280 - HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
CHAPTER II.
INDIANS AND EARLY SETTLEMENT.
PRE-HISTORIC.
'The mighty oak, proud monarch of the wood,
Upon this land in stately grandeur stood:
Throughout the wilds did mortal panthers prowl,
And oft was heard the wolf's terrific howl.
But all these savage beasts have passed away,
And the wild Indians, too, where are they?
They've disappeared, or to the West have gone,
Like night's dark shades before the rising dawn.
Can we forget that brave and hardy bans,
Who made their homes first in this Western land?
Their names should be enrolled on history's page,
To be preserved by each succeeding age.
They were the fathers of the mighty West,
Whose victory of labor stands confessed;
Before them fell the forest of the plain,
And peace and plenty followed in the train."
EVIDENCE of the occupation of this region before the appearance of :the red man and the white race is to be found in almost every part of the county, as well as throughout the northwest generally. In removing the gravel bluffs, which are numerous and deep, for the construction and repair of roads, and in excavating cellars, hundreds of human skeletons, some of them of giant form, with fine specimens of ancient pottery and other curious relics, have been found. A citizen of Marion estimates that there were about as many human skeletons in the knolls of Marion County as there are white inhabitants at present! These sand and gravel bluffs appear in almost every part of the county, resembling small islands, and covered by timber--mostly young oak. Many stone axes, fleshers, spear heads and arrow points of flint, stone beads and pick-shaped implements, including perforated tubes and flat, neatly polished plates of a greenish-gray species of slate, have been plowed up by farmers along the Olentangy (Whetstone) and the Scioto. The earthworks, such as intrenchments and mounds, probably owing to the level nature of the surface and the fact that the gravel knolls were utilized by the early occupants as burial sites and places of observation, are not numerous. It seems quite clear that the first race must have been somewhat advanced in the art of self-defense and agriculture, and resided in villages, as is attested by the relics still found in their original position.
Prof. Alexander Winchell, of the Michigan State University, however, holds the opinion that all the works of the so-called "Mound-Builders" and races superior to the present red man were done by the ancestors of the present Indians, who were more inventive and enterprising than their descendants are, like the peoples around the Mediterranean. While the stone ages, hammers, mortars and finer relics, made of the beautiful grayish variegated slate found scattered all over Northern Ohio, have been attributed to the mechanism and genius of the "MoundBuilders," there is a suspi-
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cion that they were really the work of the Eries, for the modern Sioux, the Chippewa and some of the Hudson Bay tribes make stone axes, pipes and ornamental implements fully as beautiful and as highly finished as those found in Ohio.
On pages 174 to 177 of this volume, reference is made to the works of "Indians," "Mound-Builders," etc., which can be traced in great numbers throughout the State of Ohio, and in Marion County a respectable share of these mounds and relics of antiquity are found. Thousands of these relics have been collected by resident parties, some of the principal of which deserve particular mention.
F. C. RUEHRMUND'S COLLECTION.
Probably the best collection of American antiquities in Marion County is made by the industrious hands of Mr. Ferdinand C. Ruehrmund, of the village of Marion. His specimens are all numbered and catalogued. and indeed, scientifically arranged, and he can give the friendly visitor considerable information concerning them-probably all that is known-besides many of the theories of antiquarians.
Nos. 1 to 35.-Arrowheads found in the different parts of Marion County, most of them about the ,junction of the east and west forks of the Whetstone River, near some ancient mounds east of the village of Caledonia.
Nos. 36 to 43.--Spear heads found mostly in the same locality as the arrow above spoken of.
These articles are generally made from flint or flint-like stone, in size from a half inch in length to five or six inches. But some of them are made even from quartzose rock, sandstone, etc. It is yet a mystery how these little implements were manufactured. They appear as if they were formed by the chipping off of pieces -an accomplishment unattainable by the white man of the present day.
No. 44.-A remarkable spear head found in Schuylkill County, Penn., by Jack Fade.
No. 45.-Amulet or charm, from a garden near Upper Sandusky, Ohio.
No 46.-Spoon-like chisel or scraper, found near the ancient earthworks east of Caledonia.
No. 47.-Pipe bowl, said to be found seventy feet below the surface in a mound in Wood County, Ohio.
Nos. 48 to 51.-Implements and ornaments found east of Caledonia. One of these was probably used for rubbing or dressing hides, and seems to be the product of more modern times.
Nos. 52 and 53.-Implements found near the Whetstone River in the neighborhood of Caledonia. From the peculiar manner in which they are pierced, one might suppose that they were used for tools for some mechanical operation, as smoothing a surface, etc.; or they may have been worn around the neck or otherwise as ornaments. How strikingly is this an illustration of the Spencerian law of differentiation of function! At first, simple and homogeneous in structure, and multifarious and indefinite in use, and afterward more and more heterogeneous in structure, specialized in function and limited and definite in use.
No. 54.-Ring and wampum bead found in a grave in Ontario County, N. Y., a hieroglyphic on the ring.
No. 55.-Ball of war club, found about four miles from Marion, near the Scioto River, by Squire Freeman. It has been suggested that the Indians used this article as a weight or sinker for their fishing nets, but this
232 - HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
is improbable. More likely it was used for striking or pounding, as we do with a maul or beetle, a handle being secured to it around the groove by means of thongs.
Nos. 56 to 60.-Stone wedges, or possibly battle axes, mostly from near Caledonia. These may have been used for domestic or mechanical purposes; but from the fact that they are mostly found in localities where arrow heads, spear heads and battle-axes are abundant, and which localities may therefore be considered as ancient battle-fields, it may be inferred that they are primitive and very ancient battle-axes-that they were perhaps the first effort of a people to produce such a weapon; and that, in the course of time, as the arts of these ancient people advanced, they produced a more ax-like weapon.
No. 61.--Same as the preceding, but found near Marion. It has lain in the ground so long that a calcareous incrustation has formed upon its surface.
No. 62.-Fragment similar to the foregoing. It is doubtful whether the hand of man or the action of water has produced its peculiar shape.
No. 63.- Miniature battle-ax, probably, and found in the garden of S. Devore, Caledonia, Ohio.
No. 64.-Battle-ax found east of Caledonia.
No. 65.-Fragment of a battle-ax of a very fine finish, found on the farm of John Fields, between Caledonia and Claridon. The material is similar to the celebrated Minnesota pipe stone.
No. 66.-A small battle-ax from near Caledonia; has been much or badly used.
No. 67.-A splendid specimen of battle-ax, weighing seven pounds two ounces, from the farm of Jonathan Miles, about two miles in a southwesterly direction from the ancient mound east of Caledonia. From the vast number of war implements in that locality, it is inferable that a battle was once fought there by the "Mound-Builders," where one party was defeated and precipitately put to flight. These implements are so heavy that not many of them could be carried away in baste.
No. 68.-Spear head, a fine specimen, from the vicinity of Ostrander, Delaware County, Ohio.
No. 69.-A fine battle-ax, discovered in 1845, one and one-half miles northeast of Caledonia, by Noah Lee.
No. 70.-Stone tube, found by Noah Lee at the above place. Supposed to have been used by the American ancients as a spyglass.
No. 71.-Stone hammer from Montgomery Township.
No. 72.-Celt, from Big Island Township, near the Little Scioto.
No. 73.-Fragment.
Nos. 74 to 78.-Arrow-heads from last named locality.
No. 79.-Colt, or incipient battle ax.
No. 80.-Fragment of battle-ax from near Cardington, Ohio.
Nos, 81 and 82.-Celts from the vicinity of La Rue.
Nos. 84 to 97.-Arrow-heads from various parts of the county.
No. 98.-A fine celt from Pleasant Township.
No. 99.--Stone auger or gimlet from two miles south of Marion; rare and valuable.
No. 100.-Flint hachet from Pleasant Township; rare and valuable.
No. 101.--Specimen of ancient pottery from a gravel bank southwest of Marion. This is a fragment of a large pot which when found contained a human skull. It was accidentally broken by the digger's pick.
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No. 102.-Stone hammer and pestle.
Nos. 103 to 109.-Arrow-heads; one very petite.
No. 110.---Celt, flat, or slightly concave on one side, a rare feature, as all others found are wedge-sbaped, both faces being convex.
No. 111.-Indian tomahawk, modern.
No. 112. -Iron arrow-head, modern.
No. 113.-Arrows, modern, from the Indians in the West.
No. 114.-Spear-bead, found in the village of Marion.
No. 115-Celt, from near Cardington,
Nos. 116 to 119.-Fragments of ornaments or emblems, from near Cardington.
Nos. 120 to 167.--Arrow-heads, colts, fragments, etc., from various parts of Marion County.
No. 168.-Stone tube with a flat exterior.
No. 169.-Limestone arrowhead.
No. 170.-Flint knife.
Nos. 171 to 174.-Fragments.
Mr. Ruehrmund has also interesting geological and numismatic collections. Many of the fossils are from various portions of Marion County.
OTHER COLLECTIONS.
Dr. J. W. Devore, near Claridon, has an interesting cabinet of Indian curiosities and relics, among them a large Indian skeleton.
Dr. H. A. True (deceased), of Marion, formerly had a large and fine collection in this line, but it was destroyed by the fire which consumed the Masonic Block in 1877. Among his specimens was a magnificent earthen bowl, holding about a quart, found upon the farm of Dr. Bowdish, five miles west of town. In form it was between a pitcher and a rude jug, and it had a round bottom. Upon it were engraved rude characters, which some have thought were hieroglyphics, but wore probably only decorative.
Harry True, son of the preceding, leas commenced another collection of archaeological specimens, as well as geological and numismatic.
On the farm of J. J. Myers, two miles south of Marion, there were found, in digging a cellar, bears' teeth and claws and skulls, and bones of large size, but no implements.
In some parts of the county, many arrow-heads, javelins and axes have been found, and some badges of a semi-lunar form, with a hole drilled through the middle, which were probably carried around on a pole.
About 1846, a stone hatchet was dug up in a well at a depth of twenty-six foot on the premises of James Hipsher, in the northeastern part of this county, and was, at least until recently, in the possession of Hunter & Hipsher, dry goods merchants, Caledonia. This, and similar discoveries elsewhere in the country, constitute an unsolved puzzle among the antiquarians.
HISTORIC, OR MODERN INDIANS.
It is a matter of speculation whether the ancient Eries first succeeded the so-called Mound Builders. The Indian tradition is that the Eries were a very numerous and powerful people, and according to the Jesuit fathers, resided in intrenched or stockaded villages called " castles." They were evidently far in advance of the modern red man in the art of self-defense and in the cultivation of the soil. They inhabited a large part of Northern Pennsylvania and Ohio, and gave name to the beautiful lake on the north of the State. They must have been numerous along the great streams, es-
234 - HISTORY OF :MARION COUNTY.
pecially upon the rich alluvial bottoms and valleys, as Cho sites of their ancient villages and remnants of stockaded intrenchments fully attest. They finally fell before the powerful confederacy of the Five Nations or Iroquois, about the year 1655. The whole nation seems to have been exterminated or incorporated with their conquerors.
THE TRIBES OF THIS VICINITY.
The date of the arrival of the Wyandots and Ottawas in Ohio cannot be fixed with entire certainty, but is supposed to have been some time between 1700 and 1725. After the fall of the Eries in 1655, the Iroquois made a raid upon those nations then residing in the vicinity of Lake Huron, After a severe struggle, the Iroquois compelled the Wyandots and Ottawas to seek an asylum among the friendly nations of the upper lakes, where they are supposed to have remained about seventy or eighty years, and then gradually returned to the vicinity of what is now Detroit, Mich., and subsequently passed around the head of Lake Erie and took possession of the greater part of Northern and Central Ohio. During the colonial period, they often came in contact with the border settlers of Pennsylvania and Virginia. The seat of the Hurons or Wyandots was upon the Sandusky Plains and along that stream. They sold their reservation adjoining Marion County and were removed to the Indian Territory, southwest of Missouri, in 1842-43. From 1820 to the time of their removal, Marion was visited thousands of times by the chiefs and leading hunters of the Wyandot nation for the purpose of disposing of peltry and furs in exchange for tobacco, ammunition. clothing, and other articles of prime necessity. The pioneers of Marion County speak very kindly of the Wyandots as a people, and give them a high character for integrity, fidelity and intelligence. Among them are favorably- remembered Crane. Summundewat, Roanyennes, the Walkers, Garretts, Armstrongs, the chief and others.
A remnant of the Delawares, or Lenni Lenapes, had a reservation off the north side of Marion, three miles square. The Lenapes or Delawares immigrated from the region of Philadelphia, Penn. to the Wyoming Valley, and thence to the Tuscarawas, Ohio, some time before the Revolutionary. war. In 1781, the Moravian converts, including Heckawelda and other missionary teachers, were forcibly compelled by the elder Capt. Pipe and Half-King to abandon their homes on the Tuscarawas and remove to the Sandusky region, soon after which a large number returned together and removed their corn crops, when they were surprised by Williamson and his rangers, captured and murdered in cold blood.
THE BURNING OF COL. WILLIAM CRAWFORD.
The Wyandot tribes of Indians have marked the early history of Ohio with many bloody pages. More brave than many of their kindred, vindictive and revengeful, the mighty Huron waged war upon the early whites and carried to captivity so many persons that special expeditions were neceasary for their recovery. Novel, story and song have all united in embalming the Huron in the pages of history, legend and verse. To them, with the Delawares, we are indebted for that awful scene of savage barbarity enacted upon the border lines of our own county, and the events in part embracing our territorial area, that after the lapse of a hundred years yet brings to the eye of the reader a tear and makes the blood recede and chillthe burning and torture of Col. William. Crawford in the campaign against Sandusky. Col. Crawford was a relative of George Crawford, of the
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Independent; he was a brave officer of the Revolutionary war, and an especial favorite and friend of Washington, whose companion and associate he had been in the pursuits both of war and of peace. Equal in age and of similar tastes, both had served under Braddock, the ill-fated commander of 1755. They were in company at Fort Duquesne and were heroes of the Revolutionary war. Crawford was the trusted agent of Washington, and served him in that capacity. In the spring of 1782, the Indians and the whites adjacent to the frontier settlements of the Ohio Valley were mutually exasperated by the series of massacres and reprisals that had characterized the preceding years. It was therefore considered to be essential to the safety of the settlements that the spirit of the Ohio Indian should be broken, and especially the Wyandots of the Sandusky plains. In May, 1782, an expeditionary force for the purpose of destroying the Wyandot villages was called together near the present site of Steubenville, and 500 men--volunteers-formed a mounted battalion, eager to meet the Huron in his home, and satisfy a love of adventure that at the time was prevalent. Col. Crawford, noted for his knowledge of Indian warfare, was by a narrow majority vote selected as the leader of the expedition. The force rapidly moved west on the trails, and early in June arrived near the Wyandot villages. On the fourth of that month, at a place three miles north of the present site of Upper Sandusky, called to this day " battle island," the Indians in force attacked and defeated the troops under Crawford. By accident, the leader was captured, and with Dr. Knight, his companion, conducted to the Indian villages. Capt. Pipe, chief of the Delawares, and his tribe received Crawford as their prize. He was doomed to die, and at a point on the Tymochtee Creek, the site of a Delaware town, this brave spirit suffered death in the most terrible form. He was tortured to death at the stake. The history of the burning is told by Dr. Knight in a few words that depict the horror of the martyrdom in all its terrible details. Crawford was taken to the stake, a post fifteen feet high, stripped naked, and by thongs around the wrists, he was fastened to the post in such a manner as to permit freedom of movement in a circle about the post to the extent of the length of the thong until it wrapped about it a few times. His hands were behind his back. He was beaten with sticks and fists; blank charges of powder were fired into every portion of his body; embers were thrown over him. He walked, half roasted, on a bed of coals that cooled under his tread; he was made blind; a squaw tore off the scalp lock from his head, and upon the bare and bloody spot live embers were placed. For hours this victim of savage hate suffered, and when death came, a happy release, the body was thrown upon the fire and consumed! Thus miserably perished one of the bravest men that the border warfare of our early history produced. The Delawares executed Crawford by right of capture, a Delaware having had that no mean honor, as it was considered among the tribes.
THE WYANDOTS AND DELAWARE.
Adam Poe, Simon Kenton and others of the border heroes considered the Wyandot tribe to be the most brave, warlike and intelligent of the Indians of the Ohio region. Marion County pioneers formed many lasting friendships with the Indians of both the Wyandots and Delawares, who continued to reside upon their reservation many years after the peace of 1814. As late as 1817, by a treaty concluded by Lewis Cass and Duncan McArthur, the Wyandots were granted a reservation twelve miles square, the southern border being but four miles north of Marion County. The
236 - HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
Delawares received at the same time a tract ten miles square adjoining and south of the Wyandot reserve. The Delawares in 1829, and the Wyandots in 1842, ceded their lands and reluctantly removed to the West. Marion was a favorite trading point with the descendants of this warlike race, and the stores of the town in the days of 1824 to 1840 were frequented by " braves," in whose veins ran the blood of Cooper's heroic Huron, now engaged in practicing the arts of peace, beating down prices of sugar and whisky and endeavoring to raise the standard value of skins or a deer saddle. Many anecdotes of interest relative to the Indians of this tribe, in their association with our pioneers, are related in these pages under appropriate chapters.
The Wyandots formerly occupied the region of the Scioto and were always attached to the country. They gave the name of the river, calling it in their native tongue " Sci-ou-to." In all the treaty negotiations for the cession of the lands on the Scioto and including Marion County, these Indians were treated with. The various expeditions against the Indians of the Northwest Territory under W Wilkinson, Harmar, St. Clair, Crawford and others-seemed fruitless of results, save loss of life and immense expenditures.
THE GREENVILLE TREATY.
It was not until Gen. Wayne, known as "Mad Anthony," of Stony Point fame, defeated the confederated tribes under the lead of Blue Jacket, at the battle of "Fallen Timbers," on the Maumee, in 1794, that peace was assured the settlements. The power of the tribes was broken at Greenville. On the 3d of August, 1795, twelve chiefs signed the famous treaty that established the line on the southern boundary of a portion of Marion County and known as the "Greenville Treaty Line." The Wyandot, Delaware and Shawnee chiefs signed this treaty. By the operation of this agreement, the entire country south of the treaty line was ceded to the Government, and all the tribes of Ohio passed into the confines north of the line, while to the operations of Wane the settlers are indebted for the peace that followed. The region north of the line was, to some extent, retarded in its development. Subsequent treaties were necessary, and a long series of negotiations were requisite to secure the extinguishment of the title to our lands, that the terms of this treaty firmly established with the Indians, as firm as it protected the residents south of its limitations. As this famous document was of so much moment in the early settlement of Marion County in its influence and relation to the history of its settlement, we append the article thereof that formed the boundary rights and the restrictive clauses. It reads as follows: " The general boundary line between the lands of the United States and the lands of the said Indian tribes shall begin at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River and run thence up the same to the Portage between that and the Tuscarawas branch of the Muskingum; thence down the branch to the crossing place above Fort Laurens; thence westerly to a fork of that branch of the Great Miami River running into the Ohio, at or near which fork stood Loromie's store, and where commenced the portage between the Miami of the Ohio and St. Marys River, which is a branch of the Miami which runs into Lake Erie; thence, a westerly course to Fort Recovery, which stands on the branch of the Wabash; thence southerly in a direct line to the Ohio, so as to intersect that river opposite the mouth of the Kentucky or Cuttawa River."
Indians were yet quite numerous in this locality when the early settlers first came. Capt. Hiram Knowles says that he has frequently seen more
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY. - 237
than 100 of these dusky inhabitants of the forest camped on the place now owned by Mrs. Kennedy, near what is called the "Willow Swamp." He also remembers distinctly of seeing the noted Indian, Tom Lyons. Often Lyons had been at the house of Mr. Knowles' father and there partaken of the hospitality of the kind old gentleman. Tom Lyons for a time lived in the eastern portion of Claridon Township, and it is said he had arrived at the advanced ago of one hundred and thirty years.
His squaw is reputed to have been one of the finest looking squaws of the great Wyandot tribe being, in fact, a queen of beauty among them. Lyons was very proud of her, and kept her dressed in the height of Indian fashion, and did not compel her to perform menial labor, as is the custom among the Indians. Lyons was a strong, powerful man, and had boasted of having killed ninety-nino white men, and desired to take the life of another to make the even 100 before he was called thither to the happy bunting grounds. But Samuel Spurgeon, who, in common with many other white men of his acquaintance, did not enjoy such boasting, met him alone one day in the woods and offered Lyons an opportunity to make him the hundredth victim, but Lyons failing in his aim, Spurgeon shot lightning through him and loft his body lying in the forest to be devoured by the wild animals.
CAPT. BECKLEY'S REMINISCENCES OF INDIAN LIFE.
Capt. George Beckley used to say that his father's family arrived in November, 1821, and having located in the vicinity of the ancient trail, leading from Sandusky to Owl Creek was visited by hundreds of Wyandots and Delawares annually during the hunting season. His father having re. sided in Dauphin County, Penn., and being able to converse fluently in the German language, was soon visited by Tom Lyons, the old Delaware, and a warm friendship sprang up between them. Tom spoke German, and was pleased to meet another Dutchman. The interview is thus related by Capt. Beckley:
"Early on the morning, after our arrival at our new home, I took my rifle and started to view the surroundings along the Indian trail. I had gone but a short way (where Uriah Hipsher's field now is) until I found plenty of shell-bark hickory trees, and the ground under them well bestrewed with nuts. I sat my gun against a tree and commenced gathering the nuts. Just imagine my surprise when the first object I beheld on looking up was an Indian standing between myself and my gun; and I had heard and read so many terrible narratives of savage atrocities, that it made my blood curdle. But to my great joy he extended to me his hand, which I grasped with the usual salutations. He spoke good English, wore a pair of blue broadcloth leggins with red listing about an inch wide on the outside of each, and tied with garters; a neat blanket wrapped around him, secured with a belt, and his head dress was a small red shawl folded and tied around his head with the corners hanging down his back, leaving the crown of his head uncovered, and a neat pair of buckskin moccasins on his feet. I afterward learned that his name was Ditta Wawney. I shouldered my gun and returned with him to the cabin, he continuing on his way toward Owl Creek.
"But a day or two after that we espied another, an old Indian, riding around a large oak tree near the cabin, who was very attentively looking at the top of this tree, saying there had been honey bees in that tree. He came to the house, dismounted, took leis saddle, blankets, and other lading
238 - HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
off, and hobbled his pony by tying his foro legs together so near that lie could not step more than a few inches at a step. We invited him into the new cabin, but I suppose he would have walked right in if he had not been invited. He was a great talker; could speak English or German. He said he was a hundred and sixty-five years old. Be that as it may, he was an old man and had seen sights. He soon discovered that my father was a German. He accordingly asked where he hailed from. My father said from Pennsylvania. ` Oh, me all over Pennsylvania, Susquehanna, Lavatarra, Schuylkill, Lehigh and Delaware Rivers.' Then my father told him he was from Lebanon, formerly Lancaster County. Then our guest mentioned the names of several of the small villages, as Reading, Cootstown, Harrisburg, and even the names of several of the early settlers of that locality with whom my father was well acquainted. He had much to say about Wyoming. He said, 'Me fought hard at Wyomee.' He had much to say about Gen. Wayne. He said his father was, a chief of the Delaware nation; that his father, the chief, sent him with some other Indians to Gen. Wayne's headquarters: ` Gen. Wayne asked what my name is; me say me got no white man name; then Gen. Wayne says I give you a name; I call you Thomas Lyons; and that is the way I got my name. Gen. Wayne give a coat-a nice coat; a General's coat--Oh, very good man, Gen. Wayne, very good man! very good man!' He afterward often visited the old Dutchman, as he called him.
"A few anecdotes about our venerable hero, Tom Lyons, might be interesting to some of your young readers. He was a notable personage all over this part of the State at that time, both among the palefaces and Indians. He had his friends and his enemies, and the way he made many enemies was in relating incidents of the wars through which he had passed. He once told Joseph Riley of his valor in some of the massacres on the Delaware River. Then said Mr. Riley to him, `Did you know Tom Quick on the Delaware River?' Evidently the old Indian was offended when he was asked that question, as he sat mute and motionless as a statue, and there the conversation ended.
"This Tom Quick had several relatives killed by the Indians, for which his vengeance never slumbered, and when he had grown up to manhood he took the warpath after them, and woe be to the Indian when Tom was fairly on his track. He was about, an equal to the Wetsels and Poes on the Ohio River.
"At other times when he related his war stories, as old heroes are apt to do, he would bring down upon himself the ire and indignation of those who beard him. They would in return mete out to him rough words. Then he would tell them how the women and children would cry (mimicking them) when they were in the act of slaughtering them. These were current reports about him, and were generally believed to be true, but he never talked in that way at our house; perhaps because we never gave him any offense. He, with his son George Lyons and Jerry Killback, was encamped one winter for a few weeks east of Whetstone, on the land now owned by Jacob Slagle. The old man was very sick. After he was able to walk over to Mr. Parcel's, he went there occasionally. He told them he had been very sick, very sick-no devil come yet.'
"The question has often been asked, `What became of old Tom Lyons?' It has been asserted that he died a natural death at Pipestown, on the Delaware reservation. Again it has been stated that he was shot by some white hunter because he exhibited a string containing ninety-nine human
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY. - 239
tongues! The better belief is that old Tom was shot in his wigwam, near Fort Ball, by two hunters from Delaware County, whose names were well known to old citizens of Marion. He is believed to have been over one hundred years old at his death, which occurred about 1824. Poor old Tom left many friends in Ashland County.
"Capt. Pipe, Jr., formerly lived at Greentown, and is believed to have been the son of old Capt. Pipe, who burned poor Col. William Crawford in 1782 on the Tymochtee. He was not so well known to the people of Marion. He occasionally called with his people to trade with the early merchants. He was a small, rather spare man, and taciturn in disposition. Upon the authority of William Walker, we are enabled to state that he never married. He removed West with his people and died on their reservation in 1839 or 1840. Among his own people he was reputed to be a great `medicine man.' Reuben Drake, who lived in Grand Prairie Township, hail two children bitten by a rattlesnake, one of whom died. Having heard of Capt. Pipe's reputation as a `medicine man,' he sent for him to come and cure the other child. Pipe is said to have been somewhat under the influence of bad whisky at the time, and refused at first to go; but being strongly urged, finally visited the cabin of Mr. Drake. Upon his arrival he looked at the child, which was in great pain, exclaiming, `great pain, very sick.' He then stated he could not do nothing for half an hour, and laid down by the cradle and snored soundly for some time, then arose and called for milk, which was furnished, when be pounded some roots, which he had brought with him, and poured the milk over them and gave the child a portion to drink, and applied a lot more in the nature of a poultice, to the place bitten, and rocked the child some time in its cradle, when it fell into a slumber and soon began to sweat freely; anti upon seeing this effect of his remedy, the Captain said, `It got well;' and the child was out of danger in a short space of time! "
Capt. Beckley continues: " We were visited by quite a number of Del. awares and Wyandots, from Pipetown and Tipper Sandusky. They usually passed by this place going from their towns on their reservations to Killbuck Creek in Wayne County, and other parts of their old hunting grounds. A few of their names were: Jonaeake, Standstone, Dowdee, Moonice. White Eyes, etc. When they came to a white man's cabin, they expected to receive the hospitality of its inmates; if they did not., they were much offended. They would say, `Very bad man, very bad man.' They would never accept a bed to sleep upon; all we had to do was to have a good back stick on and a few extra pieces of wood, especially in cold weather, for them to put on the fire when needed. They usually carry their blankets, and would spread them on the floor before the fire and give us no further trouble; and they would often leave us a saddle of venison or some other commodity that they had to spare. We have seen as many as twenty or thirty in a caravan pass by here, with their hunting material and equipage packed on their ponies, all in single file, on their old Sandusky and Pipetown trail
"At one time a party of them were encamped over on Shaw Creek, where one of their squaws died; her friends, wishing to take her home for burial, tool. the corpse, laid it on a gentle pony, with her head hanging down on one side and her feet on the other, tied her securely to the pack saddle, and in that way carried her to the place of burial.
"If we would meet a half-dozen or more of them together, it was seldom that the could induce more than one of them to say one word in English.
240 - HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
One of them would do all the talking or interpret for the others. Why they did so I could not say. Tommy Vanhorn once related an amusing incident. He had been imbibing a little, and on his way horse met one of those Indians who could not utter one word of English, but used the pantomimic language instead-that of gestures or motions. But it so happened that while they were thus conveying their thoughts to each other, Tommy stepped around to windward of the red man or the red man got to leeward of Tommy, and his olfactories not being at fault, inhaled the odor of Tommy's breath. He straightened up, looked Tommy square in the face, and lo! Mr. Indian's colloquial ,powers were now complete, saying in as good English as Lord Mansfield ever could have uttered: `Where you get whisky? ' "
In point of notoriety, Billy Dowdee was nearly equal to Tom Lyons. Capt. Beckley relates the following occurrence as given by Benjamin Sharrock, now well advanced in years, and formerly a citizen of Marion County:
"About the year 1821 or 1822, there were several Indians who frequently camped and hunted on the waters of the West and Middle Forks of the Whetstone, to wit: Capt. Dowdee, his son Tom, and Capt. Dowdee's son-in-law, Nickels (the bad Indian), the subject of this narrative. He was regarded as a dangerous man among his own companions. He had become embittered against Benjamin Sharrock, his brother, Everard Sharrock, and Jacob Stateler, who, with his three sons, Andrew, James and John (the two latter were twin brothers), lived in a cabin on or near the land now owned by George Diegle, Esq., in Tully Township. The Dowdees had frequently shared the hospitalities of our cabin and we regarded them as peaceable and well disposed citizens.
"Mr. Sharrock, in relating his difficulty with this bad Indian, says: ` This Indian, Nickels, had been skulking around and watching my house, trying to get a chance to shoot me. I have seen him dodge from tree to tree when trying to get a shot at me. He also made threats of killing my stock. About this time, he and the two Dowdees were encamped on the boundary north of where Iberia now is. Mr. Catrell, my brother and myself held a consultation, whereupon we resolved that this state of things should no longer be tolerated, and the next morning was the time agreed upon to bring this matter to the test. They were to be at my house fully armed for any emergency. They were promptly on time, and as Catrell had no gull, he took my tomahawk, sheath knife, etc.
`In this plight, we went directly to their camp, called Tom Dowdee out and ordered him to take those coon skins out of 'them' frames. (They are stretched in frames to dry and keep them in shape.) We next went to the tent of Tom's father, old Capt. Dowdee, told him how Nickels had been watching my house, and that he threatened to kill me and my stock. I told him to call Nickels out, but he would not leave his hut,. We told them we would not endure such treatment any longer, and that we had come to settle it right then and there, and were ready to fight it out. The Dowdees seemed to be peaceably inclined, and as Nickels did not show himself, the matter was dropped for a short time. Some time after this, as I was returning from Wooster, where I had been to enter a piece of land, I saw quite a number of moccasin tracks in the snow near Hosford's. I thought there would be trouble, as it appeared from the tracks that there were about thirty persons, and by the way they had tumbled about, concluded that they were on a big drunk. I followed their tracks from Hosford's
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY. - 241
down the road leading to our cabin. They had not proceeded far before they left their tracks in the snow somewhat besprinkled with blood. I afterward learned that Tom Dowdee had stabbed another Indian, inflicting two dangerous wounds. They were camped north of my house on the land now owned by James Dunlap. The excitement among the settlers now became intense, and soon a number of us repaired to their camp, but we had not been there long before Tom Dowdee rushed upon me and grasped me by the collar, perhaps intending to retaliate for the visit we had made to their camp a few days before. I was not slow in returning the compliment by taking him by the throat; and my arms being the longest, I could easily hold him at bay. At this moment we saw an Indian boy loading a gun. I told Dowdee several times to let me alone, but he still persisted in fighting me. I then attempted to give him a severe thrust with my gun barrel; be sprang and grasped the gun which the boy had just loaded, when several of the quaws also grasped it to prevent him from shooting me. All this time I kept my rifle up with a steady aim upon the Indian, ready to fire before he should he able to fire at me. At this crisis Joel Loverick interfered and the Indians allowed him to take possession of the gun, so the quarrel was then settled without bloodshed. But what grieves me to this day is that Bashford and Loverick both knew that my rifle was not primed all the time I was aiming it at the Indian, and they did not tell me. The next day I was out in the woods -with my gun, and came upon Dowdee before he discovered me. He had no gun with him, and he begged and implored me not to kill him, promising over and over that if I would not he would never molest. me, but would be my fast friend as long as he lived. I gladly agreed to his proposal, and to his credit be it said, I never saw him after that time but that he met me with the kindest greetings.
"About the same time some of the Indians told Stateler, `Nickels, bad Indian, by and by be go to Stony Creek, before he go he say he kill Stateler and two Sharrocks, and we 'fraid that big fight. We want white man to kill Nickels, then Indians say Nickels gone to Stony Creek.'
"We never saw Nickels after about that time, but did not know at what moment he would come down upon us. I often asked the Indians whether they knew where Nickels was, and they usually replied that he had gone to Stony Creek. We had often seen a gun in the settlement, first owned by one, then by another, that I believed was Nickels' gun. Jake Stateler often stayed with us several weeks at a time, and many times when we spoke about those Indians, Jake would say, `Nickels will never do you any harm,' but made no further disclosures until a long while after; when the subject again came up, he said:
" ` Ben, Nickels will never hurt you nor your brother.'
" `How do you know, Uncle Jake?'
" ` I know very well how I know, Uncle Ben.'
" `Did you never know what became of Nickels?'
" ` No, Jake, I never knew what became of him any more than what the Indians told me, that he had gone to Stony Creel:.'
" `I thought my boys had told you long ago, as they always thought so much of you. I will then tell you how I know what became of Nickels. After he was about ready to start for Stony Creek he had only one more job to do before he could leave Pipetown, and that was to kill Stateler and you and your brother, if possible. No sooner had Nickels left Pipetown than the Indians sent another Indian by a different route to give us notice of his coming, and of his intentions, desiring us to kill him and they would say
242 - HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
he had gone to Stony Creek. The messenger arrived in time and departed. I loaded my rifle, put it in good order and went up to Coss' cabin to watch the Pipetown trail, on which I expected him to come. I did not wait long before I saw him coming, and stepping behind a tree, closely watched his movements. After he had come within easy range of my rifle, he stopped and commenced looking all around, which enabled me to take a steady aim at him; I fired, : he sprang several' feet from the ground with a terrific scream and fell dead, and that was the last of "Bad Indian." We took his gun, shot-pouch, tomahawk, butcher-knife, etc., and laid them by a log, and buried him under the roots of a large tree that had been blown down near the foot of the bluff bank of the Whetstone, nearly opposite the old Coss cabin. Now, Uncle Ben, that is the reason why I know Nickels will never do you or me or your brother any harm. ' "
Capt. Pipe, Jr., had a squaw called his daughter, perhaps adopted. He and Silas Armstrong were half-chiefs, in lieu of the chief of Greentown, Thomas Armstrong, then dead. These Indians were generally harmless, and ranged over the south part. of the county in pursuit of doer and other game.
Solomon Jonacake, the husband of Sally Williams, was well known to the pioneers of Marion. He lived at Pipetown, and had formerly resided at Greentown, Ashland County. He was a well developed, good natured, friendly hunter, and often visited the settlers in Marion, Richland and Ashland Counties, while encamped in those regions. It was customary for Sally and the children to accompany him on his hunting excursions. He usually constructed a neat bark wigwam to protect his squaw and children from the storms and exposures of the forest, while he ranged the woods in search of game. He sometimes exchanged venison for side pork with the pioneers, and frequently met parties who had a curiosity to see Sally, who was a quarter-blood, and his children. Sally was regarded as a very apt housekeeper, and preferred, as far as possible, to imitate the whites. Her mother was a Castleman, captured in girlhood, upon the banks of the Ohio, in the eastern part of the State, some time after the close of the Revolution. Jonacake went West with his people, where his family grew up, and three of his grandsons volunteered and served in the company of Capt. Duff, in an Indian company enlisted near Wyandotte, Kan., during the war of the rebellion.
By a treaty concluded at Little Sandusky, August 3, 1829, John Me. Elvain being United States Commissioner, the Delawares ceded their reservation in Marion, Crawford and Wyandot Counties to the United States for $3,000, and were conducted, as is believed, by Joseph Chaffee, to a new reservation in what is now the State of Kansas. Their journey was across Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and Missouri to their new home, where most of the old people have since gone to the happy land of the Great Spirit.
Holmes' Meadow, near Marion, constituted the dancing hall of the Wyandots. In 1830, the tribe came down, men and women, all dressed in native costume, on ponies, and rode up to the door of every house and received a donation. They then repaired to the meadow and held high carnival until next day, much to the consternation of the white residents, especially to one or two doctors, who had obtained a dead Indian for dissection and hid him in the brush, where he was "dissected" by the hogs!
LAST EXODUS OF THE INDIANS.
It was a sad and mournful spectacle to witness these children of the forest slowly retiring from the home of their childhood, that contained not
PAGE 243 - PICTURE OF JACOB SEABURN
PAGE 244 - BLANK
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY. - 245
only the graves of their revered ancestors, but also many endearing scenes, to which their memories would ever recur as sunny spots along their pathway through the wilderness. They felt that they were bidding farewell to the hills, valleys and streams of their infancy, the more exciting hunting grounds of their advanced youth, as well as the stern and bloody baffle-fields where they had contended in riper manhood, on which they had received wounds and where many of their friends and loved relatives had fallen, covered with gore and glory. All these they were leaving behind them to be desecrated by the plowshare of the white man. As they east. mournful glances back toward these loved scenes that were rapidly fading in the distance, tears fell from the cheeks of the downcast warrior, old men trembled, matrons wept, the swarthy maiden's cheek turned pale, and sighs and half-suppressed sobs escaped from the motley groups as they passed along the road, Some on foot, some on horseback, and others in wagons, sad as a funeral procession. Several of the aged warriors were seen to cast glances toward the sky, as if imploring aid from the spirits of their departed heroes, who were looking down upon them from the clouds, or from the Great Spirit, who would ultimately redress the wrongs of the red man, whose broken bow had fallen from his hand and whose sad heart was bleeding within him. Ever and anon one of the party would start out into the brush and break back to their old encampments, to linger in loneliness, and therefore still greater sadness, around the scenes of former days.
THE WYANDOT'S FAREWELL, SONG.
Adieu to the graves where my fathers now rest!
For I must be going afar to the West.
I've sold my possessions; my heart's filled with woe
To think I must lose them. Alas! I must go.
Adieu, ye tall oaks, in whose pleasant green shade
In childhood I rambled, in innocence played!
My dog and my hatchet, my arrows and bow,
Are still in remembrance. Alas! I must go.
Adieu, ye loved scenes, which bind me like chains!
While on my gay pony, I chased o'er the plains
The deer and the turkey I'd tracked in the snow.
But now I must leave them. Alas! I must go.
Adieu to the trails, which for many a year
I have traveled to spy out the turkey and deer!
The hills, trees and flowers, that pleased me so,
I must leave now forever. Alas! I must go.
Sandusky, Tymochtee and Broken Sword streams,
Never more shall I see you, except in my dreams.
Adieu to the marshes, where the cranberries grow;
O'er the great Mississippi, alas! I must go.
Adieu! dear white friends, who first taught me to pray,
And worship my Maker and Savior each day.
Pray for the poor native, whose eyes overflow
With tears at our parting. Alas! I must go.
EARLY WHITE OCCUPANTS OF OHIO.
As the Indians of whom we have been speaking roamed all 'over this part of the country, it is necessary to give here a passing notice concerning the pioneer white settlers of Ohio, as a kind of connecting link between
246 - HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
Indian history and that of the settlement of Marion County by the whites. Years before a white settler had located in Ohio, the French traders and travelers had a route across the State which passed up the Sandusky River from Lake Erie to the mouth of the Little Sandusky; thence a short distance up that stream to a portage to the tipper waters of the Little Scioto the portage being about four miles long-and after reaching the latter stream, canoes could easily float down it. The French used the route in traveling from Canada to the Mississippi. Even before La Salle saw this region, the Northern Indians used this same water route when proceeding on their war incursions into the territory of the Southern tribes.
In correspondence between W. Jackson, Assistant Secretary of War, and Gen. William Irvine in the fall of 1783, mention is made of settlements which had been made and were making between the Muskingum and Wabash, and Irvine was apprehensive of the renewal of war between those settlers and the Indians. Congress obtained knowledge of the condition of affairs, and issued the following proclamation:
BY THE UNITED STATES IN CONGRESS Assembled. A PROCLAMATION
WHEREAS, By the ninth of the articles of confederation, it is among other things declared that "the United States in Congress assembled have the sole and exclusive right and power of regulating the trade, and managing all affairs with the Indians not members of any of the States; provide, that the legislative right of any State within its own limits be not infringed or violated." And Whereas, It is essential to the welfare and interest of the United States, as well as necessary for the maintenance of harmony and friendship with the Indians, not members of any of the States, that all cause of quarrel and complaint between them and the United States, or any of them, should be removed and prevented; therefore, the United States, in Congress assembled, have thought proper to issue their proclamation, and they do hereby prohibit and forbid all persons from making settlements on lands inhabited or claimed by Indians without the limits or jurisdiction of any particular State, and from purchasing or receiving any gift or cession of such lands or claims, without the express authority and directions of the United States in Congress assembled; and it is moreover declared that eves such purchase or settlement, gift or cession, not having the authority aforesaid, is null and void, and that no right or title will accrue in Congress.
Done in Congress, at Princeton, this twenty-second day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-three, and of our sovereignty and independence the eighth.
ELIAS BOUDINOT, President.
CHARLES THOMSON, Secretary.
No attention was paid to this proclamation, and settlers poured into the forbidden country so rapidly that the Government found it necessary to drive them out. On the 24th of January, 1785, the Commissioners of Indian affairs instructed Lieut. Col. Josiah Harmar, of the First American Regiment, to o employ such force as he might deem necessary "in driving off persons attempting to settle on the lands of the United States." Ensign John Armstrong was detailed with a force of twenty men and fifteen days' provisions to perform the task of driving off all within 150 miles of Fort McIntosh, located at the mouth of the Beaver River, in Pennsylvania. Armstrong dispossessed settlers at points on the Ohio as far down as Wheeling, or a point opposite that place, and in his report to Col. Harmar appears the following:
"As the following information through you to the honorable the Congress may be of some service, I trust you will not be displeased therewith. It is the opinion of many sensible men (with whom I conversed on my return from Wheeling) that if the honorable the Congress do not fall on some speedy method to prevent people from settling on the lands of the United States west of the Ohio, that country will soon be inhabited by a banditti, whose factions are a disgrace to human nature. You will in a
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY. - 247
few days receive an address from the magistracy of Ohio County, through which most of those people pass, many of whom are flying from justice. I have, sir, taken some pains to distribute copies of your instructions with those from the honorable the Commissioners for Indian Affairs, into almost every settlement west of the Ohio, and had them posted up at most public places on the east side o` the river, in the neighborhood through which those people pass. Notwithstanding they have seen and read those instructions. they are moving to the unsettled countries by forties and fifties. From the best information I could receive, there are at the falls of Hockhocking upward of 300 families; at the Muskingum a number equal. At Moravian Town there are several families, and more than 1,500 on the Rivers Miami and Scioto, From Wheeling to that place, there is scarcely one bottom on the river but has one or more families living thereon. In consequence of the advertisement by John Emerson, I am assured meetings will be held at the times therein mentioned. That at Menzons' or Haglin's town, mentioned in my report of yesterday, the inhabitants had come to a resolution to comply with the requisition of the advertisement."
This advertisement was as follows, as given in Mr. Butterfield's work, Washington Irving correspondence, in the shape of a foot-note:
MARCH 12, 1785.
Notice is hereby given to the inhabitants of the west side of the Ohio River, that there is to be an election for the choosing of members of the convention for framing a constitution for the governing of the inhabitants, the election to be held on the loth day of April next ensuing, viz.: One election to be held at the mouth of the Miami River, and one' to be held at the mouth of the Scioto River, and one on the Muskingum River, and one at the dwelling house of Jonas Menzons, he members to be chosen to meet at the mouth of the Scioto oil the 20th day of the same month.
I do certify, that all mankind, agreeable to every constitution formed in America, have an undoubted right to pass into every vacant country, and there to form their constitution, and that from the confederation of the whole United States Congress is not empowered to forbid them, neither is Congress empowered from that confederation to make any sale of the uninhabited lands to pay the public debts, which is to be by a tax levied and lifted [collected] by authority of the Legislature of each State.
JOHN EMERSON
Various orders were issued by Col. Harmar, and a Congressional Committee approved his conduct; also authorizing him to remove his troops from Fort McIntosh and post thorn at some point at or near the Ohio, between the Muskingum and the Great Miami, " which he shall conceive most advisable for further carrying into effect the before mentioned orders," and appropriating $600 for the purpose of transporting the troops and their baggage. Under this order Fort Harmar was constructed at the mouth of the Muskingum.
Gen. Richard Butler, in passing down the river, at the commencement of October, to hold a treaty with the Indians at the mouth of the Miami River, found settlements at intervals from the mouth of Yellow Creek nearly to the month of the Great Kanawha, and did what he could to warn the settlers off, even giving orders to one of the officers of the army who was to descend to the Muskingum, " to pull down every house on his way," some of which had been recently torn down, having been rebuilt by the determined men of the border. Whether all of the settlers were driven out or not is not known, but it is certain that no constitution for governing the inhabitants was framed at that day, and the scheme for a new State on the northwest side of the Ohio was not carried out until seventeen years later.
248 - HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
EARLY SETTLEMENT OF MARION COUNTY.
The first settlers of Marion County upon the territory as at present defined were those located south of the treaty line in portions of Waldo and Prospect Townships. The Brudiges, the Drakes, the Wyatts, of Waldo Township, and Ephraim Markley, Evan Evans, and others, of Prospect Township, as will be noted by reference to the township histories in these pages, located at dates from 1805 to 1814, near by, and, in some instances, in contact with the treaty line.
The early settlement of Delaware County was secured by the work of 1792, and a wave of immigration flowed into the county, beating Arong against the imaginary line that seemed as a Chinese- wall, impregnable to assault, for more than fifteen years. Noting the long period of time from 1804, when many locations had been made in Delaware, to 1819, the year that the Government offered for sale the lands north of the line, Marion County was retarded in settlement for a period of at least ten years by the operations of the treaty indicated; but of course, in common with all, benefited ultimately by Wayne's victory, as war brought peace. Up to 1812, but few attempts were made to invade the country thus still reserved, except as the restless hunters and traders sought the fine game reserves of the plains for "meat" or peltries. The bee hunters, a venturesome, vagabondish set, who preferred to " line " a "bee-tree " to any other pursuit, brought back rich treasures of sweets that the wild bees had stored in the woods along the, border of the plains beyond the line of settlement. Their trail came in from the eastward from Knox, or up the valley of the Scioto from Delaware.
The war of 1812 led to a large acquaintance with our county. Several trails or "war roads," so called, led directly through Marion County-military roads for the transportation of supplies to the armies of the Northwest, operating along the lakes, and to the chain of forts and block-houses that protected this base of supplies. The most clearly defined war road led up through the valley of the Scioto, to a point in Pleasant Township, to lands entered by G. H. Griswold in a fractional section called Rocky Point. From thence the road bore away frbm the river and crossed the Little Scioto at or near what is now known as the Rayl Bridge in the Congress land district of Green Camp; thence the route was northward toward Little Sandusky. This road, worn deep by the heavy trains and wash of rainfalls, remains to-day in many- places, distinctly defined in the remaining wooded districts through which it passes. A common camping or halting point was formed at Rocky Point, where during low water a fine spring gushed forth, affording pure water, while game was very plentiful in the magnificent forests. the vestiges of which are to this day a source of admiration to all who study forestry and who can realize the immensity of the wood product of this section of Ohio.
Teaming over the war road in the Government employ was a source of revenue readily taken advantage of by the settlers of the lower counties. Hence it was that many residents of Fairfield, Franklin, Delaware, and other more southern districts became acquainted with the resources of this region. Among these teamsters were G. H. Griswold, of Worthington, Benjamin Morris and others. Mr. Griswoldwas a man of sagacity, and he became captivated by the beauty of the valley and ",second bottom" lands near Rocky Point. The river, sweeping in. comes through arches of overhanging maples; the immense walnuts, cherry, oak, and other hard woods that attained here their finest development, the plentiful gams supplies, the
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY. - 249
springs and "runs" all seemed to him to make up an ideal tract. As a result of his inspection, he secured the first tract of land entered in Delaware District and Entry No. 1 within the confines of Marion County north of the treaty line was this fractional section at Rocky Point.
During this period, detachments of troops frequently passed through these borders; and larger bodies after the fashion of the times, considered and styled "armies," left the impress of their campaign marches and bivouacs upon the early traditions. An encampment of troops under Gen. Green, at Rocky Point, gave rise to the name of " Green's Camp," now become Green Camp Township. That Gen. Harrison marched northward, halting on the hill south of Marion, is a well-known fact, made historical by the episode so frequently called up, known as " Jacob's Well."
Nathaniel Wyatt and Nathaniel Brundige were probably the first setleis of what is now Waldo Township, Marion County, though at the time their settlement was in Franklin County, afterward Delaware. It was in Marlborough Township, wbich mostly was thrown into Marion County on the formation of Morrow County in 1848. They felled the first tree and built the first, log cabin in the spring of 1806. Ruth Wyatt, born in 1807, was the first white child born here, and William Brundage, born in 1808, was the first white male born in the county. It is, however, not determinable who was the first white child born within the first limits of Marion County after its organization. The first pioneer in what was at first Marion County was probably Ebenezer Roseberry, from New Orleans, who settled in Grand Prairie Township in 1812.
Among the first setttlers of Marion County may be mentioned John Williamson, Jotham Clark and William Irwin, At what was called "Clyde," were the Packarts and Plotners, all in Tully Township. In Scott were the Hipshers, Lees, Larabees, Millers, Latimbres, Hills, Johnsons and Kerrs. In Grand Prairie were the Caldwells, Swinertons, John Claggett, and John Page. Salt Rock had Enoch Clark, Richard Hopkins, Hugh V. Smith, Col. W. W. Concklin, John Green, the Martins, the Thomsons, the Rhoadses, McElvoys and Gillespies. Grand had Seaburn. the Stevensons. Neal Sworden, Merriman and the Terrys. In Montgomery Township were William LaRue, McMurray, Johnsons, Carters, Virdens, Cranmers and Albert Bryant. In Big Island Township were the Joneses, Nortons, Brittons, Bradys, Alcotts, Messengers, Robert Hopkins, Woods and Smith Frame. In Marion Township were the Bakers, Berrys, Holmes, Tiptons, Fickles, Hillman, Barks, Hinton, Busby, Fish, Bennett and Bartram. In Claridon were Clarks, Douces, Hinds, Gloyds, Hornbys, Wildbahms, Thews and Miles. In Richland Township were Jacobys, Osborns, Warlines, Emerys, Waddels and Kings. In Pleasant were the Idlemans, Boyds, Wyatts, Joneses, Drakes, Williamses, Davids. Goodings, Farnam. Freeman and Courts. In Green Camp were the Markleys, Jenkins, Walkers, Sullivans, Essex, Porters, Johnsons, Logues and Shaws.
At this time there were no townships named Bowling Green, Prospect or Waldo in this county.
Capt. William S. Drake settled in Franklin County (now Marion) on what was known as the "Daniel Stockman farm," a half mile south of Waldo. In 1813. the family moved upon the farm a mile north of Waldo. His military experience in the war of 1812 is alluded to in the war chapter, and a further sketch of him is given in the history of Waldo Township.
Eber and George Baker, Benjamin Davis, Alexander Berry, James Bower and others settled at Marion, 1820 to 1823. (See history of Marion village.) (For a sketch of Eber Baker, see political chapter.)
250 - HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
Rev. George W. Baker was the eldest son of Eber Baker, the founder of Marion, and was born in Litchfield, Me., October 22, 1803. He was married to Louisa D. Davis January 6, 1825. Soon after his marriage, he and wife professed religion and joined the Free-Will Baptist Church. In about five years, he entered upon the ministry. His opportunities for acquiring an education were limited, notwithstanding which, he was remarkably successful. He was a successful pastor of churches, and not less so as an evangelist, 3,000 or more having professed religion under his labors. He was noted for his honesty, his simplicity of manners and for his ardent faith and devotion to the good of his fellow-men. He died in Marion October 11, 1881. He had six children, Rev. Oscar E. Baker, of Marion; Allen D. and Eber S., of Lincoln, Neb.; Mrs. J. C. Johnston, of Marion; Mrs. O. C. Smith, of Toledo; and Mrs. William Clark, of Van Wort, who died several years ago.
Rev. Oscar E. Baker, son of Rev. George W. Baker, was born in Marion, Ohio, January 9, 1826. He entered the ministry of the Free-Will Baptist Church at the age of eighteen years. He was married to Miss Jane, daughter of Esquire Samuel Powell, of Marion, in the year 1850, and to Mrs. Augusta Wilson in the year 1870. He has labored chiefly as pastor of churches and mostly in Ohio. Lived in Iowa some fifteen years; devoted there a part of the time to the building of an institution of learning. He returned to Marion, his native place, in April, 1881, to care for his aged parents, and in answer to a call to the pastorate of the Free-Will Baptist Church of this city.
"Deacon " John Ballantine was born in Rensselaer County, N. Y., and came to Columbus, Ohio, in 1818, and to Marion in the fall of 1820, set. tling two and a half miles north of what is now Marion, on Limestone Ridge, where he continued to reside about thirty-eight years. He then purchased another farm, two miles east of the former one, where he remained until 1864, when he located in his last residence in the northeast part of the city, on what is known as the old Copeland place. For awhile he kept a store about a mile north of town in company with his brother Ebenezer. He and his brother Ebenezer came down the Allegheny and Ohio Rivers to Wheeling, Va., in a skiff from Olean, and thence in one of Richard M. Johnston's old coaches from Wheeling to Lancaster, Ohio, and footed it to Columbus. His father had been a Pevolutionary soldier and owned 300 acres of beech land in the county of Delaware, which he and his brother expected to improve; but when they reflected upon the labor, concluded to try the plains of Marion instead. He was one of the first members of the Presbyterian Church of Marion, and most of the time was a Ruling Elder. He was quiet and unobtrusive, but did much to improve the town. Was three times married. January 15, 1879, he died of apoplexy occasioned by climbing over a fence at the stockyards of the Alton & Great Western Railroad, at Marion. He was in his eighty-first year.
Calvin Barnett came to Marion in the spring of 1820, resided here all his life and died a few years ago, very poor.
Nathan Peters, who was born at Manchester, Baltimore Co., Md., June 20, 1799, came to Lancaster, Fairfield County, Ohio, in 1812, and to Marion in April, 1826, anal died September 22, 1881. He married Miss Alice Wilson, in January, 1825, near Lancaster. She was born in December, 1798, and died October 14, 1838. Their children were Harvey, deceased; Charlotte, wife of Alonzo Baker; Pauline, wife of S. A. Hummer; and Jane, deceased. For his second wife he married Mrs. Mary C. Russell, and
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY. - 251
their children were Alary E., wife of William M. Camp; Irene, wife of S. T. Beerbower; and Alice L., wife of James Williams. Mr. Peters himself belonged to a family of great longevity. His brothers and sisters, eleven in number, were living last year, aged from sixty-three to eighty-five years. Mr. Peters was a cabinet-maker by trade, following that trade until 1838. For two terms he was County Commissioner. His late residence he built in 1856. He was known to almost every resident of Marion was a quiet, unobtrusive man but one of very decided opinions, thinking for himself and acting upon his own convictions of right; was a charitable man, and yet his charity was bestowed quietly, as such acts should be; was an industrious, economical man, accumulating by his own exertions a large property, so that he was abundantly able to spend his last days in the quiet of his home, free from care for his earthly comfort. In his early life he was a friend of the oppressed and down-trodden slave, and adhered to his opinions, and for years be had the gratification of seeing the slaves free and the reproach of slavery removed from our nation.
Capt. Elisha Hardy was born in Essex County, N. J., July 4, 1795, and died May 13, 1877. He was a prominent citizen of Marion from the time of his arrival here in 1828. He followed mercantile business and accumulated considerable wealth, but he lost the most of this through the weakness of "friends." At his death he left a widow, but no children.
John Clark carne from the State of Delaware to Ohio about 1803, and to Marion County in 1831, settling upon a farm west of Marion. He died about 1862, a wealthy man. His sons are W. E. Clark, now a Constable in Marion; R. M., in Indiana; Riley P., in Iowa; and John, who died about six years ago.
Elijah Bowdish, a resident of Marion County for forty-five years, died November 28, 1873, in the eighty-fifth Year of his age.
Dr. Alson Norton was a pioneer of Big Island and died an aged man.
Maj. William La Rue, one of the most prominent pioneers and enterprising citizens of Marion County, is noticed more at length in the history of Montgomery Township.
For sketches of Messrs. Eber Baker, George H. Busby, Hezekiah Gorton, etc., see close of political chapter.
William Garberson, who settled on what is now known as the Ludwig farm near Caledonia, in 1823, was born in Westmoreland County, Penn., December 20, 1797, and died June 25, 1880. He was an exemplary member of the Methodist Episcopal Church for nearly sixty years, industrious, honest and social, and a man of good taste, keeping his residence and farm in fine trim. He was an admirer and keeper of very fine stock, especially in the lines of horses and poultry. Of novel and rare breeds he had many, and took great pleasure in exhibiting them. During his life, he met with several accidents with a team of spirited horses, crippling him somewhat and causing much suffering.
Newton Messenger was born in Litchfield County, Conn., December 7, 1804; came to Washington County, Ohio, in 1812, and thence to Marion County in 1831. December 11, 1831 he married Patience Bigford, and of their eleven children, ten survived him, and of forty-two grandchildren, thirty-seven survived. He resided upon the same farm fifty years and three months. He died March 18, 1882, a member of the Christian Church. He had also been County Commissioner, Land Appraiser and Justice of the Peace for thirty-six years.
Col. Everett Messenger was born in Connecticut August 1, 1811, came
252 - HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
with his parents to Marietta, Ohio, and from there to Marion County in 1825 or 1826, where his parents settled, in Big Island Township. Here he lived the rest of his life. He dealt largely in live stock, and became one of its most honored and wealthy citizens. He represented this county in the Legislature from 1864 to 1866, rendering good service. He was prominent in agricultural matters and was President of the Marion County Agricultural Society for several terms. He died in January, 1880.
William Thew, one of the most prominent pioneers of Claridon Township, was born in Lincolnshire, England, April 1, 1791, and immigrated to America in 1823, coming to Claridon with a number of other English families, all of whom became industrious and thrifty farmers and useful citizens. Mr. Thew, in particular, was a model farmer, a discreet counselor and a charitable Christian philanthropist. He and his estimable lady for years kept an asylum for the helpless and needy, and sometimes their house seemed more like a hospital than a private farmer's dwelling. Mrs. Thew died acme fifteen years ago, or more, and Mr. Thew died in July, 1883, in his ninety-third year.
Robert Kerr was also among the early settlers, and although of very limited education, became the largest landholder and wealthiest citizen of the county. A very complete sketch of Air. Kerr will be found among the biographies of Scott Township.
The first church organized within what was the limits of Marion County from the time it was named to 1848, was the Methodist Episcopal society at Judge Jacob Idleman's, about April 20, 1820, with the following members: Jacob Idleman and wife and Christian Staley and familyeight in all. The minister was a local preacher named Stewart, residing at Radnor. In 1822, Rev. Bacon became the preacher in charge, then Revs. Roe, Erastus Felton, etc.
The next church was the Free-Will Baptist, in 1821. Elder Dudley settled in what was known as Southwick's neighborhood. Big Island Township, and in the winter of 1821-22, organized a church there, with the following members: Elder Dudley and wife, L. Southwick and wife, Mrs. A. Wheeler, F. Wheeler and wife, P. Wheeler and wife, John Bates, Sr., and wife, John Bates, Jr., and wife, Deter Bates, Mrs. J. E. James, Robert Hopkins and wife, Col. H. Gorton and wife, Asa Davis and wife, and probably a few others.
The first church edifice in Marion Village was erected by the Methodists. These people increased so rapidly in numerical strength that they soon had to erect another building for a house of worship. They accordingly put. up another building, which they have also outgrown. That building is now a part of the Huber machine works. Both these churches were built of stone.
The next church building was of brick and was erected by the Presbyterians, where their present church stands, in 1828. It was very plain, but the seats had backs, an advantage which the first Methodist Church did not have. It was subsequently partially blown down by a hurricane. The first Presbyterian Church in the county was organized at Marion in 1827, by Revs. A. Jenks and H. Van Doman. one of whom preached every four weeks alternately, until some time in 1828, when Rev. Barbour, a missionary, became pastor. Among the first members were Adam Uncapher and wife, William Bain and wife. John Ballantine and wife, Mrs. Samuel Bowdish, Joseph Boyd and wife, Samuel Waddel and wife, D. Oborn and wife, Joseph Oborn and wife, Mrs. Gruber, Mrs. J. P. Smith, Mrs. Edward Kennedy and Mrs. Crosby.
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY. - 253
FIRST MARRIAGES.
Licenses for marriage were issued by the Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas from the organization of the county until after the adoption of the constitution of 1851, when this duty was transferred to the office of the Judge of Probate. The first Clerk commenced to number the licenses on the record, but on reaching No. 106, September 7, 1826, he dropped the practice. The numbering was not again resumed until May 1, 1855, when it was commenced with 1, by George Snyder, Probate Judge. A new volume leas then opened, containing forms of affidavit of applicant for license and of certificate of return. The numbering then ran until it reached 1,238, December 17, 1867, at the close of the sixth volume of the records. Volume VII commences with No. 1 again, and closes with 1,008, in October, 1873, since which time until,tho present year, the numbering was omitted. The number of licenses issued from December 6, 1873, to December 6, 1882, a period of nine years, was 1,750, being an average of about 193 per year.
1824.
May 7.-Seldon Field and Lydia Kethum (Ketchum?)
May 15.--Josbua Bearss and Susannah Wade.
May 16.-David Allen and Polly Hazelet.
May 22.Seth Allen and Eve Cline.
June 5.-Jan-Les Ford and Elizabeth McElvane.
June 5.Sylvester Gooding and Eliza Love.
June 12.-Barnett FaIttery and Nancy Aye.
June 29.-William Penny and Elizabeth Salmon.
June 13.-James Stewart and Elizabeth Steen.
June 7.--Alanson Packard and Nancy Fickle.
July 7.-John Parcle (Parcel?) and Mercy Manly.
July 21.-John McGown and Susa nnah Showers.
September 4.George M. Fickell and Margaret Beckley.
September- -Peter Long and Hiley Darland.
September 7.-Joseph Stewart and Jane Steen.
October 18.-John Sidner and Polly Delly.
October 30.-David Baughman and Elizabeth Neal.
November 8.Luke A. Hamman and Mary Ann Jones.
November 18.-Heary Milizer and Elizabeth Berry.
December 3.-Henry Hinkle and Susannah Wine.
December 16.Henry Miller and Magdalena Wolf.
December 22.-Martin Dickens and Elizabeth Stealy.
December 22.-John Jones and Rhoda Barr.
December 28.-Isaac Longwell and Sarah Winslow.
December 28.-Zachariah Barrett and Hannah Darling.
December 29.-Hobert Rice and Eliza Ann Caldwell.
December 29.-Joseph Leonard and Nancy Longwell.
1825.
January 5.-George W. Baker and Louisa Davis.
January 10.-Charlos Merriman and Susan Carey.
January 10.-Joseph Peirce and Mary Carey.
January 16.-Andrew Ridgley and Rebecca Hattan.
January 19.-Simeon Smith and Louisa Gleason.
January 22.-Jesse Foust and Mary Lowder.
January 30.-Benjamin Meeker and Susan Smith.
254 - HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
February 5.-Israel Clark, Jr., and Laurie Bearss.
February 10.-Isaac Wood and Hannah Baker.
February 15.-Henry Barns and Abigail Folly.
February 19.Conrad Deel and Elizabeth Rawles.
February 24.-Andrew Stroub and Priscilla Crawford.
February 26.-Jacob Butt and Mary Mutchler.
February 26.-George Garret. and Nancy Walker.
March 9.-Antony Comines and Rachel Rodgers.
March 10.-Asa Howard and Polly Garver.
March 11.-Abraham Brown and Fronica Coon.
March 11.-John Croy and Peggy McIntyre.
March 25.-Isaac Fickle and Eliza Tipton.
March 26.--Joseph Winslow and Phebe Smith.
March 29.-Joseph Harper and Mary Copperstone.
April 5.-Hugh McCrackin and Martha Moore.
April 5.-Joseph McCamb and Rebecca Kimble.
April 5.-Joseph Whiterd and Clarinda Boodle.
April 9.-Jacob Shafer and Mary Ann Smith.
April 9.-Dexter Baker and Sarah Kimble.
April 12.-James Ranney and Sally Vesey.
April 28.-Eli Odell and Asenath Parcher.
April 29.-Phineas Packard and Elizabeth Fickle.
April -- Joel Lee and Jane Parker.
May 3.-William D. Parcel and Harriet Humphrey.
May 16.--John Kline and Sally Thorn.
May 20.-Jonathan James and Elizabeth Lust.
June 7.-George Tiper and Laura Gleason.
June 8.-Jonathan Soult and Eve Tockhover. (These were married as John Stull and Eve James!) June 22.-James Hughey and Ann Maria Drake.
July 16.-John Winslow and Elizabeth Long.
July 16.-:Moses E. Messenger and Rachel Jury.
August 8.-Elihu Daud and Polly Ketchum.
September 3.-Dawd Kellogg and Amelia Eaton.
September 12.William M. Baker and Elizabeth B. Tompkins.
September 14.-Horace Pratt and Esther Bucklin.
September 21.--Samuel C. Straw and Catharine Stealy.
September 29.-Thomas Bounds and Sophia Berry.
September 29.-George Lock and Anna Morland.
October 15.-Samuel Wilkins and -- McIntyre.
October 24.-Samuel Holmes and Eliza W. Concklin.
November 1.-Samuel Hazlett and Zila Spurgeon.
November 5.-E. H. Crosby and Elizabeth Washburn.
November 20.-Abraham Sims and Susan Bain.
November 24.-Michael Alspach and Molly Heimote.
November 28.-Isaac H. Fickle and Nancy Young.
November 29. -David Tipton and Sally Kent.
November 29. -Jesse Foos and Rachel Blackman.
December 9.--John Depue and Eliza Court.
December 19.-John Walters and Lilian Ridgley.
December 29.-James Darland and Eunice Daud.
Alanson Packard, a Justice of the Peace, was on one occasion somewhat poetical, as he entered upon the record the following: "Marriage license was granted to Norton B. Royce and Eunice M. Dexter, March 14, 1832.
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY. - 255
"I certify-that is to say,
This present March, the 18th day,
Eunice Dexter, Norton Royce,
As did your license authorize
An awkward, ungainly, long-legged pair-
By me in marriage joined were.
By sages wise, it has been said
That matches all above are made.
If so, these ones in heaven have been:
God knows they'll. never go again."
THE FIRST DEED.
The first deed recorded in this county convoys land. March 9, 1821, in Township 5, Range 14 (Big, Island), from Samuel and Lydia Jones, "of the county of Marion," to William Foster.
THE FIRST WILL.
The first will on record in the Recorder's office of Marion County is dated and worded as follows, which, for comparison with modern phraseology, is given here:
I, Samuel Ferrel (in the name of God, amen!), being of sound mind and memory, and calling to mind the certainty of death and the uncertainty of life, do constitute and appoint this my last will and testament, revoking all other wills, deeds or testaments made by Inc.
And in the first place, I do will and bequeath my soul to God, who gave it, and my body to dust, from whence it came, in hope of a glorious resurrection.
And in the second place, I do will and bequeath unto my beloved mother, Martha Ferrel, all my money and goods, to be at her disposal as the said Martha may think proper, excepting so much as will defray all my funeral expenses; also contracts and agreements, as it relates to the real estate, to stand firm and sure as they have heretofore been made and mutually agreed to by her, the said Martha Ferrel, and myself.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal this nineteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty-five.
SAMUEL FERREL. [L. S.]
In presence of us:
BENJAMIN JEFFREY.
JONATHAN SMITH.
It appears on record that Mr. Ferrel died shortly afterward and that his widow had the above will admitted to Probate May 29, 1826. There being no executor named in the will, she was appointed administratrix, James Nail and William Moore being accepted as her securities. The recorded wills following the above are signed by Abraham Berry, Simon A. Couch, Israel Clark, etc.
For comparison with the quaint introduction to the wills of olden time notice the following language as used at the present day: "In the name of the benevolent Father of All.
"I, W ---- H---, of lawful age and sound mind, do make and declare the following to be my last will and testament:
"First, that at my death I be buried in a Christian-like manner and that all my just debts be fully paid, etc."