The Croghan Celebration. 87
"PETERSBURG,
VA., 4th March, 1880.
Colonel:
According to promise I will now attempt
to tell you what little I
know about Croghan and Sandusky. The
opening of the spring cam-
paign in 1813 found the garrison of Fort
Meigs exceedingly weak.
General Harrison having gone in the
states to hasten forward rein-
forcements, leaving General Clay in
command. The British and In-
dians in considerable numbers, knowing
perhaps of the absence of the
General-in-Chief, and our weakness, as
also our expecting succor from
Kentucky, surrounded the fort and
engaged in a sham battle, hoping
by this ruse to draw us out. Failing in
this they left us, taking the
Military Road in the direction of Fort Stephenson,
which was said to
have been forty miles in length, and
fell upon Major Croghan and
his little band at Sandusky. The fort at
this place was quite small,
covering I should say not more than one
English acre of ground. In
form it was quadrilateral, without
traverses, but having in front of
curtain on its four sides a broad and
deep fosse. At the north-east
angle of the fort was a blockhouse, and
just here was mounted the
only cannon (a six pounder) which made
such havoc with the red coats
occupying the ditch. My impression is
that my old comrade Brown
was the only member of my company
present on that occasion; and
that he did not (as has been asserted)
command the piece but only
assisted in working it. The captain of
the gun was a sergeant either
of the Pittsburg Blues, or Greensburg
Blues. However Brown was ter-
ribly burned about the face which
disfigured him for life. I forgot to
state that the Fort was short of
ammunition of all sorts, having only three
rounds in all for the cannon. You ask if
I knew Major Croghan. I an-
swer, Yes, I have seen him oftentimes
before and after the glorious fight
at Sandusky. He was a beardless
stripling; I should say rather below
the medium size, and did not look more
than eighteen years of age.
This is about all I know of Croghan and
Sandusky. I might add, though
not exactly pertinent, that our Company
was quite largely represented
on the decks of Commodore Perry's ships,
when he so gloriously fought
and overcame the British Fleet on Lake
Erie.
With great respect,
Your obedient servant,
REUBEN CLEMENTS.
THE FIRST PERMANENT WHITE SETTLERS IN
OHIO, JAMES WHIT-
AKER AND ELIZABETH FOULKE.
The first permanent white settlers in
Ohio were James
Whitaker and Elizabeth Foulks, who were
captured in western
Pennsylvania in 1774 and 1776
respectively, by the Wyandot
Indians, by whom they were adopted and
taken to Lower San-
88 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
dusky, now Frement, Ohio, where they
were brought together
as adopted members of the Wyandot tribe.
They were married
in Detroit, in 1781, and returned to a
tract of land which had
been given to them by the Wyandots on
the Sandusky River,
three miles below the lower rapids known
as Lower Sandusky.
Here they lived and raised a family of
eight children. Two
of their grandchildren and several great
grandchildren are resi-
dents of Fremont and vicinity.
James Whitaker, who became an Indian
trader, died of
poison, it is said, in 1804, at Upper
Sandusky, where he had a
store; but his remains were brought to
his home established in
1781, where he was buried on the tract
originally given him as
a wedding gift by the Indians, which
tract, containing 1280
acres, was set aside to his widow by the
treaty made at Fort
Industry September 29, 1817. His
tombstone was brought from
the old Whitaker farm and placed in
Birchard Library, just one
hundred years after its erection over
his grave. It bears the
following inscription:
IN MEMORY OF
JAMES WHITEACRE
WHO DIED
DEC. 17, 1804
In the 48th year of his age.
The tombstone of his daughter, Mary
Whitaker Shannon,
was also brought from the Whitaker
family burying-ground to
Birchard Library. Its inscription
records her death as occur-
ring August 15, 1827, in the 36th
year of her age, which places
her birth in 1791. She was the fourth
child of James Whitaker.
The Hon. Homer Everett, who came to
Fremont in 1815,
and was the recognized authority and
historian of Sandusky
county, relates in his History of
Sandusky County an interview
with Mrs. Rachel Scranton, the seventh
child of James Whitaker,
as follows:
The Croghan Celebration. 89
"About the year 1780 two brothers,
Quill and James Whitaker, in
company with another young man, left
Fort Pitt one morning on a
hunting expedition. They wandered a
considerable distance from the
fort, intent upon securing game with
which to gratify their friends, but
at an unexpected moment a volley of
rifle balls rattled among the trees.
One took mortal effect in the body of
the young man, another passed
through the hat of Quill Whitaker, who
saved himself by flight; a third
ball shattered the arm of James, the
younger brother, and in a few minutes
he was the prisoner of a band of painted
Wyandot warriors. After several
days' hard traveling, the Indians with
their captive reached a village
within the present boundaries of
Richland County, Ohio. Here the lines
were formed and Whitaker's bravery and
activity tested on the gauntlet
course. The boy, wounded as he was,
deported himself with true heroism.
The first half of the course was passed
without a single scratch, but as he
was speeding on toward the painted goal
an old squaw who cherished a
feeling of deep revenge, mortified by
the captive's successful progress,
sprang forward and caught his arm near
the shoulder, hoping to detain
him long enough for the weapon of the
next savage to take effect. The
prisoner instantly halted and with a
violent kick sent the vicious squaw
and the next Indian tumbling from the
lines. His bold gallantry received
wild shouts of applause along the line.
Attention being thus diverted, he
sprang forward with quickened speed and
reached the post without ma-
terial injury. Not satisfied that this
favorite amusement should be so
quickly ended, it was decided that the
prisoner should run again. The
lines for the second trial were already
formed, when an elderly and dig-
nified squaw walked forward and took
from her own shoulders a blanket
which she cast over the panting young
prisoner, saying, 'This is my son.
He is one of us. You must not kill him.'
Thus adopted, he was treated
with all that kindness and affection
which the savage heart is capable
of cherishing."
Miss Helen Scranton, daughter of Mr.
Everett's informant
above, relates that her grandfather,
James Whitaker, was born
in London, England, in 1756, and brought
to New York when
twelve years of age by his uncle, John
Whitaker, who was a
trader and the captain of his own ship.
The boy wandered
away from his uncle's ship while in New
York and was later
reported as having been captured by the
Indians.
The first documentary evidence we have
of James Whitaker
is found in his signature to a
proclamation issued by Henry
Hamilton, the British Lieutenant
Governor at Detroit. This
notorious scalp-hunter three months
later welcomed the rene-
gades Girty, Elliott and McKee, and sent
them forth to lead the
90 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
savages against American settlers on the
borders of Pennsyl-
vania and Virginia. The proclamation
reads:
"DETROIT, January 5th, 1778.
"Notwithstanding all endeavors to
apprize his majesty's faithful and
loyal subjects, dispersed over the
colonies of his gracious intentions to-
wards them, signified to them at
different times, it is to be feared the
mistaken zeal of the deluded multitude,
acted upon by the artful and
wicked designs of rebellious counsellors
has prevented many from profit-
ing of his majesty's clemency. This is
to acquaint all whom it may con-
cern, that nothing can give greater
satisfaction to those persons who com-
mand for his majesty at the different
posts, than to save from ruin those
innocent people who are unhappily
involved in distresses they have in no
ways merited. The moderation shown by
the Indians who have gone to
war from this place, is a speaking proof
of the truth; and the injunc-
tions constantly laid upon them on their
setting out, having been to
spare the defenceless and aged of both
sexes, show that compassion for
the unhappy is blended with the severity
necessary to be exercised in the
obstinate and perverse enemies of his
majesty's crown and dignity.
"The persons undernamed are living
witnesses of the moderation and
even gentleness of savages shown to
them, their wives and children;
which may, it is hoped, induce others to
exchange the hardships experi-
enced under their present masters, for
security and freedom under their
lawful sovereign.
"The bearer hereof, Edward Hazle,
has my orders to make known
to all persons whom it may concern, that
the Indians are encouraged to
show the same mildness to all who shall
embrace the offer of safety and
protection, hereby held out to them; and
he is further to make known,
as far as lies in his power, that if a
number of people can agree upon
a place of rendezvous, and a proper time
for coming to this post, the
Miamis, Sandusky or post Vincennes, the
properest methods will be taken
for their security, and a safe guard of
white people, with an officer and
interpreter sent to conduct them.
"Given under my hand and seal in
Detroit.
"Signed, Henry Hamilton[Seal],
Lieutenant Governor and Super-
intendent.
"God save the King."
"We who have undersigned our names,
do voluntarily declare that
we have been conducted from the several
places mentioned opposite our
names to Detroit by Indians accompanied
with white people; that we
have neither been cruelly treated nor in
any way ill used by them; and
further that on our arrival we have been
treated with the greatest hu-
manity and our wants supplied in the
best manner possible.
"George Baker, for himself, wife
and five children-now here from
five miles below Logstown.
The Croghan Celebration. 91
"James Butterworth from Big
Kenawha.
"Thomas X Shoers, from Harrodstown,
Kentucky.
his mark.
"Jacob Pugh, from six miles below
the fort at Wheeling.
"Jonathan Muchmore, from Ft. Pitt.
"James Whitaker, from Detroit,
taken at Fish Creek.
"John X Bridges, from Detroit,
taken at Fish Creek.
his mark.
After Whitaker's marriage and return to
Lower Sandusky,
he became an influential Wyandot chief
and follower of Tarhe,
the Crane, the famous Indian chieftain
whose home was at
Lower Sandusky. Charles Johnson, states
in his Narrative that
Whitaker fought with the Wyandots under
Crane in the defeat
of St. Clair in 1791, and again in the
Battle of Fallen Timbers
in 1794, when Wayne defeated the Indians
so decisively and
brought permanent peace to the frontier.
James Whitaker died in 1804, but the
Wyandots of Lower
Sandusky, under Tarhe, fought on the
American side in the War
of 1812. Although compelled through self-interest
and the cir-
cumstances of his location to fight the
battles of his adopted Indian
brothers, there are many notable
instances of his kindness to
white prisoners, and his constant
efforts to alleviate their suffer-
ings whenever possible. A number of
instances are cited later.
Mr. Everett's narrative, cited above,
continues:
"About two years after the capture
of Whitaker, another party of
warriors made an incursion into
Pennsylvania and captured at Cross
Roads, Elizabeth Foulks, a girl eleven
years old, whom they carried into
captivity and adopted into a family of
the tribe. Both captives lived con-
tentedly and happily, having adopted the
manners and customs of their
hosts.
"A few years after--probably here
on the Sandusky river, at a
general council of their tribe, these
two adopted children of the forest
made each other's acquaintance. A
marriage according to the customs
of civilized life was at once arranged
and the couple, ardent in their love
and happy in their expectations, set off
for Detroit, where the Christian
ritual was pronounced which made them
man and wife.
"The Indians seemed well pleased by
this conduct of their pale-
faced children. They gave them a choice
tract of farming land in the
river bottom. Mr. and Mrs. Whitaker
reared a large family for whose
education they expended considerable
sums of money.
"Mr. Whitaker entered into
mercantile business, for which he was
92 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
well fitted. He established a store at
his residence, one at Tymochtee
and one at Upper Sandusky. He
accumulated wealth rapidly, having at
the time of his death his goods all paid
for and 2,000 pounds on deposit
with the Canada house where he made his
purchases. At Upper San-
dusky he had a partner, Hugh Patterson,
with whom in the year 1804
he drank a glass of wine and died a
short time afterwards, his death
being attributed to poison in the wine.
Mrs. Whitaker, to whom a reser-
vation was granted in the treaty of
1817, survived her husband many
years."
Miss Helen Scranton states that her
grandmother, Elizabeth
Foulks, was taken prisoner by the
Wyandots during the first
year of the War of the Revolution, 1776,
when eleven years old,
at Beaver Creek, Pa. The children of the
neighborhood were
making sugar when they were attacked by
the Indians, her
brother John Foulks was tomahawked and
killed, and her brother
George, who was several years older than
Elizabeth, was taken
prisoner with her. Both were carried
through to the vicinity
of Detroit: She remained with the
Indians at Detroit, being
very kindly treated by them, until she
was married to James
Whitaker, also a prisoner at Detroit,
some five years and three
months after her capture, namely in 1781
or 1782. She was
adopted by the Wyandots, but in common
with the white pris-
oners, including her brother George, she
was freed a short time
before her marriage. George Foulks
returned at once to Beaver
Creek, Pa., where he married, leaving at
least ten children.
Elizabeth was married to James Whitaker
according to rites of
civilized life, but whether by a civil
or a religious ceremony is
not known. In 1782, very soon after
their marriage, Whitaker
and his wife left Detroit and returned
to the banks of the San-
dusky River, where they built a log
cabin three miles below
Lower Sandusky, now Fremont. A few years
after settling on
the Sandusky, Whitaker traded his furs
and Indian supplies
for lumber from Canada, and after
rafting it up the Sandusky
River built a large frame, two-story
house, also a warehouse
and store building. When her first
child, Nancy, was nine or
ten months old, Mrs. Whitaker started on
her first trip home
to Beaver Creek, carrying her baby on
her horse in front of
her and being accompanied by two Wyandot
squaws. She was
the mother of eight children, from her
marriage in 1782 until
The Croghan Celebration. 93
the death of her husband in 1804, at Upper Sandusky. She made several trips to her old home in Beaver Creek, going for the last time in 1823 to attend a family reunion at the home of her sister. An incident of that occasion is that her sister sat at the table with twenty-two of her own children, two others having died. Of the twenty-two, a quartet of boys, born at one birth, were dressed in suits of handsome green cloth presented to them by President Monroe. Mrs Whitaker died suddenly in 1833, |
|
while on a visit to Upper Sandusky, where her husband also had died neatly thirty years before. She was buried at Upper San- dusky, although her husband's body had been taken back to Lower Sandusky. Her will, dated February 13, 1833, was admitted to probate in this county September 13, 1833, in which are mentioned the names of several of her children, including Isaac and James, the latter being her executor. In her will among other things |
94 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
mentioned as her property was "a
chest containing valuable arti-
cles." From the inventory of her
estate as recorded in the office
of the probate judge the following
articles of silver were found
in a chest: Silver castor, cruets,
tablespoons, sugar tongs, Indian
armband and shoe buckles.
The children of James Whitaker and
Elizabeth Foulks
Whitaker were all born on what was
afterward called the
Whitaker Reservation, a tract of 1280
acres set aside for her
by the treaty of 1817, which
reads:
"To Elizabeth Whitaker, who was
taken prisoner by the Wyandots
and has ever since lived among them,
1280 acres of land, on the west
side of the Sandusky river, near
Croghansville, to be laid off in a square
form, as nearly as the meanders of the
said river will admit, and to run
an equal distance above and below the
house in which the said Elizabeth
Whitaker now lives."
A deed was made to her by the Government
in 1822 for
these lands, containing the restriction
that she should not con-
vey them to others without permission
from the President of
the United States. This permission she
obtained from President
Monroe and in 1823, for the
consideration named in the deed
of $1200, conveyed the whole tract to her son George Whitaker.
The names of the children of James and
Elizabeth Whitaker
were:
Nancy, born in 1782, married William
Wilson in 1803.
Isaac moved to Indiana.
James moved to Michigan.
Mary, born in 1791, married George Shannon,
died in 1827.
Elizabeth who died during the War of
1812.
Charlotte who died in 1824.
Rachel, born in 1800, who married James
A. Scranton in
1823.
George, born in 1803, moved to
Missouri in February, 1884.
James Whitaker had a number of trading
posts or stores,
one at his home, one on the Tymochtee
and one at Upper San-
dusky. While visiting the latter he died
suddenly, in 1804, sup-
posedly being poisoned by his partner,
Hugh Patterson, a Cana-
dian from Sandwich, Upper Canada, who
owed Mrs. Whitaker
The Croghan Celebration. 95
"$1300 on a judgment on which
Richard Patterson was surety,"
as stated in Elizabeth Whitaker's will.
James Whitaker did a great deal of his
trading at Montreal,
making one or two trips thither a year.
On one of these trips
he took his eldest daughter, Nancy, a
young girl, to Montreal,
where she visited an English family
named Wilson. The Wil-
sons proposed sending one of their
daughters to Scotland to be
educated, and Nancy Whitaker accompanied
her and remained
at Glasgow, Scotland, at school for
nearly three years. Shortly
after Nancy's return to her father's
home near Lower Sandusky,
William Wilson, an English officer and
son of the Montreal
Wilsons, came to visit the Whitakers,
and on a second visit some
months later he was married to Nancy at
the Whitaker home,
when she was between seventeen and
eighteen years of age.
William Wilson, the British officer, and
his wife Nancy lived
with the Whitakers, where they had many
English officers as
visitors. Two girls and a boy were born
to them before the
death of Nancy Whitaker Wilson, which
occurred shortly before
the death of her father, James Whitaker,
in 1804. The British
officer, Wilson, was recalled to England
in 1810 or 1811 to
assume the position of Captain in his
regiment, and left his
three children with their grandmother,
Elizabeth Whitaker, who
had charge of them until after the close
of the war between
Great Britain and America, as well as of
her own seven children.
One of her children, Mary, married
George Shannon. She
died in 1827, leaving five sons and one
daughter; two sons,
James and John, lived and died here,
leaving large families who
are prosperous people. Rachel Whitaker
Scranton died Octo-
ber 7, 1862, eleven years after the
death of her husband, James
A. Scranton, who died while
Sergeant-at-Arms of the Ohio State
Senate, in 1851. They had ten children,
of whom two survive:
James A. Scranton, a farmer near
Fremont, and Mrs. Hannah
Scranton-Stoner, a widow.
Charles Johnston of Botetourt County,
Virginia, while engaged in
securing depositions of witnesses in
litigation in relation to lands in
Kentucky, left his home in 1789 and
repaired to what is now Point
Pleasant on the Ohio river, While
passing down the river with Mr.
May, Mr. Skyles, William Flinn and Peggy
and Dolly Fleming, one of
96 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
whom
was a particular friend of Flinn who with the young women
were residents of Pittsburg, the party
was hailed by two white men who
implored to be taken on board and
rescued from the Indians by whom
they had been captured. These white men
were simply used as a decoy,
and when the boat containing Johnston
and his companions approached
the shore they were fired on by a body
of 54 Indians, killing Dolly
Fleming and Mr. May, and capturing
Skyles, Flinn, Peggy Fleming and
Charles Johnston. The date was March 20,
1789. The prisoners were
separated and later Flinn was burned at
the stake on the Sandusky
river, Skyles was condemned to a similar
fate on the Miami of the
Lakes, but providentially escaped to
Detroit. In 1827, Johnston, then a
prominent citizen of his native state,
printed a "Narrative of the Inci-
dents attending the Capture, Detention
and Ransom of Charles Johnston."
The following extracts relate to his
fellow captive, Peggy Fleming, and
to his experiences at Lower Sandusky.
When he reached Upper San-
dusky, he met a Canadian trader, named
Francis Duchouquet, who suc-
ceeded after many efforts in purchasing
Johnston from the Indians for
600 silver broaches. "This
event" says Johnston, "to me the most im-
portant of my life, by a singular
coincidence occurred on the 28th of
April, in the year 1790, the day on
which I attained the age of 21 years."
"The small band of Cherokees, three
in number, to whom Peggy
Fleming had been allotted in the
distribution made of the prisoners on
the Ohio, brought her to Upper Sandusky
while I was there. She was
no longer that cheerful, lively creature
such as when separated from
us. Her spirits were sunk, her gayety
had fled; and instead of that
vivacity and sprightliness which
formerly danced upon her countenance
she now wore the undissembled aspect of
melancholy and wretchedness.
I endeavored to ascertain the cause of
this extraordinary change, but
she answered my inquiries only with her
tears; leaving my mind to its
own inferences. Her stay with us was
only for a few hours, during
which time I could not extract a word
from her, except occasionally
the monosyllables yes and no. Gloom
and despondency had taken entire
possession of her breast; and nothing
could be more touching than her
appearance. Her emaciated frame and
dejected countenance, presented
a picture of sorrow and of sadness which
would have melted the stoutest
heart, and such was its effect upon me
that I could not abstain from
mingling my tears with hers. With these
feelings we parted. When we
met again it was under far different and
more auspicious circumstances,
as will hereafter be seen.
"Mr. Duchouquet sold his goods and
collected his peltry at Upper
Sandusky. The season had arrived for
transporting his purchases to De-
troit; and with a light heart I began
the journey to that post in his
party. The Sandusky river is not
navigable from the upper town: and
Mr. Duchouquet's peltry was carried on
pack horses to Lower Sandusky;
whence there is a good navigation to
Detroit. When we reached Lower
Sandusky, a great degree of
consternation prevailed there, produced by
The Croghan Celebration. 97
the incidents of the preceding day, and
of the morning then recently
past. The three Cherokees, who had
possession of Peggy Fleming, had
conducted her to a place where they
encamped, within a quarter of a
mile's distance from the town. It was
immediately rumored that they
were there, with a white female captive.
The traders residing in the
town instantly determined to visit the
camp of the Cherokees and to
see her. Among them was a man whose name
was Whitaker, and who
like the one that I had met at Upper
Sandusky had been carried into
captivity from the white settlements by
the Wyandots in his early life.
He was not so entirely savage as the
first; could speak our language
better; and though naturalized by his
captors retained some predilection
for the whites. The influence which he
had acquired with his tribe was
such that they had promoted him to the
rank of chief; and his standing
with them was high. His business had led
him frequently to Pittsburg
where the father of Peggy Fleming then
kept a tavern in which Whit-
aker had been accustomed to lodge and
board. As soon as he appeared
with the other traders at the camp of
the Cherokees, he was recognized
by the daughter of his old landlord, and
she addressed him by his name,
earnestly supplicating his efforts to
emancipate her from the grasp of
her savage proprietors. Without
hesitation he acceded to her request.
He did not make an application to the
Cherokees but returned to the
town and informed the principal chief,
distinguished by the appellation
of King Crane, that the white female
captive was his sister; a misrepre-
sentation greatly palliated by the
benevolent motive which dictated it.
"He had no difficulty in obtaining
from the King a promise to pro-
cure her release. Crane went immediately
to the camp of the Cherokees;
informed them that their prisoner was
the sister of a friend of his, and
desired as a favor that they would make
a present to him of Peggy
Fleming, whom he wished to restore to
her brother. They rejected his
request. He then proposed to purchase
her; this they also refused with
bitterness telling him that he was no
better than the white people and
that he was as mean as the dirt;
terms of the grossest reproach in their
use of them. At this insult Crane became
exasperated. He went back
to the town; told Whitaker what had been
his reception and declared
his intention to take Peggy Fleming from
the Cherokees by force. But
fearing such an act might be productive
of war between his nation and
theirs, he urged Whitaker to raise the
necessary sum in value for her
redemption. Whitaker, with the
assistance of the other traders at the
town, immediately made up the requisite
amount in silver broaches.
This was not accomplished until it was
too late to effect their object
on that evening. Early next morning,
King Crane, attended by eight
or ten young warriors, marched out to
the camp of the Cherokees, where
he found them asleep, while their
forlorn captive was securely fastened,
in a state of utter nakedness, to a
stake, and her body painted black;
an indication always decisive that death
is the doom of the prisoner.
Vol. XVI-7.
98 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
Crane, with his scalping knife, cut the cords by which she was bound; delivered her the clothes of which she had been divested by the rude hands of the unfeeling Cherokees; and after she was dressed, awakened them. He told them in peremptory language that the captive was his, and that he had brought with him the value of her ransom. Then throwing down the silver broaches on the ground, he bore off the terri- fied girl to the town, and delivered her to Whitaker; who after a few days sent her, disguised by her dress and paint as a squaw, to Pitts- burg, under the care of two trusty Wyandots. I never learnt whether she reached her home or not; but as the Indians are remarkable for their fidelity to their undertakings, I presume she was faithfully con- ducted to her place of destination. "The Cherokees were so incensed by the loss of their captive, that |
|
they entered the Wyandot town of Lower Sandusky, declaring they would be revenged by taking the life of some white person. This was the cause of the alarm, which was spread among the traders at the time of our arrival, and in which our party necessarily participated; as it was indispensable that we should remain there several days, for the purpose of unpacking Mr. Duchouquet's peltry from the horses, and placing it on board the batteaux in which it was to be conveyed to Detroit. The Cherokees painted themselves, as they and other savages are accustomed to do when they are preparing for war or battle. All their ingenuity is directed to the object of rendering their aspect as horrible as pos- sible, that they may strike their enemies with terror, and indicate by external signs the fury which rages within. They walked about the town in great anger, and we deemed it necessary to keep a watchful eye upon |
The Croghan Celebration. 99
them and to guard against their
approach. All the whites, except Whit-
aker, who was considered as one of the
Wyandots, assembled at night
in the same house, provided with weapons
of defence, and continued
together until the next morning; when to
our high gratification they
disappeared and I never heard of them
afterwards."
Mr. Johnston's Narrative continues:
"At Lower Sandusky we found Mr.
Angus McIntosh, who was
extensively engaged in the fur trade.
This gentleman was at the head
of the connection to which Mr.
Duchouquet belonged, who was his factor
or partner at Upper Sandusky, as a Mr.
Isaac Williams was here.
Williams was a stout, bony, muscular and
fearless man. On one of those
days which I spent in waiting until we
were ready to embark for Detroit,
a Wyandot Indian, in his own language,
which I did not understand,
uttered some expression offensive to
Williams. This produced great
irritation on both sides and a bitter
quarrel ensued. Williams took down
from a shelf of the store in which the
incident occurred two scalping
knives; laid them on the counter; gave
the Wyandot choice of them;
and challenged him to combat with these
weapons. But the character
of Williams for strength and courage was
so well known, that he would
not venture on the contest and soon
afterward retired.
"Lower Sandusky was to me
distinguished by another circumstance.
It was the residence of the Indian
widow, whose former husband I had
been destined to succeed, if the Mingo
had been permitted to retain and
dispose of me according to his
intentions. I felt an irresistible curiosity
to have a view of this female, and it
was my determination to find her
dwelling, and see her there, if no other
opportunity should occur. She
was at last pointed out to me as she
walked about the village, and I
could not help chuckling at my escape
from the fate which had been
intended for me. She was old, ugly and
disgusting.
"After the expiration of four or
five days from that on which we
reached Lower Sandusky, our preparations
were completed; the boats
were laden with the peltry of the
traders; and the whole trading party
embarked for Detroit. On the afternoon
of the second day, having de-
scended the river into Sandusky Bay, we
landed on a small island near
the strait by which it enters into Lake
Erie. Here we pitched a tent
which belonged to our party. The island
was inhabited by a small body
of Indians, and we were soon informed
that they were preparing for a
festival and dance. If I then understood
the motive or occasion which
induced this dance, it is not now within
my recollection. Several canoes
were employed in bringing guests from
the main, which is at a short
distance, separated from the island by a
narrow arm of the bay. We
were all invited to the dance by short
sticks, painted red, which were
delivered to us, and seemed to be
intended as tickets of admission. A
large circular piece of ground was made
smooth, and surrounded by
something like a pallisade, within which
the entertainment was held.
We had expected that it would commence
early in the evening, but the
100 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
delay was so long that we laid down to
sleep in the tent, which stood
near the spot of ground prepared for the
dance.
"About eleven o'clock we were
awakened by the noise of Indian
mirth. One hundred, perhaps, of both
sexes had assembled. Both men
and women were dressed in calico shirts.
Those of the women were
adorned with a profusion of silver
broaches, stuck in the sleeves and
bosoms; they wore, besides, what is
called a match-coat, formed of
cloth, confined around the middle of
their bodies by a string, with the
edges lapping toward the side, and the
length of the garment extended
a little below the knees. They wore
leggings and moccasins. Their
cheeks were painted red, but no other
part of their face. Their long
black hair was parted in front, drawn
together behind, and formed into
a club. The liberal use of bear's oil
gave it a high gloss. Such are
the ornaments and dress of an Indian
belle, by which she endeavors to
attract the notice of admiring beaux.
The men had a covering around
their waists, to which their leggings
were suspended by a string, extend-
ing from their top to the cord which
held on the covering of the waist;
and a blanket or robe thrown over the
shoulders and confined by a belt
around the body, of various colors and
adorned with beads. The women
were arranged together and led the
dance, the men following after them
and all describing a circle. The
character of this dance differed essen-
tially from that of the war dance, which
I had witnessed on a former
occasion. The one was accompanied by
horrid yells and shrieks and
extravagant gestures, expressive of fury
and ferocity, with nothing like
a mirthful cheerfulness. The other which
I saw in this last instance
was mere festivity and lively mirth. The
women were excluded from
the first, but had an active share in
the second; and both sexes were
highly animated by the music of the
tamborine. An abundant supper
had been provided, consisting altogether
of the fresh meat of bears and
deer, without bread or salt and dressed
in no other manner than by
boiling. It was served up in a number of
wooden trenchers, placed on
the ground and the guests seated
themselves around it. We were in-
vited to partake but neither the food
nor the cookery were much to our
taste; yet we were unwilling to refuse
their hospitality, and joined in
their repast. We were not gainers by it;
for when we were faring
not very sumptuously on their boiled
meat, without bread or salt, they
entered our tent and stole from our
basket which contained provisions
enough for our voyage, a very fine ham
on which we had intended to
regale ourselves the next day."
It is a curious fact that of the first
settlers of the Ohio
Company at Marietta, the first organized
settlement in the
Northwestern Territory, who were
captured by the Indians to
be taken for ransom to Detroit, two of
their number, Major
Nathan Goodale, the Revolutionary hero,
and Daniel Convers,
The Croghan Celebration. 101
then a young lad, should have been
treated with great kindness
by the Indian trader James Whitaker and
his family, the first
permanent white settlers in Ohio, at
their home near Lower
Sandusky. In fact Major Goodale died at
the home of the
Whitakers and was buried by them; while
young Convers makes
personal mention of their kindness to
him, in his Reminiscences.
The lad Daniel Convers was captured by
nine Indians on
the 29th of April, 1791, just
outside of Fort Frye, while engaged
with three armed soldiers in cutting a
tree for the purpose of
making a hoop for the body of a drum.
They were fired on,
when the three soldiers ran, leaving
Daniel, who was unarmed,
to be captured by the Indians. He was
hurried into a canoe
on the river which crossed over to the
mouth of Wolf Creek.
On arriving at Lower Sandusky, on the
9th of May, he found
oxen and other cattle that had been
taken from the settlement
at Marietta.
Some young Indian boys ran with him up
the river bank
to keep him out of sight of the other
Indians who lived in the
large Indian village, and he thus
received only kind treatment,
except in the case of a drunken Indian,
who knocked him down
several times. Hildreth's Pioneer
History says that they moved
the next day down the Sandusky,
"and stopped a short time at
Mr. Whitaker's, an Indian trader. He had
a white wife who
like himself had been taken prisoner in
childhood and adopted
into the tribe. The trader made them a
present of a loaf of
maple sugar, giving Daniel a share.
Whitaker said but little
to the prisoner, lest he should excite
the jealousy of the war-
riors."
On arriving at the mouth of the Portage
River, near the
ruins of old Fort Sandusky, Convers was
delivered to his new
master, a Chippewa. The price paid for
him was a horse and
several strings of wampum.
He was then taken to Detroit, where on
the 14th of July
he escaped and after secreting himself
for several weeks was
finally taken to the hospital by the son
of the British Command-
ant, who treated him kindly and sent him
on down to Montreal
and then on to his relations in
Killingly, Connecticut. He re-
turned to Marietta in February, 1794,
and became an influential
102 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications.
citizen. He drew the sketch of Fort Frye
found in Hildreth's
Pioneer History, which he assisted, as a
boy, in building.
Of the many acts of kindness extended by
James Whitaker
and his wife during their residence
among the Indians at Lower
Sandusky, the most noted person whom
they were able to assist
was Major Nathan Goodale. Gen. Rufus
Putnam, the intimate
friend of Washington and his chief
engineer and the "Father
of Ohio" in its first organized
settlement, was warmly attached
to Major Goodale, who had served as an
officer in his regiment
through the entire war. General Putnam,
in a remarkable letter
to General Washington written at
Massachusetts Huts, June 9,
1783, calls Washington's attention to
the numerous conspicuous
acts of personal bravery and of the
gallant duty performed by
Major Goodale during the Revolutionary
War.
Major Goodale was a native of
Brookfield, Mass., but
joined the Ohio Company in 1788. He
removed to Belpre, near
Marietta, in 1789, where he was captured
March 1, 1793, while
working on his farm within fifty rods of
the garrison, by eight
Wyandot Indians, who hurried him off
toward Detroit in order
to secure a large ransom. While en
route, near Lower San-
dusky, he fell sick and could not
travel. The Whitakers learn-
ing of his condition took him to their
home, where Mrs. Whitaker
carefully nursed him until he finally
died and was probably
buried in what afterward became the
Whitaker family grave-
yard. Mrs. Whitaker said "the
Indians left him at her house,
where he died of a disease like pleurisy
without having received
any very ill usage from his captors
other than the means neces-
sary to prevent his escape."
James Whitaker may be regarded as the
first educator of
this region. About 1800, at large
expense, he hired a teacher
from the east to instruct the older
children. His oldest daugh-
ter, Nancy, had been taken to Montreal,
and then sent to Scot-
land, where she remained three years at
school, returning well
qualified to teach her younger brothers
and sisters.
The Sandusky and Maumee Valleys, as well
as Detroit and
the Michigan peninsula, practically
remained under British do-
minion until after the Battle of Fallen
Timbers and the subsequent
treaty of Greenville. Detroit was
evacuated by the British in
The Croghan Celebration. 103
1796, nevertheless the British through
their Indian allies kept
an envious eye on this region and almost
immediately after the
declaration of war in June, 1812, again took possession of much
of this territory through the
ignominious surrender of Detroit.
Under these circumstances and on account
of James Whitaker's
almost semi-annual business trips to
Montreal it was but natural
that he and his family, including his
son-in-law, Captain Wilson
of the British Army, should be counted
on as having warm British
sympathies, many British officers,
including Proctor himself it is
said, visited at the Whitaker home at
Lower Sandusky prior to
the War of 1812. After James Whitaker's
death in 1804, and for
nearly thirty years thereafter, Mrs.
Whitaker resided in the old
home and transacted the business of a
frontier trader, but her
connections were more with the Americans
on the Ohio River
and at Pittsburg than with the British
at Montreal. Many acts of
kindness on her part to the foreign
missionaries are recorded.
The Rev. Joseph Badger, born in
Springfield, Mass., and a
Revolutionary soldier who fought at
Bunker Hill, was appointed
a missionary in the Connecticut Western
Reserve in October,
1800, and in 1801 began his work which
also extended into the
Sandusky Valley. In 1805, in the
records left by him, we read
of his swimming his horse across the
Sandusky River by the
side of his canoe. Associated with him
was Quintus F. Atkins,
whose diary is in the W. R. Historical
Society. There we read
that in 1806 these two men sailed up the
Sandusky River to
Mrs. Whitaker's, where they unloaded and
had family prayers.
A little later they heard Crane, the
Wyandot chief, "expressing
his pleasure in granting permission to
work their land and to
get food and hoping they would dwell
together in peace." In
the fall of 1809, when war rumors were
afloat, Mr. Badger
made an appointment for the Indians to
meet him at Mrs.
Whitaker's, at Lower Sandusky. His
address to them was so
convincing and his influence over them
for four or five years
had been so powerful for good, that they
resolved to take no
part against the Americans. This was
doubtless one of the rea-
sons together with the influence of Mrs.
Whitaker, why the
Wyandots under Tarhe at Lower Sandusky,
kept their faith with
104 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
the Americans and did not join the other Indians in behalf of the British. General Harrison often stopped at her house and she nursed him there through an illness of over six weeks. When the British expedition set out from Detroit under Proctor late in July, 1813, against Fort Meigs and then against Fort Stephenson at Lower Sandusky, it is only fair to presume that they counted on Mrs. Whitaker being friendly or at least neutral, as it was known that she had in her house the three children of a Captain in the British Army in the persons of the children of her daughter Nancy. The British gun-boats stopped at Whitaker's wharf three miles below the fort, where the large fine dwelling-house, store-house, factory |
|
and wharves of the Whitakers were located, but Mrs. Whitaker with her children and grandchildren on the approach of Tecum- seh's horde of Indians had fled to the protection of Fort Stephen- son and had been sent but a day or so before the battle, with other refugees, women and children, on toward Upper Sandusky and Delaware. She, herself, was fired on by the Indians, whose bullets riddled her cape. Her descendants, and in fact many old residents, ascribe much of Major Croghan's success to the information and advice given him by Mrs. Whitaker. She certainly had every opportunity of learning of the intention of the Indian allies of the British and this information she undoubtedly im- parted to General Harrison and Major Croghan, although it |
The Croghan Celebration. 105
is hard to estimate the actual value of
the assistance given to
Croghan in the battle. Nevertheless the
British were so in-
censed at her conduct that they stopped
at the Whitaker home
on their retreat down the river from
Fort Stephenson and re-
mained long enough to utterly destroy
the old home, the ware-
house, the factory and the wharves.
Before Mrs. Whitaker fled
from her riverside home, she buried a
handsome silver service
which had been presented to her and her
husband, years before,
by British officers. It was unearthed
and carried off by the Brit-
ish. Among the evidences of the landing
of British soldiers at
the Whitaker homestead and also of the
character of the troops
engaged against Fort Stephenson is a
Wellington half-penny
token, coined in 1813, and presented to
British troops participating
in Wellington's Peninsular Campaign in
Spain and Portugal,
which was found within the last ten
years near the Whitaker
homestead and was placed in the Birchard
Library Museum. After
the close of General Harrison's
Northwestern Compaign he ap-
pointed a commission to appraise the
damage and loss sustained
by American citizens by the British
invasion of Ohio during the
War of 1812. This commission awarded
Mrs. Whitaker $8000
as the damage and loss sustained in the
destruction of her prop-
erty by the British forces under General
Proctor. "I have claims
on the United States," says her
will, probated in 1833, "to $8000
for spoilation during the last
war." Voluminous papers were pre-
pared many years ago containing original
affidavits of settlers
of that period, and placed in the hands
of Congressman Frank
H. Hurd, who represented this
Congressional District some
twenty-five years ago.