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)
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.
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.