The Croghan Celebration. 35
HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
BY BASIL MEEK, ESQ., FREMONT, OHIO. We have met today on this ground, famous in history, because of the victorious defence of Fort Stephenson, then standing on this spot, |
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tablet near the spot from which the British cannon bombarded the fort. The tablet reads as follows:
Near this spot British cannon from Commodore Barclay's fleet bombarded Major Croghan in Fort Stephenson August 1, and 2, 1813. General Proctor attempted to capture the fort by assault with his Wellington veterans, assisted by Indians under Tecumseh. Major Croghan with only 160 men and one cannon "Old Betsy,"repulsed the assault. The British retreated to their ships with many killed and wounded, but leaving Lt. Col. Short, Lieut. Gordon and 25 soldiers of the 41st regiment dead in the ditch. Commodore Barclay was wounded and with his entire fleet including the cannon used against Fort Stephenson was captured by Commodore Perry at the battle of Lake Erie, Sept. 10, 1813. General Proctor, with his British regulars, was defeated and Tecumseh with many of his Indians, was killed by General Harrison at the battle of the Thames, Oct. 5, 1813. Major Croghan was awarded a gold medal and each of his officers a sword by the congress of the United States for gallantry in the defense of Fort Stephenson. Erected by the George Croghan Chapter, D. A. R.
It is not for me, in this paper, to enter into any detailed account of the engagement, or any description of the fort; nor to enter into details of the causes or military movements that led up to the attack, |
36 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
as these have been assigned to others. Reference, however, is made to the accompanying cut of the plan of the fort and its environs.
"In long years past, on the banks of this river Whose current so peaceful, flows silently down, Roamed the race of the red man, with bow and with quiver, Where stands fair Fremont, our beautiful town."
Here centuries ago, according to tradition, there were two fortified neutral towns. One on the east and one on the west bank of the river, remains of which, in the shape of earthworks were visible within the remembrance of inhabitants now living. |
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REFERENCE TO THE ENVIRONS.--a--British gunboats at their place of landing. b- Cannon, a six-pounder. c - Mortar. d - Batteries. e - Graves of Lieut. Col. Short and Lieut. Gordon, who fell in the ditch. f - Road to Upper Sandusky. g -Advance of the enemy to the fatal ditch. i-Head of navigation.
Major B. F. Stickney, for many years Indian agent in this locality and familiar with its history and traditions, in a lecture in Toledo in 1845, speaking of these towns, said: "The Wyandots have given me this account of them. At a period of two and a half centuries ago all the Indians west of this point were at war with those east. Two walled towns were built near each other, inhabited by those of Wyandot origin. They assumed a neutral character. All of the west might enter |
The Croghan Celebration. 37
the western city and all of the east the eastern. The inhabitants of one city might inform those of the other that war parties were there; but who they were or whence they came or anything more must not be mentioned." Gen. Lewis Cass, in an address in 1829 before the Historical Society of Michigan, alluding to these neutral towns, said: "During the long and disastrous contest which preceded and followed the arrival of the Euro- peans, in which the Iroquois contended for victory, and their enemies for existence, this little band (Wyandots) preserved the integrity of their tribe and the sacred character of peacemakers. All who met upon their threshold met as friends. This neutral nation was still in existence when the French Missionaries reached the upper lakes two centuries ago. The details of their history and of their character and privileges are meager and unsatisfactory, and this is the more to be regretted as such a sanctuary among the barbarous tribes is not only a |
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REFERENCES TO THE FORT. -Line 1-Pickets. Line 2-Embank- ment from the ditch to and against the picket. Line 3. Dry ditch, nine feet wide by six deep. Line 4-Outward embankment or glacis. A- Blockhouse first attacked by cannon, b. B-Bastion from which the ditch was raked by Croghan's artillery. C--Guard blockhouse, in the lower left corner. D- Hospital during the attack. E E E -Military store-houses. F-- Commissary's store-house. G - Magazine. H- Fort gate. K K K-Wicker gates. L- Partition gate.
singular institution but altogether at variance with that reckless spirit of cruelty with which their wars are usually prosecuted." Internal feuds finally arose, as the tradition goes, and the villages were destroyed. Here then the Indians for centuries had their homes and swarmed along the banks and in the forests and plains of the valley of their beloved river. Large game abounded on every hand, the river teemed with fish, |
38 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
and the marshes were alive with wild
fowl. To them it was an ideal
abode and typical of their heaven, the
happy hunting ground. They were
mostly of the Wyandot tribe, whose
ancestors' home was once on the
north side of the river St. Lawrence,
and who, becoming involved in a
war with the Senecas, living on the
opposite side, which threatened their
extermination, concluded to leave their
country. They settled first in the
vicinity of Greenbay; the Senecas
followed them and the war was
renewed with varying fortunes, until
finally it came to an end with the
Wyandots victors, but so badly worsted
as to be unable to take much
advantage of their victory, and they
finally settled here. They were
more civilized than any of the other
tribes inhabiting this region, among
whom were Delawares, Shawanees and
Ottawas.
The origin of the name of the river has
been variously explained.
A map, published in Amsterdam in 1720
founded on a great variety of
Memoirs of Louisiana, represents within
the present limits of Erie
county a water called Lac San douske.
There is also a map published by
Henry Popple, London in 1733, where the
bay is called "Lake Sandoski."
A very probable account of the origin of
the name is the tradition of
aged Wyandot warriors given to Gen.
Harrison in the friendly chat of
the Wigwam from which it appeared that
their conquering tribes in
their conflict with the Senecas,
centuries ago, having landed at Maumee,.
followed the lake shore toward the east,
passing and giving names to
bays, creeks and rivers until on coming
to Cold creek, where it enters.
the bay, they were so charmed with the
springs of clear, cold water in
the vicinity that they pitched their
tents and engaged in hunting and
fishing, and by them the bay and river
was called Sandusky. Meaning
in their language "At the Cold
Water." Butterfield gives a conversation
of John M. James, with William Walker,
principal chief of the Wyandots
at Upper Sandusky, at Columbus, 1835. He
said the meaning of the
word was "at the cold water,"
and should be pronounced San-doos-tee.
The Lower San-doos-tee (cold water) and
Upper San-doos-tee being the
descriptive Wyandot Indian names known
as far back as our knowledge
of this tribe extends.
Here at Lower Sandusky was one of the
most important Wyandot
villages, named Junque-indundeh, which
in the Wyandot language, noted
for its descriptive character, signifies
"at the place of the hanging haze
or mist (smoke)," a name applicable
and of a poetic tinge when its site
with the surrounding forests, prairies
and marshes, and the burning
leaves and grass are considered. Through
this village passed one of
the main Indian trails from Detroit to
the Ohio River country through
the Ohio wilderness. There was good
navigation from here to Detroit
and the upper lakes, and a good waterway
for their canoes, with but a
short portage, between the Sandusky
river and the Scioto, to the Ohio
river.
For a period of nearly sixty years
before the battle of Fort Stephen-
The Croghan Celebration. 39
son this spot was on the route pursued
by military expeditions of France,
Great Britain and our forefathers, and
by the war parties of the savage
red man from the St. Lawrence to the
Mississippi. The first military ex-
pedition of white men to this place of
which we have a record at the pres-
ent time, was that of the French sent
out by DeLongueuil, commandant at
Detroit, in 1748, during the conspiracy
of Nicolas, the Wyandot chief
who resided at Sandosket, on the north
side of the bay of that name,
and who had permitted English traders
from Pennsylvania to erect
a large blockhouse at his principal town
on the north side of Lake
Sandoski, in 1745, named Fort Sandusky.
After the failure of his con-
spiracy, Nicolas resolved to abandon his
towns on Sandusky Bay, and
on April 7, 1748, destroyed his villages
and forts and with his warriors
and their families moved to the Illinois
country.
The French sent another expedition in
1749 under Captain de
Celeron who after passing up the
Sandusky river conducted an expe-
dition to the Ohio country, burying
engraved leaden plates along the
Ohio river. The first British expedition
up the Sandusky was after
the close of the old French War in 1760,
when Robert Rogers, a native
of New Hampshire, was directed to take
possession of the western forts.
He left Montreal on the 13th of
September, 1760, with two hundred Ran-
gers-proceeding west he visited Sandusky--after
securing the fort at
Detroit returned by land via Sandusky
and Tuscarawas Trail to Fort
Pitt, stopping at the Lower Rapids of
the Sandusky, probably on this
very knoll. The succeeding expedition,
that of Colonel Bradstreet and
Israel Putnam in 1764, was outlined in
the address of Hon. S. D. Dodge.
In May, 1778, the Renegades Alexander
McKee, Matthew Elliott
and Simon Girty passed through Lower
Sandusky to join the notorious
Lieutenant-Governor Henry Hamilton at
Detroit, and lead the savages
in their attack on the settlers. James
Girty came from Fort Pitt a few
weeks later to join them. Later in the
year 1778 Daniel Boone and
Simon Kenton, then held captive by the
Indians, at different times passed
through Lower Sandusky en route to
Detroit. Strange to say Simon
Girty saved Simon Kenton's life and sent
him to Detroit after he had
been condemned to be burned and
tortured.
The next military expedition of which we
have knowledge which
stopped at or passed through this place
was the British contingent which
served with the Indians in repelling
Crawford's expedition which cul-
minated in the terrible scene of
Crawford's execution by burning at
the stake. This followed about two
months after the passage of the
Moravians through this place on their
removal to Detroit.
The pathetic story of the Moravian
Indians whose villages were
originally planted on the banks of the
Tuscarawas river, in 1772, had a sad
ending some ten years later in the
brutal massacre which forms one
of the darkest pages of Revolutionary
times. The Moravian missio-
naries and Christian Indians seemed to
excite the special enmity of the
40 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications.
savages both white and red, British and
American. The renegades, Elliott,
Girty and McKee, finally persuaded the
British Commandant at Detroit
to order their removal, and sent the
bloody Wyandot Indians under
their war chiefs Kuhn of Lower Sandusky,
and Snip of Upper Sandusky,
accompanied by the famous Delaware chief
Captain Pipe of Upper San-
dusky, to transfer them to the Sandusky
villages or to the vicinity of
Detroit. This was carried out in their
usual ruthless manner. While
the Indian converts remained at Upper
Sandusky, De Peyster, the Com-
mandant of Detroit, through the
machinations of Simon Girty, ordered
the missionaries brought before him.
Rev. John Heckewelder, one of
the missionaries, afterward wrote, in
his "History of the Mission": "On
the morning of the 13th of March, 1782,
a Frenchman named Francis
Levallie, from Lower Sandusky, gave us
notice that Girty who was to
have taken us to Detroit, having gone
with a party of Wyandots to war
against the Americans on the Ohio, had
appointed him to take his place
in taking us to Detroit, and that on the
next day after tomorrow (the
15th) he would be here again to set out
with us. A little conversation
with this man satisfied us that we had
fallen into better hands. He
told us: 'Girty had ordered him to drive
us before him to Detroit, the
same as if we were cattle, and never
make a halt for the purpose of
the women giving suck to their children.
That he should take us
around the head of the lake (Erie) and
make us foot every step of
the way.' He, however would not do this,
but would take us to Lower
Sandusky, and from that place send a
runner with a letter to the Com-
mandant at Detroit, representing our
situation and taking further orders
from him respecting us."
Notwithstanding Girty's hard order, the
kind-hearted Frenchman
conducted the missionaries with every
regard for their comfort and
safety, and boats were sent to take them
from Lower Sandusky to Detroit.
A short time after reaching Lower
Sandusky they received word that the
almost equally brutal white borderers on
the American side, led by the
notorious Col. Williamson, had marched
from Fort Pitt and cruelly
slaughtered some ninety or more
Christian Indians who still remained
at the Moravian villages on the
Tuscarawas. The missionary band at
Lower Sandusky consisted of the senior
missionary David Zeisberger,
and his wife; John Heckewelder, wife and
child; Senseman, wife and
babe but a few weeks old; Youngman and
wife; and Edwards and
Michael Young, unmarried. The two latter
were, while in Lower San-
dusky, lodged in the house of Mr.
Robbins. The other four missionaries
with their families were guests of Mr.
Arundel. Robbins and Arundel
were English traders at this place.
Heckewelder in his History of Indian
Nations describes the ordeal
of running the gauntlet as follows:
"In the month of April, 1782, when
I was myself a prisoner at
Lower Sandusky, waiting for an
opportunity to proceed with a trader to
The Croghan Celebration. 41
Detroit, - three American prisoners were
brought in by fourteen war-
riors from the garrison of Fort
McIntosh. As soon as they had crossed
the Sandusky river to which the village
lay adjacent, they were told
by the captain of the party to run as
hard as they could to a painted
post which was shown to them. The
youngest of the three without a
moment's hesitation immediately started
for it, and reached it fortu-
nately without receiving a single blow;
the second hesitated for a moment,
but recollecting himself, he also ran as
fast as he could and likewise
reached the post unhurt. The third,
frightened at seeing so many men,
women and children with weapons in their
hands ready to strike him,
kept begging the captain to spare him,
saying that he was a mason and
would build him a fine large stone house
or do any work for him that
he would please.
"Run for your life," cried the
chief to him, "and don't talk now of
building houses!" But the poor
fellow still insisted, begging and praying
to the captain, who at last finding his
exhortations vain and fearing the
consequences turned his back upon him
and would not hear him any
longer. Our mason now began to run, but
received many a hard blow,
one of which nearly brought him to the
ground, which, if he had fallen
would have decided his fate. He,
however, reached the goal, and not
without being sadly bruised, and he was
beside bitterly reproached and
scoffed at all round as a vile coward,
while the others were hailed as
brave men and received tokens of
universal approbation."
"In the year 1782," says
Heckewelder, "the war chief of the Wyandot
tribe of Indians of Lower Sandusky sent
a young white man whom he
had taken as prisoner as a present to
another chief who was called the
Half King of Upper Sandusky, for the
purpose of being adopted into
his family in the place of one of his
sons who had been killed the pre-
ceding year. The prisoner arrived and
was presented to the Half King's
wife, but she refused to receive him;
which according to the Indian rule
was in fact a sentence of death. The
young man was therefore taken
away for the purpose of being tortured
and burnt on the pile. While
the dreadful preparations were making
and the unhappy victim was
already tied to the stake, two English
traders, moved by feelings of pity
and humanity, resolved to unite their
exertions to endeavor to save
the prisoner's life by offering a ransom
to the war chief; which how-
ever he refused, saying it was an
established rule among them to sacri-
fice a prisoner when refused adoption;
and besides the numerous war
captains were on the spot to see the
sentence carried into execution.
The two generous Englishmen, were,
however, not discouraged, and
determined to try another effort. They
appealed to the well-known high-
minded pride of an Indian. 'But,' said
they, 'among all these chiefs
whom you have mentioned there is none
who equals you in greatness;
you are considered not only as the
greatest and bravest, but as the
best man in the nation.' 'Do you really
believe what you say?' said
42 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
the Indian looking them full in the face. 'Indeed we do.' Then without speaking another word, he blackened himself, and taking his knife and his tomahawk in his hand, made his way through the crowd to the un- happy victim, crying out with a loud voice, 'what have you to do with my prisoner?' and at once cutting the cords with which he was tied, took him to his house, which was near that of Mr. Arundel, whence he was secured and carried off by safe hands to Detroit, where the Com- mandant sent him by water to Niagara, where he was soon after liberated; the Indians who witnessed this act, said it was truly heroic; they were so confounded by the unexpected conduct of this chief and by his manly and resolute appearance, that they had not time to reflect upon what they should do, and before their astonishment was well over, the prisoner was out of their reach." |
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Another description of the same ordeal is related by Jeremiah Arm- strong, who with an older brother and sister, was captured by the Indians in 1794 opposite Blennerhassett's Island and brought to this place. He says: "On arriving at Lower Sandusky, before entering the town, they halted and formed a procession for Cox (a fellow prisoner), my sister and myself to run the gauntlet. They pointed to the home of their chief, Old Crane, (Tarhe), about a hundred yards distant, signifying that we should run into it. We did so and were received very kindly by the old chief; he was a very mild man, beloved by all." Tarhe when critically analyzed means "at him," "the tree," or "at the tree," the tree personified. Crane was a nickname given him by the French on account |
The Croghan Celebration. 43
of his height and slender form. Tarhe's wife was a white woman, a
captive named Sally Frost, who had been
adopted by the Wyandots.
LOWER SANDUSKY.
The two mile square tract which still
comprises the corporate limits
of the city of Fremont, was ceded to the
government of the United States
by the Indians at the treaty of Fort
McIntosh, January 21, 1785, renewed
at Fort Harmar, January 9, 1789, and
reaffirmed at the treaty of Green-
ville, August 3, 1795; and has
constituted a distinct military or civil
jurisdiction now for 121 years. Gen.
George Rogers Clark, the uncle
of our Major George Croghan, was one of
the Commissioners of the
United States who made the treaty with
the Indians at Fort McIntosh,
by which the spot so gallantly defended
by his nephew, twenty-eight years
after, was first ceded to the
government.
While this region was within the
jurisdiction of Delaware county
(1809-15) the term or name Lower
Sandusky was sometimes understood
to apply to all that region within the
Sandusky river valley north of
an undefined line dividing the upper
from the lower Sandusky country.
On April 29, 1811, as recorded in
journal 1, page 35, the board of county
commissioners of Delaware county passed
the following resolution:
"Resolved by the board of
commissioners of Delaware county in
conformity to a petition from the white
inhabitants of Sandusky and by
the verbal request of some of the
inhabitants of Radnor township, that
all that part of country commonly known
and called by the name of
Upper and Lower Sanduskys shall be and
now is attached to Radnor
township enjoying township privileges so
far as is agreeable to law."
This is the first record concerning
local civil government here, that
I have been able to find.
It is quite reasonable to conclude that
more than the two-mile square
tract is meant by "All that part of
country commonly known and called
by the name of Lower Sandusky." In
further support of this conclusion
may be mentioned a criminal prosecution
in the common pleas court of
Huron county at the May term, 1819,
while this territory was within
that jurisdiction. - Law Record, Vol. 1,
page 217.
The case referred to was the
State of Ohio vs. Ne-go-sheek, Ne-
gon-e-ba and Ne-gossum, three Ottawa
Indians, indicted for the murder
of John Wood and George Bishop, white
men, at a hunter's and trap-
per's camp on the Portage' river, at a
point about twelve miles from its
mouth, near what is now Oak Harbor in
Ottawa county, April 21, 1819.
The indictment was drawn and the
prosecution conducted by Ebenezer
Lane, assisted by Peter Hitchcock, both
very able lawyers and not likely
to be mistaken in the averments as to
the venue or place where the
crime was committed, which, though known
to have been several miles
distant from the two-mile square tract,
was nevertheless charged in the
indictment as committed "At the
county of Huron in Lower Sandusky."
44 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications.
A very interesting account of this case
may be found in the Fire-
land Pioneer, June 1865, page 43.
Ne-gossum was discharged without
trial. The other two were convicted and
sentenced to be hung, which
sentence was executed at Norwalk, July
1, 1819. Lane and Hitchcock both
subsequently became Judges of the
Supreme Court of the State.
On August 1, 1815, while the region
known as Lower Sandusky was
within the civil jurisdiction of Huron
County, having been transferred
from Delaware County to Huron, January
31, 1815, the Township of
Lower Sandusky was formed by the
commissioners of that county, and
provision made for the first election of
township officers for the town-
ship, the same to be held August 15, 1815,
at the house of Israel Har-
rington.
The order, among other things,
provided: "Said township to
comprise all that part of Huron County
west of the 24th range of Con-
necticut Reserve," which meant then
all that region of country between
the west line of Huron and the east
lines of Hancock, Wood and Lucas
Counties, lying south of Lake Erie and
extending to the south line of
Seneca County.
At this election Israel Harrington,
Randall Jerome and Jeremiah
Everett (father of Homer Everett) were
elected township trustees;
Isaac Lee, clerk; Morris A. Newman and
William Ford, overseers of
the poor, and Charles B. Fitch and Henry
Dubrow, appraisers.
This immense township thus remained
until May 18, 1819, when by
action of the county commissioners of
Huron County another township
was formed by detaching from the
township of Lower Sandusky all that
part of the same east of the Sandusky
river. To the new township the
name of Croghan was given.
FORT STEPHENSON PARK AND BIRCHARD
LIBRARY.
Fort Stephenson Park, the site of the
fort, covers a little more than
two acres of ground, and is a part of a
57 acre tract, numbered 9, of
the subdivision of the two-mile square
reservation made in 1817, and
about that time platted into inlots and
is located near the center of
the historic two-mile square tract. The
first purchaser from the gov-
ernment was Cyrus Hulburd, whose deed is
dated March 11, 1824.
From him it passed through successive
grantees till the title to the three-
fourths part fronting Croghan street was
acquired by Lewis Leppelman,
the southwest one-eighth by Dr. W. V. B.
Ames, and the southeast
one-eighth by Lucinda Claghorn. The city
of Fremont purchased this
property in 1873, the Birchard Library
Association, having contributed
$9,000 toward the purchase of the
property, and being the equitable owner
of one-third thereof. On March 29, 1878,
the Birchard Library Associa-
tion became the owner of the legal title
to the undivided one-third of
this ground by deed of conveyance from the
City council of Fremont
pursuant to an ordinance duly passed
February 18, 1878. This deed
The Croghan Celebration. 45
contained the conditions prescribed in
the ordinance which are as fol-
lows: "That said Birchard Library
Association are to have the right to
erect, maintain and occupy a building
for the Birchard Library on Lots
number two hundred and twenty-one (221)
and two hundred and forty
(240), and that said City have the right
to erect, maintain and occupy a
building on said premises for a City
Hall, where the same is now be-
ing erected on the corner of Croghan and
Arch streets, and that no other
building, fence or structure of any kind
shall hereafter be erected or
put upon any part of said Lots, nor
shall the same ever be used for any
purpose other than as a Public Park or
any part thereof sold or con-
veyed without the consent of both the
said City Council and the said
Birchard Library Association. The
control and supervision of said Park
shall be vested in the City Council and
said Birchard Library Associa-
tion jointly, but said City Council
shall have the exclusive use and con-
trol of the building now on said
Lots."
The Birchard Library Association, which
was largely instrumental in
preserving old Fort Stephenson for the
public, was founded in 1873 by
Sardis Birchard, who named a Board of
Trustees of which his nephew
Rutherford B. Hayes was the president,
and arranged to place with such
Board property and securities to the
value of $50,000. Mr. Birchard died
January 21, 1874, before the property
intended to be given was legally
vested in this Board of Trustees, and
his last will, dated August 21, 1872,
contained no provision for the Library.
His nephew and residuary legatee,
Rutherford B. Hayes, however,
on February 14, 1874, but fifteen days
subsequent to the probating of Mr.
Birchard's will, himself made a will in
his own handwriting, witnessed
by J. W. Wilson and A. E. Rice, which
will was for the sole purpose of
correcting this omission and securing
for the Library the endowment in-
tended by Mr. Birchard. Item 2 of
General Hayes's will was as follows:
"To carry out the intention of my
uncle for the benefit of the people
of Fremont and vicinity, I give and
bequeath to the Birchard Library all
my right, title and interest to the
following property, viz." Then
fol-
lowed the description of parcels of real
estate in Toledo, out of which
was to be realized an aggregate of
$40,000 for the Library. Subse-
quently this property was conveyed by
deed and later it was sold. It
was undoubtedly the expectation and
intention of Mr. Birchard to com-
plete his gift while living; hence the
absence of any provision for it in
his will, although his cash bequests to
educational and charitable institu-
tions and relatives and friends other
than his residuary legatees, aggre-
gated some $40,000.
General Hayes, in making this will at
the time he did, evidently in-
tended that even in the case of his own
death, the people of Fremont
and vicinity should receive the
unexecuted gift of Mr. Birchard; so that
the people are indebted both to the
benevolence of Sardis Birchard and to
the generosity of Rutherford B. Hayes
for Birchard Library.
46 Ohio Arch. and
Hist. Society Publications.
It is an interesting fact that the
existence of the above mentioned
will was only learned during the present
year by the finding of a photo-
graphic copy of it, which has since been
placed in Birchard Library.
The name Fort Stephenson first appears
in the military records as
follows:
"FORT STEPHENSON, May 22, 1813.
May it please your Excellency:
Sir: Agreeably to your orders I have
forwarded all the articles
specified therein. * * * Considerable
manual labor has been done on
the garrison since you left this place
and improvements are daily making.
*
* *One person has been buried since you left this place. He came
from Fort Meigs with a part of the
baggage of Major Tod. * * * "
R. E. Post, Adjutant.
The Major Tod mentioned became the
president judge of the com-
mon pleas court of the district to which
Sandusky county was attached
when organized and presided at the first
term of that court held in the
county, May 8, 1820, at Croghansville.
At the time of the defense of Fort
Stephenson there were but very
few white inhabitants in Lower Sandusky,
as is evidenced by the follow-
ing petition to Governor Meigs, dated
December 21, 1813:
"May it please your Excellency:-
"The undersigned inhabitants and
settlers on the plains of Lower
Sandusky on the reservation beg leave to
humbly represent their present
situation."
"In the first instance B. F.
Stickney, Indian Agent has denied us
the right or privilege of settling on
these grounds * * * and has
actually instructed Gen. Gano, our
present Commandant, to dispossess us
of our present inheritance. Many of us *
* * have been severe suff-
erers since the commencement of the
present war. * * * We do not,
neither can we attempt to claim any
legal right to the ground or spot
of earth on which we have each
individually settled; but the improve-
ments which we have made and the
buildings which we have erected we
trust will not be taken from us. * * *
Permission to build has been
granted by Gen. Gano to those who have
erected cabins since his arrival."
Signed by Morris A. Newman, Israel
Harrington, George Bean,
Geo. Ermatington, R. E. Post, Asa Stoddard,
R. Loomis, Jesse Skinner,
William Leach, Walter Brabrook, Louis
Moshelle, Wm. Hamilton, Lewis
Geaneau, Patrick Cress.
Whether this petition was granted or not
there is no record to
show, but it is probable that it was.
But few of the names of the four-
teen signers appear in the subsequent
history of the county affairs.
Israel Harrington and Morris A. Newman,
however, became Associate
Judges of the Common Pleas Court, and
Judge Newman was also County
Commissioner. It was at his tavern on
the northeast corner of Ohio
The Croghan Celebration. 47
Avenue and Pine Street, in
Croghansville, that the first term of the
common pleas court in the county was
held, and Judge Harrington was
one of the associate judges presiding at
that term.
BALL'S BATTLE.
On July 30, 1813, when General Harrison
sent Colonel Wells to
relieve Major Croghan from command at
Fort Stephenson, he was
escorted from Fort Seneca by Colonel
Ball's squadron, consisting of about
100 horse. On the way down they fell in
with a body of Indians and
fought what has since been called Ball's
Battle. Israel Harrington, a
resident of Lower Sandusky at the time
of the battle and one of the
first associate judges of Sandusky
county, said that "three days after
he passed the ground and counted thereon
thirteen dead Indians awfully
cut and mangled by the horsemen. None of
the squadron were killed
and but one slightly wounded." The
scene of this battle is about one
and a half miles southwest of Fremont on
the west bank of the river,
near what is now the residence of
Birchard Havens. There was an
oak tree on the site of the action
within the memory of persons still
living, with seventeen hacks in it to
indicate the number of Indians killed;
but this tree has unfortunately
disappeared as have many other monu-
ments of those stirring times. Howe
says: "The squadron were moving
toward the fort when they were suddenly
fired upon by the Indians from
the west side of the road, whereupon
Colonel Ball ordered a charge
and he and suite and the right flank
being in advance first came into
action. The colonel struck the first
blow. He dashed in between two
savages and cut down the one on the
right; the other being slightly in
the rear, made a blow with a tomahawk at
his back, when, by a sudden
spring of his horse, it fell short and
was buried deep in the cantel and
pad of his saddle. Before the savage
could repeat the blow he was shot
by Corporal Ryan. Lieut. Hedges (now
Gen. Hedges of Mansfield) fol-
lowing in the rear, mounted on a small
horse pursued a big Indian and
just as he had come up to him his
stirrup broke, and he fell headfirst
off his horse, knocking the Indian down.
Both sprang to their feet, when
Hedges struck the Indian across his
head, and as he was falling buried
his sword up to its hilt in his body. At
this time Captain Hopkins was
seen on the left side in pursuit of a
powerful savage, when the latter
turned and made a blow at the captain
with a tomahawk, at which the
horse sprang to one side. Cornet Hayes
then came up, and the Indian
struck at him, his horse in like manner
evading the blow. Serj. Ander-
son now arriving, the Indian was soon
dispatched. By this time the
skirmish was over, the Indians who were
only about 20 in number being
nearly all cut down; and orders were
given to retreat to the main
squadron. Col. Ball dressed his men
ready for a charge, should the
Indians appear in force, and moved down
without further molestation
to the fort, where they arrived about 4
P. M."
48 Ohio
Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
Among Colonel Ball's troopers was a
private, James Webb, the
father of Lucy Webb Hayes, whose old
flint-lock rifle and hunting horn
are among the treasures of Spiegel
Grove.
In the plan of the environs of the Fort,
it will be noted that the
spot where the British officers, Lieut.
Colonel Shortt and Lieut. Gordon
were buried, is marked. The new High
School building now covers this
spot, and in 1891, while excavating for
its foundation portions of the
graves were uncovered and metallic
buttons with the number of the
regiment, 41, stamped on them were
found, which have been placed in
Birchard Library by Mr. H. S. Dorr,
their owner. Mr. Dorr, soon after
finding these buttons showed them to
President Hayes who stated that
in reading an autobiography of a Scotch
Bishop Gordon, he found the
following: "The great sorrow of my
life was the loss of a son in an
unimportant battle in an obscure place
in North America--called Fort
Sandusky."
From an English work, the
"Dictionary of National Biography" the
following facts are gathered. The father
of Lieut. Gordon was James
Bently Gordon (1750-1819) of
Londonderry, Ireland, who graduated from
Trinity College, Dublin, in 1773 took
Holy Orders and subsequently was
presented with the living, first of
Cannaway on Cork and finally that of
Killegney in Wexford, both of which he
retained till his death, in April,
1819. He was a zealous student of
history and geography and a volum-
inous writer of books on such subjects,
among which were "Terraquea
or a New System of Geography and Modern
History," "A History of the
Rebellion in Ireland in 1798,"
"A History of the British Islands" and
"An Historical and Geographical
Memoir of the North American Con-
tinent."
He married in 1779 a daughter of Richard
Bookey of Wicklow, by
whom he had several children. His eldest
son, James George Gordon,
entered the army and was killed at Fort
Sandusky in August, 1813.
DEFENDERS OF FORT STEPHENSON.
The public is greatly indebted to Col.
Webb C. Hayes for his un-
tiring and partially successful efforts
in procuring the names, appearing
below, of the officers and soldiers in
the garrison at Fort Stephenson at
the time of its heroic defence.
The list is not complete, containing
only seventy-eight names out of
the 160 in the fort at the time. The war
records at Washington do not
show the names of the volunteers, who
were detached and assigned to
this service; hence it was impossible
for him to obtain their names.
The following are the names furnished by
Col. Hayes:
Major George Croghan, Seventeenth U. S.
Inf., commanding.
Captain James Hunter.
First lieutenant, Benjamin Johnson;
second lieutenant, Cyrus A.
The Croghan Celebration. 49
Baylor; ensign, Edmund Shipp; Ensign,
Joseph Duncan, all of the
Seventeenth U. S. Infantry.
First Lieutenant, Joseph Anthony,
Twenty-fourth U. S. Infantry.
Second Lieutenant, John Meek, Seventh U.
S. Infantry.
Petersburg Volunteers.
Pittsburg Blues.
Greensburg Riflemen.
Captain Hunter's company, Capt. James
Hunter commanding. Ser-
geants, Wayne Case, James Huston,
Obadiah Norton. Corporals, Matthew
Burns, William Ewing, John Maxwell.
Privates: Pleasant Bailey, Samuel Brown,
Elisha Condiff, Thomas
Crickman, Ambrose Dean, Leonard George,
Nathaniel Gill, John Harley,
Jonathan Hartley, William McDonald,
Joseph McKey, Frederick Metts,
Rice Millender, John Mumman, Samuel
Pearsall, Daniel Perry, William
Ralph, John Rankin, Elisha Rathbun,
Aaron Ray, Robert Row, John
Salley, John Savage, John Smith, Thomas
Striplin, William Sutherland,
Martin Tanner, John Zett, David Perry.
Captain Duncan's company, 17th U. S.
Inf., First Lieutenant Benja-
min Johnson commanding. Second
Lieutenant Cyrus A. Baylor. Ser-
geants, Henry Lawell; Thomas McCaul,
John M. Stotts, Notley Williams.
Privates: Henry L. Bethers, Cornelius S.
Bevins, Joseph Blamer,
Jonathan C. Bowling, Nicholas Bryant,
Robert Campbell, Samuel Camp-
bell, Joseph Klinkenbeard, Joseph
Childers, Ambrose Dine, Jacob Downs,
James Harris, James Heartley, William
Johnson, Elisha Jones, Thomas
Linchard, William McClelland, Joseph
McKee, John Martin, Ezekiel
Mitchell, William Rogers, David
Sudderfield, Thomas Taylor, John
Williams.
Detachment Twenty-fourth U. S. Infantry.
First Lieutenant Joseph
Anthony commanding.
Privates: William Gaines, John
Foster, Jones, Samuel
Riggs, Samuel Thurman.
Greensburg Riflemen. Sergeant Abraham
Weaver.
Petersburg Volunteers. Private Edmund
Brown.
Pittsburg Blues.
CAPTAIN SAMUEL BRADY.
During the war of the Revolution,
Captain Samuel Brady was sent
here by direction of Washington to learn
if possible the strength of the
Indians in this quarter. He approached
the village under cover of night
and fording the river secreted himself
on the Island just below the falls.
When morning dawned a fog rested over
the valley which completely
cut off from view the shore from either
side. About 11 o'clock a bright
sun quickly dispelled the mist and the
celebrated borderer became the
witness from his conealment of a series
of interesting horse races by
the Indians during the three days he
remained on the Island, from which
Vol. XVI-4.
50 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
he concluded that they were not then
preparing for any hostile move-
ments, and started to return, and after
a perilous tramp of several days
reached the fort from which he had been
sent out. This Island where
Brady secreted himself was known among
the early settler's as Brady's
Island. Capt. Brady subsequently started
on a scout towards the San-
dusky villages as before and had arrived
in the neighborhood, when he
was made a prisoner and taken to one of
the villages. There was great
rejoicing at the capture of Brady, and
great preparation and parade were
made for torturing him. The Indians
collected in a large body, old
and young, on the day set for his
execution. Among them was Simon
Girty, whom he knew, they having been
boys together. Girty refused
to recognize or aid him in any way. The
time for execution arrived,
the fires were lighted, the circle
around him was drawing closer and he
began sensibly to feel the effects of
the fire. The withes which confined
his arms and legs were getting loose and
he soon found he could free
himself. A fine looking squaw of one of
the chiefs ventured a little too
near for her own safety and entirely within
his reach. By one powerful
exertion he cleared himself from
everything by which he was confined,
caught the squaw by the head and
shoulders, and threw her on top of the
burning pile, and in the confusion that
followed made his escape. The
Indians pursued, but he outdistanced
them, the crowning feat being his
celebrated leap across the Cuyahoga
river at the present site of Kent,
known as Brady's Leap.
Brady's name is perpetuated in the chief
island of Sandusky river,
within the limits of the city of Fremont;
his exploits are typical of the
emergencies of that early frontier life
and of the spirit in which they
were everywhere met.
SANDUSKY COUNTY.
Gen. Arthur St. Clair, governor of the
Northwest Territory, or-
ganized Hamilton County, February 11,
1792, with Cincinnati as the
county seat, and the present Sandusky
County forming a very small
portion of it. Subsequently Wayne County
was organized, August 15,
1796, with Detroit as the county seat,
covering a vast extent of terri-
tory from the Cuyahoga river on the east
and extending as far west
as Fort Wayne, Indiana, and the present
site of Chicago, with its northern
boundary the Canadian boundary line,
extending through the Great Lakes
from Lake Superior to Lake Erie. This
included the present county of
Sandusky. On the organization of the
state of Ohio it was included
in Franklin county with Franklinton as
the county seat, until February 17,
1809, when it became a part of Delaware
county with Delaware the county
seat, and so remained until January 31,
1815. In April, 1811, Lower
Sandusky by name was attached to Radnor
township of Delaware county,
by the county commissioners for township
purposes. On January 31,
1815, it became a part of Huron county
with Avery, now Milan, as the
county seat, until 1818, and after that
date with Norwalk as the county
The Croghan Celebration. 51
seat. On February 20, 1820, the state
legislature organized the terri-
tory ceded by the Indians under the
treaty of September 29, 1817, into
fourteen counties, of which Sandusky was
one. Sandusky county as
thus organized, extended from the west
line of the Western Reserve
to the east line of Wood county, and
from the north line of Seneca
county to the lake; and included all of
the present counties of San-
dusky and Ottawa, and parts of Erie and
Lucas. For the first four
years, Sandusky and Seneca counties were
joined for judicial purposes.
Croghansville, on the east bank of the
Sandusky river, was the first
county seat, until 1822, when the town
Sandusky on the west bank became
the permanent county seat and later
these two towns were joined and
known as the town of Lower Sandusky, as
mentioned below.
The name of the county is derived from
that of the river, which
enters from the south, two miles east of
the southeast corner of Ball-
ville township, and flows northeasterly,
entirely across the county, a dis-
tance, following its meanderings, of
about thirty miles, when it empties
into the bay which by early geographers
was named Lake Sandusky.
Originally, as is shown by a plat of a
survey made by Josiah At-
kins, Jr. (Plat Record 3, page 3), the
term "Lower Sandusky" was ap-
plied to the entire tract of "two
miles square on each side of the lower
rapids of the Sandusky River," as
originally ceded by the Indians at the
treaty of Fort McIntosh, January 21,
1785, and contained the village of
Croghansville. According to this plat,
Croghansville extended across the
river and included several inlots and
some larger tracts on the west side,
the 57-acre tract containing the site of
the Fort being one.
After the township of Croghan was formed
in 1819, this term had
reference to the whole tract on both
sides of the Sandusky river; but
thereafter the name "Sandusky"
was applied to the west side exclu-
sively, both as to the village and
township, the village being sometimes
called "Town of Sandusky."
When the county was organized it
contained two townships only,
namely, Sandusky, which included the
village of that name on the west
side and all of the county west of the
river; and Croghan, which in-
cluded the village of Croghansville and
all of the county east of the
river. Subsequently, in 1827, that
portion of Croghan township in which
the village on the east side was
located, was attached to Sandusky town-
ship by the county commissioners. In
1829 the territory of both villages,
by act of the legislature, was
incorporated by the name of the "Town
of Lower Sandusky." It was changed
to Fremont at the October term,
1849, of the common pleas court (Journal
6, page 437).
It is a matter of regret that the name
about which cluster so many
interesting traditions and local
historical associations was ever changed
to one which, however highly honored,
carries with it no suggestions of
these traditions or local history. The
change was, however, thought to
be called for in order to prevent
confusion in the matter of the postal ser-
vice, owing to the quadruplication of
names.
52 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
The name Croghansville, for the village, was probably first suggested by Josiah Meigs, Commissioner of the General Land Office, in a letter from Washington City, April 12, 1816, in which, among other words are these: "If it were left to me to name the town at Lower Sandusky I should name it in honor of the gallant youth, Col. Croghan -and should say it should be Croghansville. The name is still preserved in that of the school on the hill on the East Side, known as Croghansville School, as well as in the street abutting on Fort Stephenson.
REMARKS OF J. P. MOORE. I was born in Pennsylvania in 1829 and brought to the Black Swamp in, 1834. All my older brothers attended the Croghan celebra- |
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construction of the fort and many incidents connected with its building and its defense against the British and Indians. The late David Deal, who was a member of Col. James Stephen- son's regiment of Ohio militia, told me that Col. Stephenson left them at Fort Meigs in January, 1813, to go to Lower Sandusky to build the fort which has ever since been called Fort Stephenson. I had always supposed that the first fort constructed on this site was built by Col. Stephenson's soldiers in January, 1813, but Col. Hayes has shown me a number of official records and a copy of an order issued by Brig. General William Irvine dated at Fort Pitt (now Pitts- burg) November 11, 1782, during the Revolutionary War, to Major Craig as follows: "Sir. I have received intelligence through various channels that the British have established a post at Lower Sandusky, etc., etc., also a copy of the treaty by which the reservation (present corporation limits of Fremont), two miles square, of which Fort Stephenson is about the center, was established by the treaty of Fort McIntosh as early as 1785 and continued in all subsequent treaties. Also an order from Governor Meigs of Ohio to Captain John Campbell dated Zanes- |