FAREWELL SONG OF THE
WYANDOT INDIANS.
JAMES RANKINS, UPPER SANDUSKY.
[Mr. Emil Schlup, President of the
Wyandot County Pioneer
Association, is authority for the
statement that Rev. James Wheeler,
the resident missionary, preached the
farewell sermon at the Old Mis-
sion Church, Upper Sandusky, in the
forepart of July, 1843, to the
assembled Wyandot Indians. Squire John
Greyeyes, a converted Wy-
andot Indian, preached the sermon in the
Wyandot language, which ser-
mon was interpreted into the English
language by John McIntyre Arm-
strong. Many present were moved to tears
when Greyeyes bade adieu
to the surrounding scenes amid which his
people had long lived. This
pathetic event inspired the poet. The
Wyandots, about seven hundred
souls in number, left Upper Sandusky for
the far west, July 11, 1843.
- EDITOR.]
Adieu to the graves where my fathers now
rest!
For I must be going to the far distant
west.
I've sold my possessions; my heart fills
with woe
To think I must leave them, Alas! I must
go.
Farewell ye tall oaks in whose pleasant
green shade
In childhood I sported, in innocence
played;
My dog and my hatchet, my arrows and
bow,
Are still in remembrance, Alas! I must
go.
Adieu ye loved scenes, which bind me
like chains,
Where on my gay pony I chased o'er the
plains.
The deer and the turkey I tracked in the
snow.
But now I must leave them, Alas! I must
go.
Adieu to the trails which for many a
year
I traveled to spy the turkey and deer,
The hills, trees and flowers that
pleased me so
I must now leave, Alas! I must go.
Sandusky, Tymochtee, and Brokensword
streams,
Nevermore shall I see you except in my
dreams,
Adieu to the marshes where the
cranberries grow
O'er the great Mississippi, Alas! I must
go.
(442)
Note - Historical. 443
Adieu to the roads which for many a year
I traveled each Sabbath the gospel to
hear,
The news was so joyful and pleased me
so,
From hence where I heard it, it grieves
me to go.
Farewell my white friends who first
taught me to pray
And worship my Savior and Maker each
day.
Pray for the poor native whose eyes
overflow,
With tears at our parting, Alas! I must
go.
NOTE.- HISTORICAL.
In the excellent article "On the
Origin of Ohio Place Names,"
printed in the July issue of the
Quarterly, there were a few slips
which should be noted for correction.
On page 277, "Loramie's store was a
noted landmark and
appeared in all the treaties after
1769." The store was burned
in 1782 by General Clark's men, and was
never replaced. Subse-
quent to 1769, three general treaties
were made with the Indians;
one at Fort McIntosh, in Western
Pennsylvania, January 21st,
1785; one at Fort Harmar, near Marietta,
January 9th, 1789; one
at Greenville, August 3, 1795. Only the last treaty mentions
"Loramie's." The following is
a part of the boundary named
in that treaty: "Thence westerly to
a fork of that branch of the
Great Miami river running into the Ohio
at or near which fork
stood Loramie's store." The store
"was fifteen miles up Lora-
mie's Creek, a branch of the Big Miami.
The stream, the post-
office at the mouth, and the Reservoir
Shelby County, still bear
his name" - so the article
continues. There is no post-office
within several miles of the mouth of the
stream. The post-office
"Loramie" is about 15 miles
from the mouth of the stream, and
is at the village of New Berlin, in the
northwest corner of Shelby
County. The position of Fort Laramie was
fully discussed in
this Quarterly about five years ago. It
follows that the passage
on page 279, wherein it is stated that
the line from the Tuscar-
awas runs "west to Loramie's
Store," is wholly wrong.