, with a
view to discussing terms of peace.
(267)
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268 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications. Much has been written as to the Mingo chief, Tah-gah-jute, called John Logan in honor of the Secretary of Pennsylvania, who was a friend of the Indian's father. This latter was Skikel- limus, chief of the Cayugas, and a man of great strength of character. He bequeathed to his son nobility of mind and a personality which was a mingling of gentleness and dignity, which |
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influenced his actions to such a degree as to earn him the title "Friend of the White Man," after his coming from the place of his birth to the Ohio country, where he freely mingled, not only with the Shawnees, with whom he allied himself, but also with the white settlers. The events of the Dunmore war, and the subjugation of the Indians of the locality, and also the story of the misfortunes which led the noble chief, Logan, to change his attitude toward the whites, have been fully written, and it is un- |
Dedication of the Logan Elm. 269
necessary to dwell upon them here except
to bring out a few
points to illustrate the topography of
the region.
The council in question was held at
Dunmore's headquarters,
Camp Charlotte, on the bank of Scippo
creek, and one-half mile
distant from the place where, later, a
hamlet called Leistville,
sprang up. The conference was called at
the request of Chief
Cornstalk, whose village, Cornstalk's
Town, stood on the exact
spot now occupied by the residence of D.
E. Phillips. Corn-
stalk had, from the beginning,
disapproved of war, but he saw
that they had gone too far to withdraw
unless immediate and
absolute peace be made. As Dunmore and
his army were march-
ing upon the Indian villages and when
within fifteen miles of the
same, they were halted by a flag of
truce in the hands of a white
man, named Elliott, who informed Dunmore
that the Indians
requested him to halt and send in some
person who understood
their language. Dunmore moved on,
pitching camp when he
came to a suitable place, in the
meanwhile sending in Colonel
John Gibson to treat with the Indians. A
council was arranged
upon, and, several days later, met,
Cornstalk and eight other
chiefs and about five hundred warriors
being present. Although
it is generally believed that the red
men really desired peace,
they carried out their part of the
proceedings with admirable
diplomacy, assuming absolute
indifference as to the outcome of
the business in hand. As an indication
that they had no choice
as to whether it should be peace or war
between themselves and
the whites their faces were painted
one-half red and one-half
black. All the chiefs attended the
council except Logan.
The story that one generally hears is
that Dunmore insisted
that Logan should be present and sent
Gibson to ask the chief
to come or send a reason for his
refusal; that Logan was found
in his cabin at Old Chillicothe (later,
Westfall), on the Scioto;
that at first he declined to talk, but,
at length, motioning to Gib-
son to follow, he went into the forest
and sat down under a tree
and explained his refusal to go to the
council. Even if there
were no documental proof of the
erroneousness of this version
of the Logan story one point alone is
enough to show its unrea-
sonableness. Old Chillicothe was on the
other side of the river,
and at least four miles from the spot
where the tree stands,
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270 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications. under which, tradition says, Logan's words were spoken. For the fact that the words were really spoken we need not depend upon tradition, for we have authenticated records, coming down from the time, that bear out the story. Of these is the sworn affidavit of Colonel Gibson, who states that the words were |
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spoken to him and relates the incidents leading up to the speech, and also states that the words spoken to him by Logan were, on his return to camp, delivered to Dunmore, and that they were substantially the same as related by Jefferson in his "Notes on Virginia," he having heard them through some of Dunmore's officers. |
Dedication of the Logan Elm. 271
Gibson's encounter with Logan and the
delivery of the
speech occurred when Dunmore sent him,
at the request of the
chiefs, to talk with them, upon the
first arrival of the whites in
the vicinity of the Indian towns, and
not after the warriors had
assembled in council, as is usually
stated. And we are not de-
pendent upon tradition or supposition as
to the place where Gib-
son met Logan and the incidents of that
meeting, for in his sworn
statement we read that on his arrival at
the towns, Logan came
to where he (Gibson) was sitting
"with the Corn-Stalk and the
other chiefs of the Shawneese" and
asked him to walk out with
him; they went into a copse of wood and
sat down upon a log
(and according to one Williamson, one of
Dunmore's officers,
beneath an elm tree), "and Logan,
after shedding abundance of
tears, delivered to him the
speech."
It is worthy of note that Gibson says
the Indian towns, and
not Old Chillicothe. He without doubt
referred to Cornstalk's
Town and Grenadier Squaw's Town, which
were the official
headquarters of the Shawnee chief, and
where it might be sup-
posed that he waited with his chiefs
about him, for the messenger
sent from the white commander. He would
have had absolutely
no object in being at Old Chillicothe,
but it is reasonable to think
that he awaited the interpreter at his
town nearest the camp of
Dunmore. Thus it may readily be seen
that as Logan came
"where Gibson was sitting with the
Corn-Stalk and the other
chiefs of the Shawnees" the meeting
between the two was at
Grenadier Squaw's Town, only a little
over half a mile from the
Elm. How the story that the messenger
sought Logan at Old
Chillicothe ever came into existence is
no less remarkable than
that it has survived to the present day.
For even a slight study of
the locality involved shows the futility
of such an assumption.
It was in commemoration of the events
thus briefly related,
and to perpetuate the life of the tree
so intimately associated
with these events, in the minds of
students, that some of the
residents of Pickaway county sought to
create a public sentiment
in favor of the preservation and care of
the Logan Elm. The
Boggs family, who, for several
generations, owned the farm
upon which the tree stands, took the
initiative in the matter, a
number of years ago, when a monument was
erected to com-
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272 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications. memorate the building, in 1798, of the cabin of Captain John Boggs, which it is claimed was the first house built by a white man upon the Pickaway Plains. This marble column bears upon its four sides inscriptions which are interesting, not only as a family record, but are also important as county history. One of these inscriptions reads: "Under the spreading branches of a magnificent elm tree, near by, is where Logan, the Mingo chief, made his celebrated speech." The Boggs monument stands on a slight elevation, this be- |
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ing one of the points named in determining the exact spot upon which Logan's speech was delivered. The information leading to the identification of the place was furnished to Captain John Boggs by Captain Williamson, before mentioned, who stated that Logan sat beneath an elm tree which grew a short distance south- west of a mound which lay in the middle of a small piece of prairie, about thirty acres in extent, the mound and tree being close to Congo creek, and about a mile above Camp Lewis. This description enabled Captain Boggs to locate the tree, very readily, and he and his descendants were careful to pre- serve its identity thereafter. The monument was erected, as previously stated, upon the mound mentioned, and overlooking |
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Dedication of the Logan Elm. 273 the beautiful stream, which, though at times of freshets, be- comes a raging torrent, usually flows peacefully along over clean pebbles, its shallow water, of a pale green tint, reflecting, with microscopic exactness, the branches and foliage of the ash, elm, and sycamore trees which arch overhead. When, in 1888, the Boggs farm passed from the possession of this pioneer family to Samuel Wallace, of Chillicothe, and |
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later to his widow, it was feared by some persons that by coming into the hands of those whose interests were centered in Ross rather than in Pickaway county the sentiment which enveloped this landmark might be doomed to lapse. But this apprehension was groundless; for while the new owners did not feel justified in expending time or money in the care of an object in which, as residents of another county, they had, of course, no especial in- terest, they were very considerate of the feelings of their neigh- Vol. XXII -18. |
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274 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications. bors across the county line, and gave free access to all persons who wished to visit the spot. The kindness of this can be ap- preciated only by those who realize that, for a number of years, pilgrims singly and in parties have taken their way to this his- toric shrine, often to the detriment of the growing crops through which they passed on their way thereto. For several years past it was a matter of anxiety to those interested in the tree that the owner of the farm might, at last, tire of the injury to her crops |
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and land which resulted from her generous impulses and with- draw the privilege of using a portion of her farm as a highway, or that she might even put an end to what must, of necessity, be an annoyance, by destroying the tree. With these considerations in view, some members of the Pickaway County Centennial Association discussed the matter and decided to take some steps looking toward the acquisition of the landmark, or if that proved unfeasible, toward its preserva- tion, this being deemed a fitting contribution to the celebration of |
Dedication of the Logan Elm. 275
the county's centenary. The Woman's
Committee of the Cen-
tennial Association, with Mrs. Howard
Jones as chairman, under-
took the selling of a specially-designed
Centennial badge and a set
of plates bearing views illustrative of
the history of the county.
Special committees, appointed by the
chairman, had charge of
this work, and the money raised from
these sources, after the
necessary expenses were paid, was laid
away as the nucleus of a
Logan Elm fund.
With the celebration of the Pickaway
County Centennial, in
the first week of October, 1910, the need of a Centennial Asso-
ciation lapsed, and it was decided to
resolve it into a Pickaway
County Historical Society, which should
interest itself in such
matters as usually pertain to such an
organization and which
should, especially, give renewed
attention to the question of the
Logan Elm. The Society was formed by the
adoption of a con-
stitution and the election of officers,
on October 28, 1910, and
Mrs. Howard Jones was chosen President
by the unanimous
vote of all present.
It was quite a disappointment to those
who had the matter
at heart to find that so few persons in
the county seemed to be
interested. It was fondly hoped that at
least all those who were
members of the Centennial Association
would come, as a matter
of course, into the new organization,
but they failed to do so;
and though it was repeatedly urged that
all residents of the
county take part in the meetings and the
proposed work so few
responded that it seemed almost
impossible that any good results
might be accomplished. But those who
came to the initial meet-
ings were so much in earnest that it was
decided to continue the
work, even if no others came forward.
But the effort to have
others join was not given up yet,
notwithstanding this, the Pick-
away County Historical Society never
numbered beyond a dozen
members. They were: President, Mrs.
Howard Jones; Vice-
President, Mrs. C. F. Lutz; Secretary
and Treasurer, Miss Clara
C. Littleton; Mrs. E. B. Beeshy, Mrs.
John Henry, Miss Alice
Pedrick, Mrs. M. A. Sweetman, Mrs.
Charles Will, Miss May
Lowe, and Mr. Harry E. Weill. (Upon the
removal of Mrs.
Lutz to Columbus, Mrs. Henry was
selected as Vice President.)
These had all contributed materially to
the success of the
276
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
county's Centennial, several of the
ladies having served on the
special committees which had in charge
the accumulating of the
Logan Elm fund. Of these indefatigable
workers were Miss
Littleton, Mrs. Beeshy, and Mrs. Lutz,
and they now renewed
their efforts, side by side with the
President and the other mem-
bers to make the work of the new society
a success.
Not long after the organization of the
Historical Society it
became known that the Logan Elm had
begun to decay, and it
was decided that immediate attention
should be given it. A call
was made through the newspapers for
contributions to pay for
having the tree "doctored,"
and the school children were asked to
add to the fund for this purpose. During
the entire time that
the question of restoring and purchasing
this historic landmark
was being agitated the newspapers of
Circleville (the Demo-
crat and Watchman, the Union-Herald, and
the Circleville
Herald) and, also, the papers throughout
the county and the
Frankfort Sun, of Ross county, were all
untiring in their efforts
to assist in the project. All notices
sent in by the Historical So-
ciety were printed gratuitously, as well
as many long articles
written by members of the editorial
staffs, all calling attention
to the importance of preserving this
historic relic. Then, when
the means for the preservation of the
Elm was an accomplished
fact it was felt, more than ever, that
it should be acquired, by
purchase, with at least sufficient
ground to afford ingress to
the tree.
With this in view, Mrs. Jones entered
into negotiations with
Mrs. Wallace, the owner of the farm,
with the ultimate result
that a proposition was made for the
purchase of several acres of
ground, including the tree. A short time
before this, Mr. Frank
Tallmadge, of Columbus, and Hon. Chase
Stewart, of Spring-
field, had made an effort to buy the
Elm, with the intention of
turning it over to the Ohio
Archaeological and Historical So-
ciety, but the plan was given up before
the result was accom-
plished.
When it was found that the owner of the
tree was willing
to enter into an agreement for its
purchase it was decided that
the best plan would be to ask the State
to take over the Elm and
assume its care and the care of such a
tract of land as might be
Dedication of the Logan Elm. 277
bought with it. Relative to this
purpose, Mrs. Jones held several
conferences with Mr. E. O. Randall,
Secretary of the Ohio
Archaeological and Historical Society,
with the result that the
proposition was approved by the
Executive Committee of the
State Society, on July 17, 1912, the agreement being that the
Pickaway County Society was to restore
the tree to perfect con-
dition, as far as possible, before
turning it over to the State. To
this end competent tree surgeons were
employed, who treated
it with a preparation of cement, trimmed
away the dead branches
and otherwise restored the forest giant
to a prolonged lease of
life. The results of the surgeon's skill
is shown in the fine detail
picture given below.
As soon as it was assured that the State
Society would as-
sume the perpetual care of the Elm a
renewed effort was made
to raise the money for the purchase of a
tract of ground, em-
bracing 4 and 6/10 acres, extending from
the pike to Congo
Creek, a distance of some 500 feet. For
this the sum of $125
an acre was agreed upon, and a deed was
drawn up, which set
out the various provisions entered into
by the parties to it, and
which reads as follows:
DEED OF LOGAN ELM.
KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENT: That we,
Mary Jones,
and Howard Jones, her husband, of
Circleville, Pickaway coun-
ty, Ohio, in consideration of the sum of
One Dollar ($1.00)
and other valuable consideratons, to
them paid by The Ohio
State Archaeological & Historical
Society, a corporation duly
organized and established under the laws
of the State of Ohio,
with headquarters at Columbus, Ohio, the
receipt of which is
hereby acknowledged, do hereby grant,
remise, release and for-
ever warrant and defend unto the said
The Ohio State Archaeol-
ogical & History Society, its
successors and assigns, the follow-
ing described real estate, situated in
the County of Pickaway,
and in the Township of Pickaway, State
of Ohio, and more
particularly described as follows:
Being a part of the south half or
Section No. 19, Township
No. 10, Range No. 21, W. S. Beginning at
an iron pin in the
public road and in the south line of
said Section No. 19, from
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278 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications. which a stone, the south-east corner of the southwest quarter of said section bears N. 85 degrees, 30' W. 67 links distant. Thence N. 53 degrees oo' W. 12 49/100 chains to an iron pin. Thence N. 5 degrees oo' E. 2 chains to an iron pin. Thence N. 62 degrees 30' E. 193/100 chains to a cottonwood tree on the |
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southwest side of Congo Creek. Thence up said creek, near the waterline, S. 50 degrees oo' E. 5 59/100 chains to an iron pin, S. 76 degrees 30' E. 139/1O0 chains, S. 43 degrees 30' E. 1 77/100 chains, S. 67 degrees 15' E. 1 30/100 chains, S. 28 degrees 45' E. 5 57½/100 chains to an iron pin in the public toad. Thence N. 85 degrees 30' W. 2 65/100 chains to the begin- |
Dedication of the Logan Elm. 279
ning, containing 460/100 acres of land,
more or less. Being
the same property conveyed to the
grantors herein by Mary A.
Wallace, by deed dated March 6, 1912, recorded May 13, 1912,
Vol. 89, page 535, Recorder's Office,
Pickaway County, Ohio.
To HAVE AND TO HOLD said premises with
all the privileges
and appurtenances thereunto belonging,
to the said The Ohio
State Archaeological and Historical
Society, its successors and
assigns, to their use and behoof
forever.
And the said grantors, for themselves
and their heirs, exe-
cutors, adminstrators and assigns, do
hereby covenant with the
said grantee, its successors and
assigns, that they are lawfully
seized of the premises aforesaid; that said
premises are free and
clear from all incumbrances whatsoever,
excepting taxes due
and payable in June, 1912, which the
grantee herein assumes
and agrees to pay as part of said
consideration; and that they
will forever warrant and defend the
same, with said exception,
with the appurtenances, unto said
grantee, its successors and
assigns, against the lawful claims of
all persons whomsoever.
It is understood and agreed by and
between the parties hereto
that the said grantee, its successors
and assigns, shall erect and
forever maintain a sufficient and lawful
fence between the afore-
said land and the remaining lands of the
original grantor, 1. e.,
Mary A. Wallace.
It is also understood between the
parties hereto that the
said conveyance is for the purpose of
preserving the said real
estate herein conveyed to the State of
Ohio and the citizens there-
of, as a historical site, and it is
mutually agreed between the
parties hereto, their respective heirs,
administrators, executors,
successors and assigns, and this
conveyance is upon the condi-
tion that if at any time hereafter said
lands should not be so pre-
served or used, or if the same should be
sold for any purpose,
other than aforesaid, then the grantors,
their heirs, or assigns,
shall have the right and privilege of
purchasing said real estate
from any person holding the same for the
same consideration
paid the said grantors therefor, as
hereinbefore expressed.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, The said
Mary Jones and the said
Howard Jones, her husband, who hereby
releases his right and
280 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications.
expectancy of dower in said premises,
have hereunto set their
hands this 22nd day of
November, A. D. 1912.
MARY JONES,
HOWARD JONES.
Signed and acknowledged in the presence
of:
MRS. FANNIE STAGE,
FRED L. FICKWARDT.
STATE OF OHIO, }
SS.
PICKAWAY COUNTY.
BE IT REMEMBERED that personally appeared
before me T.
P. Brown, a Notary Public in and for
said county, this 22nd day
of November, A. D. 1912, Mary
Jones and Howard Jones, her
husband, the grantors in the foregoing
deed, and acknowledged
the signing of the same to be their
voluntary act and deed for
the uses and purposes therein set forth.
IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF I have
hereunto subscribed my
name and affixed my notarial seal on the
day and year last afore-
said.
(SEAL.) T. P. BROWN,
Notary Public in and for Pickaway
County, Ohio.
In compliance with one of the agreements
entered upon, a
wire fence was built around the tract,
the conformation of which
is admirably shown in the photograph.
The Logan Elm and Boggs
monument appear toward the back of the
picture, the entrance,
opening upon the public pike, being in
the foreground, near the
large tree.
The money to pay for the ground and the
necessary expenses
incident to the transfers (between
$700.00 and $800.00) was
raised by contribution, the greater
amount being solicited by Mrs.
Jones, the county society's presiding
officer. She was so fortu-
nate as to secure, almost at the outset,
a check for $500.00, the
gift of a Circleville lady, who
requested that her name might not
be made public. Other persons, also
responded very generously,
and the sum required was soon collected.
Among those who took
an interest in the matter were a number
of persons who formerly
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Dedication of the Logan Elm. 281 lived in this county, and who, seeing the matter exploited in the newspapers, sent contributions to the Logan Elm fund. One of these was a lady now living in Kansas, Mrs. Harriet Louise Ricards, who was particularly interested because, in her youth, she had been a member of the Boggs household. Besides the money contribution which she sent to the Secretary of the So- ciety she at the same time submitted to the Circleville Union- |
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Herald the following poem, which beautifully and touchingly portrays her memories of the family and the cherished landmark. The verses were published in that paper on August 9, 1912. The "white-haired, kind old man" refers to Major John Boggs, and the "brown-eyed maid with flaxen braids" was his daughter, Miss Mary Boggs, who later, became the wife of John Davenport, who died not long after her marriage. |
282 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
LOGAN ELM.
They tell me, dear old tree, that 'neath
your shade,
A brave once pleaded, for his people,
with an alien race.
I only see a merry group of children,
playing "tag';
I see each well known form, each bright
young face.
I know that warriors gathered oft
beneath your boughs,
And smoked the pipe of peace with
pale-faced foe.
And, yet, I can but see a noisy bunch of
boys and girls;
Swinging from those boughs, a laughing,
bare-foot row.
They talk of Red Men camped along your
stream.
Of stern old chieftains, decked with
paint and spear.
I only see a white-haired, kind old man,
To whom your every leaf and twig was
dear.
In vain they paint a pageant rare and
old,
Where war-steeds prance, and sabers
flash and gleam.
I only see a brown-eyed maid with flaxen
braids,
Who sits amid your boughs and dreams her
dream.
The purchase of the Logan Elm, so long
ardently desired,
was now an accomplished fact, made
possible through the un-
tiring efforts of Mrs. Jones and her
co-workers, and the thought-
ful generosity of one whose name should
be inscribed in letters
of gold on the hearts of all who care to
preserve the fast-disap-
pearing landmarks of the State, and
whose name would be grat-
fully recorded in this paper were it not
for her wish to the con-
trary, expressed to the president of the
County Historical So-
ciety. Nothing remained now but to turn
the tree over to the
State. At first it was thought that this
would be done without
any special ceremonies and with only the
officers of the two so-
cieties present.
But the fact that the National
Association of American In-
dians would hold its second annual
convention in Columbus, in
October, 1912, seemed to point
the way to a more formal pre-
sentation, including a public
demonstration and a grand celebra-
tion, in which a number of the Indians
would be asked to assist.
Wednesday, October 2d, was the day
set apart for the cere-
monies incident to the presentation and
acceptation, and a suit-
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Dedication of the Logan Elm.283 |
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284
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society
Publications.
able program was arranged. It seems a
striking coincidence that
this celebration, which was the grandest
single event in the his-
tory of Pickaway county, was held on
exactly the same day and
month (October second) that ushered in
the Pickaway County
Centennial.
The day was an ideal one, and all
Pickaway county seemed
to turn out. A train of special cars
over the Scioto Valley Trac-
tion line was run from Columbus and
Circleville, under the
auspices of the two Historical
Societies, and all the public and
many of the private conveyances from the
latter town were
brought into requisition, all persons
owning carriages and auto-
mobiles being most kind in inviting
others to share them. Car-
loads of people came up, also, from
Chillicothe and Kingston,
and it was said that farmers and their
families came from a
radius of ten miles to join in the
pilgrimage. A band was also
hired by the Pickaway County Society.
When the crowds left
the cars at Elmwood station and means of
transportation over to
the tree, a mile and a half distant,
were considered, it soon be-
came apparent that the remainder of the
way would be, for many,
a pilgrimage on foot. There were
assembled about five thousand
people and the means of transportation
were wholly inadequate.
This oversight, which could not,
probably, have been forestalled,
is much to be regretted and is the only
thing which in the least
degree marred what was, otherwise, a
most happy occasion. But
the day was balmy and fine and that
good-natured crowd was
not to be discouraged by a slight
inconvenience. So packing all
available space in the conveyances with
the older people, those
who felt better able to walk took their
way, right merrily, toward
their destination. Some went across the
fields and others, who
did not care to risk possible climbing
of fences, tramped the
highway, taking, with perfect
equanimity, the dust of the flying
vehicles. And any little annoyance which
may have existed was
forgotten when the goal was reached.
A hay-ladder, draped with American
flags, was placed ad-
jacent to the tree and served as a
platform for the speakers, it
being found more convenient than a
stationary platfrom, as it
was moved into the shade of the Elm when
the sun's rays struck
it. The platform was occupied by the
officers of the Ohio
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Dedication of the Logan Elm. 285 Archaeological and Historical Society and their guests, red and white, and by Mrs. Howard Jones, President of the Pickaway County Historical Society. There were included: Dr. Frederick Wright, of Oberlin, president of the State Archaeological and Historical Society; Hon. E. O. Randall, Co- lumbus, secretary; E. F. Wood, Columbus, treasurer; W. C. Mills, Columbus, curator; Hon. Chase Stewart, Springfield; Frank Tallmadge, Columbus. |
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The Indians were: Miss Rose LaFleshe, Chippewa, Mich- igan; Miss Angel DeCora Dietz, Winnebago, Nebraska; Miss Calvert, Sioux, South Dakota; Miss Emma Gonlette, Sioux, South Dakota; Fred E. Parker, Mingo, New York; Miss Lelia Waterman, Seneca, New York; Miss Gennette Tappan, Osage, Oklahoma; Miss Anna Houser, Cheyenne, Oklahoma; Mr. Grif- fiths, Cherokee, Oklahoma, and Charles E. Dagenett, Oklahoma, now in the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior, Washington, D. C. |
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286 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications. The program began at 2 o'clock. Hon. E. O. Randall pre- sided, and after a very brief preliminary address introduced Mrs. Jones, who read the following paper: PRESENTATION SPEECH OF MRS. HOWARD JONES. One hundred and thirty-eight years ago this October, mo- mentous events were happening in this beautiful valley of the |
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Scioto and history was being made in this fertile Pickaway plain-land. East of us about seven miles, at Camp Charlotte, were about fifteen hundred men under the command of Lord Dunmore, the English governor of Virginia; while near where we stand was the victorious but angered army, of about equal number, of Gen- eral Andrew Lewis. General Lewis' army represented the southern division of Lord Dunmore's recruits, which he had organized to exterminate |
Dedication of the Logan Elm. 287
the Indian tribes in the Ohio country.
It was flushed with the
victory over the great Chief Cornstalk
which was dearly earned
at Point Pleasant. Lord Dunmore had
promised to meet General
Lewis at Point Pleasant, but, changing
his mind, he had taken a
short cut across the country for the
Scioto river. Before he
had reached the Pickaway plains,
however, he was halted by
overtures of peace from the Indians.
Probably ignorant of the
defeat of Cornstalk, he encamped on the
high ground at the
present site of Leistville and named the
camp Charlotte. Here
he began arrangements for a treaty of
peace with the Red-men.
General Lewis, after his victory at
Point Pleasant, did not
wait long for his superior, Lord
Dunmore, but, crossing the
Ohio river, he made for the Indian
settlements in the Pickaway
Plains. Upon learning of the advance of
General Lewis, Lord
Dunmore sent a messenger with orders for
him to return with
his army to the mouth of the Kanawha
river. This Lewis re-
fused to do, and continued his advance
up the valley, to about
where we are now standing, and went into
camp.
Lord Dunmore was sorely tried. He was
negotiating peace
with the very Indians General Lewis had
just whipped with
great sacrifice, and this much desired
peace could not be obtained
unless General Lewis obeyed his order
and the influential Chief
Logan, who was sullen and non-committal
at his home at Old
Chillicothe, now Westfall, about five miles
to the north-west of
here, would lend his presence at the
council. Accordingly Lord
Dunmore himself came here, to General
Lewis' camp, to compel
him to return to the Kanawha river and
there await his coming.
While this act was being played by Lord
Dunmore and Gen-
eral Lewis, John Gibson, who had either
been sent by Lord Dun-
more for Logan, or who had volunteered
to go after Simon Girty
had failed to have Logan attend the
council, was returning from
Old Chillicothe with Logan's message to
the white-men, and,
here under this great elm, tradition
says, it was read by Gibson
to Lord Dunmore. John Gibson later, in a
sworn statement,
said that he took down the speech as it
was made to him by
Logan, while sitting in a thicket near
by where he had just been
talking with Cornstalk and other noted
chiefs of the Shawnees.
Thus was born the epic which fascinated
the scholarly Jef-
288 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society
Publications.
ferson to the degree
that he declared it compared favorably with
any speech of
Demosthenes or Cicero. It matters little if this is
not the exact spot
where Lord Dunmore received the oration.
It could not have been
far from here. But, tradition, coming
down through several
reliable families whose representatives still
live near here, says
this magnificent old elm, the largest in all the
land, which then and
for many years after had a fine spring flow-
ing from its roots, is
the very same elm under whose branches,
spreading then as now,
the message was delivered. It was then,
is now and ever will be, a great message. It
has been
translated into many languages, and is known by every
school-boy and
school-girl throughout the land. It is a message
filled with fervor,
kindness and love, yet, it bristles with right-
eous anger and fearless
revenge. It is filled with pathos and
philosophy, and ends in
a sentence which is masterful in depict-
ing the extreme sorrow
of a great mind.
It is then fitting that
these acres of land and this old elm
which were silent
observers of the epoch making event which
brought peace to the
Indians and opened this fruitful country to
the new civilization,
should be preserved to posterity. Such land-
marks are lost all too
soon and are too little treasured.
Mr. Chairman, Pickaway
County, Ohio, is proud of being in-
strumental in
preserving this historic place, and with confidence
that the State of Ohio,
through her Archaeological Society will
preserve it, I hand you
the deed on behalf of our County Society.
In another few hundred
years this tree may be forever lost, but
the site shall remain,
and, let us hope that posterity may suitably
commemorate with a
monument of bronze the world famed
speech of the great
Mingo Chief, Logan.
Dr. G. Frederick
Wright, President of the Ohio Archaeo-
logical and Historical
Society, received the deed from the hands
of Mrs. Jones, and made
a brief but fitting speech of acceptance.
One of the
distinguished Indians present, Mr. Charles E.
Dagenett, of the Peoria
tribe, was then introduced and spoke
as follows:
ADDRESS OF CHARLES E.
DAGENETT.
In the early days of
Pennsylvania, the country around the
falls of the
Susquehannah was assigned by the Six Nations as
Dedication of the Logan Elm. 289
a hunting grounds for the Shawnees,
Conoys, Nanticokes and
Monseys and Mohicans, and Shikellamy, a
Cayuga chief, was
sent by these Six Nations to preside
over the tribe that dwelt on
the level banks of the Susquehannah near
where Sunbury now
stands.
When in September, 1742, a party of
missionaries, accom-
panied by two friendly Indians, after
their tedious journey
through the wilderness entered this
beautiful valley of the Sham-
okin, Chief Shikellamy was the first to
step forth and welcome
them, and after the exchange of presents
to promise his aid as
a chief in fostering the white man's
religion among the tribe.
This good and friendly Chief Shikellamy
performed many em-
bassies between the Governor of
Pennsylvania and the Six
Nations and attended many important
meetings at Philadelphia.
His was a particularly boisterous and
drunken tribe.
To this Good Chief, thus grown up in
mingled fear, love
and admiration of the whites and in the
midst of bad associates,
was born in 1725, a second
son celebrated as the author of the
famous speech that has been repeated by
every American School
boy as a specimen of Indian eloquence
and Indian wrongs-
Logan.
In his young manhood Logan stood several
inches more
than six feet in heighth; was straight
as an arrow, lithe, athletic
and symmetrical in figure; firm,
resolute and of commanding
presence.
About the time of Braddock's defeat in
1755 Tah-gah-jute,
meaning Short Dress, who was named Logan
after William
Penn's secretary, James Logan, whom his
father knew and loved,
disappears from the scene and we have
few historical or bio-
graphical anecdotes of his early life.
In the spring of 1769, Wm. Brown with other
companions
were hunting along the Juniata near
where Lewistown now
stands. Following a hard chase after a
wounded bear Brown
was quenching his thirst at one of the
beautiful springs along
that stream and as he bent over the
clear, mirrowing water, he
beheld, on the opposite side, reflected
in the pool a tall shadow
of a stately Indian with rifle in hand, and with intensive energy
Vol. XXII- 19.
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290 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications Brown sprang to regain his weapon and as he seized his rifle to face the foe, the Indian threw open the pan of his gun, scattering the powder, and extended his palm in token of friendship and both weapons were instantly grounded, and the men who a mo- ment before had looked on each other with distrust shook hands and refreshed themselves from the gurgling brook. That vision at the spring was Logan,-the son of Shikellamy-no chief at |
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that time but a wanderer sojourning for a while on his way to the West. Logan is well remembered and favorably described in the legends of the valley of the Susquehannah, for he was often visited in his camp by the whites. Upon one occasion, when met by Missionary McClure at the spring which is even still known as Logan's spring, a match was made between the white and red man to shoot at a mark for a dollar a shot. In the encounter |
Dedication of the Logan Elm. 291
Logan lost four or five rounds, and
acknowledged himself beaten.
When the white men were leaving, the
Indian went to his cabin,
and bringing as many deer-skins as he
had lost dollars, handed
them to McClure who refused to take
them, alleging that he and
his friends had been Logan's guests, and
that the match had
merely been a friendly contest of skill
and nerve. But the
courteous waiver would not satisfy the
Indian. He drew up
himself with dignity and said in broken
English: "Me bet to
make you shoot your best-me gentleman
and me take your
dollars if me beat", so McClure was
obliged to take the skins
or affront his friend whose sense of
honorable dealing would not
allow him to receive even a horn of
powder in return.
Deer hunting and the dressing of skins
and selling them was
the chief occupation of Logan and on one
occasion he sold some
skins to a tailor, receiving in pay some
wheat which, when taken
to the mill, was found to be so
worthless that the miller refused
to grind it. By this time the law and
ministers of justice had
made their way to this secluded country
and Logan's friend
Brown had been honored with the
commission of a magistrate.
When the judge questioned Logan as to
the character of the
grain, Logan sought in vain to find
words to express the precise
character of the material with which it
was adulterated and said it
resembled the wheat itself. "It
must have been cheat," said the
judge, "Oh !" exclaimed the
Indian, "It is a very good name for
him," and the decision was
forthwith given in Logan's favor.
When one of Judge Brown's daughters was
just beginning
to walk, her mother expressed sorrow
that she could not obtain
a pair of shoes to give more firmness to
her infant steps. Logan
stood by but said nothing. Soon after,
he asked Mrs. Brown to
allow the little girl to spend the day
at his cabin near the spring.
The cautious and yearning heart of the
mother was somewhat
alarmed by the proposal, yet she had
learned to repose confidence
in the Indian, and trusting in the
delicacy of his feelings, con-
sented to the proposal with
cheerfulness. The day wore slowly
away and it was near night and her
little one had not returned,
but just as the sun was setting the
trusty Indian was seen
ascending the path with this charge, and
in a moment more the
292
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
little one was in its mother's arms
proudly exhibiting on her
tiny feet a pair of beautiful
moccasins,-the product of Logan's
skill.
His kindly old pioneer friend, Judge
Brown, summed up his
acquaintance with Logan in the following
words: "He was the
best specimen of humanity, white or red,
I have ever en-
countered."
For awhile we again lose sight of Logan
whose life was
soon to be changed and who was doomed to
become envolved in
inevitable conflict with the whites who
were as they termed it
"Extending the area of
Freedom" and the rest of his life was
chequered with horrible crimes and
maudlin regrets, but never
were fully effaced the kindly deeds and
nature of his earlier
years.
In 1772 when the missionary,
Heckewelder, met Logan on
the Beaver River, Logan told him that it
was his intentions to
settle on the Ohio below the Big Beaver
where he might live in
peace with the white man. Logan at this
time confessed to the
missionary his unfortunate fondness for
the white man's "fire
water". In 1775 the missionary
McClure met Logan, but the
brave, open and manly countenance he
possessed in his earlier
years was now changed for one of martial
ferocity. The fire
water of the white man had began to do
its deadly work upon all
the elements of a noble character in the
heart and mind of an
untutored savage.
Let us pass over the intervening time so
throughly filled
with slaughter on both sides, darkened
by deeds both of treachery
and bloodshed, to the concluding scene
of this bloody drama.
The Americans and Indian chiefs were
assembled at the council
fire to conclude peace but one of the
daring and relentless actors
in this same bloody drama was absent.
Logan was not there.
He was not satisfied, though he had
taken perhaps some thirty
scalps. The cause of his murdered
relatives was scarcely ap-
peased in the spirit land. Logan's
answer to the repeated sum-
mons from the council fire was that he
was a warrior and not a
councillor, and would not come.
Accordingly John Gibson was
sent as a messenger and met Logan in his
camp. It was at this
meeting that Logan delivered himself of
that piece of impas-
Dedication of the Logan Elm. 293
sioned eloquence known as the speech of
Logan, which was told
to Lord Dunmore at the council fire.
It matters but little now who murdered
or instigated the
murder of Logan's family, the fact
remains that they were killed
and the resultant bitterness implanted
in the breast of Logan
thereby was simply human and not because
he was an Indian.
We find Logan from time to time in a
friendly attitude to-
ward the whites and again all the
ferocity of his nature bursting
forth in an effort to avenge as he
believed, a wanton slaughter
of his relatives. We find Logan at times
a shadow of his former
and noble self, and again the victim of
the white man's accursed
fire water with the resultant ignoble
deeds, at times resorting to
his old occupation of scalping or at
least taking prisoners and
again using his powerful influence in
protecting and befriending
the whites.
Logan was now well past fifty. Following
the council at
Detroit in 1780 Logan was killed
by his nephew or cousin, Tod-
kah-dohs, through a
misunderstanding-Logan supposing that
his nephew sought to avenge cruelty
shown Logan's wife who
was a relative of Tod-kah-dohs. Thus
passes to the happy hunt-
ing ground our Indian hero Logan of whom
the poet Campbell
wrote:
'Gainst Brant himself I went to battle
forth:-
"Accursed Brant! he left of all my
tribe
"Nor man, nor child, nor thing of
living birth!
"No !-not the dog that
watched my household hearth
"Escaped that night of death upon
our plains!
"All perished-I, alone, am left on
earth
"To whom nor relative, nor blood
remains,--
"No! not a kindred drop that runs
in human veins!"
Today the spirit of Logan looks across
the intervening
unknown from the Indian's happy hunting
grounds which lie in
the pleasant prairies of the spirit
land, and knows that there are
those of his friend and enemy, the white
man, who wishes to
atone for the wrong done this child of
nature-he knows now,
that there are those who do mourn for
Logan.
To those friends who have made possible
this tribute to
Logan-to the Indian race--the very
presence of these repre-
294 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications.
sentatives of that race, from such
widely scattered sections of
this great country-the ancestral home of
that race you honor
today-give you thanks more appropriate
and fully than any
words I might utter. The Indian thanks
his friends with his
heart and his heart has no tongue.
Another Indian, Mr. Fred E. Parker, of
New York, was
then introduced and responded with an
eloquent address. As
it was not committed to writing, but was
entirely extempo-
raneous, it is regretted that what Mr.
Parker said can be re-
corded only briefly. The appended
thoughts from his speech
formed a part of the report of the
proceedings as taken down
by Harry E. Weill, local editor of the
Circleville Union-Herald:
"The Indian was the original
Roosevelt man. He was the
first and original trouble maker. The
story of the Indian should
stir the heart blood of every American
citizen. If a foreign foe
should invade this land you would fight
just like the Indian for
your scalps. You look at our
countenance; it is a sad and stern
one I'll admit, it has been transmitted
down to us thru the ages.
Chased from pillar to post, driven from
our homes and hounded
to death, we inherited the vengeance of
our ancestry and it is
depicted in our faces.
"It is the Iroquois, a tribe of the
famous six nations from
whom I am descended, that saved this
country to English-speak-
ing people. General W. T. Sherman said,
'The only good Indian
is a dead Indian.' I am glad to say it
was a relative of mine,
General Eli Parker, who inaugurated the
policy that forced Gen-
eral Grant to treat the Indian and place
him on the same foot-
ing as any other American citizen
enjoys. But it is time for us
to bury the past. We must forget and
forgive.
"The hope of the Indian tribes is
in that great factor the
public schools; the greatest
institutions in the United States will
take the Indian and make him a good
American citizen."
After the applause that followed Mr.
Parker's speech had
subsided, Mr. Randall came forward, and
addressing Mr.
Dagenett, a representative of the same
tribe to which Logan be-
longed, presented to him a mallet made
by Mr. T. B. Bowers,
from the wood of the Logan Elm, the
handle being made from
a branch of a tree which grew on the
grave of the Wyandotte
Dedication of the Logan Elm. 295
chief, Leatherlips, who lies buried on
the spot where he was
killed, about fifteen miles northwest of
Columbus.
A significant feature of the program was
an address by Mr.
Frank Tallmadge, of Columbus, a lineal
descendant of Colonel
Cresap, the man that Logan believed to
be responsible for the
massacre of his family. Mr. Tallmadge
sought to show that the
Red Man was mistaken, and spoke as
follows:
ADDRESS OF MR. FRANK TALLMADGE.
"Roll back-my soul-to the times of
my Fathers. * * *
There comes a voice that awakes my
soul-It is the voice of days
that are gone-They roll before me with
all their deeds."-
Ossian.
Colonel Thomas Cresap was born in
Yorkshire, England, in
1702. He emigrated to this country at the age of fifteen, and
first settled on the Susquehanna near
what is now Havre de
Grace. He became a surveyor, espoused
the cause of Lord Balti-
more, and is said to have surveyed the
line between Maryland
and Pennsylvania. He moved shortly
afterwards to what was
then the frontier, to a place in western
Maryland that he called
Skipton, after the town of his nativity,
but now called Old Town,
situate a few miles above the junction
of the north and south
branches of the Potomac on the north
fork. He acquired four-
teen hundred acres of land, and became
an Indian trader. He
was one of the members of the first Ohio
company together with
Colonel George Mason and General
Washington, which company
made the first English settlement at
Pittsburg before Braddock's
defeat, and it was through his means and
efforts that the first
path was traced through that vast chain
of mountains called the
Alleghenies. Colonel Cresap, with the
assistance of a friendly
Indian named Nemacolin, surveyed a road
from Cumberland to
Pittsburg. It was this road that General
Braddock used with
his army, and it was afterwards known as
Braddock's road which
does not materially differ from the
present National Road.
It was this first Ohio company that had
the promise from
the king of Great Britain, of a grant of
five hundred thousand
acres of land on the Ohio, and this land
was actually surveyed
296
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
in 1775, but the war of the
revolution prevented the consumma-
tion of the title.
Thomas Cresap was Colonel of the
Provincials from 1730
to 1770. Most of this time he remained
friendly with the In-
dians, so much so that they called him
the Big Spoon as he in-
variably set out for them when they
passed his way, a kettle of
soup. His house was built like a fort
surrounded by a stockade.
This proved to be a wise move, as in
October, 1755, the Indians
went on the war path, and Governor Sharp
ordered out the
militia to assemble at Colonel Cresap's.
Again in July, 1763, the
Colonel wrote a letter to Governor
Sharp, stating that his fort
was filled with distressed families who
had fled to him for safety,
and they were in hourly danger of being
butchered unless re-
lief was afforded.
In October, 1765, when the Provincial
Assembly adopted
resolutions against the Stamp Act, the
Sons of Liberty were or-
ganized under the leadership of Colonel
Cresap, who was also
a member of the House of Burgesses.
General Washington, in
his diary, speaks of having stopped all
night at Colonel Cresap's
when he visited the Ohio country.
The Colonel's youngest child was Michael,
born in 1742,
and educated at Baltimore. He had much
experience in border
warfare, also had absorbed from his
father a military training,
but he chose to become a merchant,
opening a store at Red Stone,
Old Fort, now Brownsville, Pa. In the
spring of 1774 he be-
came interested with several gentlemen
in lands on the Ohio
River, and with a few associates he
established a camp at what
is now Long Reach, Tyler County, West
Virginia.
At this time Ebenezer Zane had a party
of surveyors at the
mouth of Big Sandy River. George Rogers
Clark was with a
party numbering ninety at the mouth of
the Little Kanawha. The
Indians beheld their fate at the
occupation by white men of their
hunting grounds. Three prospectors for
land near the mouth of
Lawrence Creek, now in Mason County,
Kentucky, were taken
prisoners by a band of Shawnees. A
little later a party of sur-
veyors in Kentucky nearly opposite the
mouth of the Scioto
River, killed several Shawnee warriors.
An engagement also
occurred with the Indians near the mouth
of the Little Kanawha,
Dedication of the Logan Elm. 297
and these men joined Cresap's men, and
all proceeded up the
Ohio to Wheeling. George Rogers Clark
states in his letter to
Doctor Samuel Brown, that they knew
Michael Cresap was on
the river fifteen miles above them
engaged in settling a new
plantation. Cresap was sent for and
unanimously chosen to
head the party to destroy the Indian
towns on the opposite side
of the river, but to their astonishment
their captain was a per-
son to dissuade them from the
enterprise, remarking that while
appearances were suspicious, there was
no certainty of war.
They, however, went on to Wheeling in a
body under Captain
Cresap, and there on the 21st of April,
Cresap received a letter
from John Connolly, of an inflammatory
nature, announcing that
the war had begun. Connolly was then at
Pittsburg as agent of
Lord Dunmore, Governor of Virginia. He
called himself the
Royal Commandant of the district of West
Augusta. Cresap
called a meeting on the 26th, reading
Connolly's letter, when the
white men voiced a declaration of war
against the Indians. The
following day two canoes were pursued by
Cresap's party to the
mouth of Pipe Creek, about fifteen miles
below Wheeling, where
a battle ensued in which three Indians
were killed and three
whites wounded. The next day, the 28th,
Captain Cresap started
on his return trip to Red Stone, Old
Fort. This is certified to
by Doctor Wheeler, a prominent citizen
of Wheeling.
Logan's brother and sister were killed
April 30th,* by Daniel
Greathouse, and two men associated with
him by the name of
Tomlinson and Sappington, at the home of
one Joshua Baker,
who kept a house of entertainment and
sold rum, the location be-
ing on the West Virginia side opposite
the mouth of Yellow
Creek.
Lord Dunmore sent a Captain's commission
to Michael
Cresap, dated June 10th, 1774. Many
petitions had come to
* Valentine Crawford in a letter to
General Washington, now on
file in the State Department,
Washington, dated May 7th, 1774, refers
to the date as Saturday last, which the
almanac of 1774 makes April
30th. Crawford, who was Washington's
land agent, in this letter says
"and on Saturday last about twelve
o'clock there was one Greathouse and
about twenty men fell on a party of
Indians at the mouth of Yellow
Creek and killed ten of them, and
brought away one child a prisoner."
298
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
Cresap from various sections of the
frontier to come to their aid.
He, therefore, accepted, and raised a
company, joining Major
Angus McDonald's command, and marched
with them to attack
the Indians at Waccatomica, on the
Muskingum, which was only
partially successful, and Captain Cresap
again returned to his
store at Red Stone, but again he was not
permitted to remain
long, for by the last of August Dunmore
had organized his ex-
pedition against the Ohio Shawnees,
having failed to bring about
a peace understanding between the
Cornstalk Confederacy and
the Virginians. A flotilla of one
hundred canoes and other
boats holding seven hundred men,
descended the Ohio with
George Rogers Clark, Michael Cresap,
Simon Kenton and
Simon Girty as scouts and guides moved
down the river
to the mouth of the Hock Hocking. They
were headed
directly for the Pickaway Plains. Lord Dunmore had or-
dered General Lewis, who had just closed
his battle at
Point Pleasant, to meet him. Dunmore
with his army had
advanced within four miles of the
Shawnee town when he
received a proposition for peace from
the chiefs, and a peace
conference was held and consummated,
known as the Dunmore
Treaty. Logan did not attend, and he was
sent for by Lord
Dunmore. John Gibson, the husband of
Logan's murdered sis-
ter, probably figured closer in
connection with Logan's alleged
speech than any other one man. On the
4th day of April, 1800,
at Pittsburg, Gibson made oath that the
speech was delivered
nearly as related by Mr. Jefferson in his notes on Virginia,
but
that he told Logan it was not Colonel
Cresap who had murdered
his relations, and that although his
son, Captain Michael Cresap,
who was with the party who had killed a
Shawnee chief a few
days before, yet he was not present when
his relations were
killed at Baker's. Benjamin Tomlinson,
heretofore referred to,
makes his statement at Cumberland, April
17th, 1797, to the
effect that Logan's brother was killed
by Sappington; that neither
Captain Michael Cresap nor any person of
that name was there
nor anywhere in that vicinity. He
further states he was at the
Treaty, and heard the Logan speech read
three times, twice by
Dunmore and once by Gibson; that he was
Officer of the Guard,
and stood near Dunmore's person,
consequently, heard and saw
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Dedication of the Logan Elm. 299 all that passed. He states that Simon Girty went to Logan's cabin two days before the Treaty, and on the day the circle was formed, upon Girty's return, he saw John Gibson get up and go out of the circle, and talk with Girty after which he, Gibson, went into the tent, and soon after returning into the circle, drew |
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out of his pocket a piece of clean, new paper on which was writ- ten in his own hand-writing, a speech for and in the name of Logan. Greathouse died of the measles in 1775. The remaining man of the trio, John Sappington, states that he knew Cresap was generally blamed for the murder, but he really had no hand in |
300
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it. Further, that he knew that Cresap
despised and hated the
Greathouses ever afterwards on account
of it. Samuel McKee, a
Justice of the Peace, taking
Sappington's testimony, states that
he, Sappington, was the man who shot the
brother of Logan.
Referring again to George Rogers Clark.
He states that
he was intimate with Cresap, and better
acquainted with Logan
at that time than any other Indian in
the western country, and
had a knowledge of the conduct of both
parties; that Cresap
had decamped and taken the road to Red
Stone before the mur-
der at Baker's; that when the speech of
Logan was read at the
Treaty, the army knew that it was wrong
so far as it respected
Cresap and afforded an opportunity of
rallying that gentleman
on the subject. Clark discovered that
Cresap was displeased,
and told him he must be a very great
man; that the Indians
shouldered him with everything that had
happened. Cresap
smiled, says Clark, and remarked he had
a great mind to toma-
hawk Greathouse about the matter.
Bancroft, the historian, makes no
mention of Cresap in
connection with the Dunmore Treaty and
the speech of Logan.
Caleb Atwater, who once lived at
Circleville, states in his his-
tory that Logan was mistaken in charging
the murder to Michael
Cresap. Henry Howe exonerates Cresap.
Theodore Roosevelt
in his Winning of the West, does the
same thing, and our own
Randall and Ryan, in their History of
Ohio, prove an alibi for
Cresap.
You may ask how the speech of Logan
became so famous.
It was first published in the press of
the country, and but little
attention was paid to it. Thomas
Jefferson, in 1787, published
the first edition of his notes on
Virginia. He gave the speech
much prominence in his book. It was
copied into our school
books at home and translated into
several languages in Europe.
Jefferson had been a suitor for the hand
of Michael Cresap's
daughter, and had been rejected. She
afterwards married Luther
Martin, Attorney General of the state of
Maryland, and one of
the counsel for Aaron Burr. Jefferson
was a Democrat; Martin
was a Federalist, and became very much
incensed at Jefferson,
writing him several communications on
the subject of Cresap's
innocence of the charge. These letters
Jefferson ignored ex-
Dedication of the Logan Elm. 301
cept to write a letter to Governor
Henry, of Maryland, in 1797,
making feeble excuses for himself,
repeating the charges against
Cresap, promising, however, to do
justice to his memory in
case he found he was wrong. This
Jefferson failed to do in the
face of overwhelming proof, though he
lived until 1824.
I have heretofore referred to the
contents of a letter of
George Rogers Clark to Doctor Samuel
Brown which was dated
June 17, 1798. This letter was sent by
Doctor Brown, by express,
to Monticello, yet the edition of
Jefferson's notes of 1800, made
no mention of the Clark letter.* This
edition, however, pub-
lished the declaration of John
Sappington, Charles Polke, Harry
Innes, John Gibson and Ebenezer Zane,
all of which exonerated
Cresap.
Again Captain Michael Cresap was not
allowed to remain
at home very long, for in 1775 the
following year he was placed
in command of one of the companies of
the Sons of Liberty,
and marched at their head to Boston,
after the Battle of Bunker
Hill, where he received another
commission, but this time it was
a Colonel's. The trip was made in
twenty-two days, the men
subsisting upon the fruits of their
rifles. In October of this year
Michael Cresap was detailed to go to New
York City where he
was taken with a fever and died. He was
buried with military
honors in Trinity Church Yard. When you
are walking down
Broadway, go in the open gate and turn
to the right. Just op-
posite the north transept door you will
find this hero's grave
next to the walk, and if your experience
should be like all of
mine, you will find fresh flowers upon
the monument.
The Cresap descendants, now scattered
from ocean to ocean
over this broad land, desire to extend
their thanks to the Ohio
Archaeological and Historical Society
for this opportunity in
protecting the fair name of a brave
soldier who died to save this
country from Britsh rule; they believe
the present generation
is not moved by affairs of the heart or
by political preferences
to the extent that history is perverted.
They do not blame poor
Logan, who inspired the message, as he
doubtless did not expect
* This letter together with one of
Doctor Brown of September 4th,
1798, transmitting it to Mr. Jefferson
are on file with the Jefferson papers
in the Department of State, Washington.
302
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society
Publications.
it to go beyond what is now the confines
of Pickaway Township.
Further, the Cresaps of the present are
of the opinion that Logan
should have been consistent with the
words of his message, by
his attendance at the Treaty when only
six miles distant, not-
withstanding his threatening note of
July, 1774, to Captain
Michael Cresap tied to a War Club, and
left in the house of
Roberts after Logan had massacred the
family. Also Logan
was inconsistent again in appealing for
sympathy for the killing
of his brother, when eight years
thereafter he is recorded as
murdering his own wife.
The Cresap blood has followed the flag
wherever it has
floated. Captain Michael took to Boston,
as members of his
company, his nephews of Michael Cresap,
Jr., Daniel Cresap, Jr.,
and Joseph Cresap. It flowed on the
"Essex" upon the sea; it
was with Grant at Vicksburg, Shiloh and
Appomattox, and with
Sherman to the sea. The old Colonel's
love of the cause of
liberty flowed on even to the seventh
generation, for up San
Juan hill was heard the voice of Jules
Gansche Ord, son of Gen-
eral Edward Otho Cresap Ord. "All
who are brave follow me",
just before that voice was stilled
forever.
Hon. Chase Stewart, the original
legislator to introduce laws
in the Ohio General Assembly for the
purchase of historic
grounds, was called upon and gave an
address upon Historic
Tree.
ADDRESS OF HON. CHASE STEWART.
The large attendance here this beautiful
October day is
evidence of the fact that the people of
Pickaway and Ross Coun-
ties are not indifferent to the
importance and significance of
this occasion for they all seem to be
present.
The preservation of this historic spot
is assured by the ac-
ceptance on the part of the Ohio State
Archaeological and His-
torical Society of the deed delivered
today. The tract of ground
conveyed includes the magnificent old
elm whose generous shade
we are now enjoying.
Several centuries have passed since its
growth began and
for one hundred and thirty-eight years
it has stood as a faithful
sentinel over the spot which is given
marked distinction because
Dedication of the Logan Elm. 303
of the completion of the Peace Treaty
between the last Colonial
Governor of Virginia and the Red Men of
this region in Octo-
ber, 1774.
The adoption of a tree as a means of
perpetuating and
identifying the location of an important
place or event is not
uncommon and the Elm has performed this
service for our coun-
trymen in several well known instances.
Great interest has been centered in the
tree known as the
Washington Elm at Cambridge, Massachusetts,
for it was under
it that George Washington took command
of the Continental
Army, July 3, 1775, and because of this
circumstance the tree
was preserved and it was guarded with
unceasing diligence. A
majestic elm on Boston Common became
historic.
The stately elm under which the famous
treaty was con-
cluded between one of the noblest of
Pennsylvania colonists,
William Penn, and the Indians, stands
out prominently in the
history of the Colonial period, and is
given additional significance
because of the faithfulness with which
the treaty was kept by
both the white and the red men, for it
remained unbroken.
The elm is not as long lived as the yew
tree, the cypress,
or the oak. It is said there are yew
trees growing in Great
Britain more than 3,000 years old, and
that one of the most at-
tractive and interesting in England, was
the one under which
in October, 1750, Thomas Gray
completed his immortal Elegy.
It is claimed that for seven centuries
this tree has stood as a
guard and protector over "the
venerable church, the monuments
to crusaders and the beautiful
churchyard of Stokes Pogis".
While the longevity of the elm is not so
marked as that of
some other trees the Logan Elm has lived
long enough to assist
us in locating the place that became
historic over a century ago.
The companions of the old elm have long
since disappeared.
It has seen them fall upon the advance
of the white man in this
section. It has withstood the
destruction of the forest about
it, and if this old tree could think and
speak and give utterance
to its thoughts in the presence of this
assemblage no doubt it
would express its appreciation of the
efforts made by former
owners and especially the Boggs family
in protecting it from
injury and in saving it from the fate of
its associates.
304
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
The community and the State can well
afford to have re-
moved from cultivation the amount of
ground included in the
deed delivered today and to have this
tract of 4.60 acres set apart,
beautified and properly maintained in
order that our own genera-
tion and especially those that are to
follow may have before
them a record or monument of an event
that was one of the
first in which the white man
participated in the region lying
north and west of the river Ohio.
The benefit to be derived from this
source far exceeds that
to be obtained from other uses to which
it could be put.
In the city of Nagoya in Japan there
stands a castle sur-
rounded by a moat, embrasures and
escarpments and several
acres of ground. It was used as the
dwelling place of a Daimyo,
or provincial governor, during the
period when a feudal form
of government prevailed throughout the
provinces of Japan, and
was so constructed as to offer
opportunities for defense in case
of attack.
Castles of a similar character have long
since disappeared
for Daimyos and Shoguns are no longer in
evidence in the Em-
pire. And notwithstanding the great
value of tillable land in
Japan and especially that upon which
this Castle was situated,
with what might be termed a proper
appreciation and regard
for future generations, the Japanese
government decided that the
Castle and surrounding ground should be
taken over by the
Imperial Household Department, and be
preserved as a monu-
ment of historic interest. Not only has
this course already been
highly appreciated by the Japanese
themselves, but foreigners
and tourists traveling through the
Empire recognize it as one
of the interesting relics of past
centuries.
With equal if not greater propriety does
it become the duty
of the State of Ohio through the
Historical Society which has
accepted the deed for this historic
place today, to see to it that
it shall be kept intact and preserved,
for it represents a day and
age in the history of territory now
forming a part of our state
worthy of recollection and of
perpetuation.
In doing this not only is an obligation
to our own generation
fulfilled, but it especially involves
consideration and regard for
Dedication of the Logan Elm. 305
those who are to follow, and whose
interest in the early historic
landmarks will become more intense the
farther removed they
become from the time and event sought to
be perpetuated.
The opportunity was presented to make
this conveyance and
dedication possible and that it was
taken advantage of will be a
source of satisfaction and pleasure to
those who have participated
and were instrumental in bringing about
the exercises of this day.
In conclusion permit it to be said that
all things animate and
inanimate are compelled to yield to the
attacks of nature. It is,
of course, understood that the Logan Elm
will be no exception
and that in time it will decay and will
no longer be in evidence
for the benefit of that portion of
mankind who may be interested
in this spot.
When that time arrives the words that
were used long ago
by the venerable Judge Peters, the
esteemed friend of Washing-
ton, can be appropriately adopted here.
The words were written
of the "Treaty Elm", so
called, after the conference between
William Penn and the Indians, and were
as follows:
"Let each take a relic from that
hallowed tree,
Which, like Penn, whom it shaded,
immortal shall be;
As the pride of our forests let Elms be
renowned,
For the justly prized virtues with which
they abound.
* * *
*
Though Time has devoted our tree to
decay,
The sage lessons it witnessed survive to
our day;
May our trustworthy statesman, when
called to the helm
Ne'er forget the wise treaty held under
the Elm".
Mr. W. C. Mills, Curator of the Ohio
Archaeological and
Historical Society, expressed his
pleasure in the occasion.
He spoke briefly but earnestly of the
work of the State So-
ciety in its endeavors to secure and
preserve archaeological and
historical sites.
An appropriate and pleasing portion of
the exercises was
the reading of Logan's Speech, by one of
the Indian guests, Miss
Calvert.
Vol. XXII- 20.
306 Ohio Arch. and
Hist. Society Publications.
LOGAN'S SPEECH.
"I appeal to any white man to say
if ever he entered Logan's
cabin hungry and he gave him not meat;
if ever he came cold
and naked and he clothed him not? During
the course of the
last long and bloody war, Logan remained
idle in his camp,
an advocate for peace. Such was my love
for the whites that my
countrymen pointed as I passed and said,
'Logan is the friend of
the white man'. I had even thought to
have lived with you but
for the injuries of one man. Colonel
Cresap, the last spring, in
cold blood and unprovoked, murdered all
the relations of Logan,
not even sparing my women and children.
There runs not a drop
of my blood in the veins of any living
creature. This called on
me for revenge. I have sought it. I have
killed many. I have
fully glutted my vengeance. For my
country I rejoice at the
beams of peace; but don't harbor a
thought that mine is the joy
of fear. Logan never felt fear. He will
not turn on his heel to
save his life. Who is there to mourn for
Logan? Not one."
At the conclusion of the program the
officers of the State
Society, with their guests, Indians and
whites, grouped them-
selves about the Boggs monument and a
fine photograph was
secured.
They then moved over toward the Logan
Elm, where they
were joined by the Pickaway County
Historical Society; and,
overshadowed by its giant branches, the
three organizations, to
all of whom the event was a most
auspicious one, were photo-
graphed together. Could there be one in that group who did
not feel this reunion of Red Men and
White beneath Logan's
tree, to be a fitting ending to a
memorable day?
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