374 Ohio
Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.'"
After the formal reading of Logan's
Speech by
John R. Horst from McGuffey's Fourth
Reader (edi-
tion of 1853), informal addresses were
made by J. W.
Johnson of Circleville, editor of the Democrat
and
Watchman, Professor C. C. Miller of Lancaster and
Mrs. Orson D. Dryer of Shepard, Ohio.
Mrs. Dryer's
contribution to the day's celebration
was extremely
valuable from an historical standpoint,
and as the sole
representative present of the Colonial
troops which ac-
companied Lord Dunmore's army, the
story of her dis-
tinguished ancestor was full of
historical information.
Mrs. Dryer has been, and is, among the
women of
Columbus foremost in religious, civic,
and patriotic
work of that city. She has been active in the affairs
of the League of Women Voters, Young
Women's
Christian Association, and is at
present Vice-Regent
of the Columbus Chapter of the D. A.
R., and President
of the Columbus Presbyterial
Society. Her address
follows:
"Mr. Chairman, Ladies and
Gentlemen: I am the great-
granddaughter of Colonel Benjamin
Wilson, whose name is
graven on yonder bronze tablet, and who
was aide-de-camp
to Lord Dunmore in his march to this
place against Cornstalk,
the Shawnee. Colonel Wilson was a
witness to all that this day
commemorates.
"In order that you may understand
my relationship to him,
I will state that I am the daughter of
Henrietta Wilson and Wil-
liam C. Maholm; Henrietta Wilson was the
daughter of Daniel
Davisson Wilson, who was the son of
Colonel Benjamin Wil-
son. Daniel Davisson Wilson, my
grandfather, came to Ohio
when my mother was an infant, carrying
her in front of him on
The McGuffey Society at the Logan
Elm 375
horseback. He located on land belonging
to his father near
Newark, Ohio. Now a word as to Colonel
Wilson's own an-
ccestors, and I will tell you of the
part he played in the pioneer
life of this county.
"The Wilson family is traced
through Ireland to Scotland,
and the early records show that the name was prominent
in the
troublous times in Scotland, nearly two
centuries ago. One of
the ancestors of Colonel Benjamin
Wilson, named David, took
part in the Scotch Rebellion of 1715,
and when it was put down,
he, with many other unfortunates, had to
leave his native land,
and fled to the province of Ulster in
Ireland. He had a son
William, born in Ireland in 1722, who came to
America in 1736,
and after his arrival married Elizabeth
Blackburn. Of that
marriage eleven children were born,
Benjamin being the oldest,
who was born in Shenandoah County,
Virginia, November 30,
1747, living in Virginia all his life.
He is buried in Harrison
County, West Virginia, where he lived,
and died at the age of
eighty years, on the 2nd of January,
1827. Benjamin Wilson
had the blessing of gentle and Christian
parentage, and more
than a fair share of education for those
early days. He evinced
strong traits of character, a
progressive spirit and love of free-
dom, which left a lasting impression on
the history of Virginia.
"He was a soldier of the Virginia
militia, and as a captain
he attracted the attention of Lord
Dunmore, who attached him
to his staff as aide-de-camp. He was
present at the signing
of the treaty, and by reason of his
confidential relationship to
his commander, necessarily participated
in all the important
events of that occasion, including the
reception of Logan's
speech by Lord Dunmore. While here
Colonel Wilson took a
branch from this elm, out of which he
made a cane, which has
been in possession of our family ever
since. After the treaty
was signed, and peace was declared, the
two armies, Lord Dun-
more's and Colonel Lewis's, left for home.
Lord Dunmore's
troops under Colonel Wilson took the
southern route, and on the
journey home a remarkable thing
occurred. It will be remem-
bered that at this time the colonies,
though not independent,
were tending towards revolution. The
Continental Congress was
in session at Philadelphia at the time
Colonel Wilson and his
little army of Americans arrived at Fort
Gower on the Ohio
River at the mouth of the Hockhocking.
This was the 5th of
November, 1774. The soldiers heard of
what was going on in
the East. While they were under the
command of Lord Dun-
more, a royal Governor, they were not
afraid to let the country
know that neither a royal governor nor
any one else could swerve
them from their duty as patriots and
lovers of liberty. So they
376
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society
Publications
held a meeting and passed resolutions
declaring that while they
were loyal to the king, 'the love of
liberty and attachment to the
real interests and just rights of
America outweigh every other
consideration; we resolve that we will
exert every power within
us for the defense of American liberty,
not in any precipitate,
riotous or tumultuous manner, but when
regularly called forth
by the unanimous voice of our
countrymen.' This resolution
favoring American sovereignty was passed
by Virginia militia-
men on Ohio soil nearly eighteen months
before the Declaration
of Independence.
"In passing through the Tygart
Valley, Colonel Wilson was
so attracted by the great beauty and
resources of the section,
that he purchased of several settlers
their 'tomahawk rights,'
there making a home between Beverly and
Elkins on Wilson
Creek, and there built a fort and a
large mill. The strong dam
of walnut logs is still standing, and
the homestead has never
been out of the family, the well being
still in use.
"Early in the Revolutionary War,
Colonel Wilson was ap-
pointed to a captaincy in the Virginia
forces, doing duty on
the frontier. On him officially rested
the protection of all the
settlers, this being the marauding
territory of the Indians, act-
ing under the English and French. The
title of Colonel was
conferred upon him in 1781.
"At the age of twenty-three he
married Ann Rudell, aged
sixteen, and was living on the Tygart
Valley farm in the late
fall of 1777, when he received word that
Indians had broken
into a settlement near the Wilson
plantation and murdered a
family by the name of Connelly. He with
thirty men hurried in
pursuit. Colonel Wilson owned a farm
west of the river as
well as a farm east of the river on
Wilson's Creek, where his
fort stood, four miles north of Beverly.
At the time of the In-
dian raid his family were living in a
cabin west of the river,
about two miles distant, temporarily,
while the men were busy
gathering their corn crop. When he went
up the river in pur-
suit of the Indians he left his wife and
three children at the
cabin, with a slave named Rose, a Guinea
negress, whom he
had bought. She was born in Africa and
brought over in a slave
ship. The three children were Mary aged six, William B.
aged
four and Stephen aged two.
"Late in the afternoon while Mrs.
Wilson and Rose were
milking the cows, a young horse came
dashing up from the range
with wild excitement. Mrs. Wilson cried
to to Rose, 'There are
Indians near! The horse has seen them.
That is the way he
acts when he sees Indians. Catch him
quick, we must fly to the
fort or we will be massacred!' While
Rose was catching the
The McGuffey Society at the Logan
Elm 377
horse Mrs. Wilson with wonderful
coolness and presence of
mind, took one of her strong petticoats, tied both
ends, put the
two older children in it, with their heads out, and
threw the petti-
coat across the horse's back like a
saddlebag. Then with the
baby in her arms she mounted the horse
bareback and told Rose
to run for her life and cross the river
on the foot log. She gave
the rein to the horse which was snorting
and prancing as though
it could see or smell the Indians. The
horse was apparently as
eager to escape as she was, and went at
full speed toward the
fort. The river was past fording on
account of rain and melt-
ing snow, but it was a matter of life
and death, and she with
her precious burden did not halt, but
plunged in and swam the
horse for the other side. When in
mid-stream she discovered
the child on the up stream side, Mary,
had struggled from the
sack and was bobbing up and down against
the horse's side,
held there by the strong current. Mrs.
Wilson caught her by
the clothes and brought her safe to
shore. Then re-adjusting
the children in the bag, she rode with
them to the fort. By this
time the alarm had been given, and
several families had arrived.
The Indians plundered the settlement
west of the river, and it
is probable that Mrs. Wilson and her
children would have been
murdered in a few minutes had she not
made her escape when
she did.
"A few minutes after Mrs. Wilson
reached the fort, Rose
put in an appearance carrying a churn of
cream on her head
and remarking, 'I did not mean that the
Redskins should have
this cream.'
"Ten years later when she was not
yet sixteen years old,
Mary Wilson, who so narrowly escaped
both from the Indians
and drowning, became the wife of Colonel
John Haymond, of
Harrison County, a noted Indian fighter
as well as a prominent
business man, who served both in the
Assembly and Senate of
Virginia. The marriage of John Haymond
and Mary Wilson
was a notable event in the early social
affairs of Randolph
County. The groom came from Clarksburg,
accompanied by a
cavalcade of young people of both sexes.
The first night out
from Clarksburg, there being no houses
along the way, the com-
pany camped under a cliff of rocks a
short distance east of where
Phillippi now stands.
"The first playground in America
was deeded by Colonel
Wilson to the town of Beverly, Virginia
(now West Virginia),
and the deed still stands on record in
the court house. At one
time the town tried to get possession of
this playground to build
the court house upon it, but found that
if it was used for any
other purpose than a playground the
property would revert to
378 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications
the heirs of Colonel Wilson. A very
interesting story is told by
the old settlers of how he procured this
lot in the heart of
Beverly. A blacksmith shop stood upon
this playground, and
when Colonel Wilson was passing one day
he stopped to watch
some men pitching horseshoes. They urged
him to join them, and
when he refused, the owner of the lot
and blacksmith shop, who
was considered the champion horseshoe pitcher, said, if
Colonel
Wilson could beat him at the game he
would give him the lot.
Thereupon Colonel Wilson played and won.
Being a surveyor,
he immediately 'stepped off' the lot, went to the court
house and
deeded it to the town of Beverly,
forever to be used for a play-
ground. The 'John Hart' Chapter D. A. R.
will in time
beautify it.
"Upon the Declaration of
Independence, Colonel Benjamin
Wilson became the military commander of
the district west of
the Allegheny Mountains, and through him all the
military and
civil business was transacted.
"At the first court held in
Harrison County, by authority
of the Governor, in 1784, Benjamin
Wilson was appointed county
clerk, which office he held for thirty
years, and upon retiring he
was succeeded by his son John, who held
the office for four-
teen years more. After his removal to
his home in Harrison
County, he gave his attention not only
to his office and the clear-
ing and developing of his large landed
estate, but also engaged
in business transactions of various
kinds. He established a
grist and a saw mill, that the people
might grind the corn in-
stead of parching and crushing it
between stones as formerly,
and sawed timber in place of hewing it
with an axe. Then, in
order to use the raw material so
abundant, he added to his other
mills a machine for carding wool, so
that soon in the pioneer
homes spinning and weaving could be
done. The long distance
from the seaboard rendered it very
difficult to get cloth for wear-
ing apparel, etc. There was sore need
for a factory to make
these goods. He sent to Scotland, the
land of his kindred, and
secured Mr. Wiley, a practical factory
weaver, and through him
purchased looms and other machinery for
making cloth, which
was done at his mill on Simpson Creek,
to which place the people
brought their wool where it was
converted into cloth, colored,
stretched and ready to use.
"Realizing the need of higher
education, Colonel Wilson
and his associates applied to the
General Assembly for a charter
for the Randolph Academy, at Clarksburg,
which was granted
in 1787. Eight years later the Academy
doors were opened
under the auspices of Reverend George
Towers, a Presbyterian
minister and graduate of Oxford,
England, who was brought
The McGuffey Society at the Logan
Elm 379
here by these gentlemen for this
purpose. The opening address
was made by Colonel Wilson, which can be
found in Colonel
Henry Haymond's History of Harrison
County. He was re-
sponsible for Withers' Border
Warfare, which was written upon
his solicitation. He went to Alexandria,
Virginia, Mr. Withers'
home, and induced the author to
undertake this important literary
work, which he did; it was written at
Colonel Wilson's in Har-
rison County, where Mr. Withers spent
two years.
"Colonel Wilson was not paid for
his services in the federal
army, nor for having equipped his own
regiment, but for serv-
ices rendered he received a grant of
four thousand acres of land
in Licking County, Ohio.
"Attached to his log house he built
a vaulted courtroom,
in which was held the first session of
court in Harrison County,
he having been appointed justice of the
peace by the Governor
of Virginia. At that time the justices
of the peace were almost
the only political power. He represented
Harrison, Monon-
gahela, and Randolph Counties in the
Legislature for several
sessions, and he and his brother John
were delegates in the con-
vention of Virginia which ratified the
Constitution of the United
States.
"Colonel William Stansbury, an
eminent lawyer and
jurist of Ohio, said, in speaking of
Colonel Wilson, 'He was the
purest type of the old school Virginia
gentlemen, handsome in
appearance, of cultivated speech and
manner, and much like
Washington in bearing.' Nor was he
unmindful of the claims
of religion. He maintained to the close
of his life an irreproach-
able Christian character. He had been
married twice, his second
wife being Phoebe Davisson. He had by
the two marriages
twenty-eight children, of whom
twenty-four were living at the
time of his death, and for all of whom
he was enabled to make
a moderate provision. His posterity at
the time of his death
besides his twenty-four children was
seventy-three grandchil-
dren, thirty-two great-grandchildren and
one great-great-grand-
child."
The day's exercises, which were in
charge of a com-
mittee consisting of John R. Horst,
Miss Bertha Peel-
ing and C. B. Shook, closed with the
singing of
America.