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| author | www-data <www-data@mail.pglaf.org> | 2026-06-23 06:49:04 -0700 |
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| committer | www-data <www-data@mail.pglaf.org> | 2026-06-23 06:49:04 -0700 |
| commit | ec2d5f5e8f34a7d1aa617d3c04044976d5e8fd3a (patch) | |
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diff --git a/78929-h/78929-h.htm b/78929-h/78929-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3654d36 --- /dev/null +++ b/78929-h/78929-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,16019 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html> +<html lang="en"> +<head> + <meta charset="UTF-8"> + <title> + Pioneer Women of the West | Project Gutenberg + </title> + <link rel="icon" href="images/cover.jpg" type="image/x-cover"> + <style> + +body { + margin-left: 15%; + margin-right: 15%; +} + + h1,h2,h3 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +h1 {font-weight: normal; + font-size: 180%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + word-spacing: 0.3em; + } + +h2 {font-weight: normal; + font-size: 160%; + margin-top: 1em; + word-spacing: 0.3em; + } + +p { + margin-top: .51em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .49em; +} + +.p2 {margin-top: 2em;} + + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: 33.5%; + margin-right: 33.5%; + clear: both; +} + +hr.full {width: 95%; margin-left: 2.5%; margin-right: 2.5%;} + +hr.r5 {width: 15%; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 42.5%; margin-right: 42.5%;} +hr.r65 {width: 25%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em; margin-left: 37.5%; margin-right: 37.5%;} + +div.chapter {page-break-before: always;} +h2.nobreak {page-break-before: avoid;} + + + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; +} + + +.tdl {text-align: left;} +.tdr {text-align: right;} + + +.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: small; + text-align: right; + font-style: normal; + font-weight: normal; + font-variant: normal; + text-indent: 0; +} /* page numbers */ + + +.blockquot { + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + + + +.xxlarge {font-size: 220%;} +.xlarge {font-size: 140%;} +.large {font-size: 120%;} +.less {font-size: 90%;} +.more {font-size: 80%;} +.med {font-size: 70%;} + +.c {text-align: center;} + +.sp {word-spacing: 0.3em;} + +.lsp {letter-spacing: 0.2em;} + +.r {text-align: right; + margin-right: 2em;} + +.gtb +{ + letter-spacing: 3em; + font-size: 130%; + text-align: center; + margin-right: -2em; +} + + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + +/* Images */ + +img { + max-width: 100%; + height: auto; +} +img.w100 {width: 100%;} + + +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; + page-break-inside: avoid; + max-width: 100%; +} + +.figcenter1 { + padding-top: 2em; + margin: auto; + text-align: center; + page-break-inside: avoid; + max-width: 100%; +} + + +/* Footnotes */ +.footnotes {border: 1px dashed;} + +.footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + +.footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 79%; text-align: right;} + +.fnanchor { + vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: + none; +} + +/* Poetry */ +.poetry-container {display: flex; justify-content: center;} +.poetry-container {text-align: center;} +.poetry {text-align: left; margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%; font-size:85%;} +.poetry .stanza {margin: 1em auto;} +.poetry .verse {text-indent: -3em; padding-left: 3em;} + +/* Transcriber's notes */ +.transnote {background-color: #E6E6FA; + color: black; + font-size:small; + padding:0.5em; + margin-bottom:5em; + margin-top:3em; + font-family:sans-serif, serif; + border: .3em double gray; + padding: 1em; +} +.poetry .indent0 {text-indent: -3em;} +.poetry .indent2 {text-indent: -2em;} +.poetry .indent4 {text-indent: -1em;} +.poetry .indent16 {text-indent: 4em;} + + </style> +</head> + +<body> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78929 ***</div> + + +<h1>PIONEER WOMEN OF THE WEST</h1> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" alt="cover"> +</div> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p class="c lsp p2"> +THE</p> + +<p class="c sp lsp xxlarge"> +PIONEER WOMEN</p> + +<p class="c sp more"> +OF THE</p> + +<p class="c lsp xxlarge"> +WEST.</p> + +<p class="c more"> +BY</p> + +<p class="c sp large"> +MRS. ELIZABETH F. ELLET,</p> + + +<p class="c sp med"> +AUTHOR OF “THE QUEENS OF AMERICAN SOCIETY,” “THE WOMEN OF<br> +THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION,” ETC.</p> + +<div class="figcenter1"> +<img src="images/fig1.jpg" alt="decoration"> +</div> + +<p class="c lsp p2 less"> +PHILADELPHIA:</p> + +<p class="c sp lsp large"> +PORTER & COATES.</p> + +<p class="c less"> +1873. +</p> +</div> + +<hr class="full"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<hr class="r5"> + +<p class="c sp med"> +PRESS OF</p> + +<p class="c sp lsp"> +HENRY B. ASHMEAD,</p> + +<p class="c sp med"> +1102 and 1104 Sansom St. +</p> + +<hr class="r5"> +</div> + + +<hr class="full"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p class="c lsp xlarge">PREFACE.</p> +</div> + + +<p><span class="smcap large">An</span> appropriate supplement to the memoirs of the +“Women of the American Revolution,” is the story of +the wives and mothers who ventured into the western +wilds, and bore their part in the struggles and labors of +the early pioneers. Indeed, so obvious a consequence of +the Revolution was the diffusion of the spirit of emigration, +that the one work naturally calls for the other, the +domestic history of the period being incomplete without +it. To supply this want, very little published material +existed, and that little in the shape of brief anecdotes, +scattered through historical collections made in several +Western States, and scarcely known in other parts of the +Union. But a vast store might be yielded from the +records of private families, and the still vivid recollections +of individuals who had passed through the experiences +of frontier and forest life, and it was not yet too +late to save from oblivion much that would be the more +interesting and valuable, as the memory of those primitive +times receded into the past.</p> + +<p>Application has been made, accordingly, to the proper +sources throughout the Western States, and the result +enables me to offer such a series of authentic sketches as +will not only exhibit the character of many pioneer +matrons—characters that would pass for strongly marked +originals in any fiction—but will afford a picture of the +times in the progressive settlement of the whole country, +from Tennessee to Michigan. To render this picture as +complete as possible, descriptions of the domestic life and +manners of the pioneers, and illustrative anecdotes from +reliable sources, have been interwoven with the memoirs, +and notice has been taken of such political events as had +an influence on the condition of the country.</p> + +<p>All the biographies, except those of Mrs. Boone and +Mary Moore, have been prepared from private records, +furnished by relatives or friends, and in two or three +instances by the subjects. I do not except those of Mrs. +Williams and Mrs. Rouse, for which I am indebted to the +courtesy of Dr. S. P. Hildreth, though they appeared in +a more extended form many years since, in a Western +periodical of limited circulation. My grateful acknowledgments +are due to Mr. Milton A. Haynes, of Tennessee, +for the memoirs of Mrs. Bledsoe, Mrs. Brown and Mrs. +Shelby, written for this work; and also to Mr. A. W. +Putnam, of Nashville, Tennessee, for those of Mrs. +Sevier and Mrs. Sparks. Both in Tennessee and Ohio I +had access to valuable manuscripts belonging to the +Historical Societies, and to letters in the possession of +individuals. For most of the sketches illustrative of +Michigan, included in those of Mrs. Clark, Mrs. Bryan, +Mrs. Rumsey and Mrs. Noble, I have pleasure in acknowledging +my obligations to an accomplished friend—Miss +Mary H. Clark of Ann Arbor, Michigan. The published +works from which extracts have been made, are generally +mentioned, and a repetition of authorities would be +unnecessary. Flint’s Life of Boone, Dr. Hildreth’s Notes +on the Pioneer History of Ohio, Howe’s Historical Collections +of Ohio, and Lanman’s History of Michigan, +have chiefly aided me, though a vast number of other +books have been consulted.</p> + +<p>A word may be permitted here as to the proprietorship +of memoirs prepared from original materials derived +from private sources. It seems reasonable that the exclusive +right should belong to the one who procures and +works up such materials; and that no other person can, +without a violation of the principles of common justice, +make use of the memoirs to such an extent as to interfere +with the interests of the original work. This remark +is called forth by the fact that a volume was published in +Buffalo, in 1851, entitled “Noble Deeds of American +Women, with Biographical Sketches of some of the more +prominent”—in which thirty-eight sketches prepared +entirely from original manuscripts, (the subjects not even +named in any other published work,) were taken from the +volumes of “The Women of the American Revolution,” +twenty-six of them being appropriated, in an abridged +form, without the slightest acknowledgment.</p> + +<p class="r large">E. F. E.</p> + + +<hr class="full"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p class="c lsp xlarge">CONTENTS.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="r5"> + +<table> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr"></td> + <td class="tdl"></td> + <td class="tdr"><span class="med">Page</span></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr">I.</td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Mary Bledsoe</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#c1">13</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr">II.</td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Catharine Sevier</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#c2">29</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr">III.</td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Rebecca Boone</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#c3">42</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr"></td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Mrs. Mason</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_58">58</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr"></td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Anna Innis</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#c4">61</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr"></td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Sarah Combs</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_62">62</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr">IV.</td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Charlotte Robertson</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#c5">63</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr"></td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Mrs. Dunham</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_75">75</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr">V.</td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Jane Brown</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#c6">79</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr"></td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Sarah Wilson</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_106">106</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr">VI.</td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Mary Moore</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#c7">110</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr"></td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Mrs. Denis</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_111">111</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr"></td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Mrs. Clendenin</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_112">112</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr"></td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Mrs. Cunningham</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_113">113</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr"></td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Mrs. Scott</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_115">115</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr"></td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Mrs. Glass</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_118">118</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr">VII.</td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Ann Haynes</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#c8">145</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr">VIII.</td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Ruth Sparks</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#c9">153</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr">IX.</td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Sarah Shelby</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#c10">162</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr">X.</td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Rebecca Williams</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#c11">171</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr"></td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Louisa St. Clair</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_178">178</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr"></td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Mrs. Lake</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_185">185</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr"></td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Sally Warth</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_191">191</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr"></td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Jane Dick</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_193">193</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr"></td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Mary Heckewelder</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_193">193</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr"></td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Ruhama Greene</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_196">196</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr">XI.</td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Rebecca Rouse</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#c12">199</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr">XII.</td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Sarah Sibley</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#c13">225</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr">XIII.</td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Mary Dunlevy</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#c14">226</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr">XIV.</td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Ann Bailey</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#c15">245</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr">XV.</td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Elizabeth Harper</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#c16">254</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr"></td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Sarah Thorp</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_266">266</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr"></td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Mrs. Walworth</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_271">271</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr"></td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Mrs. Carter</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_272">272</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr">XVI.</td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Elizabeth Tappen</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#c17">274</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr">XVII.</td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Rebecca Heald</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#c18">281</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr"></td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Mrs. Helm</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_302">302</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr"></td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Mrs. Snow</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_303">303</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr"></td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Mrs. Lemen</span>, <span class="smcap">Mrs. Edwards</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_304">304</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr">XVIII.</td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Abigail Snelling</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#c19">305</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr">XIX.</td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Mary McMillan</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#c20">338</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr">XX.</td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Charlotte A. Clark</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#c21">350</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr"></td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Charlotte Geer</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_357">357</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr"></td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Mrs. Clark</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_359">359</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr">XXI.</td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Sarah Bryan</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#c22">361</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr"></td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Sylvia Chapin</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_367">367</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr"></td> + <td class="tdl"> <span class="smcap">Mrs. Lovejoy</span>, <span class="smcap">Mrs. St. John</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_368">368</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr"></td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Lucy Chapin</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_370">370</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr"></td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Mrs. Anderson</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_373">373</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr"></td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Eliza Bull</span>, <span class="smcap">Mrs. Harazthy</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_374">374</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr">XXII.</td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Mary Ann Rumsey</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#c23">376</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr"></td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Ann Allen</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_382">382</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr"></td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Elizabeth Allen</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_382">382</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr">XXIII.</td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Harriet L. Noble</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#c24">388</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr"></td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Frances Trask</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_397">397</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr"></td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Mrs. Scott</span>, <span class="smcap">Mrs. Talbot</span>, <span class="smcap">Mrs. Goodrich</span>,     </td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_400">400</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr"></td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Mrs. Comstock</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_401">401</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr"></td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Mrs. Woodward</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_402">402</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr">XXIV.</td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Journal</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#c25">403</a></td></tr> + +<tr> + <td class="tdr">XXV.</td> + <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Elizabeth Kenton</span>,</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#c26">428</a></td></tr> + +</table> + +<hr class="full"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</span></p> + +<p class="c xlarge sp" id="c1">THE PIONEER WOMEN OF THE WEST.</p> + +</div> + +<hr class="r65"> + +<h2>I.</h2> + +<p class="c sp lsp">MARY BLEDSOE.</p> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Men’s due deserts each reader may recite,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">For men of men do make a goodly show;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But women’s works can seldom come to light,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">No mortal man their famous acts may know;</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Few writers will a little time bestow,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The worthy acts of women to repeat;</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Though their renown and the deserts be great.”</div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + + + +<p><span class="smcap large">The</span> poet’s complaint might be made with peculiar justice in the +case of American women who followed the earliest adventurers into +the unknown forests of the West. One of their own number often +said—“A good Providence sent such men and women into the +world together. They were made to match.” Such a race will +probably never again live in this country. The progress of improvement, +art, and luxury, has a tendency to change the female +character, so that even a return of the perils of war, or the necessity +for exertion, would hardly develop in it the strength which belonged +to the matrons who nursed the infancy of the Republic. +They were formed by early training in habits of energetic industry, +and familiarity with privation and danger, to take their part in subduing<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</span> +the wilderness for the advance of civilization. Though their +descendants cannot emulate their heroic deeds, it will be a pleasing +task to call up recollections of them; to observe their patient endurance +of hardship, and to compare their homely but honest exterior +with the accomplishment and graces of the sex in modern days.</p> + +<p>A large portion of the history of the early settlers of the West +has never been recorded in any published work. It is full of personal +adventure, and no power of imagination could create materials +more replete with romantic interest than their simple experience +afforded. The training of those hardy pioneers in their frontier +life; the daring with which they penetrated the wilderness, plunging +into trackless forests, and encountering the savage tribes whose hunting +grounds they had invaded, and the sturdy perseverance with +which they overcame all difficulties, compel our wondering admiration. +It has been truly said of them, “The greater part of mankind +might derive advantage from the contemplation of their humble +virtues, hospitable homes, and spirits patient, noble, proud, and +free; their self-respect, grafted on innocent thoughts; their days of +health and nights of sleep; their toils by danger dignified, yet +guiltless; their hopes of a cheerful old age and a quiet grave.”</p> + +<p>But less attention has been given to their exploits and sufferings +than they deserve, because the accounts read are too vague and +general; the picture not being brought near, nor exhibited with +lifelike proportions and coloring. A collection of memoirs of women +must of necessity include some reliable account of the domestic and +daily life of those heroic adventurers, and may perhaps supply the +deficiency. Commencing with the first colonists of Tennessee, which +claims priority of settlement, we light upon a name associated with +its early annals, and distinguished among pioneers—that of Bledsoe. +But before entering on a sketch of this family, a brief view may be +given of the general state of the country.</p> + +<p>Until the year 1700, the territory of North Carolina and Tennessee, +and an indefinite region extending south-west and north-west, +in the language of the royal British charters, to the South Seas, was +known as “our county of Albemarle, in Carolina.” Even as late as<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</span> +1750, the country lying west of the Appalachian mountains was +wholly unknown to the people of the Carolinas and Virginia. +When, a few years later, the British army under Braddock crossed +the mountains from Maryland and Pennsylvania, and marched to +Fort Du Quesne, that march was described by the writers of the +times as an advance into the deep recesses and fastnesses of a +savage wilderness. At that time the French owned all the Canadas, +the valley of the Ohio and all its tributaries, and claimed the rest +of the continent to the confines of Mexico, westward from the Ohio +and Mississippi rivers. The old French maps of that period, and the +journals and letters of French traders and hunters, together with the +traditions of the Indians, afford the only reliable information in relation +to the then condition of the country now composing Kentucky and +Tennessee. In the French maps of those times, the Kentucky, Holston, +Tennessee, and Ohio are laid down. The Kentucky is +called Cataway, the Holston the Cherokee, and the Little Tennessee +the Tanasees. This river, after the junction of the Holston and +Tennessee, is called Ho-go-hegee, and the only Indian town marked +on its banks is at the mouth of Bear Creek, near the north-west +corner of Alabama. There were forts which were little more than +trading posts, at several points on the Ohio and Mississippi; Fort +Du Quesne, where Pittsburg now stands, and one at the mouth of +the Kenhawa river; another at the mouth of the Kentucky, and +Fort Vincennes, near the mouth of the Oubach, or Wabash; Fort +Massac, half way between the mouth of the Ohio and the Tennessee, +on the Illinois side, and another on the Tennessee, twelve miles +above its mouth. They also had a fort where Memphis now stands, +called Prud’homme; another at the mouth of the Arkansas, called +Ackensâ; another near Natchez, and one at the junction of the +Coosa and Tallapoosa, called Halabamas. South of these last forts, +the Spaniards had possession in Florida, Louisiana, and Texas. The +greater part of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Western Virginia, was +represented on these maps as wholly uninhabited. Certain it is that +not more than a dozen years afterwards, when the pioneers of Tennessee +and Kentucky first explored that region, they found the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</span> +banks of the Watauga, Cumberland, and Kentucky, with their +tributaries, in this state. It was all one vast wilderness, into +which hunting parties of Indians from its distant borders entered +and roamed in pursuit of game, but in which they made no permanent +lodgment. Numerous warlike nations lived south, west, and +north of this wilderness, and hither it was that the lion-hearted +pioneers of the Cumberland and Watauga came, with axe and rifle, +to subdue at once the savage and the forest.</p> + +<p>In 1758, Col. Bird, of the British army, established Fort Chissel +in Wyth county, Virginia, to protect the frontiers, and, advancing +into what is now Sullivan county, Tennessee, built a fort near Long +Island, on the Holston or Watauga. There was not then a single +white man living in the borders of Tennessee. The year before, +Governor Dobbs of North Carolina had, at the request of the +Cherokee Indians, built Fort Lowdon, and the Indians agreed to +make grants of land to all artisans who would settle among them. +Fort Lowdon was on the Little Tennessee, near the mouth of Tellico +river, in the centre of the Cherokee nation, and about one hundred +miles south of the fort at Long Island. Between these forts +were the first settlements, which struggled for several years against +the fearful ravages of Indian wars, before the beginning of the +Revolution.</p> + +<p>At irregular intervals from 1765 to 1769, came pioneer parties +from Virginia and North Carolina, forming “camps,” “settlements,” +and “stations.” Some of the earliest emigrants were from Raleigh +and Salisbury, and settled upon the Watauga. The first settlement +attempted on the spot where Nashville now stands, is said to have +been in 1778, the “French Lick,” as the locality was named, having +been discovered, according to Haywood, in 1769 or 1770, by a +party of adventurers, who were descending the Cumberland on their +way to Natchez, to dispose of articles which they had, and purchase +others which they wanted. They saw an immense number of buffaloes +and wild game. The lick and adjoining lands were crowded +with them, and their bellowing resounded from the hills and forest. +The place had previously been visited by French hunters and trappers<span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</span> +from the north. The surrounding hills were then covered with +cedars, whose foliage deeply shaded the rocky soil from which they +sprung, and there was no appearance of former cultivation. No +prospect spread before the eye but woods and cane, inhabited by +buffaloes, elks, wolves, foxes, and other wild animals. Not deterred +by the neighborhood of these, or fiercer savages, the new comers +here erected cabins, constructed a stockade fort, and maintained +possession against several attacks by the Indians.</p> + +<p>Two brothers of the name of Bledsoe—Englishmen by birth,—were +living in 1769 at Fort Chissel, then upon the extreme border +of civilization. It was not long before they removed further into +the wild, and they were among the earliest pioneers in the valley of +the Holston. This portion of country, now Sullivan county, was at +that time supposed to be within the limits of Virginia. The Bledsoes, +with the Shelbys, settled themselves about twelve miles above +the Island Flats. The beauty of that mountainous region attracted +others, who, impelled by the same spirit of adventure and pride in +being the first to explore the wilderness, came to join them in establishing +the colony. They cheerfully ventured their property and +lives, and endured the severest privations in taking possession of +their new homes, influenced by the love of independence and +equality. The most dearly prized rights of man had been threatened +in the oppressive system adopted by Great Britain towards her +colonies; her agents and the colonial magistrates manifested all the +insolence of authority; and individuals who had suffered from +their aggressions bethought themselves of a country beyond the +mountains, in the midst of primeval forests, where no laws existed +save the law of nature—no magistrate, except those selected by +themselves; where full liberty of conscience, of speech, and of +action prevailed. Yet almost in the first year they formed a written +code of regulations by which they agreed to be governed; each +man signing his name thereto. These settlements formed by parties +of emigrants from neighboring provinces were not, in their constitution, +unlike those of New Haven and Hartford; but among +them was no godly Hooker, no learned and heavenly-minded<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</span> +Haynes. As, however, from the first they were exposed to the +continual depredations and assaults of their savage neighbors, who +looked with jealous eyes upon the approach of the white men, it +was perhaps well that there were among them few men of letters. +The rifle and the axe, their only weapons of civilization, suited better +the perils they encountered from the fierce and marauding Shawnees, +Chickamangas, Creeks, and Cherokees, than would the brotherly +address of William Penn, or the pious discourses of Roger +Williams.</p> + +<p>During the first year, not more than fifty families had crossed the +mountains; but others came with each revolving season to reinforce +the little settlement, until its population swelled to hundreds. During +the Revolutionary struggle, that region became the refuge of +many patriots driven by British invasion from Virginia, the Carolinas, +and Georgia, some of the best families seeking homes there. +Patriotic republicans who had sacrificed everything for their country, +hoped to find in the secluded vales and thick forests of the West +that peace and quiet which they had not found amidst the din of +civil and foreign war. But they soon experienced the horrors of +savage warfare, which swept away their property, and often robbed +them of their wives and children, either by a barbarous death or +slavery as captives dragged into the wild recesses of the Indian borders. +They took up their residence, for mutual aid and protection, +in clusters around different stations, within a short distance of one +another, and many lived in the forts. Notwithstanding the frequent +and terrible inroads upon their numbers, they increased to thousands +within ten or fifteen years.</p> + +<p>Not long after the Bledsoes established themselves upon the +banks of the Holston, Col. Anthony Bledsoe, who was an excellent +surveyor, was appointed clerk to the commissioners who ran the +line dividing Virginia and North Carolina. Bledsoe had before +this ascertained that Sullivan County was comprised within the +boundaries of the latter province. In June, 1776, he was chosen +by the inhabitants of the county to the command of the militia. +The office imposed on him the dangerous duty of repelling the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</span> +savages and defending the frontier. He had often to call out the +militia and lead them to meet their Indian assailants, whom they +would pursue to their villages through the recesses of the forest. +In this month more than seven hundred Indian warriors advanced +upon the settlements on the Holston, with the avowed object of exterminating +the white race through all their borders. The battle of +Long Island, fought a few miles below Bledsoe’s station, near the +Island Flats, was one of the earliest and hardest fought battles +known in the traditionary history of Tennessee. Col. Bledsoe, at +the head of the militia, marched to meet the enemy, and in the +conflict which ensued was completely victorious; the Indians being +routed, and leaving forty dead upon the field. This disastrous defeat +for a time held them in check; but the spirit of savage hostility +was invincible, and in the years following there was a constant succession +of Indian troubles, in which Col. Bledsoe was conspicuous for +his bravery and services.</p> + +<p>In 1779, Sullivan County having been recognized as a part of +North Carolina, Governor Caswell appointed Anthony Bledsoe colonel, +and Isaac Shelby lieutenant-colonel, of its military company. +About the beginning of July of the following year, General Charles +McDowell, who commanded a district east of the mountains, sent to +Bledsoe a dispatch, giving him an account of the condition of the +country. The surrender of Charleston had brought the State of +South Carolina under British power; the people had been summoned +to return to their allegiance, and resistance was ventured +only by a few resolute spirits, determined to brave death rather than +submit to the invader. The whigs had fled into North Carolina, +whence they returned as soon as they were able to oppose the enemy. +Colonels Tarleton and Ferguson had advanced towards North +Carolina at the head of their soldiery; and McDowell ordered Col. +Bledsoe to rally the militia of his county, and come forward in +readiness to assist in repelling the invader’s approach. Similar dispatches +were sent to Col. Sevier and other officers, and the patriots +were not slow in obeying the summons.</p> + +<p>While the British Colonel Ferguson, under the orders of Cornwallis,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</span> +was sweeping the country near the frontier, gathering the +loyalists under his standard and driving back the whigs, against +whom fortune seemed to have decided, a resolute band was assembled +for their succor far up among the mountains. From a population +of five or six thousand, not more than twelve hundred of them +fighting men, a body of near five hundred mountaineers, armed with +rifles and clad in leathern hunting-shirts, was gathered. The anger +of these sons of liberty had been stirred up by an insolent message +received from Col. Ferguson, that “if they did not instantly lay +down their arms, he would come over the mountains and whip their +republicanism out of them;” and they were eager for an opportunity +of showing what regard they paid to his threats.</p> + +<p>At this juncture, Col. Isaac Shelby returned from Kentucky, where +he had been surveying land for the great company of land speculators +headed by Henderson, Hart, and others. The young officer +was betrothed to Miss Susan Hart, a belle celebrated among the +western settlements at that period, and it was shrewdly suspected +that his sudden return from the wilds of Kentucky was to be attributed +to the attractions of that young lady; notwithstanding that +due credit is given to the patriot, in recent biographical sketches, for +an ardent wish to aid his countrymen in their struggle for liberty +by his active services at the scene of conflict. On his arrival at +Bledsoe’s, it was a matter of choice with the colonel whether he +should himself go forth and march at the head of the advancing +army of volunteers, or yield the command to Shelby. It was +necessary for one to remain behind, for the danger to the defenceless +inhabitants of the country was even greater from the Indians than +the British; and it was obvious that the ruthless savage would take +immediate advantage of the departure of a large body of fighting +men, to fall upon the enfeebled frontier. Shelby on his part insisted +that it was the duty of Bledsoe, whose family, relatives, and defenceless +neighbors looked to him for protection, to stay with the troops +at home for the purpose of repelling the expected Indian assault. +For himself, he urged, he had no family to guard, or who might +mourn his loss, and it was better that he should advance with the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</span> +troops to join McDowell. No one could tell where might be the +post of danger and honor, at home or on the other side of the +mountains. The arguments he used no doubt corresponded with his +friend’s own convictions, his sense of duty to his family, and of true +regard to the welfare of his country; and the deliberation resulted +in his relinquishment of the command to his junior officer. It was +thus that the conscientious, though not ambitious patriot, lost the +honor of commanding in one of the most distinguished actions of +the Revolutionary war.</p> + +<p>Col. Shelby took the command of those gallant mountaineers who +encountered the forces of Ferguson at King’s Mountain on the 7th +October, 1780. Three days after that splendid victory, Bledsoe received +from him an official dispatch giving an account of the battle. +The daughter of Col. Bledsoe well remembered having heard this dispatch +read by her father, though it has probably long since shared +the fate of other valuable family papers.</p> + +<p>When the hero of King’s Mountain, wearing the victor’s wreath, +returned to his friends, he found that his betrothed had departed +with her father for Kentucky, leaving for him no request to follow. +Sarah, the above mentioned daughter of Col. Bledsoe, often rallied +the young officer, who spent considerable time at her father’s, upon +this cruel desertion. He would reply by expressing much indignation +at the treatment he had received at the hands of the fair +coquette, and protesting that he would not follow her to Kentucky, +nor ask her of her father; he would wait for little Sarah Bledsoe, a +far prettier bird, he would aver, than the one that had flown away. +The maiden, then some twelve or thirteen years of age, would laughingly +return his bantering by saying he “had better wait, indeed, +and see if <i>he</i> could win Miss Bledsoe who could not win Miss Hart.” +The arch damsel was not wholly in jest; for a youthful kinsman of +the colonel—David Shelby, a lad of seventeen or eighteen, who had +fought by his side at King’s Mountain—had already gained her +youthful affections. She remained true to this early love, though +her lover was only a private soldier. And it may be well to record +that the gallant colonel, who thus threatened infidelity to his, did<span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</span> +actually, notwithstanding his protestations, go to Kentucky the following +year, and was married to Miss Susan Hart, who made him a +faithful and excellent wife.</p> + +<p>During the whole of the trying period that intervened between +the first settlement of east Tennessee and the close of the Revolutionary +struggle, Col. Bledsoe, with his brother and kinsmen, was +almost incessantly engaged in the strife with their Indian foes, as +well as in the laborious enterprise of subduing the forest, and converting +the tangled wilds into the husbandman’s fields of plenty. In +these varied scenes of trouble and trial, of toil and danger, the men +were aided and encouraged by the women. Mary Bledsoe, the +colonel’s wife, was a woman of remarkable energy, and noted for her +independence both of thought and action. She never hesitated to +expose herself to danger whenever she thought it her duty to brave +it; and when Indian hostilities were most fierce, when their homes +were frequently invaded by the murderous savage, and females +struck down by the tomahawk or carried into captivity, she was +foremost in urging her husband and friends to go forth and meet the +foe, instead of striving to detain them for the protection of her own +household. During this time of peril and watchfulness, little attention +could have been given to books, even had the pioneers possessed +them; but the Bible, the Confession of Faith, and a few such works +as Baxter’s Call, Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, etc., were generally to +be found in the library of every resident on the frontier.</p> + +<p>About the close of the year 1779, Col. Bledsoe and his brothers, +with a few friends, crossed the Cumberland mountains, descended +into the valley of Cumberland River, and explored the beautiful +region on its banks. Delighted with its shady woods, its herds of +buffaloes, its rich and genial soil, and its salubrious climate, their report +on their return induced many of the inhabitants of East Tennessee +to resolve on seeking a new home in the Cumberland Valley. +The Bledsoes did not remove their families thither until three years +afterwards; but the idea of settling the valley originated with them; +they were the first to explore it, and it was in consequence of their +report and advice that the expedition was fitted out, under the direction<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</span> +of Captain (afterwards General) Robertson and Col. John Donaldson, +to establish the earliest colony in that part of the country.<a id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></p> + +<p>The daughter of Col. Bledsoe has in her possession letters that +passed between her father and Gen. Robertson, in which repeated +allusions are made to the fact that to his suggestions and counsel was +owing the first thought of emigration to the valley. In 1784, Anthony +Bledsoe removed with his family to the new settlement of +which he had thus been one of the founders. His brother, Col. +Isaac Bledsoe, had gone the year before. They took up their residence +in what is now Sumner County, and established a fort or station +at “Bledsoe’s Lick”—now known as the Castalian Springs. +The families being thus united, and the eldest daughter of Anthony +married to David Shelby, the station became a rallying point for an +extensive district surrounding it. The Bledsoes were used to fighting +with the Indians; they were men of well known energy and +courage, and their fort was the place to which the settlers looked for +protection—the colonels being the acknowledged leaders of the +pioneers in their neighborhood, and the terror, far and near, of the +savage marauders. Anthony was also a member of the North +Carolina Legislature from Sumner County.</p> + +<p>From 1780 to 1795, a continual warfare was kept up by the +Creeks and Cherokees against the inhabitants of the valley. The +history of this time would be a fearful record of scenes of bloody +strife and atrocious barbarity. Several hundred persons fell victims +to the ruthless foe, who spared neither age nor sex; and many women +and children were carried far from their friends into hopeless captivity. +The settlers were frequently robbed and their negro slaves taken +away; in the course of a few years two thousand horses were stolen; +their cattle and hogs were destroyed, their houses and barns burned, +and their plantations laid waste. In consequence of these incursions, +many of the inhabitants gathered together at the stations on the +frontier, and established themselves under military rule for the protection<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</span> +of the interior settlements. During this desperate period, the +pursuits of the farmer could not be abandoned; lands were to be +surveyed and marked, and fields cleared and cultivated, by men who +could not venture beyond their own doors without arms in their +hands. The labors of those active and vigilant leaders, the Bledsoes, +in supporting and defending the colony, were indefatigable. Nor +was the heroic matron—the subject of this sketch—less active in +her appropriate sphere of action. Her family consisted of seven +daughters and five sons, the eldest of whom, Sarah Shelby, was not +more than eighteen when they came to Sumner. Mrs. Bledsoe was +almost the only instructor of these children, the family being left to +her sole charge while her husband was engaged in his toilsome +duties, or harassed with the cares incident to an uninterrupted border +warfare.</p> + +<p>Too soon was this devoted wife and mother called upon to suffer +a far deeper calamity than any she had yet experienced. Anthony +Bledsoe had removed his family into his brother Isaac’s fort at Bledsoe’s +Lick. On the night of the 20th of July, 1788, a number of +Indians approached, and placed themselves in ambush about forty +yards in front of a passage dividing the log houses occupied by the +two families. To draw the men out, they then sent some of their +party to cause an alarm by riding rapidly through a lane passing +near. Roused by the noise, Col. Anthony Bledsoe rose and went to +the gate. As he opened it, he was shot down, the same shot killing +an Irish servant, named Campbell, who had been long devotedly +attached to him. The colonel did not expire immediately, but was +carried back into the house, while preparations were made for +defence by Gen. William Hall, and the portholes manned till break +of day. The wife of Isaac Bledsoe suggested to her husband, and +afterwards to her brother-in-law, in view of the near approach of +death, that it was proper to make provision for his daughters. He +had surveyed large tracts of land, and had secured grants for several +thousand acres, which constituted nearly his whole property. +The law of North Carolina at that time gave all the lands to the +sons, to the exclusion of the daughters. In consequence, should<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</span> +the colonel die without a will, his seven young daughters would be +left destitute. In this hour of bitter trial, Mrs. Bledsoe’s thoughts +too were not alone of her own sufferings, and the deadly peril that +hung over them, but of the provision necessary for the helpless ones +dependent on her care. Writing materials were procured, and having +called Clendening to draw up the will, he being too much agitated +to write, Isaac Bledsoe supported his dying brother while +affixing his signature. Thus a portion of land was assigned to each +of the daughters, who in after life had reason to remember with +gratitude the presence of mind and affectionate care of their aunt.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Bledsoe’s sufferings from Indian hostility were not terminated +by this overwhelming stroke. A brief list of those who fell +victims, among her family and kinsmen, may afford some idea of +the trials she endured, and of the strength of character which enabled +her to bear up, and to support others, under such terrible +experiences. In January, 1793, her son Anthony, then seventeen +years of age, while passing near the present site of Nashville, was +shot through the body, and severely wounded, by a party of Indians +in ambush. He was pursued to the gates of a neighboring fort. +Not a month afterwards, her eldest son, Thomas, was also desperately +wounded by the savages, and escaped with difficulty from their +hands. Early in the following April, he was shot dead near his +mother’s house, and scalped by the murderous Indians. On the +same day, Col. Isaac Bledsoe was killed and scalped by a party of +about twenty Creek Indians, who beset him in the field, and cut off +his retreat to his station near at hand.</p> + +<p>In April, 1794, Anthony, the son of Mrs. Bledsoe, and his cousin +of the same name, were shot by a party of Indians, near the house +of Gen. Smith, on Drake Creek, ten miles from Gallatin. The lads +were going to school, and were then on their way to visit Mrs. Sarah +Shelby, the sister of Anthony, who lived on Station Camp Creek.</p> + +<p>Some time afterwards, Mrs. Bledsoe was on the road from Bledsoe’s +Lick to the above mentioned station, where the court of Sumner +County was at that time held. Her object was to attend to +some business connected with the estate of her late husband. She<span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</span> +was escorted on her way by the celebrated Thomas Sharp Spencer, +and Robert Jones. The party was waylaid and fired upon by a large +body of Indians. Jones was severely wounded, and turning, rode +rapidly back for about two miles; after which, he fell dead from his +horse. The savages advanced boldly upon the others, intending to +take them prisoners.</p> + +<p>It was not consistent with Spencer’s chivalrous character to attempt +to save himself by leaving his companion to the mercy of the +foe. Bidding her retreat as fast as possible and encouraging her to +keep her seat firmly, he protected her by following more slowly in +her rear, with his trusty rifle in his hand. When the Indians in +pursuit came too near, he would raise his weapon, as if to fire; and +as he was known to be an excellent marksman, the savages were +not willing to encounter him, but hastened to the shelter of trees, +while he continued his retreat. In this manner he kept them at +bay for some miles, not firing a single shot—for he knew that his +threatening had more effect—until Mrs. Bledsoe reached a station. +Her life and his own were on this occasion saved by his prudence +and presence of mind; for both would have been lost had he yielded +to the temptation to fire.</p> + +<p>This Spencer—for his gallantry and reckless daring named “the +Chevalier Bayard of Cumberland Valley,”—was famed for his encounters +with the Indians, by whom he had often been shot at, and +wounded on more than one occasion. His proportions and strength +were those of a giant, and the wonder-loving people were accustomed +to tell marvellous stories concerning him. It was said that +at one time, being unarmed when attacked by Indians, he reached +into a tree, and wrenching off a huge bough by main force, drove +back his assailants with it. He lived for some years alone in Cumberland +Valley—it is said from 1776 to 1779—before a single +white man had taken up his abode there; his dwelling being a +large hollow tree, the roots of which still remain near Bledsoe’s +Lick. For one year—the tradition is—a man by the name of Holiday +shared his retreat; but the hollow being not sufficiently spacious +to accommodate two lodgers, they were under the necessity of separating,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</span> +and Holiday departed to seek a home in the valley of the +Kentucky River. But one difficulty arose; those dwellers in the +primeval forest had but one knife between them! What was to be +done? for a knife was an article of indispensable necessity; it belonged +to Spencer, and it would have been madness in the owner +of such an article to part with it. He resolved to accompany Holiday +part of the way on his journey, and went as far as Big Barren +River. When about to turn back, Spencer’s heart relented; he +broke the blade of his knife in two, gave half to his friend, and with +a light heart returned to his hollow tree. Not long after his gallant +rescue of Mrs. Bledsoe, he was killed by a party of Indians, on the +road from Nashville to Knoxville. For nearly twenty years he had +been exposed to every variety of danger, and escaped them all; +but his hour came at last, and the dust of the hermit and renowned +warrior of Cumberland Valley now reposes on “Spencer’s +Hill,” near the Crab Orchard, on the road between Nashville and +Knoxville.</p> + +<p>Bereaved of her husband, sons, and brother-in-law by the murderous +savages, Mrs. Bledsoe was obliged alone to undertake, not +only the charge of her husband’s estate, but the care of the children, +and their education and settlement in life. These duties were discharged +with unwavering energy and Christian patience. Her religion +had taught her fortitude under her unexampled distresses; and +through all this trying period of her life, she exhibited a decision +and firmness of character, which bespoke no ordinary powers of +intellect. Her mind, indeed, was of masculine strength, and she +was remarkable for independence of thought and opinion. In person +she was attractive, being neither tall nor large until advanced +in life. Her hair was brown, her eyes gray, and her complexion +fair. Her useful life was closed in the autumn of 1808. The +record of her worth, and of what she did and suffered, may win +little attention from the careless many, who regard not the memory +of our “pilgrim mothers:” but the recollection of her gentle virtues +has not yet faded from the hearts of her descendants; and +those to whom they tell the story of her life will acknowledge her<span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</span> +the worthy companion of those noble men to whom belongs the +praise of having originated a new colony and built up a goodly +state in the bosom of the forest. Their patriotic labors, their struggles +with the surrounding savages, their efforts in the maintenance +of the community they had founded—sealed, as they finally were, +with their own blood, and the blood of their sons and relatives—will +never be forgotten while the apprehension of what is noble, +generous, and good survives in the hearts of their countrymen.</p> +<hr class="full"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="c2">II.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="c sp lsp">CATHERINE SEVIER.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap large">In</span> one of the pioneer parties from the banks of the Yadkin, in North +Carolina, who crossed the rugged mountains to seek new homes in +the valley of the Watauga, came Samuel Sherrill, with his family +consisting of several sons and two daughters. One of these daughters, +Susan, married Col. Taylor, a gentleman of considerable distinction; +the other, Catharine, became the second wife of Gen. +Sevier. Mr. Sherrill’s residence was finally upon the Nola Chucka, +and known as the Daisy Fields. He was a tiller of the soil, a hard-working +man, “well to do in the world” for an emigrant of that day, +and he was skilled in the use of the rifle, so that it was said, +“Sherrill can make as much out of the grounds and the woods as +any other man. He has a hand and eye to his work; a hand, an +eye, and an ear for the Indian and the game.”</p> + +<p>Buffalo, deer, and wild turkeys came around the tents and cabins +of those first emigrants. A providence was in this that some of +them recognized with thankfulness. These settlements encroached +upon the rights and hunting-grounds of the natives; and although +some had been established and permitted to remain undisturbed for +several years, yet when Capt. James Robertson arrived from Virginia, +in 1772, with a large party of emigrants, and selected lands<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</span> +on the Watauga, he endeavored to secure an occupation with the +approbation of the Indians; therefore he effected a “lease” from +the Cherokees of all the lands on the river and its tributaries for +eight years.</p> + +<p>Jacob Brown, with his family and friends, arrived from North +Carolina about the same time with the Sherrills, and these two +families became connected by intermarriage with the Seviers, and +ever remained faithful to each other through all the hostile and civil +commotions of subsequent years. The family of Seviers came among +the very earliest emigrants from Virginia, and aided in the erection +of the first fort on the Watauga.<a id="FNanchor_2" href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p> + +<p>With few exceptions, these emigrants had in view the acquisition +of rich lands for cultivation and inheritance. Some indeed were +there, or came, who were absconding debtors or refugees from justice, +and from this class were the tories of North Carolina mostly +enlisted.</p> + +<p>The spirit of the hunter and pioneer cannot well content itself in +a permanent location, especially when the crack of a neighbor’s +rifle, or the blast of his hunting-horn may be heard by his quick +ear; therefore did these advanced guards often change their homes +when others crowded them at a mile’s distance. It must be remembered +that these advances into the wilderness could only be made +by degrees, step by step, through years of tedious waiting and toilsome +preparation. And thus, though they had a lease from the +Indians, a foothold in the soil, stations of defence, and evidently had +taken a bond of fate, assuring them in the prospect of rich inheritances +for their children, they could not all abide while the great +West and greater Future invited onward. Richer lands, larger +herds of buffaloes, more deer, and withal as many Indians were in +the distance, upon the Cumberland and Kentucky Rivers. The +emigrants advanced, and they took no steps backwards. In a few<span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</span> +years they were found organizing “provisional governments” upon +“the dark and bloody ground” of Kentucky, and at the Bluffs, the +site of the beautiful capital of Tennessee. And these Watauga and +Nola Chucka pioneers were the leading spirits throughout.</p> + +<p>Lord Dunmore, in fitting out the expedition against the Indian +tribes, which ended with the memorable battle of Point Pleasant, +gave John Sevier the commission of captain.</p> + +<p>In the first Cherokee war of 1776, the early settlements were in +great danger of being destroyed. The prowling savages picked off +the emigrants in detail, and being somewhat successful resolved to +attack the settlements and stations at different points on the same +day—in June, 1776. But they were so defeated in the battles of +Long Island and at the Island Flats, on the Holston, and in their +attack and siege of the Watauga Fort, that a happy change was +wrought, and hopes of quiet were encouraged. The attack on the +latter station was conducted by an experienced Indian chief, Old +Abraham, of the Chilhowee Mountain region. It was a fierce attack, +but the fort fortunately held within it two of the most resolute men +who have ever touched the soil of Tennessee, and to whom East +and Middle Tennessee were subsequently more indebted than to +any other men who have ever lived—James Robertson and John +Sevier—they having then no higher titles than captains. Some +thirty men were under their command or direction.</p> + +<p>The approach of the Indians had been stealthy, and the first +alarm was given by the flight and screams of some females, who +were closely pursued by the savages in large force. One of the +women was killed, and one or two captured. In this party of +females was Miss Catharine Sherrill, daughter of Samuel Sherrill, +who had removed into the fort only the day previous.</p> + +<p>Miss Sherrill was already somewhat distinguished for nerve, action, +and fleetness. It was said “she could outrun or outleap any +woman; walk more erect, and ride more gracefully and skilfully +than any other female in all the mountains round about, or on the +continent at large.” Although at other times she proved herself to +know no fear, and could remain unmoved when danger threatened,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</span> +yet on this occasion she admits that she did run, and “run her +best.” She was very tall and erect, and her whole appearance such +as to attract the especial notice and pursuit of the Indians; and as +they intercepted the direct path to the gate of the fort, she made a +circuit to reach the enclosure on another side, resolved, as she said, +to scale the walls or palisades. In this effort, some person within +the defences attempted to aid, but his foot slipped, or the object on +which he was standing gave way, and both fell to the ground on +opposite sides of the enclosure. The savages were coming with all +speed, and firing and shooting arrows repeatedly. Indeed, she said, +“the bullets and arrows came like hail. It was now—leap the wall +or die! for I would not live a captive.” She recovered from the +fall, and in a moment was over and within the defences, and “by +the side of one <i>in uniform</i>.”</p> + +<p>This was none other than Capt. John Sevier, and the first time +she ever saw him. This was the beginning of an acquaintance destined +in a few years to ripen into a happy union, to endure in +this life for near forty years. “The way she run and jumped on +that occasion was often the subject of remark, commendation, and +laughter.” In after life she looked upon this introduction, and the +manner of it, as a providential indication of their adaptation to each +other—that they were destined to be of mutual help in future dangers, +and to overcome obstacles in time to come. And she always +deemed herself safe when by his side. Many a time did she say: +“I could gladly undergo that peril and effort again to fall into his +arms, and feel <i>so out of danger</i>, But then,” she would add, “it +was all of God’s good providence.” Capt. Sevier was then a married +man, his wife and younger children not having yet arrived from +Virginia. His wife’s name was Susan Hawkins, and she was a +native of Virginia, where she died.</p> + +<p>In 1777, Capt. Sevier received a commission from the State of +North Carolina, and was thus decidedly enlisted in the cause of +American independence; and not long after this, he was honored +with the commission of colonel, bearing the signature of George +Washington. In 1779, his wife died, leaving him ten children.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</span> +Several of the eldest were sons, who had come with their father to +gain and improve a home in the wilderness. They were trained to +arms and to labor. He had selected land on the Watauga and +Nola Chucka, his chosen residence being on the latter stream, and +for many years known as Plum Grove. In the year 1780, he and +Miss Sherrill were married, and she devoted herself earnestly to all +the duties of her station, and to meet the exigencies of the times. +It may well be supposed that females spun, wove, and made up +most of the clothes worn by these backwoods people. Girls were +as well skilled in these arts as were the boys in such as more appropriately +belonged to their sphere and strength.</p> + +<p>Not long after the marriage, Col. Sevier was called to the duty +of raising troops to meet the invasion of the interior of North Carolina, +under Tarleton, Ferguson, and other British officers. Preparations +were hastily made, and the various forces assembled which +fought the important battle of King’s Mountain. Col. Sevier had +three sons and one brother in that engagement. His favorite +brother, Joseph, was killed, and one son wounded. These sons were +between the ages of sixteen and twenty-one. Boys were early +taught to use the rifle with skill. This was the formidable weapon +in pursuit of game, and in all the Indian wars.</p> + +<p>It was always a source of much gratification to Mrs. Sevier, and +one of which she fondly boasted, that among the first work she did +after her marriage, was to make the clothes which her husband and +three sons wore the day they were in the memorable battle of +King’s Mountain. And she would say, “Had his ten children been +sons, and large enough to have served in that expedition, I could have +fitted them out.”<a id="FNanchor_3" href="#Footnote_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></p> + +<p>In the course of years, Mrs. Sevier became the mother of eight +children, three sons and five daughters; and thus Col. Sevier was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</span> +the father of eighteen children, all of whom maintained good characters, +were “given to hospitality,” and lived comfortably and usefully, +although none of them acquired great wealth. Mrs. Sevier +was often left alone to manage domestic affairs, not only within +doors, but without. The life of the Colonel was one of incessant +action, adventure, and contest. The calls of his fellow-citizens, and +the necessities of the times, withdrew him frequently from home. +The history of the Indian wars of East Tennessee, of the settlement +of the country, and of the organization of the State Government, is +the record of the deeds of his life. No commander was more frequently +engaged in conflicts with the Indians with equal success and +such small loss of his men. And yet it is a notable fact that he +enjoyed, to a remarkable extent, the respect of the tribes and chiefs +with whom he contended. It is a known historical fact that in 1781 +he had taken to his own home, on the Chucka, a number of Indian +prisoners, it is said thirty, where they were treated with so much kindness +by his wife and family that several of them remained for years, +although they performed very little work, and this wholly at their +option. The influence of Mrs. Sevier was intentionally and happily +exerted upon these captives, that it might tell, as it did, upon their +friends within “the nation;” and the family, no doubt, enjoyed +more protection than otherwise they could have expected.</p> + +<p>Col. Sevier acquired a sobriquet among the Indians, which was +some evidence of their familiarity with and attachment to him, and +probably of advantage. As long as he lived they called him +“Chucka Jack.” He was afterwards called the “Treaty-maker.” +They had a name for Mrs. Sevier also, which is now not remembered. +The tories were the worst enemies, and perpetrated more damage to +Col. Sevier’s property than did ever the Indians; and from them +Mrs. Sevier had repeatedly to hide most of her small stock of household +articles. She usually remained at the farm, and never would +consent to be shut up in a blockhouse, always saying—</p> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“The wife of John Sevier</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Knows no fear.”</div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</span></p> + +<p>“I neither skulk from duty nor from danger.”</p> + +<p>And we believe this was emphatically true. We have seen her +in advanced age—tall in stature, erect in person, stately in walk, +with small, piercing blue eyes, raven locks, a Roman nose, and firmness +unmistakable in her mouth and every feature. She was able to +teach her children in the exercises conducive to health and usefulness, +to strength of nerve and to action. None could, with equal +grace and facility, placing the hand upon the mane of a spirited +horse, and standing by his side, seat herself upon his back or in the +saddle. She had the appearance and used the language of independence, +haughtiness, and authority, and she never entirely laid these +aside. Yet was not her pride offensive, nor her words or demeanor +intended heedlessly to wound. It could be said of her without any +question, that she “reverenced her husband,” and she instilled the +same Scriptural sentiment into the minds of his children. The very +high respect and deference which one of her dignified appearance +ever paid to him, no doubt had a favorable influence upon others; +for though he was a man of remarkable elegance of person, air and +address, and of popular attraction, yet it must be confessed that she +contributed much to all these traits, and to his usefulness and zeal in +public service. She relieved him of his cares at home, and applauded +his devotion to the service of the people.</p> + +<p>Her reply to those who urged her “to fort,” or to take protection +in one of the stations, was, “I would as soon die by the tomahawk +and scalping-knife as by famine! I put my trust in that Power +who rules the armies of Heaven, and among men on the earth. I +know my husband has an eye and an arm for the Indians and the +tories who would harm us, and though he is gone often, and for +weeks at a time, he comes home when I least expect him, and always +covered with laurels. * * If God protects him whom duty calls +into danger, so will He those who trust in him and stand at their +post. * * Who would stay out if his family forted?”</p> + +<p>This was the spirit of the heroine—this was the spirit of Catharine +Sevier. Neither she nor her husband seemed to think there could +be danger or loss when they could encourage or aid others to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</span> +daring, to duty, and to usefulness. Col. Sevier at one time advised +her to go into the fort, but yielded to her respectful remonstrance. +At one time the tories came to her house and demanded her husband’s +whereabouts, and finally avowed that their intention was to +hang him on the highest tree in front of his house; but that if she +would tell them where he was, she and her children should be safe. +Of course she refused to give them the information. One man drew a +pistol and threatened to blow out her brains if she did not tell or at +least give up all the money she had.</p> + +<p>“Shoot! shoot!” was her answer. “I am not afraid to die! +But remember, while there is a Sevier on the earth, my blood will +not be unavenged!”</p> + +<p>He dared not—he did not shoot. The leader of the gang told +the man to put up his pistols, saying, “such a woman is too brave +to die.” She knew some of the party, and that they were noted +thieves and tories.</p> + +<p>At another time they came to her smokehouse to carry off +meat. She took down the gun, which her husband always left with +her in good order, and said to them: “The first one who takes +down a piece of meat is a dead man!” They could not mistake her +resolution. Her tone, manner, and appearance avowed clearly +enough that she uttered no vain warning; that she knew her rights +and dared maintain them. They left without taking anything. In +the fall of 1780, a noted loyalist by the name of Dykes planned the +seizure of Sevier, but the plot was discovered to Mrs. Sevier by his +wife, as she stood by the smokehouse with her apron held +out to receive meal and a slice of meat from the Colonel’s +lady.<a id="FNanchor_4" href="#Footnote_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p> + +<p>Some of their negroes were stolen and never all recovered, being +taken into the Indian nation by the tories, and thence to Savannah +or Charleston while in possession of the British. There was a mortal +enmity between some of the active tories and the Seviers, +resulting in the hanging of some of the former on two occasions.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</span> +It fell to the lot of Mrs. Sevier to do acts of hospitality and +kindness to some of this set and their descendants many years +after the war. And these kindnesses she performed, although she +acknowledged that she felt at the same time the spirit of revenge +rankling in her bosom. “Some of them,” she would say +“and perhaps all their children, may make worthy people and good +citizens if they are not kept continually ashamed and mortified by +being reminded of their bad conduct or of their tory origin.”</p> + +<p>The sick and wounded soldier ever found a welcome and nursing +at the home of Sevier. The supplies for many of the Colonel’s +Indian expeditions were from his own private means. His wife, sons, +and servants were remarkably successful in raising corn and hogs, +and cheerfully were these given to the furtherance of the great objects +in hand.<a id="FNanchor_5" href="#Footnote_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a></p> + +<p>All her life long was Mrs. Sevier distinguished for her kindness +and liberality to the poor. Towards children she was gentle, though +she had an appearance and manner which prevented them from +giving that annoyance they are apt to do to the aged. It was usual +with her to keep a supply of maple-sugar and cinnamon-bark in her +spice-box, from which she would gratify them, and then wave them +kindly away. This motion of her hand was expressive, and easily +understood.</p> + +<p>In 1784 occurred the scenes of the “State of Frankland.” +The people of East Tennessee, becoming dissatisfied with the condition +of affairs under North Carolina, and impelled, as they urged, +by the necessity of self-protection, organized a separate and independent +government, giving that name to the new State. John Sevier +was its first and last Governor. The establishment of this little republic<span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</span> +was declared by the Governor of North Carolina to be no less +than revolt, and all concerned in it were commanded to return to +their duty and allegiance, and to refuse obedience to any self-created +authority, unsanctioned by the legislature of North Carolina. Notwithstanding +this remonstrance, the new government proceeded in +the exercise of sovereignty. In the conflict of authorities and the +civil and personal contests which grew out of this state of things in +the revolted territory, the prudent and judicious conduct of Mrs. +Sevier added to her husband’s reputation as well as her own. +His house became the place of general resort. It was proclaimed +open and free to all the friends of the rights of self-defence and independence, +and the impressive dignity and noble bearing of Mrs. +Sevier made a deep and lasting impression upon all who resorted to +that home for counsel, aid, or hospitality.</p> + +<p>The supporters of the new State were obliged in time, however, +to enter into measures of adjustment. When the Governor was +seized by its enemies and spirited away into the interior of North +Carolina, Mrs. Sevier, with the promptness, energy, and daring +which qualify for any occasion of utmost moment, aroused his +friends, and would have gone, as a fearless leader, “to conquer or to +die.” But seeing that her relatives, his relatives, sons and friends +were resolved upon his release and restoration, she little doubted +his speedy return, and she was not disappointed.</p> + +<p>And when a returning sense of justice, and the revulsion of public +sentiment and power of popular gratitude, produced a repeal of +“the odious acts of exclusion” of North Carolina, placing him “in +lone conspicuity,” and the people called him, by unanimous voice, +again and again, and yet again, to preside as Governor of Tennessee, +and to a Seat in Congress of the United States, then did her great +heart swell with thankfulness to God and her fellow-citizens. Then +did she acknowledge that her husband had not endured peril, toil, +and sacrifice in vain, though far short of the reward to which she +thought him justly entitled. And we doubt not posterity will coincide +in this judgment.</p> + +<p>During the twelve years in which he officiated as Governor of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</span> +Tennessee, his wife made his home delightful to him and his children. +It was the rest of the weary, the asylum of the afflicted, well +known as “the hospitable mansion of the first Governor, the people’s +favorite.”</p> + +<p>The education of Mrs. Sevier, in respect of literature and the +embellishments of dress and music, was such as she acquired chiefly +from reading the Bible, hearing the wild birds sing, and the Indians’ +pow-wow. “I picked up a good deal,” she was accustomed to say, +“from observation of men and their acts—for that was a business +with us in the early settlements—and we examined the works of +nature to some advantage; but as to school education, we had precious +little of that except at our mothers’ knees.”</p> + +<p>She embraced the religious sentiments of the Presbyterians, and +her life throughout was exemplary and useful. In this faith she +lived and died. A favorite expression of hers was: “I always trust +in Providence.” And she taught her children that “trust in God, +with a pure heart, is to be rich enough; if you are lazy, your blood +will stagnate in your veins, and your trust die.” She would never +be idle. Knitting often engaged her fingers, while her mind and +tongue were occupied in thought and conversation. She always +wore at her side a bunch of very bright keys.</p> + +<p>After the death of Gov. Sevier on the Tallapoosa, in 1815, where +he had gone to cement peace and establish the boundary with the +Creek Indians, Mrs. Sevier removed to Overton County, in Middle +Tennessee, where most of her children resided. She selected a most +romantic and secluded spot for her own retired residence. It was +upon a high <i>bench</i>, or spur of one of the mountains of that county, +a few miles from Obeds River, with higher mountains on either side. +There were some ten or fifteen acres of tillable land, and a bold +never-failing spring issuing from near the surface of the level tract, +which cast its pure cold waters down the side of the mountain +hundreds of feet into the narrow valley. In a dense wood near that +spring, and miles distant from any other habitation, did her sons erect +her log cabins for bedroom, dining-room, and kitchen, and others +for stable and crib. She resided for years at “The Dale,” with the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</span> +General’s aged body-servant, Toby (who had accompanied him in all +his Indian campaigns), his wife, Rachel, and a favorite female servant +and boy. Seldom did she come down from her eyrie in the +mountain. The aged eagle had lost her mate. She made her nest +among the lofty oaks upon the mountain heights, where she breathed +the air and drank the water untainted and undisturbed, fresh and +pure, and nearest to the heavens.</p> + +<p>We have visited her in that chosen spot. “The Governor’s +widow” could never be looked upon as an ordinary countrywoman. +Whoever saw her could not be satisfied with a single glance—he +must look again. And if she stood erect, and her penetrating eye +caught the beholder’s, he judged at once there was in that mind a +consciousness of worth and an acquaintance with notable events. +He would wish to converse with her. She used language of much +expressiveness and point. She never forgot that she was the widow +of Gov. and Gen. Sevier; that he had given forty years of his life to +the service of his country, and in the most arduous and perilous +exposure, contributing from his own means far more than he ever +received from the public treasury; and yet he never reproached that +country for injustice, neither would she murmur nor repine.</p> + +<p>At times she was disposed to sociable cheerfulness and humor, as +one in youthful days, and then would she relate interesting anecdotes +and incidents of the early settlement of the country, the manners and +habits of the people, of the “barefoot and moccasin dance” and “spice-wood +tea-parties.” Her woman’s pride, or some other feminine feeling, +induced her to preserve with the utmost care an imported or +bought carpet, of about twelve by fifteen feet in size, which had +been presented to her as the “first Governor’s wife,” and as the first +article of the kind ever laid upon a “puncheon,” or split-log floor +west of the Alleghany Mountains. Whenever she expected company +upon her own invitation, or persons of character to pay their respects +to her, the Scotch carpet was sure to be spread out, about the size +of a modern bedquilt. But as soon as company departed, the ever-present +and faithful servants, Suzy and Jeff, incontinently commenced +dusting and folding, and it was soon again boxed up. Three times<span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</span> +were we permitted the honorable privilege of placing our well cleaned +boots upon this dear relic from the household of the first Governor +of Tennessee, and of admiring the pair of ancient and decrepit +branch-candlesticks as they stood on the board over the fireplace.</p> + +<p>The bucket of cool water was ever on the shelf at the batten-door, +which stood wide open, swung back upon its wooden hinges; and +there hung the sweet water-gourd; and from very love of everything +around, we repeatedly helped ourselves. The floors, the doors, the +chairs, the dishes on the shelves—yea, everything seemed to have +been scoured. There was a lovely cleanness and order, and we believe, +“godliness with contentment.”</p> + +<p>She was remarkably neat in her person, tidy, and particular, and +uniform in her dress, which might be called half-mourning—a white +cap with black trimmings. She had a hearth-rug, the accompaniment +of the favorite carpet, which was usually laid before the fire-place +in her own room, and there she commonly was seated, erect +as a statue—no stooping of the figure, so often acquired by indolence +and careless habit, or from infirm old age—but with her feet placed +upon her rug, her work-stand near her side, the Bible ever thereon +or in her lap, the Governor’s hat upon the wall—such were the +striking features of that mountain hermitage.</p> + +<p>There was resignation and good cheer—there was hospitality and +worth in that plain cottage; and had not the prospect of better fortune, +and attachment to children married and settled at a distance, +induced her own sons to remove from her vicinity, she ought never +to have been urged to come down from that “lodge in the wilderness.” +But her last son having resolved to remove to Alabama, she +consented to go with him and pass her few remaining days in his +family.</p> + +<p>She departed this life on the 2d October, 1836, at Russelville, in +the State of Alabama, aged about eighty-two.</p> +<hr class="full"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="c3">III.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="c sp lsp">REBECCA BOONE.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap large">In</span> the rural cemetery near Frankfort, upon a hill overlooking the +river, under the shadow of protecting trees, are two green mounds, +unmarked by slab or stone informing the stranger that the remains +of two honored pioneers—Daniel Boone and his wife, rest beneath. +The beauty of the locality is unrivalled, and it is not far from the +magnificent monument erected by Kentucky to her brave officers +fallen on the field of battle; the splendid shaft inscribed with their +names, and surmounted by a figure of Victory holding crowns in +her hands. It is hoped that ere long the State will do justice to +the memory of those whose arduous efforts won a victory not less +glorious over the untamed wilderness, and opened the way to others +as bold and persevering.</p> + +<p>It will be remembered that the father of Daniel Boone had his +residence on the borders of the Yadkin in North Carolina, at no +great distance from the eastern slope of the Alleghanies; then a +frontier country, and the greater part of it unbroken forest. Near +the farm here opened, was another owned by Mr. Bryan, comprising +about a hundred acres beautifully situated on a gentle swell of +ground; the eminence crested with laurels and yellow poplars, which +half concealed the farmer’s dwelling. A wild mountain stream ran +along the base of the hill. This Joseph Bryan was the oldest son<span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</span> +of Morgan Bryan, of Virginia, the head of a very respectable family. +His daughter, Rebecca, was born near Winchester, in Virginia.</p> + +<p>Flint’s “Life of Boone,” contains the following account of his first +meeting with his future wife, referred to as authentic by other biographers:</p> + +<p>“Young Boone was one night engaged in a fire hunt with a young +friend. Their course led them to the deeply timbered bottom which +skirted the stream that wound round Bryan’s pleasant plantation. +That the reader may have an idea what sort of a pursuit it was that +young Boone was engaged in, during an event so decisive of his +future fortunes, we present a brief sketch of a night fire hunt. Two +persons are indispensable to it. The horseman that precedes, bears +on his shoulder what is called a <i>fire pan</i>, full of blazing pine knots, +which casts a bright and flickering glare far through the forest. +The second follows at some distance with his rifle prepared for +action. No spectacle is more impressive than this of pairs of hunters +thus kindling the forest into a glare. The deer, reposing +quietly in his thicket, is awakened by the approaching cavalcade, +and instead of flying from the portentous brilliance, remains stupidly +gazing upon it, as if charmed to the spot. The animal is +betrayed to its doom by the gleaming of its fixed and innocent +eyes. This cruel mode of securing a fatal shot is called in hunters’ +phrase—<i>shining the eyes</i>.</p> + +<p>“The two young men reached a corner of the farmer’s field at an +early hour in the evening. Young Boone gave the customary signal +to his mounted companion preceding him, to stop; an indication +that he had <i>shined the eyes</i> of a deer. Boone dismounted and +fastened his horse to a tree. Ascertaining that his rifle was in order +he advanced cautiously behind a covert of bushes, to rest the right +distance for a shot. The deer is remarkable for the beauty of its +eyes when thus shined. The mild brilliance of the two orbs was +distinctly visible. Whether warned by a presentiment, or arrested +by a palpitation and strange feelings within, at noting a new expression +in the blue and dewy lights that gleamed to his heart, we<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</span> +say not. But the unerring rifle fell, and a rustling told him the +game had fled. Something whispered him it was not a deer; and +yet the fleet step, as the game bounded away, might easily be mistaken +for that of the light-footed animal. A second thought impelled +him to pursue the rapidly retreating game; and he sprang +away in the direction of the sound, leaving his companion to occupy +himself as he might. The fugitive had the advantage of a considerable +advance of him, and apparently a better knowledge of the +localities of the place. But the hunter was perfect in all his field +exercises, and scarcely less fleet-footed than a deer, and he gained +rapidly on the object of his pursuit, which advanced a little distance +parallel with the field fence, and then, as if endowed with the +utmost accomplishment of gymnastics, cleared the fence at a leap. +The hunter, embarrassed with his rifle and accoutrements, was driven +to the slow and humiliating expedient of climbing it. But an outline +of the form of the fugitive, fleeting through the shades in the +direction of the house, assured him that he had mistaken the species +of the game. His heart throbbed from an hundred sensations, and +among them an apprehension of the consequences of what would +have resulted from discharging his rifle, when he had first shined +those liquid blue eyes. Seeing that the fleet game made straight +in the direction of the house, he said to himself: ‘I will see the +pet deer in its lair,’ and he directed his steps to the same place. +Half a score of dogs opened their barking upon him as he approached +the house, and advertised the master that a stranger +was approaching. Having hushed the dogs, and learned the name +of his visitant, he introduced him to his family as the son of their +neighbor Boone.</p> + +<p>“Scarce had the first words of introduction been uttered, before the +opposite door opened, and a boy apparently of seven, and a girl of +sixteen, rushed in, panting for breath, and seeming in affright.</p> + +<p>“‘Sister went down to the river and a <i>painter</i> chased her, and she +is almost scared to death,’ exclaimed the boy.</p> + +<p>“The ruddy, flaxen-haired girl stood full in view of her terrible +pursuer, leaning upon his rifle, and surveying her with the most<span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</span> +eager admiration. ‘Rebecca, this is young Boone, son of our +neighbor,’ was the laconic introduction. Both were young, beautiful, +and at the period when the affections exercise their most energetic +influence. The circumstances of the introduction were favorable +to the result, and the young hunter felt that the eyes had <i>shined</i> +his bosom as fatally as his rifle shot had ever the innocent deer of +the thickets. She too, when she saw the light, open, bold forehead, +the clear, keen, yet gentle and affectionate eye, the firm front, +and the visible impress of decision and fearlessness of the hunter—when +she interpreted a look which said as distinctly as looks could +say it, ‘how terrible it would have been to have fired!’ can hardly +be supposed to have regarded him with indifference. Nor can it be +wondered at that she saw in him her beau ideal of excellence and +beauty. The inhabitants of cities, who live in mansions, and read +novels stored with unreal pictures of life and the heart, are apt to +imagine that love, with all its golden illusions, is reserved exclusively +for them. It is a most egregious mistake. A model of ideal beauty +and perfection is woven in almost every youthful heart, of the +brightest and most brilliant threads that compose the web of existence. +It may not be said that this forest maiden was deeply and +foolishly smitten at first sight. All reasonable time and space were +granted to the claims of maidenly modesty. As for Boone, he was +remarkable for the backwoods attribute of never being beaten out +of his track, and he ceased not to woo, until he gained the heart of Rebecca +Bryan. In a word, he courted her successfully, and they were +married.”</p> + +<p>Boone’s first step after his marriage was to find a suitable place +where he might cultivate his farm, and hunt to the greatest advantage. +His wife remained at home, while he went to explore the +unsettled regions of North Carolina. When he had selected a +locality near the head waters of the Yadkin, Rebecca, with the same +resolute spirit of enterprise which afterwards led her to the wilds of +Kentucky, bade farewell to her friends, and followed her adventurous +husband. In a few months her home had assumed a pleasant +aspect; a neat cabin stood on a pleasant eminence near the river,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</span> +surrounded by an enclosed field; the farm was well stocked and +with the abundance of game in the woods, the settlers had no lack +of means for comfort and enjoyment. The rude dwelling frequently +offered the traveller shelter; and by a cheerful fire and table loaded +with the finest game, with the enhancing blessing of a hospitable +welcome, was many a tale of adventure narrated, while as yet the +surrounding forest was untouched by an axe. For some years the +young couple lived in this sylvan retirement, till the fields of other +emigrants opened wide clearings, and dwellings rose so thickly in the +neighborhood as to form villages; when Boone made up his mind +to remove to some wilder spot.</p> + +<p>The country west of the Cumberland Mountains was almost +unknown in 1760. Some few hardy adventurers had struck into +the pathless forests which extended along the frontier settlements, +but the Alleghanies had proved an insurmountable barrier to the +families of settlers. The stories told by adventurers, meanwhile, +who had ventured into the skirts of the wilderness, kindled the +imagination of enterprising hunters. In 1767, Finley went still +further, and penetrated through a portion of Tennessee. “There is +nothing,” says the biographer of Boone, “grand or imposing in +scenery, nothing striking or picturesque in the ascent and precipitous +declivity of mountains covered with woods; nothing romantic +or delightful in deep and sheltered valleys through which wind +clear streams—that was not found in this region. Mountains +stretch along in continuous ridges, and now and then shoot up into +elevated peaks. On the summit of some spread plateaus, which +afford the most romantic prospects, and offer every advantage for +cultivation, with the purest and most bracing atmosphere. No +words can picture the secluded beauty of some of the vales bordering +the small streams, which fling their spray, transparent as air, over +moss-covered and time-worn rocks, walled in by precipitous mountains, +down which pour numerous waterfalls.”</p> + +<p>The rich soil and inviting aspect of this country gave large ideas +of its advantages; and as the wanderer penetrated into Kentucky, +the luxuriant beauty of its plains, its rich cane-brakes and flower-covered<span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</span> +forests promised everything desirable in a new home. The +forest abounded with deer, elk, and buffaloes, and more savage wild +beasts had their lair in its depths and in the thick tangles of the +green cane; while pheasants, partridges, wild turkeys, &c., were as +plenty as domestic fowls upon a farm. The report of Finley determined +Boone to go westward, and others having been induced to +join him in an exploring expedition, six assembled at his house on +the first of May, 1769—all the neighbors being gathered to witness +their departure. Mrs. Boone parted with her husband, who left his +house laden with his rifle, hunter’s bag of ammunition, and light knapsack—the +only luggage taken by the adventurers. Their expedition +across the Alleghanies into the boundless forests of the Ohio valley, +where the buffalo roamed like herds of cattle, has been elsewhere +described. The land appeared the very paradise of hunters, and +Boone could not imagine how any one who could fix his home in +such a region, would stay among the barren pine-hills of North +Carolina. The exploring party divided, to take different routes, and +Boone and Stewart were taken prisoners by wandering Indians.</p> + +<p>They managed, however, to escape, and Boone joined his elder +brother, while Stewart and another of their number were killed. +The brothers were soon in want of ammunition, and the elder +Boone returned to North Carolina, while Daniel, regardless of +danger, remained alone in the rough cabin he had built, from the +first of May to the 27th of July, 1770, at which time his brother +came back with cheering news from his family. Having finished +their survey, both returned to report to their neighbors what they +had seen, and form a company of such persons as were willing to +join the families of the Boones in their pioneer settlement. Their +descriptions of the luxuriance of the country—its cane-brakes, clover +plains, limestone springs, maple orchards, streams and forests filled +with game and wild-fowl, were matched by fearful accounts from +others of the depredations and cruelties of Indians, dangers of wild +beasts, and diseases peculiar to a wild country; so that it was two +years before preparations were completed for the expedition. The +party commenced the march the 26th September, 1773, and were<span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</span> +joined by forty persons in “Powell’s valley,” a settlement some +distance westward; numbering about eighty in all. They crossed +the wild and rugged range of mountains by the course the brothers +had traced on their return, but they were not destined to proceed +much further. As they descended the west side of Walden’s ridge, +along a narrow defile, they were suddenly startled by the yells of +Indians, and a fierce affray ensued, in which six men were killed, +and some of the stock scattered and lost. In the general distress, +the company decided unanimously on giving up the attempt to form +a settlement in Kentucky, and returning to Clinch River, forty +miles in the rear, where a number of families had already located +themselves. It may be supposed that Mrs. Boone, whose eldest son +had been slain in the encounter, had lost all spirit for the enterprise, +and her husband was obliged to submit to the decision of the rest. +Their new home, accordingly, was for some time on the banks of +Clinch River. In June, 1774, Boone was required by Governor +Dunmore of Virginia, to conduct a party of surveyors to the falls of +Ohio. In 1775, he superintended the erection of a fort on the +Kentucky River, afterwards called Boonesborough. The fort consisted +of one block-house and several cabins, surrounded by palisades. +This work was accomplished amidst troubles from the Indians, and +when it was finished Boone returned for his family. They took up +their abode at the earliest military station—except the house built by +Harrod in 1774 in Kentucky—Mrs. Boone and her daughters being +the first white women who had ever stood on the banks of Kentucky +river.</p> + +<p>It was the close of summer, and at this time the spot selected for +their residence appeared in its best aspect. The early autumn was +mild and beautiful, and arrangements were made for the cultivation +of the land as soon as spring should open. Winter came, and +passed with little discomfort. Their cabins were thoroughly daubed +with clay; they had abundance of fuel, and were at no loss for +game and provisions. Those who went out to fell trees, however, +were constrained to be on their guard against attacks from Indians, +who might aim at them from some covert in the woods, and the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</span> +men never left home without carrying their rifles and knives. The +women occasionally ventured a short distance without the palisades +in the day-time, but never out of sight of the fort.</p> + +<p>The months thus passed without monotony or want of excitement; +spring opened, the trees to be felled were girdled, the brush +cut down and burned, preparations made for ploughing the field, +and a garden spot marked off, which, when the virgin earth had +been thrown up, was given in charge to Mrs. Boone and her +daughters. They had brought out a stock of seeds from the old +settlements, and went out every bright day to plant them. The +little party of women was reinforced, among others, by the daughters +of Col. Calloway, a friend of Boone, who had brought his +family to the station. Their fondness for possessing themselves of +the spoils of the forest, led to a romantic instance of the peril of the +times.</p> + +<p>A little daughter of Boone, with Calloway’s two, was captured +by Indians the 7th of July. Flint says they were gathering flowers +in the woods when the savages rushed upon them; and that they +were not missed till some time after they had been carried off. I +copy the account given of the pursuit of Boone, and the recovery of +the captives, by Col. Floyd, an actor in the scene—in preference +to other narratives. He says the girls were taken out of a canoe in +the river, within sight of Boonesborough. “The affair happened +late in the afternoon, and the spoilers left the canoe on the opposite +side of the river from us, which prevented our getting over for some +time to pursue them. Next morning by daylight we were on the +track, but found they had totally prevented our following them by +walking some distance apart, through the thickest cane they could +find. We observed their course, and on which side we had left +their sign, and travelled upwards of thirty miles. We then imagined +that they would be less cautious in travelling, made a turn in order +to cross their trace, and had not gone but a few miles before we +found their tracks in a buffalo path; pursued and overtook them on +going about ten miles, just as they were kindling a fire to cook. +Our study had been more to get the prisoners without giving the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</span> +Indians time to murder them after they discovered us, than to kill +the savages. We discovered each other nearly at the same time. +Four of us fired, and all rushed on them, which prevented their carrying +anything away, except one shot gun without ammunition. +Mr. Boone and myself had a pretty fair shot just as they began to +move off. I am well convinced I shot one through, and the one he +shot dropped his gun; mine had none. The place was very thick +with cane, and being so much elated on recovering the three little +broken-hearted girls, prevented our making any further search. We +sent them off without their moccasins, and not one of them so much +as a knife or a tomahawk.”<a id="FNanchor_6" href="#Footnote_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a></p> + +<p>With the commencement of the war of the Revolution, the +ravages of Indian warfare along the whole line of border settlements +became more extensive and violent; British influence and +resources securing the savages as their allies along the frontier, from +the north-eastern part of Vermont and New York to the Mississippi. +The story of Boone’s life is interwoven with the scenes of plunder, +captivity, burning and massacre, which swept and in many instances +desolated the infant colonies of the north and west. Yet new emigrants +came, many of them of respectable standing, and some noted +in the history of the time. Mrs. McGary, Mrs. Hogan, and Mrs. +Denton, had taken up their residence in the fort at Boonesborough. +At the same time hordes of savages crossed the Ohio with the design +of extirpating these germs of social establishments in the Indian’s +favorite hunting-ground, and in numerous detachments spread in +every direction through the forest.</p> + +<p>But the increase of danger did not drive back the pioneers, or +prevent still further reinforcements. Those who first ventured into +Kentucky and Tennessee, had come in small parties, but on their +return to the old settlements they gathered companies of their friends +and connections, old and young, with their wives and children, +flocks and herds, resolved on emigration, and pledged by mutual<span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</span> +necessity to stand by each other in life and death. There was +among them none of the jealousy and want of unity which prevail, +more or less, among their descendants; yet were not these primitive +hunters assimilated to savages in their habits, but possessing +keen and strong intellects as well as powerful frames, and every +qualification for social life. The first care on reaching their destination +was to select a spot for the new dwelling, usually chosen on +a gently elevated ground of exuberant fertility, where trees were +sparse, and there was no underbrush to prevent the hunter’s riding +at full speed. The growth of cane, wild clover, and <i>pawpaw</i> +marked the best soil. Cabins being put up for immediate use, the +little settlement was converted into a station. For this purpose it +was necessary to enclose a spring or well, near a salt lick or sugar +orchard if practicable; then a wide space must be cleared, so that +the enemy could not approach close under the shelter of the woods. +The station was to overlook, moreover, as much of the country as +possible. It included from half an acre to an acre of ground, and +the trench was usually dug four or five feet deep and planted with +large and close pickets, forming a compact wall ten or twelve feet +above the surface of the earth. The pickets were of hard timber +and about a foot in diameter, and the soil around them was rammed +into great solidity. At the angles were small projecting squares +called <i>flunkers</i>, with oblique port-holes, from which the fire of sentinels +within could rake the external front of the station; and in +front and rear two folding gates swung on enormous wooden hinges. +The gates were barred every night, and sentinels posted alternately, +one being stationed on the roof in time of peculiar danger. These +fortified places in the wilderness had their clean turfed area for +dancing, wrestling, or other athletic exercises; the inmates of the +fort passed their evenings sociably together, cheerful fires blazing +within the enclosure, and suppers of venison and wild turkeys, +wild fruits and maple beer were enjoyed with double relish amid +the distant howling of wolves, or the Indian warwhoop, heard like +the roar of the dying storm. Such was Bryants station in 1782, +the nucleus of the earliest settlements in the rich and lovely country<span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</span> +of which Lexington is the centre—and such were others built at +that period.</p> + +<p>The captivity of Boone, his escape and return to Boonesborough, +and the Indian siege of that station in 1778—the last it sustained—belong +to the biography of the renowned woodsman, not to this +memoir. When during a long interval no information concerning +Boone could be obtained, he was supposed by the people at the +garrison and his family to have fallen a victim to savage vengeance. +Mrs. Boone, believing herself widowed, at length resolved, with her +children, to leave the western forests, and return to the banks of the +Yadkin. Kentucky, she said, had indeed been to her a “dark and +bloody ground.” The family returned to their friends in North +Carolina, nearly five years having elapsed since they had started +with the first party of emigrants for Kentucky. The friends from +whom she then parted had heard afterwards of their disastrous +encounter with the Indians, their return to Clinch River, and subsequent +residence at Boonesborough; but knew nothing of their further +trials. When about the close of the summer of 1778, these pilgrims +returning from the western wilds were seen approaching on +pack-horses, the sight caused no little surprise and wonder among +the dwellers on the banks of the Yadkin. The mother wore deep +mourning, and her dejected countenance showed the grief that had +worn her strong spirit; the same melancholy was evident in the +faces of her eldest surviving son, and the daughter who had been +captured; the other children being too young to feel trial or change. +The travellers were clad in skins, and the primitive habiliments of +the wilderness, and as the cavalcade stopped at Mr. Bryan’s house, +the neighbors collected to learn what had happened, and listen with +deep interest to Mrs. Boone’s relation of her adventures and +sorrows.</p> + +<p>After having driven the enemy from Boonesborough, Col. +Boone set out to cross the Alleghanies in pursuit of his wife and +children; surmounting with iron strength of endurance the difficulties +of the way. It may be imagined how joyfully his return was +hailed by those who had so long believed him dead. They returned<span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</span> +in the following summer to Boonesborough, which enjoyed tranquillity +as the country became more thickly settled. Many incidents +of interest after this re-union, in which Boone was prominent, are recorded +in the history of Kentucky, but do not pertain to this sketch. +One connected with another pioneer, may be mentioned as illustrative.</p> + +<p>Benjamin Logan, who had brought his family from the Holston +to Logan’s Fort, in March, 1776, was obliged afterwards to +remove them for safety to Harrodsburgh. Before the attack on +Harrodsburgh in the winter of 1777, he returned with six families +to the cabins he had built, and commenced palisading the station. +“On the 20th of May, while the females of the establishment were +milking their cows, sustained by a guard of their husbands and +fathers, the whole party was suddenly assailed by a large body of +Indians, concealed in a canebrake. One man was killed and two +wounded, one mortally, the other severely. The remainder reached +the interior of the palisades in safety. The number in all was thirty, +half of whom were women and children. A circumstance was now +discovered exceedingly trying to such a benevolent spirit as that of +Logan. While the Indians were still firing, and the inmates exulting +in their safety while others mourned over their dead and wounded, +it was perceived that one of the wounded, by the name of Harrison, +was still alive, and exposed every moment to be scalped. All this +his wife and family could discover from within. It is not difficult to +imagine their agonized condition and piercing lamentations. Logan +displayed on this occasion the same tender compassion and insensibility +to danger, that characterised his friend Boone in similar +circumstances. He endeavored to rally a few of the male inmates +of the place to join him, rush out, and bring the wounded man within +the palisades. But so obvious was the danger, so forlorn appeared +the enterprise, that no one could be found disposed to volunteer his +aid, except a single individual by the name of John Martin. When +he had reached the gate, the wounded man raised himself partly +erect and made a movement as if trying to reach the fort himself. +On this Martin desisted from the enterprise and left Logan to attempt +it alone. He rushed forward to the wounded man, who made<span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</span> +some effort to crawl onward by his aid; but weakened by the loss of +blood, and the anguish of his wounds, he fainted, and Logan taking +him in his arms, bore him towards the fort. A shower of bullets was +discharged at them, many of which struck the palisades close to +Logan’s head, as he brought the wounded man safe within the gate, +and deposited him in the care of his family.</p> + +<p>“The station, at this juncture, was destitute both of powder and +ball, and there was no chance of supplies nearer than Holston; all +intercourse between station and station was cut off. Without ammunition +the fort could not be defended against the Indians, and the +question was how to obtain a supply in this pressing emergency. +Capt. Logan, selecting two trusty companions, left the fort by night, +evading the besieging Indians, reached the woods, made his way +in safety to Holston, procured the necessary supplies of ammunition, +and packed it under their care on horseback, giving them directions +how to proceed. He then left them, and traversing the forest by a +shorter route on foot, reached the fort in safety ten days after his +departure. The Indians still kept up the siege with unabated perseverance, +and the hopes of the diminished garrison had given way +to despondency. The return of Logan inspired them however with +renewed confidence.”</p> + +<p>We select another narrative in detail, to convey an idea of Indian +hostility on the one hand, and the manner in which it was met on the +other. “A family lived on Cooper’s run, in Bourbon county, consisting +of a mother, two sons of mature age, a widowed daughter +with an infant in her arms, two grown daughters, and a daughter +ten years old. The house was a double cabin. The two grown +daughters and the smaller girl were in one division, and the rest of +the family in the other. At night a knocking was heard at the +door of the latter division, asking in good English and the customary +Western phrase: ‘Who keeps house?’ As the sons went to open +the door, the mother forbade them, affirming that the persons claiming +admission were Indians. The young men sprang to their guns; +and the Indians finding themselves refused admittance at the door, +made an effort at the opposite one. That door they soon beat open<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</span> +with a rail, and endeavored to take the three girls prisoners. The +little girl sprang away, and might have escaped in the darkness and +the woods, but the foolish child under a natural impulse ran to the +other door and cried for help. The brothers within it may be supposed +would wish to go forth and protect the feeble and terrified +wailer. The mother taking a broader view of duty, forbade them. +The savages soon hushed the cries of the distressed child by the +merciless tomahawk. While some of the Indians were engaged in +murdering this child, another was binding one of the grown girls +whom he had captured, the other young woman defending herself +with a knife which she had been using at a loom at the moment of +attack. The intrepidity she displayed was unavailing. She killed +one Indian and was herself dispatched by another. The savages +meanwhile having obtained possession of one half the house, fired it. +The persons shut up in the other half had now no other alternative +than to be consumed in the flames rapidly spreading towards them, +or to go forth and expose themselves to the murderous tomahawks +that had already laid three of the family in their blood. The Indians +stationed themselves in the dark angles of the fence, where, by the +bright glare of the flames, they could see everything, and yet remain +themselves unseen. Here they could make a sure mark of all that +should escape from within. One of the sons took charge of his aged +and infirm mother, and the other of his widowed sister and her +infant. The brothers emerged from the burning ruins, separated and +endeavored to spring over the fence. The mother was shot dead +as her son was piously helping her over, the other brother being +killed as he was gallantly defending his sister. The widowed sister, +her infant and one of the brothers escaped the massacre and alarmed +the settlement. Thirty men, commanded by Col. Edwards, arrived +next day to witness the appalling spectacle presented around the +smoking ruins of this cabin. Considerable snow had fallen, and the +Indians were obliged to leave a trail which easily indicated their path. +In the evening of that day, they came upon the expiring body of the +young woman, apparently murdered but a few moments before their +arrival; the Indians having been premonished of their pursuit by<span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</span> +the barking of a dog that followed them. The white men overtook +and killed two of the savages that had strayed behind, apparently as +voluntary victims to secure the retreat of the rest.”</p> + +<p>After numerous perils and escapes, and great services to the country, +Boone had the privilege of rejoicing in the peace that followed +the defeat of the northern tribes of Indians by General Wayne. +His perseverance had triumphed over all obstacles, and the kindred +spirit of his wife had aided and encouraged him in his various adventures, +whether descending the Alleghanies, tracing the course of +the Cumberland and Tennessee, roaming through the forests of +Kentucky, wandering a captive through the wilderness to the great +lakes, or following the waters of the Wabash, Miamis, and Scioto. +When the tide of emigration had poured into the country, and disputes +and litigation arose as to the ownership of land, the band of +primitive pioneers was dispersed, and Boone moved his family to the +woods on the banks of the Great Kanawha, having heard that deer +and buffaloes were to be found on the unsettled lands near that +river. Their home was for some years near Point Pleasant; but +game was not so abundant as could be desired, and the report of +adventurers returned from the vast prairies and unexplored forests +of the Missouri, determined Boone once more to flee from the +encroaching advance of civilization. Taking up his rifle and light +luggage, he set out with the faithful companion of his wanderings +and their children, driving their stock before them, and passed +through Cincinnati in 1798. They settled in St. Charles County, +about forty miles above St. Louis. After Missouri had come under +the government of the United States, the tide of emigration and +enterprise again swept by the dwelling of our pioneers, driving off +the game, and changing the hunting grounds into farms. A follower +too, even more sure to overtake them, came on apace; old age +with its consequent infirmities. Mrs. Boone died in March 1813. +A most faithful and efficient helpmeet had she proved to the pioneer, +possessing the same energy, heroism, and firmness which he had +shown in all the vicissitudes of his eventful career, with the gentler +qualities by which woman, as the centre of the domestic system,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</span> +diffuses happiness and trains her children to become useful and honored +in after life. Having shared willingly in the hardships, labors +and dangers of those adventurers whose names live in grateful remembrance, +she is entitled to some portion of the renown that has +embalmed them.</p> + +<p>An anecdote or two illustrative of the insecurity of families in +those days, and of the horrors undescribed in most cases, may not +be inappropriate before closing this memoir. In the spring of 1780, +Alexander McConnel, who lived at Lexington, then a small cluster +of cabins, having killed a buck in the woods, went home for a horse, +and returning, was seized and carried off by five Indians. After +several days’ travel, when they reached the banks of the Ohio, they +omitted the precaution of binding him closely one night, merely +tying the buffalo tug around his wrists, and fastening it to their +bodies; and he resolved on making his escape. About midnight, +casting his eyes in the direction of his feet, they fell on the glittering +blade of a knife which had escaped its sheath, and was lying near +the feet of one of the Indians. He could not reach it with his +hands, but with some difficulty grasped the blade between his toes, +and drew it within reach. He then cut his cords, and silently extricated +himself from his captors; but he knew it would be necessary +to kill them, to avoid pursuit and certain death. After anxious +reflection, his plan was formed, and carefully removing the guns of +the Indians, which were stacked near the fire, and hiding them in +the woods, he took two, and returning to the spot where his enemies +were still sleeping, he placed the muzzles of each on a log +within six feet of his victims, and pulled both triggers. Both shots +were fatal; he then ran to secure one of the other rifles, and fired +at two of the savages, standing in a line, killing one and wounding +the other, who limped off into the forest. The fifth darted off like +a deer, with a yell of astonishment and terror. McConnel not +wishing to fight any more such battles, selected his own rifle from +the stack, and made the best of his way to Lexington. A Mrs. +Dunlap, who had been several months a prisoner among the Indians +on Mad River, soon afterwards came to the same place, having<span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</span> +made her escape, and reported that the survivor had returned to +his tribe with a lamentable tale of an attack by a large party of +white men, who had killed the poor bound prisoners, as well as his +companions!<a id="FNanchor_7" href="#Footnote_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a></p> + +<p>An adventure of a different kind befel McKinley, a school teacher, +in the following year. While sitting alone at his desk, he heard a +slight noise at the door, and saw an enormous wild cat. He rose to +snatch up a cylindrical rule to defend himself, but the creature +darted upon him, tore his clothes from his side, and buried her claws +and teeth in his flesh. He threw himself on the edge of the table, +and pressed the assailant against its sharp corner with all his force. +Her cries, mingled with his own, now alarmed the neighbors, and +after a few moments the dead animal was disengaged from her prey, +though her tusks were dislodged with some difficulty from between +his ribs.</p> + +<p>In the beginning of 1794, a party of Indians killed George Mason, +on Flat Creek, twelve miles from Knoxville. In the night he heard a +noise in his stable, and stepped out; was intercepted before he could +return, by the savages, and fled, but was fired upon and wounded. +He reached a cave, from which he was dragged out and murdered, and +the Indians returned to the house to despatch his wife and children. +Mrs. Mason heard them talking as they approached, and hoped her +neighbors, aroused by the firing, had come to her assistance. But +perceiving that the conversation was neither in English nor German, +she knew they were enemies. She had that very morning learned +how to set the double trigger of a rifle. Fortunately the children +were not awakened, and she took care not to disturb them. She +had shut the door, barred it with benches and tables, and taking +down her husband’s well charged rifle, placed herself directly opposite +the opening which would be made by forcing the door. Her +husband came not, and she was but too well convinced he had +been slain. She was alone in darkness, and the yelling savages +were pressing on the house. Pushing with great violence, they +gradually opened the door wide enough to attempt an entrance, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</span> +the body of one was thrust into the opening and filled it, two or +three more urging him forward. Mrs. Mason set the trigger of the +rifle, put the muzzle near the body of the foremost, and fired. The +first Indian fell; the next uttered the scream of mortal agony. The +intrepid woman observed profound silence, and the savages were led +to believe that armed men were in the house. They withdrew, +took three horses from the stable, and set it on fire. It was afterwards +ascertained that this high-minded woman had saved herself +and children from the attack of twenty-five assailants.</p> + +<p>The opportunity seems favorable to notice the spirit and manners +of those primitive times of Kentucky history. After the period of +the attack on Bryant’s Station, and the disastrous battle of the Blue +Licks, which took place on the 18th of August, 1782, notwithstanding +the dangers which surrounded the settlements, they began to +have more of the aspect of communities. The proportion of women, +which had hitherto been so small, became larger, and a license to +marry is said to have been the first process issued by the clerks of +the new counties. The first settlers having generally been composed +of those who had braved the perils of settling the frontiers of the +adjacent states, their helpmates were accustomed to labor and hardship. +The duties of the household were discharged by the females.</p> + +<p>“They milked the cows, prepared the meats, spun and wove the +garments of their husbands and children; while the men hunted +the game of the woods, cleared the land, and planted the grain. +To grind the Indian corn into meal on the rude and laborious hand-mill, +or to pound it into hominy in a mortar, was occasionally the +work of either sex. The defence of the country, the building of +forts and cabins, fell most properly to the share of the men; though +in those hardy times, it was not at all uncommon for females, during +a siege, to run bullets and neck them for the rifle. Deer skins were +extensively used for dress, to compose the hunting shirt, the long +overalls, the leggins, and the soft and pliable moccasins; the buffalo +and bear furnished the principal covering for the night. Handkerchiefs +tied round the head, often supplied the place of hats; strips +of buffalo hide were used for ropes. Stores or shops were unknown;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</span> +wooden vessels either prepared by the <i>turner</i>, the <i>cooper</i>, or their +rude representatives in the woods, were the common substitutes for +table furniture. A tin cup was an article of delicate luxury almost +as rare as an iron fork. Every hunter carried a knife, too aptly +called a <i>scalping knife</i>, in the hands of the white man as well as +in those of the Indian; and one or two knives would compose the +cutlery of families. The furniture of the cabin was appropriate to +the habitation; the table was made of a slab, or thick, flat piece of +timber, split and roughly hewn with the axe, with legs prepared in +the same manner. This latter instrument was the principal tool in +all mechanical operations, and with the adze, the auger, and above +all, the <i>rifle</i>, composed the richest mechanical assortment of Kentucky. +Stools of the same material and manufacture, filled the +place of chairs. When some one more curiously nice than his +neighbors, chose to elevate his bed above the floor (often the naked +ground), it was placed on slabs laid across poles which were again +supported by forks driven into the floor. If, however, the floor +happened to be so luxurious as to be made of puncheons (another +larger sort of slabs), the bedstead became hewed pieces, let into the +sides of the cabin by auger holes in the logs. The cradle of these +times was a small rolling trough, much like what is called the sugar +trough, used to receive the sap of the sugar maple. Still the food +in these rude habitations, and with this rough and inartificial furniture, +was the richest milk and finest butter furnished by the luxuriant +pasture of the woods, covered with the rich pea vine and the +luscious cane. The game of the country, it has been already seen, +struck the experienced eye of even Boone as profuse beyond measure; +it was the theme of admiration to every hunter; nor did the +abundance afford slight assistance to the whites in their conquest of +the land. The enemy would never have permitted provisions to +have been transported, or to have grown by the slow and peaceable +processes of farming; and the consequence must have been that +the stations would have been starved into surrender, but for the providential +supply of the deer, the buffalo, and the bear. These were +to be obtained by every gallant rifleman; and this so abundantly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</span> +that the buffalo has often been shot in order to enjoy either its +hump or its tongue. The hospitality of these times was much less +a merit than an enjoyment; often a protection to both parties. +The fare was rough, but heartily and generously divided with every +fellow-woodsman.”<a id="FNanchor_8" href="#Footnote_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></p> + +<p>Generosity, hardihood, bravery, and endurance of suffering, were +prominent and undeniable features in the character of these first +settlers. But the female sex, though certainly an object of more +regard than among the Indians, had to endure much hardship, and +occupy a rank inferior to the male partner, among the <i>earliest</i> emigrants, +the state of society exercising high physical qualities +rather than mental or artificial endowments.</p> + +<p class="gtb">******</p> + +<p id="c4"><span class="smcap large">Anna Innis</span>, widow of Hon. Henry Innis, and mother of Mrs. +J. J. Crittenden, died at Cedar Hill, near Frankfort, Kentucky, May +12th, 1851. This lady was one of the pioneers of Kentucky, and has +been the pride of her State and an ornament to the country. Her +early days were spent in the wilderness, and yet in the society of +such men as Clarke, Wayne, Shelby, Scott, Boone, Henderson, +Logan, Hart, Nicholas, Murray, Allen, Breckenridge, and all the +great and heroic spirits of the West. She saw Washington as he +led his broken army through the Jerseys, and as he returned in +triumph from Yorktown. Of this remarkable woman the <i>Frankfort +Commonwealth</i> says:</p> + +<p>“Her tenacious memory retained all she had seen, and she became +the chronicler of her own times, and interwove her narrative +with traditions of the past. Providence had been kind in all his +dealings with her. He had blest her with a strong mind and constitution, +and with great cheerfulness and courage. He had blessed +her in her ‘basket and her store.’ He had blessed her in her children, +and at last when the message came, having borne all the trials +of a long and eventful life with heroic firmness, she died in the full +communion and fellowship of the Presbyterian Church, of which +she had been long an exemplary member.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</span></p> + +<p>Another of the eminent daughters of Kentucky was the mother +of Gen. Leslie Combs, whose maiden name was Sarah Richardson. +She was of a respectable Quaker family of Maryland, connected by +blood with the Thomases and Snowdens. Leslie, the youngest of +twelve children, was just eighteen when he started as a volunteer to +join the Kentucky troops ordered to the northern frontier, under +Gen. Winchester, in 1812. Two of his elder brothers had +previously entered the service, and with earnest entreaties he +prevailed on his parents to let him go, setting forward alone a few +weeks after the army had marched. “I shall never forget,” were +his words in after years, “the parting scene with my beloved and +venerated mother, in which she reminded me of my father’s history, +and her own trials and dangers in the early settlement of Kentucky, +and closed by saying to me ‘as I had resolved to become a soldier, +I must never disgrace my parents by running from danger; but die +rather than fail to do my duty.’ This injunction was ever present +to me afterwards in the midst of dangers and difficulties of which I +had then formed no idea, and stimulated me to deeds I might +otherwise, perhaps, have hesitated to undertake or perform.”</p> + +<p>The residence of Mrs. Combs, after her removal from the picketed +station where she first lived in Kentucky, was on a farm about six +miles from Boonesborough. The family suffered much from the +depredations of the Indians who then infested the country from the +Ohio to the Tennessee. Mrs. Combs’ riding horse was shot down +under her eldest son while he and his father were on a trapping +excursion within two or three miles of home. They did not return +as soon as expected, and the mother was left alone in the cabin with +two or three little children, a prey to the most agonizing apprehensions. +It was through her industry and energy that her children +were enabled to obtain a better education than was usual in the +country in those days. This fact is mentioned in the inscription on +her tombstone, which stands on the farm where they lived and died, +alongside of that inscribed with the name of her husband, recorded +as “a Revolutionary officer and a Hunter of Kentucky.”</p> + + + +<p class="c"><span class="smcap large">Note.</span>—See page <a href="#Page_428">428.</a></p> + +<hr class="full"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="c5">IV.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="c sp lsp">CHARLOTTE ROBERTSON.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap large">Charlotte Reeves</span> was the second daughter of George Reeves and +Mary Jordan, and was born in Northampton County, N. C., in January +1751. Her parents were poor in worldly possessions, and were +able to give their children only a limited education; but they trained +them to labor and habits of systematic industry, and in those strict +principles which guided and preserved their parents through life, +and made their example useful. Soon after the marriage of Charlotte +with James Robertson, the young couple crossed the mountains +and fixed their abode in one of the new settlements on the Watauga +or Holston River.</p> + +<p>In 1779, Robertson went with some others to explore the +Cumberland Valley, leaving his family behind. They explored +the country to the neighborhood of the spot where Nashville +now stands, planted there a field of corn, and leaving three of the +party to keep the buffaloes out of the corn, returned to East +Tennessee for their families. The fame of the fertile Cumberland +lands, the salubrity of the air, the excellence of the water, and the +abundance of game of all sorts, was soon diffused through all the +frontier settlements, and many took the resolution of emigrating +to this land of plenty. Companies came and built cabins and block +houses and in the latter part of February or first of March 1780,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</span> +Mrs. Robertson left her home at the mouth of Big Creek on the +Holston, for the purpose of joining her husband. Her party consisted +of herself and four small children, her brother William +Reeves, Charles Robertson her husband’s brother, her sister-in-law, +and three little nieces, with two white men servants, a negro woman +and her infant. These voyagers were conveyed in two of the small +and frail flat-boats appointed to convey the families of emigrants to +their new homes in the wilderness. Capt. James Robertson was to +head the party travelling by land through Kentucky to the same +point of destination, and driving the cattle belonging to the little +colony; and had left home some weeks previously, with his eldest +son, fourteen years of age. Those who went by water descended +the north fork of the Holston, and proceeded down Tennessee +River. The various difficulties they encountered, the perils and +fatigues of this tedious and dangerous trip, were more numerous +that it is now possible to detail. At the mouth of Duck River they +expected to land and make their way through the wilderness to the +“Cumberland County,” but the guides failing to meet them, they +continued their voyage to the mouth of the Tennessee. At this +point their difficulties were fearfully increased. The ice was just +broken up in the Ohio, the water was rising, and the aspect of things +appeared so discouraging to their pilot that he abandoned the enterprise +in despair, and left the company to make their way in the best +manner possible up the river, having to ascend against a rapid current, +with clumsy and scarcely manageable boats, some two hundred +miles. The emigrants were worn out and disheartened with the +toil of the voyage already accomplished, the men were strangers to +the navigation of the Ohio, which flowed for the most part +through an unbroken forest, infested on either side with wild +beasts and more merciless Indians; their lives seemed endangered +at every step, and so dreary was the prospect, that about +one half the company decided against pursuing the enterprise, +bade adieu to their companions, and shoving their boats into +the smooth current of the Ohio, sought homes for their families in +Natchez. The others turned their bows up the river. Of Mrs.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</span> +Robertson’s party only two men were left, her brother and brother-in-law. +They lashed the two boats together; Mrs. Johnson, the +widowed sister of Capt. Robertson, undertook to serve as pilot, and +managed the steering oar, while Mrs. Robertson and Hagar, the +African woman, worked at the side oars alternately with Reeves and +Robertson. By this tedious and laborious progress, they made their +way up the Ohio to the mouth of the Cumberland, and up the +Cumberland to the point of destination, landing in the beginning of +April at the site of Nashville.</p> + +<p>Haywood, in his history of Tennessee, describes the voyage made +by “The Adventure” and other boats, which, leaving the fort on the +Holston the 22d of December, 1779, did not reach the “Big Salt +Lick” till the latter part of April. An extract may give an idea of +the perils of the expedition. In passing Indian villages on the +Tennessee, the voyagers had been accosted by many of the savages +with professions of friendship, designed to cover a hostile purpose.</p> + +<p>“In a short time the crew came in sight of another town, situated +on the north side of the river, nearly opposite a small island. Here +also the Indians invited those on board to come on shore, calling +them brothers, and seeing the boats standing to the opposite side, +told the passengers that their side was the best for the boats to pass +the island on. A young man on board the boat of Capt. John +Blackmore, approaching too near the shore, was shot in the boat +from the shore. Mr. Stewart had set off in a boat on board which +were blacks and whites to the number of twenty-eight. His family +being diseased with the small pox, it was agreed that he should +keep at some distance in the rear. He was to be informed each +night where the others lay by the sound of a horn. The foremost +boats having passed the town, the Indians collected in considerable +numbers. Seeing him far behind, they intercepted him in their +canoes, and killed and made prisoners the whole crew. The crews +of the other boats were not able to relieve him, being alarmed for +their own safety, for they perceived large bodies of Indians marching +on foot down the river, keeping pace with the boats, till the +Cumberland mountain covered them from view. The boats were<span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</span> +now arrived at the place called the Whirl or Suck, where the river +is compressed into less than half its common width, by the Cumberland +mountain jutting into it on both sides. In passing through +the upper part of these narrows, at a place termed the Boiling Pot, +a man of the name of John Cotton was descending the river in a +canoe with a small family, and had attached it to Robert Cartwright’s +boat, into which he and his family had entered for safety. +The canoe was here overturned, and the little cargo lost. The movers +pitying his distress, concluded to land and assist him in recovering +his property. Having landed on the north shore at a level spot +they began to go towards the place where the misfortune had happened, +when the Indians, to their astonishment, appeared on the +opposite cliffs, and commenced firing down upon them. The Indians +continued their fire from heights upon the boats. In the boat of +Mr. Gower was his daughter Nancy. When the crew were thrown +into disorder and dismay, she took the helm, and steered the boat, +exposed to all the fire of the enemy. A ball passed through her +clothes, and penetrated the upper part of her thigh, going out on +the opposite side. It was not discovered that she was wounded by +any complaint she made, or a word she uttered, but after the danger +was over, her mother discovered the blood flowing through her +clothes.”</p> + +<p>Reaching the mouth of the Tennessee the 20th of March, they +parted with their companions who were discouraged from proceeding, +and the Adventure, with the boats which accompanied her, went +up the Ohio. “They made but little way on that day, and encamped +on the south bank of the Ohio, suffering on that and the +two following days much uneasiness from hunger and fatigue. On +the 24th of March, they came to the mouth of Cumberland River, +but its size was so much less than they had expected to find it, that +some would not believe it to be the Cumberland. It flowed in a +gentle current; they had heard of no river on the south side of the +Ohio, between the Tennessee and Cumberland, and they determined +to go up this as the Cumberland, and did so. On the 25th, the +river seemed to grow wider; the current was very gentle, and they<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</span> +were now convinced it was the Cumberland. The crews were now +without bread, and were obliged to hunt the buffalo, and feed on +his flesh. On the 24th of April, 1780, they came to the Big Salt +Lick, where they found Capt. James Robertson and his company, +and where they were gratified at meeting those friends whom, but a +little before, it was doubtful whether they should ever see again. +They also found a few log cabins, erected by Capt. Robertson and his +associates, on a cedar bluff, on the south side of the river, at some +distance from the Salt Spring.”</p> + +<p>For years after their removal the families of the settlement suffered +many privations, and were compelled to live most of the time +within the shelter of the forts, being subjected to ferocious attacks +by the Indians. Two of Mrs. Robertson’s sons were murdered by +the savages. It was indeed a constant scene of anxiety and danger +to the close of the Indian war in 1794, and the frequent alarms, +and incidents of persons being killed or wounded at or near the fort +occupied by our heroine, gave her full experience of all the horrors +of war. At one time she had the agony of seeing brought in from +the adjoining woods the headless body of a beloved son; and it +cannot be wondered at that she was heard to say in after life—she +would not live those years over again to be insured the possession of +the world.</p> + +<p>“In the year 1782, and for several years afterwards, the common +custom of the country was, for one or two persons to stand as watchmen +or sentinels, whilst others labored in the field; and even whilst +one went to a spring to drink, another stood on the watch with his +gun ready to give him protection by shooting a creeping Indian, or +one rising from the thicket of canes and brush, that covered him +from view; and wherever four or five were assembled together at a +spring or other place where business required them to be, they held +their guns in their hands, and with their backs turned to each other, +one faced the north, another the south, another the west, watching +in all directions for a lurking or creeping enemy. While the people +were so much harassed and galled by the Indians that they could +not plant and cultivate their corn-fields, a proposition was made in a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</span> +council of the inhabitants of the bluff, to break up the settlement +and go off. Capt. Robertson pertinaciously resisted this proposition; +it was then impossible to get to Kentucky; the Indians were in +force upon all the roads and passages which led thither; for the +same reason it was equally impracticable to remove to the settlements +on the Holston. No other means of escape remained but that +of going down the river in boats, and making good their retreat to the +Illinois; and to this plan great obstacles were opposed, for how was +the wood to be obtained with which to make the boats? The +Indians were every day in the skirts of the bluff, lying concealed +among the shrubs, privy and cedar trees, ready to inflict death upon +whoever should attempt to go to the woods to procure timber for +building a boat. These difficulties were all stated by Capt. Robertson; +he held out the dangers attendant on the attempt on the +one hand; the fine country they were about to possess themselves +of on the other; the probability of new acquisitions of numbers +from the interior settlements, and the certainty of being able, by a +careful attention to circumstances, to defend themselves till succor +could arrive. Finally, their apprehensions were quieted, and gradually +they relinquished the design of evacuating the positions they +occupied.”<a id="FNanchor_9" href="#Footnote_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a></p> + +<p>The following extract from a “Talk” from “The Glass,” a Cherokee +chief, to Gov. Blount, dated “Look-out Mountain,” Sept. 10th, +1792, may show something of the state of feeling prevalent between +the hostile parties.</p> + +<p>“Codeatoy returned here from the treaty at Nashville, and tells +us that Col. Robertson said there had been a great deal of blood +spilled in his settlement, and that he would come and sweep it clean +with our blood. This caused our young warriors to assemble together +to meet him, as he told Codeatoy that the first mischief that +should be done, he would come; and we knew of course it would +not be long before something might happen, as there are Creeks +daily going to that settlement; and as they expect to suffer for the +doings of others, they resolved they would meet him, or go to the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</span> +settlements and do mischief, as they were to be the sufferers, do it +who would. But with the assistance of Bloody Fellow, John Watts, +and some other head men, we have sent them to their different +homes, and to mind their hunting, in hopes you will not suffer any +of your people to send any more threatening talks. We took pity +upon the innocent that might suffer on both sides, which undoubtedly +would have been the case. As I have always listened to your +talks, I hope you will listen to mine, and have peace.”<a id="FNanchor_10" href="#Footnote_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a></p> + +<p>Gov. Blount writes to Gen. Robertson, March 8th, 1794:</p> + +<p>“Your letter of 6th Feb., sent express by James Russell, was +handed to me much stained with his blood by Mr. Shannon, who +accompanied him. Russell was wounded by a party of Indians who +ambuscaded him about eighteen miles from South West Point, +which he with difficulty reached, and was obliged to continue there +for several days before he could be removed. He is now in the hands +of a skilful surgeon, and it is hoped will recover. His fifty dollars +have been dearly earned; but instead of complaining, he may rejoice +that he has so often escaped.”<a id="FNanchor_11" href="#Footnote_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a></p> + +<p>In a letter from John McKee to “The Glass” and other chiefs +of the lower towns of the Cherokee nation, he speaks of an expectation +on their part that he would meet them on the middle ground +for a “ball play.” This was a national game, by which parties +sometimes decided their claims to disputed land. It was a manly +sport often witnessed by assembled thousands.</p> + +<p>The following description of the game is furnished by a gentleman +of Nashville, who has lived among the Indians.</p> + +<p>The contending parties always consist of twelve on a side—twenty-four +in all, selected from among the most athletic men in the +station. Each side is headed by one who is captain, or principal +man. The ball used on such occasions was generally made of +the common punk, obtained from the knots of trees, or some soft +dry root, and is always covered with dressed buckskin, and about +the size of a walnut. The ball is never to be touched with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</span> +the hands, but is caught, held, and thrown with a set of sticks +made expressly for the purpose. The ball stick is made of +a piece of tough wood, about six feet in length, and the thickness +of a small walking-stick, reduced one half in the middle, for about +ten inches. The piece of wood is then bent till the ends are +brought together, forming a bowl something like the bowl of a +spoon, while the two strips of wood are wrapped together from the +bowl to the ends with a leathern string, to make the handle; the +bowl being finished with buckskin strings, fastened to the wood on +all sides, and crossing each other, forming meshes like a fine seine, +and left loose so as to bag a little. The ball-stick, when finished, +was a spoon with a bowl about as large as a man’s hand, and a +handle some three feet long. Each man is furnished with two +sticks, which together would hold as much as a quart measure.</p> + +<p>The playground is generally laid off east and west, and the two +poles are placed from a quarter to half a mile from each other. +The poles are two stakes put up about twenty yards apart, and the +ball has to pass between these two stakes in order to count one in +the game. Halfway between the poles a line is drawn; those who +wish the ball to pass through the western pole, take their stand +about twenty yards east of the centre line, and those in favor of the +eastern pole take their position about the same distance on the west +of the line. While the two captains take their stand at the division +line, the ball is laid upon the ground, on the centre line. One of +the captains takes it up with his sticks, and throws it up some thirty +or forty feet; and then the game begins. The two captains, one in +favor of the western, the other of the eastern pole, as the ball +descends, contend for it, leaping as high as they can, while the +sticks rattle and crash together; should these two be of equal +strength and expertness in the game, the contention may be long +and fierce, and it sometimes so happens that they struggle until perfectly +exhausted, without the ball taking a start for either pole. At +other times the ball is caught in its descent, and hurled with great +rapidity towards one of the poles; but whatever direction it takes, it +meets the opposition of eleven persons who have taken their stand<span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</span> +in that direction, by some of whom it is sure to be caught and +hurled in a different direction. I have seen the ball hurled back +and forward in this way for minutes together. At other times I +have seen the whole twenty-four contend pell-mell together for +several seconds, while a spectator could not tell where the ball was. +Again, I have seen the whole party take a right angular direction +to the poles, in consequence of the hand being interrupted at the +moment of throwing the ball, and thus work away entirely without +the limits of the playground, until recalled by the judges.</p> + +<p>There is no time for breathing, from the moment the ball is +thrown up at the centre line, until it passes through one of the +poles, unless the judges should call them off for the purpose of +recess; and never have I seen human beings so much fatigued as at +the end of one of these strains.</p> + +<p>One thing which I have observed extremely objectionable in +these plays, is this; any one of the party is allowed to <i>double up</i> +his antagonist, notwithstanding they are not permitted to strike, +scratch, or bruise each other. The <i>doubling</i> is done in the following +manner: One will catch his antagonist, throw him upon his +back, take him by the feet, elevate them, and press his head and +shoulders upon the ground until the poor fellow is disabled in the +back. This practice results sometimes in rendering the individual +so helpless, that he has to be carried off the ground.</p> + +<p>The only clothing carried into a ball-play, is the belt, with a +piece of some kind of cloth about eighteen inches square, appended +in front; but they generally come out of these plays, as far as clothing +is concerned, about as they came into the world. There is +always the same number in reserve that are engaged in the play, so +that when one is disabled, another supplies his place, in order that +the number, twenty-four, may be kept up. There are two sets of +judges; six for and six against the western pole, take their position +there; and in like manner at the eastern pole. The ball has to +pass twelve times between the same pole, or stakes, before the game +ends.</p> + +<p>In 1794, Mrs. Robertson went on horseback into South Carolina<span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</span> +accompanied by her eldest son, to bring out her aged parents, who +had removed to that State with some of their children. They +returned to Tennessee with their daughter, who was now able to offer +them a comfortable home, and under her roof the remainder of their +days passed in peace and comfort. Both lived beyond the eightieth +year of their life, and had the passage to the grave smoothed by the +devoted attentions of an affectionate daughter, and her equally +devoted children.</p> + +<p>At the period of most imminent danger to the settlement, Mrs. +Robertson was often deprived of the support which kept the other +women from despondency. Her husband was looked upon as the +special protector of the infant colony, and had laborious duties to +perform for its security and comfort. He was obliged every year to +take the long and hazardous journey through the wilderness to +North Carolina, for the purpose of attending the sessions of the +Legislature, and using his utmost endeavors to have the aid of that +body extended to the feeble and distant settlement on the Cumberland. +This was done by Gen. Robertson for eight or ten years in +succession, and while thus absent from home a great part of his +time, he and his family were exposed to perils of various kinds, and +obliged to remain ignorant for long intervals of each other’s condition. +For fourteen years these trials, endured by Mrs. Robertson +and her family, called for their utmost fortitude and energy to bear +up under them, and under harassing anxiety for the fate of their +absent guardian, exposed unprotected to the attacks of savage +enemies.</p> + +<p>On one occasion, Gen. Robertson and his eldest son, Jonathan, +then nearly grown to manhood, went into the surrounding woods to +see after some horses that had gone astray. The General had a led +horse, and did not take his gun. They had scarcely entered the +woods when they were fired on by five or six Indians who lay in +ambush near the path. A ball passed through the young man’s +thigh and entered his horse’s side; the father also received two +balls, one fracturing the bones of his left arm just above the wrist, +the other passing through the flesh of his right arm without injuring<span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</span> +the bone. Jonathan’s horse, maddened by fright and the wound, +became unmanageable, and plunged so violently, that fearing the +animal might fall with him, and entangle him beyond escape, he +raised himself in his stirrups and leaped to the ground, alighting on +his feet. He then turned on the Indians, who rushed towards him, +and prepared to fire, while the savages ran to the shelter of trees to +protect themselves. One was behind a tree not large enough to +screen his body, and young Robertson taking aim, fired at him; +then hastened after his father, whose horse, released for the moment +from the control of the bridle by the disabling of the rider’s hands, +had dashed off furiously in a different direction from the fort. +When the General heard his son shouting to him, he checked the +animal, and the young man sprung on the back of the led horse, +which had followed close on the heels of the other. The whole +scene occurred within the hearing of the inmates of the fort, and as +the fugitives were compelled to take a circuitous route to reach a +place of safety, it may be imagined what were the feelings of the +wife and mother during a prolonged period of fearful suspense, +when the probabilities that her husband and son were murdered or +captive, increased with every passing moment. The Indian Jonathan +had shot, was found afterwards so badly wounded that he died in a +few days. His gun and shot-bag were found secreted under a log +near the tree, the bark of which had been scalped by the bullet.</p> + +<p>A short time after Jonathan’s marriage, he determined on making +a settlement on some land he had purchased, a mile or so from his +father’s fort. He built a cabin, and commenced clearing the land; +but was prevented by other occupations from continuing his work, +and hired a man by the name of Hiland to carry it on. This +laborer went to the place alone; but had been employed only a few +days, when returning one evening from his work, he cut a large +bundle of green cane, and was carrying it on his shoulder to his +house; the rustling of this cane afforded a party of Indians a fair +opportunity of coming up behind him without being perceived, and +as he was in the act of throwing the cane over the fence, they shot +him down and scalped him. Gen. Robertson, hearing of the occurrence,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</span> +determined, if possible, to insure future security to the settlers +by pursuing and cutting off these marauding parties, and issued an +order to Capt. Thomas Murray, to raise a company of volunteers +and overtake the Indians, or pursue them into the very heart of the +nation. A detachment was raised; the settlers, anxious to strike a +blow for their own security, joining in large numbers, and the pursuit +was commenced with a hundred and ten mounted men. After +a few days, the spies reported the Indians encamped on the +Tennessee at the Muscle Shoals; the company attacked the camp, +and several of the savages were killed, some making their escape, +and two squaws being captured.</p> + +<p>Young Robertson, meanwhile, was not discouraged from prosecuting +his enterprise, but removed to his new place with his wife, +and a negro named Ephraim. Determined to persevere in preparing +the land and making a home for his family, he engaged two +of his wife’s cousins, named Cowen, to assist him in his labors. They +were all at work one day in the clearing, and were as usual summoned +to dinner by a call from the house. They had stacked their +arms against a large tree some fifty yards from the edge of the clearing, +and between that and the house. It had been settled between +them that in case of an attack by Indians, they should rush instantly +to seize their arms, each take a tree, and make a stand against the +enemy. On hearing the call to dinner, the men laid down their +working implements, and stopped to push up the brush which had +not been consumed into the brush-piles, not perceiving that several +Indians had crept along under cover of the woods, and approached +very near them. The moment they discovered the enemy, they +sprang forward to secure their arms, while the savages, who had +reached the edge of the clearing by the time the white men gained +their weapons, rushed in pursuit. The directions previously agreed +upon were observed, and each pioneer snatched his gun and sprang +behind a tree. At the moment Robertson raised his gun, he perceived +an Indian partly concealed behind another tree, and preparing +to fire. His body projected far enough beyond the cover to afford +a fair chance of hitting him; Robertson fired, and at the same<span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</span> +instant the Cowens did also. This spirited defence alarmed the +Indians; they began to retreat, and had disappeared in the cane +before their foes could reload. Meanwhile poor Ephraim, who had +a terror of gunpowder, could not stand his ground with the rest of +the party, but hastened with all his speed towards the house; and +when, after the flight of the enemy, the white men raised the +Indian yell by way of a triumph note, the affrighted negro, rushing +into the cabin, gave the inmates reason to suppose that all their +friends were killed and scalped. This horrible fear, however, was +soon dissipated by the appearance of the victorious settlers returning +to the house. One of the Cowens was slightly wounded in the +hand, and the rim of Robertson’s hat on one side was nearly severed +from the crown by an Indian bullet, but no other injury had been +received. This incident is worthy of notice, as the only instance +during the period of the Indian troubles in which white men, fired +on while at work in the field, made a stand, and succeeded in driving +off the assailants. It was afterwards ascertained from the +Indians that five of their number had been either killed or wounded +so desperately that they died before reaching home. It should be +mentioned that one of the pioneers used a British musket loaded +with rifle bullets, and fired at a number of Indians together as they +rushed into the thin cane bordering the clearing. It was believed +the party of savages had numbered fifteen.</p> + +<p>An instance of female heroism which occurred at a station some +six miles west of Nashville, may be here related. Mrs. Dunham, +the wife of one of the pioneers, while sitting in her house at work—her +little children playing in the yard—heard them scream +out suddenly, and rushing to the door, saw them running from +several Indians. One of the savages was in the act of clutching her +daughter, six or seven years of age, and succeeded in laying hold of +the child, a few yards from the door. There were no men on the +premises; but the mother seized a hoe standing against the house +near the door, and rushed at the Indian with the uplifted weapon. +Before she came near enough to strike him with it, however, he let +go the child, who ran into the house, the mother following. The<span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</span> +Indian pursued them closely, and pushed his gun into the door +before it could be closed, to shoot Mrs. Dunham. She kept her +hold of the door, and slammed it to violently, catching the gun between +it and the door-post, and holding it with all her force, while +the savage tried in vain to get the weapon released. She then, with +singular presence of mind, called aloud as if to some person within, +“Bring me that gun!” The Indian understood enough of English +to know her meaning, and believing there were other persons in the +house, he left his gun and made off. The other children had found +shelter in the house, and were thus preserved from massacre by their +mother’s energy and self possession.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Dunham’s oldest son, Daniel—a boy nine or ten years of +age—had a remarkable escape. He was out playing one day with +two or three other boys a little larger than himself, and the youthful +party carelessly wandered a short distance out of gunshot of the +fort. They were observed by some Indians who resolved to take +them prisoners. This was a more profitable business than killing +them, as they could make useful servants of the captives, or obtain a +large ransom for them from their bereaved friends. With this +object, the savages left their guns, and crept stealthily as near the +boys as the nature of the ground permitted them to do without +being seen. As they rose upon their feet to spring forward and +seize their prey, the boys saw them, gave a cry of alarm, and +instantly started in a life and death race for the fort. Young Dunham, +the smallest lad, was the hindmost, but he fled with the speed +of a frightened fawn, closely pursued, however, his enemy gaining +ground upon him, till just as he came within the range of protection +from the fort, the Indian overtook him, and laid hold of his +flannel hunting shirt. Throwing his arms back suddenly, the nimble +boy slipped out of the garment and ran on, leaving the disappointed +savage holding his trophy, for he dared not pursue the +fugitive any further.</p> + +<p>Through a multitude of such trials Mrs. Robertson was preserved. +She was the mother of eleven children, and lived to an advanced +age, leaving a number of descendants, useful and prosperous citizens<span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</span> +in the valley to which she came as a pioneer. She witnessed the +gradual growth of the place selected as her home from a wilderness +to a rude settlement, and thence to a town of importance. In 1805 +Nashville boasted but one brick house, although Market-street and a +few others were laid out. There was a log schoolhouse, and the +wild forest encircled the future capital. There was difficulty at that +time in procuring supplies of provisions; it took three or four months +to go to and from New Orleans in the flat-bottomed boats, which +always started as soon as the waters rose, and returned in the spring +laden with groceries, grain, and various articles for provision and +clothing. Furs were procured of the Indians. There were at that +period no good schools in the valley, and pupils were sent to Carolina +and the Eastern States to be educated, by parents who were +able to afford the expense. Stores for use or trading purposes were +sometimes brought in wagons from Baltimore and Philadelphia, +through the eastern portion of Tennessee; but pack-horses had +been generally used. Two men could manage ten or fifteen horses, +carrying each about two hundred pounds, by tying one to the other +in single file, one man taking charge of the leading, the other of the +hindmost horse, to keep an eye on the proper adjustment of the +loads, and to stir up any that appeared to lag. Bells were indispensable +accompaniments to the horses, by which they could be +found in the morning when hunting up preparatory to a start. +Grass or leaves were inserted in the bells to prevent the clapper +from moving during the travel of the day. The first wagon-load +of merchandize brought over the mountains on the southern route, +is said to have been in 1789, when it was nearly a month making +a trip of one hundred and forty miles.</p> + +<p>“The water-craft used in descending the Ohio in those primitive +times, were flat boats made of green oak plank, fastened by wooden +pins to a frame of timber, and caulked with tow or any other pliant +substance that could be procured. Boats similarly constructed on +the northern waters, were called “arks,” but on the Western rivers +they were denominated Kentucky boats. The materials of which +they were composed were found useful in constructing temporary<span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</span> +buildings for safety and protection against the inclemency of the +weather, after they had arrived at their destination.”<a id="FNanchor_12" href="#Footnote_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a></p> + +<p>In early life Mrs. Robertson became a member of the Methodist +Episcopal Church, and with her husband joined the first society of +that denomination organized in the country, under the preaching of +Wilson Lee. The class met to hear the word preached and for +social communion, about three miles west of Nashville. She +continued an exemplary member of this Church to her death.</p> + +<p>In all the relations of life she was faithful, and strict in the performance +of every duty. Her manners were modest, unassuming +and gentle; she was kind and affectionate in her family, a most +devoted and loving mother, and a careful, though indulgent mistress. +She was ever open-hearted and benevolent, soothing the ills +she had no power to remove. Her industrious habits and self-denying +virtues were an example to all who knew her, and she was +esteemed and beloved by a large circle of friends and acquaintances. +In person she was rather above the medium size, with a symmetrical +form, and regular, interesting, and expressive features. She +retained to the close of life the faculties of mind and body in uncommon +vigor; and in the full expectation of a glorious immortality +calmly closed her eyes on the scenes of earth in her ninety-third +year, June 11th, 1843, at the house of her son-in-law, John B. +Craighead, three miles west of Nashville.</p> + +<p>General Robertson was engaged during the greater part of his +life in public service. In his latter years he was appointed Indian +agent in the Choctaw nation, where he died in 1814. His bones +were removed some years since from the Indian lands, and deposited +in the burial ground at Nashville. The sons murdered by the +Indians were Peyton Henderson, eleven years of age, and James +Randolph, about twenty. With the exception of these, and an +infant daughter, the children of Mrs. Robertson lived to marry and +have families of their own. Three daughters and two sons are living +at this date, and Dr. Robertson, one of the sons, is one of the +most highly esteemed citizens of Nashville.</p> +<hr class="full"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="c6">V.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="c sp lsp">JANE BROWN.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap large">Many</span> fearful tales of the individual suffering which marked the +early history of Tennessee, are only known to a few as family traditions, +and remembered by the descendants of those who bore a +part, as stories of the nursery and not as chapters in the great historic +record of the past. Yet the experience and conduct of a single +individual may often better illustrate the condition, progress, and +character of a people, than whole chapters devoted to the details of +a campaign.</p> + +<p>The traditional recollections detailed in the following sketch of the +family of James Brown, connected as they were intimately with +some of the most important political events of that period, cannot +fail to throw new light upon the pioneer history of the country, and +inspire our hearts with renewed gratitude to those hardy, but wise +men and women, who built up so goodly a State amidst so many +troubles, in the dark and bloody valleys of the Shauvanon, Tanasees, +and Ho-go-hegee.</p> + +<p>Jane Gillespie was born in Pennsylvania about the year 1740. +Her father was a pioneer in the settlement of North Carolina. Her +family was one of the most respectable as well as the most worthy +in the county of Guilford, where they resided during the Revolutionary +war. Two of her brothers, Col. and Maj. Gillespie, were<span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</span> +distinguished for their gallantry and devotion to the cause of liberty, +and were honored as brave officers. Herself and most of her family +were members of the Rev. David Caldwell’s church at Guilford, +and ardently espoused his political and religious principles.</p> + +<p>About the year 1761 or 1762, Miss Gillespie became the wife of +James Brown, a native of Ireland, whose family had settled in Guilford +some years before. At the beginning of the Revolution, Mrs. +Brown had a large family of small children, but she freely gave up her +husband when his country demanded his services. During the masterly +retreat of General Greene, in the winter of 1781, on Dan and +Deep rivers, Brown was the pilot and guide of Colonels Lee and +Washington, and by his intimate knowledge of the country, its bypaths +and fords, contributed not a little to the successful countermarches +of the American army, by which they were enabled to elude +and break the spirit of the army of Lord Cornwallis. When the +Americans assumed the offensive, and, from a retreating, suddenly +became a pursuing army, Brown pressed eagerly into the fight with +the bold troopers of Lee and Washington.</p> + +<p>Being in moderate circumstances, and pressed by the cares of a +large and increasing family, Brown’s ardent temperament was not +satisfied with the prospect of a plodding life of toil in Guilford. For +his Revolutionary services he had received from the State of North +Carolina land-warrants, which entitled him to locate a large quantity +of land in the wilderness beyond the mountains. His neighbors +had made him sheriff of his county, and a justice of the County +Court, and he was rapidly rising in the estimation of his countrymen +for his patriotism, integrity, and many other virtues of a good +citizen. But he readily saw the advantages which he might secure +to his rising family by striking out into the deep forests, and securing +for them the choicest homes in the Tennessee and Cumberland +valleys. He could command only a trifle in money for his land +scrip, but by exposing himself to a few years of hardship and danger, +he could secure independent estates for his numerous children. +With him, to be convinced was to act: his decision and his action +went together. Tearing himself from the bosom of his family and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</span> +all the endearments of a happy home circle, he set out on his journey +to explore the valley of the Cumberland. The whole of Tennessee +was then a wilderness, except a small spot on the Holston +or Watauga, on the east, and a small spot around Nashville and +Bledsoe’s Lick, on the west of the Cumberland Mountains. +Taking with him his two eldest sons, William and John, and a few +tried friends, he explored the Cumberland valley. He secured lands +on the Cumberland river below Nashville, at the place now known +as Hyde’s Ferry. He also explored the wilderness south, as far as +Buck river, and located a large body of land south of Duck river, +near Columbia. The whole country was then almost untrodden by +the foot of the white man. It was the hunting-ground of the +Chickasaws, Creeks, and Cherokees, and was full of deer, elk, bears, +and buffaloes. The rich uplands, as well as the alluvial bottoms of +the rivers, were covered with cane-brakes, which were almost impervious +to man. Whoever penetrated these regions, did so with knife +and hatchet to cut away the cane, and with rifle to oppose the savage +beasts and savage men who sheltered in its deep fastnesses. +But Brown’s heart was a bold one, and his hopes for the future animated +him to perseverance. Having located by actual survey several +fine tracts of land, he determined to return to Guilford, and +remove his family to their new home in the West. Leaving William +as a deputy surveyor under Col. Polk, and John to open and +cultivate a small field, and build some cabins at the mouth of White’s +Creek, he returned to North Carolina.</p> + +<p>In the winter of 1787-8, Brown and his family, having disposed +of their property, found themselves on the banks of the French Broad +in what is now Hawkins county, Tennessee, waiting the opening of +the spring, before beginning their journey across the mountains to +the Cumberland valley.</p> + +<p>In 1785, the treaty of Hopewell had been concluded with the +Cherokees, guaranteeing reciprocal friendship between that nation +and the Americans. At the time Brown arrived on the banks of +the French Broad, there was apparent acquiescence in the terms +of this treaty, and the Cherokee and the white man seemed, for a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</span> +time, to have smoked the pipe of peace, and buried the tomahawk +for ever.</p> + +<p>There were two routes to the Cumberland Valley at this time, +the one by land, the other by water. The land route was a long +and tedious one, through the Cumberland Gap, across the head +waters of the Cumberland, Green, and Barren rivers in Kentucky, +to Bledsoe’s Lick, or Nashville. The other route was easier of +accomplishment, and more desirable; because, being by the descent +of the river, it admitted of the transportation of goods and aged +persons. Brown, on his recent visit to Cumberland, had heard of +Col. Donaldson’s voyage down the Tennessee, up the Ohio and +Cumberland, to Nashville, and of one or two other parties who had +succeeded in making the same voyage. As he had women and +small children, and packages of valuable goods, which he was taking +to the West, he resolved to hazard the descent of the Tennessee +river.</p> + +<p>He was not ignorant of the fact that there were many populous +Indian towns on the Tennessee river, of both the Cherokee and +Chickasaw nations, and that marauding parties of Creeks and +Shawanees were often on its shores and in the towns. He knew +the danger of the voyage, on account of the hostile Indians; and +he also knew its numerous shoals, rapids and eddies, rendered its +navigation perilous to such frail open boats as could then be constructed. +But he trusted in the honest disposition of the Cherokees +to conform to the treaty of Hopewell, and judged that the marauding +Creeks and Shawanees would prove less dangerous on the water +than on the circuitous land route to the Cumberland. Having been +habitually exposed to danger for many years, it is probable he rather +sought the most perilous route, feeling a sort of manly desire to +meet and overcome it.</p> + +<p>Having built a boat in the style of a common flatboat, modeled as +much as possible after Noah’s ark, except that it was open at the +top, he prepared to adventure the fearful voyage. About the 1st of +May, 1788, having taken on board a large amount of goods suitable +for traffic among the Indians and the pioneers in Cumberland, his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</span> +party embarked upon the bosom of French Broad. The party was +a small and weak one, considering the dangers it had to encounter, +and the valuable cargo it had to defend. It consisted of Brown, two +grown sons, three hired men and a negro man; in all, seven grown +men; Mrs. Brown, three small sons and four small daughters; an +aged woman, the mother of one of the hired men, and two or three +negro women, the property of Brown.</p> + +<p>To make up for the weakness of his party, Brown had mounted a +small cannon upon the prow of his boat, and no doubt relied as +much for his security upon the known terror which such guns +inspired in the savages, as upon any damage which he expected to +inflict upon them with it. Thus appointed and thus equipped, this +happy family began its eventful descent of the river. All was gladness, +all was sunshine. The land of their fathers, of their loved +friends and pastor, was behind them; beneath their oars flashed the +bright waters of a lovely stream, whose winding channel would soon +bear them to their new home in the valley of the fairy Cumberland. +As they passed rapidly along, the father sat in the midst of his little +children, hopefully describing their new home in the deep forests of +the West.</p> + +<p>They thus descended the French Broad to the Tennessee, and +went on merrily down its waters to Chickamauga, a considerable +town of Cherokee Indians, not far from the present site of Chattanooga. +Here the Indians appeared friendly; the principal chief +went on board the boat, and made inquiry for various articles of +goods, proposed to trade, and finally took his leave, with many professions +of kindness. Our voyagers continued their descent, rejoicing +in the happy omen which the friendship of the Chickamauga chieftain +opened for their future. The next day, the 9th of May, the +solitary pirogue or flatboat had passed several Indian villages, and +had come in view of the towns of Running Water and Nickajack, +the last Cherokee towns where there was any considerable body of +Indians. The voyagers began to rejoice in their happy deliverance +from the principal dangers which had threatened their journey. +They would in a few hours be through the mountain passes, on the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</span> +wide bosom of a noble river, where they would be comparatively +free from the ambuscades of lurking savages.</p> + +<p>Suddenly four canoes, with white flags raised, and naked savages +kneeling in them as rowers, glided out into the river, and rapidly +approached; fearing some mischief, Brown immediately turned his +cannon upon the approaching canoes, and with lighted match, bade +them keep off at the peril of their lives.</p> + +<p>Struck with astonishment at the bold threat, they paused, and +pulled their frail canoes a little out of the range of the big gun. A +man by the name of John Vaun, a well-known half-breed, who spoke +good English, was the leader of the party. He spoke to Brown, and +said that his party came in friendship; as an evidence of that they +had raised a white flag; they came as his friends to trade with him. +Brown, who was a bold and fearless man, and dared to face a thousand +savages, still kept them off; but at last, confiding in the assurances +of Vaun that he was a white man, and that the Indians would +respect the persons and property of his party, in an unguarded moment +he consented that several of the Indians might come on board. +A dozen Indians now came on board, and lashed their canoes to the +side of the boat. As they came near the town, hundreds dashed out +into the river in their canoes, and came alongside of the boat. Having +thus secured possession, the leading men, especially Vann, assured +Brown that no harm was intended. In the mean time, each Indian +seized upon whatever he fancied and threw it into his canoe. In this +way several boxes and trunks were instantly rifled. Vann pretended +to order his followers to abstain, but they paid no attention to him. +A bold warrior now demanded of Brown the key to a large chest, +that contained his most valuable stores, which he refused to give, +telling the Indian that Mrs. Brown had it. The Indian demanded it +of Mrs. Brown, but she boldly refused to give it up. He then split +the top of the chest open with his tomahawk, and his example was +immediately followed by the other Indians, who broke open and rifled +every box and package on the boat. While this was going on, a +savage rudely took hold of Joseph Brown, a lad fifteen years old, +but was forced by the father to let the boy go. An instant after,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</span> +the Indian seized a sword lying in the boat, and while Brown’s back +was turned to him, struck him on the back of the neck, almost severing +his head from his body. Brown turned in the agony of death +and seized the Indian, and in the struggle was thrown into the river, +where he sank to rise no more. The boat was now turned into the +mouth of a little creek, in the town of Nickajack, and the whole +party taken on shore, in the midst of several hundred warriors, women +and children. In the mean time, Vann continued to tell the +sons of Brown that all this was a violation of the treaty of Hopewell, +and that Breath, the chief of Nickajack and Running Water, who +was expected there that night, would punish the marauders, restore +their goods, and send them on their voyage. Several leading warriors +of the upper town had seized Brown’s negroes as lawful spoil, +and had dispatched them in canoes to their several homes. Whatever +may have been Vann’s true motives, his interference on this +occasion had the effect to place the whole party at the mercy of the +Indians, without resistance. If he acted in good faith, he was shamefully +deceived by his followers; but if he only used his address to +disarm the voyagers, that they might the more easily fall victims to +savage ferocity, his conduct exhibits the climax of perfidy.</p> + +<p>A party of Creek braves, who were engaged with the men of +Nickajack and Running Water in this outrage, having seized upon +their share of the plunder, and having taken possession of Mrs. +Brown, her son George, ten years old, and three small daughters, +immediately began their march to their own nation. While the +Cherokees were deliberating upon the fate of the prisoners and a +division of the spoils, they adroitly withdrew from the council, on the +plea that this all belonged to the head men of Nickajack. Thus, in +one short hour deprived of husband, sons, friends, liberty and all, +this devoted woman, with her five smallest children, began her sad +journey on foot along the rugged, flinty trails that led to the Creek +towns on the Tallapoosa river.</p> + +<p>At the time of this outrage, there was living at or near Nickajack, +a French trader, named Thomas Tunbridge, married to a white woman, +who had been taken prisoner near Mobile, when an infant, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</span> +raised by the Indians. After she was grown, she was exchanged, +but refused to leave the Indians, distrusting her ability to adapt +her habits to civilized life. She had been married to an Indian +brave, by whom she had a son, now twenty-two years old, who was +one of the boldest warriors of the Cherokee towns. He had already +killed six white men in his forays to the Cumberland settlement. +Having all the versatility of his mother’s race, as well as the ferocity +and courage of his father, he was fast rising into distinction as a +warrior, and bade fair to reach the first honors of his nation. His +praises for daring and chivalry were in the mouths of all.</p> + +<p>His mother was now growing old, and having no young children, +her son desired to present to her some bright-eyed boy as a slave; +for according to the savage code of the times, each captive became +a slave to his captor. This woman’s son, whose name was Kiachatalee, +was one of the leaders of the marauding party who had seized +upon Brown’s boat, and from the first knew the fate of the party. +Before the boat landed, he tried to induce Joseph to get into his +canoe, with the intention of withdrawing him from the general massacre +that was soon to take place, but the boy would not go with +him. When the boat landed, Kiachatalee took Joseph to his stepfather, +Tunbridge, who in good English told the boy he lived a mile +out of the town, and invited him to go and spend the night with +him. This the boy did, after asking the consent of his elder brothers. +Tunbridge seized the boy by the hand and hurried him away. +They had scarcely gone out of the town before they heard the rifles +of the savage braves, who were murdering his brothers and friends. +What were the feelings of the poor boy at this moment! His father +slain; his brothers and friends weltering in their blood, amidst the +yells of savage assassins; and his mother, brother and sisters borne +off, he knew not whither, by a band of lawless Creek marauders! +To add to his agony at such a moment, an aged Indian woman, +with hair disheveled, and her round, fat face discolored with excitement, +followed them to the trader’s house, calling upon Tunbridge +to produce the white man, exclaiming, with a fiendish air of triumph, +“All the rest are killed, and he must die also!”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</span></p> + +<p>The trader calmly replied to her, “He’s only a little boy. It’s a +shame to kill children. He shall not be killed.”</p> + +<p>The old hag was excited, and vowed that the boy should be +killed. She said, “He was too large to allow him to live. In two +or three years he would be a man; he would learn the country, its +towns and its rivers; would make his escape and come back with +an army of white men to destroy us all.” She said her son, Cutty-a-toy, +was a brave chief, and that he would be there in a few +minutes to kill the boy.</p> + +<p>In a few minutes Cutty-a-toy, followed by many armed warriors, +rushed upon the trader’s house, and demanded the white boy, saying +that he was too large, that he would be grown, would make his +escape, and bring back an army to destroy their town.</p> + +<p>The trader stood, with cool courage, in the door of his lodge, and +refused to surrender the prisoner, saying it was not right to kill +children, and also warning the angry chief that the boy was the +prisoner of Kiachatalee, his son, and if he was injured or slain, Kiachatalee +would be revenged for it. As Kiachatalee was only a +young warrior, and Cutty-a-toy a chief and a gray-beard, this threat +of revenge greatly incensed him. In an instant he raised his tomahawk, +and, with the air of a man who intends a deed of murder, +demanded of the trader, “And are you the friend of the Virginian?”</p> + +<p>Answering the look rather than the words, the trader stepped +out of his door, and said to the bloody brave, “Take him.”</p> + +<p>Cutty-a-toy then rushed into the trader’s lodge, seized the boy by +the throat, and was about to brain him with his tomahawk, when +the wife of Tunbridge interposed in a tone of supplication which at +once succeeded.</p> + +<p>“Will the brave chieftain kill the boy in my house? Let not +the boy’s blood stain my floor.”</p> + +<p>The appeal of the woman reached the savage’s heart. He +dropped his weapon, and slowly dragged the boy out of the lodge +into the midst of a crowd of savages, who waved their knives and +hatchets in the poor lad’s face, in order to enjoy his terror.</p> + +<p>In the path which led from the house, the boy fell upon his knees,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</span> +while the savages were tearing off his clothes, and asked the trader +to request the Indians to give him one half hour to pray. The +trader roughly replied, “Boy, it’s not worth while; they’ll kill you.” +As he stood in momentary expectation of his fate, the trader’s wife +again interposed, and begged the savage chief not to kill the boy in +her yard, or in the path along which she had to carry water, but to +take him out into the mountains, where the birds and wolves might +eat up his flesh, where she could not see his blood!</p> + +<p>The appeal of the woman was again heard, and giving the boy +his pantaloons, they held a short talk, and agreed to take him down +to Running Water, saying to the trader’s wife, “We will not spill +this boy’s blood near your house; but we will take him to Running +Water, where we will have a frolic knocking him in the head.”</p> + +<p>Having gone about three hundred yards, they halted and formed +a circle around the victim. He again fell upon his knees, and with +his face upturned towards heaven, and his hands firmly clasped on +his breast, remained in prayer, expecting at each moment the fatal +blow. At this dreadful moment he thought of Stephen, to whose +vision the heavens were opened at the moment of his death, and +was happy. As the savage braves stood around him, young Brown +saw their stern aspect of revenge suddenly relax, and a smile of +sympathy and pity succeed. They called the trader, told him to +take the boy, that they would not kill him; and Cutty-a-toy said +he loved the boy, and would come back in three weeks and make +friends with him. It was afterwards ascertained that Cutty-a-toy +had taken some of Brown’s negroes, and claimed them as his +prisoners, and that his fear lest Kiatchatalee might retaliate by killing +his negro prisoners, was the thought which suddenly turned +him to mercy and pity. So thought his own followers; for when +he said he <i>loved</i> the boy, and would not kill him, his savage followers +replied:</p> + +<p>“No, no, he does not love the boy; it’s the boy’s negroes he +loves.”</p> + +<p>When Cutty-a-toy’s mother saw that the boy’s life would not be +taken, she seemed displeased; went up to him and cut off his scalp-lock,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</span> +and kicked him so rudely in the side as almost to kill him, +exclaiming, “I’ve got the Virginian’s scalp.”</p> + +<p>The Tuskegee chief, Cutty-a-toy, led his party away, leaving +Joseph in the hands of the trader and his wife. In two or three +days he was taken into Nickajack, and the kind old chief, Breath, +who greatly regretted what had taken place in his absence, took +him by the hand, calmly heard a narrative of his situation from the +trader’s wife, and then told the boy that he must be adopted into +his tribe, and become an Indian if he would save his life; that there +was no other way in which his life could be saved. To that end, +the chief adopted him into his own family, and told Joseph that he +was his uncle, and that Kiatchatalee was his brother. His head +was then shaved, leaving only a fillet of hair on the top, in +which a bunch of feathers was tied, his ears pierced for rings, and +his clothes taken off; the flap substituted for trowsers, and a short +shirt for a coat, shirt, and vest, his nether vestments consisting of a +pair of deer-skin moccasins. In this condition he was pronounced +an Indian, with the exception of a slit in each ear, which the kindness +of the chief deferred making until cold weather.</p> + +<p>The trader’s wife took him to see his two sisters, Jane, aged ten, +and Polly, aged five years, who had just been brought back to +Nickajack; a party of Cherokees having pursued the Creek braves, +and recaptured from them these two small girls, after they had +been taken some distance towards the Creek towns. From his sister +Jane, Joseph learned the destination of the party who had carried +off his mother, his brother George, and sister Elizabeth. The +children were now in the same town, adopted into different families, +and it was a source of consolation to them to be allowed to see each +other occasionally. In the various toils which were imposed upon +the little captives, such as carrying water and wood, pounding +hominy, and working corn in the fields, and on the part of the boy, +looking after the stock, nearly a year passed, without many incidents +worthy of note. Hostile parties of savages came and went, and +tales of barbarous deeds done by them on the distant frontiers were +often told in the hearing of the children, but none brought deliverance<span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</span> +for them. Yet in but few instances did the savage neighbors +of these captive children treat them unkindly. Three or four times +Joseph’s life was in danger from lawless braves, whose bloodthirsty +natures panted for the blood of the white man. The good old +chief, Breath, hearing of these things, caused young Brown to be +armed, and declared that it should be lawful for him to slay any +Indian who should maltreat him.</p> + +<p>In a few months Joseph was allowed a rifle and a horse, and permitted +to go into the woods to hunt. He might often have availed +himself of the kindness of his savage friends, and made his escape to +the frontiers, but he loved his little sisters, and his love for them +restrained his desire for freedom, lest his escape might add to the +rigors of their slavery, or perhaps for ever prevent their deliverance.</p> + +<p>In the meantime open war had been going on between the +Indians and the people of Cumberland and East Tennessee. Two +thousand warriors, principally Cherokees, of whom four or five hundred +were horsemen dressed as white men, made an irruption into +East Tennessee, killing everything before them. Generals Sevier +and Martin, with a large body of pioneers, had marched into their +territory, laying waste their fields and villages. When their chief, +Big Tassel, came to Sevier’s camp with a flag to hold a talk, he was +killed by a soldier named Kirk, whose family had been murdered +by his warriors. This outrage added new flames to the rage of the +Cherokees, who no longer sought peace. In their revengeful foray, +they stormed Fort Gillespie, eight miles from Knoxville, and +butchered men, women and children, carrying off Mrs. Glass, the +sister of Capt. Gillespie.</p> + +<p>These savages were not wholly illiterate: many of their leaders +could speak and even write English, and they well understood the +sacred character of a white flag and of treaties. The following proclamation, +written at Fort Gillespie after the massacre, by Watts, or +some of his half-breed followers, is curious and illustrative. It is +signed by Bloody Fellow, Categisky, John Watts, and The Glass.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</span></p> + +<p class="r"> +Oct. 15th,<a id="FNanchor_13" href="#Footnote_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> 1798.<br> +</p> + +<p class="c"><i>To Mr.</i> <span class="smcap">John Sevier</span> <i>and</i> <span class="smcap">Joseph Martin</span>, <i>and to You,<br> the +Inhabitants of the New State</i>.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>“We would wish to inform you of the accidents that happened +at Gillespie’s Fort, concerning the women and children that were +killed in the battle.</p> + +<p>“The Bloody Fellow’s talk is, that he is now here upon his own +ground. He is not like you are, for you kill women and children +and he does not. He had orders to do it, and to order them off +the land, and he came and ordered them to surrender, and they +should not be hurt, and they would not. And he stormed it and +took it.</p> + +<p>“For you, you beguiled the head man (Big Tassel), who was your +friend, and wanted to keep peace.</p> + +<p>“But you began it, and this is what you get for it. When you +move off the land, then he will make peace, and give up the women +and children.</p> + +<p>“And you must march off in thirty days.</p> + +<p>“Five thousand is our number!”</p></div> + +<p>In the spring of 1789, an exchange of prisoners was agreed upon +at a talk held with Gen. Sevier. It was agreed that the Cherokees +should make an absolute surrender of all the white persons within +their borders, and runners were sent to each of the head men, to +send their captives to the Little Turkey for an exchange. When +these runners came to Nickajack, young Brown was on a trading +trip down the river with his Indian brother Kiachatalee, and did not +return until Mrs. Glass and all the other prisoners had gone up to +Running Water, where the chief was awaiting their arrival.</p> + +<p>When young Brown got home, he was sent with one of his +sisters to Running Water, in order to be sent up to the treaty-grounds +to be exchanged. His little sister would not leave her +Indian mother, who had ever treated her kindly, but wept and +clung to her neck, declaring that it would break her Indian mother’s<span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</span> +heart if she left her. This tender feeling was a tribute to savage +kindness, but young Brown finally took his sister in his arms, and +carried her some distance, before he could reconcile her to go with +him. His eldest sister belonged to a trader, who said he had +bought her with his money, and would not let her go. Joseph had +to leave her behind, being wholly unable to redeem her.</p> + +<p>At Running Water, young Brown heard Turkey, the head chief, +stating to his chiefs around him the terms of the treaty he had +made: and in doing so, his followers upbraided him for agreeing to +deliver so many prisoners without any ransom. To this the chief +replied, “Little John (meaning Sevier) would have it so; he is a +very mean man—a dog; but he has my daughter a prisoner, and +he knew I would have to agree to any terms, to get her back.”</p> + +<p>The next morning, when the Indian chief was about to start his +prisoners forward, young Brown refused to go, and was taken to the +chief to give his reasons. He then stated that one of his sisters was +left in Nickajack, and that he never would consent to be set at +liberty without her. The savage chief immediately sent for the girl, +and after some delay, Col. Bench, the chief of the mounted regiment +of Indians, went himself, and brought the girl to Running Water. +Thus, about the first of May, 1789, young Brown and his two sisters +were once more restored to liberty. Being reduced to poverty, +these now orphan children were sent into South Carolina, to +sojourn with some relatives until their elder brother, who was in +Cumberland, could go after them, or until their mother should be +released from her captivity amongst the Creeks.</p> + +<p>We must now return to the 9th of May, 1788, and continue the +narrative of Mrs. Brown’s captivity. Having seen her husband fall +by the hands of savages, she was hurried away by her captors, and +took the road southward, just as she heard the yells and rifles of the +cruel savages who murdered her sons and their companions. +What must have been the feelings of horror and agony of this poor +woman, herself a prisoner in the hands of she knew not whom, and +borne she knew not whither! To add to the horror of her situation, +she soon saw two of her sweet little daughters torn from her<span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</span> +side by a party of Cherokees, and borne back, she knew not +whither, nor for what end.</p> + +<p>Driven forward on foot for many days and nights, she continued +to bear up under the bodily fatigues and mental anguish by which +she was tortured, her feet blistered and swollen, and driven before +the pack-horses along a flinty path, every moment expecting death +if she failed, and every moment expecting to fail! She yet accomplished +many days’ travel, and finally reached one of the upper +Creek towns on the Tallapoosa, far down in the wilderness. Arrived +at the town of her captor, she found herself a slave, doomed to bear +wood and water, pound hominy, and do all servile offices for her +savage mistress. To add to her distress, her son, nine years old, +and her daughter, seven, were taken to different towns, and she was +left indeed alone in her sorrow.</p> + +<p>At the period of Mrs. Brown’s captivity, Alexander M’Gillevray, a +half-breed Creek, of Scotch descent, was the head chief of the +Muscogee Indians, and assumed the title of Commander-in-chief of +the Upper and Lower Creeks and the Seminoles; being the military +as well as the civil governor of all the Indians of Florida, Alabama, +and Lower Georgia. He was a man of keen sagacity, forest-born +and forest-bred, combining the shrewdness of the savage with +the learning of the civilized man. Fortunately for Mrs. Brown, her +cruel captor took her to a town in which lived a sister of M’Gillevray, +who was the wife of a French trader by the name of Durant. +Her age and dignified bearing under the toils imposed upon her, +excited the sympathy and compassion of this kind-hearted Indian +woman. Several weeks passed before she found an opportunity, but +when Mrs. Brown’s savage master was absent, the wife of Durant +spoke to her kindly, told her that she pitied her sorrow, and would, +if she could, relieve her. She said her brother, the chief of the +Creeks, did not approve of his people’s making slaves of the white +women, and that he was a liberal, high-minded man, who had a +soul of honor, and would never turn away from a helpless woman +who came to him for succor. “Why do you not fly to him?” +asked the simple-hearted woman.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</span></p> + +<p>Mrs. Brown explained to her her total ignorance of the country, +and her inability to reach the residence of Col. McGillevray. The +Indian woman listened to her, and then said, “It is true: but if +you will, there is my horse, and there is my saddle. You are welcome +to them; but you must take them. I cannot give them, but +my husband shall never pursue. You can take them without +danger.” It was arranged. On a certain morning the Indian +woman sent an aged Indian, who was to act as the guide of Mrs. +Brown, as far as a trader’s house; from which point the trader was +to procure a guide and a horse.</p> + +<p>At the appointed time, Mrs. Brown, mounted upon her friend’s +horse and saddle, started in pursuit of her Indian guide, who travelled +on as though entirely unconscious of her existence. She +arrived in safety at the trader’s lodge, and was by him furnished +with a guide and horse to the chieftain’s residence. Full of gratitude +for intended kindness, she yet approached the Creek chieftain +with many feelings of doubt and misgiving. He received her +kindly, heard her story attentively, and after considering it well, +gave Mrs. Brown a cordial welcome to his house, and bade her stay +with his wife, as a member of his family. He explained to her +that, according to the usage of his people, she belonged to her +captor, and that he had no right to take her from him.</p> + +<p>He said, however, that he could no doubt reconcile her master by +some presents, when he should follow, as he no doubt would before +long. He told her she could make shirts or other garments for the +traders, and soon provide herself with everything necessary for her +comfort. In the meantime, he would furnish her with whatever +she needed. Mrs. Brown accepted the savage chieftain’s proffered +protection, and took shelter under his roof. She had been there +but a few days when she was startled by the appearance of her +savage master, who had followed her to her place of refuge. Fortunately +for her, the chieftain was at home, and himself met her +pursuer. The Indian gruffly demanded of his chieftain the white +woman, his prisoner.</p> + +<p>Col. McGillevray at once informed him that she was in his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</span> +house, and that he had promised to protect her. The savage +merely replied, “Well, if you do not give me back my prisoner, I’ll +kill her.” The wily chieftain knew his man, and humoring his +temper, replied, “That is true. She is your prisoner, and you can +kill her, if you choose. I know she is a weak woman, and you are +a brave warrior. Would you tie the scalp of a squaw about your +neck?”</p> + +<p>“But she can carry water, and hoe corn, and pound hominy for +my wife,” said the Creek warrior; “and she’s mine; she’s my +prisoner.”</p> + +<p>“That’s true,” said the chieftain; “but if you kill her, will she +carry any more water? Can the dead work? If you will consent +to leave her with me, so that I can send her back to her people, I +will send your wife a new dress, and will give you a rifle, some +powder and lead, and some beads and paints; and when you go +back to your wife, she will not see the blood of a woman upon +your hands!”</p> + +<p>Savage cupidity overcame savage revenge, and Mrs. Brown +became the ransomed captive of the brave and generous McGillevray; +a noble instance of chivalry on the part of a savage chieftain, +which reflects more honor on his name than the glory of a hundred +battles fought by his people during his chieftaincy. For several +months she plied her needle in his lodge, and by her experience in +the craft of needle-work soon rendered herself useful to her Indian +friends, and by her dignity and energy commanded their respect.</p> + +<p>The chieftain on his next visit to the upper Creek towns, found +Mrs. Brown’s daughter, Elizabeth, aged about seven years, generously +purchased her from her master, and upon his return home had +the pleasure of restoring the sweet child to her distressed mother: +a grateful duty, nobly performed! He also informed Mrs. Brown +that he had seen her son George, and tried to induce his master to +part with him, but that he was so much attached to the boy he +would not part from him on any terms. But he assured her he +would not fail, as soon as possible, to ransom her son, and restore +him also to her arms.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</span></p> + +<p>In November, 1789, Col. McGillevray had appointed to meet +commissioners to arrange terms of peace, at Rock Landing, Georgia. +On his departure for the treaty grounds, he took Mrs. Brown and +her daughter, and there delivered them to her son William, who +came from South Carolina, and had gone thither in hopes that he +might be enabled to hear something of her and her long lost children.</p> + +<p>Thus, in November, 1789, after eighteen months’ captivity, she +was at last united with her surviving children. They spent a short +time in South Carolina with some relatives, and returned to Guilford, +N. C., at last restored to her friends, whom she had left but two +short years before. But what a change had taken place in her +destiny since she had started westward with her husband, sons, and +neighbors, so full of life and hope! All her captive children were +now restored to her, except George, who was in one of the upper +Creek villages, doomed to a still longer captivity.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Brown had two sons who were in the Cumberland Valley +on the 9th of May, 1788; William the surveyor, and Daniel, aged +twelve years, who went over the land route with some stock, to the +Cumberland Valley. During her short stay in Guilford, her benefactor, +the Creek chieftain, passed through Guilford Court House, +and sent word to Mrs. Brown that he was there. She immediately +went with her brother, Col. Gillespie, Rev. Dr. Caldwell, and her +son William, and thanked him with them. In addition, her brother +offered to pay Col. McGillevray any sum he might think proper to +demand, as the ransom of Mrs. Brown and her daughter, but the +generous Creek refused any compensation whatever. He said he +owed it to humanity and honor to do as he had done, and that to +receive pay for it would deprive him both of the real pleasure and +real honor of such a deed. He assured Mrs. Brown he would not +fail to use his best efforts to restore her son, and she might rely +upon his finding out some means to accomplish so good an object.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Brown, with the remnant of her family, again turned her +face westward, seeking the new home which the foresight of her +husband had prepared for her and her children, and to which he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</span> +was so boldly conducting them when he perished. And now at +last, in 1791, this devoted woman and all her surviving children +but one, found themselves at their new home, at the mouth of +White’s creek, near Nashville. About this time her son Joseph, +while travelling with a small party of friends, was shot through the +arm by a party of savages in ambush; a severe wound, from which +he did not recover for some time.</p> + +<p>In 1792, a formidable body of Creeks, Cherokees, and Shawanees +invaded Cumberland Valley, attacked Buchanan’s Station, and were +repulsed with great loss. Joseph Brown came the next morning, +with a large party of friends, to the assistance of Buchanan, but the +Indians had retreated. Upon approaching the scene of action, +what was young Brown’s astonishment at finding his Indian brother, +Kiachatalee, lying cold in death upon the field, near the walls of the +fort against which he had so gallantly led the assault! The next +year, Joseph attended a treaty at Tellico, in East Tennessee, where +he met a nephew of Kiachatalee, named Charles Butler, with whom +he had been well acquainted while a prisoner at Nickajack. Butler +gave him the Indian version of the attack on Buchanan’s Station, +and also the story of Kiachatalee’s heroic death. He said the +assault was led by Kiachatalee; that he attempted to set fire to +the block-house, and was actually blowing it into a flame, when he +was mortally wounded. He continued, after receiving his mortal +wound, to blow the fire, and to cheer his followers to the assault, +calling upon them to fight like brave men, and never give up till +they had taken the fort.<a id="FNanchor_14" href="#Footnote_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a></p> + +<p>There were many incidents of frontier life, such as Mrs. Brown’s +was now, which would be interesting to the present generation, but +the length of this sketch will necessarily exclude many of them. On +one occasion, her eldest son, William, while in pursuit of a party of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</span> +Indians near Nashville, was severely wounded in the arm, so that +almost every member of her family had been captured, wounded, or +slain by the hands of the Indians. These were trials hard to bear; +yet amidst all her troubles Mrs. Brown bore herself as an humble +Christian, devoutly grateful to the Giver of all good, that He had +watched over her and guided her footsteps aright, in the midst of +so many sorrows.</p> + +<p>In the year 1794, such had been the continued outrages of the +savages from the lower Cherokee towns, in conjunction with marauding +Creeks and Shawanees, upon the Cumberland settlements, that +the principal pioneers resolved to fit out an expedition at their own +expense, march to Nickajack and Running Water, and punish those +lawless people with fire and sword. The national administration +had, by its Commissioners, made treaty after treaty with the Cherokees, +but still the people of these lower towns continued their depredations, +against the wishes of the upper Cherokees; and it was impossible +to induce the national government to take the decided steps +which these bold pioneers knew were so absolutely necessary to +check the marauding spirit of the lower Cherokee towns. These +towns were far down the Tennessee, in the midst of mountain fastnesses, +which the foot of white man had never trod. They felt secure +from all aggression, and reposed in full confidence that whoever +might suffer on account of their incursions into Cumberland, their +towns were unapproachable.</p> + +<p>At this time Joseph Brown was living near Nashville with his +mother, and had recently gone with Gen. Robertson to attend an +Indian council at Tellico block-house. The intimate knowledge +young Brown had obtained of these lower towns and their people +by his residence there, enabled him to communicate a good idea of +the country and the people from whom the Cumberland settlements +had so long suffered. The death of Kiachatalee at Buchanan’s Station, +on the 30th September, 1792, his warlike character, so well +known to Brown, and his leadership as a warrior among the men +of Nickajack and Running Water, all pointed out these towns as +the hives from which came forth such swarms of marauding Indians.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</span></p> + +<p>Despairing of succor from the national government, Gen. Robertson +wrote to Col. Whitley, of Kentucky, who was a well-known partisan, +to be at Nashville about the 1st September, 1794, with as +many trusty riflemen as he could bring with him. About the same +time Col. Mansco, Gen. Johnson of Robertson, Col. Montgomery +of Clarksville, and Gen. Robertson, each quietly raised a few trusty +men. Maj. Ore at that time commanded a squadron of mounted +men, who were in the employ of the United States as rangers, to +protect the frontiers of Cumberland. At the request of Gen. Robertson, +Maj. Ore arrived at Buchanan’s Station just in time to join the +expedition.</p> + +<p>In the meantime, boats were made of hides, and tried in the +Cumberland river, to ascertain their capability of transporting the +troops across the Tennessee. These boats were made each of two +raw hides, as large as could be got, sewed together, and each was +found capable of carrying about fifty guns, and one or two men. +They were capable of being rolled up and packed on mules or horses, +and could in a few moments be fully equipped and launched.</p> + +<p>All the parties being assembled, it was ascertained that there +were about six hundred, including Maj. Ore’s Rangers. As all but +his command were volunteers, who came out without any authority, +it was resolved to give Ore the nominal command of the whole +party, which would give color of authority to the party to make the +campaign, and would save them from the odium of making a lawless +invasion of the Indian country. Col. Whitley and Col. Mansco were, +however, the prime movers of the campaign, and had most of the +responsibility of its conduct. With the troops were more than a +dozen leading partisan officers, who had been distinguished in many +an Indian battle.</p> + +<p>On the 7th September, 1794, this formidable army of invasion +set out for Nickajack; and although the route had been unexplored, +and the mountains and river lay between them and their enemies, +they had counted the cost, fitted out their boats, and had resolved +to strike a blow that would teach the lawless Indians a severe lesson.</p> + +<p>The troops made a forced march, reached the Tennessee river just<span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</span> +after dark on the fourth day, and in thirty minutes had their rawhide +boats afloat in the river, ready to bear over the arms. They +immediately began to cross the river, landing a short distance below +the town of Nickajack. Most of the men swam over in perfect +silence, their arms and clothes being conveyed in the boats, and on +rafts rudely constructed of bundles of canes. In order to guide the +swimmers, a very small fire was kindled at the water’s edge, by the +party which first crossed. Out of six hundred, only two hundred +and thirty could be induced to cross over; some holding back because +they could not swim, and others because they were subject to +the cramp; while others, no doubt, reflecting upon the number of +the enemy, and the difficulty of a retreat when once across so wide a +river, did not feel quite willing “to stand the hazard of the die.” +But in the face of appalling dangers, some men showed a stout-heartedness +which might have done honor to the bravest of the +brave. A young man by the name of Joseph B. Porter, who could +not swim at all, tied an armful of dry canes together, and nothing +daunted, plunged into the rapid river, and kicked himself over in +safety. Young Brown, although still lame in one arm, from the +wound he had received in the Indian ambuscade, plunged into the +river, and swam safely over. At daylight there were two hundred +and thirty on the south bank of the Tennessee, within half a mile of +Nickajack, and yet they were undiscovered. Leaving Brown, with +twenty picked men, to guard the crossing of the creek, at the lower +end of the town, with instructions to meet them in the centre of the +town as soon as he heard their fire, the main body turned towards +the town, and came down upon it from above.</p> + +<p>Although Nickajack contained about three hundred warriors, they +were so completely surprised that they made little resistance; but +flying precipitately, took to their canoes, and attempted to cross the +river. Some fled to Running Water, and others secreted themselves +in the thickets. The whole town ran with blood. About seventy +warriors were slain, and a large number of women and children were +taken prisoners. Young Brown carried the lower end of the town +manfully, killing several warriors, and taking some prisoners. In<span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</span> +one instance, he killed an Indian warrior in single combat, and carried +away his scalp.</p> + +<p>As soon as Nickajack was taken, a detachment was sent to destroy +Running Water. On the way, the Indians met them, and after an +obstinate resistance, gave way, but not till they had wounded three +Americans, one of them, Joshua Thomas, mortally. Running Water +was also taken, and both towns immediately reduced to ashes. +Among the dead, Brown recognized the body of Breath, the generous +chief who had adopted him into his family when he was a +prisoner. In the towns, many articles of stolen property, which +were recognized as belonging to men who had been killed in Cumberland +Valley, were found. In addition to these, fresh scalps were +found in Nickajack, as well as a number of letters, taken by the Indians +from the mail-bags, after having killed the rider. They also +found a quantity of powder and lead, recently sent by the Spanish +government to these Indians.</p> + +<p>Never was a visitation of this kind so justly merited as it was by +these towns. They were the principal crossing-places for the war-parties +of Creeks, Shawnees, and Cherokees, who went to harass the +Cumberland and Kentucky settlements. But two days before their +destruction, a war dance was held there, at which were several Cherokee +chiefs, as well as Creeks, who had resolved to wage a still more +relentless war on the frontiers.</p> + +<p>While Brown could not but feel that the hand of Providence had +signally punished these towns for their outrage on his family, his +exultation was prevented by the death of his brother-in-law, Joshua +Thomas, a brave soldier and a kind, generous friend, who was the +only one slain by the enemy on this occasion.</p> + +<p>The prisoners recognized young Brown, and alarmed for their +safety, pleaded with him to save their lives, saying that his life had +once been spared by them. He assured them that they were in no +danger; that the white people never killed prisoners, women and +children.</p> + +<p>This blow was so unexpected and successful, that it inspired the +Cherokees with a sincere desire for peace, which they soon after<span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</span> +concluded, and never again violated. Soon after this affair, young +George Brown was liberated by the Creeks. Joseph returned home +and lived some years with his mother. He was devoted to business, +and of most exemplary conduct in every relation of life. He soon +attached himself to Rev. Thomas B. Craighead’s congregation, near +Hayesboro’, and was made an elder in the church.</p> + +<p>For several years, he and his mother and brothers memorialized +the Congress of the United States to reimburse them for the goods +and slaves taken from them in violation of the treaty of Hopewell. +But their claims were still unregarded, and still delayed, year after +year. In 1806, a treaty was finally concluded with the Indians +which opened all the lands on Duck river to the occupation of those +who had located their warrants there. Thus Mrs. Brown and her +children came into possession of a large and splendid tract of land +south of Columbia, to which she soon after removed with her son +Joseph.</p> + +<p>During the Creek war of 1812, a large number of Cherokee +Indians offered their services to Gen. Jackson against their red +brethren. Gen. Jackson immediately wrote to Joseph Brown, who +had lately been elected colonel by his neighbors, requesting him to +consent to command a regiment of Cherokee Indians. This he +promptly agreed to do, and started to join the army for that purpose. +He however, never took charge of the Indians, but served +with the army, as aid to Gen. Robards, as well as interpreter and +guide.</p> + +<p>He was thus a participant in the battle of Talladega, and had +the honor of leading and conducting a charge upon the most hotly +contested part of the Indian lines. During this campaign Brown +again met Charles Butler, the nephew of Kiachatalee, and learned +from him that the old Tuskegee chief, Cutty-a-toy, was still alive. +He learned also that he was then living on an island in the Tennessee +river, near the mouth of Elle river, and that he had with him +several negroes, the descendants of the woman taken by him at +Nickajack, on the 9th of May, 1788.</p> + +<p>Col. Brown had at that time a claim before Congress for the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</span> +value of those negroes, but had always been put off by reason of +some defect in the proof as to their value, or some other matter of +form. He now determined that, as his negroes were still in the +hands of the original wrong-doer, the Tuskegee chief, he would get +possession of them, and carry them home. He stated to General +Jackson the facts of the case, demanded of him and obtained an +order appointing a mixed commission of American and Cherokee +officers, to value the negroes of Cutty-a-toy. The Cherokees had +long been at peace with the whites, and were now in alliance with +them against the Creeks, and under such circumstances there was +friendly intercourse between them.</p> + +<p>With ten picked men, Brown proceeded to the island, went to +the head man’s lodge, exhibited to him Gen. Jackson’s order, and +demanded that Cutty-a-toy’s slaves should be immediately sent over +to Fort Hampton, to be valued, in pursuance of said order. The +head man sent for Cutty-a-toy, and it was immediately agreed that +all would go to the fort the next morning.</p> + +<p>The next morning, the negroes, Cutty-a-toy, his wife, and some +friends, went with Col. Brown to the Fort. In crossing the river +Brown and his men took up the negroes and Cutty-a-toy’s wife +behind them, to carry over the water, while the Indian men crossed +on a raft higher up.</p> + +<p>When he reached the fort he directed his men to proceed with +the negroes towards Ditto’s landing, while he turned into the fort +with Cutty-a-toy’s wife, to await the arrival of the Indians. He immediately +called on the commandant of the fort, Col. Williams, +stated the history of the case, the order of Gen. Jackson, the failure +of Congress to pay for the slaves, and the fact that they were now +in his possession; and frankly asked him what course he would +pursue, under the circumstances. “Take the negroes home with +you,” said the Colonel; “and if you wish to do it, and have not +men enough, I will give you more.”</p> + +<p>Upon the arrival of Cutty-a-toy and his followers, they were +invited into the fort, and Col. Brown made known to him that he +had sent the negroes off, but was willing for the commissioners to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</span> +proceed to value them. The Indian became enraged. At last, in +the midst of the garrison, officers and men, and the Indians, Col. +Brown gave a brief narrative of the murder of his father by Cutty-a-toy’s +party, the murder of his brothers, and the captivity of his +mother, small brother and sisters; of the capture of the slaves by +Cutty-a-toy, and his attempt on the life of Col. Brown himself, then +a boy at the house of the French trader; of his being saved at the +intercession of the trader’s wife, and the Indian’s desire to save the +life of his captive negro woman. “It is now,” said Col. Brown, +“nearly twenty-five years, and yet during all that time you have had +the negro and her children as your slaves, and they have worked +for you; and yet you got them by the murder of my father and +brothers! You made me an orphan and a beggar, when but for +you, I had begun the world with the smiles of a father, and the +comforts of a home provided by his care. For this wrong, this +crime, Cutty-a-toy, you deserve to die!”</p> + +<p>Here Cutty-a-toy hung his head, and said, “It is all true: do +with me as you please.”</p> + +<p>The soldiers who stood around, many of them the neighbors of +Col. Brown, said, “Kill him! he ought to die.” But Brown was +now a Christian, and had long since ceased to cherish feelings of +revenge against the savage murderer of his father.</p> + +<p>“No, no, Cutty-a-toy,” he proceeded, “although you deserve to +die, and at my hands, yet I will not kill you. If I did not worship +the Great Spirit who rules all things, I would slay you; but vengeance +is his, and I will leave you to answer to him for your crimes! +I will not stain my hands with your blood; you are now old, and +must soon go down to the grave, and answer to that Great Spirit +for the life you have led. Live and repent.”</p> + +<p>Here Cutty-a-toy assumed a bolder front, and said, by certain +treaties made in 1794, this property was guaranteed to him, and +that he would sue Brown in the Federal Courts, as some other +Indians named by him had done, in similar cases; but he finally +agreed, if Brown would give him a young negro fellow, he might<span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</span> +take the rest, including two women and some children, which was +generously done.</p> + +<p>Thus the fortunes of war, controlled by the steady perseverance +of her son, at length restored to Mrs. Brown a part of her long-lost +property. Many years afterwards, when Gen. Jackson became +President, Col. Brown finally obtained an allowance from Congress +for a part of the property lost by his father in 1788. In 1810, he +became a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and in +1823, a regular ordained minister of that Church.</p> + +<p>Having lived to the advanced age of ninety, and never having remarried, +but always making her home with her son Joseph, Mrs. +Brown left this world of vexation and sorrow, for such it had been +to her, at her son’s residence in Maury County, Tennessee. Hers was +a most eventful life, full of trials almost beyond human endurance; +yet she did not murmur, but tried to see in all her afflictions the +kind guidance of a wise Providence.</p> + +<p>George, soon after his release from captivity, emigrated to the +South, and after nearly fifty years’ honorable citizenship near Woodville, +Mississippi, died in the bosom of his family. The captive +daughter, Jane, whose release was due to the manly courage of her +youthful brother, was married to a Mr. Collingsworth, and became +with him a citizen of Texas as early as 1819, where her children yet +reside.</p> + +<p>The history possesses all the attractions of a romance; yet it is +but a plain sad story of trials and sufferings incident to the period +and to border life. The only survivor of that pioneer family +is the Rev. Joseph Brown, of Maury County, better known as Col. +Brown. From notes and memoranda furnished by him, the principal +details of this narrative have been written. It cannot fail to be +useful to the future historian of Tennessee, yet Haywood, in his +history of five hundred pages, only makes the following allusion +to the facts contained in this narrative. Speaking of the treaty of +peace made at Tellico, October 20, 1795, between the people of +Tennessee, and the Creeks and Cherokees, they (the Creeks,) says the +historian, “at this time delivered up Brown, son of Mrs. Brown,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</span> +formerly a prisoner in the Creek nation.” How inadequate is +such a notice to do justice either to the sufferings of Mrs. Brown +and her children, or to the generous protection of the Creek +chieftain to whom they were indebted for their deliverance! For +notwithstanding the “obloquy which both history and tradition +have thrown upon the characters of the Creek and Cherokee warriors, +some bright gleams occasionally break through, which throw +a melancholy lustre over their memories.” But a large portion of +the pioneer history of Tennessee has never been written. Replete +with incidents and heroic deeds which might challenge the admiration +of the world, yet all that has been written by Haywood and +others would scarcely serve as a thread to guide the future historian +through the labyrinth of events which crowded upon the infant +colonies of the Holston and the Cumberland.</p> + +<p class="gtb">******</p> + +<p>In 1792 the family of Joseph Wilson, who was a pioneer in the +Cumberland Valley, from Carolina, was living at Zeigler’s Station in +what is now Sumner County, Tennessee. This station was near +Cumberland River, a few miles from Bledsoe’s Lick, but being +nearer the frontier, was more exposed to the incursions of the Indians. +It was only a small picketted fort, with a blockhouse, and contained +but thirteen men, including a son of Wilson, not yet grown. +Near the fort was a small farm which was cultivated by the inmates +of the station. In the afternoon of the 26th of June, 1792, a large +party of Creek Indians assaulted the station, but after a severe contest +in which several of the defenders were killed and wounded, the +savages were repulsed. There being no surgeon in the party, a +messenger was despatched to a neighboring station for a physician +to attend the wounded, and for aid to repel any new assault which +might be made. Before either surgeon or aid arrived, however, the +Indians renewed the assault, and night coming on, they succeeded +in setting fire to the buildings, which spread with such rapidity, that +the assailed were compelled to decide between instant destruction by<span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</span> +the flames and a cruel and lingering death by the hands of the savages. +Five of the defenders were already slain, and four others +wounded. In this moment of extreme peril, Mrs. Wilson urged her +husband to attempt to break through the lines of the savages, and +make his escape. It was probable they would spare her life, and +those of her young children, but for him death was certain, unless +he could make his escape by a sudden sortie from the blockhouse. +Wilson hesitated, and feeling the horror of his situation, seemed to +prefer death with his family, to leaving his wife and children to the +cruelty of the foe; but his heroic wife urged him for her sake to +leave her, saying that she would be safer in the hands of the Indians +without him than with him. The same appeal was made to another +man who was unhurt, but he refused to leave the fort. But a few +minutes remained; the flames were sweeping over the roof of the +block-house, and the assailants stood around with rifles and their +hatchets to strike down any one who attempted to escape. In this +dreadful moment Wilson yielded to his wife’s entreaties, bade his son, +a lad fifteen or sixteen years of age, follow, and dashing boldly out of +the flaming building, was followed by his son. Several shots were +instantly fired, one of which took effect in Wilson’s foot, but father +and son passed beyond the lines of the assailants, pursued by yelling +savages as they fled. Becoming sick from the loss of blood, Wilson +secreted himself in a clump of bushes in the field, while his +son went on to obtain a horse from a neighboring field. As he lay +thus concealed some pursuing savages passed within a few feet of his +hiding-place, but fortunately missed him. The lurid flames of the +burning block-house, meanwhile, revealed, as he thought, the fate of +his wife and children.</p> + +<p>As soon as her son and husband had disappeared, Mrs. Wilson, +with an infant in her arms, and followed by five small children, the +eldest a lovely girl about ten years old, walked slowly out of the +block-house, expecting each instant to receive the fatal blow; but +yielding to a generous impulse and perhaps not unwilling to obtain +captives, who might be made slaves, the Indian warriors spared her +life, and made her and her children prisoners. All the rest of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</span> +inmates of the fort were killed or burned, except the man who had +been dispatched for succor and a surgeon, both of which failed to +arrive till the station was in ashes, and the assailants had retreated +towards their nation with their prisoners. Capt. Alfred Wilson, a +relation of Joseph Wilson, came with a party of friends to the help +of the besieged, but came only in time to discover the blackened +and charred bones of those who were burned.</p> + +<p>In the meantime, young Wilson obtained horses, returned to the +place of his father’s concealment, and after having with difficulty +placed him on one of the horses, conveyed him to Bledsoe’s Station. +A party of the soldiers hastily assembled, pursued, but did not overtake +the retreating savages, and thus Mrs. Wilson and her children +were carried, as captives, into the White Grounds, in the Upper +Creek Nation.</p> + +<p>In a few weeks Gov. Blount arrived at Nashville, and called into +service three hundred men, in order to defend the frontiers, but the +many women and children who were captives in the Creek Towns +were left to languish in a barbarous country.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Wilson was the sister of Col. White of Knoxville, and +through his interposition, after more than twelve months’ captivity, +was, with all her children (except her eldest daughter,) restored to +her home. Few persons can now imagine the painful suspense in +which Wilson and his wife spent that year of separation. An aged +pioneer matron,<a id="FNanchor_15" href="#Footnote_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> who resided near Bledsoe’s Lick during this period, +has said that Wilson seemed to her to have been the most unhappy +man in the world, during the year of his wife’s captivity.</p> + +<p>Although the family was now again restored to a happy reunion, +yet their home circle lacked one bright-eyed prattler, yet in slavery +and exile among her savage captors. It was not until after the +destruction of Nickajack and Running Water, that young Sally +Wilson was restored to the arms of her parents. And then how +changed! During her captivity, she had forgotten her own language +and her people, and for several months sighed for her forest +home! But soon regaining her language, with it came also the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</span> +remembrance of home and friends, and the home circle was again +complete.</p> + +<p>Mr. and Mrs. Wilson lived many years after this terrible experience +of pioneer life, and reared their children to usefulness and +honor. Many of their descendants yet reside in Tennessee, while +not a few, seeking a better home in the far West, have adventured, +like their sires, into the deep solitudes of the wilderness, where +they too may yet experience some of the dark trials of their +ancestors.</p> +<hr class="full"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="c7">VI.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="c sp lsp">MARY MOORE.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap large">Before</span> proceeding to sketches illustrating a later period, it will be +proper to take a view of the early condition of that portion of Virginia, +which, lying on the sunset side of the great range of mountains, +belonged to the West. De Hass, in his History of the Indian +Wars of Western Virginia, says that before 1749, the country was +untrodden by foot of white man, except occasional traders who may +have ventured on the heads of some of the tributary streams rising +in the Alleghany mountains. It is said that in this year a lunatic +wandered into the wilderness of the Greenbriar country, and on +returning home, told his friends he had discovered rivers flowing in +a westward direction. His report induced two pioneers to enter the +mountain wild, where they were found in 1751 by the agent for +the Greenbriar company. Further attempts to colonize the country +were not made for some years. The first permanent settlements by +Zane and Tomlinson, were at or near Wheeling; hardy emigrants +followed, and pushed into the fine regions along the Upper Monongahela. +When it became known that outposts were established on +the confines of civilization, hundreds pressed forward to join the +adventurous settlers, and secure homes in the forest domain.</p> + +<p>“The escape of Mrs. Denis, who had been taken captive in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</span> +James river settlement, in 1761, presents a parallel to narratives of +female captives in the early history of the settlement of New +England. Her husband having been slain, after being taken +captive, the Indians took her over the mountains and through the +forests to the Chilicothe towns north of the Ohio. There she +seemed to conform to their ways, painted and dressed herself, and +lived as a squaw. Added to this, she gained fame by attending to +the sick, both as a nurse and a physician; and became so celebrated +for her cures, as to obtain from that superstitious people the reputation +of being a necromancer, and the honor paid to a person +supposed to have power with the Great Spirit.</p> + +<p>“In 1763 she left them, under the pretext of obtaining medicinal +herbs, as she had often done before. Not returning at night, her +object was suspected, and she was pursued. To avoid leaving +traces of her path, she crossed the Scioto three times, and was +making her fourth crossing forty miles below the towns, when she +was discovered, and fired upon without effect. But in the speed of +her flight, she wounded her foot with a sharp stone, so as to be +unable to proceed. The Indians had crossed the river, and were +just behind her. She eluded their pursuit by hiding in a hollow +sycamore log. They frequently stepped on the log that concealed +her, and encamped near it for the night. Next morning they proceeded +in their pursuit of her; and she started in another direction +as fast as her lameness would permit, but was obliged to remain +near that place three days. She then set off for the Ohio, over +which she rafted herself at the mouth of the Great Kanawha, on a +drift log; travelling only by night through fear of discovery, and +subsisting only on roots, wild fruits, and the river shell-fish. She +reached the Green Briar, having passed forests, rivers, and mountains, +for more than three hundred miles. Here she sank down +exhausted, and resigned herself to die, when providentially she was +discovered by some of the people of that settlement, and hospitably +treated at one of their habitations.”<a id="FNanchor_16" href="#Footnote_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a></p> + +<p>The settlement was made to suffer severely for this hospitable act.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</span> +“A party of fifty or sixty Shawanese, coming under the garb of +friendship, suddenly fell upon the men, butchering every one of +them, and made captives of the women and children. They next +visited the Levels, where Archibald Clendenin had erected a rude +block-house, and where were gathered quite a number of families—and +were here again entertained with hospitality. Mr. Clendenin +had just brought in three fine elk, upon which the savages feasted +sumptuously. One of the inmates was a decrepid old woman, +with an ulcerated limb; she undressed the member, and asked the +Indian if he could cure it. ‘Yes,’ he replied; and immediately +sunk his tomahawk into her head. This was the signal, and instantly +every man in the house was put to death.</p> + +<p>“The cries of the women and children alarmed a man in the +yard, who escaped and reported the circumstances to the settlement +at Jackson’s river. The people were loth to believe him, but were +soon convinced, for the savages appeared, and many of the flying +families were massacred without mercy. The prisoners were then +marched off in the direction of the Ohio. Mrs. Clendenin proved +herself in that trying moment a woman fit to be one of the mothers +of the West. Indignant at the treachery and cowardly conduct of +the wretches, she did not fail to abuse them from the chief down, in +the most unmeasured manner. The savages, to intimidate her, +would flap the bloody scalp of her dead husband against her face, +and significantly twirl their tomahawks above her head, but still the +courageous woman talked to them like one who felt her injuries and +resolved to express the feeling. On the day after her captivity, she +had an opportunity to escape, and giving her infant to a woman, +slipped unobserved into a thicket. The child soon beginning to +cry, one of the Indians inquired concerning the mother; but getting +no satisfactory reply, swore he would ‘bring the cow to the calf,’ +and taking the infant by the heels dashed out its brains against a +tree. Mrs. Clendenin returned to her desolate home, and secured +the remains of her husband from the rapacious jaws of the wild +animals with which the woods abounded. It is stated that a black +woman, in escaping from Clendenin’s house, killed her own child to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</span> +prevent its cries attracting the attention of the savages. Such were +some of the horrid realities endured by the first settlers of Western +Virginia.”<a id="FNanchor_17" href="#Footnote_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a></p> + +<p>Early in 1778, an attack was made on a block-house in the +country of the Upper Monongahela. The children allowed to play +outside, discovered Indians, and running in, gave the alarm. “John +Murphy stepped to the door, when one of the Indians, turning the +corner of the house, fired at him. The ball took effect, and +Murphy fell into the house. The Indian springing in, was grappled +by Harbert, and thrown on the floor. A shot from without +wounded Harbert, yet he continued to maintain his advantage +over the prostrate savage, striking him as effectually as he could +with his tomahawk, when another gun was fired from without, the +ball passing through his head. His antagonist then slipped out at +the door, badly wounded in the encounter.</p> + +<p>“Just after the first Indian entered, an active young warrior, +holding a tomahawk with a long spike at the end, came in. +Edward Cunningham instantly drew up his gun, but it flashed, and +they closed in doubtful strife. Both were active and athletic; each +put forth his strength, and strained every nerve to gain the ascendency. +For awhile the issue seemed doubtful. At length, by +great exertion, Cunningham wrenched the tomahawk from the +hand of the Indian, and buried the spike end to the handle in his +back. Mrs. Cunningham closed the contest. Seeing her husband +struggling with the savage, she struck at him with an axe. The +edge wounding his face severely, he loosened his hold, and made +his way out of the house. The third Indian who had entered +before the door was closed, presented an appearance almost as +frightful as the object he had in view. He wore a cap made of the +unshorn front of a buffalo, with the ears and horn still attached, +and hanging loosely about his head. On entering the room, this +hideous monster aimed a blow with his tomahawk at Miss Reece, +which inflicted a severe wound on her hand. The mother, seeing +the uplifted weapon about to descend on her daughter, seized the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</span> +monster by the horns; but his false head coming off, she did not +succeed in changing the direction of the weapon. The father then +caught hold of him; but far inferior in strength, he was thrown on +the floor, and would have been killed, but for the interference of +Cunningham, who having cleared the house of one Indian, wheeled +and struck his tomahawk into the head of the other. During all +this time, the door was kept secure by the women. The Indians +from without endeavored several times to force it, and would at one +time have succeeded; but just as it was yielding, the Indian who +had been wounded by Cunningham and his wife, squeezed out, +causing a momentary relaxation of their efforts, and enabled the +women again to close it.</p> + +<p>“On the 11th of April some Indians visited the house of William +Morgan, on Bunker’s bottom. They killed his mother and two or +three others, and took the wife and her child prisoners. On their +way home, coming near Pricket’s fort, they bound Mrs. Morgan to a +bush, and went in quest of a horse for her to ride, leaving the child +with her. She succeeded in untying with her teeth the bands +which confined her, and wandered all that day and part of the next, +before she came within sight of the fort. Here she was kindly +treated, and in a few days sent home.”</p> + +<p>Early in March, 1781, a party of Indians came to the house of +Capt. John Thomas, on one of the branches of the Monongahela. +He was a pious man, and was engaged in family worship, surrounded +by his wife and seven children, when the Indians approached his +cabin. Anticipating no attack, he had not secured his house so well +as was his custom, for the season had not advanced sufficiently to +cause alarm. He had just repeated a line of the hymn</p> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Go worship at Immanuel’s feet,”</div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + + +<p>when the savages fired; the Christian father fell dead, and the murderers +forcing the door, entered and commenced the work of death. +Mrs. Thomas implored their mercy, but the tomahawk did its work, +till the mother and six children lay weltering in blood by the side<span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</span> +of the slaughtered father. They then proceeded to scalp the fallen +and plunder the house, and departed, taking with them one little +boy, a prisoner.</p> + +<p>“Elizabeth Juggins, whose father had been murdered the preceding +year in that neighborhood, was at the house when the Indians +came; but as soon as she heard the report of the gun and saw +Capt. Thomas fall, she threw herself under the bed, and escaped the +observation of the savages. After they had completed the work of +blood and left the house, fearing that they might be lingering near, +she remained in that concealment till the house was found to be on fire. +When she crawled forth from her asylum, Mrs. Thomas was still +alive, though unable to move, and casting a pitying glance towards +her murdered infant, asked that it might be handed to her. On +seeing Miss Juggins about to leave the house, she exclaimed ‘Oh +Betsey, don’t leave us!’ Still anxious for her own safety, the girl +rushed out, and taking refuge for the night between two logs, in the +morning early spread the alarm. When the scene of these enormities +was visited, Mrs. Thomas was found in the yard, much mangled +by the tomahawk and considerably torn by hogs; she had perhaps, +in the struggle of death, thrown herself out at the door. The house, +with Capt. Thomas and the children, was a heap of ashes.”</p> + +<p>On the 29th of June, 1785, the house of Mr. Scott, a citizen of +Washington County, Virginia, was attacked, and he and four children +butchered on the spot. He and the family had retired, except +Mrs. Scott, who was undressing, when the painted savages rushed in +and commenced the work of death. “Scott being awake, jumped +up, but was immediately fired at; he forced his way through the +midst of the enemy and got out of the door, but fell; an Indian +seized Mrs. Scott, and ordered her not to move from a particular +spot; others stabbed and cut the throats of the three younger children +in their bed, and afterwards lifting them up, dashed them upon +the floor, near the mother. The eldest, a beautiful girl eight years +old, sprang out of bed, ran to her parent, and in the most plaintive +accents cried ‘O, mamma, mamma! save me!’ The mother, in the +deepest anguish of spirit, and with a flood of tears, entreated the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</span> +savages to spare her child; but with brutal ferocity they tomahawked +and stabbed her in the mother’s arms. Near Scott’s dwelling +lived another family of the name of Ball: the Indians attacked +them at the same time; the door being shut, they fired into the +house through an opening between two logs, and killed a young +lad; they then tried to force the door, but a surviving brother fired +through and drove them off; the rest of the family ran out of the +house and escaped. In Scott’s house were four good rifles, well +loaded, and a good deal of clothing and furniture, part of which +belonged to people that had left it on their way to Kentucky. The +Indians, thirteen in number, loaded themselves with the plunder, +then speedily made off, and continued travelling all night. Next +morning their chief allotted to each man his share, and detached nine +of the party to steal horses from the inhabitants at Clinch river.</p> + +<p>“The eleventh day after Mrs. Scott’s captivity, the four Indians who +had her in charge stopped at a place of rendezvous to hunt. Three +went out, and the chief being an old man, was left to take care of +the prisoner, who by this time expressed a willingness to proceed to +the Indian towns, which seemed to have the desired effect of loosening +her keeper’s vigilance. In the daytime, as the old man was +graning a deer skin, the captive, pondering on her situation, and +anxiously looking for an opportunity to make her escape, took the +resolution, and went to the Indian carelessly, asking liberty to go a +small distance to a stream of water, to wash the blood off her apron, +which had remained besmeared since the fatal night of the murder +of her little daughter. He said in English—‘Go along;’ she then +passed by him, his face being in a contrary direction from that she +was going, and he very busy. After getting to the water, she went +on without delay towards a high, barren mountain, and travelled +until late in the evening, when she came down into the valley in +search of the track she had been taken along, hoping thereby to find +the way back without the risk of being lost and perishing with +hunger in uninhabited parts. That night she made herself a bed +with leaves, and the next day resumed her wanderings. Thus did +the poor woman continue, from day to day, and week to week,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</span> +wandering in the trackless wilderness. Finally, on the eleventh of +August, she reached a settlement on Clinch River known as New +Garden.</p> + +<p>“Mrs. Scott related, that during her wanderings from the 10th +of July to the 11th of August, she had no other means of subsistence +than chewing and swallowing the juice of young cane, sassafras, +and some plants she did not know the name of; that on her journey +she saw buffaloes, elk, deer, and frequently bears and wolves, +not one of which, although some passed very near, offered to do her +the least harm. One day a bear came near her with a young fawn +in his mouth, and on discovering her, dropped his prey and ran off. +Hunger prompted her to try and eat the flesh, but on reflection, she +desisted, thinking the bear might return and devour her; besides, +she had an aversion to raw meat. She long continued in a low +state of health, and remained inconsolable for the loss of her family, +particularly bewailing the cruel death of her little daughter.”</p> + +<p>One of the most melancholy occurrences on Wheeling Creek was +the murder of two sisters—the Misses Crow. Three of them left +their parents’ house for an evening walk along the shaded banks of +a beautiful stream—the Dunkard, or lower fork of the Creek. +“Their walk extended over a mile, and they were just turning back, +when suddenly several Indians sprang from behind a ledge of rock, +and seized all three of the sisters. They led the captives a short +distance up a bank, when a halt was called, and a parley took place. +It seems that some of the Indians were in favor of immediate +slaughter, while others were disposed to carry them into permanent +captivity. Unfortunately the arm of mercy was powerless. Without +a moment’s warning, a fierce looking savage stepped from the +group with elevated tomahawk, and commenced the work of death. +This Indian, said the surviving sister, ‘began to tomahawk Susan; +she dodged her head to one side, the weapon taking effect in +her neck, cutting the large neck vein; the blood gushing out a yard’s +length. The Indian who had her by the hand jumped back to +avoid the blood. The other Indian then began the work of death +on my sister Mary. I gave a sudden jerk and got loose from the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</span> +one that held me, ran with all speed and took up a steep bank, +gaining the top safely. Just as I caught hold of a hush to help +myself up, the Indian fired, and the ball passed through the clump +of hair on my head, slightly breaking the skin; the Indian taking +round to meet me as I would strike the path that led homeward. +But I ran right from home, and hid myself in the bushes near the +top of the hill. Presently I saw an Indian passing along the hill +below me; I lay still until he was out of sight, and then made for +home.’” This third sister was Christina, afterwards Mrs. John +McBride, of Carlisle, Monroe County, Ohio.</p> + +<p>“Early on the morning of the 27th of March, 1789, two Indians +appeared on the premises of Mr. Glass, residing a few miles back of +the present town of Wellsburgh. Mrs. Glass was alone in the +house, except an infant and a small black girl; was engaged in +spinning, and had sent her negro woman to the woods for sugar +water. In a few moments she returned, screaming at the top of her +voice, ‘Indians! Indians!’ Mrs. Glass jumped up, and running first +to the window and then to the door, attempted to escape; but an +Indian met her and presented his gun; she caught hold of the +muzzle, turned it aside, and begged him not to kill her. The other +Indian in the meantime caught the negro woman and brought her +into the house. They then opened a chest and took out a small +box and some articles of clothing, and without doing any further +damage, departed with their prisoners. After proceeding about a +mile and a half, they halted and held a consultation, as she supposed, +to kill the children; this she understood to be the subject by +their gestures. To one of the Indians who could speak English, +she held out her little boy and begged him not to kill him, as he +would make a fine chief after a while. The Indian made a motion +for her to walk on with the child. The other Indian then struck +the negro child with the pipe end of his tomahawk, which knocked +it down, and then, by a blow with the edge across the back of the +neck, despatched it. About four o’clock they reached the river, a +mile above the creek, and carried a canoe which had been thrown +up in some drift wood, into the river. They got into this canoe and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</span> +worked it down to the mouth of Rush run, about five miles; pulled +the canoe into the mouth of the stream as far as they could, and +going up the run about a mile, encamped for the night. The +Indians gave the prisoners all their own clothes for covering, and +one of them added his own blanket; shortly before daylight the Indians +got up, and put another blanket over them. The black woman +complained much on account of the loss of her child, and they +threatened if she did not desist, to kill her.</p> + +<p>“About sunrise they commenced their march up a very steep hill +and at two o’clock halted on Short creek, about twenty miles from +the place whence they set out in the morning. The spot had been +an encampment shortly before as well as a place of deposit for the +plunder which they had recently taken from the house of Mr. Vanmeter, +whose family had been killed. The plunder was deposited +in a sycamore tree. They had tapped some sugar trees when there +before, and now kindled a fire and put on a brass kettle, with a +turkey which they had killed on the way, to boil in sugar water.</p> + +<p>“Mr. Glass was working with a hired man in a field about a +quarter of a mile from the house, when his wife and family were +taken, but knew nothing of the event till noon. After searching +about the place, and going to several families in quest of his family, +he went to Well’s Fort, collected ten men, and that night lodged in +a cabin, on the bottom on which the town of Wellsburg now +stands. Next morning they discovered the place where the Indians +had taken the canoe from the drift, and their tracks at the place of +embarkation. Mr. Glass could distinguish the track of his wife by +the print of the high heel of her shoe. They crossed the river and +went down on the other side until they came near the mouth of +Rush run; but discovering no tracks of the Indians, most of the +men concluded they would go to the mouth of the Muskingum by +water, and therefore wished to turn back. Mr. Glass begged them +to go as far as the mouth of Short Creek, which was only two or +three miles; and to this they agreed. When they got to the +mouth of Rush run, they found the canoe of the Indians. This +was identified by a proof which shows the presence of mind of Mrs.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</span> +Glass. While passing down the river, one of the Indians threw +into the water several papers which he had taken out of Mr. Glass’s +trunk; some of these she carelessly picked up, and under pretence +of giving them to the child dropped them into the bottom of the +canoe. These left no doubt. The trail of the Indians and their +prisoners up the run to their camp, and then up the river hill, was +soon discovered.</p> + +<p>“About an hour after the Indians had halted. Glass and his men +came in sight of their camp. The object then was to save the lives +of the prisoners by attacking the Indians so unexpectedly as not to +allow time to kill them. With this view they crept along till they +got within one hundred yards of the camp. Fortunately, Mrs. +Glass’s little son had gone to a sugar tree, but not being able to get +the water, his mother had stepped out to get it for him. The negro +woman was sitting some distance from the two Indians, who were +looking attentively at a scarlet jacket which they had taken some +time before. On a sudden they dropped the jacket, and turned +their eyes towards the men, who, supposing they were discovered, +immediately discharged several guns and rushed upon them at full +speed, with an Indian yell. One of the Indians, it was supposed, +was wounded the first fire, as he fell and dropped his gun and shot +pouch. After running about one hundred yards, a second shot was +fired after him, which brought him to his hands and knees; but +there was no time for pursuit, as the Indians had informed Mrs. +Glass that there was another encampment close by. The other +Indian at the first fire, ran a short distance beyond Mrs. Glass, so +that she was in a right line between him and the white men; this +artful manœuvre no doubt saved his life, as his pursuers could not +shoot at him without risking the life of the white woman.”</p> + +<p>The party reached Beach Bottom fort that night. Mrs. Glass +subsequently married a Mr. Brown, and was long a resident of +Brooke County.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</span></p> + +<p>“In the burying-ground of New Providence, in Rockbridge +County, Virginia, there is a grave, surpassing in interest all surrounding +graves. It is by the side of the resting-place of the +pastor of the people who worshipped in the neighboring church. +Its inhabitant once walked by his side a cherished one.<a id="FNanchor_18" href="#Footnote_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> His +deep blue, sunken eye, that flashed so fiercely in moments of indignation, +always beamed sweetly into her full, jet-black orbs, that +could do nothing but smile or weep. But those smiles and tears +charmed equally the savages in the wilderness, and Christian people +of Providence.</p> + +<p>“The maiden name of this woman was Mary Moore. The +melancholy romance of her early days, and the Christian excellence +of her mature and closing years, make her memory immortal. The +history of the destruction of the retired dwelling of her father—his +murder, with that of two brothers and a sister on a fair summer’s +morning—the captivity of her mother and herself, with a brother +and two sisters, and a hired girl, the murder of the brother and one +sister on the way to the wigwam homes of their captors—the +death by fire and torture of her mother and remaining sister—the +rescue of herself and the hired girl, together with a brother, the +captive of a former year, and their return to their relatives in +Virginia—combines in one story all the events impending over the +emigrant families taking possession of the rivers and valleys of +Western Virginia.”</p> + +<p>James Moore, whose father, of Scottish ancestry, had emigrated +from Ireland to Pennsylvania, and thence to Virginia, married +Martha Poage, and Mary, his second daughter, was born in his new +home in a valley on the waters of the Blue Stone, a branch of New +River. It was called “Apps’ Valley,” from Absalom Looney, a +hunter, “supposed to be the first white man who disturbed the +solitude, or beheld the beauty of the narrow low grounds luxuriating<span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</span> +in the pea vine and sweet myrrh. The surrounding and distant +scenery partook both of the grand and the beautiful. To Mr. +Moore, the valley was enchanting; and being out of the track of +the savages in their war incursions eastward, it seemed secure +equally from the vexations of the civilized and the savage.</p> + +<p>“Mr. Looney, the hunter, built his cabin a mile lower down the +creek; John Poage about two and a half miles above; and a number +of cabins were scattered about as convenience or fancy dictated. +Mr. Moore’s highest expectations in raising stock were realized. +Assisted by Simpson, he soon became possessor of a hundred head +of horses, and a large number of horned cattle, which found pasturage +sufficient for both summer and winter, with little aid or care +from man. His dream of safety was broken. The wily savage +discovered the white man’s track, and the white man’s cabin west of +those Alleghanies, which they resolved should be an everlasting barrier +between their homes in Ohio to which they had fled, and the hated +whites who held the corn-fields and hunting-grounds of their +fathers and their race, between those great mountains and the +Atlantic shores.</p> + +<p>“To revenge this encroachment, the savages commenced their +depredations, and compelled isolated families, summer after summer, +to betake themselves to forts and stockades for their mutual +defence. On one occasion a number of men being at the house +of Mr. John Poage, one of them, on stepping out after nightfall, +observed to his companions that a good look-out ought to be kept +for Indians that night, for he heard an unusual noise, as of the hooting +of owls, which he supposed to be the signal of Indians approaching +the house from different quarters. About midnight the house +was surrounded by savages; but finding the doors secured and the +inmates on the watch, the Indians retired without committing any +depredations. One of the party in the house seized a gun, not his +own, unaware that it was double triggered, pressed the muzzle +through the cracks of the cabin against the body of a savage who +was slily examining the state of things within, and in his eagerness +to discharge the piece broke both the triggers, and the savage<span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</span> +escaped. All was stillness both within and without the house; +such was the nature of savage warfare. Mr. Poage and most of the +families now retired from this advanced position to the more secure +neighborhoods in Rockbridge, Botetourt and Montgomery, while +Mr. Moore and a few others remained.</p> + +<p>“Mr. Moore was a man of courage; he loved the solitude and +sweetness of the valley, and would not retreat through any fear of +the hostile Indians. Five children were added to his family in this +valley, making the number nine. Of these Mary, the fifth, was +born in the year 1777, and passed the first nine years of her life in +alternate solitude and alarms. On the 7th of September, 1784, +James, then fourteen years of age, was sent to Poage’s deserted +settlement to procure a horse for the purpose of going to the mill +about twelve miles distant, through a dreary wilderness. He did +not return, and the anxious search discovered trails of savages. In +time the hope he had hidden in the woods or fled to some distant +habitation, gave way to the sad conviction that his fate for life or +death had been committed to the hands of barbarians. This bereavement +grieved, but did not subdue the heart of the father, who +resolutely, almost stubbornly, maintained his position. After some +time, a letter was received from Kentucky, giving him information +of his lost son, then supposed to be in or near Detroit. Before any +effective steps could be taken for his recovery, another and more +mournful scene was enacted in Apps’ Valley, awfully contrasting with +the grandeur and beauty of surrounding nature, and the domestic +peace and piety of Moore’s dwelling.</p> + +<p>“The morning of the 14th July, 1786, a party of Indians came +up Sandy River, crossed over to the head of Clinch, passed near +where Tazewell Court-house now is, murdered a Mr. Davison and +wife, and burned their dwelling, and passed on hastily to Apps’ Valley, +before any alarm could be given. A little spur puts out from the +mountain, and gradually sloping towards the creek, about three +hundred yards before it sinks into the low grounds, divides; at the +extremity of one division stood Moore’s house, and near the other +the trough at which he was accustomed to salt his horses. At the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</span> +time of the greatest peril all seemed most secure. It was harvest +time; and there were two men assisting Mr. Moore in his harvest. +The guns were discharged on the preceding evening, to be reloaded +some time in the morning. Simpson lay sick in the loft; the men +had repaired early to the wheat-field, to reap till breakfast time; +Moore was engaged in salting his horses; his wife busied in her +domestic concerns, and two of the children at the spring. Suddenly +the savage yell was heard, and two parties rushed from their hiding-places +on the ridge, the one down the slope to the house, and the +other towards Mr. Moore. Two children, Rebecca and William, +were shot dead near the salt block, on their return from the spring, +and the third, Alexander, near the house. Mary rushed in, and the +door was shut and barred against the approaching savages by Mrs. +Moore and Martha Ivans, a member of the family, just in time to +present their entrance. Mr. Moore finding himself intercepted by +the Indians at the house, ran on through the small lot that surrounded +it, and on climbing the fence, paused and turned, and in a +moment was pierced with seven bullets. Springing from the fence, +he ran a few paces, fell and expired. The two men in the harvest-field, +seeing the house surrounded by a large company of savages, +fled and escaped unharmed. Martha Ivans seized two of the guns, +and ran upstairs to the sick man, Simpson, calling on him to shoot +through the crevices; but the poor man had already received his +death-wound from a bullet aimed from without. Two stout dogs +defended the door most courageously, till the fiercest was shot. +Martha Ivans and Mary Moore secreted themselves under a part of +the floor, taking with them the infant Margaret; but the sobbings +of the alarmed child forbade concealment. Should Mary place the +child upon the floor, and conceal herself? or share its fate? She +could not abandon her little sister even in that perilous moment, +and left her hiding-place and her companion. The Indians were +now cutting at the door and threatening fire. Mrs. Moore perceiving +that her faithful sentinels were silenced, Simpson expiring, and +her husband dead, collected her four children, and kneeling down, +committed them to God; then rose, and unbarred the door.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</span></p> + +<p>“After all resistance had ceased, the Indians, satisfied with the +blood that had been shed, took Mrs. Moore and her four children, +John, Jane, Mary, and Margaret, prisoners; and having plundered +to their satisfaction, set fire to the dwelling. Martha Ivans crept +from the approaching flames, and again concealed herself beneath a +log that lay across the little stream near the dwelling. While +catching a few of the horses, one of the Indians crossed the log +under which she was secreted, and sat down upon the end of it. +The girl seeing him handle the lock of his gun, and supposing he +had discovered and was about to fire upon her, came out, to the +great surprise of the savage—for he had not seen her, and to his +great apparent joy delivered herself a captive. In a short time the +Indians were on their march with their captives to their Shawnee +towns in Ohio. The two men who escaped, hastened to the nearest +family, a distance of six miles, and as soon as possible spread +the alarm among the settlements; but before the armed men could +reach the spot, the ruin was complete, and the depredators far on +their way to Ohio.</p> + +<p>“After the horrible events of the morning, perhaps the mother +wept not when the captors, dissatisfied with the delicate appearance +and slow travelling of her weak-minded and feeble-bodied son +John, despatched him at a blow, and hid him from the sight of +pursuers. The hours of night passed slowly and sorrowfully as the +four captives, all females, lay upon the ground, each tied to a warrior, +who slept tomahawk in hand, to prevent a re-capture, should +they be overtaken by the pursuing whites. On the third day a new +cup of sorrow was put into the mother’s hand. The infant Margaret, +whom Mary could not part with, had been spared to the +mother; the Indians even assisting in carrying it. On the third +day it became very fretful from a wound it had received on its cheek; +irritated by its crying, a savage seized it, and dashing its head +against a tree, tossed it into the bushes. The company moved on +in silence; the sisters dared not, the mother would not, lament the +fate of the helpless loved one.</p> + +<p>“After some twenty days of wearisome travel down the Sandy<span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</span> +and Ohio Rivers, they came to the Scioto; here the Indians showed +Mrs. Moore some hieroglyphics on the trees representing three +Indians and a captive white boy; this boy, they told her, was her +son whom they had captured in their expedition two years before, +who had been here with them, and was still a captive. The +prisoners were then taken to their towns, near where Chilicothe now +stands, and were kindly received. After a few days a council was +called, and an aged Indian made a long speech dissuading from war; +the warriors shook their heads and retired. This old man took +Mary Moore to his wigwam, treated her with great kindness, and +appeared to commiserate her condition. In a short time a party of +Cherokees, who had made an unsuccessful expedition in the western +part of Pennsylvania, on their return home passed by the Shawnee +towns, and stopped where Mrs. Moore and her daughter Jane were. +Irritated at their ill success, and the loss of some of their warriors, +the sight of these prisoners excited an irresistible thirst for revenge. +While the Shawnees were revelling with liquor, the Cherokees +seized the mother and daughter, and condemned them to the torture +by fire and death at the stake. Their sufferings were protracted +through three days of agony. The uncomplaining mother +comforted her poor dying child with gospel truth and exhortation, +and died with a meekness that astounded the savages. The +Shawnees never approved of this gratuitous act of cruelty, and +always expressed unwillingness to converse about it.</p> + +<p>“When Mrs. Moore and her children, as captives, left their habitation +in App’s Valley, Mary took two New Testaments which she +carried through all her wearisome journey to the Scioto; one of +them was taken from her by the young savages, and the other was +her companion through the days of her bondage. The old Indian +who showed her kindness on arriving at the towns, would often call +her to his side and make her read to him, that he might hear ‘the +book speak;’ and when any of the young Indians attempted to +hide it from her, as they often did, he interposed with sternness and +compelled them to restore it.</p> + +<p>“The two girls remained with the Shawnees till the fall of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</span> +year 1788, being kept as property of value without any definite +object. Contentions sometimes arose among the Indians about the +right of ownership; and in times of intoxication, death was threatened +as the only means of ending the quarrel. Whenever these threats +were made, some of the sober Indians gave the girls the alarm in +time for their secreting themselves. While free from the influence +of drink, the Indians expressed great fondness for the girls, particularly +the little black-eyed, golden-haired Mary.</p> + +<p>“The Shawnees continuing to be very troublesome to the frontiers, +in the fall of 1788 an expedition was fitted out to destroy their +towns on the Scioto. The Indians were informed by the traders of +the design and departure of the expedition, and watched its progress. +On its near approach they deserted their towns, secreting +their little property, and carrying their wives and children and aged +ones beyond the reach of the enemy. Mary Moore revolved in her +mind the probable chances of concealing herself in the forests until +the arrival of the forces, and thus obtaining her liberty; and was +deterred from the attempt by the reflection that the season was late, +and possibly the forces might not arrive before winter. Late in +November the American forces reached the Scioto, burned the +Shawnee towns, destroyed their winter provisions as far as they +could be found, and immediately returned home. After the departure +of the forces the Indians returned to their ruined towns, and +winter setting upon them, deprived of shelter, their extreme sufferings +compelled them to seek for aid in Canada. On the journey +to Detroit they endured the extremes of hunger and cold. Martha +Ivans and Mary Moore with few garments, traversed the forests +with deer-skin moccasins, the only covering for their feet in the deep +snows. Not unfrequently they awoke in the morning covered with +the snow that had fallen during the night; once the depth of their +snowy covering was twelve or fourteen inches, their only bed or +protection, besides the bushes heaped together, being their single +blanket. On reaching Detroit the Indians gave themselves to riotous +drinking, and to indulge this appetite sold their young captives. +Mary was purchased for half a gallon of rum, by a person named<span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</span> +Stogwell, who lived at Frenchtown; Martha by a man in the neighborhood +of Detroit. Being soon after released she took up her residence +with a wealthy and worthy English family by the name of +Donaldson, and received wages for her services. The purchaser of +Mary neither liberated her, nor expressed any kindness for her, but +employed her as a servant, with poor clothing and scanty fare. The +circumstances of her redemption and return to her friends in Virginia, +are related by her brother James Moore, in the narrative of +his own captivity and redemption.” This presents so faithful a +picture of Indian captivity, that we shall extract part of it before +resuming the history of Mary.</p> + +<p>“My father sent me to a waste plantation about two miles and a +quarter up the valley, to get a horse to go to mill. I came within a +few paces of the field, when suddenly the Indians sprang out from +behind a large log; and being before alarmed, I screamed with all +my might. The Indian that took me, laid his hand on the top of +my head and bade me hush. There were only three Indians in the +company. Their leader, Black Wolf, a middle-aged man, of the +most stern countenance I ever beheld, about six feet high, having a +long black beard, was the one who caught hold of me.</p> + +<p>“In a few moments we started on our journey. The Indians +went up into the thicket where their kettle and blankets were hid, +covered up in the leaves, and took them. We travelled down a +creek called Tugg, the north fork of Sandy, that afternoon about +eight miles. The walking was very laborious on account of the +high weeds, green briers, logs, and the mountainous character of the +country. At night we lay down in a laurel thicket without fire or +anything to eat. The night was rainy. I lay beside Black Wolf, +with a leading halter round my neck tied very tight, and the other +end wrapped round his hands, so as to make it very secure, and so +that I could not get away without waking him. He had also +searched me very carefully to see that I had no knife. During the +afternoon the two young Indians walked before; I next to them, +and old Wolf followed; and if any sign was made he would remove +it with his tomahawk, so that there might be no marks or traces of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</span> +the way we had gone. I frequently broke bushes, which he discovered +and shook his tomahawk over my head, giving me to understand +that if I did not desist he would strike me with it. I then +would scratch the ground with my feet; this he also discovered and +made me desist; and showed me how to set my feet flat so as not to +make any special marks. It then became necessary for me to cease +any efforts to make a trail for others to follow. About sun-down +Old Wolf gave a tremendous war whoop, and another the next morning +at sunrise. This was repeated every evening at sun-down, and +every morning at sunrise, during our whole journey. It was long, +loud, and shrill, signifying that he had one prisoner. The custom +is to repeat it as frequently as the number of prisoners. This whoop +is different from the one they make when they have scalps.</p> + +<p>“In the evening of September 9th, we encamped for the night +under a projecting cliff, and here for the first time kindled a fire. +Old Wolf took the precaution of cutting a number of bushes and +bending them outward from our encampment so as to embarrass +any one approaching us, if we had been pursued. The next day +they killed a lean bear, but so very lean they would not eat of it; +so we were still without food. Several times during the days of our +fasting, the Indians went to the north side of a poplar, and cut off +some of the bark near the root, pounded it, and put it in the kettle +and put water on it; this we drank occasionally, which seemed to +have a salutary effect in relieving the sufferings of hunger.</p> + +<p>“We killed buffalo and deer as we stood in need, till we arrived +(Sept. 29th) at the towns over the Ohio, on the head waters of Mud +River, which took us about twenty-two days’ travelling. I travelled +the whole route barefooted, and frequently walked over large rattlesnakes, +but was not suffered to kill or interrupt them, the Indians +considering them their friends.</p> + +<p>“We crossed the Ohio, between the mouths of Guyandotte and +Big Sandy, on a raft made of dry logs tied together with grape vines. +On the banks of the Scioto we lay by one day, and the Indians +made pictures on the trees of three Indians and of me; intended as +hieroglyphics to represent themselves and me as their prisoner,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</span> +These they afterwards showed to my sister. Near this, Old Wolf +went off and procured some bullets which he had secreted.</p> + +<p>“When we were within a short distance of the towns, the Indians +blacked themselves, but not me. I was taken to the residence of +Wolf’s half-sister, to whom he had sold me for an old grey horse. +Shortly after I was sold, my mistress left me in her wigwam for +several days entirely alone, leaving a kettle of hominy for me to eat. +In this solitary situation I first began earnestly to pray and call upon +God for mercy and deliverance, and found great relief in prayer. I +now found the benefit of the religious instruction and examples I +had enjoyed.” * *</p> + +<p>“In about two weeks after I had been sold, the woman who +bought me sent me out in company with her half-brother and others, +on a winter’s hunting excursion. We were very unsuccessful. My +sufferings from hunger and cold were very great. I had scarcely +any clothing; the snow was knee-deep; my blanket was too short +to cover me. Often after having lain down and drawn up my feet +to get them underneath my blanket, I was so benumbed that I could +not, without considerable exertion, get my legs stretched out again. +Early in the morning the old Indian would build a large fire, and +send me and all the young Indians and make us plunge all over in +cold water, which I think was a very great benefit to me, and prevented +me from catching cold, as is usual under circumstances of so +much exposure.”</p> + +<p>The husband of James’s mistress one day came home from a +meeting of the Powwow Society, and informed her that an apparition +sent by the Great Spirit, had reproved the Indians for their sins, their +idleness and want of brotherly kindness, and had predicted the destruction +of their towns. These predictions were literally fulfilled in +the course of three years, in the invasion of Logan from Kentucky. +In the mean time a French trader from Detroit, named Baptiste +Ariome, took a fancy to young Moore on account of his resemblance +to one of his sons, and bought him for fifty dollars’ worth of brooches, +crapes, and other commodities. James also met with a trader from +Kentucky, whom he requested to write a letter to his father, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</span> +give it to a young man he had rescued from the Indians, to convey +to Mr. Moore. At the house of Ariome James was treated like a +son, and worked on the farm, occasionally assisting in trading expeditions. +On one of these he heard of the destruction of his father’s +family, from a Shawanee Indian who was one of the party of assailants. +The information was given the latter part of the same summer +in which the massacre was perpetrated. In the winter following, +James heard that his sister Mary was purchased by Mr. Stogwell, +and that she was ill-treated in his family. In the spring Stogwell +moved into the neighborhood where he lived; young Moore +immediately went to see his sister, and found her in an abject condition, +clothed in a few dirty rags. Being advised to apply to the +commanding officer at Detroit, he went with Simon Girty to Col. +McKee, superintendent for the Indians, who had Stogwell brought +to trial to answer the complaint against him; and though the poor +girl was not taken from her inhuman master, it was decided that +when an opportunity offered for her return home, she should be released +without remuneration. This was brought about through the +efforts of Thomas Ivans, the brother of Martha, who had determined +to seek his lost sister, and the members of Mr. Moore’s family who +might be living. Clothing himself in skins, and securing some +money about his person, with rifle in hand, he proceeded to the +tribes in whose possession the captives had been, and traced their +wanderings to their several places of abode. His sister was living +at Mr. Donaldson’s; Mary Moore was delivered up by Mr. Stogwell, +and James by Mr. Ariome. “All being at liberty,” says Moore, “we +immediately prepared to go to our distant friends, and as well as I +can remember, set out some time in October, 1789; it being about +five years from the time I had been taken prisoner by the Indians, +and a little more than three from the captivity of my sister. A +trading-boat coming down the lakes, we obtained a passage in it for +myself and sister Polly to the Moravian towns, a distance of about +two hundred miles, which was on our way to Pittsburgh. There, +according to appointment, the day after our arrival, Thomas Ivans +and his sister Martha met us. We then prepared immediately for<span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</span> +our journey to Pittsburgh. Here Mr. Ivans got his shoulder dislocated, +in consequence of which we stayed a part of the winter in +the vicinity, with an uncle and aunt of his, until he became able to +travel. Having expended all his money with the doctor and in travelling, +he left his sister Martha, and proceeded with Polly and myself +to the house of an uncle about ten miles south-west of Staunton, +and having received from an uncle, the administrator of his father’s +estate, compensation for his services, he afterwards returned and +brought his sister Martha.</p> + +<p>“A day or two after we set out, having called at a public house +for breakfast, while it was preparing, my sister took out her Testament +and was engaged in reading. Being called to breakfast, she +laid down her Testament, and when we resumed our journey she +forgot it. After we had proceeded several miles she thought of her +Testament, and strongly insisted on turning back; but such were +the dangers of the way, and such the necessity of speeding our journey, +that we could not.”</p> + +<p>Martha Ivans married a man by the name of Hummer, removed +to Indiana, and reared a large family, so that she is included in the +list of pioneer mothers. Two of her sons became Presbyterian clergymen. +Shortly after her return to Rockbridge, Mary Moore went +to live with her uncle, Joseph Walker, about six miles south of +Lexington, and in mature years became the wife of Rev. Samuel +Brown, pastor of New Providence. She became the mother of +eleven children, nine of whom survived her; and through life retained +a strong attachment for the wild people of the forest, which +no memory of wrong could obliterate. The self-reliance, patience, +and self-denial she acquired, in part, in her captivity, were eminent +through life. She was blessed with children as dutiful and pious +as she had proved in her childhood, and saw, in her success in +training her household, the influence of her own force of character +developed by such strange circumstances, and the power of a Christian +example.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</span></p> + +<p>Some idea of the difficulties of travel in those days may be given +by the following extract from a description of a journey westward +in 1784.<a id="FNanchor_19" href="#Footnote_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> “Pack-horses were the only means of transportation +then, and for years after. We were provided with three horses, on +one of which my mother rode carrying her infant with all the table +furniture and cooking utensils. On another were packed the stores +of provisions, the plough irons, and other agricultural tools. The +third horse was rigged out with a pack saddle and two large creels, +made of hickory withs in the fashion of a crate, one over each side, +in which were stowed the beds and bedding, and the wearing +apparel of the family. In the centre of these creels there was an +aperture prepared for myself and little sister, and the top was well +secured by lacing to keep us in our places, so that only our heads +appeared above. Each family was supplied with one or more cows; +their milk furnished the morning and evening meal for the children, +and the surplus was carried in canteens for use during the +day.</p> + +<p>“When the caravan reached the mountains, the road was found +to be hardly passable for loaded horses. In many places the path +lay along the edge of a precipice, where, if the horse had stumbled +or lost his balance, he would have been precipitated several hundred +feet below. The path was crossed by many streams raised by the +melting snow and spring rains, and running with rapid current in +deep ravines; most of these had to be forded, and for many successive +days, hair-breadth escapes were continually occurring; sometimes +horses falling, at others carried away by the current, and the +women and children with difficulty saved from drowning. Sometimes +in ascending steep acclivities, the lashing of the creels would +give way, both creels and children tumble to the ground and roll +down the steep, unless arrested by some traveller of the company. +The men who had been inured to the hardships of war, could +endure the fatigues of the journey; it was the mothers who suffered; +they could not, after the toils of the day, enjoy the rest so much +needed at night. The wants of their suffering children must be<span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</span> +attended to. After preparing their simple meal, they lay down +with scanty covering in a miserable cabin, or, as it sometimes happened, +in the open air, and often unrefreshed, were obliged to +rise early to encounter the fatigues and dangers of another day.”</p> + +<p>“The division lines between those whose lands adjoined, were +generally made in an amicable manner, before any survey of them +was made by the parties concerned. In doing this, they were guided +mainly by the tops of ridges and water courses, but particularly +the former. Hence the greater number of farms in the western +parts of Pennsylvania and Virginia bear a striking resemblance to an +amphitheatre; the tops of the surrounding hills being the boundaries +of the tract to which the family mansion belongs.”</p> + +<p>Besides the exposure of the emigrants to Indian depredations +and massacres, “they had other trials to endure which at the present +day cannot be appreciated. One of the most vexatious was the +running away of their horses. As soon as the fly season commenced +the horses seemed resolved on leaving the country and crossing the +mountains. They swam the Monongahela, and often proceeded a +hundred and fifty miles before they were taken up. During the +husband’s absence in pursuit of them, the wife was left alone with +her children in their unfinished cabin, surrounded by forests, in which +the howl of wolves was heard from every hill. If want of provisions, +or other causes, made a visit to a neighbor’s necessary, she +must either take her children with her through the woods, or leave +them unprotected, under the most fearful apprehension that some +mischief might befal them before her return. As bread and meat +were scarce, milk was the principal dependence for the support of +the family. One cow of each family was provided with a bell, +which could be heard from half a mile to a mile. The matron on +rising in the morning listened for her cow-bell, which she knew well +enough to detect, even amidst a clamor of others. If her children +were small, she tied them in bed to prevent their wandering, and +guard them from danger of fire and snakes; and guided by the +tinkling of the bell, made her way through the tall weeds and +across the ravines until she found the objects of her search. Happy<span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</span> +on her return to find her children unharmed, and regardless of a +thorough wetting from the dew, she hastened to prepare their +breakfast of milk boiled with a little meal or hominy; or in the +protracted absence of her husband, it was often reduced to milk +alone. Occasionally venison and turkeys were obtained from +hunters.”</p> + +<p>An anecdote is related in the “American Pioneer,” of Gov. +McArthur, on his first visit to the West, which throws light on the +situation of the early settlers. He stopped some time at Baker’s +Station, about twenty miles below Wheeling. There was war with +the Indians, and the settlers about Fish Creek were occupying the +station for security; so long, however, had the enemy been absent +from that section of country, that the inmates went and came when +they pleased. A young lady of great beauty, who lived at the +place, had acquired proficiency in the art of shooting with the rifle. +“I think her name was Scott, but it may have been Baker. Early +one morning she went to the run, some fifty or sixty yards above +the post, to wash linen, taking her gun along, and young McArthur +accompanied her to stand guard while she was employed at the +wash tub. Before long a small dog that was with them commenced +barking, and gave such manifestations of alarm that the young lady +desired her companion to make a hasty reconnoissance of the adjacent +grounds. The motions of the dog had awakened fear that +Indians might be lurking close by, but McArthur discovered +nothing to confirm the suspicion. The washing was resumed and +in due course completed; after which they both returned to the +station. Just as they were about to enter the gate, a tall athletic +looking Indian sprang from behind a tree not more than thirty +paces beyond the spot where they had been washing, and darted off +rapidly into the woods. Pursuit was instantly made, but he was +not overtaken. He must have posted himself behind the tree during +the previous night, with the intention of shooting the first person +that ventured out of the works in the morning. The appearance +of two disconcerted his plan. McArthur’s gallantry on this +occasion was the means of saving the young lady’s life.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</span></p> + +<p>De Hass describes a station as a parallelogram of cabins united +by palisades, so as to present a continued wall on the outer sides, +the cabin doors opening into a common square on the inner side. +A fort was generally a stockade enclosure, embracing cabins, etc., for +the accommodation of several families. Doddridge says, “a range +of cabins commonly formed at least one side, separated by divisions +or partitions of logs. The walls on the outside were ten or twelve +feet high, with a roof sloping inward. Some of the cabins had +puncheon floors, but the greater part were earthen.</p> + +<p>“The blockhouses were built at the angles of the fort, and projected +about two feet beyond the outer walls of the cabins and +stockades. Their upper stories were about eighteen inches or two +feet every way larger than the under one, leaving an opening at the +commencement of the second story, to prevent the enemy from +making a lodgment under their walls. In some forts, instead of +blockhouses, the angles were furnished with bastions. A large folding +gate, made of thick slabs, nearest the spring, closed the fort. +The stockades, bastions, cabins, and blockhouse walls were furnished +with portholes at proper heights and distances. The whole of the +outside was made completely bullet proof. The families belonging to +these forts were so attached to their own cabins on their farms, that +they seldom moved into the fort in the spring until compelled by some +alarm; that is, when it was announced by some murder that Indians +were in the settlement.”</p> + +<p>Butler describes the dwellings of the first settlers of the West +as composed of the trunks of trees, bared of their branches, notched +at the ends and fitted upon one another in a quadrangular shape, to +the desired height. Openings through the logs left room for doors +and shutters. A capacious opening, nearly the whole width of the +cabin, made the fire-place. By this ample width economy of labor +in cutting fire-wood, as well as comfort in houses, was consulted.</p> + +<p>“The furniture of the table, for several years after the settlement +of the country, consisted of a few pewter dishes, plates and spoons; +but mostly of wooden bowls, trenchers and noggins. If these last +were scarce, gourds and hard-shelled squashes made up the deficiency.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</span> +The iron pots, knives and forks were brought from the +East, with the salt and iron, on pack-horses. These articles of furniture +corresponded very well with the articles of diet. ‘Hog and +hominy’ was a dish of proverbial celebrity. Johnny-cake or pone +was at the outset of the settlements the only form of bread in use +for breakfast and dinner; at supper, milk and mush was the standard +dish. When milk was scarce, hominy supplied its place, and mush +was frequently eaten with sweetened water, molasses, bear’s oil, or +the gravy of fried meat.</p> + +<p>“In our display of furniture, delf, china and silver were unknown. +The introduction of delf ware was considered by many of the backwoods +people as a wasteful innovation. It was too easily broken, +and the plates dulled their scalping and clasp knives. Tea and +coffee, in the phrase of the day, ‘did not stick by the ribs.’ The +idea then prevalent was, that they were only designed for people of +quality, who did not labor, or for the rich. A genuine backwoodsman +would have thought himself disgraced by showing a fondness +for such ‘slops.’</p> + +<p>“On the frontier and particularly among hunters in the habit of +going on campaigns, the dress of the men was partly Indian. The +hunting-shirt universally worn was a kind of loose frock, reaching +half way down the thighs, with large sleeves, open before, and so +wide as to lap over a foot or more when belted. The cape was +large, and sometimes fringed with a ravelled piece of cloth, of different +color from the hunting-shirt. The bosom of this dress served as +a wallet to hold bread, cakes, jerk, tow for wiping the barrel of the +rifle, or any other necessary for the hunter or warrior. The belt, +always tied behind, answered several purposes; in cold weather the +mittens, and sometimes the bullet-bag, occupied its front part; on +the right side was suspended the tomahawk, on the left the scalping +knife in its leathern sheath. The hunting-shirt was generally made +of linsey, sometimes of coarse linen, and a few of dressed deer-skin; +these last very cold and uncomfortable in wet weather. The shirt +and jacket were of the common fashion. A pair of drawers, or +breeches and leggins, were the dress of the thighs and legs; a pair<span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</span> +of moccasins answered for the feet much better than shoes. These +were made of dressed deer-skin, and were mostly of a single piece, +with a seam along the top of the foot, and another from the bottom +of the heel, as high or a little higher than the ancle joint. Flaps +were left on each side, to reach some distance up the legs. These +were nicely adapted to the ancles and lower part of the leg by +thongs of deerskin, so that no dust, gravel, or snow could get within +the moccasin. In cold weather this was well stuffed with deer’s hair +or dried leaves, to keep the feet comfortably warm; but in wet +weather it was usually said that wearing moccasins was ‘a decent +way of going barefoot;’ and such was the fact, owing to the spongy +texture of the leather of which they were made. Owing to this defective +covering of the feet, many of our hunters and warriors were +afflicted with rheumatism in their limbs. Of this disease they were +all apprehensive in cold or wet weather, and therefore always slept +with their feet to the fire, to prevent or cure it as well as they could. +This practice unquestionably had a very salutary effect, and prevented +many of them from becoming confirmed cripples in early +life.</p> + +<p>“In the latter years of the Indian war, our young men became +more enamored of the Indian dress. The drawers were laid aside, +and the leggins made longer, so as to reach the upper part of the +thigh. The Indian breech cloth was adopted. This was a piece of +linen or cloth, nearly a yard long, and eight or nine inches broad, +passing under the belt, before and behind, leaving the ends for flaps +hanging before and behind over the belt, sometimes ornamented +with coarse embroidery. To the same belt which secured the breech +cloth, strings, supporting the long leggins, were attached. When this +belt, as was often the case, passed over the hunting-shirt, the upper +part of the thighs and part of the hips were naked. The young +warrior, instead of being abashed by this, was proud of his Indian +dress. In some few instances I have seen them go into places of +public worship in this dress.” De Hass adds, that old hunters have +said it was the most comfortable, convenient, and desirable that could<span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</span> +have been invented for the times in which it was used. Linsey coats +and gowns were the universal dress of the women in early times.</p> + +<p>A description of a wedding among the pioneers may serve to +illustrate their manners. The following is taken from Doddridge’s +Notes:</p> + +<p>“In the first years of the settlement, a wedding engaged the attention +of a whole neighborhood, and the frolic was anticipated by +old and young with eager expectation. This will not be wondered +at, as a wedding was almost the only gathering unaccompanied with +the labor of reaping, log-rolling, building a cabin, or planning some +warlike expedition.</p> + +<p>“On the morning of the wedding day, the groom and his attendants +assembled at the house of his father, for the purpose of reaching +the home of his bride by noon, the usual time for celebrating the +nuptials. Let the reader imagine an assemblage of people, without +a store, tailor, or mantuamaker within a hundred miles; and an assemblage +of horses, without a blacksmith or saddler within an equal +distance; the gentlemen dressed in shoepacks, moccasins, leather +breeches, leggins, linsey hunting-shirts, and all home-made; the +ladies in linsey petticoats and linsey or linen bedgowns, coarse +shoes, stockings, handkerchiefs, and buckskin gloves, if any. If there +were any buckles, rings, buttons, or ruffles, they were the relics of +olden times, family pieces from parents or grandparents. The +horses were caparisoned with old saddles, old bridles or halters, and +pack-saddles, with a bag or blanket thrown over them; a rope or +string as often constituted the girth as a piece of leather. The march, +in double file, was often interrupted by the narrowness and obstructions +of the horse-paths, for there were no roads; and these difficulties +were often increased by fallen trees and grape vines tied across +the way. Sometimes an ambuscade was formed by the wayside, +and an unexpected discharge of several guns took place, so as to +cover the wedding company with smoke. Let the reader imagine +the scene that followed this discharge; the sudden spring of the +horses, the shrieks of the girls, and the chivalrous bustle of their +partners to save them from falling. If a wrist, elbow, or ancle happened<span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</span> +to be sprained, it was tied with a handkerchief, and little +more was thought or said about it.</p> + +<p>“The ceremony of the marriage preceded the dinner, which was +a substantial backwoods feast of beef, pork, fowls, and sometimes +venison and bear meat roasted and boiled, with plenty of potatoes, +cabbage, and other vegetables. During the dinner the greatest +hilarity always prevailed, although the table might be a large slab +of timber hewed out with a broad axe, supported by four sticks set +in auger holes; and the furniture, some old pewter dishes and plates, +eked out with wooden bowls and trenchers. A few pewter spoons, +much battered about the edges, were seen at some tables; the rest +were made of horn. If knives were scarce, the deficiency was made +up by the scalping knives which every man carried in sheaths suspended +to the belt of the hunting-shirt. After dinner the dancing +commenced, and generally lasted till the next morning. The figures +of the dances were three and four-handed reels and jigs. The commencement +was always a square four, which was followed by what was +called ‘jigging it off;’ that is, two of the four would single out for a +jig, and be followed by the remaining couple. The jigs were often +accompanied with what was called ‘cutting out;’ that is, when +either of the parties became tired of the dance, on intimation, the +place was supplied by some one of the company, without any interruption +to the dance. In this way it was often continued till the +musician was heartily tired of his situation. Towards the latter part +of the night, if any of the company, through weariness, attempted +to conceal themselves for the purpose of sleeping, they were hunted +up, paraded on the floor, and the fiddler ordered to play ‘Hang out +till to-morrow morning.’</p> + +<p>About nine or ten o’clock a deputation of the young ladies stole +off the bride and put her to bed. In doing this it frequently happened +that they had to ascend a ladder instead of stairs, leading from the +dining and ball-room to a loft, the floor of which was made of clapboards +lying loose. This ascent, one might think, would put the +bride and her attendants to the blush; but as the foot of the ladder +was commonly behind the door, purposely opened for the occasion,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</span> +and its rounds at the inner ends were well hung with hunting-shirts, +dresses, and other articles of clothing—the candles being on +the opposite side of the house, the exit of the bride was noticed but by +few. This done, a deputation of young men, in like manner, stole off +the groom, while the dance still continued, and late at night refreshment +in the shape of ‘black Betty’—the bottle—was sent up the ladder, +with sometimes substantial accompaniments of bread, beef, pork and +cabbage. The feasting and dancing often lasted several days, at the +end of which the whole company were so exhausted with loss of +sleep, that many days’ rest was requisite to fit them to return to +their ordinary labors.”</p> + +<p>Sometimes it happened that neighbors or relations not asked to +the wedding, took offence, and revenged themselves by cutting off +the manes, foretops and tails of horses belonging to the wedding +company.</p> + +<p>The same writer thus describes the usual manner of settling a +young couple in the world:—“A spot was selected on a piece of +land belonging to one of the parents, for their habitation, and a day +appointed shortly after their marriage, to commence the work of +building their cabin. The materials were prepared on the first day, +and sometimes the foundation laid in the evening. The second +day was allotted for the raising. The cabin being furnished, the +ceremony of housewarming took place before the young couple +were permitted to move into it. The house-warming was a dance +of a whole night’s continuance, made up of the relations of the +bridegroom and their neighbors. On the day following, the young +couple took possession of their new premises.</p> + +<p>“Many of the sports of the early settlers of this country were +imitative of the exercises and stratagems of hunting and war. Boys +were taught the use of the bow and arrow at an early age; but +although they acquired considerable adroitness, so as to kill a bird +or squirrel, yet it appears to me that in the hands of the white +people, the bow and arrow could never be depended on for warfare +or hunting. One important pastime of the boys—that of imitating +the noise of every bird and beast in the woods—was a necessary<span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</span> +part of education on account of its utility under certain circumstances. +Imitating the gobbling and other sounds of the wild +turkey, often brought those ever watchful tenants of the forest +within reach of the rifle. The bleating of the fawn brought its dam +to her death in the same way. The hunter often collected a company +of mopish owls to the trees about his camp, and amused +himself with their hoarse screaming. His howl would raise and +obtain responses from a pack of wolves, so as to inform him of their +whereabouts, as well as to guard him against their depredations.</p> + +<p>“This imitative faculty was sometimes requisite as a measure of +precaution in war. The Indians, when scattered about in a neighborhood, +often collected together by imitating turkeys by day and +wolves or owls by night. In similar situations our people did the +same. I have often witnessed the consternation of a whole neighborhood +in consequence of the screeching of owls. An early and +correct use of this imitative faculty was considered as an indication +that its possessor would become in due time a good hunter and a +valiant warrior.</p> + +<p>“Throwing the tomahawk was another boyish sport in which +many acquired considerable skill. The tomahawk, with its handle +of a certain length, will make a given number of turns within a +certain distance; say in five steps it will strike with the edge, the +handle downwards—at the distance of seven and a half it will +strike with the edge, the handle upwards, and so on. A little +experience enabled the boy to measure the distance with his eye +when walking through the wood, and to strike a tree with his tomahawk +in anyway he chose. A well grown boy at the age of twelve +or thirteen, was furnished with a small rifle and shot pouch. He +then became a foot soldier, and had his port-hole assigned him. +Hunting squirrels, turkeys, and racoons, soon made him expert in +the use of his gun.</p> + +<p>“The athletic sports of running, jumping, and wrestling, were the +pastimes of boys in common with men. Dramatic narrations, +chiefly concerning Jack and the Giant, furnished our young people +with another source of amusement during their leisure hours. The<span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</span> +different incidents of the narration were easily committed to memory, +and have been handed down from generation to generation.” The +singing of the first settlers was rude enough. “Robin Hood +furnished a number of our songs; the balance were mostly tragical; +these were denominated ‘love songs about murder.’ As to cards, +dice, backgammon, and other games of chance, we knew nothing +about them. They are among the blessed gifts of civilization!</p> + +<p>“Hunting was an important part of the employment of the early +settlers. For some years the woods supplied them with the +greater amount of their subsistence, and it was no uncommon thing +for families to live several months without a mouthful of bread. It +frequently happened that there was no breakfast till it was obtained +from the woods. Fur constituted the people’s money; they had +nothing else to give in exchange for rifles, salt, and iron, on the +other side of the mountains. The fall and early part of the winter +was the season for hunting the deer, and the whole of the winter, +including part of the spring, for bears and fur-skinned animals. It +was a customary saying, that fur is good during every month in the +name of which the letter R occurs.</p> + +<p>“As soon as the leaves were pretty well down, and the weather +became rainy, accompanied with light snows, these men, after acting +the part of husbandmen as far as the state of warfare permitted, +began to feel that they were hunters, and became uneasy at home, +their minds being wholly occupied with the camp and chase. +Hunting was not a mere ramble in pursuit of game, in which there +was nothing of skill and calculation; on the contrary, the hunter +before he set out in the morning, was informed by the state of the +weather where he might reasonably expect to find his game, +whether on the bottom, the sides, or tops of the hills. In stormy +weather the deer always seek the most sheltered places, and the +leeward side of the hills. In rainy weather, when there is not +much wind, they keep in the open woods on the high ground. In +every situation it was requisite for the hunter to ascertain the +course of the wind, so as to get the leeward of the game. As it +was necessary, too, to know the cardinal points, he had to observe<span class="pagenum" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</span> +the trees to ascertain them. The bark of an aged tree is thicker +and much rougher on the north than the south side; and the same +may be said of the moss. From morning till night the hunter was +on the alert to gain the wind of his game, and approach them without +being discovered. If he succeeded in killing a deer, he skinned +it and hung it up out of the reach of the wolves, and immediately +resumed the chase till the close of the evening, when he bent his +course towards his camp; when arrived there he kindled up his fire, +and together with his fellow hunter, cooked his supper. The supper +finished, the adventures of the day furnished tales for the evening, +in which the spike-buck, the two and three pronged buck, the doe +and barren doe, figured to great advantage.”<a id="FNanchor_20" href="#Footnote_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a></p> + +<p>“A place for a camp was selected as near water as convenient, +and a fire was kindled by the side of the largest suitable log that +could be procured. The ground was preferred to be rather sideling, +that the hunters might lie with the feet to the fire, and the head up +hill. The common mode of preparing a repast was by sharpening a +stick at both ends, and sticking one end in the ground before the +fire, and their meat on the other end. This stick could be turned +round, or the meat on it, as occasion required. Sweeter roast meat +than was prepared in this manner no European epicure ever tasted. +Bread, when they had flour to make it of, was either baked under +the ashes, or the dough rolled in long rolls, and wound round a +stick like that prepared for roasting meat, and managed in the same +way. Scarce any one who has not tried it, can imagine the sweetness +of such a meal, in such a place, at such a time. French mustard, +or the various condiments used as a substitute for an appetite, +are nothing to this.”<a id="FNanchor_21" href="#Footnote_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a></p> +<hr class="full"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="c8">VII.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="c sp lsp">ANN HAYNES.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap large">It</span> is mentioned in “The Women of the American Revolution,”<a id="FNanchor_22" href="#Footnote_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> +that on the approach of Cornwallis to Charlotte, the family of Mr. +Brown sought refuge at the house of James Haynes, who lived upon +the road leading north of Cowan’s Ford on the Catawba River. +While they remained here, the British in pursuit of Morgan stopped +at the house, plundered it, and made the owner a prisoner. Mrs. +Haynes, despoiled of everything in the way of provision, herself conducted +family worship that night, and praying for the restoration +of her captive husband, entreated earnestly the interposition of +Providence to protect <i>the right</i>. This pious and exemplary +matron, whose heart bled for the woes of her oppressed country, +and who encouraged her sons to struggle bravely in its defence, was +little aware of the extent of the beneficent influence her noble +character was to exercise on succeeding generations. The death-bed +gift she received from her father—a copy of the Westminster +Confession of Faith printed at Edinburgh in 1707—was bequeathed +by her as sacredly to her son, John Haynes, and is kept as a venerated +relic in his family. Eight of the descendants of Mrs. Haynes +are now ministers in the Presbyterian church, devoted to the exposition +and extension of the true and simple doctrines of the gospel,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</span> +while others are engaged in the same good work in other denominations—all +carrying out and exemplifying the sterling principles +derived from their independent ancestors of the era of Cromwell’s +Protectorate.</p> + +<p>One of Mrs. Haynes’ descendants has favored me with some +notices of the matron and her family, from the recollections of her +widowed daughter-in-law, Margaret Haynes, who was for some +years a resident of Cornersville, in Tennessee. Her maiden name +was Ann Huggins. She was the daughter of John Huggins, a +Scotch Presbyterian, who emigrated from the north of Ireland to +America about 1730. She married James Haynes about 1748. +In a catalogue of the Pioneer Women of the West, her name may +well find a place. After her marriage, she settled upon the verge +of civilization, in the county of Dauphin, Pennsylvania, where she +was exposed to the frontier troubles of that colony, but stronger +attractions soon drew her family to the South.</p> + +<p>In 1752, James Haynes and two brothers, and many kinsmen +with their families, ventured out to the then Far West, in the valley +of the Catawba, in the colony of North Carolina. Here, upon the +very borders of the hostile Cherokees and Catawbas, they established +themselves, building a fort as a defence against Indian incursions, +and maintained their position by the strength of their arms. For +several years, cooped up within the limits of a frontier station, they +courageously opposed the marauding parties of the hostile tribes in +their neighborhood. It was in this year that the settlement of the +upper country, both of North and South Carolina, began. At that +time the frontiers of Pennsylvania were east of the mountains; and +Fort Duquesne was a French trading post. The settlements in +Virginia were still confined to the Atlantic slope, and it was several +years later, when Col. Bird of the British army, advanced into +the wilderness, and established Fort Chissel, as a protection to +the advancing settlements. Still later, Gov. Dobbs, of North +Carolina, succeeded in establishing Fort Loudon, in the midst of the +Cherokee nation. Notwithstanding its exposed situation, the +settlement grew rapidly, so that in a few years the entire valley of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</span> +the Catawba was occupied. At this time there were so many +buffaloes in this region, that a good hunter could easily kill enough +in a few days, to supply his family for the year. Wild turkeys, +bears, deer, wolves, and panthers, were also abundant. Every little +mountain stream abounded with otters, beavers, and musk-rats. +Each pioneer could raise as many head of cattle as he thought +proper; the profusion of canes and grasses, rendering stock-raising +so easy, that the means of plentiful living was almost to be had +without labor. A few skins usually sufficed to purchase upon the +seaboard all the necessary supplies of iron, salt, etc., for the year.</p> + +<p>This kind of life, requiring the daily use of the rifle, and much +exercise on horseback, and exposure to the open air in the woods, +made these hardy men the best of soldiers, and enabled them to +cope with the wild warriors of the savage tribes who dwelt on their +borders. The axe, and the rifle, and the horse, were their constant +companions. Each settler sought a home near some clear spring +or stream, convenient to the <i>range</i> and susceptible of defence +against the Indians. In such a settlement the means of education +were limited, and but for the religious zeal and pious labors of a +few educated ministers who cast their fortunes with the colonists, +would have been unattainable. The Rev. Hezekiah Balch, afterwards +a signer of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence, +was one of them.</p> + +<p>In all the trials and disorders of the transition state of society +peculiar to the frontiers of the West, these pioneers never forgot the +principles, nor gave up the practice of those Christian virtues which +they had received from their ancestors. Here, in the midst of the +solitudes of their deep pine forests, they reared their sons and +daughters in the fear of God and in the love of liberty, and when +the storm of civil war burst forth, and they were called upon to +sustain the cause of an oppressed people, they did not hesitate to +send their sons forth to battle for “the right.”</p> + +<p>An aged citizen of Marshall County, Tennessee, often described +the appearance of his own father and James Haynes, both prisoners +in the hands of the British the night after Gen. Davidson’s death at<span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</span> +Cowan’s Ford. He saw these aged men and many other prisoners +driven like sheep into a corn-crib, the door of which was filled with +rails, and a sentinel placed, over it; and thus without blanket or +fire, they passed a long winter night in 1781.</p> + +<p>The venerable Mrs. Haynes survived her husband but a short +time. True to the principles of her faith, upon her dying bed she +gave to each of her children her parting words of advice with one of +the religious books contained in her library. To her son John, she +gave the Westminster Confession of Faith; to another, Bunyan’s +Pilgrim’s Progress; to a third, Flavel, etc., works usually found in +that day in the library of every Christian. She died about the year +1790.</p> + +<p>Her husband was no less stern and inflexible in his religious principles. +When the question of the introduction of the new version +of the Psalms was agitated in the Church at Centre Meeting-House, +after much debate, it was put to the vote, and Haynes was left +alone as the advocate of the old version. His brethren tauntingly +asked him if he was going to stand out alone. He replied, “yes, as +long as the world stands;” and so he did to the end of his life.</p> + +<p>A rude and humble stone now marks the last resting place of +both, at their own home, near Centre Meeting-House, Iredell County, +N. C., where, more than a century ago, they sat down amidst the +dim solitudes of the western wilderness. The old homestead is now +the residence of James Sloan, a relative of the family.</p> + +<p>The three sons, Joseph, John and James, and the son-in-law, Capt. +Scott, bore arms against the Cherokees, and against the British and +loyalists. They were brave young men, of active habits, and accustomed +to hard service; rode much about the country, and were +always ready for any enterprise requiring toil and exposure, or skill +and daring. In proportion as they made themselves useful to the +whig party, they were of course persecuted by the loyalists. Their +irregular life in military service never caused them to do aught contrary +to the strict principles of their faith; they never travelled, except +when rigid necessity required it, on the Sabbath, being Puritans +enough to look upon profanity and Sabbath-breaking with as much<span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</span> +abhorrence as upon horse stealing. They served—John bearing a +prominent part—in the first battle fought in North Carolina in which +the whigs were victorious, after the suspension of hostilities succeeding +the fall of Charleston; that of Ramsour’s Mill, in Lincoln County.<a id="FNanchor_23" href="#Footnote_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a></p> + +<p>Capt. Scott, the son-in-law of Mrs. Haynes, was killed at Cowan’s +Ford, at the same time with Gen. Davidson, who had been stationed +there by Gen. Greene, with a small force, to delay the passage of the +British army across the Catawba. Joseph Haynes barely escaped +with his life in this action. Soon after, the British passing, as already +mentioned, near the house of the elder James Haynes, stopped and +plundered it, took him prisoner, and boasted in the hearing of his +family, that they had killed his son-in-law at the Ford, hinting that +his sons also were either killed or captured. The old man was over +sixty, and in feeble health; his venerable appearance and Quaker +habiliments should have secured their respect, but the crime of sending +so many brave sons to battle was not to be forgiven. Family tradition, +confirmed by the recollection of his daughter-in-law, states that +they pulled off his coat, overcoat, and silver knee and shoe-buckles, +and made him dismount and walk on through mud and water, urged +forward by the prick of bayonets; also that the news of his capture +and the pillaging of his house was carried to his sons by his daughter +Hannah, who made her way through bypaths for forty miles, +eluding the marauding parties scattered through the country, to the +American army. Her brothers immediately set off in pursuit, found +their father at length by the roadside, watched over by a wounded +American soldier, and conveyed him home.</p> + +<p>Another adventure is remembered, in which John Haynes figured, +during that memorable retreat of Gen. Greene. He was sent as a +scout, with three others, to give notice of the approach of Tarleton’s +dragoons. While posted on a hill they were suddenly startled by +the appearance of a squadron of his light horse turning round a +clump of trees close at hand, with the design of cutting off their<span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</span> +retreat. The only point left open was a lane, a mile or so long, +through a wide plantation. The four whigs instantly commenced +the race, closely pursued by the British dragoons with their drawn +sabres, the parties near enough to hear each other’s voices—the royalists +calling upon the rebel squad to surrender, and now and then +discharging a pistol to enforce the order. The hindmost fugitive, +one George Locke, was at length cut down by a sabre-stroke, and +killed; the others, hotly pursued, reached the end of the lane, and +instantly turned into the thick woods, where they could ride with +ease, being practised woodsmen, while the progress of the heavy-armed +dragoons of Tarleton was retarded. As they dashed into the +cover, they discharged their pistols over their shoulders, killing the +leading horseman, a subaltern, who had the moment before cut +down their companion, and was almost in the act of performing the +same office for them. Fearing an ambuscade, the party hastily retreated, +leaving the body of the subaltern where he fell. His uniform +was taken off by a negro, and often worn by him after the +close of the war.</p> + +<p>In his advanced age John Haynes often amused his friends by +recounting this and other anecdotes of races with the British troopers. +On one occasion he was alone, hemmed in by pursuing horsemen, +and driven to the banks of Candle Creek, at a point where the +height of the banks and the width of the channel seemed to preclude +all hope of escape. Being well mounted and a fearless rider, +he dashed to the stream, his enemies close upon him with drawn +sabres, cleared the creek at a bound, and was safe from his pursuers +who dared not make the leap.</p> + +<p>The two other sons, Joseph and James, were with Gates and +Greene, and in many of the most trying scenes of the war. Joseph +was one of the first who broke the cane and hunted the buffalo in +the valley of Duck River, Tennessee. He was a brave soldier and +an ardent patriot. It was his boast, that of all his kinsmen who +were able to bear arms, there was not one who did not fight on the +side of the Republic. He survived most of them who served with +him, and after a long and useful life in the land to which he had<span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</span> +gone as a pioneer, he died in July 1845, at his residence on Silver +Creek, Maury County, Tennessee, in the 96th year of his age.</p> + +<p>His brother John was born in a fort or station in the valley of the +Catawba, where his family had taken shelter from the incursions of +the Cherokee Indians in 1759. All three brothers with their families +emigrated to Tennessee in the beginning of the present century, +and established themselves in the southern part of Middle Tennessee.</p> + +<p>John Haynes and his sons opened the road from the north side +of Duck River, near Cany Spring, to the south side of Elk-ridge, +where Cornersville now stands. Here father and sons opened farms, +aided in erecting churches and school-houses, and soon found themselves +surrounded by crowds of emigrants from Carolina and Virginia. +They never forgot the precepts of their venerable ancestor, nor +neglected their duty to pander to the taste of a less rigidly moral +population. John lived to the age of seventy-seven, and kept his character +for rapid riding to the last. It was often averred by his friends +that he never rode in a walk, but always in a gallop. He died in 1838, +but his widow, Margaret Haynes, survived him many years, dying +the 3rd July, 1851, at the residence of her son, James S. Haynes, +Esq., in her 88th year. Even at that advanced age, she retained +her physical and intellectual faculties so perfectly, as to render her +reminiscences of the times of peril and bloodshed both reliable and +interesting. She remembered to have heard Rev. James McCree +preach the funeral of Gen. Davidson at Centre meeting-house soon +after the war, at which were present more than a dozen widows of +those who had fallen in defence of their country. Her chief employment +was reading religious books and studying the Scriptures. +She gave food to the hungry and clothing to the needy, encouraging, +reproving, and admonishing those around her, and diligently +following every good work.</p> + +<p>There were other children, daughters of James and Ann Haynes, +who married worthy men in Rowan and Mecklenburg, North Carolina, +where most of them continued to live. Their descendants are +now widely scattered through the West and South, probably numbering<span class="pagenum" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</span> +three or four hundred, and many of them have been active +in the service of their country. Several were engaged in the war +of 1812; others subsequently in the Florida or Seminole war, and +in the recent war with Mexico; Milton A. Haynes being a subaltern +in the Florida war, and a Captain of Tennessee Volunteers in +the Mexican war, and two of his brothers serving as subalterns. +One of them lost his life in the service. The Rev. Cyrus Haynes, +of Illinois, and the Rev. John Haynes of Mississippi, are the grandsons, +and several other respectable clergymen of different States are +descendants of the subject of this sketch.</p> +<hr class="full"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="c9">VIII.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="c sp lsp">RUTH SPARKS.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap large">Ruth Sevier</span> was the second daughter of Gen. John Sevier, by his +second marriage with Catharine Sherrill. She was born—the precise +date is not known—at Plum Grove, their residence on the Nolachucka +in that part of North Carolina now known as East Tennessee +those settlements then forming the extreme borders of the country +inhabited by civilized Americans.</p> + +<p>During some five and twenty years, the greater part of the time +from 1769 to 1796, the settlers—as it has been seen—were troubled +more or less every year by Indian depredators, and murders and +bloody battles were common occurrences. It cannot be wondered +at that females born and reared in the midst of such perils should +be imbued with a sturdy courage, and a self-reliance acquired only +by familiar acquaintance with danger and hardship. Boldness and +force of character might be expected, with the occasional manifestation +of a daring more than feminine, and a love of wild and romantic +adventure; while the cultivation of the gentler graces, and the +refinement which is such an ornament to womanhood, might be supposed +to be frequently neglected. It will not be rational, therefore, +for modern judgment to condemn too rigidly what in the manners +of that period did not accord with the ideas of etiquette in vogue at +the present day. The heart and the morals of our ancestors were<span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</span> +uncorrupted, and we should not mark for disapproval their non-observance +of external properties. “Times change, and we change +with them,” is an admitted truth; whether for the better or not, +perhaps it would not be easy to decide.</p> + +<p>Throughout Western Virginia and North Carolina but few opportunities +or advantages were then offered for the education of children, +and the duty of instructing them, particularly daughters, devolved +chiefly upon the mothers among the frontier settlers. This duty +was in general attended to as diligently as circumstances permitted, +and women who had themselves enjoyed in a very limited degree +the privilege of schooling, but had graduated under the rough but +thorough tutoring of hard experience, did not often fail to impart to +their little ones, with a portion of their own energy, perseverance, +and spirit of enterprise, such a knowledge of practical matters at +least, as proved sufficient for all purposes of life. Often too, they +incited their children to avail themselves of opportunities presented +to acquire even what might be termed learning. Such training had +the parents of our heroine, and such they gave her; and thus without +any regular schooling, she made rapid attainments, having been +gifted by nature with a powerful and active mind, a ready apprehension, +and great energy and strength of purpose. The condition +of society in those unsettled and eventful times, and the stirring incidents +in which her parents and their associates were continually +forced to participate, had also much effect in forming her character, +imparting a force, decision, and promptness which she might not +otherwise have possessed.</p> + +<p>During the Indian wars in which Gen. Sevier commanded the +troops and was the leader in so many expeditions and successful +encounters, being acknowledged as “the friend and protector of the +exposed settlements,” Ruth evinced a strong interest in the history +and character of those warlike tribes. She learned not only the +names of the chiefs, but of many of the common warriors. Some +of them she saw at her father’s house in the intervals of peace, and +availed herself of the opportunity to become well acquainted with +them, and acquire a knowledge of their manners and customs. She<span class="pagenum" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</span> +manifested a particular curiosity to learn as much as possible of their +mode of living and domestic habits. All the information she sought +was readily communicated to her by the Indians, who were influenced +by grateful feelings towards her father for his generous kindness +to the friendly savages who had visited him, and to some thirty +prisoners whom he brought to his house and took care of liberally +at his own expense. These had been selected from about one +hundred captives taken in the year 1781. Ten of these thirty remained +for three years at the residence of Gen. Sevier. Ruth was +a great favorite with them all, and not only learned the Cherokee +language, but so completely won the regard of every one of them, +that on their return to the nation they named her to the chiefs and +warriors with such expressions of commendation as amounted to a +pledge of safety to the family, in case of any future difficulty, to be +considered more sacred than the guarantee extended to other settlers. +The kindness shown by “Nolachucka Jack” and his wife to +the captives and other Indians, was mentioned the more frequently, +as it gave occasion to speak of “Chucka’s Rutha.” “She will be +chief’s wife some day,” was the prediction of many.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Sevier had been accustomed to place much confidence in her +friends among the children of the forest, which she never found betrayed. +While the captives were at her house she permitted the +Indian girls to play with Ruth and accompany her in errands and +visits to the neighbors. The watchful solicitude they manifested at +all times for her safety, and their desire to please her by any little +service in their power, convinced the mother that the little girl was +entirely secure in their company, while the unlimited trust she +placed in the savages was returned on their part by gratitude, and +a determination to merit her kindly regard. Thus, prisoners as they +were, they lived contented and happy, bound to their host more +strongly than bonds or imprisonment could have fettered them. +The effect of these mutual good offices was seen long afterwards, and +repeatedly acknowledged in various negotiations and treaties, where +the presence and “talks” of Gen. Sevier exercised a decisive influence<span class="pagenum" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</span> +in persuading the savages to accede to the wishes of the whites for +the extension of boundaries and the promotion of peace.</p> + +<p>Many instances are mentioned which caused alarm to the family +of Gen. Sevier and the settlers living on the Nolachucka, in which +Ruth’s courage and spirit were of service. Once she gave notice of +the approach of tories in time for her mother to have the most +valuable articles removed from the house, and concealed in an old +lime-kiln. On another occasion, while playing or bathing in the +stream with one of the captive Indian girls, she fancied she saw +enemies lurking near the banks, and hastened to give warning. +Once an attempt to cross the river with the same or another Indian +maiden, had nearly proved a fatal experiment, when two young men +of the same band of Cherokee captives, came unexpectedly to their +relief. Ruth learned in her earliest childhood to shoot well with the +musket and rifle, and could take a surer aim than many an ordinary +huntsman.</p> + +<p>The prediction of the Indians that “Chucka’s Rutha” would +become the wife of a chief was fulfilled singularly enough, as we +proceed to explain. In the early settlement of Kentucky, when +violent and destructive attacks were made on the settlements—during +frequent incursions by the tribes living north of the Ohio river, +a number of children had been captured, and for the most part +carried off to the Indian villages near the Lakes. Among others +thus taken, was a child four years of age, who was either captured +or purchased by one of the principal chiefs of the Shawanese, upon +the head waters of the Scioto River. This Indian had two sons +nearly of the same age with the youthful captive, who was adopted +as a third son, and immediately placed with them as a companion +and brother, rather than as a slave, being treated with unusual +kindness and indulgence. He received a new name on his adoption—Shawtunte—a +cognomen which was changed after his release +for that of Richard Sparks; though whether the latter was his true +and original name or not, we have no means of ascertaining. His +Indian playmates were Tecumseh, and his elder brother the Prophet. +Both these were afterwards well known as chiefs of power and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</span> +influence, and as resolute and dangerous enemies of the United +States. Tecumseh was ambitious, bold and energetic, and withal +of a more amiable disposition than his brother; but neither of them +was deficient in the qualities necessary to form the brave and +successful warrior. By their enterprise and exertions the plan was +organized for an extensive combination among the tribes of the +West and Northwest, including some of the Southwest, for the purpose +of a general war upon the Americans. This mischievous conspiracy +among the tribes was got up chiefly through the influence +of agents of the British government, and threatened a vast amount +of misery and bloodshed to the extensive and exposed American +settlements on the frontier. The confederacy was broken up by the +victories gained by Gen. Harrison at the battle of Tippecanoe, +Nov. 6th, 1811, and upon the Miami River, followed by that of the +Thames, Oct. 5th, 1813. The British Government had conferred +upon Tecumseh the commission of a Major General. He lost his +life in the battle of the Thames.</p> + +<p>To return to Shawtunte. He remained in the family of Tecumseh +about twelve years, till he was sixteen years old, acquiring the +habits of the Indians, and becoming a proficient in their language; +for he had, indeed, little knowledge of any other. Some time before +the victories of Gen. Wayne over the Indians on the Miamies, +gained in 1794, he was exchanged or released, and having bid +adieu to his Indian friends, returned to Kentucky. Thence he +proceeded to the settlements on the Holston and Nolachucka. +His relatives did not recognize him, particularly as he could not +speak English. His mother only knew him by a mark she +remembered.</p> + +<p>Having heard of Gen. Sevier, and being inspired with profound +respect for one who had obtained so high a reputation as a military +officer, he ventured at length to seek his acquaintance. The +General became deeply interested in the history of the young man, +and was anxious to obtain from him some account that could be +depended on, of the numbers and disposition of the northern tribes +of Indians. He desired also an accurate description of the country<span class="pagenum" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</span> +stretching between the Ohio and the Lakes, over much of which +Shawtunte had passed in his various travels while domesticated +among the savages. He was quite willing to gratify his friend by +stories of Indian life and adventure, and his accounts of the perils +and hardships he had encountered in his sojourn in the wilderness, +awakened the lively sympathy of his auditor. It may be supposed +that the General was not the only listener on such occasions, to these +tales of adventure wilder than romance, as he had without hesitation +admitted Shawtunte to the acquaintance and hospitality of his family. +The interest expressed in fair faces at his narration, could not +fail to encourage vivid details of “most disastrous chances,</p> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Of moving accidents by flood and field,”</div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + + +<p>such as might well enchain the hearing of those who had seen +enough of Indian life to take an interest in all that concerned their +savage neighbors. As an evidence of his regard, Gen. Sevier promised +to exert his influence in procuring him a military appointment; +and did so with such good effect that he was honored with a captain’s +commission. He performed service as a spy, and it is said +was very useful in Gen. Wayne’s army; also, that he stood high as +an officer and a gentleman. Meanwhile he had been aiming at a +conquest of another sort in the family of the Governor-General, +having become deeply enamored of his fair daughter, Ruth. Her +appearance at this time is described as being very prepossessing. +In symmetry of form and grace of attitude she was unrivalled. It +was said, “she was never in the least awkward; she never sat, +stood, or walked, but with a natural ease and grace that was perfect; +and she was always a figure for a painter.” She had regular and +delicate features, with a complexion extremely fair, blue eyes, and a +chiselled mouth, expressive of intelligence and lively humor. Her +personal attractions were enhanced by a cheerful and sociable disposition, +a self-possessed and unembarrassed manner, and a faculty of +accommodating herself to any situation or circumstances, with +powers of entertaining conversation which made her society sought<span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</span> +eagerly by both sexes. It will not be wondered at that she never +failed to make an impression, or that she was an acknowledged +centre of attraction; yet as she was entirely free from vanity or +arrogance, and seemed animated not so much by a love of display +as by a cheerful and kindly spirit, and a desire to enjoy and contribute +to the enjoyment of others, she was not so much envied as +loved.</p> + +<p>It may seem strange enough that the affections of a creature so +lovely and accomplished, should be bestowed on one as untutored as +the wild Indian; but so it was, notwithstanding the difference between +them in education and manners, station and prospects in life. +At the time of his marriage with the Governor’s daughter, the liberated +captive was wholly unlettered, not knowing how to read or +write. His youthful and charming bride became his teacher, and +he soon made such proficiency, that “he might have passed tolerably +in an examination of boys in the spelling-book.” His attainments, +however, were not such as to enable him to spell or read +with perfect correctness, or to write with elegance, when he was +promoted to the rank of colonel in the United States army, and +was ordered to Fort Pickering, on the Mississippi. Here he was +stationed in 1801-2. This military station, now the beautiful and +flourishing city of Memphis, was established on the borders of the +territory of the Chickasaw Indians, as a link in the chain of military +defences on the waters of the great river, for the purpose of preserving +peace with the savage nation, and protecting emigration. The +purchase of Louisiana followed soon after, and Col. Sparks proceeded +with his regiment to New Orleans when the country was given into +the possession of the American government. After this he was stationed +for a short time at Baton Rouge, and for a longer period at +Fort Adams, in the Mississippi territory. Mrs. Sparks accompanied +her husband to each of these places, and remained as long as it was +his duty to stay at the post. She always performed the duty of his +secretary, keeping his accounts, writing his letters, and making out +his reports to superior officers and the War Department.</p> + +<p>In Natchez and other towns where there was anything that could<span class="pagenum" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</span> +be called society, the claims of Mrs. Sparks to the respect and admiration +of social circles, did not fail to be recognized; she was, indeed, +“the cynosure of neighboring eyes,” and her influence became very +extensive. During her residence in Louisiana and at Fort Adams, +several of the Choctaws were in the habit of calling almost daily at +her house, to bring venison and wild turkeys or ducks, receiving in +recompense some token of remembrance from the “tyke (wife) of +Shawtunte,” for they had learned the history of Col. Sparks, and +knew his Indian name; also that Mrs. Sparks was the daughter of +a warrior whose deeds were well known, and whose bravery was +highly esteemed by the southern tribes of Indians.</p> + +<p>After a residence of some ten years in the Southern military District, +the health of Col. Sparks became so infirm, that he was induced, +by the earnest advice of Gen. Sevier, to send an application to the +War Department, in consequence of which he was permitted to +return to Tennessee. Thence he proceeded to Staunton, in Virginia, +at which place, or in its vicinity, he died, about 1815. During this +last visit to Tennessee, he passed through Nashville and Gallatin, +remaining some days, and recounted some of the events of his captivity +to persons who called upon him and Mrs. Sparks. Among +these was Thomas Washington, Esq., who is still living in Nashville, +and remembers many incidents. The gentleman to whom I am indebted +for this memoir, obtained many of the particulars from Mrs. +Sparks herself, and from her brother, who was from early youth an +officer in the army; while her sister, the widow of Maj. William +M’Clelland, of the United States’ army, who now resides at Van +Buren, in Arkansas, confirms every statement. Some of the records +pertaining to this portion of the family history, are in the Historical +Society library at Nashville.</p> + +<p>The father of Mrs. Sparks has been mentioned as “the Governor,” +although the period alluded to was before the organization of the +State of Tennessee. This honorable title had been appropriated to +him as governor of the “State of Frankland,” from the year 1784 to +1788. When Tennessee was admitted into the Union, he became<span class="pagenum" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</span> +her first governor, holding that office, with an interval of only two +years, for more than eleven years.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Sparks entered into a second marriage with an intelligent +and wealthy planter of Mississippi. Her residence was a beautiful +and highly improved country seat, within view of the town of Port +Gibson, in Mississippi, and the splendid hospitality so remarkable on +these secluded plantations, was duly exercised at “Burlington,” where +there was a continual succession of visitors. The fair mistress of this +stately abode was distinguished by the same cheerfulness, genial kindness +and attention to her guests as in her more youthful years. She +was a model housewife, and everything about her establishment was +always in perfect order. In the summer of 1824, while on a visit +to some friends at Maysville, Kentucky, her useful life was terminated, +her faith in the Redeemer growing brighter as the final scene +approached. She never had any children, but was at all times extremely +fond of them, and particularly pleased with the society of +young persons, who always manifested a strong attachment for her.</p> +<hr class="full"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="c10">IX.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="c sp lsp">SARAH SHELBY.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap large">Sarah</span>, already mentioned as the eldest daughter of Mrs. Bledsoe, +was born in the first year of the first settlement of Tennessee. She +was very young when her family removed from Fort Chissel, Virginia, +to East Tennessee. Their residence was then on the frontier, +near the island flats, in what is now Sullivan County. Her early +education was excellent, considering the circumstances of location +and the want of the advantages of instruction which could be enjoyed +in older communities. She attended the first and only lessons +in dancing, given in 1784, not long before her marriage, at the house +of Mr. Harris, twelve miles from Col. Bledsoe’s residence. The +teacher was Capt. Barrett, an English officer who had served under +the royal banner in the war of the Revolution, and then left the +service, determined to cast his lot for the rest of his days with the +brave republicans against whose liberties he had fought. It was +among the singular vicissitudes of life, that a loyal captain who in +all probability had served under Col. Ferguson at the battle of +King’s Mountain, battling to the death against the Tennessee +mountaineers, should be found afterwards in the wilderness giving +lessons to their daughters in this graceful accomplishment! The +gentleman who furnishes this memoir quaintly observes, that “not<span class="pagenum" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</span> +being able to make the fathers run, he was content with making the +daughters dance.”</p> + +<p>While the family still lived in Sullivan County, Miss Bledsoe was +married, in 1784, to David Shelby. Soon after, the young couple, +with Col. Bledsoe and his family, came and fixed their homes in the +midst of the wilderness of the Cumberland Valley, which Bledsoe +and his brother had explored in 1779. The journey by land at that +time from East Tennessee was a difficult and perilous one, across +mountains and through forests and canebrakes, where it was impossible +to force a wagon. Every article carried had to be packed +on horses.</p> + +<p>The families who formed this pioneer settlement in the Cumberland +Valley were not destitute of means to live comfortably in a +region where the necessaries and comforts of life could be procured, +but isolated as they were from all advantages of communication +or interchange with the friends they had left, they were thrown +entirely upon the resources of their own labor and ingenuity. Their +dwellings were rude cabins made of logs, sometimes rough and +sometimes hewn. For protection against the Indians a number of +these cabins were surrounded by pickets bullet-proof, and several +families, usually related to each other, or attached as old neighbors, +lived within the fenced space. Sometimes the pioneers resided in +the blockhouses, built in the salient points of these picketed enclosures. +The upper story of these blockhouses projected over the +lower one, with portholes in the floor, so that persons within might +shoot an assailant who approached too near under cover of the projection. +The term “station,” in the frontier vocabulary of those +times, meant a blockhouse, picketed so as to shelter several families. +It was usually called by the name of the builder or the owner of the +land—as “Buchanan’s Station,” &c. Some, however, were known +by more fanciful designations, as “Bledsoe’s Lick,” “French +Lick,” etc.</p> + +<p>It has been already stated that at the time of Col. Bledsoe’s +exploration of the Cumberland Valley, no white man lived within +the limits of Tennessee, west of the mountains, except a few French<span class="pagenum" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</span> +traders who had become naturalized among the Indians. After the +removal of the family they suffered many hardships, which pressed +most heavily upon the women, while shut up within military defences +in the midst of the forest. No supplies of groceries or dry +goods could be obtained in the valley, and all the clothing worn by +the pioneers, male and female, was of home manufacture. Not one +of the females was exempted from this labor; all learned how to +spin and weave, and it was the pride and glory of these stout-hearted +dames to prepare the material and make up with their own +hands the clothes worn by themselves, their husbands and children. +Col. Bledsoe was attired in a full suit manufactured by his wife and +daughters, when he represented the Cumberland Valley in the Legislature +of North Carolina.</p> + +<p>All articles of consumption which could not be procured in the +woods or raised on their plantations, were very scarce. Salt could +only be obtained by tedious and dangerous journeys to the Kanawha +salt works in Virginia, or to some French salt works in Illinois, then +a part of Louisiana. Imported sugar, coffee and tea were almost +excluded from use among the families in the valley, by the expense +and difficulty of procuring them. For the first two or three years, +before the dangers in the midst of which they lived, permitted them +to cultivate the soil to any extent, even bread was scarcely to be had. +The rifle of the pioneer procured for his family venison, bear’s meat +and wild turkeys, as well as protected them from Indian marauders. +A little sugar was made every spring from the maple trees, which +grew in great abundance in the untrodden forest. For this purpose +large parties of old and young, male and female, when they had +fixed upon a convenient location, assembled and bivouacked, or +“camped,” to use their own phrase, in the woods near the grove of +maples, which were soon notched and pierced. The sap was caught +in small troughs dug out with an axe, and carried to the camp, +where it was boiled down in large pots. In two or three days thus +spent, sugar enough was often produced to furnish a year’s supply for +a family, and the occasion did not fail to afford opportunity for a +rustic re-union for all the young people of the neighborhood.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</span></p> + +<p>Nothing was known at that time of the culture of cotton. Flax +was grown, however, and the prettiest girls in the valley hatchelled, +spun and wove it; the forest trees and shrubs yielding ample materials +for dye-stuffs, by which a variety of colors might be furnished for +ball or bridal costume for the fairest demoiselles of the new colony. +A beautiful scarlet was produced from sassafras and sumach, and the +walnut furnished a bright brown, of which color were dyed the +jeans which formed full suits, elegant enough for the gentlemen’s +holiday wearing. This material, made in old style, is still a favorite +in all the rural districts of Tennessee, the process of its manufacture +having been taught, as a hereditary art, by mother to daughter, +from generation to generation.</p> + +<p>If we may rely upon tradition, the women whose time was thus +passed exclusively in useful occupations, and whose labors demanded +continual exercise, were superior in personal beauty to their paler +and more luxurious descendants. Be that as it may, their ideas of +feminine accomplishment and female merit were certainly different +from those of modern days. A young woman then prided herself, +not on finery purchased with the labor of others, but on the number +of hanks of thread she could spin, or yards she could weave in a day +on a rustic loom, made, perhaps, by her father or brother. Many a +maiden whose father could reckon his acres of land in the wilderness +by thousands, has appeared at church or at a country assembly +dressed from head to foot in articles manufactured entirely by herself, +and looking as bright and lovely in her gay colors as the proudest +city dame who could lay the looms of India under contribution.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Shelby’s husband was the first merchant in Nashville, and +perhaps in middle Tennessee. He established himself as such in +1790, and after two or three years, removed to Sumner County, +where he was appointed to the office of clerk, the first chosen in the +county. This office he continued to hold, residing in Gallatin, till +his death in 1819. He maintained throughout life a high and honorable +position among the settlers of the Valley, possessing qualities +of mind and heart which would have commanded success and ensured +usefulness in the most eminent station to which a republican<span class="pagenum" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</span> +could have aspired, in the new State which he and his family aided +in building up. But he was not ambitious, and preferred retirement +in the bosom of his family, and the unostentatious discharge of the +duties of an humble office, husbanding the resources he possessed +for the purpose of giving his children a substantial education, and +fitting them for lives of usefulness.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Shelby has frequently mentioned incidents that occurred on +different occasions when she and her husband were compelled to fly +from Indians, and narrowly escaped destruction. At one time the +savages came to the block-house where she lived, and attempted to +shoot through a crack in the chimney. It happened that Mrs. +Shelby, feeling a presentiment of danger, had stopped the crevice +on the inside by a plank, which the bullets could not penetrate without +having their deadly force spent. The savages were around the +house during the night, as was discovered by their tracks about the +place, and the finding of several articles belonging to them, such as +pipes, moccasins, etc.</p> + +<p>The day after the death of Col. Anthony Bledsoe, Mrs. Shelby +went with her husband, son and servants to Bledsoe’s Lick, to attend +his funeral, although the distance was ten miles, and it was known +the Indians were in the forest. The son, now Dr. Shelby, of Nashville, +remembers that his father went in advance, armed with a rifle +and holsters, his mother next, and that he followed with a negro, +who also carried a rifle.</p> + +<p>In 1788, while living on Station Camp Creek, in Sumner County, +Mrs. Shelby was one day at home with only her little children. As +usual in the early settlements, they lived in a log cabin, in which +open places between the logs served the place of windows. Her +husband was in the fields, some distance from the house. While +seated by the fire she was startled by the appearance of an Indian +warrior, fully armed, approaching her cabin. Quick as thought, +she took down a loaded rifle that hung on the wall, and whispered +to her son, then only six years old, to go out by the back door, and +run into the field for his father, which he did quietly, but with all +speed. Then placing herself near the door, she put the muzzle of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</span> +the rifle through a crack in the wall, and stood, with her finger on +the trigger, ready to shoot the Indian as he came near, approaching +the door. Just at the moment when Mrs. Shelby was about to +shoot, with deadly aim, the savage saw the gun, and with hasty +strides retreated to the woods. Thus the heroism of the matron +saved not only her own life, but the lives of several small children. +Soon after the retreat of the Indian, Mr. Shelby and his son reached +the house, to embrace the heroic wife and mother, who still stood +with the rifle in her hands.</p> + +<p>The history of Mrs. Shelby and her family, if properly given, would +embrace almost the entire history of Tennessee; nor would it be +possible to offer anything like an adequate sketch of the founders of +the colony of Cumberland Valley, without writing in detail the history +of that eventful period. This may be done by some future historian, +the scope of whose work will permit him to do full justice to +the patient and self-denying toil, and the heroic deeds of those enterprising +pioneers. Whenever this is done, the names of Bledsoe, +Shelby, Sevier, Robertson, Buchanan, Rains, and Wilson, cannot fail +to shine forth prominently in the picture. These men were neither +refugees from justice, nor outlaws from civilization, but belonged to +a band of patriots who came, like Hooker, Haynes, or Roger Williams, +to set up the altar of freedom, and find a home in primeval +forests, beyond the reach of oppression, where they might live independently, +and in time happily. They came not, as they knew, to +an ideal paradise, or happy valley, but to a dreary wilderness, where +a thousand perils environed them; beyond the paternal care of either +state or federal government; harassed from time to time by a savage +foe; destitute of regular supplies of provisions or munitions of war; +depending for subsistence on the forest and the small patches of +cornfield they were able to cultivate in the intervals of Indian campaigns; +a mere handful of men, with a few helpless women and +children, and equally dependent slaves; yet they kept their ground, +and year by year increased in numbers and strength, till after a +struggle of fifteen years against fearful odds of Indian enemies, the +colony numbered from seven to eight thousand! During all this time<span class="pagenum" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</span> +of trial, the armed occupation was maintained with toil and bloodshed, +both of men and women, who showed, in times of emergency, +that they, too, possessed the lion will and the lion heart. Thrilling +was the story of their adventures, with which, in after years, they +held their listeners spell-bound; and far surpassing the wildest romance +were their homely but interesting narratives, glowing in the +warm coloring of life. They told</p> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent4">“How oft at night</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Their sleep was broke by sudden fright,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Of Indian whoop and cruel knife</div> + <div class="verse indent0">To spill the blood of babe and wife;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">How prowling wolves and hungry bears</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Increased their dangers and their cares;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">How bold and strong these pilgrims were—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That feared not Indian, wolf, or bear;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">By sickness pressed, by want beset,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Each ill they braved, each danger met;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">’Midst want and war their sinews grew,—etc.”</div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + + +<p>Among the women of this period, remembered particularly for +the energy and cheerful self-denial with which they aided the hardy +pioneers, encouraging and animating them, while sharing in their +labors, none did her part more nobly, with more womanly grace as +well as firmness and resolution, than Mrs. Shelby. Her memory +preserved to an advanced age every prominent incident connected +with the settlement of East Tennessee and of the Cumberland Valley. +Every part of the State, within her recollection, was a wilderness. +Having lived through the border troubles and succeeding +years of change, having survived the slaughter of her nearest relatives +by the murderous Cherokees and marauding Creeks and Shawanese, +she lived to see that helpless and bleeding colony of the +Watauga, increase and multiply and grow up in the midst of the +receding forest to a goodly State—it may be said, a nation.</p> + +<p>This venerable matron died on the 11th of March, 1852, in the +eighty-sixth year of her age. She was in her usual health, and +occupied with her needle, only three days before her death. She<span class="pagenum" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</span> +had long been a member of the Episcopal church, and gave up her +spirit to God with Christian resignation, leaving an affectionate circle +of her children and descendants to mourn her departure.</p> + +<p>She had been in the habit of going to visit her relatives in the +old county where she formerly resided. The fourth of July, 1851, +was kept by a number of aged pioneers in Sumner, assembled to +dine together, and many were the interesting recollections called up +on that occasion.</p> + +<p>After 1832, Mrs. Shelby’s residence was with her son, Dr. Shelby +at his beautiful country-seat, “Faderland,” in the vicinity of Nashville, +now almost surrounded by the new town of Edgefield. It was +a pleasure to her to receive and converse with all interested in the +early history of Tennessee, and she presented in her own bearing +and character a noble example of the heroines of those times of +trial. The laborious, painful, and perilous experiences of her life +withal, never marred the harmony of her nature; and in advanced +age she had the contented and cheerful spirit of one whose days +have glided away in undisturbed tranquillity. She was a deeply +spiritual Christian, engaged continually, as far as her strength permitted, +in the dispensation of charities, and exhibiting to those who +knew her, the beauty of an humble and earnest “walk by faith.”</p> + +<p>Her husband, David Shelby, died in 1822, leaving several children, +who were reared to sustain their part with usefulness in the arena of +life, and in the midst of difficulties to exhibit the same energy and +patience which had distinguished their parents. Judge Shelby, of +Texas, was one of these children. John, the eldest son, was the first +white child born in Sumner County, and is one of the oldest and +worthiest citizens of Nashville. He determined in youth to +study medicine, and was sent to Philadelphia to have the advantage +of instruction under the celebrated Dr. Rush. He settled early +in Nashville, where for many years he devoted himself successfully +to the practice of his profession, being also occupied in the management +of a large private business, in taking care of his town property. +In 1813, he was a volunteer under Jackson, in the Creek +war, and received a wound in the eye in the battle of Enotochopco.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</span> +Though holding the office of surgeon in the army, he took an active +part in rallying and leading the troops in this memorable action, +and in acknowledgement of his services was honorably mentioned by +the General.</p> + +<p>He is now sixty-seven years of age, and after an arduous and +well spent life, is still able to perform the duties of a responsible +office, and to manage the business of a large farm. One of his +daughters is the wife of the Hon. George Washington Barrow, late +representative in Congress for the Nashville District, and during the +years 1841-5, Chargé d’Affaires to the court of Portugal. Another +daughter is Mrs. Priscilla Williams, now residing at Memphis, +Tennessee.</p> +<hr class="full"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="c11">X.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="c sp lsp">REBECCA WILLIAMS.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap large">Walter Scott’s</span> Rebecca the Jewess was not more celebrated for +her medical skill and success in treating wounds than was Rebecca +Williams among the honest borderers of the Ohio river. She was +the daughter of Joseph Tomlinson, and was born the 14th of February, +1754, at Will’s Creek, on the Potomac, in the province of +Maryland. She married John Martin, a trader among the Indians, +who was killed in 1754 on the Big Hockhocking by the Shawanees, +one of her uncles being killed at the same time. In the first year +of her widowhood, Mrs. Martin removed with her father’s family to +Grave Creek, and resided near its entrance into the Ohio, keeping +house for her two brothers. She would remain alone for weeks +together while they were absent on hunting excursions; for she had +little knowledge of fear, and was young and sprightly in disposition.</p> + +<p>In the spring of 1774, she paid a visit to her sister, who had +married a Mr. Baker, and resided upon the banks of the Ohio, opposite +Yellow Creek. It was soon after the celebrated massacre of +Logan’s relatives at Baker’s station. Rebecca made her visit, and +prepared to return home as she had come, in a canoe alone, the distance +being fifty miles. She left her sister’s residence in the afternoon, +and paddled her canoe till dark. Then, knowing that the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</span> +moon would rise at a certain hour, she neared the land, leaped on +shore, and fastened her craft to some willows that drooped their +boughs over the water. She sought shelter in a clump of bushes, +where she lay till the moon cleared the tree tops and sent a broad +stream of light over the bosom of the river. Then, unfastening her +boat, she stepped a few paces into the water to get into it. But, as +she reached the canoe, she trod on something cold and soft, and +stooping down discovered, to her horror, that it was a human body. +The pale moonlight streamed on the face of a dead Indian, not long +killed, it was evident, for the body had not become stiff. The young +woman recoiled at first, but uttered no scream, for the instinct of +self-preservation taught her that it might be dangerous. She went +round the corpse, which must have been there when she landed, +stepped into her bark, and reached the mouth of Grave Creek, +without further adventure, early the next morning.</p> + +<p>In the ensuing summer, one morning while kindling the fire, +blowing the coals on her knees, she heard steps in the apartment, +and turning round, saw a very tall Indian standing close to her. +He shook his tomahawk at her threateningly, at the same time +motioning her to keep silence. He then looked around the cabin +in search of plunder. Seeing her brother’s rifle hanging on hooks +over the fireplace, he seized it and went out. Rebecca showed no +fear while he was present; but immediately on his departure left +the cabin and hid herself in the standing corn till her brother came +home.</p> + +<p>In the following year the youthful widow was united to a man of +spirit congenial to her own. Isaac Williams had served as a ranger +in Braddock’s army, and accompanied Ebenezer and Jonathan Zane +in 1769, when they explored the country about Wheeling, having +before that period made several hunting excursions to the waters of +the Ohio. He explored the recesses of the western wild, following +the water courses of the great valley to the mouth of the Ohio, and +thence along the shores of the Mississippi to the turbid waters of +the Missouri; trapping the beaver on the tributaries of this river as +early as 1770. His marriage with Rebecca was performed with a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</span> +simplicity characteristic of the times. A travelling preacher who +chanced to come into the settlement, performed the ceremony at +short notice, the bridegroom presenting himself in his hunting dress +and the bride in short-gown and petticoat of homespun, the common +wear of the country.</p> + +<p>In 1777, the depredations and massacres of the Indians were so +frequent that the settlement at Grave Creek, consisting of several +families, was broken up. It was a frontier station, and lower down +the Ohio than any other above the mouth of the Great Kanawha. +It was in this year that the Indians made the memorable attack on +the fort at Wheeling.<a id="FNanchor_24" href="#Footnote_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> Mr. Williams and his wife, with her father’s +family, moved to the Monongahela river, above Redstone, old fort, +where they remained until the spring of 1783. They then returned +to their plantations on Grave Creek, but in 1785 were obliged to +remove again into the garrison at Wheeling. While there, Mrs. +Williams excercised the healing art for the benefit of the soldier, as +no surgeon could be procured. With the assistance of Mrs. Zane, +she dressed the wounds of one wounded in fourteen places by rifle +shots while spearing fish by torchlight, and with fomentations and +simple applications, not only cured his wounds, which every one +thought an impossible undertaking, but saved an arm and leg that +were broken. Dr. Hildreth mentions that many years afterwards, +while he was attending on a man with a compound fracture of the +leg, in the neighborhood of Mrs. Williams’ house, she was present +at one of the dressings, and related several of her cures in border +times.</p> + +<p>It has been stated that Rebecca Martin, before her marriage to +Mr. Williams, acted as housekeeper for her brothers for several years. +In consideration of which service, her brothers, Joseph and Samuel, +made an entry of four hundred acres of land on the Virginia shore +of the Ohio river, directly opposite the mouth of the Muskingum, +for their sister; girdling the trees, building a cabin, and planting +and fencing four acre’s of corn, on the high second bottom, in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</span> +spring of the year 1773. They spent the summer on the spot, occupying +their time with hunting during the growth of the crop. In +this time they had exhausted their small stock of salt and bread +stuff, and lived for two or three months altogether on boiled turkies, +which were eaten without salt. The following winter the two brothers +hunted on the Big Kanawha. Some time in March, 1774, +they reached the mouth of the river on their return. They were +detained here a few days by a remarkably high freshet in the Ohio.</p> + +<p>That year was long known as that of Dunmore’s war, and noted +for Indian depredations. The renewed and oft repeated inroads of +the Indians, led Mr. Williams to turn his thoughts towards a more +quiet retreat than that at Grave Creek. Fort Harmer, at the mouth +of the Muskingum, having been erected in 1786, and garrisoned by +United States troops, he came to the conclusion that he would now +occupy the land belonging to his wife, and located by her brothers. +This tract embraced a large share of rich alluvions. The piece +opened by the Tomlinsons in 1773, was grown up with young saplings, +but could be easily reclaimed. Having previously visited the +spot and put up log cabins, Williams finally removed his family and +effects thither, the twenty-sixth of March, 1787, being the year +before the Ohio company took possession of their purchase at the +mouth of the Muskingum.</p> + +<p>In the January following the removal to his forest domain, his +wife gave birth to a daughter, the only issue by this marriage. Soon +after the Ohio company emigrants had established themselves at +Marietta, a pleasing and friendly intercourse was kept up between +them and Mr. Williams; and as he had now turned his attention +more especially to clearing and cultivating his farm than to hunting, +he was glad to see the new openings springing up around him, and +the rude forest changing into the home of civilized man. Settlements +were commenced at Belprie and Waterford the year after +that at Marietta; as yet little being done in cultivating the soil, their +time chiefly occupied in building cabins and clearing the land.</p> + +<p>A brief account of the progress of this first settlement made in +Ohio will be interesting, and may here be appropriately introduced<span class="pagenum" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</span> +It is prepared from a large volume of Notes on Pioneer History, by +Dr. S. P. Hildreth.</p> + +<p>The country on the Ohio river was little known to the English +till about 1740, after which traders went occasionally from Pennsylvania +and Virginia, and at later periods attempts were made to make +settlements in different localities. In 1787 the Ohio company was +formed to purchase land and form settlements; funds were raised +and a large number of acres contracted for, and surveyors and boat-builders +were set at work. In April, 1788, a company of pioneers +started in the “Adventure” galley from Simrell’s Ferry, thirty miles +above Pittsburgh, on the Yohiogoany, and landed at the mouth of +the Muskingum. Vegetation was already advanced in the wild spot +selected for their residence; the trees were in leaf, and the rich +clover pastures offered abundant sustenance for their stock. Lots +were surveyed, and the new town laid out on the right bank of the +Ohio, at the junction of the clear waters of the Muskingum, was +called Marietta, in honor of Queen Marie Antoinette, whose friendly +feeling towards the American nation had, as it was well known, +strongly influenced her royal consort.</p> + +<p>The location proved fortunate in point of health as well as fertility; +and game being abundant, the emigrants wanted for nothing. +The ground was soon broken, and corn and vegetables planted. The +temporary regulations for the government of the little community, +were written out, and posted on the smooth branch of a large beech +tree, near the mouth of the Muskingum. The fourth of July was +celebrated by a public dinner set out in an arbor on the bank; and +Gen. Varnum, one of the judges, delivered the oration, while the +officers of the garrison drank and responded to the toasts. The bill +of fare on this occasion, which has been recorded, presented an array +of venison, bear and buffalo meat, and roast pigs; and among the +fish, a pike weighing a hundred pounds, speared at the mouth of the +Muskingum. On the 20th July, William Brook, of New England, +preached the first sermon ever preached to white men in Ohio, Moravian +missionaries having hitherto been employed to spread the +truths of the Gospel among the savages. It may be interesting to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</span> +know what was the text on this memorable occasion; it was in +Exodus xix., 5, 6: “Now, therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, +and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure to me +above all people; for all the earth is mine; and ye shall be unto +me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”</p> + +<p>On the 20th August, the north-west blockhouse was so far completed, +that a dinner was given by the directors of the company to +Governor St. Clair and the officers of Fort Harmer, which the principal +citizens attended, with the wives of many of the officers, and +several other ladies, who had thus early ventured into the wilderness. +A fine barge, rowed by twelve oars, brought the company from the +fort up the Muskingum to the opposite bank, from which the appearance +of the new fort was grand and imposing.</p> + +<p>The first death is noticed as that of a child, on the 25th of August. +The number of settlers this year, after a reinforcement from New +England, was one hundred and thirty-two, and Marietta was at this +time the only white settlement in the territory now constituting the +State of Ohio. In December, about two hundred Indians came to +make a treaty, and the council fire was kindled in a large log-house +outside the fort. Articles were adjusted and agreed to, and the +Indians departed well pleased with the settlers, whom they pronounced +very different from the “long knives” and stern backwoodsmen of +Kentucky. During the winter succeeding, the Ohio was filled with +ice, and no boat moved up or down till March, which caused a great +scarcity of provisions, for nothing could be procured but venison and +bear’s meat, and it was difficult to find either deer or bears in the +vicinity of the town. The inhabitants were obliged to live for weeks +without bread, eating boiled corn, or coarse meal ground in a hand-mill, +with the little meat they could procure. As soon as the river +opened, flour could be purchased from boats trading from Redstone +and the country near Pittsburg, and before long a road was cut +through to Alexandria. The first marriage, between the Hon. +Winthrop Sargent, secretary of the North West Territory, and Miss +Rowena Tupper, daughter of Gen. Tupper, was celebrated on the +6th February, 1789, by Gen. Rufus Putnam, judge of the Court of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</span> +Common Pleas for Washington, the first organized county. A public +festival was appointed for the 7th April, the anniversary of the +commencement of their settlement, and was observed for many years, +till the country became peopled with strangers, who knew nothing +of the hardships and trials encountered by the primitive settlers. It +is now sometimes kept as a holiday, for picnic excursions or social +parties.</p> + +<p>Flint says he distinctly remembers the wagon that carried out a +number of adventurers from Massachusetts, on the second emigration +to the forests of Ohio; its large black canvass covering, and the +white lettering in large capitals, “To Marietta, on the Ohio.”</p> + +<p>Belprie was a branch settlement made by the direction of the Ohio +company; the name taken from “belle prairie,” or beautiful meadow. +After the lots were drawn, the settlers moved to their farms +in April, 1789, and when their log cabins were built, commenced +cutting down and girdling the trees on the rich lowlands. From the +destructive effects of frost in September of this year, the crops of +corn were greatly injured, and where planted late, entirely ruined. +In the spring and summer of 1790, the inhabitants began to suffer +from a want of food, especially wholesome bread-stuffs. The Indians +were also becoming troublesome, and rendered it hazardous boating +provisions from the older settlements on the Monongahela, or hunting +for venison in the adjacent forests. Many families, especially at +Belprie, had no other meal than that made from musty or mouldy +corn; and were sometimes destitute even of this for several days in +succession. This mouldy corn commanded nine shillings, or a dollar +and a half a bushel; and when ground in their hand-mills and +made into bread, few stomachs were able to digest it, or even to +retain it for a few minutes.</p> + +<p>During this period of want, Isaac Williams displayed his benevolent +feeling for the suffering colonists. Being in the country earlier +he had more ground cleared, and had raised a crop of several hundred +bushels of corn. This he now distributed among the inhabitants +at the low rate of three shillings, or fifty cents a bushel, +when at the same time he had been urged by speculators to take a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</span> +dollar for his whole crop. “I would not let them have a bushel,” said +the old hunter. He not only parted with his corn at this cheap rate, +but prudently proportioned the number of bushels according to the +number of individuals in a family. An empty purse was no bar to the +needy applicant; but his wants were equally supplied with those who +had money, and credit was given until more favorable times should +enable him to discharge the debt. Capt. Jonathan Devoll, hearing of +Williams’ corn, and the cheap rate at which he sold it, made a trip +to Marietta to procure some of it; travelling by land, and in the night, +on account of the danger from Indians, a distance of twelve or fourteen +miles. Williams treated him with much kindness, and after +letting him have several bushels of corn at the usual price in plentiful +years, furnished him with his only canoe to transport it home.</p> + +<p>Like Isaac and Rebecca of old, this modern Isaac and Rebecca +were given to good deeds; and many a poor, sick, and deserted +boatman has been nursed and restored to health beneath their humble +roof. Full of days and good deeds, and strong in the faith of a +blessed immortality, Williams resigned his spirit to him who gave it, +the 25th of September, 1820, aged eighty-four years, and was buried +in a beautiful grove on his own plantation, surrounded by the trees +he so dearly loved when living.</p> + +<p>In spite of treaties, the Indians continued to harass the settlements +in western Virginia, and in August attacked a surveying party employed +by the Ohio Company in running the lines of the townships. +The savages seemed to hold the surveyor’s chain and compass in +utter detestation. In the winter of 1790, the governor of the North +West Territory, St. Clair, removed his family from his plantation at +“Potts’ Grove,” in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, to Marietta. +One of his daughters, Louisa, was long remembered as one of the +most distinguished among the ladies of that day. In strength and +elasticity of frame, blooming health, energy and fearlessness, she was +the ideal of a soldier’s daughter, extremely fond of adventure and +frolic, and ready to draw amusement from everything around her. +She was a fine equestrian, and would manage the most spirited +horse with perfect ease and grace, dashing at full gallop through the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</span> +open woodland surrounding the “Campus Martius,” and leaping over +logs or any obstacle in her way. She was also expert in skating, +and was rivalled by few, if any young men in the garrison, in the +speed, dexterity, and grace of movement with which she exercised +herself in this accomplishment. The elegance of her person, and +her neat, well-fitting dress, were shown to great advantage in her +rapid gyrations over the broad sheet of ice in the Muskingum, which +for a few days in winter offered a fine field, close to the garrison, for +this healthful sport; and loud were the plaudits from young and old, +from spectators of both sexes, called forth by the performance of the +governor’s daughter. As a huntress she was equally distinguished, +and might have served as a model for a Diana, in her rambles +through the forest, had she been armed with a bow instead of a rifle, +of which latter instrument she was perfect mistress, loading and +firing with the accuracy of a backwoodsman, killing a squirrel on +the top of the tallest tree, or cutting off the head of a partridge with +wonderful precision. She was fond of roaming through the woods, +and often went out alone into the forest near Marietta, fearless of +the savages who often lurked in the vicinity. As active on foot as +on horseback, she could walk several miles with the untiring rapidity +of a practised ranger. Notwithstanding her possession of these +unfeminine attainments, Miss St. Clair’s refined manners would +have rendered her the ornament of any drawing-room circle; she +was beautiful in person, and had an intellect highly cultivated, having +received a carefully finished education under the best teachers in +Philadelphia. Endowed by nature with a vigorous constitution and +lively animal spirits, her powers, both of body and mind, had been +strengthened by such athletic exercises, to the practice of which she +had been encouraged from childhood by her father. He had spent +the greater part of his life in camps, and was not disposed to fetter +by conventional rules his daughter’s rare spirit, so admirably suited +to pioneer times and manners, however like an amazon she may +seem to the less independent critics of female manners at the present +day. After the Indian war, Miss St. Clair returned to her early +home in the romantic glens of Ligonier valley.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</span></p> + +<p>It is said that the first woman who came to Marietta was the wife +of James Owen, and that she received a donation lot of one hundred +acres from the Ohio company on this account. She gave shelter to a +man who had been put ashore from a boat on the way to Kentucky, +and took the small-pox from him, which soon spread, and most of +the inhabitants were inoculated to preserve them from the terrible +ravages of the disease. Hardly was this anxiety over than the great +scarcity of provisions already noticed prevailed; good corn rising to +the price of two dollars a bushel, and the distress increasing as the +summer approached. There were few cows and no oxen or cattle +to spare; hogs were scarce, and the woods were bare of game, the +deer and buffaloes within twenty miles having been killed or driven +away by the Indians. In this extremity great kindness was shown +among the settlers, each sharing what he had with his neighbors, +and those who had cows dividing their milk. The poor obtained +supplies of fish from the river. The Indians this year—1790—commenced +a new species of warfare, by attacking boats in the +river usually owned by emigrants on the way to Kentucky. Their +principal rendezvous was near the mouth of the Scioto, and a favorite +device to get possession of a boat, was to make a white man +stand on the bank and entreat the crew to land and take him on +board, saying he had just escaped from Indian slavery and if recaptured +would be put to death. By this mode of appeal to the compassion +of emigrants, the men in several boats were induced to land, +when the savages lying in ambush would seize the boat or shoot +down the crew from their hiding-place. The decoy was sometimes +an actual prisoner, whom they forced to act his part, and sometimes +a renegade white who joined them voluntarily for the sake of a share +in the plunder.</p> + +<p>In October a large company of French emigrants arrived at +Marietta, coming down the Ohio in “Kentucky arks,” or flatboats. +Many were from Paris, and wondered not a little at the broad rivers +and vast forests of the West. The distress and destitution into +which they were thrown by the failure of the Scioto company to +fulfil their contracts, and the substitution of lands on the Ohio<span class="pagenum" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</span> +below the Kanawha, are mentioned in another sketch. Gen. Rufus +Putnam was commissioned by the principal men in the Scioto company +to build houses and furnish provisions for these colonists, and +did so at great loss, the company eventually failing and dissolving. +Indian hostilities commenced in January, 1791, with an attack on +the blockhouse at Big Bottom. This building stood on the first or +low bottom, a few rods from the shore on the left bank of the Muskingum, +four miles above the mouth of Meigs’ Creek and thirty +from Marietta. A few rods back, the land rose several feet to a +second or higher bottom, which stretched out into a plain of half a +mile in width, extending to the foot of the hills. Big Bottom was +so called from its size, being four or five miles in length, and containing +more fine land than any other below Duncan’s falls. Excepting +the small clearing round the garrison, the whole region was +a forest. This settlement was made up of thirty-six young men, but +little acquainted with Indian warfare or military rules. Confident in +their own prudence and ability to protect themselves, they put up a +blockhouse which might accommodate all in an emergency, covered +it, and laid puncheon floors, stairs, &c. It was built of large beech +logs, and rather open, as it was not chinked between the logs; this +job was left for a rainy day or some more convenient season. They +kept no sentry, and had neglected to set pickets around the blockhouse, +and their guns were lying in different places, without order, +about the house. Twenty men usually encamped in the house, +a part of whom were now absent, and each individual and mess +cooked for themselves. One end of the building was appropriated +for a fire-place, and at close of day all came in, built a large fire, +and commenced cooking and eating their suppers,</p> + +<p>A party of Indians came into a cabin occupied by a few of the +men, near the blockhouse, and spoke to them in a friendly manner, +partaking of their supper. Presently taking some leathern thongs +and pieces of cord that had been used in packing venison, they +seized the white men by their arms, and told them they were prisoners. +Another party attacked the blockhouse so suddenly and +unexpectedly that there was no time for defence, shooting down and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</span> +tomahawking the men. One stout Virginia woman, the wife of +Isaac Meeks, who was employed as their hunter, seized an axe and +made a blow at the head of the Indian who opened the door; a +slight turn of the head saved his skull, and the axe passed down +through his cheek into the shoulder, leaving a huge gash that severed +nearly half his face; she was instantly killed by the tomahawk +of one of his companions before she could repeat the stroke. This +was all the injury received by the Indians, as the men were killed +before they had time to seize their arms which stood in the corner +of the room. While the slaughter was going on, a young man in +the prime of life sprung up the stair-way and out upon the roof; +while his brother, a lad of sixteen, secreted himself under some +bedding in the corner of the room. The Indians on the outside +soon discovered the former, and shot him in the act of begging them +to spare his life, “as he was the only one left.”</p> + +<p>Twelve persons were killed in this attack. The savages had +vowed that before the trees put forth leaves, the smoke of a white man’s +house should not rise north-west of the waters of the Ohio. The +inhabitants assembled at the three stations at Marietta, Belprie and +Waterford, new blockhouses were built at the expense of the Ohio +company, and two hunters were employed to act as spies for each +garrison. Gen. Putnam complained to President Washington of +the danger in which the settlements stood of being entirely swept +away without a reinforcement of troops, and a military force was +sent for their defence in the ensuing summer.</p> + +<p>The following incident is illustrative: “On a day in March, +Rogers and Henderson sallied out of the garrison at an early hour, +to scout up the Muskingum. They ranged diligently all day without +seeing any Indians, or discovering signs of their being in the +neighborhood. Just at night, as they were returning to the +garrison by a cow-path, and had come within a mile of home, +two Indians rose from behind a log, fifty yards before them, and +fired. Rogers was shot through the heart, and as he fell, Henderson +attempted to support him, but he told him he was a dead man, +and he must provide for his own safety. He turned to escape down the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</span> +side of the ridge, to the bottom, and two more savages who had +reserved their fire, rose and discharged their rifles at him as he +ran; one of the balls passing through the collar of his hunting-shirt, +the other through the silk handkerchief which was bound +round his head, and formed a part of a ranger’s dress, barely grazing +the scalp. His blanket, folded like a knapsack on his back, probably +saved his life,—shielding the vital part by its numerous +folds, from the passage of a bullet. The Indians well knew what a +protection this would be, and therefore aimed at his head. After +running a few hundred yards on the back track, he discovered that +the savages had taken a shorter course and got ahead of him, and +making a short turn to the right, up a ravine, he crossed the ridge and +came out into the valley of Duck Creek, unmolested. While making +this detour, he fell quite unexpectedly on the camp of the savages, +and saw one busily engaged in kindling a fire, and so diligently +occupied that he did not observe the white man. Henderson could +easily have shot him, but as his pursuers had lost the direction of +his course, he thought it imprudent by firing to give them notice of +his whereabouts, and went on to the garrison at the point. The +alarm gun was fired, and answered from Fort Harmer and Campus +Martius. The story spread through the village that Rogers had +been killed, and Henderson chased to the garrison by Indians, +who were then besieging its gates. The darkness of night +added to the confusion of the scene. The order, in case of an +alarm, was for every man to repair to his alarm post, and the +women and children to the blockhouses. Some idea of the proceedings +of the night may be obtained from the narration of an eye-witness:</p> + +<p>“‘The first applicant for admission to the central blockhouse +was Col. Sproat, with a box of papers for safe keeping; then came +some young men with their arms; next, a woman with her bed and +her children; and after her, old William Moultin, from Newburyport, +with his leathern apron full of old goldsmith’s tools and +tobacco. His daughter, Anna, brought the china tea-pot, cups<span class="pagenum" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</span> +and saucers. Lydia brought the great bible; but when all were in, +‘mother’ was missing. Where was mother? She must be killed +by the Indians. ‘No,’ says Lydia, ‘mother said she would not +leave the house <i>looking so</i>; she would put things a little to rights.’ +After a while the old lady arrived, bringing the looking-glass, knives +and forks, etc.’”</p> + +<p>From the commencement of the settlement, the Sabbath had +been kept as a day of rest; and from 1789, regular service was +performed in the north-west block-house at Campus Martius. The +military law required the regular muster of troops every Sunday at +ten o’clock. They were paraded by beat of drum, the roll called, +arms inspected, and then the procession, headed by Colonel Sproat +with drawn sword, the clergyman and the civil officers, with accompaniment +of fife and drum, marched into the hall appropriated for +divine service. The arms of the soldiers were placed by their sides, +or in some convenient place, ready for use. “One Sunday morning +in the latter part of September, Peter Niswonger, one of the +rangers, went to visit a field he had planted with corn and potatoes, +on the east side of Duck Creek. He had some fattened hogs in a +pen, one of which he found killed, and a portion of the meat cut out +and carried off. Several hills of potatoes had been dug, and in the +loose earth he discovered fresh moccasin tracks; a proof that +Indians had done the mischief. Peter hurried back to the garrison +at the point, and gave the alarm. It was in the midst of morning +service, and the inhabitants were generally assembled in the +large block-house. The instant the words, ‘Indians in the neighborhood,’ +were heard, the drummer seized his drum, and rushing +out at the door, began to beat the long roll; the well known signal +for every man to hasten to his post. The place of worship, so +quiet a few minutes before, was now a scene of alarm and confusion. +The women caught up their little children and hastened homeward, +and the place of prayer was abandoned for that day. Anxiety +for the fate of their brothers and husbands, who had gone in pursuit +of the dreaded enemy, banished all thoughts but the silent, fervent +prayer for their safe return. A party was soon mustered of five or<span class="pagenum" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</span> +six of the rangers, several volunteer citizens, and soldiers from the +company stationed at the point. The men went up in canoes to the +mouth of Duck Creek, where they left their water-craft. The more +experienced rangers soon fell upon the trail, which they traced across +wide bottoms, to the Little Muskingum. At a point about half a +mile below where Conner’s mill now stands, the Indians forded the +creek; and about a mile eastward, in a hollow between the hills, +was seen the smoke of their camp fire. The rangers now divided +the volunteers into two flanking parties, with one of the spies at the +head of each; three of their number acting in front. By the time +the ‘flankers’ had come within range of the camp, the Indians discovered +their foes, by the noise of soldiers who lagged behind and +were not so cautious in their movements, and instantly fled up the +run on which they were encamped; two of their number leaving +the main body, and ascending the point of a hill with a ravine on +the right and left. The rangers now fired, while the Indians, each +taking his tree, returned the shot. One of the two savages on the +spur of the ridge was wounded by one of the spies on the right, who +pushed on manfully to gain the enemy’s flank. The men in front +came on more slowly, and as they began to ascend the point of the +ridge, Ned Henderson, who was posted on high ground, cried, +‘Hence! there is an Indian behind that white oak; he will kill +some of you!’ One of the white men instantly sprang behind a +large tree; another behind a hickory too small to cover more than +half his body, while the third jumped into the ravine. At the +instant the Indian fired, he looked over the edge of the bank to see +the effect of the shot, and saw the man behind the hickory wiping +the dust of the bark from his eyes; the ball having grazed the tree +without doing him any injury except cutting his nose with the +splinters. At the same time the Indian fell, pierced with several +balls.”</p> + +<p>“The first Sunday school was taught by Mrs. Andrew Lake, a +kind-hearted, pious old lady from New York, who had brought up +a family of children herself, and therefore felt the more for others; +she took compassion on the children of the garrison, who were<span class="pagenum" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</span> +spending the Sabbath afternoons in frivolous amusements, and +established a school in her own dwelling. After parson Story’s +services were finished, she regularly assembled as many of the +younger children as she could persuade to attend, and taught them +the Westminster catechism, and lessons from the Bible, for about an +hour. Her scholars amounted to about twenty in number. She +was very kind and affectionate towards them, so that they were fond +of assembling to listen to her instructions. Her explanations of +Scripture were so simple and childlike, that the smallest of the little +ones could understand them, and were rendered very pleasant +by her mild manner of speaking. The accommodations for the +children were very rude and simple, consisting only of a few low +stools and benches, such a thing as a chair being unknown in the +garrison. One of her scholars, then a little boy of four years old, +who gave me a sketch of the school, says—for lack of a seat +he was one day placed by the kind old lady on the top of a bag of +meal, that stood leaning against the side of the room. The seed +thus charitably sown in faith and hope, was not scattered in vain; +as several of her scholars became prominent members of the +church.”</p> + +<p>The offer of lands for military service brought new emigrants from +Pennsylvania and Virginia, and the firmness and wisdom of +directors and agents, backed by the counsel of old Revolutionary +officers, preserved the settlement in the midst of formidable dangers. +Among other inconveniences brought by war, the mills were stopped, +and it was necessary to grind the corn in hand-mills, though flour +might still be procured at “head-waters.”</p> + +<p>There were but two hand-mills in the garrison, and a large coffee-mill, +which had once belonged to a ship of war. The hopper held a +peck of corn, and it was in great demand. After this imperfect +grinding, the finest of the meal was separated with a sieve for bread, +and the coarse boiled with a piece of venison or bear’s meat, making +a rich and nourishing diet, well suited to the tastes of the hungry +pioneers.</p> + +<p>One instance of strict honor, in the midst of privation is mentioned<span class="pagenum" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</span> +of the wife of an officer in the United States’ service, and one +of the most worthy men in the colony. During the period of the +greatest distress, the mother had consented to cook for a young +man who owned a lot adjoining hers, and ate his meals at his own +cabin. While the bread, which was made of musty meal, was +baking, she always sent her children out to play, and when baked, +locked it immediately in the owner’s chest, lest they should see it, +and cry for a piece of what she had no right to give them. When +a few kernels of corn chanced to be dropped in grinding, the +children would pick them up like chickens, and eat them. A few +of the inhabitants had cows, for which, in summer, the forest +afforded ample provender. In the latter part of the winter, the sap +of the sugar maple, boiled down with meal, made a rich and +nutritious food; and the tree was so abundant, that as large quantities +of sugar were made as the number of kettles in the settlement +would permit. By the middle of July, the new corn was in +the milk, and fit for roasting; and this, with squashes, beans, etc., +put an end to fears of actual starvation. So urgent was the necessity, +that these different vegetables, before they were fully formed, +were gathered and boiled together, with a little meal, into a kind of +soup much relished. It was even said that the dogs would get at +and devour the young corn.</p> + +<p>Under these discouraging circumstances, the inhabitants contributed +all the money they could raise, and sent two active young +men by land to “Red Stone,” to procure supplies of salt meat and a +few barrels of flour. It was a hazardous journey, on account of the +inclemency of the weather—it being early in December—and danger +from the Indians, who since St. Clair’s defeat were more active +in harassing the settlements. The young men, however, reached +head waters, and made the necessary purchases, which they were +about sending down the river when it was suddenly closed by ice. +Nothing, meanwhile, was heard of them at home, and the winter +wore away in uncertainty, some supposing the messengers had gone +off with the money, and others that they had been killed by the +savages. The ice broke up the last of February with a flood that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</span> +inundated the ground on which the garrison was built, and early in +March the young men arrived with a small Kentucky boat loaded +with supplies, and entering the garrison by the upper gate, moored +their ark at the door of the commandant, to the great relief and joy +of the inhabitants.</p> + +<p>The expedition of Gen. Harmar having failed of its object, the +north-west territory was still a battle-ground for confederate tribes +from Lakes Erie and Michigan, from the Illinois, the Wabash, and +the Miamis. The famous chief, Little Turtle, was at their head. +This failure having made a deep impression, there was a demand +for a greater force under the command of a more experienced general; +and Arthur St. Clair was selected as most capable of restoring +American affairs in the north-west. His army was assembled at +Cincinnati with the object of destroying the Miami towns. Gen. St. +Clair’s defeat on a branch of the Wabash, November 4th, 1791, was +one of the heaviest disasters in the annals of savage warfare. Its +effect was to expose the whole range of frontier settlements on the +Ohio, to the fury of the Indians, and spread so much alarm among +the inhabitants, that many talked of leaving the country. Their +final determination, however, was to stay and defend their property, +and the ensuing winter, in spite of disasters, brought fresh arrivals +of colonists. During the continuance of the war, the men were +obliged to work their fields with arms in their hands; parties of +fifteen or twenty laboring, while three or four were posted as sentries +in the edge of the woods or enclosure. Thus food for their families +was obtained at the risk of the rifle or the tomahawk.</p> + +<p>The year 1791 was more fruitful of tragic events in the vicinity +of Marietta than any other. After that time the Indians were occupied +in defending their own borders, or their villages, against American +troops, and had little time for hostile incursions. The expenses +in which the war had involved the Ohio Company, caused the failure +of payment for the lands; petitions were presented to Congress +for donation lots, and those emigrants who came after the termination +of Indian hostilities obtained better lands, on more favorable<span class="pagenum" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</span> +terms, than those who had undergone all the privations, labors, and +sufferings which preceded the privileged season.</p> + +<p>“The winter of 1791-2,” says Spencer in his narrative, “was followed +by an early and delightful spring; indeed, I have often +thought that our first western winters were much milder, our springs +earlier, and our autumns longer than they now are. On the last of +February, some of the trees were putting forth their foliage; in +March, the red-bud, the hawthorn and the dog-wood in full bloom +checkered the hills, displaying their beautiful colors of rose and lily; +and in April the ground was covered with the May apple, bloodroot, +ginseng, violets, and a great variety of herbs and flowers. Flocks of +parroquets were seen, decked in their rich plumage of green and +gold. Birds of every species and of every hue, were flitting from +tree to tree; and the beautiful redbird, and the untaught songster of +the west, made the woods vocal with their melody. Now might be +heard the plaintive wail of the dove, and now the rumbling drum of +the partridge, or the loud gobble of the turkey. Here might be +seen the clumsy bear, doggedly moving off, or urged by pursuit +into a laboring gallop, retreating to his citadel in the top of some +lofty tree; or—approached suddenly—raising himself erect in the +attitude of defence, facing his enemy and waiting his approach; +there the timid deer, watchfully resting, or cautiously feeding, or +aroused from his thicket, gracefully bounding off, then stopping, +erecting his stately head and for a moment gazing around, or snuffing +the air to ascertain his enemy, instantly springing off, clearing +logs and bushes at a bound, and soon distancing his pursuers. It +seemed an earthly paradise; and but for apprehension of the wily +copperhead, who lay silently coiled among the leaves, or beneath +the plants, waiting to strike his victim; the horrid rattlesnake, who +more chivalrous, however, with head erect amidst its ample folds, +prepared to dart upon his foe, generously with the loud noise of his +rattle apprised him of danger; and the still more fearful and insidious +savage, who, crawling upon the ground, or noiselessly approaching +behind trees and thickets, sped the deadly shaft or fatal bullet,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</span> +you might have fancied you were in the confines of Eden or the +borders of Elysium.”</p> + +<p>The author of “Miami County Traditions,” says: “The country +all around the settlement presented the most lovely appearance; the +earth was like an ash-heap, and nothing could exceed the luxuriance +of primitive vegetation; indeed, our cattle often died from excess of +feeding, and it was somewhat difficult to rear them on that account. +The white-weed, or bee-harvest, as it is called, so profusely spread +over our bottom and woodlands, was not then seen among us; the +sweet annis, nettles, wild rye, and pea-vine, now so scarce, every +where abounded; they were almost the entire herbage of our bottoms; +the two last gave subsistence to our cattle, and the first, with +our nutritious roots, were eaten by our swine with the greatest +avidity. In the spring and summer months, a drove of hogs could +be scented at a considerable distance, from their flavor of the annis +root.”</p> + +<p>When Gen. Putnam had concluded a treaty with the Indians on +the Wabash, fourteen of the chiefs came to Marietta, November 17th, +1792, under the escort of American officers. The next day a public +dinner was given to them at Campus Martius, to which the officers +of the garrison and the citizens of Marietta were invited. The procession +was formed on the bank of the Ohio, where the boat landed, +and the chiefs were conducted, with martial music, to the north-east +gate of the garrison, a salute of fourteen guns being fired as soon as +the head of the column appeared in sight. The procession then +moved through the gate to the dining hall, a room twenty-four by +forty feet large, in the hall of the north-west block-house, where the +feast provided had been arranged by the ladies of the garrison. An +eye-witness says: “The entertainment was very novel, and the +scene peculiar and striking. Shut up in the garrison, and at war +with the other tribes of the forest, shaking hands with our red +guests, and passing from one to another the appellation of <i>brother</i>! +It seemed to renew the scenes of the first year’s settlement, and +make us almost forget war was upon our border.”</p> + +<p>After the banquet and ceremonies were concluded, the chiefs were<span class="pagenum" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</span> +again conducted to their boats. The next day they were invited by +several gentlemen of the stockade garrison at the point, to smoke +the pipe of friendship; after which they proceeded on their journey.</p> + +<p>Another of the female pioneers whose name tradition has preserved, +is Sally Fleehart, who became the wife of John Warth, a +noted hunter and ranger, and lived in one of the barracks. Warth +learned to read and write in the intervals of his ranging tours, and +after the peace settled in Virginia, and served as a magistrate, +becoming a wealthy planter and owning a number of slaves. His +success was attributable to the education given him by his wife, who +had been brought up on the frontier, and possessed not only +unusual intellectual cultivation for that class, but all the intrepidity +and activity common to women at that day, in a remarkable degree. +She could fire a rifle with great accuracy, and bring down a bird on +the wing, or a squirrel from the tree, as readily as could the practised +arm of her husband.</p> + +<p>The women resident in the forts had but little respite from anxiety +and dread, except in the depths of winter, when the Indians rarely +committed depredations, or lay in watch about the settlements. As +soon, however, as the wild geese, seen in flocks steering their course +northward, or the frogs piping in the swamp, gave token of the approach +of the more genial season, the return of the savage foe might +be expected. Thus the more timid part of the community, and the +elder females never welcomed the coming of spring with the hilarity +it generally awakens, preferring the “melancholy days” of gloom +and tempest, when they and their children were comparatively safe; +regarding the budding of trees and opening of wild flowers with sad +forebodings, and listening to the song of birds as a prelude to the +warcry of the relentless savage. The barking of the faithful watchdog +at night was another cause of terror, associated as it was with +visions of the Indian lurking in his covert; and it was seldom heard +by the timid mother without raising her head from the pillow to +listen anxiously for the sound of the distant warwhoop, or the +report of the sentry’s rifle; to sink again into uneasy slumber, and +dream of some wild deed or fearful occurrence. Some amusing incidents<span class="pagenum" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</span> +are related of the alarm created in a garrison by the sudden +outcry of persons who were dreaming of Indian assault. This part +of the suffering peculiar to those times, can hardly be imagined in +our days of peace and security.</p> + +<p>One instance of the confusion created by a false alarm may be +given:—“One dark and rainy night in June, while John Wint, a +youth of eighteen, was on the watch in the tower of the middle +blockhouse, he saw by a flash of lightning a darklooking object +climbing over a log, which lay about fifty yards from the fort. A +report had been previously circulated of Indians being seen in the +neighborhood, and this appeared about the height of a man. At +the next flash John hailed and fired the same instant. All remained +quiet outside; but the report awakened every body within the garrison, +and men came running from all quarters in great alarm, +thinking the savages were already upon them, for no sentinel ever +fired without good cause. The women came hurrying along with +their screaming children, and the soldiers with their guns ready for +service. In the midst of the tumult, Col. Sproat was soon on the +ground, and questioned the sentinel closely as to what he had seen +or heard. John was rather confused at the disturbance he had +raised without being able to state some more definite cause than the +dark body bearing resemblance to a man, which he had seen +standing on a log. He said he had fired at a white spot he saw +above its head by the flash of lightning, and there were many surmises +as to what it could be; some thinking it must be an Indian, +others protesting John had fired at nothing to see the fun of a night +alarm, as he was known to be fond of a little harmless sport. No +further signs of the enemy were discovered, as no one would venture +out in the dark to reconnoitre for savages. In the morning, after the +gates were opened, a party went to the log pointed out by John, +and found a large black dog, which belonged to one of the soldiers, +with a rifle shot through the centre of a white spot in his forehead.” +The accuracy of the shot attested the sentry’s excellence as a marksman, +though much useless anxiety had been excited by his mistake.</p> + +<p>This is a brief notice of the earliest settlement in Ohio, the germ<span class="pagenum" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</span> +whence has sprung a great and powerful State. The termination of +the Indian war, brought about by the victorious campaign of Gen. +Anthony Wayne, and the conclusion of the treaty at Greenville in +1795, restored peace to the harassed settlements; mills were erected, +roads opened, and the inhabitants who had so long been immured +within the walls of forts, went forth to till their grounds and clear +away the forest unembarrassed by the dread of a lurking enemy.</p> + +<p>Brickell, in his narrative of captivity among the Indians, relates a +curious anecdote of the escape of Mrs. Jane Dick. “Her husband +had concerted a plan with the captain of the vessel which brought +the presents, to steal her from the Indians. The captain concerted +a plan with a black man who cooked for McKee and Elliot, to steal +Mrs. Dick. The black man arranged it with Mrs. Dick to meet him +at midnight in a copse of underwood, which she did, and he took +her on board in a small canoe, and headed her up in an empty hogs-head, +where she remained till the day after the vessel sailed, about +thirty-six hours. I remember well that every camp and the woods +were searched for her, and that the vessel was searched; for the +Indians immediately suspected that she was on board, but not thinking +of unheading hogsheads, they could not find her.” This happened +the summer before Wayne’s campaign.</p> + +<p class="gtb">******</p> + +<p><span class="smcap large">Mary Heckewelder</span>, the daughter of Rev. John Heckewelder, +whose early labors as a Moravian missionary among the Indians are +well known, is said to have been the first white child born in Ohio. +The following sketch was sent by her to the editor of the American +Pioneer: “I was born April 16th, 1781, in Salem, one of the +Moravian Indian towns on the Muskingum river, Ohio. Soon +after my birth, times becoming very troublesome, the settlements +were often in danger from war parties, and from an encampment of +warriors near Gnadenhutten; and finally, in the beginning of September +of the same year, we were all made prisoners. First, four +of the missionaries were seized by a party of Huron warriors, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</span> +declared prisoners of war; they were then led into the camp of the +Delawares, where the death-song was sung over them. Soon after +they had secured them, a number of warriors marched off for Salem +and Schönbrunn. About thirty savages arrived at the former place +in the dusk of the evening, and broke open the mission-house. Here +they took my mother and myself prisoners, and having led her into +the street and placed guards over her, they plundered the house of +everything they could take with them and destroyed what was left. +Then going to take my mother along with them, the savages were +prevailed upon, through the intercession of the Indian females, to let +her remain at Salem till the next morning—the night being dark +and rainy, and almost impossible for her to travel so far. They +consented on condition that she should be brought into the camp +the next morning, which was accordingly done, and she was safely +conducted by our Indians to Gnadenhutten.</p> + +<p>“After experiencing the cruel treatment of the savages for some time, +they were set at liberty again; but were obliged to leave their flourishing +settlements and forced to march through a dreary wilderness +to Upper Sandusky. We went by land through Goshachguenk to +the Walholding, and then partly by water and partly along the +banks of the river, to Sandusky creek. All the way I was carried +by an Indian woman, carefully wrapped in a blanket, on her back. +Our journey was exceedingly tedious and dangerous; some of the +canoes sunk, and those that were in them lost all their provisions and +everything they had saved. Those that went by land drove the +cattle, a pretty large herd. The savages now drove us along, the +missionaries with their families usually in the midst, surrounded by +their Indian converts. The roads were exceedingly bad, leading +through a continuation of swamps.</p> + +<p>“Having arrived at Upper Sandusky, they built small huts of logs +and bark to screen them from the cold, having neither beds nor +blankets, and being reduced to the greatest poverty and want; for +the savages had by degrees stolen almost everything both from the +missionaries and Indians on the journey. We lived here extremely +poor, often having very little or nothing to satisfy the cravings of hunger;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</span> +and the poorest of the Indians were obliged to live upon their +dead cattle, which died for want of pasture.</p> + +<p>“After living in this dreary wilderness, in danger, poverty, and distress +of all sorts, a written order arrived in March, 1782, sent by the +governor to the half-king of the Hurons and to an English officer in +his company, to bring all the missionaries and their families to Detroit, +but with a strict order not to plunder nor abuse them in the +least. The missionaries were overwhelmed with grief at the idea of +being separated from their Indians; but there being no alternative, +they were obliged to submit to this, one of the heaviest of their trials. +The poor Indians came weeping to bid them farewell, and accompanied +them a considerable way, some as far as Lower Sandusky. Here +we were obliged to spend several nights in the open air, and suffered +great cold besides other hardships. April 14th, we set out and +crossed over a part of the lake, and arrived at Detroit by the straits +which join Lakes Erie and Huron. We were lodged in the barracks +by order of the governor. Some weeks after, we left the barracks +with his consent and moved into a house at a small distance +from the town.</p> + +<p>“The Indian converts gathering around their teachers, they resolved, +with the consent of the governor, to begin the building of a new +settlement upon a spot about thirty miles from Detroit, on the river +Huron, which they called New Gnadenhutten, and which increased +considerably from time to time. Here I lived till the year 1785, +when I set out with an aged missionary couple to be educated in the +school at Bethlehem.”</p> + +<p>The murder of the Moravian Indians was one of the most atrocious +transactions in the history of the West. They consisted +chiefly of Delawares, with a few Mohicans; had been converted to +Christianity through the zeal and influence of Moravian missionaries, +and had lived ten years quietly in their villages of Gnadenhutten, +Schönbrunn, Salem, and Lichtenau. Although in friendship with +the whites, they fell under the displeasure of the border settlers, who +suspected them of aiding and abetting the hostile savages; an +expedition against them was undertaken in March, 1782, after some<span class="pagenum" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</span> +Indian incursions, by a party of men chiefly from the Monongahela, +led by Col. David Williamson; they were induced by assurances +of good-will, to assemble at Gnadenhutten, and there were deliberately +massacred in cold blood. It is said that the number of killed +was ninety-six, including women and children. Two only of the +devoted Indians made their escape.</p> + +<p class="gtb">******</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap large">Ruhama Greene</span> was born and raised in Jefferson County, Virginia. +In 1785, she married Charles Builderback, and with him +crossed the mountains and settled at the mouth of Short Creek, on +the east bank of the Ohio, a few miles above Wheeling. Her +husband, a brave man, had on many occasions distinguished himself +in repelling the Indians, who had often felt the aim of his unerring +rifle. They therefore determined at all hazards to kill him.</p> + +<p>“On a beautiful summer morning in June, 1789, at a time when +it was thought the enemy had abandoned the western shores of the +Ohio, Capt. Charles Builderback, his wife and brother, Jacob Builderback, +crossed the Ohio to look after some cattle. On reaching the +shore, a party of fifteen or twenty Indians rushed out from an +ambush, and firing upon them, wounded Jacob in the shoulder. +Charles was taken while he was running to escape. Jacob returned +to the canoe and got away. In the mean time, Mrs. Builderback +secreted herself in some drift-wood, near the bank of the river. As +soon as the Indians had secured and tied her husband, not being +able to discover her hiding-place, they compelled him, with threats of +immediate death, to call her to him. With a hope of appeasing +their fury, he did so. She heard him, but made no answer. Here, +to use her words,—‘a struggle took place in my breast, which I +cannot describe. Shall I go to him and become a prisoner, or shall +I remain, return to our cabin and provide for and take care of our +two children?’ He shouted to her a second time to come to him, +saying, that if she obeyed, perhaps it would be the means of saving +his life. She no longer hesitated, but left her place of safety, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</span> +surrendered herself to his savage captors. All this took place in full +view of their cabin, on the opposite shore, where they had left +their two children, one a son about three years of age, and an infant +daughter. The Indians, knowing that they would be pursued as soon +as the news of their visit reached the stockade at Wheeling, commenced +their retreat. Mrs. Builderback and her husband travelled together +that day and the following night. The next morning, the Indians +separated into two bands, one taking Builderback, and the other his +wife, and continued a westward course by different routes.</p> + +<p>“In a few days, the band having Mrs. Builderback in custody, +reached the Tuscarawas river, where they encamped, and were soon +rejoined by the band that had her husband in charge. Here the +murderers exhibited his scalp on the top of a pole, and to convince +her that they had killed him, pulled it down and threw it into her +lap. She recognised it at once by the redness of his hair. She said +nothing, and uttered no complaint. It was evening; her ears +pained with the terrific yells of the savages, and wearied by constant +travelling, she reclined against a tree and fell into a profound sleep, +and forgot all her sufferings, until morning. When she awoke, the +scalp of her murdered husband was gone, and she never learned what +became of it.<a id="FNanchor_25" href="#Footnote_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a></p> + +<p>“As soon as the capture of Builderback was known at Wheeling, +a party of scouts set off in pursuit, and taking the trail of one of the +bands, followed it until they found the body of Builderback. He +had been tomahawked and scalped, and apparently suffered a lingering +death.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</span></p> + +<p>“The Indians, on reaching their towns on the Big Miami, adopted +Mrs. Builderback into a family, with whom she resided until released +from captivity. She remained a prisoner about nine months, performing +the labor and drudgery of squaws, such as carrying in meat +from the hunting grounds, preparing and drying it, making moccasins, +leggins and other clothing for the family in which she lived. +After her adoption she suffered much from the rough and filthy +manner of Indian living, but had no cause to complain of ill-treatment +otherwise.</p> + +<p>“In a few months after her capture, some friendly Indians +informed the commandant at Fort Washington, that there was a +white woman in captivity at the Miami towns. She was ransomed +and brought into the fort, and in a few weeks was sent up the river +to her lonely cabin, and the embrace of her two orphan children. +She then recrossed the mountains, and settled in her native county.</p> + +<p>“In 1791, Mrs. Builderback married Mr. John Greene, and in +1798, they emigrated to the Hockhocking valley, and settled about +three miles west of Lancaster, where she continued to reside until +the time of her death, about the year 1842. She survived her last +husband about ten years.”<a id="FNanchor_26" href="#Footnote_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a></p> +<hr class="full"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="c12">XI.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="c sp lsp">REBECCA ROUSE.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap large">Among</span> other families who ventured on the long and perilous +journey from the granite soil of New England, in the year 1788, a +year never to be forgotten in the annals of Ohio, were those of John +Rouse and Jonathan Devoll. Before the period of the Revolution, +Mr. Rouse had followed the vocation of a whaleman and seaman, +from the port of New Bedford, and was now living on a small farm +in the town of Rochester, Massachusetts, near the little harbor of +Mattepoisett. His family consisted of a wife and eight children. +Capt. Jonathan Haskell, who also lived in Rochester, and had been +an officer in the war, joined him in fitting out the expedition, and +furnished a large covered wagon and two of the horses, Mr. +Rouse furnishing the other two. An active young man, named +Cushing, who wished to settle in the west, was employed to drive +the wagon. As the journey was a long one, they took as few articles +of beds, bedding, and cooking utensils, as they could possibly +do with on the road. Their clothing and other goods were packed +in trunks and large wooden boxes made to fit the inside of the +wagon.</p> + +<p>The parting from their old neighbors at Mattepoisett, was one of +much tenderness, accompanied by many hearty adieus and sincere +prayers for their welfare on the journey, and their happiness in that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</span> +far away region. No one, at this day, can imagine with what dread +and awe a journey to the new territory west of the Ohio, was then +viewed by the simple-hearted people of New England. A party of +young ladies, on horseback, accompanied the females as far as “The +Long-plain,” distant six miles. Here they tarried for about a week +amongst their kinsfolk and former neighbors; for at this place +Rouse had lived many years, and here most of the children had been +born.</p> + +<p>The morning they left Mattepoisett, an interesting occurrence took +place which shows the strong attachment of the female heart to +home and relatives. A rich old farmer of that place, who had taken +a great liking to Bathsheba, the eldest daughter, and was anxious +that his son should obtain her for a wife, offered to give her by deed +a nice farm and good dwelling-house, if she would stay amongst +them and not go with the family to the West. But her affection +for her parents, sisters, and brothers was too great to forego the pleasure +of their society probably for the rest of her life, and the offer +was declined, much to the sorrow of the generous old man. The +week flew rapidly away in social intercourse with their kindred, and +solemn and sorrowful were the greetings of the farewell hour. The +distance was so great, and the dangers of the wilderness so many, +that they all thought the parting was to be final as to this world; +and so indeed it proved to the larger portion of them. Capt. Haskell +joined them that morning from Rochester, and early in October, +1788, they took their departure from “The Long-plain,” and commenced +their arduous journey to Muskingum, as the new settlement +was then called. They reached Providence the second day, at evening—at +which place they were joined by the family of Jonathan +Devoll, composed of Mrs. Devoll and five children. Mrs. Nancy +Devoll was the sister of Mrs. Rouse. Her husband had been absent +nearly a year, attached to the party of pioneers sent by the Ohio +company the autumn previous. He was the naval architect of the +“May-flower,” which conveyed the first detachment of men from +Simrel’s Ferry, on the Yohiogany, to the mouth of the Muskingum, +and one of the first who landed the 7th of April, 1788, on the soil<span class="pagenum" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</span> +of the present State of Ohio. Their large covered wagon, with four +horses, was fitted up in a similar style to the other, and was driven +by Isaac Barker, an only brother of the married females, who had +left a wife and family in Rochester, till he could return and bring +them the following year.</p> + +<p>After travelling through New England, New York, and Pennsylvania, +early in November the pilgrims reached the foot of the +mountain ranges, and commenced the ascent of those rocky barriers +which divide the sources of the Susquehanna river from those which +fall into the Ohio.</p> + +<p>The evening after they left Carlisle, they were overtaken by an +old acquaintance and neighbor, who was also with his family on his +way to Muskingum. He had started about the same time with the +others, with an ox team of three yokes, and by dint of steady and +late driving, had managed to keep within a day’s march of them, +and here, by making a little extra exertion, he overtook them. Ox +teams were preferred to horses by many of the early New England +emigrants, in their long journeys to the new purchase. Probably +one reason for this was their greater familiarity with their use as +beasts of draught; another, that they were much better suited to +work among stumps and logs, and were also much less likely to be +stolen by the Indians. Their rate of travel was a little slower than +that of the horse, but they could make about twenty miles a day +where the roads were good.</p> + +<p>The roads at that day, across the mountains, were the worst that +we can imagine, cut into deep gullies on one side by mountain rains, +while the other was filled with blocks of sandstone. The descents +were abrupt, and often resembled the breaks in a flight of stone +stairs, whose lofty steps were built for the children of Titan rather +than the sons of men. As few of the emigrant wagons were provided +with lock-chains for the wheels, the downward impetus was +checked by a large log, or broken tree top, tied with a rope to the +back of the wagon and dragged along on the ground. In other +places, the road was so sideling that all the men who could be spared +were required to pull at the side stays, or short ropes attached to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</span> +the upper side of the wagons, to prevent their upsetting. By dividing +their forces with Isaac, they made out to prevent any serious +accidents of this kind, although it seemed many times impossible to +prevent it. The ground, naturally moist and springy on the sides +of the mountains, was now rendered very muddy and wet by the +November rains, which had begun to fall almost daily. As they +approached the middle and higher ranges, the rain was changed to +snow and sleet, which added still more to the difficulties and dreariness +of the way. From the weight of the loaded wagons and the +abrupt acclivities of the road, it fell to the lot of the women and +children to walk up all the steep ascents—it being beyond the power +of the horses to pull their additional weight up many of the sharp +pitches of the mountains. The children often stuck by the way, or +lost their shoes in the mud, occasioning a world of trouble to the +elder girls, to whose share it fell to look after the welfare of the little +ones.</p> + +<p>After crossing the “Blue mountain,” the “Middle,” and the +“Tuscarora mountain,” late one Saturday evening they descended into +the “Ahwick valley,” and Mr. Rouse’s family put up at the house +of an honest German Dunkard, named Christian Hiples; while the +other two teams went to an old tavern stand, well known to the +early pack-horsemen and borderers of that region. This was a quiet +and tolerably fertile valley, environed by mountains. In it was +seated old “Fort Littleton,” and under the protection of its walls +had sprung up, many years ago, quite a thriving settlement, with a +number of fine plantations. All this part of the country, and as far +east as Carlisle, had been, about twenty-five years before, depopulated +by the depredations of the Indians. Many of the present +inhabitants well remembered those days of trial, and could not see +these helpless women and children moving so far away into the +wilderness as Ohio, without expressing their fears at the danger +they would incur from the deadly hate of the Indians.</p> + +<p>They tarried over the Sabbath, and the following Monday, under +the hospitable roof of this Christian Dunkard—whose long white +beard, reaching to the waist, greatly excited the curiosity of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</span> +children. His family consisted of several young women, who treated +the wayfaring females with great kindness; heating their huge out-of-door +oven for them, and assisting them in the baking of a +large batch of bread for the journey, with many other acts of true +Christian charity. On Tuesday morning, when they departed, they +loaded them with potatoes and vegetables from their garden, as +many as they would venture to carry, without making any charge. +They parted from them with many prayers and good wishes +for their welfare on the road, and the happy termination of +their long and perilous journey. The inhabitants generally treated +them kindly, and the further they advanced into the confines +of the wilderness, and left the older settlements, the more hospitality +abounded. They received them more readily into their houses, and +more willingly assisted them with their cooking utensils, or any +other thing they possessed, or the wayfarers needed.</p> + +<p>While the travellers in Rouse’s wagon were treated so kindly, +Isaac, who was excitable and very headstrong, met with rather +rough usage from the hand of the old inn-keeper with whom +he put up. This man had been a great bruiser in his younger days, +and had lost one eye in some of these frays; a thing not at all uncommon +among the early borderers. He was naturally a rough +man, and the loss of his eye added still more to his ferocious +appearance. It seems that he had placed the rounds of the rack, in +his stable, so close together it was next to impossible for the horses +to pull any of the hay through, so that, although there was +plenty before them, they were none the better for it. Isaac could +not stand quietly by and say nothing, when his hard-working +horses needed their food so much; and then to pay for that they +did not eat besides! He remonstrated with the landlord on +the matter, but received only abuse for his pains. After paying +back a little of the same coin, he fell to work and broke +out every other round. The old fellow then fell upon Isaac, +determined to give him a sound beating; but in this he was sadly +mistaken, and got very roughly handled himself. The horses, however, +got plenty of hay, and Isaac told him he should be back<span class="pagenum" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</span> +again in the spring, and if he found the slats replaced, he would give +him another and still sounder thrashing.</p> + +<p>Three days after leaving the quiet valley, with much exertion and +many narrow escapes from oversetting, they reached the little +village of Bedford. During this period they had crossed “Sideling +hill,” forded some of the main branches of the Juniata, and threaded +the narrow valleys along its borders. Every few miles, long strings +of pack-horses met them on the road, bearing heavy burthens +of peltry and ginseng, the two main articles of export from +the regions west of the mountains. Others overtook them loaded +with kegs of spirits, salt, and bales of dry goods, on their way to the +traders in Pittsburgh. The fore-horse generally carried a small bell, +which distinguished him as the leader. One man had the charge of +ten horses, which was as many as he could manage by day, and look +after at night. For many years this was the manner in which +nearly all the transportation was done over the mountains. The +roads were nearly impassable for wagons till near the close of the +Indian war, in 1795.</p> + +<p>One of their greatest trials was in crossing the Alleghanies. Four +miles beyond Bedford, the road to the right was called the “Pittsburg +road,” while that to the left was called the “Glade road,” and +led to Simrel’s ferry, on the Yohiogany river. This was the route +of the emigrants, and led, as well as the other, across the Alleghany. +In passing this formidable barrier, our travellers were belated; and +it was nearly midnight before they reached the house where they +were to lodge. The night was excessively dark; the whole party, +except the younger children, were on foot, and could only keep the +path by feeling the bushes along the sides of the road. It so happened +that Michael Rouse and Capt. Haskell, who was their only +guide, had gone ahead with the other wagon, and was entirely beyond +hail; leaving Isaac, with Mr. Rouse and all the females, to +pick their way along the miry road in the best manner they could. +In the midst of all this gloom, the spirits of the former never flagged +in the least; but the more difficulties increased the louder he sang, +and some of his most cheerful ditties were echoed that night from<span class="pagenum" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</span> +the rocky side of the Alleghany. Mr. Rouse, who had been often +exposed to winds and storms, could not stand the trudging along, +ancle deep, in the mud and dark, without venting his feelings in +many a hearty curse on the vexations of the night. When about a +mile from the house, they were unexpectedly cheered at hearing the +lively whistle of Michael; and directly after, in a turn of the road, +espied the light of a lantern brought by Capt. Haskell, who had returned +after putting up his own team, to meet the stragglers and +guide them on the way. A bright fire was blazing on the hearth +of the little log inn, the warmth and sparkling of which soon restored +their spirits. It was past midnight before they had cooked and +eaten their suppers and spread their couches on the puncheon floor +of the hut. The fatigues of the journey caused them to sleep very +soundly, and they awoke the next morning with fresh courage to +meet the trials of the day before them.</p> + +<p>In descending the Alleghany, the children and girls were much +delighted at seeing the side of the road covered with the vivid green +leaves and bright scarlet berries of the “partridge bush,” or “checkerberry.” +It was a common fruit at “The Long-plain,” and the +sight of it reminded them of their home and the scenes they had +left. For a while the little boys forgot the fatigues of the road at +the sight of this favorite fruit, and cheered each other with joyous +shouts, as fresh patches from time to time appeared by the side of +the way. Even the married females were exhilarated by the cheerful +spirits exhibited by the children, and partook freely of the spicy +fruit which they collected in large handfuls. As they descended +the western slope of the mountains, the springs of limpid water, +which gushed fresh and pure from the earth along its sides, now ran +babbling along to join their puny rills with those of the Ohio. This +range is the dividing ridge between the eastern and the western +streams, and the travellers could now see the waters which flowed +towards the end of their journey.</p> + +<p>After reaching the foot of this picturesque range, they had to cross +a region called “The Glades,” an elevated plateau, which, in many +points, bore a strong resemblance to the prairies of the west. The<span class="pagenum" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</span> +soil was dark colored, thinly coated with trees, and covered with +coarse grass. In crossing “Laurel ridge,” which bounds the western +side of the glades, and is so named from the profusion of rhododendron, +or rosebay, and kalmia latifolia, or laurel, which cluster +along its rocky sides, the girls and older boys had to walk the whole +distance. The labor was the more difficult from the ground being +covered with snow, which had fallen to the depth of several inches +on the sides and top of the ridge, during the last twenty-four hours; +while at the same time it had been raining in the valley, or table +land, between the ranges. The bushes were bent down by the +weight of the snow, and partly obstructed the path; so that long +before they got over, their shoes were saturated with water, and their +clothes were dribbled and wet half leg high. The “boxberries” still +showed their bright scarlet faces, peeping out beneath the snow and +ice, as large as common red cherries. At the western foot of the +ridge, their road was crossed by a stream too deep for them to ford; +and the girls being several miles ahead of the wagons, whose progress +was very slow, were much rejoiced to find a cabin in which +they could rest until the teams came up. The rendezvous for the +night was beyond the creek, as this was the only place where they +could get feed for their horses. While waiting at this spot, a stout +young mountaineer, clad in his hunting-frock and leggins, came +dashing along on a powerful horse, and very kindly, as well as gallantly, +offered to take the girls over the stream, if they would trust +themselves behind him on the horse, and conduct them safely to the +house where they were to stop. But his uncouth dress and their +own natural timidity made them decline the offer, choosing rather +to wait the arrival of their friends. Just at dark they came up, and +taking them into the wagons, they crossed the stream more to their +own liking, if not more safely than under the charge of the young +mountaineer.</p> + +<p>The following day they crossed “Chesnut ridge,” the last of the +mountain ranges, so named from the immense forests of chesnut +trees that clothe its sides and summit, for nearly the whole of its extent +in Pennsylvania and part of Virginia. The soil is sandy and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</span> +rocky; and so exactly adapted to the growth of this tree, that no +part of the world produces it more abundantly. In fruitful years, +the hogs, from a distance of twenty or thirty miles, were driven by +the inhabitants, every autumn, to fatten on its fruit. Bears, +wild turkeys, elk and deer, travelled from afar to this nut-producing +region, and luxuriated on its bountiful crop. The congregations of +wild animals, on this favored tract, made it one of the most celebrated +hunting grounds, not only for the Indians, but also for +the white man who succeeded him in the possession of these mountain +regions. The children here loaded their little pockets with chesnuts, +and for a while forgot the pinching cold of the half frozen leaves and +frost covered burrs among which they were scattered. Not long +after crossing this ridge they reached Simrel’s ferry, on the +Yohiogany river. They hailed this spot with delight, as they were +to travel no further in their wagons, but finish the journey by +water. They were also glad on another account; two of the horses +had been failing for some days, were now near giving out, and in +fact died before reaching Buffalo, a small village on the Ohio +river.</p> + +<p>It was now near the last of November, and winter fast approaching. +In a short time a boat was procured, as they were kept ready +made for the use of emigrants. The one they bought was about +forty feet long and twelve feet wide, but without any roof, as they +could not wait for it to be finished. On board of this they +put their wagons, and contrived to make a temporary shelter with +their linen covers. The horses were sent by land across the country +to Buffalo, at the mouth of Buffalo creek, distant by this route +only fifty-three miles from the ferry, but more than a hundred by +water. This was a common practice with the early emigrants, as +the water of the Yohiogany was too shallow in autumn to float a +boat drawing over eighteen or twenty inches. In the stern of the +boat was a rude fire-place for cooking, and their beds were spread +on the floor of the ark.</p> + +<p>After laying in a stock of food, they pushed merrily out into the +current of the “Yoh,” as it was familiarly called by the borderers of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</span> +that region, and floated rapidly along, sometimes grazing on the +shallows, and at others grounding on the sandbars. By dint of +rowing and pushing they made out to get on; especially after falling +into the larger current of the Monongahela, and reached Pittsburgh +in safety on Sunday evening. They were now at the junction +of these two noble streams, the Alleghany and Monongahela, and +saw the waters of the charming Ohio, the object of all their toils +and were, apparently, at the end of their journey. Near the point +of land where the Ohio first takes its name, they landed their uncouth +and unwieldy water-craft, making it fast to a stake on the +bank. It was late in the afternoon, and the men went up into the +town to purchase some articles needed to make the families comfortable +in their downward voyage. Pittsburg then contained four +or five hundred inhabitants, and several retail stores, and a small +garrison of troops was kept up in Old Fort Pitt. To our travellers, +who had lately seen nothing but trees and rocks, with here and +there a solitary hut, it seemed to be quite a large town. The +houses were chiefly built of logs, but now and then one had begun +to assume the appearance of neatness and comfort.</p> + +<p>Capt. Haskell and Mr. Rouse, for some cause now forgotten, did +not return to lodge in the boat, but stayed at the tavern; Michael, +Isaac, and Cushing had gone overland with the horses, so that the +women and children were left alone in the boat. In the middle of +the night, one of the older boys was awakened by the water coming +into his bed on the floor. He immediately raised an outcry, and +in the midst of the darkness, bustle, and confusion of the moment, +they found the boat was half leg deep in the water. Great was the +consternation of the older females, who thought, not without reason, +that they must all be drowned. It so happened that the water was +not very deep where the boat was moored, and as the gunwales +rested on the bottom at the depth of two or three feet, it could sink +no further. This disaster was occasioned by the falling of the river +during the night; the land side of the boat rested on the shore, +while the outer corner settled in the stream until the water ran +through the seams in the planking above the gunwale—they being<span class="pagenum" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</span> +badly caulked. They hurried on shore as fast as they could. A +kind-hearted man, by the name of Kilbreath, whose house stood on +the bank near the boat, heard the screams of the children, and +taking a light came to their assistance. He invited them all up to +his house and provided them lodging by a good warm fire; he then +called some men to his aid, and before morning, got the wet articles +out of the boat, and assisted the females in drying them. When +Mr. Rouse and Capt. Haskell came back in the morning, they were +much chagrined at the accident; as had they been on board, they +thought it could have been prevented. The next morning Mr. +Kilbreath gave them all a nice warm breakfast, and like the good +Samaritan, would take nothing but their grateful thanks for his +trouble. Having baled out the boat and got her once more afloat, +they reloaded their household goods, got on board a stock of provisions, +and prepared to renew their voyage in the course of the +day.</p> + +<p>It so happened that there was an old trapper and hunter by the +name of Bruce, who was familiar with the river, just ready to start +down stream in a large canoe, or pereauger, on a trapping expedition +for the winter, on some of the more southern waters; him they +engaged for a pilot, as was the custom in those early days, although +there was but little or no danger from the intricacy of the channel. +His canoe was about forty feet long, and had on board a barrel of +flour, some fat bacon, four beaver traps, a camp kettle, two tin cups, +and a light axe. These, with his rifle, blanket, and ammunition, +formed his stock for the winter. The canoe was lashed alongside +the boat, and he came on board as pilot.</p> + +<p>It was near the middle of the afternoon, on Monday, when they +put out from Pittsburgh. The day had been cloudy and threatened +rain from the south. Just at evening the wind shifted to the northwest +and blew quartering across the bend of the river in which they +were then floating. It soon rose to a complete gale, and knocked up +such a sea, as threw the crests of the waves over the side of the +boat, threatening to upset, if not sink, the unwieldy craft. In this +dilemma, the pilot and all hands exerted their utmost at the oars, to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</span> +bring the boat to land on the “Federal,” or Pennsylvania shore; but +the wind and the waves were both adverse. The boat could have +been landed on the right, or “Indian shore,” but they feared to do +so, lest in the night they should fall into the hands of the Indians, +who although it was apparently a time of peace, robbed the +boats and killed the straggling whites at every favorable opportunity. +The large pereauger bounded and thumped against the side of the +boat, threatening to break in the planks, and was cut loose by the +hand of the pilot. In this extremity, when every fresh wave threatened +to overwhelm them, Bruce cried out to his shipmates, in a +voice that was easily heard above the storm, “We must put over to +the Indian shore, or every man, woman and child will be lost!” +Previous to this, the more feeble portion of the passengers had kept +tolerably quiet, although exceedingly alarmed; but this announcement, +to the women and children, sounded like their death knell, +and the boat instantly resounded with their screams of despair. +Capt. Haskell, who had been accustomed to perils of various kinds, +and was a man of iron nerves, did what he could to calm their +terrors. Bruce, who was in fact a skilful pilot, as well as a brave +man, instantly laid the bow of the boat over to the Indian shore. +The wind and the waves both favored the movement, and with a +little aid from the oars in a few minutes she was riding in safety +under a high point of land, which sheltered them from the wind in +comparatively quiet water.</p> + +<p>The sudden transition from the jaws of death to this tranquil +haven, filled the hearts of the females with songs of gratitude; and +the boat was hardly moored to the bank before they sprung upon +the land, rejoiced once more to tread the solid earth, although it was +the dreaded Indian shore. Bruce soon kindled a fire by the side of +a large fallen tree, and setting up some forked sticks and poles, +stretched some blankets across, in such a way as to make a rude +tent. Beneath this shelter they spread their beds, choosing rather +to risk the chance of an attack from Indians than to trust themselves +on the water again that night. From the hunting camp of some +white men, whose smoke the pilot had noticed just before the storm<span class="pagenum" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</span> +came on, he procured a fine fat saddle of venison, and the whole +party feasted with cheerful hearts that evening on the nice steaks of +this delicious meat. Some they broiled on the coals, while Bruce +showed them how to roast it, hunter fashion, on a hickory skewer +filled full of pieces and stuck up in the earth before the fire; this, +with a cup of hot coffee, furnished a very comfortable meal. They +slept undisturbed that night; though ever and anon, the sighing of +the winds in the tops of the trees led the more timid of the females +to fancy they heard the stealthy approach of Indians.</p> + +<p>In the morning, the ground was covered with snow to the depth +of several inches, which had fallen while they were asleep. The day +following the storm was fine and pleasant, and the smooth, calm +surface of the Ohio exhibited a striking contrast to the tumult and +uproar which had agitated its bosom only a few hours before. From +Fort McIntosh, at the mouth of the Beaver, to the new settlement at +Muskingum, no white man had dared to plant himself on the Indian +shore of the river, with the exception of a small blockhouse a few +miles below Buffalo, which some hunters had built as a place to +which they might retreat if attacked by their enemies, while out +hunting in the region west of the river. Even here there was little +or no clearing, and all else was unbroken wilderness. They embarked +early in the morning and reached Buffalo that evening. In the course +of the forenoon they found the pereauger of Bruce lodged on the +shore and filled with water. It still contained the barrel of flour, +meat, axe, etc., with all the traps but one. The buoyancy of the +light poplar wood of which it was made, prevented it from sinking, +and the ballast of the traps, axe, etc., from upsetting; so that, quite +unexpectedly, the old trapper recovered his boat and goods, which +he had given up as utterly lost. At Buffalo, they were greeted with +the loud laugh and boisterous welcome of Isaac, who, with Michael +and Shaw, had been waiting one or two days with the horses for +their arrival.</p> + +<p>The women and children, still impressed with dread lest another +storm should overtake them, concluded to lodge on shore, and accordingly +took quarters for the night on the floor of a small log hut<span class="pagenum" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</span> +that stood at the extremity of the point of land at the mouth of +Buffalo creek. In the morning Mrs. Devoll came near losing a part +of her bedding. A gaily ornamented new woollen blanket had +attracted the attention of Mrs. Riley, the mistress of the cabin, as it +lay spread over the sleepers in the night, and in the hurry and +bustle of rolling up the bed clothes, she adroitly managed to secrete +it among her own bedding, stowed away in the corner of the room. +Mrs. Devoll soon missed it, and after a careful but fruitless search +among her own things, did not hesitate to accuse the woman of secreting +it. She roundly denied any knowledge of the blanket. Being +a resolute woman, and determined not to give it up in this way, Mrs. +Devoll made an overhauling of Mrs. Riley’s chattels, when much to +the chagrin and disappointment of the border woman, she pulled +out the lost article, rolled up in her dingy bedding. Thinking they +had recovered all the missing goods, they hurried aboard their boat +at the exciting call of Isaac, who was ready to depart, and in no +very good humor with the hospitality of Mrs. Riley. At Wheeling, +where they stopped for some milk, they discovered, much to their +vexation, that they had also lost a new two-quart measure, which +they had brought all the way with them for the purpose of measuring +the milk they should need to purchase on the road. In a few +years after this adventure, during the Indian war, this family of +Rileys, who still lived in the same spot, were all massacred by the +savages.</p> + +<p>At Grave creek they took on board a stout, hearty old man, as a +passenger, by the name of Green. He assisted Bruce and their crew, +each by taking turns at the oars and rowing all night, and with the +music of Isaac and the old man, who proved an excellent singer, they +made out to reach the mouth of Muskingum just at dark on Thursday +evening, the fourth day after leaving Pittsburg. Ice had been +making in the Ohio for the last twenty-four hours, and the travellers +were fortunate in arriving as they did, for the following morning the +Muskingum river was frozen over from shore to shore. Great was +the consternation of Mrs. Rouse, who had an instinctive dread of +Indians, at seeing the woods and side hill, back of Fort Harmer<span class="pagenum" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</span> +lighted up with a multitude of fires, when she was told that they +were the camp fires of three hundred savages. They had come in +to a treaty, which was held the ninth of January following. It was +early in December, and the emigrants had been more than eight +weeks on the road. The news of their arrival was soon carried to +Campus Martius, the name of the new garrison. Capt. Devoll hurried +on board, delighted once more to embrace his wife and children, +from whom he had been absent more than a year. Their goods and +chattels were put into the “Mayflower,” which was used as a receiving +boat for the emigrants, and with the women and children, landed +at the Ohio company’s wharf. Devoll had built a comfortable two-story +house in one of the curtains of the garrison, to which all were +removed that night, and his happy family slept once more under +their own roof, in the far distant region of the Northwest Territory.</p> + +<p>The following spring, a company or association was formed to +commence the settlement fourteen miles below, on the right bank of +the Ohio, afterwards called Belprie. Capt. Devoll, Mr. Rouse, +Michael, Capt. Haskell and Isaac, joined this association. The latter +returned to New England, and moved out his family in the fall of +1789. By the time the settlers were about to begin to reap a little +of the fruits of their hard labor, in clearing land, building cabins, etc., +the Indian war broke out, and they were all driven into garrison for +some five years. Many were the dangers and hardships they here +endured, suffering most from the small pox and scarlatina maligna.</p> + +<p>In the summer of 1790, Bathsheba Rouse taught a school of +young boys and girls at Belprie, which is believed to be the first +school of white children ever assembled within the bounds of the +present State of Ohio. The Moravian missionaries had Indian schools +at Gnadenhutten and Schönbrunn, on the Tuscarawas, as early as +the year 1779, eleven years before this time. She also taught for +several successive summers within the walls of “Farmer’s Castle,” +the name of the stout garrison built by the settlers sixteen miles +below Marietta. After the close of the war the colonists moved out +upon their farms. Mr. Rouse and his family remained in Belprie. +Bathsheba married, soon after the close of the war, Richard, the son<span class="pagenum" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</span> +of Griffen Greene, one of the Ohio company’s agents, and a leading +man in all public affairs. Cynthia married the Hon. Paul Fearing, +the first delegate to Congress from the Northwest Territory, and for +many years a judge of the court. Elizabeth married Levi Barber, +for many years receiver of public moneys, and member of Congress +for this district during two sessions. The children of these +emigrant females, for wealth and respectability, rank among the +first of our citizens.</p> + +<p>Thus closes this sketch of the early emigrants to Muskingum, +whose adventures are only the counterpart of other families who +crossed the Alleghany ranges in the year 1788. It is in fact a portion +of the early history of Ohio, and should be preserved for the +same reasons that Virgil has preserved the incidents of the voyage +of Æneas from Troy to Italy—they were the founders of a new +state. Those days of hardship cannot be reviewed with other than +feelings of the highest respect for the individuals who dared to brave +the difficulties and uncertainties of a pioneer life.<a id="FNanchor_27" href="#Footnote_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a></p> +<hr class="full"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="c13">XII.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="c sp lsp">SARAH WHIPPLE SIBLEY.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap large">Sarah W. Sproat</span> was born in Providence, Rhode Island, on the +28th of January, 1782. She was the only child of Col. Ebenezer +Sproat, a gallant and accomplished officer of the Revolution, and the +granddaughter of Commodore Abraham Whipple, who also repeatedly +distinguished himself during that war by his activity and bravery. +At the commencement of the struggle. Commodore Whipple was +wealthy, but had impoverished himself by his advances to Government +in fitting out vessels and men for the public service, for which +he was never remunerated, and at its close he found he could no +longer sustain the style of living befitting his position in society, and +to which he was accustomed. His son-in-law, Col. Sproat, was in +the same situation, and both being too proud and high-spirited to +conform patiently to their change of circumstances, they determined +to join a party of their companions-in-arms, who were about to seek +a new home in the yet unexplored wilderness of the West.</p> + +<p>They were of the advance party who landed in 1788 at the mouth +of the Muskingum, and commenced the settlement of Marietta. +Burnet says in his notes—“The early adventurers to the Northwestern +Territory were generally men who had spent the prime of +their lives in the war of Independence. Many of them had exhausted +their fortunes in maintaining the desperate struggle, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</span> +retired to the wilderness to conceal their poverty, and avoid comparisons +mortifying to their pride, while struggling to maintain their +families and improve their condition. Some were young men descended +from Revolutionary patriots who had fallen in the contest, or +became too feeble to endure the fatigue of settling a wilderness. +Others were adventurous spirits, to whom any change might be for +the better.”</p> + +<p>The following year the new settlers were joined by their families. +It is difficult now to conceive the extent of the difficulties against +which these pioneers had to contend, besides the dangers that surrounded +them. So great was the difficulty of transportation that +they were only able to bring the most simple necessaries of life with +them. After their cabins were built, some of them were for months +without other doors than blankets, and with no furniture but the +boxes and trunks they had brought, which were converted into seats, +beds, and tables as the occasion required; and just as they were becoming +comfortable in their new homes, the fearful Indian war +broke out, and every day brought fresh accounts of horrible murders +committed in the immediate vicinity, almost at their doors. Col. +Sproat determined to remove his daughter to a place of safety, where +she might at the same time receive the necessary instruction which +during the existing disturbances she could not enjoy at home.</p> + +<p>The Moravian school at Bethlehem then bore a high reputation, +and in 1792, when Miss Sproat was but ten years old, she accompanied +her father over the mountains to Bethlehem, most of the way +on horseback; a journey that would be thought formidable at the +present day. She remained there three years, and then went to +Philadelphia to receive lessons in some accomplishments which she +had no opportunities for acquiring in Bethlehem. She resided while +in that city in the family of a friend of her father’s, and became +strongly attached to its members. She made many warm friends +in Philadelphia, and left it with regret. But her father had become +impatient for her return, and went for her in the spring of 1797. +He at that time purchased a piano for her in Philadelphia, the first +taken west of the Alleghany mountains.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</span></p> + +<p>On her return, she found Marietta much changed and improved: +the inhabitants were no longer in fear of Indian incursions, and many +new settlers had been added to their number. It had become quite +a town, with a very pleasant society, and the danger they had shared +in common had tended to strengthen the bond which already united +the early colonists.</p> + +<p>The years intervening between Miss Sproat’s return and her marriage, +passed away swiftly and happily. Being the only child, she +was of course much caressed by her parents, and her natural gaiety +and affectionate, generous disposition made her a favorite with her +young friends. Her father had taken great pains to make her an +accomplished horsewoman, and she was the constant companion of +his rides. To this habit of exercise she was indebted for the ease +with which she made the long and fatiguing journeys she was compelled +to take in after life.</p> + +<p>After the establishment of the Northwest Territorial Government +the General Court had its sessions alternately at Cincinnati, Detroit, +and Marietta. Mr. Sibley was a young lawyer of high standing, who +had removed from Massachusetts to Ohio in 1797, and soon afterwards +to Detroit. Judge Burnet says of him—“He possessed a +sound mind, improved by a liberal education, and a stability and +firmness of character which commanded general respect, and secured +to him the confidence and esteem of his fellow members.” He +constantly attended the sessions of the Court, and was of course +frequently in Marietta. It was there that he first became acquainted +with Miss Sproat. They were married in October, 1802, but she +did not go to Detroit until the following spring.</p> + +<p>The way to Detroit at that time was by the Ohio river to Pittsburg, +across to Erie, and thence by water to Detroit; the least +fatiguing but a very tedious route. Being entirely at the mercy of +wind and weather, travellers were often ten days crossing the lake, +and in one instance a family was detained three weeks between Erie +and the city of the straits.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Sibley was warmly welcomed on her arrival by her husband’s +friends, and so kindly treated that she soon felt at home. The<span class="pagenum" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</span> +society was delightful at that time. The fort was strongly garrisoned, +and most of the officers were Southerners, possessing the warmth +and ease of manner peculiar to the South. The inhabitants of the +town and its vicinity were principally French. Some of these were +descendants of noble families in France, and prided themselves upon +their superior polish and refinement. For about six months in the +year all communication with the rest of the world was cut off by +ice and snow. At these seasons the people seemed determined to +make up for their isolation by increased sociability among themselves, +and every one kept open house. Some very agreeable persons +resided on the opposite side of the river, families of British +merchants who had formerly lived in Detroit, but on its cession to +the Americans had removed to Canada. A constant intercourse had +always been kept up, and they joined in all the gaieties of the +place.</p> + +<p>In August, 1804, Col. Sproat came to Detroit to take his daughter +home to visit her mother. As public business required Mr. Sibley’s +attendance at Washington during the winter, it was arranged +that Mrs. Sibley should return with her father to Marietta, and +remain until the following spring. Their journey was made on +horseback. The whole of the northern part of Ohio was at that +time a dense wilderness, and travellers were obliged to camp out at +night. Mrs. Sibley often spoke of an incident which occurred on +this journey. The horse she rode was one which Col. Sproat +had brought on expressly for his daughter’s use, and was a great +favorite. He was unfortunately taken sick on the way, and with +difficulty they reached a spot suitable to encamp for the night. +Everything possible was done for the relief of the poor animal, but +all was in vain, and it was most distressing to hear his groans of +agony. The woods around seemed to be swarming with wolves +attracted by the cries of the horse, and they yelled and howled like +so many demons. The fires around the camp were all that prevented +them from rushing upon its inmates. Mrs. Sibley said she never +spent such a fearful night. The poor horse died towards morning,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</span> +and they left him with regret. Their journey was a long and +fatiguing one, but they arrived in safety at Marietta.</p> + +<p>It was providentially ordered that Mrs. Sibley should spend that +winter at home, for she was thus enabled to cheer her father’s last +days by her presence. In February, without any previous warning, +he was attacked by apoplexy, and died immediately. He was yet +in the prime of life, being only fifty years old, and was generally +regretted. His death was a heavy affliction to his daughter, for the +tie had been unusually strong that existed between them; inheriting +many of his traits of character, she had been his companion and had +shared with him many daring adventures. He had almost idolized +her, and she was equally devoted to him. Col. Sproat had many +warm friends among his brother officers. The family still have in +their possession a miniature of him painted by Kosciusko. They +were intimate friends, and it was taken while they were together in +winter-quarters during the Revolution. Burr, on his first visit to +Ohio, is said to have shed tears over the grave of his old fellow-soldier.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Sibley remained with her mother until the following summer, +her husband having in the mean time returned from Washington +to Detroit. In June, 1805, that city was entirely destroyed by +fire. An extract from a letter written at that time by Mr. Sibley to +his wife, will give an idea of the loss of property and the suffering +that ensued. “June 16,—We are all, without a single exception, +unhoused. The town of Detroit was on the 11th inst. in the course +of three hours reduced to ashes. You can readily conceive the +consternation and consequent confusion that prevailed. Much personal +property, household furniture and merchandize fell a sacrifice +to the devouring element. I had, from my situation, the good fortune +to save our property from the fire, but from the bustle that +prevailed, and the thefts committed, I have suffered considerably. +We have been exerting ourselves since the fire to relieve the distressed. +They are numerous, and demand every exertion we can make +in their favor. The houses up and down the settlement are full, +and for want of room many families still remain encamped in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</span> +open air. The gentlemen from the other side have been liberal in +furnishing provisions, which are still much wanted.</p> + +<p>“My own loss, as compared with that of the citizens in general, is so +trifling that I have scarcely thought seriously upon the subject. The +want of a house, added to the entire suspension of business, is +the greatest inconvenience I experience. I believe the present scene +presents a phenomenon rarely to be met with; a whole town burned +with the exception of a single dwelling-house standing. What +measures will be adopted in rebuilding Detroit it is yet uncertain. +A number of us are exerting ourselves in order that we may procure +more room by widening the streets. A meeting will be held at Mr. +May’s to-morrow, when the subject will be discussed; the result +will be uncertain. What a gloomy prospect for our Governor, etc., +when they arrive! Not a single house for his reception or accommodation. +Our country was sufficiently poor before the late disaster—what +will become of a number of poor persons I know not, unless +some benevolent aid is offered from abroad. This last resource appears +doubtful. We are not known in the States, therefore we have +but little expectation that they will interest themselves for our +relief.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Sibley fitted up an old house which was then considered +quite a distance from town, a large open common intervening; situated +on the square opposite “the Biddle House,” now in the very +heart of the city. He occupied the same house until 1835, a period +of thirty years. As soon as it was rendered comfortable he went to +Marietta for his wife. Michigan had only lately been organized into +a territory, and upon the arrival of the newly appointed governor, +Gen. Hull, Detroit was a perfect scene of desolation. He was +obliged to build a house immediately, for there was not one for him +to live in. The house he erected was considered a splendid one at +that time, and was the same afterwards known as the American +Hotel, which was burned in the fire of 1848. On Mrs. Sibley’s +return, she again travelled on horseback, but only as far as Sandusky, +from which place they came in a vessel.</p> + +<p>But few events worthy of note occurred during the interval between<span class="pagenum" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</span> +her return and the war of 1812. She was then the mother +of three children, and for their sake, even more than for her own, +looked forward with dread to the prospect of another war. The +events of that war, as connected with Detroit, are too well known +to require a repetition here. Although exposed to so much danger, +Mrs. Sibley remained with her husband, and in all the trials and +horrors of that eventful time, bore herself most courageously.</p> + +<p>At the time an attack upon the town was expected, it was +thought advisable to place the women and children for greater security +within the fort. During the terrible day of the cannonade, +Mrs. Sibley said that not one woman gave way to fear; that she +never saw so much courage displayed. All seemed nerved by the +exigencies of the time, and by the very danger to which they were +exposed. They busied themselves in giving the only assistance in +their power, making cartridges, and scraping lint for the wounded. +Some dreadful scenes occurred on that day. In the room adjoining +that in which the ladies were collected, four officers were shot by one +ball. One of these was Mr. Sibley’s cousin. When the news was +announced of the surrender, the feeling of regret and indignation +expressed was intense. They were all prepared for danger, but not +for disgrace. As the American soldiers were marched out of the +fort, Mrs. Dyson, the wife of an officer, collected all the clothing under +the charge of the commissary, and threw it out of a window to the +soldiers as they passed by, declaring that the British should not +benefit by it.</p> + +<p>After the surrender, Mr. Sibley applied to Gen. Proctor for permission +to go on with his family to Ohio. It was denied at first, +but afterwards granted, giving him only two days to make his preparations. +Thus hastily they left their home, to remain until happier +times. The vessel in which they embarked was a very small +one, and exceedingly crowded, but there was no alternative; and +with heavy hearts they sailed for Erie. They remained with Mrs. +Sibley’s friends a year. As soon as Detroit was given up to the +Americans they started on their return, but when they reached +Cleveland found that it was rather late in the season, the few vessels<span class="pagenum" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</span> +then on the lake being laid up for the winter; and as it was impossible +to go by land with a family of children they were obliged to +remain there all winter. Cleveland was then but a small settlement, +and separated by a dense wilderness from the southern towns of +Ohio. During the time the lake was closed, the transportation of +all articles was attended with great difficulty and expense, consequently +every thing was enormously high. Mr. Sibley had expected +to reach home before the winter, and was little prepared +for such a detention. He had lost greatly by the war, and the utter +cessation of all business for such a length of time with one who +depended upon his profession for the support of his family, had so +crippled his means that his inability to proceed homeward was excessively +inconvenient to him. The family was treated with much +kindness, but had to submit to great privation and discomfort, and +they were heartily glad when the return of spring allowed them to +return to Detroit.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Sibley made but one more visit to Ohio, and that was in +1819. She then received intelligence of the deaths, within a short +time of each other, of her aged grandparents, the venerable old +Commodore and Mrs. Whipple. Mrs. Sproat being thus left entirely +alone, as she had no other relatives in the west, she wrote +to her daughter that if she could come for her she would return +with her to Michigan.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Sibley did not hesitate, but leaving her family under the +charge of a faithful servant, set out on her journey. She went +under the care of a gentleman from Detroit, and to save fatigue +went as far as Sandusky in the new steamboat, “Walk in the +Water,” the first steamboat that ever ran on Lake Erie.</p> + +<p>They sent their horses by a servant to meet them at Sandusky. +This journey to Marietta was the last ever taken by Mrs. Sibley on +horseback. She remained in Ohio only long enough to complete +the preparations for Mrs. Sproat’s removal. They returned by stage, +as Mrs. Sproat was too old to undertake the journey on horseback. +Mrs. Sproat remained with her daughter until her death, which +took place in 1832.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</span></p> + +<p>The most eventful part of Mrs. Sibley’s life was now past. Henceforth +her time was principally occupied with the duties incumbent +upon a wife and mother, and these were well and faithfully performed. +A large family grew up around her, in whose minds it +was ever her constant endeavor to instil such high principles as +should make them true to themselves and useful members of society. +To her most truly could the scriptural passage be applied, “Her +children shall rise up and call her blessed.”</p> + +<p>It is difficult to convey an adequate idea of the actual condition +of this portion of the great Mississippi valley in its transition state, +or the important part in the formation of its daily life that fell to the +lot of a pioneer matron. Of all these, there was not one better fitted +by nature and education for the time and place than this noble +woman. Blessed with a commanding person, a vigorous and cultivated +intellect, undaunted courage, and an intuitive and clear perception +of right and wrong, she exercised great influence upon the +society in which she lived. Affectionate in disposition, frank in +manner, and truly just as well as benevolent, she was during her +whole married life the centre of an admiring circle of devoted friends. +As age crept on, and disease confined her to the fireside, she still +remained the object of profound and marked respect to the people +of the city which had grown up around her, and when at length she +was “gathered to her fathers,” she died, as she had always lived, +without one to cast a reproach upon her elevated and beautiful +character.</p> + +<p>A revolution like that of 1776—the surrender upon the altar of +their country of the fortunes of the brave men who led the way to +freedom—the poverty of the government and its consequent inability +to repay these losses—the resulting necessity of making a home +among the savages of a great wilderness, and reducing that wilderness +to a state of law, order, and refinement; these were circumstances +well fitted to develope the strong traits of character in the +men and women of the great West. They cannot recur, and +therefore we cannot expect again to see such a race. They have +passed away, and henceforward we may expect what has always<span class="pagenum" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</span> +accompanied an age of refinement, the softening down of strong +points of character, and in too many instances, enervation and +effeminacy.</p> + +<p>The husband of this honored lady, the Hon. Solomon Sibley, +was for many years one of the judges of the Supreme Court of the +territory of Michigan. He lived to be not only the last relic of the +ancient bar of Michigan proper, dating back to 1798, but also the +last remaining link connecting the profession in that State of the +present day with that of the Northwest Territory, of which he was +a member previous to his removal to Detroit.</p> + +<p>He was a native of Massachusetts, and was admitted to the bar +in Virginia. In 1797, he practised law with his friend Judge +Burnet, of Cincinnati. In 1799, having removed to Detroit, he was +elected to the first territorial legislature of the Northwest Territory +as representative for the county of Wayne, which then embraced +the present State of Michigan. This body held its sessions in Cincinnati. +In the records of the Historical Society of Ohio, Judge +Sibley is mentioned as “among the most talented men of the +House.” That he was held in the highest estimation by his fellow-citizens, +is evinced by the fact, that as early as 1802 the electors of +the town of Detroit voted him the freedom of the corporation “for +his eminent services in behalf of the people of the territory.”</p> + +<p>In the uniform, quiet, and unostentatious devotion of his time and +talents to the interests of his country, Judge Sibley continued to +receive marked evidences of universal respect and confidence, till +compelled by physical infirmity to retire from public life. In his +public relation of United States Commissioner—associated with Gen. +Cass to negotiate the treaty by which the Indian title to a large part +of the peninsula of Michigan was extinguished; as delegate representing +the territory of Michigan in Congress; as District Attorney +of the United States, and as Judge of the Supreme Court of +Michigan, he won, as he well merited, the affection, respect and +entire confidence of his contemporaries and associates. All who +were acquainted with him in private life cherished the highest +respect and veneration for the character he had so justly acquired<span class="pagenum" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</span> +and sustained during a long and well spent life. In all private relations, +he showed himself amiable, pure, and true to the various +interests confided to him; in public ones, faithful, upright, and +honorable; a sound and able lawyer, an impartial, honest, and discriminating +judge.</p> + +<p>For several years before his death, his health being too infirm for +public duty, he gave himself up to the enjoyments of a happy home, +where, surrounded by friends, he was gathered to his fathers, +April 4th, 1846, aged seventy-seven. The members of the bar of +Detroit, and officers of the respective courts assembled to express +their regret, and esteem for his noble character, and wore mourning +for the usual time.</p> +<hr class="full"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="c14">XIII.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="c sp lsp">MARY DUNLEVY.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap large">Few</span> among the pioneer mothers presented in their lives a more +impressive example of the patient perseverance, courage, and energy +of character which distinguished the matrons of that day, than the +subject of the present brief sketch. The materials have been communicated +by one of her family, whose recollections enable him to +describe much of her experience in building a home in the wilderness.</p> + +<p>Mary Craig was of Scottish parentage, and was born on the voyage +from Scotland to America, about the year 1765. The family +then came to settle in New York. At the commencement of the +Revolutionary struggle, Mary was but ten years old, but she could +understand that the people were unjustly oppressed, and her feelings +were warmly interested in favor of the patriots. Her father had died +soon after reaching the country, and she, with an elder sister and a +younger brother, formed the little family under her mother’s care. +Their circumstances were comfortable, though they were not wealthy, +and but for the outbreak of war, they would probably have remained +together. The vicissitudes and dangers to which the inhabitants of +the city were subjected by the approach of a hostile force, and the +occupation of New York by British troops, caused no little alarm to +Mrs. Craig for the safety of herself and children; she had few friends<span class="pagenum" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</span> +in the strange land, and it therefore can hardly be wondered at that, +renewing acquaintance with a gentleman whom she had known in +Scotland—now an officer in the British navy—she listened favorably +to his addresses, and finally married him. Her husband, of course, +was a loyalist, and Mary had by this time become so thoroughly +imbued with republican principles, that no kindness on the part of +her stepfather could reconcile her to the restraints to which she was +subjected in the family, in the expression of political opinions. It +was not long before she left her home in the city, and went to reside +at the house of Dr. Halstead, in Elizabethtown, New Jersey. This +proved to be a final separation from the other members of her family. +Her sister soon after married an Englishman, and went to England; +and when New York was evacuated by the British, her stepfather, +with her mother, brother, and an infant half-sister, went with other +refugees to Nova Scotia. Mary bore her part, meanwhile, in the +apprehension and dangers to which the inhabitants of Elizabethtown +were exposed during the war from the frequent incursions of the +enemy. She repeatedly risked her life in endeavors to save the +property of her friends from destruction, which she would do by +earnest appeals to the invaders, trusting that her youth would ensure +her own safety. On one occasion a sword was drawn upon her, +with a threat that she should be killed if she did not leave the room; +but she persisted, and finally saved the property threatened. She +was often occupied during the whole day or night in running bullets, +or in attendance upon the wounded or dying. When the better +time arrived, she witnessed the triumphal march of Gen. Washington +on his way to New York, being one of a number of young girls who +strewed the road with flowers as he passed. The disasters of a +tedious war were soon forgotten in rejoicings for the establishment of +liberty and peace; but for Mary the anxious part of life’s drama was +but just commenced. In 1787 she was married to James Carpenter. +The Northwest Territory, and especially the Miami country, was at +that time much talked about, considerable excitement prevailing on +the subject of emigration to the West, and Carpenter had recently +returned from a visit of exploration to the Miami purchase in company<span class="pagenum" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</span> +with Judge Symmes and others. He was so much pleased +with the new country that he determined to settle there, and Mary’s +inclination corresponded to his own. They left New Jersey with the +first little colony of Judge Symmes, reached Limestone, now Maysville, +Kentucky, late in the autumn of 1788, and the men, and a +few of the stronger among the women, immediately repaired to +Columbia, near the mouth of the Little Miami, five miles above the +site of Cincinnati. Here they commenced building a log fort and +cabins for the different families of the settlers, and laying out fields +and gardens for cultivation the next spring, while the feebler members +of the company remained in Kentucky during the winter.</p> + +<p>In the spring, the fort being completed, all the settlers took up +their residence at the locality selected. The families occupied the +cabins built for them, but whenever there was an alarm of the approach +of hostile Indians, they fled to the garrison, which was defended +with all the strength of the colony, and the enemy chased +away when not in large parties. Yet, notwithstanding the utmost +precaution, the stealthy marauders sometimes succeeded in carrying +off property and capturing prisoners, and even in killing several persons +in the settlement. Mary, whose childhood had been familiar +with the terrors of civil war, and whose heart was stout and resolute, +was to be tried by the severest of sorrows. Carpenter’s arduous +labors during the first winter and spring in clearing the ground and +assisting to raise the buildings, had caused a hemorrhage of the +lungs, the effects of which brought on a decline, terminating in his +death in less than two years. Mary was thus left with two young +children, without a relative to protect her, in the midst of a wilderness, +surrounded by savage foes; but her courage and resolution did not +falter under accumulated trials. She knew that her children had no +dependence except on her care and labors, and trusting in the Providence +whose kindness watches over the widow and the fatherless, +she determined to lean, with her helpless babes, on His protection and +guidance, and perform with untiring energy the duties that lay before +her. She was urged to take up her residence in the fort, as +she could not otherwise be safe from the frequent assaults of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</span> +savages; but she persisted in remaining in her cabin, notwithstanding +the remonstrances of her neighbors, and although her home was +several hundred yards from the blockhouse. Her wounded heart +preferred solitude to society; the more so as in the promiscuous +company frequently assembled in the garrison, the rough oaths of +the soldiers might frequently be heard, and she resolved to risk living +alone, rather than be distressed by associations repulsive to her +delicate and sensitive nature. At the same time she planned the +measures she would take in the event of danger, leaving the result +with Him in whom her trust was placed. Beneath the puncheon +floor laid in every cabin, there was generally dug a small cellar in +which vegetables might be kept secure from frost. Every night she +lifted one of these pieces of timber, and placed her children in a rough +bed she had made in the cellar. As soon as they were asleep, the +puncheon was laid down, and the mother took her position where +she could see the Indians, when approaching, at a considerable distance. +Here she would sit during the whole night, engaged, in the +hours of wakefulness, in knitting or such housework as could be +performed without any other light than from smothered embers not +permitted to give out the slightest blaze. When the youngest child +waked and required nursing, she would lift the puncheon, and sit +on the edge of the opened floor till it was lulled to sleep, then deposit +it once more in the secret bed and close the floor over it. Her +resolution was taken, should the Indians attack one door, to make +her escape by the opposite one to the fort, give the alarm, and bring +the men to rescue her children before the foe could discover their +hiding-place. Her fears were not groundless; the Indians were +often seen by her prowling about the little village, and on several +occasions, when all was dark and still, they came to the door of her +cabin, and attempted to enter. Finding the door barred, however, +they did not, for some reason or other, attempt to force it; so that +the widow and her children remained undisturbed, while from other +parts of the settlement property was stolen and prisoners taken, and +one or two individuals were shot in close vicinity to the fort.</p> + +<p>The emigrants who established themselves at Columbia, were men<span class="pagenum" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</span> +of energy and enterprise, and the little settlement for two or three +years contained more inhabitants than any other in the Miami purchase. +The second party destined for the Miami, was formed at +Limestone; they landed the 24th of December, 1788, on the north +bank of the Ohio, opposite the mouth of Licking river, and laid out +a town, to which the name of Cincinnati was given the following +year. The third party of adventurers to the purchase, under the +immediate direction of Judge Symmes, established a station at +‘North Bend,’ the most northern bend in the Ohio below the mouth +of the great Kanawha. The village has since become distinguished +as the home of President Harrison, whose tomb, on one of its hills, +can be seen from the river.</p> + +<p>These three principal settlements of the Miami country had one +general object, and were threatened by one common danger; yet, says +Judge Burnet, there existed a strong spirit of rivalry among them, +“each feeling a pride in the prosperity of the little colony to which +he belonged. That spirit produced a strong influence on the feelings +of the pioneers of the different villages, and an <i>esprit du corps</i> +scarcely to be expected under circumstances so critical and dangerous +as those which threatened them. For some time, it was matter of +doubt which of the rivals, Columbia, Cincinnati, or North Bend, +would eventually become the chief seat of business.” The establishment +of the garrison at Cincinnati, made it the head-quarters and +depôt of the army. Fort Washington was the most extensive and +important military work in the territory. It was said that the +removal of the troops from the Bend, which was strenuously opposed +by Judge Symmes, was caused by an attachment on the part of the +officer in command, to a beautiful woman, whose departure to +reside in Cincinnati opened the eyes of her admirer to its advantages +for a military post, and thus made it the commercial emporium and +the Queen City of the West.</p> + +<p>I shall not hesitate to offer, in different memoirs, descriptions of +pioneer life furnished by individuals whose recollections are entirely +reliable. Although these may involve occasional repetition, they +will enable us to perceive any difference of habits or manners in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</span> +different parts of the country, and to appreciate more fully the spirit +of enterprise and power of endurance which made the way so much +easier to those who succeeded the early colonists. The densely wooded +mountain ranges were a formidable barrier at that period between +the old States and the new territories. The difficulties attending any +communication can hardly be imagined by those who enjoy the facilities +of travelling now, and made the work of the pioneer more arduous +and hazardous than in more recent settlements, where the emigrant +has the advantage of public conveyances, at least part of the way, +and may find the necessaries of life within a distance readily +accessible. It was no small undertaking to penetrate the unbroken +forest, ascend or descend rivers that had never before been +navigated, and carry to a home in the wilderness supplies for a +household in a few chests. These usually held the clothing of the +pioneer’s family, while a few cooking utensils were added to the +stock, and occasionally a table or bureau; though for such articles +of furniture, as well as chairs and bedsteads, the settlers generally +depended on the rough manufacture of the country. Shelves hewn +by the axe supplied the place of bureaus and wardrobes, and two +poles fastened in a corner of the cabin, the outer corner supported +by a prop, answered the purpose of a bedstead, until better could be +had. The pioneer’s cabin was indeed a complete example of +domestic economy. It was built of unhewn logs, sometimes in a +single day, by the owner and eight or ten of the neighbors, who +never refused their assistance. The floor was made of split slabs or +puncheons, as they were called, dubbed with an adze, or where the +resident was over nice, smoothed with the broad-axe on the upper +side. The doors were made of boards riven from a tree of the +proper length and thickness, and smoothed with a drawing-knife. +The windows, in the earliest settlements, were made by cutting +away the under and upper portions of two of the logs of the house, +forming thus a square opening of suitable size, in which sometimes +upright sticks were placed, covered with white paper, oiled with hog’s +fat or bear’s oil, to admit the light in place of glass, a luxury not +then to be procured. The fire-place was usually very large, built<span class="pagenum" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</span> +up on three sides six or eight feet with stone, and then topped with +“cat and clay,” as it was termed. The cabin completed, the next +thing was to clear a piece of ground for a cornpatch. A shovel-plow +was generally used, as most convenient among the roots. The +harness consisted mostly of leatherwood bark, except the collar, +which was made of husks of corn plaited and sewed together.</p> + +<p>Rough and uncouth in appearance as were these primitive cabins, +they could be made very comfortable, and for health seemed preferable +to many more civilized dwellings. One of them, sometimes +containing but a single room, with a rude loft reached by a ladder, +was the happy home of a numerous household; the children raised +there growing up to usefulness and eminence among their fellow +citizens. The children thus raised were generally of powerful frame, +and possessed great physical strength; their height and proportions, +it is said, being known, as a rule, to surpass those born after the erection +of frame and brick dwellings. Sickness also was rare among +them.</p> + +<p>It is true that these rude habitations had some inconveniences, +which might now be considered too formidable to contend with; +and it may be thought strange how a female of cultivation and +refinement could bring herself to live in one of them. Yet it is +certain, that among the early pioneers who came to the Miami +country, were some ladies of the highest consideration in New York +and New Jersey; and it is no less certain that they readily and +cheerfully accommodated themselves to the condition of things +around them. The dressing-room and ornamental toilette were +lacking; but they were dispensed with for such accommodations +as necessity suggested. Each cabin usually contained two beds in +the lower room, and these were separated from each other by full +and flowing curtains around one at least, answering the purpose of +a partition and dressing apartment.</p> + +<p>The women of those times, it has been often observed, were +of a sturdier nature than at the present day, and encountered both +hardships and dangers with a philosophy and a grace which can +now be hardly understood. Most of them undertook the labor of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</span> +the household unassisted, requiring no help except when children +were born, till the older ones grew old enough to be useful. There +were but few single young women in the early settlement; if any +came with friends from the east, they were very soon married and +had their own household affairs to attend to. In the summer, besides +the ordinary housework, the wife of the pioneer spun the wool +which formed the winter’s clothing for the male part of the family, +as well as flannel for herself and the girls; in the winter was spun +the flax of which clothing was made the ensuing summer. The +buzz of the wheel, therefore, was heard at all seasons in the cabins +of the early settlers, and often in the winter until the approach of +midnight. Yet, with all these laborious duties, which were regularly +and faithfully performed, the pioneer mothers found time to arrange +their houses with the most scrupulous order and neatness, and were +not without their social enjoyments. The afternoons of the long +summer’s day were frequently spent in visiting or receiving visits +from neighbors within a few miles’ distance. No motive could exist +for a profession of friendship where the reality was not felt; and +distress in any family never failed to elicit the sympathy and command +the aid, so far as it could be rendered, of all the neighbors. +Social intercourse was intimate, and the interchange of expressions +of good feeling, sincere and constant; and never could one familiar +with these associations forget the smooth winding foot paths which +led through the deep forest and tall grass or underbrush from the +house of one pioneer to that of another, traversed daily on errands +of business or friendship, so that every family was kept acquainted +with all the occurrences of the day throughout the settlement. If a +fat bear or deer was killed by one it was generally divided, and the +portions sent round as a token of kindly regard. Game was abundant, +and the turkeys, venison and bear’s meat which so frequently +loaded the rustic tables, might well have been prized by the most +fastidious epicures of advanced civilization.</p> + +<p>On the whole the life of the pioneer, though one of hardship and +danger, was one of stir and excitement, and a perfect freedom so +agreeable to the enterprising rover, that it may be questioned<span class="pagenum" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</span> +whether it were not, for him at least, the happiest state of society. +There was freshness and novelty in the scenery around him and in +the adventurous experience of every day; the keen invigorating air +of the wildwood, and the constant exercise required, gave energy +and activity to body and mind, and sustained and exhilarated the +spirits; no forms or ceremonious customs constrained or chilled social +manners, and no jealousy or bitterness could arise out of difference in +circumstances, distinctions growing out of condition being entirely +unknown in those primitive communities. Good faith and honesty +in business transactions were taken for granted on both sides, and +the lack of them would have been punished by social outlawry. +The general prevalence of good health was promoted by the constant +exposure which hardened the pioneers to the sudden changes incident +to a severe climate, and by their simplicity of diet. The cakes +and preserves which nowadays take up so much of the attention of +housekeepers in preparing, and are regarded as essential articles of +provision in genteel houses, were almost unknown. The Kentucky +“hoecake,” or the “johnny” or “journey cake,” of the Miami Valley, +formed the favorite winter bread, and was used during a great part +of the spring season. The corn was ground, before mills were +erected, in a hand-mill, or pounded in a hominy-block, made by +burning a hole in one end of a block of wood, the corn being +pounded with a pestle made by driving an iron wedge into a stick +of suitable size. When sufficiently pounded, it was sifted, and +the finer portion made into bread and mush, the coarser being +boiled for hominy. The meat was bear, venison, and wild turkey, +as it was difficult to raise hogs or sheep on account of the wolves +and bears.</p> + +<p>The amusements of the men were such as developed physical +strength and animated to cheerfulness. The chase, the principal +one, served the purpose of an exciting and healthy exercise, while it +furnished provision for the family. The women of course took no +active part in this sport, except when the bear hunt roused the whole +neighborhood, young and old, male and female, to partake in it with +intense interest. A bear chase was usually commenced by the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</span> +sounding of a peculiar note on the horn, which reverberated wildly +among the hills and woods. Presently the distant howl of the +hunter’s dogs gave notice that the hunters were in pursuit of the +enemy. Every man now seized his rifle and mounted his horse to +join the chase, while those who could not do this, ran to see what +was done. Sometimes the pursuit would continue all day, but generally +it happened that in a few hours the bear was compelled to +“tree,” as it was called. As soon as the hunted animal had thus +taken refuge, the hunter who chanced to be nearest the spot, summoned +the others by a different note on his horn, and a few rifle +shots usually either brought down the fugitive dead, or forced him +to descend to escape the shower of bullets. When the bear found +it necessary to leave his retreat, his practice generally was to roll +himself into a ball-like shape by placing his head between his hind +legs, and throw himself from the height. On striking the ground +he would rebound several feet, and the instant he touched the ground +again, his back was against the root of the tree, while, raising himself +on his hind legs, he stood in an attitude of defiance, ready to +do battle with the dogs who by that time were collected and eager +for the assault. First with one fore paw and then with the other +the bear would despatch the dogs as they rushed upon him. But +though he could hold his ground thus bravely, it was not usually +long before the fatal shot in the head from the hunter’s rifle would +lay the victim low, and end the chase for the day. The meat was +then divided among the hunters, and they returned to their homes, +weary and hungry, and perhaps wet with the falling rain or snow. +At their cabins warm fires and comfortable suppers awaited them, +and the incidents of the day afforded material for pleasant conversation +during the evening. The excitement a chase of this kind always +caused throughout the neighborhood can only be imagined by one +who has witnessed such an occurrence.</p> + +<p>The wolf made havoc with the few sheep introduced, and the wild +deer; the bear confined himself to hogs. His practice was to spring +suddenly upon his victim, grasp him in his fore legs with irresistible +force, erect himself upon his hind legs like a man, and make off<span class="pagenum" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</span> +in an instant with his load; the piercing squeal of the hog being +the first warning to the owner. A large bear, meeting with no +obstruction, would make his way through the woods in this manner, +with a hog of good size, faster than a man on foot could follow.</p> + +<p>The establishment of schools and places for stated religious meetings +was coeval with the formation of every settlement, or at least +attended to as soon as the pioneers had secured themselves from the +savages and provided their families with the means of daily subsistence. +The schoolhouses, like the primitive cabins, were roughly +constructed, but in some of them men whose mental endowments +and ripe scholarship have raised them to eminence in after life, received +the first rudiments of education. It happened in some +neighborhoods, it is true, that no schools were established; but the +evil effects of such neglect were discernible long afterwards, and in +some instances the want of general intelligence is still evident in +those portions of the country. The privilege of hearing the gospel +preached regularly every Sabbath, could not often be enjoyed, as +different and distant neighborhoods had to be supplied, and there +were but few pastors; but service was held, and sermons were read +when no clergyman could attend, and the announcement that there +was to be preaching would bring the settlers together from many +miles around. The strength of their attachment to the Sabbath +services is shown by the fact that they were not prevented, even +when threatened with Indian incursions, from meeting in large numbers, +to hear the word preached whenever an opportunity presented +itself. While the danger was imminent it was usual for all +the men to carry fire-arms and ammunition, as the law among +them required every one to do; sentinels being placed on the watch +while service was going on. It was not till after the peace which +followed Wayne’s treaty at Greenville that the necessity for carrying +arms to religious meetings no longer existed, and in the outer settlements +the custom was kept up for some years after. It was not an +unusual sight to see a file of riflemen with their shot pouches, and +arms at rest, stationed around the large congregations which in warm +weather were accustomed to assemble in the woods for religious<span class="pagenum" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</span> +worship. When the necessity for this strict guard became less +apparent, and the Indians had removed to a greater distance, these +forest assemblages on the Sabbath were very large, different neighborhoods +gathering in one place. It was not in the least uncommon +for men and women to ride on horseback eight and ten miles +to meeting, and the doing so was far from being considered a task or +hardship.</p> + +<p>One of the first schools established in the Northwestern Territory +was in the settlement where Mrs. Carpenter lived. The young man +who took charge of it, Francis Dunlevy, had served in many Indian +campaigns, having, at the early age of fourteen, offered himself for +military service, and been received in place of one of his neighbors +who had been drafted, but who had a family dependent on him for +support, and was unwilling to go. This was in 1777, and from that +time to his coming to Columbia, he had been on service in occasional +excursions against the savages. He served at the time of the disastrous +defeat of Crawford at the Sandusky Plains in 1782, and after +that time had travelled over those portions of the Northwest Territory +which now constitute Ohio, Western Virginia, and the northern +part of Kentucky. He was not only a man of great courage, spirit, +and enterprise, but of such industry and perseverance, that in the +midst of the labors and vicissitudes of numerous campaigns, and the +privations to which he was subject in a forest life, he employed the +intervals of leisure from military occupations in study, and acquired +a classical education.</p> + +<p>Having made up his mind to reside for the future in the Northwest +Territory, he came to Columbia as teacher of the school in the +latter part of the year 1792. He heard the story of Mrs. Carpenter’s +trials, and the fortitude with which she bore them; he sought her +acquaintance, and finding in her a kindred spirit, in due time offered +his hand and was accepted. They were married in January, 1793. +Mr. Dunlevy was afterwards a highly respected member of the +legislature of the North-west Territory, and of the convention which +formed the constitution of Ohio. He also occupied, for fourteen +years, the station of presiding judge in the Court of Common Pleas.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</span></p> + +<p>For many years after her removal, Mrs. Dunlevy heard not a word +from any member of her mother’s family. In 1804 she received a +letter from her brother, directed to her “in the Miami country,” by +which she was informed of her mother’s death, and that her brother +had returned to the United States, and was then living near Lake +Champlain. In 1806, her sister and her husband came from Liverpool +to New York for the purpose of finding the scattered members +of the family, but they learned on their arrival that the brother had +died the same year, and that Mary was living in the “far west.” A +correspondence was held between the sisters, and a meeting appointed +at Pittsburg, the elder sister insisting that she could not venture to +encounter the dangers of entering an Indian country, as she considered +Western Ohio; but before she left New York to proceed +that far, she was seized with yellow fever and died.</p> + +<p>The two children of Mrs. Dunlevy by her first marriage attained +to womanhood and were married. Besides these, she had three sons +and three daughters, all of whom lived to maturity. The mother’s +affection for her children was one which absorbed every faculty of +her nature. With a resolution that to the last would never give +way before difficulties, she was delicate and susceptible in all her +feelings, gentle, retiring, and affectionate, and clinging with absolute +dependence to those in whom her devoted affections were centred. +The death of her eldest daughter, therefore, though she had been +married, and lived at a distance for some six years, was a blow from +which she never recovered. Her life was afterwards secluded, and +her social intercourse entirely confined to her children. A second +daughter in five years followed the first to the grave, and four years +afterwards, her youngest son having been called to a distant part of +the country, was attacked by sudden illness and died far from home. +Under these accumulated afflictions the spirit which had never faltered +in the presence of danger, nor shrunk from trial in every other +form, sank in the prostration of grief. Mrs. Dunlevy’s health failed +after the death of her eldest child, and slowly declined till 1828, +when, without any particular disease, but a gradual failure of nervous +energy, she departed this life, at Lebanon, Ohio, in the sixty-third<span class="pagenum" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</span> +year of her age. Judge Dunlevy survived her nearly twelve +years, and was laid beside her in the burial-ground of the Baptist +church, of which they had both long been members.</p> + +<p class="gtb">******</p> + +<p>The following sketch of life in the woods is extracted from an +article written by John S. Williams, the Editor of the American +Pioneer:</p> + +<p>“Emigrants poured in from different parts, cabins were put up +in every direction, and women, children and goods tumbled into +them. Every thing was bustle and confusion, and all at work that +could work. Our cabin had been raised, covered, part of the cracks +chinked, and part of the floor laid when we moved in, on Christmas +day! We had intended an inside chimney, for we thought the +chimney ought to be in the house. We had a log put across the +whole width of the cabin for a mantel, but when the floor was in we +found it so low as not to answer, and removed it. We got the rest +of the floor laid in a very few days; the chinking of the cracks went +on slowly, but the daubing could not proceed till weather more suitable, +which happened in a few days; door-ways were sawed out +and steps made of the logs, and the back of the chimney was raised +up to the mantel, but the funnel of sticks and clay was delayed until +spring.</p> + +<p>“In building our cabin it was set to front the north and south, my +brother using my father’s pocket compass on the occasion. We had +no idea of living in a house that did not stand square with the earth +itself. This argued our ignorance of the comforts and conveniences +of a pioneer life. The position of the house, end to the hill, necessarily +elevated the lower end, and the determination to have both +a north and south door, added much to the airiness of the domicile, +particularly after the green ash puncheons had shrunk so as to leave +cracks in the floor and doors from one to two inches wide. At both +the doors we had high, unsteady, and sometimes icy steps, made +by piling up the logs cut out of the wall. We had a window, +if it could be called a <i>window</i>, when perhaps it was the largest spot +in the top, bottom or sides of the cabin at which the wind <i>could not</i><span class="pagenum" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</span> +enter. It was made by sawing out a log, placing sticks across; and +by pasting an old newspaper over the hole, and applying some hog’s +lard, we had a kind of glazing which shed a most beautiful and +mellow light across the cabin when the sun shone on it. All other +light entered at the doors, cracks and chimney.</p> + +<p>“Our cabin was twenty-four by eighteen. The west end was occupied +by two beds, the centre of each side by a door, and here our +symmetry had to stop, for opposite the window, made of clapboards +supported on pins driven into the logs, were our shelves. Upon +these shelves my sister displayed in order a host of pewter plates, +basins, dishes, and spoons, scoured and bright. A ladder of five +rounds occupied the corner near the window. By this, when we got +a floor above, we could ascend. Our chimney occupied most of the +east end; pots and kettles were opposite the window under the shelves, +a gun on hooks over the north door, four split-bottom chairs, three +three-legged stools, and a small eight by ten looking-glass sloped +from the wall over a large towel and combcase. These, with a +clumsy shovel and a pair of tongs with one shank straight, completed +our furniture, except a spinning-wheel and such things as +were necessary to work with. It was absolutely necessary to have +<i>three-legged</i> stools, as four legs of any thing could not all touch +the floor at the same time.</p> + +<p>“The completion of our cabin went on slowly. The season was +inclement, and laborers were not to be had. We got our chimney +up breast high as soon as we could, and our cabin daubed as high +as the joists outside. It never was daubed on the inside, for my +sister, who was very nice, could not consent to ‘live right next to +the mud.’ My impression now is, that the window was not constructed +till spring, for until the sticks and clay were put on the +chimney we could possibly have no need of a window; the flood of +light which always poured into the cabin from the fireplace would +have extinguished our paper window, and rendered it as useless as +the moon at noonday. We got a floor laid over head as soon as +possible, perhaps in a month; but when it <i>was</i> laid, the reader will +readily conceive of its imperviousness to wind or weather, when we<span class="pagenum" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</span> +mention that it was laid of loose clapboards split from a red oak, +so twisting that each board lay on two diagonally opposite corners, +and a cat might have shaken every board on our ceiling.</p> + +<p>“The evenings of the first winter did not pass off as pleasantly as +evenings afterwards. We had no corn to shell, no turnips to scrape, +no tow to spin into rope-yarn, nor straw to plait for hats, and we +had come so late we could get but few walnuts to crack. We had, +however, the Bible, George Fox’s Journal, Barkley’s Apology, and +to our stock was soon after added a borrowed copy of the Pilgrim’s +Progress, which we read twice through without stopping. The first +winter our living was truly scanty and hard; but even this winter +had its felicities. We had part of a barrel of flour which we had +brought from Fredericktown. Besides this we had a part of a jar +of hog’s lard brought from old Carolina; not the tasteless stuff which +now goes by that name, but pure leaf lard taken from hogs raised on +pine roots and fattened on sweet potatoes, and into which, while trying, +were immersed the boughs of the fragrant bay tree, that imparted +to the lard a rich flavor. Of that flour, shortened with this lard, +my sister every Sunday morning made short biscuit for breakfast.</p> + +<p>“The winter was open, but windy. While the wind was of great +use in driving the smoke and ashes out of our cabin, it shook terribly +the timber standing almost over us. We were sometimes much +and needlessly alarmed. We were surrounded by the tall giants of +the forest, waving their boughs and knitting their brows over us, as if +in defiance of our disturbing their repose, and usurping their long +uncontested pre-emption rights. The beech on the left often +shook his bushy head over us as if in absolute disapprobation of our +settling there, threatening to crush us if we did not pack up and +start. The walnut over the spring branch stood high and straight; +no one could tell which way it inclined, but all concluded that if it +had a preference it was in favor of quartering on our cabin. We got +assistance to cut it down.</p> + +<p>“The monotony of the time for several of the first years was enlivened +by the howl of wild beasts. The wolves howling around us +seemed to moan their inability to drive us from their long and undisputed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</span> +domain. The bears, panthers and deer but seldom troubled +us. When spring was fully come and our little patch of corn, three +acres, put in among the beech roots, which at every step contended +with the shovel-plough for the right of soil, and held it too, we enlarged +our stock of conveniences. As soon as bark would peel off +we could make ropes and bark boxes. These we stood in great need +of, as such things as bureaus, stands, wardrobes, or even barrels were +not to be had. Sometimes boxes made of slippery elm bark, shaved +smooth, and the inside out, were ornamented with drawings of birds, +trees, etc.</p> + +<p>“We settled on beech land, which took much labor to clear. +We could do no better than clear out the smaller stuff and burn +the brush, &c., around the beeches which, in spite of the girdling +and burning we could do to them, would leaf out the first year, +and often a little the second. The land, however, was very rich, +and would bring better corn than might be expected. We had to +tend it principally with the hoe, that is, to chop down the nettles, +the water-weed, and the touch-me-not. Grass, lamb’s-quarter, and +Spanish-needles were reserved to pester the better prepared farmer. +We cleared a small turnip patch, which we got in about the 10th +of August. We sowed timothy seed, which took well, and next +year we had a little hay besides. The tops and blades of the corn +were also carefully saved for our horse, cow, and the two sheep. +The turnips were sweet and good, and in the fall we took care to +gather walnuts and hickory nuts, which were very abundant. These, +with the turnips which we scraped, supplied the place of fruit. I +have always been partial to scraped turnips, and could now beat any +three dandies at scraping them. Johnny-cake, also, when we had +meal to make it of, helped to make up our evening’s repast. The +Sunday morning biscuit had all evaporated, but the loss was partially +supplied by the nuts and turnips. Our regular supper was +mush and milk, and by the time we had shelled our corn, stemmed +tobacco, and plaited straw to make hats, etc., our appetites were +sharp again. To relieve this difficulty, my brother and I would bake +a thin johnny-cake, part of which we would eat, and leave the rest till<span class="pagenum" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</span> +morning. At daylight we would eat the rest as we walked from +the house to work.</p> + +<p>“The methods of eating mush and milk were various. Some +would sit around the pot, every one taking therefrom for himself. +Some would sit at table and have each his tin cup of milk, with a +pewter spoon, taking just as much mush from the dish or the pot as +he thought would fill his mouth, then lowering it into the milk and +taking some to wash it down. This method kept the milk cool, and +by frequent repetitions the pioneer would contract a faculty of correctly +estimating the proper amount of each. Others would mix +mush and milk together.</p> + +<p>“To get grinding done was often a great difficulty, by reason of +the scarcity of mills, the freezing in winter and the droughts in +summer. We had often to manufacture meal in any way we could +get the corn to pieces. We soaked and pounded it, we shaved it, +we planed it, and, at the proper season, grated it. When one of +our neighbors got a hand-mill, it was thought quite an acquisition +to the neighborhood. In after years, when we could get grinding +by waiting for our turn no more than one day and a night at a horse-mill, +we thought ourselves happy. To save meal we often made +pumpkin bread, in which, when meal was scarce, the pumpkin would +so predominate as to render it next to impossible to tell our bread +from that article, either by taste, looks, or the amount of nutriment +it contained. Salt was five dollars per bushel, and we used none in +our corn bread, which we soon liked as well without it. What meat +we had at first was fresh, and but little of that, for had we been +hunters we had no time for the chase.</p> + +<p>“We had no candles, and cared but little about them except for +summer use. My business was to ramble the woods every evening +for seasoned sticks, or the bark of the shelly hickory, for light. ’Tis +true that our light was not as good as candles, but we got along +without fretting, for we depended more upon the goodness of our +eyes than we did upon the brilliancy of the light.”</p> + +<p>Howe relates an anecdote of one Henry Perry, who in the fall of +1803, after getting up his cabin near Delhi, left his two sons and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</span> +returned to Philadelphia for the remainder of his family, but finding +his wife ill, and afterwards being ill himself, could not get back till +the next June. These two little boys, Levi and Reuben, only +eleven and nine years old, remained there alone, eight months, fifteen +miles from any white family, and surrounded by Indians, with +no food but the rabbits they could catch in hollow logs, the remainder +of one deer that the wolves killed near them, and a little corn +meal that they occasionally obtained of Thomas Cellar, by following +down the “Indian trace.” The winter was a severe one, and their +cabin was open, having neither daubing, fire-place, nor chimney; +they had no gun, and were wholly unaccustomed to forest life, being +fresh from Wales, and yet these little fellows not only struggled +through but actually made a considerable clearing! Jacob Forst, +at an early day, when his wife was sick and could obtain nothing to +eat that she relished, procured a bushel of wheat, and throwing it +upon his shoulders, carried it to Zanesville to get it ground, a distance +of more than seventy-five miles by the tortuous path he had +to traverse, and then shouldering his flour retraced his steps home, +fording the streams and camping out nights.”</p> + +<p>Dr. Hildreth says that for many years after the first settlement of +Ohio, salt had to be brought across the mountains on pack-horses. +“Those immense fountains of brine that now are known to exist +deep in the rocky beds below, were not then dreamed of; it was +supposed that the west would always be dependent on the Atlantic +coast for salt, and deeply deplored as a serious drawback on the prosperity +of this beautiful region. Although springs of salt water were +known in various places, they were of so poor and weak a quality as +to require from four to six hundred gallons of the water to make a +bushel of salt; and when made, it contained so much foreign matter +as to render it a very inferior article. Yet as it could be used in +place of the imported salt, and saved the borderer’s money, at that +day not very plenty, it was occasionally resorted to by the settlers, +who, assembling in gangs of six or eight persons, with their domestic +kettles, pack-horses and provisions, camped out for a week at a time +in the vicinity of the saline. These springs were generally discovered +by hunters, and were at remote points from the settlements.”</p> +<hr class="full"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="c15">XIV.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="c sp lsp">ANN BAILEY.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap large">The</span> account of the first settlement of Gallipolis, Ohio, forms a curious +piece of pioneer history. When the disturbances of the French +Revolution had driven many families from their native country, an +office was opened in Paris for the sale of American lands owned by +the “Scioto Company,” and situated on the west bank of the Ohio +river, above the mouth of the Big Scioto in the Northwest Territory. +A general prospectus was issued, setting forth that the company +owned a million of acres; the advantages to the emigrant and +ultimate value of the land, were glowingly painted, and hundreds +rushed to the agents to purchase estates which might be acquired +at a very moderate price. Some five or six hundred emigrants, in +eluding doctors, lawyers, officers, merchants, manufacturers, mechanics, +farmers, gardeners, etc., with their deeds in their hands, and +eager with hope and expectation, sailed in February, 1790, from +Havre de Grace, five ships being chartered to convey them to Alexandria, +Virginia. They were received with a warm and hospitable +welcome by the inhabitants of that town, supplied with portions of +their stores, and taught all that was necessary to learn as to the +manner of living in the new country.<a id="FNanchor_28" href="#Footnote_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</span></p> + +<p>From a correspondence opened with the Secretary of the Treasury +of the United States, the emigrants learned that the Scioto Company +had failed in their engagements to government, and that the +lands purchased from the Treasury Board had reverted and been +sold in 1787 to the agents for the directors of the Ohio Company, +pursuant to an act of Congress passed the July preceding. +This was the first knowledge they had of their true situation, and +the imposition practised on them. A general meeting was called, +and a committee appointed to go to New York and demand indemnification +of the acting agent for the Scioto Company, while another +committee was to appeal to President Washington for a redress of +their grievances. The result of the application to the agent of the +Scioto Company was the promise that other lands should be secured +to the emigrants in fulfilment of the engagements entered into, and +that the site of Gallipolis should be surveyed into lots, houses erected, +with defences against the Indians, and wagons and supplies provided +to convey the colonists to Ohio. Notwithstanding this flattering +report of their committee, many of them had no hope that the +promises would be fulfilled, and removed to New York, Philadelphia, +and elsewhere. As soon as wagons could be procured, the +others left Alexandria and passed through Winchester to Brownsville +on the Monongahela, where they were detained, as boats were +not in readiness to proceed. They had shanties to lodge in, but the +fall rains had set in, and they suffered many privations. Their +voyage further was not a pleasant one, the river being low, and +shoals frequent; but after a weary progress they reached the place +of destination, in October, 1790, and landed with great joy. Surveyors +had been sent to lay out the town, and workmen to build +houses, and the first tree had been cut down on the 8th of June, by +Col. Robert Safford. Four rows of twenty cabins, each with a door, +windows, and wooden chimney, were put up, and as a better sort of +habitation for those of the superior class, two rows of huts of hewn +logs, a story and a half in height. Block-houses two stories high +were also erected, with a high stockade fence, forming a sufficient +fortification against attack. In one of the better cabins was a room<span class="pagenum" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</span> +used for a ball-room and council chamber. As soon as the quarters +of each family were assigned, their massive chests were opened and +relieved of the ponderous contents, which were distributed in the +community.</p> + +<p>They entered upon the new mode of life with cheerfulness and a +social spirit; they had soirées, music, and dancing regularly; some +had mingled in the higher circles abroad and had cultivated literary +tastes, and there were scientific men who had spent years of study +in the first European institutions. Few of them had ever wielded +an axe, but they did not shrink from severe labor; they cleared the +forest, prepared the soil for cultivation, and soon changed the wilderness +to a land of more inviting aspect. A corps of hunters +brought in regular supplies of game, and flour and grain were procured +from Western Pennsylvania. From the commencement of +the settlement service was performed by a Catholic priest, which was +regularly attended by the emigrants. In a short time different +branches of business were commenced, retail stores opened, and +manufactures offered for sale and carried to other places.</p> + +<p>In the spring of 1791, a party was sent out to explore the lands +from Gallipolis to the confluence of the Big Scioto with the Ohio. +A keel-boat was chartered and a crew obtained, with hunters, spies, +and scouts, making a formidable appearance with their camp +equipage and war accoutrements, while the colonists assembled to +bid them adieu. They reached the mouth of the Big Scioto by the +aid of poles, pikes, &c., ascended it about a mile, and encamped near +the site of the court-house in Portsmouth. The country was then +explored, and the lands examined along the banks of the river; the +hunters bringing in abundance of deer, turkeys, and other game. +On their return to Gallipolis, their report was joyfully received, and +hope was entertained that the Scioto company would yet put the +colonists in possession of the lands they had purchased.</p> + +<p>It was now announced that a hostile band of Indians had been +prowling in the neighborhood; one emigrant was killed and two +were taken prisoners, while several horses and cattle were carried off. +A defensive force was organized, and on application to the Secretary<span class="pagenum" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</span> +of War, assistance was sent. Few further depredations, however, +were committed by the Indians, though they came occasionally to +peep at the dances of the colonists, and the settlement continued for +so long a time to enjoy immunity from attack, that it was supposed +that the savages entertained unusually friendly feelings towards the +French. After the victories of Gen. Wayne and the establishment +of peace, a free intercourse was maintained between the residents at +Gallipolis and the colonists from Massachusetts living at Marietta. +The former soon became convinced that the agents of the Scioto +Company could never secure them in the possession of their lands, +and after some further endeavors to procure redress by prosecuting +their claims, they were obliged to give up the hope of having their +rights conceded. In a negotiation afterwards with the Ohio Company, +many of the settlers were disappointed, and feeling themselves +deceived, left the settlement, reducing the numbers of those remaining +to about three hundred. A petition to Congress for an appropriation +of lands for their benefit, presented by M. Gervais, resulted +in the grant of twenty thousand acres, to be equally divided among +the French emigrants living at Gallipolis at a certain time, under +conditions that secured their settling there for some years. Other +grants were afterwards made to other colonists opposite and below +the mouth of Little Sandy River in Kentucky. Improvements in +the lands went on: apple and peach orchards were planted, and the +cider and brandy manufactured became a source of revenue. New +emigrants came in, and in 1803, Gallia county was erected, Gallipolis +being the county seat.</p> + +<p>So interesting and romantic is the story of this settlement by the +French, that no apology will be necessary for connecting the narrative +with a brief notice of a remarkable woman, remembered by all +the old inhabitants of Gallipolis, and throughout Western Virginia, +and known by name to almost every child in the country. She +was sometimes called “Mad Ann,” and was a terror to refractory +urchins. Her maiden name was Hennis. She was born at Liverpool, +married Richard Trotter at the age of thirty, and came with +him to the American colonies; both, on account of poverty, being<span class="pagenum" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</span> +“sold out” to service, according to custom, for the payment of the +passage money, to a gentleman in Augusta county, Virginia. Having +served him faithfully for the stipulated time, they became settlers.</p> + +<p>The frontier having suffered much from Indian attacks, in the +summer of 1774, Lord Dunmore, governor of Virginia, collected +forces for an expedition against the Indian towns on the Scioto. Gen. +Lewis, who had signalized himself in the field of Braddock’s defeat, +was ordered to march with his division to the junction of the Great +Kanawha with the Ohio. Richard Trotter was a volunteer in his +force. Lewis halted on the ground now occupied by the village of +Point Pleasant, to await further communications from the commander-in-chief; +but before his men could erect defences, except a +few fallen trees, the scouts came into camp with intelligence that an +army of Indian warriors was in their immediate vicinity. The troops +were put in battle array, and in a very short time, on the morning +of the 10th of October, a general engagement took place, in which +the Virginians suffered great loss, though the Indians retreated. +Among those engaged in this memorable battle, we find the names +of Shelby, Sevier, and James Robertson.</p> + +<p>Trotter was killed in this battle. From the period of his death, a +strange and wild spirit seemed to possess the widow, who frequently +expressed her hatred of the Indians, and her determination to have +revenge. The opinion entertained by her neighbors that her intellects +were somewhat disordered, was confirmed by her entire abandonment +of all feminine employments. She no longer sewed, spun, +or attended to household or garden concerns, but practised with the +rifle, slung the tomahawk, and rode about the country attending +every muster of soldiers. She even in part discarded female attire, +and was seen clad in a hunting-shirt and moccasins, wearing her +knife and tomahawk, and carrying her gun. Her manly spirit and +resolve to avenge the death of her husband did not prevent her contracting +a second alliance, and it was as Ann Bailey that, several +years afterwards, she followed a body of soldiers sent to garrison a +fort on the Great Kanawha, where Charleston is now located. The +men often practised shooting at a target, and Ann, ambitious to display<span class="pagenum" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</span> +her skill, would contend with the best marksmen and sometimes +carry off the prize. At parade she handled fire-arms with the +expertness of a warrior, and the rifle was her constant companion. +Howe, in his historical work on Virginia, mentions that she +frequently acted as a messenger, carrying letters from the fort to +Point Pleasant, and that she generally rode on horseback, with a +rifle over her shoulder, and a knife and tomahawk in her belt. At +night she would encamp in the woods, letting her horse go free, and +then walking back some distance on the trail to escape discovery by +the vigilant savages.</p> + +<p>Marauding parties of Indians were often seen in the valley of the +Kanawha, and the Virginians doubted not their intention of making +a desperate effort to dislodge them from this favorite hunting-ground. +A runner was sent from Capt. Arbuckle, at Point Pleasant, to Capt. +Clendenin, the commander of the garrison, with information that a +hundred or more Indian warriors had been seen the day previous +crossing the Ohio at Racoon Island, some ten miles below. It was +supposed their design was to attack the fort at Charleston, or at Big +Levels, in Greenbrier county. All the inhabitants around were immediately +gathered into the fort.</p> + +<p>At this crisis the terrible fact was announced that their ammunition +was nearly exhausted. It was determined to send immediately +to Camp Union, now Lewisburg, for a supply; but few men could +be spared from the fort, and none was willing to encounter, with a +small party, the perils of a hundred miles’ journey through a trackless +forest. Mrs. Bailey heard of the difficulty, and instantly offered +her services, saying she would go alone. Her acquaintance with the +country, her excellent horsemanship, her perseverance, and fearless +spirit, were well known, and the commander of the garrison at length +yielded to her solicitation. A good horse was furnished her, with a +stock of jerked venison and johnny-cake; she set her face towards +Greenbrier, armed with rifle, etc., and resolutely overcoming every +obstacle in the ruggedness of the way through the woods, the mountains +she had to cross, and the rivers to swim, undaunted by the +perils threatening from wild beasts and straggling parties of Indians,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</span> +she reached Camp Union in safety, delivered her orders, and being +provided with a led horse fully laden, as well as her own, set forward +on her return.</p> + +<p>She used to relate how her trail was followed for hours together +by wolves, watching for an opportunity to attack her horses. When +night set in she was compelled to make large fires to keep the wild +beasts at bay. To protect herself in slumber from the danger of +rattlesnakes and copperheads, which infested the wilderness, she had +to construct a pioneer bedstead every night, by driving into the +ground four forked sticks about three feet high, adjust upon them +other sticks to serve as bed rails and slats, and overlay them with +a quantity of green boughs, her blanket serving as a musquito bar. +Thus she would sleep amidst the howling of wolves, the screaming +of panthers, and the buzzing of troublesome insects; at break of +day replacing the loads on her horses, and resuming her journey, +her simple breakfast being eaten on horseback. She arrived in +safety with her supplies at the fort. It is said that the premeditated +attack was made the very next day, and that the Indians were +repulsed after a severe conflict. Mrs. Bailey was actively employed +during the siege, and tradition says, fired several times upon the assailants. +She always insisted that she had killed one Indian at least, +and thus accomplished her revenge. The commandant has been +heard to say that the fort could not have been saved without the +timely supply of ammunition, thus giving the credit to Mrs. Bailey’s +exploit, which indeed is scarcely paralleled even among the many +instances of heroism that abound in the history of the Revolutionary +war.</p> + +<p>After the troubles with the Indians were over, Mrs. Bailey still retained +her singular habits. She spent much of her time in fishing +and hunting, and would shoot deer and bears with the expertness of +a backwoodsman. In person she was short and stout, and of coarse +and masculine appearance, and she seldom wore a full woman’s dress, +having on usually a skirt with a man’s coat over it, and buckskin +leggins. The services she rendered in the war had greatly endeared +her to the people, and her eccentricities were regarded with an indulgence<span class="pagenum" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</span> +that would not have been extended to one who had no +such claims to gratitude. She annually visited many of the people +of West Virginia, and received presents in clothing and other articles. +Gen. Newsom recollects seeing her in his boyhood, passing from the +Kanawha Valley to the counties near the Alleghanies, and returning +with her horse laden with gifts from those who remembered her +achievement. Thus “Mad Ann” and her black horse, which she +called “Liverpool” in honor of her birthplace, were always greeted +with a smile of welcome wherever she chose to stop. When her +son came to Ohio, where he owned a large body of land, she came +with him, and lived a few miles from Gallipolis. Here she was accustomed +to wander about the country, received by all as a privileged +visitor, and supplied according to her need. She seldom failed, +whenever there was a muster of the militia, to attend, armed like a +soldier, and march in the ranks. “Not a man of them would have +put her out,” said the General, in recounting the narrative. She +loved solitude, and spent most of her time alone, but often gathered +the neighbors around her to relate the story of her adventures. It +must be added that among her masculine habits she had that of +drinking occasionally, and that she sometimes exercised her skill in +boxing, an accomplishment in which she was well versed. She +could read and write, and seems to have possessed an unusual share +of intelligence for one of her station in life.</p> + +<p>A gentleman residing in Nashville, said he had seen her frequently +near Point Pleasant, about the year 1810 or 1811. She called her +gun and canoe “Liverpool,” as well as her horse. She often took it +upon herself to enforce the keeping of the Sabbath by taking up such +boys as she found wandering about on that day, and compelling +them to sit around her in a cabin, while she opened school exercises +for their instruction, greatly to the terror of the delinquents. The +gentleman referred to said he was chased by her some distance on +one of these occasions, and though lamed by a bruise on his foot, +ran as for dear life, having made his escape by jumping out of the +window of the hut where she had imprisoned a number of boys.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Bailey’s life was prolonged far beyond the ordinary limits;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</span> +according to her own account, she numbered several years over a +century. Her death took place in 1825. The place of her burial is +on a lonely hill near her son’s residence, in the solitude of the woods, +unmarked by a headstone. Gen. Newsom suggests that her remains +should be removed by the citizens of Virginia to the spot where the +fort stood in Charleston, and honored by a suitable monument.</p> +<hr class="full"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="c16">XV.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="c sp lsp">ELIZABETH HARPER.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap large">Elizabeth Bartholomew</span>, one of the pioneer band who made the +earliest settlement in Northeastern Ohio, was born in Bethlehem, +Hunterdon County, New Jersey, February 13th, 1749. She was +the sixteenth child of her parents, and had still a younger sister. +She was descended on the maternal side from the Huguenots of +France, and her ancestors were persons of wealth and respectable +rank, firmly attached to the principles they professed, and willing +to surrender all, and yield themselves unto death, rather than give +up their religious faith. They removed to Germany after the revocation +of the edict of Nantes; and there is a family tradition that +the grandmother of the subject of this sketch, then a child, was +brought from Paris concealed in a chest. She married in Germany, +and in an old age emigrated to America.</p> + +<p>In 1771, Elizabeth was married to Alexander Harper, one of +several brothers who had settled in Harpersfield, Delaware County, +New York. At the outbreak of the Revolutionary war, these +brothers immediately quitted their peaceful occupations to enter into +the continental service, Alexander receiving a commission to act as +captain of a company of rangers. The exposed situation of that +portion of country, and the frequent visits of Indians and tories, +made it necessary for the whig families to seek the protection of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</span> +Fort Schoharie. Mrs. Harper repaired thither with her family, including +the aged parents of her husband. In time of comparative +security, she lived at the distance of about a mile from the fort. +Here, when there was a sudden alarm, she would herself harness +her horses to the wagon, and placing in it her children and +the old people, would drive with all speed to the fort, remaining +within its walls until the danger was over, and then returning +to her occupations on the farm. As peril became more frequent +or imminent, the old people were removed to a place of +greater security, while Mrs. Harper, with her four children and a +lad they had taken to bring up, remained at home. One night +they were startled by the sound of the alarm-gun. The mother +took the youngest child in her arms, another on her back, and bidding +the two elder hold fast to her clothes, set off to escape to the +fort; the lad running closely behind her, and calling to her in great +terror not to leave him. The fugitives reached the fort in safety, +and for the present Mrs. Harper concluded to take up her abode +there. She would not, however, consent to live in idleness, supported +by the labor of others, but undertook, as her special charge, +the bread-baking for the whole garrison, which she did for six months. +During her stay the fort sustained a siege from a party of tories and +Indians, commanded by British officers. Messengers were despatched +to the nearest posts for relief; but while this was slow in arriving, +the commanding officer, in opposition to the wishes of all his men, +determined on a capitulation, and ordered a flag of truce to be hoisted +for that purpose. The announcement of his intention created a disaffection +which soon amounted almost to rebellion. The women, +among whom Mrs. Harper was a leading spirit, had on that day +been busily occupied from early dawn in making cartridges, preparing +ammunition, and serving rations to the wearied soldiers. They +heartily sympathized in the determination expressed not to surrender +without another effort to repel the besiegers.</p> + +<p>One of the men declared his willingness to fire upon the +flag which had been ordered to be hoisted, provided the women +would conceal him. This they readily agreed to do, and as often<span class="pagenum" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</span> +as the flag was run up it was fired at, while the commander was +unable to discover the author of this expression of contempt for his +authority. The delay consequent on this act of insubordination and +the displeasure of the soldiers, prevented the capitulation being carried +into effect, till the arrival of reinforcements caused the enemy +to retreat.</p> + +<p>In the spring of 1780, Capt. Harper availed himself of an interval +in active service, to look after his property in Harpersfield. While +there with several of his friends, they were surprised by a party of Indians +and tories under Brandt, and taken prisoners, an invalid brother-in-law +being killed. Harper and Brandt had been school-fellows +in boyhood, and the chief did not fail to show a remembrance +of the days thus spent together. The Indian captor of Harper +treated him with great kindness, taking him, however, to Canada. +Here his exchange was effected soon afterwards, but he was not +released till peace was concluded; being offered, meanwhile, large +rewards by the British if he would enter into service on their side. +Mrs. Harper remained in ignorance of his fate during the time of +his absence, and supposing him killed, mourned for him, while she +did not suffer grief to paralyze her efforts for the protection and +support of her family. All her characteristic energy was devoted to +keeping them together, and doing what she could towards improving +their shattered fortunes.</p> + +<p>In the year 1797, a company was formed in Harpersfield, to purchase +lands in the country then called “the far west.” Besides +Alexander and Joseph Harper, the company consisted of William +McFarland, Aaron Wheeler, and Roswell Hotchkiss; others joining +afterwards. In June of that year these individuals entered into a +contract with Oliver Phelps and Gideon Granger, members of the +Connecticut Land Company, for six townships of land in what was +then called New Connecticut, in the Northwestern Territory. Three +of these townships were to lie east and three west of the Cuyahoga +river. The Connecticut Land Company drew their lands in the +same year, and the township now known as Harpersfield in Ashtabula<span class="pagenum" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</span> +County, was one of those which fell to the company formed at +the town of that name in New York.</p> + +<p>In September commissioners were sent out by them to explore +the country. They were much pleased with the locality called Harpersfield, +and selected it as the township most eligibly situated for +the commencement of a settlement. On the 7th of March, 1798, +Alexander Harper, William McFarland, and Ezra Gregory set out +with their families on their journey to this land of promise. As the +winter’s snow was upon the ground, they came in sleighs as far as +Rome, where they found further progress impracticable and were +obliged to take up their quarters until the 1st of May. They then +made another start in boats, and proceeded to Oswego, where they +found a vessel which conveyed them to Queenstown. Thence they +pursued their journey on the Canada side to Fort Erie, being obliged +to take this circuitous route on account of there being no roads west +of Genesee River, nor any inhabitants, except three families living +at Buffalo, while a garrison was stationed at Erie, in Pennsylvania. +At Fort Erie they found a small vessel which had been used for +transporting military stores to the troops stationed at the West, and +which was then ready to proceed up the lake with her usual lading +of stores. This vessel was the only one owned on the American +side, and the voyagers lost no time in securing passage in her for +themselves and their families as far as the peninsula opposite Erie. +As the boat, however, was small and already heavily laden, they +were able to take with them but a slender stock of provisions. +Having landed on the peninsula the party was obliged to stop for a +week until they could procure boats in which to coast up the lake, +at that time bordered by the primeval forest. After having spent +nearly four months in performing a journey which now occupies but +two or three days, they landed on the 28th of June at the mouth +of Cunningham’s Creek.</p> + +<p>The cattle belonging to the pioneers had been sent through the +wilderness, meeting them at the peninsula, whence they came up +along the lake shore to the mouth of the stream. Here the men +prepared sleds to transport the goods they had brought with them;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</span> +the whole party encamping that night on the beach. The next +morning, Col. Harper, who was the oldest of the emigrants, and was +then about fifty-five, set out on foot, accompanied by the women, +comprising Mrs. Harper and two of her daughters, twelve and fourteen +years of age, Mrs. Gregory and two daughters, Mrs. McFarland +the Colonel’s sister, and a girl whom she had brought up, named +Parthena Mingus. Their new home was about four miles distant, +and they followed up the boundary line of the township from the +lake, each carrying articles of provisions or table furniture. Mrs. +Harper carried a small copper tea-kettle, which she filled with water +on the way to the place of destination. Their course lay through a +forest unbroken except by the surveyor’s lines, and the men who +followed them were obliged to cut their way through for the passage +of the sleds. About three in the afternoon they came to the corner +of the township line, about half a mile north of the present +site of Unionville, Ohio, where they were glad to halt, as they saw +indications of a coming storm. The women busied themselves in +striking a fire, and putting the tea-kettle over, while Col. Harper cut +some forked poles and drove them in the ground, and then felled a +large chestnut tree, from which he stripped the bark, and helped +the women to stretch it across the poles so as to form a shelter, +which they had just time to gather under when the storm burst +upon them. It was not, however, of long continuance, and when +the rest of the men arrived, they enlarged and enclosed the lodge, +in which the whole company, consisting of twenty-five persons great +and small, were obliged to take up their quarters. Their tea-table +was then constructed in the same primitive fashion, and we may believe +that the first meal was partaken of with excellent appetite, +after the wanderings and labors of the day.</p> + +<p>The lodge thus prepared was the common dwelling for three +weeks, during which time some of the trees had been cut down, and +a space cleared for a garden. The fourth of July was celebrated in +the new Harpersfield by the planting of beans, corn and potatoes. +The next thing was to build log cabins for the accommodation of +the different families, and when this was done the company separated.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</span> +The location chosen by Col. Harper was where he first pitched +his tent, while his brother-in-law took a piece of land about half a +mile east of Unionville, near the spot now occupied by the Episcopal +Church, and Mr. Gregory put up his dwelling close to the river +where Clyde Furnace was afterwards built. The settlers suffered +from the sickness peculiar to a new country when the season came. +A hired man in Harper’s service was taken ill in August, and soon +after the Colonel himself was seized with the fever, of which he +died on the tenth of September. They had been able to procure +no medical aid, and a coffin was made by digging out the trunk of +a tree and hewing a slab for the lid. This melancholy event was a +peculiar and distressing affliction to the little band of pioneers, and +its effect on them would have been paralysing, but that the firmness +and energy exhibited by the widow, who now found her exertions +necessary to sustain the rest, restored the confidence and hope which +had nearly been extinguished by the loss of their leader. Although +the principal sufferer by the dispensation, she would not for a moment +listen favorably to the proposition made to abandon the enterprise. +When an invitation came from friends in Pennsylvania for +herself and daughters to spend the winter, both she and her eldest +daughter, Elizabeth, declined, knowing how necessary was their +presence to keep up the spirits of the little community, and that +their departure would discourage many who had intended coming +to join them in their forest home. The magnanimity of this resolution +can be appreciated only in view of the hardships they knew it +would be their lot to share.</p> + +<p>In the fall, another small vessel was built for use on the American +side of the lake, and two pioneers, one of whom was James Harper, +were sent to Canada to procure provisions for the winter. They +despatched four barrels of flour by this vessel, and waited some +weeks for the other, the captain of which had agreed to bring +provisions up the lake for them. Disappointed in this expectation, +and hearing nothing of the vessel, they were compelled to return +when the season was far advanced, without supplies; finding on +their way home the remains of the vessel, which had been wrecked<span class="pagenum" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</span> +near Erie. They found also that the vessel which had on board the +flour they had purchased had been driven into the basin, and was +too fast locked in the ice to proceed. They were obliged therefore +to remain till the ice became so strong that the flour could be removed +in sleds. They at length arrived at home just in time +to bring relief from absolute want to the settlers, who had lived six +weeks without any kind of breadstuffs, substituting salt beef and +turnips, the supply of which was just exhausted. Some grain had +been raised at Elk Creek, in Pennsylvania, but there were no mills +in that neighborhood, and the wheat afterwards procured there was +brought in hand-sleds on the ice to Harpersfield. The records of +the Historical Society state that the two sons of Mrs. Harper frequently +brought bags of grain packed on their backs. It was ground +in a hand-mill somewhat larger than a coffee-mill, which the pioneers +had brought with them. By keeping this constantly in operation +enough flour was obtained for daily use, mingled, of course, with the +bran from which they had no means of separating it, but having +a relish and sweetness which such necessity only could impart to the +coarsest food.</p> + +<p>There were no deer in the country at that time, but large droves +of elk, the flesh of which resembled coarse beef, were frequently +seen. The flesh of the bears was much more oily, and really very +palatable; racoons also were abundant and easily obtained, and +were much used by the settlers, although in after years of plenty +they lost all relish for “coon meat.” Hickory nuts were also +abundant that year, and were found a valuable article of food when +other provisions failed. It is worthy of notice, that in the severest +straits to which the settlers were reduced, the utmost harmony +and friendly feeling prevailed among them, and whatever game or +provisions chanced to be obtained by any one family was freely +shared with the other two.</p> + +<p>Towards spring the men were again sent for a supply of wheat, +but by that time the ice was growing tender, and the weather tended +towards thawing, so that they were detained on the way much longer +than they had expected, and on their arrival at home found the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</span> +families reduced to the last extremity, having been without provisions +for two days. In this time of distress, the fortitude and energy of +Mrs. Harper aided in supporting the rest; she was fruitful in expedients, +and for the last few days they had lived on the wild leeks +she had gathered from the woods and boiled for them. Their troubles +did not terminate with the severity of the winter. As soon as +the lake opened, the men set out for Canada in boats to procure +provisions, but found so much ice as they went down that they were +unable to reach Buffalo without much detention. In the meantime +new difficulties arose in the little settlement. The mill, on which all +depended, was broken beyond hope of repair, and there appeared +no way of grinding the wheat, which they could not pound so that +bread could be made of it, and which, when prepared by boiling, +proved unwholesome food. In this extremity some relief was afforded +by the arrival, at the mouth of Cunningham’s Creek, of Eliphalet +Austin, who came to make preparations for a settlement at Austinburgh, +and gave the pioneers what they needed for immediate use +from his supplies of provisions, thus preventing them from suffering +till the return of their messengers.</p> + +<p>Howe gives an anecdote of Mrs. John Austin, showing some of the +troubles of the settlers. “Hearing, on one occasion, a bear among +her hogs, she determined to defeat his purpose. First hurrying her +little children up a ladder into her chamber, for safety, in case she +was overcome by the animal, she seized a rifle, and rushing to the +spot saw the bear only a few rods distant, carrying off a hog into +the woods, while the prisoner sent forth deafening squeals, accompanied +by the rest of the sty in full chorus. Nothing daunted, she +rushed forward to the scene with her rifle ready cocked, on which +the monster let go his prize, raised himself upon his haunches and +faced her. Dropping upon her knees to obtain a steady aim, and +resting her rifle on the fence, within six feet of the bear, the intrepid +female pulled the trigger. Perhaps fortunately <i>for her</i>, the rifle +missed fire. Again and again she snapped her piece, but with the +same result. The bear, after keeping his position some time, dropped<span class="pagenum" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</span> +down on all fours, and leaving the hog behind, retreated to the +forest and resigned the field to the woman.”</p> + +<p>About this time an accident not uncommon in this forest life occurred +to Mrs. Harper. She went out one morning to find the cows, +which had strayed away, but not having yet learned to tell the +north side of a tree by the difference in the bark—a species of wood-craft +with which she afterwards became familiar—she lost herself, +and wandered all day along the banks of a stream that ran through +the depths of the forest. Her family, of course, became alarmed at +her lengthened absence and blew the horn repeatedly; but it was +not until the shades of night had fallen that she heard the signal, +when she managed to light upon the township line, and followed it +to the clearing. In the summer following, her sons were obliged to +watch closely the hogs they had brought from Canada, on account +of the bears, which were very numerous and destructive to stock. +The men being occupied in clearing and working the land, or procuring +provisions, various out-door employments were cheerfully +assumed by the women. One evening Mrs. Harper, with her eldest +daughter, went out to look up the hogs, taking the path leading to +the nearest neighbor’s house. Presently they were startled by seeing +a small bear’s cub cross the path just in advance of them; it +was followed by another, and the old bear composedly brought up +the rear, taking no notice of the females, who made their way home +with all speed. The pigs came to their quarters directly unharmed. +So frequent were encounters with wild beasts, that the men never +went beyond the clearing without fire-arms.</p> + +<p>In July, 1799, Major Joseph Harper, the Colonel’s brother, joined +the colony with his family, while a relative of the same name, with +some other families, made a settlement at Conneaut, “the Plymouth +of the Western Reserve,” some thirty miles down the lake. This +year wheat, corn, etc., were raised sufficient for the consumption; +but there was a scarcity of meat, the severity of the preceding winter +having killed several of their cattle, and many of the hogs being +devoured by the bears. The settlers were under the necessity, therefore, +of depending on wild game, and the ease with which they secured<span class="pagenum" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</span> +it in traps, or by the unerring aim of their rifles, with their iron +strength for the endurance of fatigue in ranging the forest, might +well entitle them to be called “mighty hunters.” But they were +heavily laden with daily cares and laborious duties, which even the +pleasures of the chase could not induce them to neglect; the clearing +of the land and the culture of grain and vegetables demanded +incessant attention, and the grinding of the grain was a matter +requiring the exercise of some ingenuity. Corn they soon contrived +to pound in mortars scooped in the top of oak stumps, with a +pounder attached to a spring-pole; but they were obliged to send +their wheat in boats down the lake as far as Walnut Creek, in Pennsylvania, +where a mill was erected this year. The families of the +new emigrants suffered considerably in the latter part of the summer +from sickness, and Mrs. Harper went down to the settlement +at Conneaut to offer assistance in attending to them. She remained +some weeks occupied in her ministrations of kindness, and was not +ready to return home till the last of November. Travelling in open +boats and on horseback were the only modes practicable among the +pioneers; the season was too far advanced for the first, and accompanied +by her relative, James Harper, our benevolent heroine started +on her homeward journey, the only road being along the lake shore. +Fording the streams at their mouth, they had ridden some fifteen +miles when they came to the mouth of Ashtabula Creek, across +which a sand-bar had formed during the summer, but had now +given way to the increased force of the waters flowing into the lake. +Harper was not aware of the depth of the stream, into which he +rode without hesitation, and presently found his horse swimming. +He called out to warn his companion, but she was too anxious to +reach home to heed his remonstrance, and followed him fearlessly. +Both reached the other side with some difficulty, Mrs. Harper wet +to the shoulders, and in this condition she rode the remainder of +the way, arriving at home before midnight.</p> + +<p>During the fall there were some accessions to the colony; Judge +Wheeler, who had married a daughter of Col. Harper, came in October +with his family, and Harper’s eldest son, who had been out<span class="pagenum" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</span> +the year before and returned. For a year and a half after the settlement +was commenced, they were not visited by Indians, though they +frequently heard their dogs, and learned afterwards that they had +not escaped the observation of their savage neighbors, who had +counted them and noticed all their occupations and new arrivals. +The winter of 1799-1800 was remarkable for the depth of snow upon +the ground. In consequence of this, game could not be procured, +and the Indians suffered severely. Some thirty of them, unable to +procure anything to satisfy the cravings of hunger, came to the +settlement to ask relief, and were treated with the most generous +hospitality. They remained six weeks, sheltered and fed by the +colonists, and when the snow was melted they found plenty of game +in the forest, which they showed their gratitude by sharing with +their white friends.</p> + +<p>In March, 1800, Daniel Bartholomew brought out his family +accompanied by that of Judge Griswold, whose destination was +Windsor. They came on the ice from Buffalo, arriving only the day +before the breaking up of the ice left the lake clear as far as the eye +could reach. In the winter preceding, the whole Western Reserve +had been erected into a county, which was called Trumbull, the part +of it comprising Ashtabula being then included in one township, and +called Richfield. In May there were still further accessions, in consequence +of which a scarcity was experienced of provisions raised the +previous year, and designed for the use of a much smaller number. +The settlers were again compelled to send, in June, to Canada in an +open boat, for fresh supplies. In August, an election was held for +the purpose of sending a delegation to a convention appointed to be +held at Chilicothe in the ensuing winter, for the purpose of taking +measures preparatory to the admission of Ohio as a State into the +Union. The winter of 1800-1801, passed without any remarkable +occurrence, the country being healthy and provisions abundant. In +the following June other families were added to the number of inhabitants, +and the summer was signalized by the erection of a horse-mill, +the first built in the country, and the only one for many miles round, +till others were built in Austinburgh. The sufferings of the settlers<span class="pagenum" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</span> +from scarcity of food and other privations were now over, the +advance of improvement developing the resources of the country +and the farmers were able to enlarge their cleared lands, and cultivate +the soil to better advantage. Their friends from the East continued +to join them, and Mrs. Harper had the satisfaction of seeing +her elder children settled around her. In 1802, a school was established +in the settlement; supposed to be the first on the Reserve. +The scholars came from the distance of two miles and a half, and as +the reputation of the institution extended, they were sent from +Windsor and Burton, twenty and thirty miles distant. The same +year regular meetings were established by the “Lovers of Good +Order,” and the year following saw numerous accessions.</p> + +<p>In about three years after the commencement of the settlement, +the Indians began to visit them periodically. They were chiefly +Ojibways, and belonged to Lake Superior in the summer, but came +down every fall in their bark canoes, and landing at the mouth of +the streams, carried their canoes on their heads across the portage +to Grand River, seven miles from the lake, where they took up their +quarters for the winter, returning west in the spring. They manifested +a friendly disposition towards the white men, and as the pioneers +gave them assistance in sickness and destitution, they endeavored +to show their gratitude by bringing them portions of such large +game as they killed. Many a choice piece of bear’s or elk’s meat, +carefully wrapped in a blanket, has Mrs. Harper received from her +savage friends. One day she saw a party of drunken Indians coming +towards her house when the men were absent; and she had +just time to conceal a small keg of liquor under the floor before they +came in, demanding whiskey. They were told they could not have +any, but insisting that they would, they commenced a search for it, +and finding a barrel of vinegar, asked if that would “make drunk +come,” as if so, they would take it. Finding it not the right sort of +stuff, they insisted, before leaving the house, on treating the women +from a calabash of muddy whiskey which they carried with them.</p> + +<p>During all the privations, trials and sufferings which Mrs. Harper +was compelled to undergo, she was never known to yield to despondency,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</span> +but with untiring energy exerted herself to encourage all +within the sphere of her influence, teaching them to bear up against +misfortune, and make the best of the home where their lot was cast. +Her own family knew not, until the hardships of pioneer life had +been overcome, how much she had endured—how many hours of +anxiety and sleepless nights she had passed in the days of darkness +and disaster. She found her reward in the affection and usefulness +of her children, several of whom filled important stations in their +adopted State. During the war of 1812, the country was exposed +to all the dangers of a frontier, liable, on every reverse of the American +arms, to be overrun by hostile Indians. In time of danger, +Mrs. Harper’s advice was always eagerly sought, as one whose experience +qualified her to decide on the best course in any emergency. +Her grand-daughter well remembers seeing her one day engaged at +the house of her son-in-law in showing a company of volunteers +how to make cartridges.</p> + +<p>Her life was prolonged to her eighty-fifth year, and she died on +the 11th of June, 1833, retaining unimpaired until her last illness +the characteristic strength of her remarkable mind.</p> + +<p class="gtb">******</p> + +<p>“In May, 1799, Joel and Sarah Thorp moved with an ox-team +from North Haven, Connecticut, to Millsford, in Ashtabula county, +and were the first settlers in that region. They soon had a small +clearing on and about an old beaver dam, which was very rich and +mellow. Towards the first of June, the family being short of provisions, +Mr. Thorp started off alone to procure some through the +wilderness, with no guide but a pocket compass, to the nearest +settlement, about twenty miles distant, in Pennsylvania. His family, +consisting of Mrs. Thorp and three children—the oldest child, Basil, +being but eight years of age—were before his return reduced to extremities +for the want of food. They were compelled to dig for and +in a measure subsist on roots, which yielded but little nourishment. +The children in vain asked food, promising to be satisfied with the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</span> +least possible portion. The boy Basil remembered to have seen +some kernels of corn in a crack of one of the logs of the cabin, and +passed hours in an unsuccessful search for them. Mrs. Thorp +emptied the straw out of her bed, and picked it over to obtain the +little wheat it contained, which she boiled and gave to her children. +Her husband, it seems, had taught her to shoot at a mark, in which +she acquired great skill. When all her means for procuring food +were exhausted, she saw, as she stood in her cabin door, a wild +turkey flying near. She took down her husband’s rifle, and on +looking for ammunition, was surprised to find only sufficient for a +small charge. Carefully cleaning the barrel, so as not to lose any +by its sticking to the sides as it went down, she set some apart for +priming and loaded the piece with the remainder, and started in +pursuit of the turkey, reflecting that on her success depended the +lives of herself and children. Under the excitement of her feelings +she came near defeating her object, by frightening the turkey, which +flew a short distance and again alighted in a potatoe patch. Upon +this, she returned to the house and waited until the fowl had begun +to wallow in the loose earth. On her second approach, she acted +with great caution and coolness, creeping slily on her hands and +knees from log to log, until she had gained the last obstruction between +herself and the desired object. It was now a trying moment, +and a crowd of emotions passed through her mind as she lifted the +rifle to a level with her eye. She fired; the result was fortunate; +the turkey was killed, and herself and family preserved from death +by her skill. Mrs. Thorp married three times. Her first husband +was killed in Canada in the war of 1812; her second was supposed +to have been murdered. Her last husband’s name was Gardiner. +She died in Orange, in Cuyahoga county, Nov. 1st, 1846.”<a id="FNanchor_29" href="#Footnote_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a></p> + +<p class="gtb">******</p> + +<p>The first surveying party of the Western Reserve landed at the +mouth of Conneaut Creek, on the 4th of July, 1796. One of the +company says—“We celebrated the day in the usual manner, so far +as our means enabled us, by drinking patriotic toasts of pure lake<span class="pagenum" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</span> +water from tin cups, and firing the usual number of salutes from +two or three fowling-pieces.”<a id="FNanchor_30" href="#Footnote_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a> The party numbered fifty two persons, +including two women, Mrs. Gunn and Mrs. Stiles. The next +day the laborers commenced building a house as the dwelling-place +of the families and storehouse of their provisions. In their exploration +the surveyors discovered a fine bee tree. “We encamped, cut +down the tree, and ate to our satisfaction, each man filling his canteen; +and the residue was put into the bags of flour. Except for two or +three days, while our honey lasted, we lived on bread alone. On +our arrival at the lake we took the beach, and went east to our +camp at Conneaut; and what was remarkable, on our way we fell +in with all three of the parties, who had each finished their lines and +joined ours. During our absence the house had been completed, +and Gen. Cleveland<a id="FNanchor_31" href="#Footnote_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> had assembled there a small tribe of Indians +residing a few miles up Conneaut Creek, had held a council with +them, made them some presents, and established a friendly intercourse. +The General had furnished himself with an Indian dress, +and being of swarthy complexion, afforded an excellent likeness of +an Indian chief, and was thereafter known in the party by the name +of Pagua, the name of the chief of the tribe referred to.”</p> + +<p>The first permanent settlement was not commenced till two years +afterwards. One of the early settlers, on his return from Erie, with +corn, along the ice on the lake shore, fell into an “ice hole” some +distance from the land, and after spending some time in vain efforts +to extricate his horse, took the meal, saddle and bridle upon his +shoulders, and made for the shore, with his clothes frozen stiff upon +him. On the beach he kindled a fire, and after partially drying +himself, proceeded on his journey. Some time after nightfall he +came to a stream on the west bank of which stood an empty cabin; +to reach this and spend the night was his desire, but with the +stream he was unacquainted. He built a large fire, and by the +light of it ventured to ford it with his load; fortunately the water<span class="pagenum" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</span> +was only about five feet deep, and after much danger and difficulty +he succeeded in reaching the cabin, where, by building a fire, and +running about to keep himself awake, he spent the night. The +next day at night he reached home, almost exhausted by his load +and want of food.</p> + +<p>In the year 1798, small settlements, few and far between, +sprinkled the Reserve, and a small illbuilt schooner constituted the +American fleet on Lake Erie. Subsequently the Indian title to that +part of the Reserve lying west of the Cuyahoga, was extinguished, +and the lands were brought into market. An apology for a grist-mill +had been erected near Cleveland, which had no competitor within +a hundred miles, and gave general satisfaction, as few had any +thing to grind. Five or six log cabins had been built in what was +called “the city of Cleveland.” Capt. Edward Paine made the first +sleigh-track through the wilderness from Cataraugus to Erie, accompanied +by his wife, her sister, and a female cousin, and encamped +two nights in the snow. In the fall, business obliged James Kingsbury, +the father of one of the families at Conneaut—the first, it is +said, that wintered on the Reserve—to go to Connecticut; and it was +the middle of November before he arrived at Buffalo on his return. +The snow had fallen to the depth of two and a half feet, and +the weather was extremely cold.</p> + +<p>“From this point Mr. Kingsbury must leave the habitation of the +white man, and make his way through a wilderness, one hundred and +thirty miles, with no road to guide him except for a part of that +distance the beach of the lake. He was sensible of the condition +in which he had left his family; that they had but a scanty supply +of provisions, and that his absence had already been longer than +was expected. These circumstances, with the setting in of a winter +so severe, filled his mind with the painful apprehension that +his family might be suffering starvation. Having provided himself +with such necessaries as he could procure, with which he loaded his +horse, he set forth on foot, and leading his horse, pursued the +beach of the lake. After a fatiguing march through the snow, he +reached the Indian settlement on the Cataraugus. As from this<span class="pagenum" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</span> +place, on account of the bold projecting bluffs, he could no longer +follow the beach, he procured an Indian, by the name of Seneca +Billy, to guide him through the trackless forest, and took his +course through the woods, leading his horse as before mentioned. +In this manner he toiled through the deep snow, camping each +night in the midst of it, for several days, when he reached Presqu’ +Isle. With much difficulty he was able at this place to procure a +bag of corn, for which he paid three dollars a bushel. Here he +dismissed his Indian guide, and again took to the lake, travelling +upon the ice. He had proceeded in this manner as far as the fire +spring, near the mouth of Elk Creek, when his horse broke through +the ice, and though he extricated him, he was so badly injured that +he was obliged to leave him; and taking the bag of corn upon his +own back, he reached his home, but not such a home as could +afford him consolation after his excessive toil and suffering. He +found a family perishing for want of food. His wife had given +birth to a child, not only without any of those comforts which in +such cases are usually deemed indispensable, but destitute of +even the coarsest food, herself and family being in nearly a famishing +state. The father soon after his arrival was doomed to see the +child expire of starvation.</p> + +<p>“The infant was, I believe, the first white child born on the +Reserve. Some three or four months afterwards, Mrs. Stiles, of +Cleveland, presented her husband with one more fortunate, not only +as to life, but the means of sustaining it; to wit—a donation of land +by the Company—at least so said rumor.</p> + +<p>“As the supply which Kingsbury had brought would last but a +short time, it became necessary that he should procure more. The +Connecticut Land Company had stored the provisions for the use of +their surveyors at Cleveland, and Kingsbury knew that of this some +barrels of salt beef still remained. Having lost his horse, as before +mentioned, and being destitute of any other, it was fortunate that +the severity of the season, which had contributed to the suffering of +his family by making the ice excellent, facilitated at this time the +means of supplying their wants. Taking advantage of this, he went<span class="pagenum" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</span> +to Cleveland, (seventy miles) and procuring one of the barrels of +beef, drew it home upon the ice on a hand-sled, in which he was +assisted by a man then at Cleveland. When they arrived they +found the first shanty erected by the Company, occupied by Capt. +Hodge and family.”</p> + +<p>The wife of Hon. John Walworth, one of the earliest settlers of +Lake County, shared with him all the toils and privations attendant +upon a settlement in the wilderness. An old pioneer writes of her, +“In our pioneer days she went hand in hand with her husband +in all that was kind, hospitable, and generous; and to her winning +and attractive manner, and her sprightliness and vivacity, we must +in part attribute the resort to their house of the polished and respectable +part of the community. Twice has that lady travelled from this +country to the furthest part of Connecticut and back, on horseback: +I mention this to show her resolution and perseverance.” Early in +1800, Mr. Walworth brought his family in a sleigh to Buffalo, where +they waited two weeks for a sleigh to come from Presqu’ Isle, then +proceeded on the ice till they came opposite Cataraugus Creek. +Leaving the sleighs and horses some fifty or sixty roods out, the +party went to the shore and encamped under some hemlock trees, +and partook of a repast seasoned with hilarity and good feeling. The +next afternoon all arrived in safety at Presqu’ Isle, whence Mr. Walworth +went back to Buffalo for his goods. Mr. Walworth’s nearest +neighbors east of his new purchase, were at Harpersfield, fifteen miles +distant. His family reached their new home April 7th, 1800, and lived +in a tent for two weeks, during which time the sun was not seen.<a id="FNanchor_32" href="#Footnote_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a></p> + +<p>On the 4th July, 1801, the first ball was given in Cleveland, at +Major Carter’s log cabin under the hill. The company consisted of +a dozen ladies and from fifteen to twenty gentlemen. The dancers +kept time to Major Jones’ violin, on the puncheon floor, and occasionally +refreshed themselves with a glass of sling, made of maple +sugar and whiskey; and never was the anniversary celebrated by +“a more joyful and harmonious company, than those who danced<span class="pagenum" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</span> +the scamperdown, double-shuffle, western swing, and half-moon” +in that unostentatious place of assemblage.</p> + +<p>The first school opened in the town was taught, in 1802, by Miss +Anna Spafford, also in a room of Major Carter’s cabin. This +“thorough pioneer” appears to have been foremost in every advance +of improvement. An incident in which his wife was concerned, +showing something of the spirit of the times, I take from the MSS. +referred to:—“In the summer of 1803, Mrs. Carter observed John +Orric and another Indian lad in her garden, breaking some small +fruit trees. Upon her reproving them, young Orric knocked her +down with his war-club and seriously injured her. The lads fled +immediately to the west side of the river to their fathers’ lodges. +Several days afterwards, Major Carter, who was on the watch, +observed these lads, with others, amusing themselves with playing +ball and swimming on the beach of the lake. He went there and +took the lads prisoner, secured them with ropes, and took them to +the Indian camp on the side hill, telling them he was going to hang +them. Not finding Orric’s father at the lodge, he released the other +lad, and directed him to go and tell him he had John a prisoner +and was going to hang him for striking his wife. The lad did the +errand faithfully, for the Major soon heard the Indian whoop of +alarm, followed speedily by the war-whoop from the different lodges +on the west side of the river. John’s father soon arrived, much +excited, and with all the savageness of his nature depicted in his +face, with his tomahawk uplifted ready for deadly revenge. He confronted +the Major, giving him one of those fierce, gleaming stares, so +significant in the Indian brave; but the eyes of the Major met his +and did not quail. The injured husband and the enraged father +stood and gazed long in silence, each glancing defiance at the other; +at length the eye of the savage turned from the calm, fearless look +of the white hunter, and he enquired the cause of his son’s capture. +Carter told him of John’s assault upon his wife, and his determination +to have him punished. By this time, traders and other Indians had +arrived and proposed to arrange the matter. John’s father sent him +with twenty dollars to give to Mrs. Carter, and ask her forgiveness<span class="pagenum" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</span> +for the injury he had done; the Major agreeing to nothing unless +Mrs. Carter was satisfied. Mrs. Carter indignantly refused the +proffered money, and ordered John out of the house; he returned +crestfallen to the council and reported the failure of his mission. By +this time Carter became much enraged, and notwithstanding he was +in the midst of over forty Indians, most of them well armed, it was +with great difficulty he could be prevailed upon not to kill John +upon the spot. After a long parley, however, he agreed that the +affair might rest for the present; but on this condition, that if John +was ever caught on the east side of the Cuyahoga River he should +certainly hang him.”</p> +<hr class="full"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="c17">XVI.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="c sp lsp">ELIZABETH TAPPEN.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap large">Elizabeth Harper</span> was the second daughter of Alexander and +Elizabeth Harper, and was born February 24th, 1784, in Harpersfield. +New York. She was in the fifteenth year of her age when +she accompanied her parents to Ohio, in 1798, and was the oldest +daughter who went with them, her elder sister having been married +some years and remaining in their old home.</p> + +<p>The labors and perils of commencing a settlement in an almost +unbroken wilderness, encountered by all who took part in this adventurous +enterprise, were shared without a murmur by the young +girl, to whom fell, of course, no small part of the work of the household +and the care of the younger children. The novelty of their +mode of living, and the wild forest scenery, with incessant occupation, +caused the time to pass speedily and pleasantly through the +first summer; but with the approach of a more rigorous season, their +hardships commenced, and the death of her beloved father brought +before the bereaved family the realities of their situation, far from +early friends, and isolated from the comforts of civilization. Elizabeth +suffered much at this time of gloom and distrust, with a longing +for home, and fears for the future; but the fortitude and resolution +with which Mrs. Harper sustained herself under the pressure of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</span> +calamity, had a due influence on the minds of her children, and the +feeling of discontent was soon subdued.</p> + +<p>During the absence of James, who went to Canada, as mentioned +in the preceding sketch, to procure provisions, another son, William, +broke his leg. The other boys were seven and nine years old, and +as they could do nothing of consequence, the work of providing +firewood for use in the house devolved entirely, for some four weeks, +upon Elizabeth and her younger sister, Mary. It was no easy task +to cut, split, and bring home all the fuel consumed, as the cabin was +very open and large fires were required.</p> + +<p>The prospects for the approaching winter were very dark, owing to +the scarcity of provision and the want of comfortable quarters; +and Mrs. Harper thought it best to send her younger daughter +to stay with some friends at a settlement in Pennsylvania. She +determined not to accept the invitation for herself, and Elizabeth +decided to stay with her mother. The winter proved one of unusual +severity, and the settlers suffered greatly from the want of +provisions after the wreck of the only vessel on the southern shore +of Lake Erie, their supplies having to be brought from Canada. +Twice the little community was reduced almost to the point of starvation, +having to relieve the cravings of hunger with strange substitutes +for wholesome food. On the last occasion, when the men sent +for supplies returned, they brought with them a small quantity of +coarse Indian meal boiled, which was called samp. Mrs. Harper +warmed a portion of this, and making some tea, called her family +to partake of the simple meal, then a luxury privation had taught +them to appreciate. Most of the children felt sick from absolute +want, and disinclined to touch the food, but after tasting it, they +were so eager for more that it required all the mother’s firmness to +restrain them from taking more than they could bear in so weakened +a state.</p> + +<p>It has been mentioned that a quantity of wheat raised in Pennsylvania, +was brought on hand-sleds a distance of fifty miles on the +ice to the settlement, and ground in a small mill belonging to one +of the families. It was Elizabeth’s work to grind that required for<span class="pagenum" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</span> +her family. She would take a peck of wheat and walk two miles +and a half to grind it, then carry home the meal and make it into +bread. The mill would grind no more than a bushel of grain in +a day when constantly in use, and three families were to be supplied. +The men being occupied in bringing the wheat and attending +to other necessary duties, the grinding was chiefly done by the +women.</p> + +<p>Many of the cattle belonging to the settlers died this winter, and +some of the oxen disappeared, supposed to have been killed and +carried off by the Indians. The disaster that caused so much inconvenience +the following season—the breaking of the little mill +which had been so useful, set them upon the invention of a substitute. +A hole was burned and scraped in the top of an oak stump, +large enough to hold a quantity of corn which was then pounded as +fine as possible with a pounder attached to a spring pole resembling +a well-sweep, the heavy end being fastened to the ground. This +contrivance was called a mortar. Their ovens were equally primitive. +As neither brick nor stone was to be had, a stump was hewn +perfectly flat on the top, and a slab hewn out and laid upon it. On +this the women spread a layer of clay, and placed upon it wood +heaped up in the form of an oven, covering the whole except a small +opening at one end, with a thick layer of clay. It stood a short +time to dry, and then the wood was set on fire and burned out. +The oven thus manufactured proved an excellent one for use, and +served as a model for all the ovens in the country for some years +afterwards.</p> + +<p>In the autumn of the second year of the settlement, Mrs. +Wheeler, Mrs. Harper’s eldest daughter, came with her husband +and family, and they took up their residence in a cabin they built +half a mile from that of the widow. They were joined by several +other families soon afterwards.</p> + +<p>Some anecdotes of their encounters with the wild beasts of the +forest are remembered in family tradition. One summer evening in +the third year, when William Harper was returning about dusk +from Judge Wheeler’s, his attention was arrested by the sight of a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</span> +bear just in the path before him, engaged in devouring a hog he had +just killed. William fired at the animal without apparent effect, +and was hastily reloading his gun, when the bear desisted from his +meal, and started in pursuit of the new enemy. Fortunately, a large +tree was near at hand, which the young man ran round, the bear +closely following and tearing off pieces of the bark in his fury. +William contrived, while dodging him, to load his gun, and fired +eleven times before the enraged animal fell to the ground; then, completely +exhausted by the efforts he had made to keep the foe at bay, +he hastened homeward, and met his brother, who alarmed by hearing +reports in such rapid succession, had come to look for him. On +going to the spot the next evening, they found the bear quite dead, +with ten of the eleven balls in his body, the tree being entirely stripped +of bark as high as he could reach.</p> + +<p>It was not long after this that Elizabeth, while staying with her +sister in the absence of her husband, was alarmed by an attack from +one of these ferocious animals. A crazy woman belonging to the settlement +had come to stay the night in the house. Late in the evening +they heard a noise among some fowls roosting upon the projecting +logs of the cabin, and going to the door they distinctly saw a +large bear standing on his hind legs, trying to reach the fowls, that +crowded together in their terror above the range of his paws. It +required all Elizabeth’s presence of mind and energy to prevent the +lunatic from rushing out; but by alarming her fears she persuaded +her to be quiet, and fastened the doors. A more severe encounter +took place some years afterwards, in the house of her brother. A +hungry bear broke into the yard and attempted to catch a goose +wandering on the premises. Mrs. Harper, the sister-in-law, hastily +called to her children to come in, and barred the door; but the +fierce creature had heard the sound of her voice, and bent on securing +his prey, sprang through the open window and attacked her. +Her clothes were much torn, and her arm badly scratched; but her +husband and a man who chanced to be with him coming to the +rescue, they beat off the bear with clubs, and killed him. The<span class="pagenum" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</span> +fright of Mrs. Harper had such an effect upon her that she suffered +in health for many years.</p> + +<p>When the school was established in 1802, the earliest on the +Reserve, Elizabeth Harper was employed to teach it. The following +winter Abraham Tappen was appointed to take charge of it, +and some of the scholars came from distant settlements. The +school was taught alternately by Tappen and Miss Harper during +the winter and summer, for some years. Religious meetings were +established about the same time.</p> + +<p>In 1806, Elizabeth was married to Abraham Tappen, then +engaged as a surveyor, and employed in equalizing the claims of +land-holders. His duties compelled him to be absent from home +during a great part of the time, and after they were settled, the +labor of superintending the clearing of a new farm devolved upon +the wife. The work was done, however, with an energy and cheerful +spirit worthy the daughter of such a mother; and a substantial +foundation was thus laid for future comfort and prosperity. For a +few years the youthful couple lived in a small log hut containing +but one room, in which it was necessary very frequently to entertain +company, as Tappen’s acquaintance and business associations +with land owners and land agents brought strangers continually to +his house, and the duties of hospitality were esteemed sacred in the +most primitive settlements. Mrs. Tappen was often obliged to +spread the floor with beds for the accommodation of her guests +and the abundance of her table, and the excellent quality of her +cooking, could be attested by many who from time to time were the +chance inmates of her cheerful home. At that early period an unaffected +kindness of feeling, poorly replaced in a more advanced state +of society by the conventionalities of good breeding, prevailed among +the settlers, and some families were sincerely attached to each other. +Good offices were interchanged between neighbors every day, and a +friendly intercourse maintained by frequent visits. These were often +paid from one to another, even when a journey of fifteen miles on +horseback, occupying a whole day, had to be performed. The +alarms and accidents to which a new settlement is liable, tended<span class="pagenum" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</span> +also to bind the emigrants together for mutual assistance and protection. +One of a number of similar incidents which occurred in +1811, caused much trouble to the Harper family. A son of Mrs. +Wheeler, nine years of age, had gone out alone to gather chestnuts. +The afternoon was sultry, and he was thinly clad, but it was not +long before a terrible storm of wind and rain came on, prostrating +acres of the forest, and swelling the streams in a little while to +torrents. Just before dark, Mrs. Tappen received a hasty summons +to go to her sister, whom she found half frantic with fears for the +missing boy. The alarm quickly spread, the neighbors assembled, +and people came from a distance of fifteen and twenty miles to aid +in the search, which was continued through the next day and the +following one, without success, till near the close of the third day, +when the child was found in so exhausted a state that in attempting +to rise he fell upon his face. His limbs were torn and filled with +porcupine’s quills.</p> + +<p>Not very long afterwards, another boy belonging to the settlement +was lost in the woods, and the members of his family, in the +search for him, called his name aloud repeatedly. It may not be +generally known that the panther, which at this time came frequently +near the dwellings of man, emits a cry resembling a human voice +in distress. The calling of the boy’s name was several times +answered, as his friends supposed, and after following the sound and +hallooing some time, they discovered that the voice was not human. +In a state of torturing anxiety and apprehension, they were obliged +to wait for day-light, when the boy made his appearance. He had +wandered in an opposite direction from the panther’s locality, and +had found shelter at a house, where he remained all night.</p> + +<p>The experience of Mrs. Tappen during her residence in the backwoods +was full of such incidents. But the forest around them +gradually receded before the axe of the enterprising emigrant, the +country became cleared and cultivated, and with the progress of +improvement the condition of the early settlers became more safe +and comfortable. Judge Tappen and Mrs. Tappen still reside on +the same farm which they first reduced to cultivation, about half a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</span> +mile from the spot where her father fixed his dwelling on his first +removal to the country. The little village of Unionville, in Lake +County, Ohio, has been built partly on Judge Tappen’s farm, and +partly on the land formerly owned by his wife, the county line running +through it.</p> +<hr class="full"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="c18">XVII.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="c sp lsp">REBECCA HEALD.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap large">It</span> was the lot of this matron to have the story of her life associated +with one of the most remarkable and melancholy events recorded +in the annals of border warfare. She was the wife of Capt. Heald, +commandant at Fort Dearborn, Chicago, and bore a part in the +scenes of the massacre that took place there on the 15th August, +1812. A brief notice of her will be an appropriate introduction to +an account of that memorable occurrence.</p> + +<p>Rebecca Wells was the daughter of Col. Wells of Kentucky. +Her uncle, with whom she resided in early life, was Capt. William +Wells. The story of this brave man, who forms so conspicuous a +figure in our frontier annals, was a singular romance. When a child +he was captured by the Miami Indians, and became the adopted +son of Little Turtle, the most eminent forest warrior and statesman +between Pontiac and Tecumseh, and the leader of the confederated +tribes. When old enough, the captive was compelled to do service, +and took a distinguished part in the defeats of Harmar and St. +Clair. It is said that his sagacity foresaw that the white men would +be roused by these reverses to put forth their superior power in such +a manner as to command success; and also that a desire to return +to his own people influenced him to abandon the savages. “His +mode of announcing this determination was in accordance with the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</span> +simple and sententious habits of forest life. He was traversing the +woods one morning with his adopted father, the Little Turtle, when +pointing to the heavens, he said, ‘When the sun reaches the meridian, +I leave you for the whites; and whenever you meet me in +battle, you must kill me, as I shall endeavor to kill you.’ The bonds +of affection and respect which had bound these two singular and +highly gifted men together were not severed or weakened by this +abrupt declaration.” Wells soon after joined the army of Gen. +Wayne, who had taken command of the troops after the resignation +of St. Clair, and by his knowledge of the forest, and of the Indian +haunts, habits, and modes of warfare, became an invaluable auxiliary +to the Americans. He commanded a very effective division of +spies, of whom were the best woodsmen on the frontier, served +faithfully and fought bravely through the campaign, and after +Wayne’s treaty at Greenville in 1795 had restored peace between +the Indians and the whites, rejoined his foster father, Little Turtle, +their friendship remaining uninterrupted till the death of the chief.</p> + +<p>Gen. Hunt mentions an incident which may show the sanguinary +spirit of the border warfare. Capt. Wells made an excursion with +Lieut. McClenan and eleven men into the enemy’s country, following +a trail of Indians for two days. They came in sight of them just as +they were about encamping for the night, and waited till it was +dark to make their attack. Wells, having then assumed the dress +of an Indian warrior, advanced with his men, who, on the first +alarm given by the savages, threw themselves on the ground, while +the Captain continued to approach. Supposing him a friend, the +Indians met and took him into their camp, he taking the precaution +to seat himself on the extreme right of the war-party, and within +view of McClenan. He then announced himself as from the British +fort Miami, and commenced giving the party, consisting of twenty-two +Indians and a squaw, the news from their British allies. The +squaw meanwhile placed over the fire a kettle full of hominy, and +as it began to boil, stirred it with a ladle, when the party of white +men, mistaking her motions for the concerted signal of attack, fired +upon the savages. The poor squaw received a shot, and fell across<span class="pagenum" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</span> +the fire; the Captain saw that his life depended on prompt action, +and grasping his tomahawk, commenced the work of slaughter, +while his men rushed into the midst. All the Indians were killed +except three, who made their escape. Both the Captain and Lieutenant +were wounded.</p> + +<p>In consideration of his services, Capt. Wells was appointed Indian +agent at Fort Wayne. At this post he continued until the war of +1812, soon after the outbreak of which he departed for the purpose +of escorting the troops from Chicago to Fort Wayne.</p> + +<p>The gentleman<a id="FNanchor_33" href="#Footnote_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> to whom I am indebted for much of the information +contained in this sketch, visited Capt. Wells at Fort Wayne +in 1809, and there formed an acquaintance with his niece. One +of his juvenile amusements was setting up a target for her to shoot +at with a rifle. She and Capt. Heald were accustomed to go out +with their rifles to shoot at the bunghole of a barrel at a distance of +one hundred yards, and from continual practice Miss Wells had become +extremely expert in that soldierlike exercise. The Captain +was at that time evidently a candidate for the favor of the fair +markswoman, and took great pleasure in instructing her in every +species of military accomplishment which she took a fancy to learn. +Shortly after this period they were married; and in 1812 Capt. +Heald was in command of the garrison at Chicago. This, it will +be remembered, was at that time a remote outpost of the American +frontier, scarcely to be called a settlement, as the only inhabitants +without the garrison were a few Canadians and the family of a gentleman +engaged in the fur trade, who had removed from St. Joseph’s +in 1804. He was a great favorite among the Indians, who called +him by a name signifying “the Silverman,” from the circumstance +of his furnishing them with rings, brooches, and other ornaments of +that metal. His influence with the tribes wherever his trading-posts +were dispersed, made him an object of suspicion to the British, and +being at length taken prisoner, he was detained in captivity till the +close of the war.</p> + +<p>The peninsula of Michigan was then a wilderness, peopled only<span class="pagenum" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</span> +by savages; and intercourse between the posts of Fort Wayne, +Detroit, and Chicago, was carried on by such hardy travellers as ventured +occasionally to encounter the perils and fatigues of the journey, +guided by a devious Indian trail, encamping at night beside a stream, +or seeking shelter in some hospitable wigwam, or even lodging +among the branches of the trees.<a id="FNanchor_34" href="#Footnote_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> The fort at Chicago was constructed +with two blockhouses on the southern side, and a sallyport +or subterranean passage from the parade-ground to the river, designed +either to facilitate an escape, or as a means of supplying the +garrison with water during a siege. The chief officers at this time, +besides Capt. Heald, were very young men; the command numbered +about seventy-five men, not all of whom were able to do +service. The garrison had maintained a constant and friendly intercourse +with the neighboring Indians, and as the principal chiefs of all +the bands in the vicinity seemed to be on the most amicable terms +with the Americans, no interruption of their harmony was anticipated.</p> + +<p>After the fatal event, however, many circumstances were recollected, +which should have opened their eyes. One instance may be +mentioned. In the spring previous, two Indians of the Calumet +band came to the post, on a visit to the commanding officer. As they +passed through the quarters, they saw Mrs. Heald and another lady +playing at battledore, and one of the savages said to the interpreter, +“The white chiefs’ wives are amusing themselves; it will not be +long before they are hoeing in our cornfields.” This speech, then +regarded as merely an idle threat, or an expression of jealous feeling +at the contrast with the situation of their own women, was remembered +mournfully some months afterwards.</p> + +<p>The first alarm was given on the evening of the 7th of April, +1812. Near the junction of Chicago river with Lake Michigan, +directly opposite the fort, from which it was separated by the river +and a few rods of sloping green turf, stood the dwelling-house and +trading establishment of Mr. Kinzie. This gentleman was at home,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</span> +playing the violin for the amusement of his children; they were +dancing merrily, awaiting the return of their mother, who had gone +a short distance up the river to visit a sick neighbor. Suddenly the +door was thrown open, and Mrs. Kinzie rushed in, pale with affright, +and hardly able to articulate—“The Indians! The Indians! They +are up at Lee’s place, killing and scalping!” This was a farm intersected +by the river, about four miles from its mouth. Mrs. Kinzie, +when she had breath enough to speak, informed her startled family +that while she had been “at Burns’, a man and boy were seen running +down on the opposite side of the river; and that they had +called across to Burns’ family to save themselves, for the Indians +were at Lee’s place, from which they had just made their escape.” +The fugitives were on their way to the fort.</p> + +<p>All was now consternation. The family were hurried into two +old pirogues moored near the house, and paddled across the river +to take refuge in the fort, where the man—a discharged soldier—and +boy had already told their story. In the afternoon, a party of +ten or twelve Indians, dressed and painted, had arrived at the house, +and according to the custom among savages, entered and seated themselves +without ceremony. Something in their appearance and manner +had excited the suspicions of one of the family—a Frenchman—who +observed, “I do not like the looks of these Indians; they are none of +our folks. I know by their dress and paint that they are not Pottowattamies.” +Upon this the soldier bade the boy follow him, and +walked leisurely towards the two canoes tied near the bank. Some +of the Indians asked where he was going; on which he pointed to +the cattle standing among the haystacks on the opposite bank and +made signs that they must go and fodder them; and that they +would return and get their supper. He got into one canoe and the +boy into the other. When they had gained the other side of the +narrow stream, they pulled some hay for the cattle, making a show +of collecting them, and when they had gradually made a circuit, so +that their movements were concealed by the haystacks, they took to +the woods near, and made for the fort. They had run about a +quarter of a mile, when they heard the discharge of two guns, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</span> +when they came opposite Burns’ they called to warn the family of +their danger and hastened on.</p> + +<p>A party of five or six soldiers, commanded by Ronan, was sent +from the fort to the rescue of Burns’ family: they went up the river +in a scow, took the mother with her infant scarcely a day old, on +her bed to the boat, and conveyed her with the rest to the fort.</p> + +<p>The same afternoon a corporal and six soldiers had gone up the +river to fish. Fearing that they might encounter the savages, the +commanding officer at the fort now ordered a cannon to be fired to +warn them of danger. Hearing the signal, they put out their torches +and dropped down the river in silence. It will be borne in mind +that the unsettled state of the country since the battle of Tippecanoe +the preceding November, caused every man to be on the alert, and +the slightest alarm was sufficient to ensure vigilance. When the +fishing party reached “Lee’s place,” it was proposed to stop and bid +the inmates be on their guard, as the signal from the fort indicated +danger. All was still around the house, but they groped their way, +and as the corporal leaped the fence into the small enclosure, he +placed his hand upon the dead body of a man, who he soon ascertained +had been scalped. The faithful dog stood guarding the lifeless +remains of his master. The soldiers retreated to their canoes, +and reached the fort about eleven o’clock. The next morning a +party of citizens and soldiers went to Lee’s and found two dead +bodies, which were buried near the fort. It was subsequently ascertained, +from traders in the Indian country, that the perpetrators of +this bloody deed were a party of Winnebagoes, who had come into +the neighborhood determined to kill every white man without the +walls of the fort. Hearing the report of the cannon, they set off on +their retreat to their homes on Rock river.</p> + +<p>The inhabitants of the place, consisting of a few discharged soldiers +and some families of half-breeds, now entrenched themselves in the +“agency house,” a log building standing a few rods from the fort. +It had piazzas in front and rear, which were planked up; portholes +were cut, and sentinels posted at night. The enemy was supposed +to be still lurking in the neighborhood, and an order was issued forbidding<span class="pagenum" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</span> +any soldier or citizen to leave the vicinity of the garrison +without a guard. One night a sergeant and private who were out +on patrol, came suddenly upon a party of Indians in the pasture +adjoining the esplanade, and fired upon them as they made good +their retreat. The next morning traces of blood were found, extending +some distance into the prairie. On another occasion the savages +entered the esplanade to steal the horses, and not finding them in +the stable, made themselves amends for their disappointment by +stabbing the sheep and then turning them loose. The poor animals +ran towards the fort; the alarm was given, and parties were sent +out, but the marauders escaped.</p> + +<p>These occurrences were enough to keep the inmates of the fort in +a state of apprehension, but they were no further disturbed for many +weeks. On the afternoon of August 7th, a Pottowattamie chief +arrived at the post, bearing despatches from Gen. Hull, at Detroit, +which announced the declaration of war between the United States +and Great Britain; also that the island of Mackinaw had fallen into +the hands of the British.</p> + +<p>The orders to the commanding officer, Capt. Heald, were “to +evacuate the post, if practicable, and in that event, to distribute all +the United States’ property contained in the fort and the United +States’ factory or agency, among the Indians in the neighborhood.” +After having delivered his despatches, the chief, Winnemeg, requested +a private interview with Mr. Kinzie, who had taken up his residence +within the garrison, stated that he was acquainted with the purport +of the communications, and earnestly advised that the post should +not be evacuated, since the garrison was well supplied with ammunition +and provision for six months. It would be better to remain +till a reinforcement could be sent to their assistance. In case, however, +Capt. Heald should decide upon leaving the fort, it should be +done immediately, as the Pottowattamies, through whose country +they must pass, were ignorant of the object of Winnemeg’s mission, +and a forced march might be made before the hostile Indians were +prepared to intercept them.</p> + +<p>Capt. Heald was immediately informed of this advice, and replied<span class="pagenum" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</span> +that it was his intention to evacuate the fort; but that, inasmuch +as he had received orders to distribute the United States’ property, +he would not leave till he had collected the Indians in the neighborhood +and made an equitable division among them. Winnemeg +then suggested the expediency of marching out and leaving all things +standing, for while the savages were dividing the spoils the troops +might possibly effect their retreat unmolested. This counsel, though +strongly seconded, was not approved by the commanding officer.</p> + +<p>The order for evacuating the post was read the next morning +upon parade, and in the course of the day, as no council was called, +the officers waited upon Capt. Heald, and urged him to relinquish +his design on account of the improbability that the command would +be permitted to pass in safety to Fort Wayne by the savages, whose +thirst for slaughter could hardly be controlled by the few individuals +who were supposed to have friendly feelings towards the Americans. +Their march must of necessity be slow, as a number of women and +children, with some invalid soldiers, would accompany the detachment. +Their advice, therefore, was to remain, and fortify themselves +as strongly as possible, in hopes that succor from the other side of +the peninsula would arrive before they could be attacked by the +British from Mackinaw. In reply to this remonstrance Capt. Heald +urged that he should be censured for remaining when there appeared +a prospect of a safe march, and that on the whole he deemed it +most expedient to assemble the Indians, distribute the property +among them, and then ask of them an escort to Fort Wayne, with +the promise of a considerable reward upon their safe arrival, adding +that he had full confidence in the friendly professions of the savages, +from whom, as well as from the soldiers, the capture of Mackinaw +had been kept a profound secret.</p> + +<p>The project was considered a mad one, and much and increasing +dissatisfaction prevailed among the officers and soldiers. The Indians +became every day more unruly. Entering the fort in defiance +of the sentinels, they often made their way without ceremony to the +quarters of the officers. On one occasion a savage took up a rifle, +and fired it in Mrs. Heald’s parlor. Some supposed this a signal<span class="pagenum" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</span> +for an attack, as there was vehement agitation among the old chiefs +and squaws; but the manifestation of hostile feeling was suppressed, +and the Captain continued to feel confidence in such an amicable disposition +among the Indians, as would ensure the safety of his troops +on their march to Fort Wayne.</p> + +<p>The inmates of the fort, meanwhile, suffered greatly from apprehension, +scarcely daring to yield to sleep at night, and a general +gloom and distress prevailed. The Indians being assembled from +the neighboring villages, a council was held with them on the 12th, +Capt. Heald alone attending on the part of the military, as his officers +refused to accompany him. Information had secretly been +brought to them that it was the intention of the young chiefs to fall +upon them and murder them while in council, but the Captain +could not be persuaded of the truth of this, and therefore left the +garrison, while the officers who remained took command of the +block-houses which overlooked the esplanade on which the council +was held, opened the port-holes, and pointed the cannon so as to +command the whole assembly.</p> + +<p>“In council, the commanding officer informed the Indians of his +intention to distribute among them, the next day, not only the goods +lodged in the United States’ Factory, but also the ammunition and +provisions with which the garrison was well supplied. He then +requested of the Pottowattamies an escort to Fort Wayne, promising +them a liberal reward upon their arrival there, in addition to the +presents they were now to receive. With many professions of +friendship and good-will the savages assented to all he proposed, and +promised all he required.</p> + +<p>“After the council, Mr. Kinzie, who understood well, not only the +Indian character, but the present tone of feeling among them, +waited upon Capt. Heald, in the hope of opening his eyes to the +present posture of affairs. He reminded him that since the trouble +with the Indians upon the Wabash and its vicinity, there had +appeared a settled plan of hostilities towards the whites; in consequence +of which, it had been the policy of the Americans to +withhold from them whatever would enable them to carry on their<span class="pagenum" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</span> +warfare upon the defenceless settlers on the frontier. Mr. Kinzie +recalled to Capt. Heald the fact that he had himself left home for +Detroit the preceding autumn, and receiving, when he had proceeded +as far as De Charme’s,<a id="FNanchor_35" href="#Footnote_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a> the intelligence of the battle of +Tippecanoe, he had immediately returned to Chicago, that he +might despatch orders to his traders to furnish no ammunition to +the Indians; all that they had on hand was therefore secreted, and +such of the traders as had not already started for their wintering-grounds, +took neither powder nor shot with their outfit.</p> + +<p>“Capt. Heald was struck with the impolicy of furnishing +the enemy, (for such they must now consider their old neighbors,) +with arms against himself, and determined to destroy all the ammunition, +excepting what should be necessary for the use of +his own troops. On the 13th, the goods, consisting of blankets, +broadcloths, calicos, paints, etc., were distributed, as stipulated. +The same evening, part of the ammunition and liquor was +carried into the sally-port, and thrown into a well, which had been +dug there to supply the garrison with water in case of emergency; +the remainder was transported as secretly as possible through the +northern gate, and the heads of the barrels were knocked in, +and the contents poured into the river. The same fate was shared +by a large quantity of alcohol which had been deposited in a warehouse +opposite the fort. The Indians suspected what was going on, +and crept as near the scene of action as possible, but a vigilant +watch was kept up, and no one was suffered to approach but those +engaged in the affair. All the muskets not necessary for the march +were broken up and thrown into the well, together with bags of shot, +flints, gun-screws, etc.</p> + +<p>“Some relief to the general despondency was afforded by +the arrival, on the 14th of August, of Capt. Wells, with fifteen +friendly Miamies. He had heard at Fort Wayne of the order for +evacuating Fort Dearborn, and knowing the hostile determination +of the Pottowattamies, had made a rapid march across the country +to prevent the exposure of his relative, Capt. Heald, and his troops<span class="pagenum" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</span> +to certain destruction. But he came too late. When he reached +the post, he found that the ammunition had been destroyed, +and the provisions given to the Indians. There was therefore +no alternative, and every preparation was made for the march of the +troops on the following morning.</p> + +<p>“On the afternoon of the same day, a second council was +held with the Indians. They expressed great indignation at the +destruction of the ammunition and liquor. Notwithstanding the +precautions that had been taken to preserve secrecy, the noise +of knocking in the heads of the barrels had too plainly betrayed +the operations of the preceding night; and so great was the +quantity of liquor thrown into the river, that the taste of the water, +the next morning, was, as one expressed it, ‘strong grog.’ Murmurs +and threats were everywhere heard among the savages, and it +was evident that the first moment of exposure would subject +the troops to some manifestation of their disappointment and +resentment.</p> + +<p>“Among the chiefs were several who, although they shared the +general hostile feeling of their tribe towards the Americans, yet +retained a personal regard for the troops at this post, and for +the few white citizens of the place. These exerted their utmost +influence to allay the revengeful feelings of the young men, and to +avert their sanguinary designs, but without effect. On the evening +succeeding the last council, <i>Black Partridge</i>, a conspicuous chief, +entered the quarters of the commanding officer. ‘Father,’ said he, +‘I come to deliver up to you the medal I wear. It was given me +by the Americans, and I have long worn it, in token of our mutual +friendship. But our young men are resolved to imbrue their hands +in the blood of the whites. I cannot restrain them, and I will not +wear a token of peace while I am compelled to act as an enemy.’ +Had further evidence been wanting, this circumstance would have +sufficiently proved to the devoted band the justice of their melancholy +anticipations. Nevertheless, they went steadily on with the +necessary preparations. Of the ammunition there had been reserved +but twenty-five rounds, besides one box of cartridges, contained in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</span> +the baggage-wagons. This must, under any circumstances of danger, +have proved an inadequate supply, but the prospect of a +fatiguing march forbade their embarrassing themselves with a larger +quantity.</p> + +<p>“The morning of the 15th arrived. All things were in readiness, +and nine o’clock was the hour named for starting. Mr. Kinzie +had volunteered to accompany the troops in their march, and had +entrusted his family to the care of some friendly Indians, who had +promised to convey them in a boat around the head of Lake Michigan, +to a point<a id="FNanchor_36" href="#Footnote_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a> on the St. Joseph’s river; there to be joined by +the troops, should the prosecution of their march be permitted them. +Early in the morning he received a message from a chief of the St. +Joseph’s band, informing him that mischief was intended by the +Pottowattamies who had promised to escort the detachment; and +urging him to relinquish his design of accompanying the troops by +land, promising that the boat which should contain himself and +family, should be permitted to pass in safety to St. Joseph’s. Mr. +Kinzie declined accepting this proposal, as he believed that his presence +might operate as a restraint on the fury of the savages, so +warmly were the greater part attached to himself and family. The +party in the boat consisted of Mrs. Kinzie and her four younger +children, a clerk, two servants, and the boatmen, besides the two +Indians who acted as their protectors. The boat started, but had +scarcely reached the mouth of the river, when another messenger +from the chief arrived to detain them.</p> + +<p>“In breathless expectation sat the wife and mother. She was a +woman of uncommon energy and strength of character, yet her +heart died within her as she folded her arms around her helpless +infants, and gazed upon the march of her husband and eldest son +to almost certain destruction.</p> + +<p>“As the troops left the fort the band struck up the dead march.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</span> +On they came in military array, Capt. Wells taking the lead, at the +head of his little band of Miamies—his face blackened, in token of +his impending fate,<a id="FNanchor_37" href="#Footnote_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a> and took their route along the lake shore. +When they reached the point where commences the range of sand +hill intervening between the prairie and the beach, the escort of +Pottowattamies, in number about five hundred, kept the level of the +prairie instead of continuing along the beach with the Americans +and Miamies. They had marched perhaps a mile and a half, when +Capt. Wells, who was somewhat in advance with his Miamies, came +riding furiously back.</p> + +<p>“‘They are about to attack us,’ shouted he, ‘form instantly, and +charge upon them.’</p> + +<p>“Scarcely were the words uttered when a volley was showered +from among the sand-hills. The troops were hastily brought into +line, and charged up the bank. One man, a veteran of seventy +years, fell as they ascended. The remainder of the scene is best +described in the words of an eye-witness and participator in the +tragedy—Mrs. Helm, the wife of Lieut. Helm, and step-daughter of +Mr. Kinzie.</p> + +<p>“‘After we had left the bank and gained the prairie, the action +became general. The Miamies fled at the outset. Their chief rode +up to the Pottowattamies, and said, ‘You have deceived the Americans +and us; you have done a bad action, and (brandishing his +tomahawk) I will be the first to head a party of Americans, and +return to punish your treachery;’ so saying, he galloped after his +companions, who were now scouring across the prairies.</p> + +<p>“‘The troops behaved most gallantly. They were but a handful, +but they resolved to sell their lives as dearly as possible. Our +horses pranced and bounded, and could hardly be restrained, as the +balls whistled among them. I drew off a little, and gazed upon my<span class="pagenum" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</span> +husband and father, who were yet unharmed. I felt that my hour +was come, and endeavored to forget those I loved, and prepare +myself for my approaching fate. While I was thus engaged, the +surgeon came up. He was badly wounded. His horse had been +shot under him, and he had received a ball in his leg. Every +muscle of his countenance was quivering with the agony of terror. +He said to me, ‘Do you think they will take our lives? I am badly +wounded, but I think not mortally. Perhaps we might purchase +our lives by promising them a large reward. Do you think there is +any chance?’</p> + +<p>“‘Doctor,’ said I, ‘do not let us waste the few moments that yet +remain to us, in such vain hopes. Our fate is inevitable. In a few +moments we must appear before the bar of God. Let us endeavor +to make what preparation is yet in our power.’ ‘Oh! I cannot die!’ +exclaimed he, ‘I am not fit to die—if I had but a short time to prepare—death +is awful!’ I pointed to Ensign Ronan, who, though +mortally wounded, and nearly down, was still fighting with desperation +upon one knee.</p> + +<p>“‘Look at that man,’ said I; ‘he at least dies like a soldier!’</p> + +<p>“‘Yes,’ replied the unfortunate man, with a convulsive gasp, ‘but +he has no terrors for the future—he is an unbeliever!’</p> + +<p>“‘At this moment, a young Indian raised his tomahawk at me. +By springing aside, I avoided the blow which was intended for my +skull, but which alighted on my shoulder. I seized him round the +neck, and while exerting my utmost efforts to get possession of his +scalping-knife, which hung in a scabbard over his breast, I was +dragged from his grasp by an older Indian, who bore me, struggling +and resisting, towards the lake. Notwithstanding the rapidity with +which I was hurried along, I recognised, as I passed them, the +lifeless remains of the unfortunate surgeon. Some murderous tomahawk +had stretched him upon the very spot where I had last seen +him.</p> + +<p>“‘I was immediately plunged into the water, and held there with +a forcible hand, notwithstanding my resistance. I soon perceived,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</span> +however, that the object of my captor was not to drown me, as he +held me firmly in such a position as to place my head above the +water. This reassured me, and regarding him attentively, I soon +recognised, in spite of the paint with which he was disguised, The +Black Partridge.</p> + +<p>“‘When the firing had somewhat subsided, my preserver bore +me from the water, and conducted me up the sand-banks. It was a +burning August morning, and walking through the sand in my +drenched condition, was inexpressibly painful and fatiguing. I +stooped and took off my shoes, to free them from the sand with +which they were nearly filled, when a squaw seized and carried them +off, and I was obliged to proceed without them. When we had +gained the prairie, I was met by my father, who told me that my +husband was safe, and but slightly wounded. They led me gently +back toward the Chicago river, along the southern bank of which +was the Pottowattamie encampment. At one time, I was placed +upon a horse without a saddle, but soon finding the motion insupportable, +I sprang off. Supported partly by my kind conductor, +and partly by another Indian, who held dangling in his hand the +scalp of Capt. Wells, I dragged my fainting steps to one of the +wigwams.’”</p> + +<p>At the commencement of the action Capt. Wells was riding by +the side of his niece. He said to her that he was satisfied there was +not the least chance for his life, and that they must part to meet no +more in this world, then started away to charge with the rest. It is +said that Mrs. Heald saw him fall from his horse, struck by several +rifle balls. Another account states that after the surrender, while +an Indian was cruelly butchering some white children, Capt. Wells +exclaimed, “then I will kill too,” and set off towards the Indian +camp near the fort, where their squaws and children had been left. +Several pursued him, firing as he galloped along. He laid himself +flat on the neck of his horse, loading and firing in that position, but +was at length severely wounded, and his horse killed. Two friendly +Indians who met him endeavored to save him from his enemies, and +supported him after disengaging him from his horse, but he received<span class="pagenum" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</span> +his death-blow from one of his pursuers, who stabbed him in the +back.</p> + +<p>The charging of the troops drove back the Indians a considerable +distance into the prairie, where the Captain ordered his men, diminished +by more than two thirds of their number, to halt, and after a +parley with the savages, agreed to surrender, stipulating that their +lives should be spared, and that they should be delivered at one of +the British posts, unless ransomed by traders in the Indian country. +It appeared afterwards that the savages did not consider the wounded +prisoners as included in the stipulation.</p> + +<p>The lady whose narrative has been quoted, says, after she was +taken to the wigwam, “the wife of a chief from the Illinois river was +standing near, and seeing my exhausted condition, she seized a kettle, +dipped up some water from a little stream that flowed near, threw +into it some maple sugar, and stirring it up with her hand, gave it +to me to drink. This act of kindness, in the midst of so many atrocities, +touched me most sensibly, but my attention was soon diverted +to other objects. An old squaw, infuriated by the loss of friends, +or excited by the sanguinary scenes around her, seemed possessed +by a demoniac ferocity. She seized a stable-fork, and assaulted one +miserable victim, who lay groaning and writhing in the agony of his +wounds, aggravated by the scorching beams of the sun. With a +delicacy of feeling scarcely to have been expected under such circumstances, +the chief stretched a mat across two poles, between me and +this dreadful scene. I was thus spared, in some degree, a view of +its horrors, although I could not entirely close my ears to the cries +of the sufferer. The following night five more of the wounded +prisoners were tomahawked.</p> + +<p>“The heroic resolution of one of the soldiers’ wives deserves to be +recorded. She had from the first expressed a determination never +to fall into the hands of the savages, believing that their prisoners +were always subjected to tortures worse than death. When, therefore, +a party came upon her, to make her prisoner, she fought with +desperation, refusing to surrender, although assured of safe treatment;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</span> +and literally suffered herself to be cut to pieces, rather than become +their captive.</p> + +<p>“The horse Mrs. Heald rode was a fine, spirited animal, and the +Indians were desirous to possess themselves of it unwounded. They +therefore aimed their shots so as to disable the rider, without injuring +her steed. This was at length accomplished, and her captor was +in the act of disengaging her hat from her head, in order to scalp +her, when young Chandonnai, a half-breed from St. Joseph’s, ran +up and offered for her ransom a mule he had just taken, adding the +promise of ten bottles of whiskey, so soon as he should reach his village. +The latter was a strong temptation. ‘But,’ said the Indian, +‘she is badly wounded—she will die—will you give me the whiskey +at all events?’ Chandonnai promised that he would, and the bargain +was concluded. Mrs. Heald was placed in the boat with Mrs. +Kinzie and her children, covered with a buffalo robe, and enjoined +silence as she valued her life. In this situation the heroic woman +remained, without uttering a sound that could betray her to the +savages, who were continually coming to the boat in search of +prisoners, but who always retired peaceably when told that it contained +only the family of <i>Shaw-ne-au-kee</i>. When the boat was at +length permitted to return to the mansion of Mr. Kinzie, and Mrs. +Heald was removed to the house for the purpose of dressing her +wounds, Mr. Kinzie applied to an old chief who stood by, and who, +like most of his tribe, possessed some skill in surgery, to extract a +ball from the arm of the sufferer. ‘No, father,’ replied he, ‘I cannot +do it—it makes me sick here!’ placing his hand upon his heart.</p> + +<p>“From the Pottowattamie encampment, the family of Mr. Kinzie +were conveyed across the river to their own mansion. There they +were closely guarded by their Indian friends, whose intention it was +to carry them to Detroit for security. The rest of the prisoners +remained at the wigwams of their captors. The following morning, +the work of plunder being completed, the Indians set fire to the +fort. A very equitable distribution of the finery appeared to have +been made, and shawls, ribbons, and feathers, were seen fluttering +about in all directions. The ludicrous appearance of one young<span class="pagenum" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</span> +fellow, who had arrayed himself in a muslin gown, and the bonnet +of the commanding officer’s lady, would under other circumstances +have afforded matter of amusement.</p> + +<p>“Black Partridge and Wau-ban-see, with three others of the +tribe, having established themselves in the porch of the building as +sentinels, to protect the family of Mr. Kinzie from any evil, all +remained tranquil for a short space after the conflagration. Very +soon, however, a party of Indians from the Wabash made their +appearance. These were the most hostile and implacable of all the +bands of the Pottowattamies. Being more remote, they had shared +less than some of their brethren in the kindness of Mr. Kinzie and +his family, and consequently their sentiments of regard for them +were less powerful. Runners had been sent to the villages, to +apprise them of the intended evacuation of the post, as well as the +plan of the Indians assembled, to attack the troops. Thirsting to +participate in such a scene, they hurried on, and great was their +mortification, on arriving at the river Aux Plaines, to meet with a +party of their friends, having their chief badly wounded, and to +learn that the battle was over, the spoils divided, and the scalps all +taken.</p> + +<p>“On arriving at Chicago, they blackened their faces, and proceeded +towards the residence of Mr. Kinzie. From his station on +the piazza, Black Partridge had watched their approach, and his +fears were particularly awakened for the safety of Mrs. Helm, who +had recently come to the post, and was personally unknown to the +more remote Indians. By his advice, she assumed the ordinary +dress of a Frenchwoman of the country, a short gown and petticoat, +with a blue cotton handkerchief wrapped around her head; and in +this disguise she was conducted by Black Partridge to the house of +Ouilmette, a Frenchman with a half-breed wife, who formed a part +of the establishment of Mr. Kinzie, and whose dwelling was close at +hand. It so happened that the Indians came first to this house in +their search for prisoners. As they approached, the inmates, fearful +that the fair complexion and general appearance of Mrs. Helm +might betray her for an American, raised the large feather bed and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</span> +placed her under the edge of it, upon the bedstead, with her face to +the wall. Mrs. Bisson, the sister of Ouilmette’s wife, then seated +herself with her sewing upon the front of the bed. It was a hot day +in August, and the feverish excitement of fear and agitation, +together with her position, which was nearly suffocating, were so +painful, that Mrs. Helm at length entreated to be released and given +up to the Indians. ‘I can but die,’ said she, ‘let them put an end +to my miseries at once.’ Mrs. Bisson replied, ‘Your death would +be the signal for the destruction of us all, for Black Partridge is +resolved, if one drop of the blood of your family is spilled, to take +the lives of all concerned in it, even his nearest friends, and if once +the work of murder commences, there will be no end of it, so long +as there remains one white person or half-breed in the country.’ +This expostulation nerved Mrs. Helm with fresh resolution. The +Indians entered, and she could occasionally see them from her hiding-place, +gliding about and inspecting every part of the room, +though without making any ostensible search, until, apparently +satisfied that there was no one concealed, they left the house. All +this time, Mrs. Bisson kept her seat upon the side of the bed, calmly +assorting and arranging the patchwork of the quilt on which she +was engaged, although she knew not but that the next moment she +might receive a tomahawk in her brain. Her self-command unquestionably +saved the lives of all present.</p> + +<p>“From Ouilmette’s the savages proceeded to the dwelling of Mr. +Kinzie. They entered the parlor, in which were assembled the +family, with their faithful protectors, and seated themselves upon the +floor in profound silence. Black Partridge perceived, from their +moody and revengeful looks, what was passing in their minds, but +dared not remonstrate with them. He only observed in a low tone +to Wau-ban-see, ‘We have endeavored to save our friends, but it +is in vain—nothing will save them now.’ At this moment a friendly +whoop was heard from a party of new comers, on the opposite bank +of the river. Black Partridge sprang to meet their leader, as the +canoes in which they had hastily embarked touched the bank, and +bade him make all speed to the house. Billy Caldwell, for it was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</span> +he, entered the parlor with a calm step, and without a trace of agitation +in his manner. He deliberately took off his accoutrements, +and placed them with his rifle behind the door; then saluted the +hostile savages.</p> + +<p>“‘How now, my friends! A good day to you. I was told +there were enemies here, but I am glad to find only friends. Why +have you blackened your faces? Is it that you are mourning for +the friends you have lost in the battle? (purposely misunderstanding +this token of evil designs) or is it that you are fasting? +If so, ask our friend here, and he will give you to eat. He is the +Indians’ friend, and never yet refused them what they had need of.’</p> + +<p>“Thus taken by surprise, the savages were ashamed to acknowledge +their bloody purpose; they therefore said modestly, that they +came to beg of their friend some white cotton, in which to wrap +their dead before interring them. This was given them, together +with some other presents, and they took their departure from the +premises.</p> + +<p>“Little remains to be told. On the third day after the battle, the +family of Mr. Kinzie, with the clerks of the establishment, were +put in a boat, under the care of François, a half-breed interpreter, +and conveyed to St. Joseph’s, where they remained until the following +November. They were then carried to Detroit, under the +escort of Chandonnai and a trusty Indian friend, and together with +their negro servants, delivered up as prisoners of war to the British +commanding officer. It had been a stipulation at the surrender of +Detroit by Gen. Hull, that the American inhabitants should retain +the liberty of remaining undisturbed in their own dwellings, and +accordingly this family was permitted a quiet residence among their +friends at that place. Mr. Kinzie was not allowed to leave St. +Joseph’s with his family, his Indian friends insisting upon his remaining +to endeavor to secure some remnant of his scattered property, +but anxiety for his family induced him to follow them in +January to Detroit, where he was received as a prisoner, and +paroled by Gen. Proctor.</p> + +<p>“Of the other prisoners, Capt. and Mrs. Heald had been sent<span class="pagenum" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</span> +across the Lake to St. Joseph’s the day after the battle. Capt. +Heald had received two wounds, and Mrs. Heald seven, the ball of +one of which was cut out of her arm with a pen-knife by Mr. +Kinzie, after the engagement.</p> + +<p>“Capt. Heald was taken prisoner by an Indian from the Kankakee, +who had a strong personal regard for him, and who, when he saw +the wounded and enfeebled state of Mrs. Heald, released his prisoner, +that he might accompany his wife to St. Joseph’s. To the latter +place they were accordingly carried by Chandonnai and his party. +In the meantime, the Indian who had so nobly released his captive, +returned to his village on the Kankakee, where he had the mortification +of finding that his conduct had excited great dissatisfaction +among his band. So great was the displeasure manifested that he +resolved to make a journey to St. Joseph’s and reclaim his prisoner. +News of his intention being brought to the chiefs under whose care +the prisoners were, they held a private council with Chandonnai and +the principal men of the village, the result of which was a determination +to send Capt. and Mrs. Heald to the island of Mackinaw, +and deliver them up to the British. They were accordingly put in +a bark canoe and paddled by the chief of the Pottowattamies, Robinson, +and his wife, a distance of three hundred miles along the +coast of Lake Michigan, and surrendered as prisoners of war to the +commanding officer at Mackinaw.</p> + +<p>“Lieut. Helm, who was likewise wounded, was carried by some +friendly Indians to their village, on the <i>Au Sable</i> and thence to St. +Louis, where he was liberated by the intervention of Thomas Forsyth, +a trader among them. Mrs. Helm accompanied her father’s +family to Detroit. In the engagement she received a slight wound +on the ancle, and had her horse shot under her.</p> + +<p>“The soldiers, with their wives and children, were dispersed among +the different villages of the Pottowattamies, upon the Illinois, Wabash, +Rock River, and Milwaukie, until the following spring, when +they were for the most part carried to Detroit, and ransomed. Some, +however, were detained in captivity another year, during which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</span> +period they experienced more kindness than was to have been expected +from an enemy in most cases so merciless.”</p> + +<p>Gen. Hunt adds, that some months after the massacre at Chicago, +he met Capt. and Mrs. Heald, walking in the street in Detroit. +They had just come from Mackinaw in a vessel, and were much +pleased to see their old friend. Mrs. Heald had recovered from her +wounds, and appeared to be as well as she had ever been. It is +probable that, after the termination of the war, her life was one of +quiet usefulness, like that of her sister pioneers; the occurrences in +which she had borne so prominent a part serving to relate as truth +more strange than fiction, to those whose fortunes had led them into +less stirring scenes.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap large">Mrs. Helm</span> was the daughter of Col. McKillip, a British officer +attached to one of the companies who in 1794 were engaged in sustaining +the Indian tribes in Northern Ohio against the government +of the United States. He lost his life at the fort at the Miami +Rapids, now Perrysburg. He had gone out at night to reconnoitre, +and returning in a stealthy manner, was mistaken for an enemy, +fired upon, and mortally wounded by his own sentinel. His widow +afterwards became the wife of John Kinzie, with whom, in 1803, +she removed to Chicago, then a mere trading post among the +Pottowattamies.</p> + +<p>At the age of eighteen, the daughter was married to Lieut. Lina +J. Helm, of Kentucky. Her death took place at Watersville, in +Michigan, in 1844, and was very sudden. She had just risen from +the tea-table—one of the company having read to her a newspaper +paragraph relating to Henry Clay; and she said, “I hope I shall +live to see that man President.” Scarcely were the words uttered, +than she fell backwards into the arms of an attendant and almost +instantly expired. Her interest in the great statesman is an evidence +of the patriotic feeling for which she was always remarkable. She +was generous, high-minded, and disinterested; possessing a calm +strength of nature, and was energetic and indefatigable in action. Her +piety was pure and ardent, yet wholly untinctured with fanaticism; +the faith and love by which the true Christian lifts his heart to God<span class="pagenum" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</span> +and with a sincerity and devotion rarely equalled, did she obey the +precept, “thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”</p> + +<p>Our wonder may well be excited at the heroism and the sufferings +borne with such sturdy fortitude, of the pioneer women whose lot +was cast in the midst of the troubles upon the frontier. Yet their +attachment to this wild, unsettled life was still more remarkable; +for as the country became settled, they would encourage their husbands +or sons to “sell out,” and remove still further into the +wilderness.</p> + +<p>During the time of the possession of Detroit by the British, after +the surrender of Gen. Hull, the frontier settlement suffered much +from Indian depredation. The capture of the family of Mr. Snow, +taken by the Ottawa Indians from their home on Cole Creek, +in Huron County, may illustrate the experience of many unfortunates +whose names tradition has not preserved. Mr. Snow +chanced to be absent, when his house was surrounded by a hostile +party, and his wife and nine children were made prisoners. The savages +immediately started on their return, and had gone about five +miles, travelling on foot, when it became evident that Mrs. Snow, +whose health was delicate, could not drag herself much further. A +brief council was held among the savages, and it was decided that +she must be killed. Two young men were appointed to put the +cruel sentence in execution, while the rest of the party moved forward; +the victim being ordered to keep her seat upon a log. Here +her lifeless body was found by her husband and the men in pursuit. +It is a somewhat curious circumstance, that one of the Indians who +killed the unfortunate woman, afterwards expressed his remorse for +the deed, and said he knew the Great Spirit was angry with him, +for that the ground had trembled when she screamed, and his right +arm had become completely withered by a rheumatic affection. +His death might have been deemed also a judgment for the crime; +in a fit of intoxication he fell into the fire and burned himself so +severely that he expired in a short time.</p> + +<p>“On a beautiful Sunday morning in Detroit,” continues my informant, +“I heard the scalp whoop of a war party coming up the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</span> +river. When they came near, I discovered that they were carrying +a woman’s scalp upon a pole, and that they had with them, +as prisoners, a family of nine children, from three years old up to +two girls full grown. These little captives had nothing on their +heads, and their clothes were torn into shreds by the brushwood and +the bushes in the way by which they had come. I went to meet +them, brought them into my house, gave them and their Indian +captors a meal, with a few loaves of bread for further use, and told +the children not to be frightened or uneasy, for that my brother +would buy them from the Indians when he should return from +Canada, whither he had gone to spend the Sabbath with his father-in-law. +The next day the prisoners came again, accompanied by +about five hundred Indians. My brother paid five hundred dollars +for their ransom, and sent them home. The girls informed me that +they had been treated by the Indians with kindness and respect. +Indeed, it may be recorded, to the praise of the Indian character, +and in extenuation of their cruelties, that an instance has not been +known of improper conduct towards a captive white woman. Their +apology for the murder of Mrs. Snow was, that they feared her +release might lead to their discovery by the whites in pursuit.”</p> + +<p>The Rev. J. M. Peck of Illinois mentions the name of Catharine +Lemen, as a pioneer who came to that region as early as 1786, with +her husband and two children. The family were exposed to Indian +depredations during the whole period of the border troubles; and +many instances are remembered in which she exhibited a heroic and +Christian spirit. She had ten children, four of whom became +ministers of the gospel. Mrs. Edwards, the wife of Governor +Edwards, is also mentioned as a matron distinguished for lofty and +heroic traits of character. She sustained her husband through his +public life, having the entire management of his large estate and its +settlement after his death.</p> +<hr class="full"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="c19">XVIII.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="c sp lsp">ABIGAIL SNELLING.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap large">Thomas Hunt</span>, the father of the subject of the present memoir +was a Revolutionary officer, and a native of Watertown, Massachusetts. +He entered the American army as a volunteer, and was soon +commissioned in the regular service; was in the expedition against +Ticonderoga commanded by Ethan Allen, and one of the party who +made themselves masters of Crown Point. He was with Gen. +Wayne at Stoney Point, among the volunteers of the “forlorn +hope,” and was there wounded in the ankle. In 1794, he joined +the army under Wayne against the Indians, and served out the +campaign, returning then to his family residence at Watertown. +In 1798, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel of +the first regiment of infantry, and ordered to Fort Wayne, where +he remained until the death of Col. Hamtramck at Detroit, when he +became Colonel, and took the command of that post, remained +there some time, and afterwards went to Mackinaw.</p> + +<p>Our heroine was but six weeks old when the family left Watertown, +and was carried on a pillow in such a vehicle as was then +used for stages, over very rough roads, for many miles only rendered +passable by logs placed side by side, forming what are +termed corduroy roads. The severity of the exercise, as may be +remembered by those who have travelled over such roads in a new<span class="pagenum" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</span> +country, always caused an outcry on approaching them, from man, +woman, and child, with petitions to get out and walk; frequently +at the risk of being bitten by rattlesnakes which were often concealed +between the logs. When they arrived at Mackinaw, they +went to the Government House, which they were to occupy. The +English commander had left it with the furniture, even the window +curtains suspended from the windows, and there was an air of comfort +in and about the house. The Fort stood on the height, the +town was small, the streets were very narrow, the houses built in +the old French style, and the town was enclosed with pickets, with +a gate at each end.</p> + +<p>One of the little girl’s earliest recollections was visiting in the +family of a Scotch gentleman, Dr. Mitchell, who had married an +Indian wife. She dressed herself in silks and satins when at home, +but resumed her native dress when among the Chippewas, her own +people. She would sometimes be absent many months, purchasing +furs to send to Montreal, for her agent there to sell; and in this way +she amassed a large fortune for her husband. At one time, after +she had been absent more than six months, it was reported that she +had been killed by some rival trader. She heard on her way +home that such news had been received, and when her flotilla appeared +in sight, threw herself on the bottom of her birch canoe. +Her husband, with spy-glass in hand, was on the beach, eagerly +looking to see if indeed his wife was not there, and was about turning +away with a heavy heart, when she leaped from her bark exclaiming, +“Not dead yet!” Her two daughters were sent to Montreal +to be educated, and returned home highly accomplished and +very beautiful women. One of them afterwards married an officer.</p> + +<p>Abigail was about seven years old when her parents left Mackinaw +to return to Detroit, on their way to St. Louis. The troops +had left Detroit but a short time when the town was burned to ashes, +in 1805. The little party reached Fort Wayne, where they rested +for a week, at which time Col. Hunt’s eldest daughter, not quite +fifteen, was married to the surgeon of the post, Dr. Edwards. She +was left behind when the family resumed their journey, and they<span class="pagenum" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</span> +proceeded in a flat-bottomed boat, called an “ark,” which could +only be used in descending with the current. Col. Hunt had one +of these boats partitioned off into rooms, making a parlor, bed-rooms, +and kitchen; bedsteads were put up, and each apartment +arranged in the same order as in a house. This was a slow mode +of travelling, but extremely comfortable, and little apprehension was +felt at that time of the Indians, although they frequently surrounded +the boat, begging for bread and some of their “father’s milk” +(whiskey). At Vincennes, the voyagers were hospitably received at +the house of Gen. W. H. Harrison, but their stay was short, and +they proceeded to St. Louis. Gen. Wilkinson was there at that +time, and ordered Col. Hunt to take command of the garrison at +the mouth of the Missouri, eighteen miles above St. Louis. This +was about the time of Burr’s conspiracy, and a court martial was +immediately held to try a Major Bruff, who was suspected of being +one of his adherents. He was acquitted. Then arrived at the garrison +Lewis and Clark, from their exploring expedition; and the +peculiar appearance of their dress, made of deerskins, the outer +garment fringed and worked with porcupine quills, something between +a military undress frock coat and Indian shirt, with their +leggins and moccasins, three-cornered cocked hats and long beards, +caused no small wonder among the younger members of the family.</p> + +<p>Gen. Pike was at this time a captain in Col. Hunt’s regiment, +and was selected by the government to explore the Upper Mississippi. +He left his wife and little daughter under the protection of +Col. Hunt, on his departure in the following year. His absence was +prolonged nearly two years, during which time his friend was removed +from this world. Col. Hunt died after a protracted illness, +in 1809. The dispensation was a heart-breaking one to the devoted +wife. She did not, could not, shed a tear, but would sigh continually, +and sometimes exclaim, “Oh! that I could weep—what a +relief it would be!” Ere long she was unable to swallow solid +food, and even liquids without difficulty. Some friends thought +visiting the grave would have the effect of making her weep, but it +threw her into spasms, after which no further effort was made, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</span> +she gradually sank, until she died in six months after the death of +her husband.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Hunt’s eldest son, twenty-two years of age, was then just +established in business as a merchant in Detroit. When he heard +of his father’s death, he prepared immediately to meet the family +at St. Louis, and on the journey tidings reached him that his +mother also was no more. This double bereavement, with the +responsibility of a large family depending upon his care, was too +heavy a burden for his anxious mind. He became ill of a fever, +which reduced him so much, that on arriving at St. Louis he could +scarcely reach the house of a friend where the family were awaiting +his arrival. For the first time in her life, his little sister felt a +dreary sense of desolation—a knowledge that she was homeless, +and an orphan. No tender mother now called her child to her in +the evening to say her prayers; no longer were the children assembled +together on the Sabbath afternoon to be instructed from the +Bible and catechism. This feeling of loneliness added to the poignancy +of grief for her departed parents; the first of the sorrows by +which that young, gentle, loving heart was to be tried—the first +experience of the universal lot of humanity. The young mourner +was led, in that time of suffering, to turn to the Bible for consolation, +and was consoled in the promise there found, “I will be a father to +the fatherless.”</p> + +<p>As soon as her brother had recovered his strength, the family +commenced their journey, their destination being Waltham, Massachusetts, +where their maternal grandfather, Mr. Samuel Wellington, +resided. When they reached Vincennes, they were again received +into the family of Gen. Harrison, and stayed two weeks to recruit. +The mode of conveyance at that time was in an open barge, with +an awning stretched over it. The crew were soldiers for a part of +the way, afterwards Frenchmen, “voyageurs,” as they were called. +Tents were pitched every night, and the evening was spent in preparing +food for the following day. The party was often supplied +with game by the Indians, who frequently spread their blankets +around their fires to sleep for the night; yet though the savages<span class="pagenum" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</span> +were friendly, the children could not divest themselves of fear +which often drove away sleep at night, to be made up by sleeping +all the next day in the boat. The next stopping place was Fort +Wayne, where the eldest sister, Mrs. Edwards, had been left six +years before. The meeting was an affecting one. The travellers +did not remain long, as Mr. Hunt’s business demanded his presence +in Detroit. One of the brothers, John E. Hunt, was left with Dr. +Edwards, and the youngest but one of the sisters (now married to +Mr. Wendell, of Detroit); and as soon as Mr. Hunt had arranged +his business, the rest resumed their journey, another brother, +Thomas, being left in Detroit in his brother’s store as clerk. Afterwards, +in 1812, he was commissioned in the army as captain.</p> + +<p>After a tedious journey of months, the travellers arrived at +their grand-father’s in Waltham. Abby was sent to a boarding +school in Salem, under the charge of Mrs. Cranch, and there +remained until some time in 1811. Col. Henry J. Hunt of Detroit, +who was then married to Miss Ann Mackintosh of Moy, Canada, +then came, in company with his wife, to take his sister, and she returned +with them to Detroit.</p> + +<p>The following year, war was declared with Great Britain. The +first intimation had of it in Detroit was seeing the ferryboat hauled +up, and the ferryman taken prisoner and sent to Malden. +This caused a dreadful sensation in the town, especially in the house +of Col. Hunt, his wife being deprived of the privilege of communication +with her father’s family, and plunged into deep distress on that +account. There were many other families in the same situation; +and brothers seemed arrayed against each other. The only Protestant +church near enough to be attended every Sunday, was at Sandwich, +nearly opposite Detroit, and the Hunt family had always +crossed the river on Saturday, spending Sunday at Mr. Mackintosh’s +in order to attend the Episcopal service. It was the first Protestant +church Miss Hunt had ever attended, and she was there baptised and +received the communion. The privation of such privileges was +deeply felt by her.</p> + +<p>Before long, intelligence was brought of the approach and the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</span> +arrival of Gen. Hull’s army at the Maumee on the 30th of June. +The troops had collected at Dayton to the number of about two +thousand drafted men and volunteers from Ohio; the regular force +comprising about three hundred soldiers. They had cut their way +through the wilderness and endured many hardships. The 4th +regiment, commanded by Col. James Miller, had acquired a good +reputation in the battle of Tippecanoe under Gen. Harrison on the +6th of November, 1811. None of the officers had distinguished +themselves more than Capt. Snelling. He was one of the gallant +band that made a successful charge, and drove the enemy into the +swamp, putting an end to the conflict. An incident of this battle +gave occasion for the exercise of his benevolence. At dawn of day +a lad fourteen years old, was seen bending over the lifeless body +of his father, which lay weltering in blood, and proved to be that of +Capt. Spencer of the militia. The lad had been seen fighting by +his father’s side during the engagement, and even after his death, +at one moment weeping for his parent, the next loading his rifle and +firing upon the enemy. Capt. Snelling was much interested in the +boy, took charge of him, and afterwards petitioned for a cadet’s +warrant, which he received, and sent him to West Point. From +that institution he graduated at the termination of four years with +honor, and while there sent every month half his pay to his widowed +mother, then in Kentucky. He received a commission in the army +and many years afterwards died, having the rank of major.</p> + +<p>Before leaving the Maumee, Gen. Hull sent a vessel to Detroit, +in which were placed his sick and most of his goods, sending with it +his instructions and army roll. The British at Malden having information +of the declaration of war, captured the vessel and unsuspecting +crew, and from them received the first intelligence of the +war. Capt. Gooding, of the 4th regiment, and his wife were on +board. She related afterwards an exploit of her’s while at Malden, +which showed the tenderness of female nature combined with manly +perseverance and courage. The prisoners were confined below deck, +and very much crowded, as it was a small vessel; the weather was +very warm, they were fed with salt meat, without sugar, tea or<span class="pagenum" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</span> +coffee, and many fell sick. When Mrs. Gooding was told by the +Captain of their situation, she set her wits to work to contrive how +to relieve them. She knew they were soon to be sent in the same +vessel to Montreal, and no time was to be lost. She obtained leave +from one in authority to visit a family up the river with whom she +had formerly been acquainted, and walked on a mile or more alone, +without exactly knowing what she was about to do, when she observed +a large house on a farm which seemed blessed with abundance. +She entered, introduced herself to the lady of the house, and +told her, in a very pathetic narrative, who she was, the situation of +the sick prisoners, and her desire to awaken sympathy in the hearts +of those who had it in their power to relieve them. The lady hesitated +a moment and then said, “What can I do in this matter? If +I listen to the dictates of my own heart, I could easily fill you +a basket with coffee, tea and sugar, rice, etc., but I dare not send +it.” “Listen to the dictates of that heart,” cried Mrs. Gooding, “I +myself will carry the basket, and if you have fresh meat for soup I +can conceal it in the bushes until I can convey it to the vessel.” +The lady immediately had a lamb killed; Mrs. Gooding herself hid +it; managed to carry the basket on board that afternoon, and in +the evening, before nine o’clock, the four quarters of lamb.</p> + +<p>Gen. Hull arrived with his army at Detroit early in July. Dr. +Edwards joined the army at Dayton, as Major of one of the regiments, +and had John E. Hunt with him, so that amidst the din of +war their young sister was rejoiced to see them again. In a few +days Capt. Snelling was introduced to Miss Hunt, as one of the +heroes of Tippecanoe, by Maj. Edwards; and soon after the young +officer asked the brother’s permission to address her. In due time +they were engaged.</p> + +<p>On the 12th July, Gen. Hull crossed the river to Sandwich, and +established his forces there, with a view to the attack on Malden. +Many of the officers urged him immediately to storm that place, +which was twelve miles below his encampment, and then very weakly +garrisoned, as was made known to the officers by deserters who +came thence after they heard Gen. Hull had crossed. Captain<span class="pagenum" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</span> +Snelling said, “Give me permission, and with my company and +those who will volunteer, I will make the attempt.” Colonels Cass +and Miller, by an attack on the advanced party, on La Riviere Canard, +showed that the men were able and willing to push their conquest +if the chance were given; but they were suddenly recalled, +and the enterprize was abandoned. On the 7th of August Gen. +Hull returned to Detroit, much to the disappointment of the whole +army, who now had lost all confidence in him, since he had lost, by +refusing to listen to his eager officers, the opportunity of obtaining +possession of the key to the Canadian provinces, when it might have +been taken with scarce the firing of a gun.</p> + +<p>Col. Proctor soon after arrived at Malden, attempted to cut off +supplies from Ohio, and succeeded in stopping some stores on their +way to Detroit, at the river Raisin, thirty-six miles distant, defeating +Van Horn, who had been sent by Gen. Hull to escort them. On +receiving this intelligence, Gen. Hull sent three hundred regulars, +the 4th Regiment and two hundred militia, under the command of +Col. James Miller, to open the communication. The British had +thrown up a breastwork four miles from Brownstown, at a place +called Monguagon, behind which a great number of the Indians under +Tecumseh lay concealed. On the 9th of August, while on its march, +the detachment drew near the ambuscade. The advanced guard, +commanded by Capt. Snelling, was considerably in advance of the +main body when suddenly the attack was made on him. His party +sustained themselves until Gen. Miller, with the utmost speed and +coolness, drew up his men, opened a brisk fire and then charged. +The British regulars gave way, but the Indians under Tecumseh +betaking themselves to the woods on each side, did much execution. +The British again rallied, and were again repulsed; and Majors Muir +and Tecumseh both being wounded, were compelled to yield, retiring +slowly before the bayonets to Brownstown. They would all have +been taken prisoners had they not had boats in readiness to cross +the river. During the engagement a mounted officer delayed charging +as he was ordered; Capt. Snelling directed him to dismount, +and himself sprung upon the horse. The officer being a tall man,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</span> +he found the stirrups much too long, but there was no time to be +lost; he therefore clung to the horse with his knees, and in this +ludicrous predicament performed the duty which belonged to another. +His brother officers often laughed at the recollection of his appearance +at that time.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile his friends in Detroit hearing the roar of the cannon +knew there was fighting. Thomas Hunt was then a volunteer, and +the feelings of the young girl, whose brother and betrothed lover +were in danger, may be imagined. Young Hunt had rode a white +horse, which returned and stood at the stable door, the saddle pulled +away and covered with blood; and the conclusion was inevitable +that he had fallen from his horse, either killed or wounded. As +cart after cart came in with the wounded, Miss Hunt heard it whispered, +“It must be Capt. Snelling,” and on enquiry was informed +that an officer answering the description of him had been mortally +wounded. In the agony of her feelings she was about rushing by all +to the cart when she was forcibly detained, and some one went to ascertain +if it indeed was so; but soon returned with a bright countenance, +saying, “it is not Snelling, it is Peters, and he is only slightly +wounded.” On further inquiry she learned that Mr. Hunt was safe, +having given up his horse for the use of a wounded man who had +fainted and fallen off. The next day the absentees returned. In +this engagement Capt. Snelling had his hat knocked off by a ball, +and the hilt of his sword grazed. At one time he observed an +Indian from behind a tree very near him raise his rifle to shoot him; +he sprang forward, knocked the gun from his grasp, and plunged +the point of his sword through his neck, when he fell lifeless. The +Captain supposed from the situation of the Indian that he had been +previously wounded.</p> + +<p>On the 13th of August, Miss Hunt, then only fifteen years old, +was married to Capt. Snelling by the Chaplain of Gen. Hull’s army. +General Hull and several other officers were present, with a few +ladies. The ceremony had been performed but a few moments +when the drum beat to arms; and Capt. Snelling instantly started +up to go in search of his sword. All rushed to the door except<span class="pagenum" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</span> +Gen. Hull, who laying his hand on the young officer’s shoulder as +he was about leaving the house, said, “Snelling, you need not go, I +will excuse you.” “By no means,” was the reply, “I feel more like +doing my duty now than ever.” “Stay, it is a false alarm by my +order,” said the General.</p> + +<p>About this time, Gen. Brock reached Malden with reinforcements, +and immediately planted batteries opposite the fort of Detroit. +From Col. Hunt’s house the family could distinctly see the men at +work, by the aid of a spy glass. Then were seen two British officers +with a white flag of truce, crossing at the ferry; they were met at +the wharf and blindfolded, and were conducted to the first house, +which happened to be that of Col. Hunt. The youthful bride saw +them enter the parlor with Gen. Hull, his aid, who was his son, and +some others; and the door was locked. They demanded, in the +name of Gen. Brock, a surrender, stating that he should otherwise +be unable to restrain the fury of the savages, but were answered by +a spirited refusal. The British officers returned to the boat in the +same manner, and presently the firing commenced from their batteries, +and continued without much effect until the next morning.</p> + +<p>About this time Michilimackinac was captured, and Lieut. Hanks, +who commanded, was sent on parole to Detroit; his wife being with +him. His command consisted of but fifty men, the enemy numbered +over one thousand, including Indians; and Lieut. Hanks had received +no information of the declaration of war! Being on parole, he was of +course bound to remain neutral, and it happened that he was in a +room with some others, when a shell from the enemy passed into +the room, scattering death and destruction. Mrs. Hanks was with +the other ladies in an adjoining room, where all were employed in +making flannel bags to put powder in for the cannon. When they +heard the report and the groans, all rushed to the door, for it was +but a narrow entry that divided the two rooms. Mrs. Hanks was +in advance, when the door was opened by one of the wounded, and +Lieut. Hanks was seen with his bowels torn open and dreadfully disfigured. +A blanket was immediately thrown over him by one who +came in. Three others had been badly wounded and two killed by<span class="pagenum" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</span> +that single bomb-shell. Mrs. Hanks saw at a glance the condition +of her husband, and that there was no hope of life, and for a time +she was bereft of reason.</p> + +<p>It having been reported by some Frenchmen, that the British +were preparing to cross the river opposite Spring Wells, Capt. Snelling +was sent to watch their movements and report. He left +Detroit about nine o’clock in the evening, with a detachment of men, +and returning next morning before daylight, he reported to the +General that from appearances, they would cross the river at that +point, three miles from Detroit, that morning. The alarm of Gen. +Hull now became extreme, and his appearance that morning was +pitiable. The balls were flying very fast over the fort, and several +men were killed; the chimney of the room in which the ladies were +at work, was struck and fell with some of the roof into the apartment. +The ladies were then advised to go into an empty bomb-proof +magazine for safety, and took Mrs. Hanks with them, she being +quite frantic. In passing the parade ground several shells burst over +them, but they escaped injury, and reaching the magazine found it +filled with women and children from the town; some fainting, and +some in convulsions with fear. The picture of woe was complete +when Mrs. Hanks was placed among the sufferers. Presently, Mrs. +Snelling heard herself called by name, and going to the door, found +it was her husband. He said, “My dear wife, I know not what +moment I may be shot down; I have come to say farewell, and ask +you to make me a promise, that in case I fall you will <i>never marry +an Englishman</i>.” His weeping bride assented without being able +to speak, and they parted.</p> + +<p>While the British were crossing the river, Gen. Hull was entreated +by the officers to prevent their landing, which they insisted could be +done; at least, they might sink every other boat; but he would not +allow a gun to be fired. The field officers, suspecting he intended +to surrender, determined on his arrest; this, however, was prevented, +in consequence of the absence of Colonels Cass and McArthur, who +had been detached with four hundred men on a third expedition to +the river Raisin. Had they been present, there is no doubt the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</span> +project would have been carried into effect. On that morning Gen, +Miller was very ill of chill and fever.</p> + +<p>The morning of the 16th (three days after the marriage of our fair +friend) the British landed at Spring Wells, and marched up in solid +column along the river bank. The American troops now eagerly +waited for orders; they were strongly fortified, and cannon loaded +with grape stood on a commanding eminence, ready to sweep the +advancing columns. At this crisis, what was their mortification and +disappointment, when orders were given them to retire within the +fort! When there, Capt. Snelling saw Gen. Hull’s aid trying to +plant a white flag: “Snelling,” said he, “come and help me fix this +flag.” “No, sir; I will not soil my hands with that flag,” was the +indignant answer.</p> + +<p>Gen Hull, panic-stricken, surrendered the fortress without even +stipulating the terms; even Colonels Cass and McArthur’s detachment +was included. Language cannot adequately describe or express +the emotions that filled the hearts of those brave soldiers, as +they stacked their arms to be conveyed away by the British soldiers. +Mrs. Snelling now returned to her brother’s house, and for the first +time saw Tecumseh. He was a noble looking warrior, on horseback +at the head of his band of Indians, who had fired off their guns +before they were permitted to enter the town; they passed by the +door in good order, being evidently under restraint; but how long +would it last! It was felt to be a relief when Capt. Snelling informed +his wife the vessels were in sight in which all the prisoners +were to embark. Col. H. I. Hunt was permitted to remain on +parole, Detroit being his home, and John E. Hunt stayed with him; +but Thomas, afterwards a captain in the army, and the brother-in-law, +Maj. Edwards, accompanied the prisoners. They were put on +board the Queen Charlotte, where they found Gen. Hull and staff, +with several other officers and their wives. They were very much +crowded, the state-rooms being occupied by the General and his staff, +while the rest made pallets on the cabin floor. It may be supposed +that no one slept much that night. Gen. Hull’s conduct was freely +discussed within his hearing; and bitter, bitter indeed, were the feelings<span class="pagenum" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</span> +expressed against him. The next day, much to the satisfaction +of Mrs. Snelling, her party, with others, was put on board the vessel +commanded by Captain Mackintosh, at his request. He gave her +up his own stateroom, and handed her the key of the box that contained +his preserves and other niceties. He told the prisoners that +if the army had marched to Malden at the time they crossed the +river, that post would have been taken without the cost of a life.</p> + +<p>When they arrived at Erie, the British guards took charge of +the captive troops, and each American captain was placed at the +head of his company, surrounded by a British guard, and marched +to Fort George, eighteen miles, where vessels were in readiness to +proceed to Kingston. Gen. Hull and his staff were placed in carriages. +Mackintosh promised Capt. Snelling he would place his +young wife in the hands of a friend, who would see that she had +a conveyance to join him at Fort George. He did so, but was +obliged to return to his vessel; however, Mr. Warren promised to +send her the same afternoon. Soon after she was joined by the +wife of Capt. Fuller, of the 4th regiment. When Capt. Snelling +then bade a brief adieu to his wife, “You may have need of money,” +said he, and gave her a half eagle.</p> + +<p>With much impatience the ladies waited for Mr. Warren to +make his appearance with a carriage. When tea was ready he +came, but said all the carriages in the place were gone, and he could +furnish nothing better than a lumber wagon. They eagerly exclaimed, +“That will do, let us have it!” “But you must not go +on to-night, it is too late,” he persisted; “the roads are filled with +straggling Indians; it will not do—it would be rashness to venture. +I will have everything ready by daylight to-morrow morning.” The +ladies remonstrated against delay. “They have all gone; the +troops will embark, and sail without us, and we shall be left behind.” +“Oh, no!” replied Warren; “unless the wind changes +they cannot leave.”</p> + +<p>His involuntary guests passed a sleepless night in his house. +They were up two hours before daylight, and endeavored in various +ways to rouse their host, but in vain. Day dawned; they<span class="pagenum" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</span> +opened the window, to see if the wind had changed; it blew from +the same direction, and they were more calm. When the sun rose, +they went to Mr. Warren immediately, and begged the fulfilment +of his promise. He went out, and expecting him back every +moment, they got their luggage ready in the hall, every moment +seeming an age. At length, a negro man drove up to the door +about nine o’clock, in a large lumber wagon; their hearts sank +within them, for they had supposed that Mr. Warren would accompany +them. The man came into the hall, and asked, “Is this the +luggage? Heavy load!—take all day to get there!” “And is not +Mr. Warren going with us “No, marm; cannot go; told me to +go.” Thus the wedding tour of our fair bride promised to be an +adventurous one! Their fears were divided between the negro +man and the Indians who were straggling on the roads. They had +a great deal of baggage, and were completely in the power of the +driver. Mrs. Snelling said to him imploringly, “If you will make +haste, and take us safely through, I will give you this gold piece, +and our husbands, who are both Captains in the American army, +will pay you well besides.” The man answered that he would do +his best.</p> + +<p>When he stopped to water the horses at a tavern, there were a +number of Indians about the house, and the ladies begged the +driver not to let them know they were prisoners. They remained +in the wagon while he went for water, watching him narrowly +however, and not suffering him to delay a moment. When he resumed +his seat, they breathed more freely. At noon some crackers +and cheese were purchased, and they prevailed upon the driver to +be satisfied with it for his dinner. Often they met three or four +Indians, who sometimes stopped the driver to talk to him, and +were inquisitive to know who the women were, what was in the +trunks, &c., &c. During such times, although the prisoners trembled +in every nerve, they appeared in a very merry mood, signifying +to them and the driver that they were in a hurry. He cracked +his whip, and as they went on, leaving the Indians behind, they set +up a frightful yell, enough to chill the blood with fear.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</span></p> + +<p>As they drew near Fort George, they became still more anxious, +for as nearly as they could judge the wind had changed, or was +changing. It was late in the afternoon, and still they had some +distance to go. Within a few miles of the fort, they met a foot +traveller from there, who told them all the vessels had gone except +one. In that one Capt. Snelling and Capt. Fuller were +pacing the deck, sometimes looking with eagerness towards the +shore, then beseeching the Captain of the sloop, who was a kind-hearted +man, to delay only a little longer, notwithstanding orders +had been sent him to proceed. Just as the words, “I can wait no +longer, I must obey orders,” passed his lips, handkerchiefs were +seen waving from the shore; a boat was sent, and the travellers +were soon in their husbands’ arms. Even the rough but kind-hearted +sailor witnessing the scene, wiped his eyes; and as the good +Captain approached, the tears rolled down his cheeks. It was a +joyous, though a tearful meeting.</p> + +<p>The next thought was for the baggage. Where was it? It had +been left in the lumber wagon, for no one had bestowed a +thought upon it, and the vessel was already miles from shore. The +negro probably carried it home as a prize, for the owners never +heard of it again, though for some time they entertained a hope +that the trunks would be forwarded to them. The Captain seemed +to take quite an interest in Mrs. Snelling, having learned she was a +bride of but two weeks, and so young; and his kind feeling was +manifested by giving up to her his own stateroom, and sometimes +sending nice things from his table to her. Such kindness, at +such a time, was sensibly felt and appreciated. Capt. Snelling told +his wife he had a little difficulty while on the march with one of +the British officers who was with the guard. It was a very warm +day, and almost choked with dust and thirst, he stepped on the +grass, a very short distance from where he was marching, when the +officer rudely pushed him back. Pale with rage, “Sir,” said Snelling, +“had I my sword by my side, you would not thus dare to lay +hands upon me. I trust the day may come when I shall be able to +show you how a gentleman ought to behave under similar circumstances.”<span class="pagenum" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</span> +It was not a little singular that this same officer was afterwards +taken prisoner by the Americans, and fell into the hands of +Capt. Snelling, to be conducted to Fort Erie. He was a married +man, and expected to have been detained a long time from his +family. But his generous foe, then Inspector-General, used his influence +to effect his exchange. They parted with expressions of +sincere friendship.</p> + +<p>The stay of the prisoners at Kingston was only sufficiently long to +remove them from the vessels to the large barges or batteaux which +were in readiness for the descent of the St. Lawrence. The lot of +our party fell again to the same boat in which were Gen. Hull and +staff. The journey was without much incident. At night they +stopped at some small village, where lodging in bed-rooms could not +be had for all who applied; and several times the high-spirited +Capt. Snelling would rebel and give expression to his feelings, +when a room for which he had spoken, would be given to a British +officer.</p> + +<p>On arriving at St. John’s, four or five miles from Montreal, +the prisoners were ordered to be arranged by companies, with +their officers, and marched under guard to the city. Gen. Hull +and staff, with an escort of British officers, went in carriages; the +officers’ ladies two and two in gigs, and then the troops in the +rear, with a guard on each side, completed the procession. When +they reached the city, a full band of music went in advance of Gen. +Hull’s carriage, and began to play Yankee Doodle. The General +having said in his proclamation “I will go through Montreal with +Yankee Doodle,” they were determined to make good his promise.</p> + +<p>It was evening, and the streets were illuminated, every window in +every house being filled with lights, and when the procession came +opposite Nelson’s Monument, there were cheers given, and a cry +“hats off!” An attempt was made to compel all to the act of +reverence, by knocking off the prisoners’ hats or caps. A militia +officer tried it with Capt. Snelling, “At your peril. Sir, touch me;” +was the quick warning, and before he could do anything rash, a +regular officer rode up and rebuked the militia officer. At this<span class="pagenum" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</span> +moment a lady made her way through the crowd and guard +towards the prisoners, and fell, overcome by emotion. She was +lifted up, and the Captain recognized Mrs. Gooding. His party +was conducted to a hotel, where they met Capt. Gooding also.</p> + +<p>During the evening, after they had taken possession of their room, +a tap was heard at the door, and a servant brought in a tray, on +which were glasses and a decanter of wine, placed it on the table, +and said—“Capt. F—— will be here to see you, Capt. Snelling.” +He entered soon after, and Capt. Snelling saw in him the gentleman +who had insisted on knocking off his cap; he came to apologize +for his conduct, and requested permission to drink a glass of +wine with him. In a few days the married officers were paroled, +and left Montreal on their way to Boston. Here Captain and Mrs. +Snelling remained until he was exchanged, at which time he was +ordered to Plattsburg to join Gen. Hampton’s army. The admirable +wife, who had shared his dangers, remained in Boston. The +separation lasted some months, when unexpectedly the Captain +made his appearance, informing Mrs. Snelling that he was going to +Washington city, having an extremely unpleasant duty to perform, +that of taking a man into custody that very night while in bed, one +of a party who supplied the enemy with provisions, and must be +taken to Washington. He left his wife about twelve o’clock at +night, saying he should have assistance, and she must not be +uneasy, for that if he succeeded in securing the man, he would stop +in the carriage and let her know of his safety. In two hours he +returned, told her they had succeeded, and that the prisoner was in +irons in the carriage, with a guard. “I pity his poor wife,” added +he, “I wish you to take a carriage to-morrow, drive to No. ——, +Water Street, ask for the lady of the house, and say to her that her +husband will be in Washington, for a few days, and then return to +her in safety.” In two weeks Capt. Snelling came back; the man +had turned States’ evidence against others, and had been dismissed.</p> + +<p>About this time Mrs. Snelling’s eldest child was born—she being +only sixteen year’s of age. Her little daughter Mary beguiled many +an anxious hour of separation from her father; that father being in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</span> +constant peril. He passed through many dangers while in Plattsburg +and its vicinity, and rose rapidly in rank, Generals Izard and +Macomb being in command. Mrs. Snelling joined him there. Before +long Gen. Izard’s division was ordered to Fort Erie, and Capt. +Snelling belonged to that division. His wife remained in Burlington, +on the other side of Lake Champlain, and was there when +Commodore McDonough gained his victory, hearing distinctly the +roar of the artillery, and relieved beyond measure when the news +came of the victory. It was shouted from mouth to mouth, and +from door to door, “Victory! Victory!”</p> + +<p>The details of the siege of Fort Erie may be found in historical +works. At this time Snelling was in the staff of Gen. Izard, and +was Inspector-general, with the rank of Colonel. Gen. Brown commanded +at Fort Erie. When the troops went into winter quarters +at Buffalo, Mrs. Snelling again joined him at Buffalo with her little +daughter. She had travelled forty-one miles on horse-back, over the +very same corduroy roads she had been carried over eighteen years +before. Her brother, Capt. Hunt, met her at Batavia and carried +little Mary on a pillow before him; she had been very ill, and the +journey restored her to health.</p> + +<p>After peace was proclaimed. Col. Snelling and his family, accompanied +by his wife’s brother, left Buffalo to visit friends in Detroit. +They embarked in a small vessel with a favorable wind, but the next +day there were indications of a storm; the wind veered round and they +beat about the lake several days. When the storm began to rage +with fury, there were no safe harbors near, and they made but little +progress—and were out of provisions and fuel. A few potatoes were +found, but no fire to cook them. Mrs. Snelling was very sea-sick, +and did not require food, but her little Mary lay by her side gnawing +a raw potatoe. The storm still increased, but the captain of the +vessel hoped to reach Cleveland with the side wind, and at daylight +the third day they found themselves opposite that place, though +they dared not approach the wharf. Guns of distress were fired +but with little hope, for men could not be found to risk their own lives +to save them. The captain then announced that his anchor dragged<span class="pagenum" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</span> +and he feared would not hold the vessel. Soon were seen preparations +to man a boat; it pushed off from shore and approached the +shoals; then was the greatest danger; it passed over and reached +the vessel. Capt. Hunt came to his sister and said, “Abby, what +will you do; remain here in so much peril, or go in the boat, where +there is perhaps greater?” She replied, “I will go.” She was +taken upon deck; the waves were terrific; the boat would now rise +on the summit of a huge billow, now plunge into a deep abyss, and +it seemed impossible that the lady and her child could be placed in +the boat. But in spite of peril, she hardly knew how, she was +seated in the boat with her child and her brother, and after a few +minutes gained courage to look back towards the vessel, of which +she could only see the top of the mast. At the moment they +reached the shoals, a huge wave broke over them and half filled the +boat. Some of the men bailed while others plied the oars with renewed +energy. When they touched land Mrs. Snelling was taken +fainting from the boat and conveyed to an inn; and it was several +days before she recovered from the terrors of that storm.</p> + +<p>Great was the joy that prevailed in the heart of every wife at the +return of peace. In the following spring, Snelling under the peace +organization, was Lieut. Colonel of the 6th infantry, and ordered to +Governor’s Island, Col. Atkinson commanding. He remained there +with his family over a year, when the regiment was ordered to +Plattsburg, where they had resided about four years when an order +cams for St. Louis, <i>en route</i> for the Upper Mississippi or Missouri! +Mrs. Snelling had then three children, and her youngest sister and +one of her brothers, a graduate from West Point—Lieut. Wellington +Hunt, then a married man—were with her family.</p> + +<p>The troops went up to the barracks at Bellefountain, where she +visited the graves of her parents, finding them in good order with +the exception of the railing which enclosed the mounds. Her +youngest child, fifteen months old, was then very ill; he had been +named Thomas, after his grandfather. He died and was buried beside +his brave ancestor. During the winter of their stay there, the sister,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</span> +Eliza M. Hunt, was married to Mr. Soulard, a French gentleman +of great worth.</p> + +<p>In the following summer, Snelling was promoted Colonel of the +5th regiment, and ordered up the Mississippi, to relieve Lieut. Colonel +Leavenworth, who was also promoted to another regiment. He +had conducted the 5th regiment from Detroit to within eight miles +of the Falls of St. Anthony. The journey was exceedingly tedious +and disagreeable, in a keel boat laboriously propelled by men with +long poles, placed against their shoulders, along a gangway on each +side of the boat. The weather was very warm and the musquitoes +numerous day and night. The cabin was very low, confined, and +uncomfortable. It was three weeks or more before they arrived at +Prairie du Chien, during which time very little sound sleep was +obtained by the young mother, from fear of the Indians, the Sac and +Fox, the most savage looking and ferocious she had ever seen. +They seemed to be very fond of dress, and their faces were painted +of all colors; the hair cut close to within an inch of the top of the +head, and that decorated with a variety of ribbons and feathers, and +often a small looking-glass suspended from the neck. Many of +them were certainly great beaux, but they looked hideous, and +were terrific objects to a timid woman.</p> + +<p>When the voyagers arrived at Prairie du Chien, they found Gov. +Cass and his party; he held councils with the Indians, for the purpose +of bringing about a peace between the Sac and Fox tribes, Chippewas +and Sioux. Our friends were detained there several weeks by +a court-martial, of which Col. Snelling was President. They had +still three hundred miles to go before they reached the encampment +of the 5th regiment, and there were several Indian villages on the +route. The magnificent scenery of this river has been often described. +Lake Pepin is a beautiful expansion about twenty-four miles in length, +and from two to four broad. At length they arrived safe through +many fatigues to the end of their journey, and received a hearty +welcome from friends they had never seen before, and from Capt. +Gooding and his wife, whom they were again delighted to meet.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</span> +Their daughter had been married a few days previous to the Adjutant +of the regiment.</p> + +<p>Great solicitude was felt to have a temporary garrison erected +with such defences as could be then made, before the long and +severe winter set in. The traders brought news that the Indians +were very insolent, and it was said a white man had been killed on +the St. Peter’s river. A council was called and the murderers were +demanded, hostages being taken from the council until they were +delivered. They were confined in the guard room, and narrowly +watched. All felt that the little community was exposed and almost +at the mercy of an enemy, and great exertions were made to complete +the temporary barracks for the winter with blockhouses and +other defences. Indians meanwhile were collecting in great numbers, +and would sometimes show themselves at a distance. The traders +in the vicinity often came in, and said the friendly Indians had gone +in pursuit of the murderers, and no doubt would succeed in taking +them; but if they did not, the friends of the hostages would attempt +to rescue them. Scouts were accordingly kept out every night, and +the troops slept on their arms. For the mother—trembling for her +little ones more than herself, no sooner would she close her eyes +at night, than she would start, thinking she heard the war whoop +of the savages. The wolves too, half-starved, were extremely daring, +and if the cook happened to leave a bucket of swill at the back +door, they were sure to empty it of its contents.</p> + +<p>As soon as the log barracks were finished, the families moved into +them. They were built in four rows forming a square, a blockhouse +on either side; and situated where the village of Mendota +now stands. The Indian hostages were now put in greater security. +They were evidently becoming impatient of restraint, and +perhaps had doubts as to the result. One morning as usual, they +were taken a short distance into the woods under guard, when suddenly +one of them (there were three) started and ran for his life. +Those behind set up a yell and the guard fired at him, but he was +beyond reach. The others were immediately taken back to the +guard-house, and an interpreter sent for, who enquired of them if it<span class="pagenum" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</span> +was a preconcerted plan of the whole; they declared it was not, and +that until the fugitive started to run, they were ignorant of his design, +and supposed it merely a sudden desire for freedom. They +said further that he would no doubt urge the immediate surrender +of the guilty parties, and laughingly said the lad was so fat, from +being so well fed, they were surprised to see him run so fast!</p> + +<p>Col. Snelling and the Indian agent thought it advisable to send +the murderers to the agent at St. Louis, as soon as they should be +brought in and before navigation closed. At length they came, +conducted by a large number of their own tribe. There were two, +but only one was sent to St. Louis, as there was but one white man +killed. It was represented to the Indians in council, that when one +white man killed another, his life paid the penalty; and since one +of their people had killed a white man his life must pay the forfeit, +unless their great father in Washington should pardon him. The +savages signified assent by a “ugh!” As soon as the criminal was +gone quiet was restored among the Indians for the winter.</p> + +<p>In September, 1819, Mrs. Snelling’s fifth child was born. Her sick +room was papered and carpeted with buffalo robes, and made quite +warm and comfortable. There were three ladies besides her in the +garrison, and they were like one family, spending their time instructing +their children, and receiving instruction in the French +language from a soldier who it was said had been an officer in +Buonaparte’s army. Mrs. Snelling, Mrs. Clark and an officer, comprised +the class. During the winter, parties of men were sent off to +cut down trees, hew timber, &c., for the permanent fort, which was +to be built on the high point of land between the mouth of the St. +Peter’s and Mississippi, a point selected by Gen. Pike when he +explored the river, as a good site for a fort, and on which Col. +Snelling at once decided it should be built. There was a tree +standing at the extreme point, with the name of Pike carved on it +by his own hand. Strict orders were given “to spare that tree” +for it was looked upon by the officers as sacred to his memory, and +was carefully guarded, but the care was in vain. One morning it +was found cut down, and great was the lamentation. It never was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</span> +known who had done the deed; there was a mystery about it that +was never solved.</p> + +<p>The first row of barracks that were put up, were of hewn logs, the +others of stone. The fort was built in a diamond shape, to suit the +ground at the extreme point. Where the tree had stood, was a +half-moon battery, and inside this was the officers’ quarters, a very +neat stone building, the front of cut stone; at the opposite point a +tower. The fort was enclosed by a high stone wall, and is well +represented in the drawings of it.</p> + +<p>At the expiration of two years, the regiment moved into the fort, +although not completed. The families of the officers occupied +quarters in the row assigned to them. It was just before this time +that Mrs. Snelling lost her youngest child—thirteen months old. +In June, 1823, the first steamboat made its appearance at the fort, +much to the astonishment of the savages, who placed their hands +over their mouths—their usual way of expressing astonishment, and +called it a “fire-boat.” A salute was fired from the fort, as it was +expected that the Inspector general was on board; and it was +returned from the boat. The Indians knew not what to make of it, +and they were greatly alarmed, until all was explained. Additions +were made to the society of the garrison; several officers, who had +been absent, returned to their regiment, bringing wives and sisters, +so that at one time the company numbered ten ladies. There were +six companies, which fully officered, would have given eighteen or +twenty officers, but there were seldom or never that number present +at one time. An Italian gentleman came on the boat, who professed +to be travelling for the purpose of writing a book, and +brought letters of introduction from Mrs. Snelling’s friends in St. +Louis. The Colonel invited him to his house to remain as long as +he pleased, and he was with them several months. He could not +speak English, but spoke French fluently, and seemed much pleased +when he found his fair hostess could speak the language, she having +learned it when a child at St. Louis. A French school was the first +she ever attended, and she thus early acquired a perfectly correct +pronunciation. She lamented on one occasion to Mr. Beltrami, that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</span> +her teacher had received his discharge, and was about leaving, and +he politely offered his services in that capacity. She was then +translating the life of Caesar in an abridged form, and from the emotion +betrayed by the foreigner at a portion of the reading, it was +concluded he had been banished from the Pope’s dominions at +Rome, and that the lesson reminded him of his misfortunes. The +passport he showed, gave him the title of “Le Chevalier Count +Beltrami.”</p> + +<p>About this time, Major Long’s expedition arrived, to explore the +St. Peter’s river, and when they left Beltrami accompanied them. +When his book was published at New Orleans, he sent Mrs. Snelling +a copy. While at the fort he was busy in collecting Indian curiosities. +One day he brought a Sioux chief into Mrs. Snelling’s room, +who had on his neck a necklace of bears’ claws highly polished, +saying, “I cannot tempt this chief to part with his necklace, pray +see what you can do with him, he will not refuse you.” “He +wears it,” answered the lady, “as a trophy of his prowess, and a +badge of honor; however, I will try.” After some time, Wanata +said, “On one condition I will consent; if you will cut off your hair, +braid it, and let it take the place of mine you may have the necklace.” +All laughed heartily at his contrivance to get rid of further +importunity.</p> + +<p>One day a call was heard from a sentinel on the river bank, to +the corporal of the guard, that a child had fallen into the river, +and several ran in the direction the sentinel pointed. The gardener +who was at work at a short distance, cried out, “It is the Colonel’s +son, Henry! Save him!” His mother heard the cry, “A child is +drowning!” and ran out upon the battery to see and hear what +was the matter. She saw them draw the boy out, place him on a +blanket, and hasten up the hill; they approached her house, when +the Colonel hastened towards her saying, “We came near losing +our child!” and she saw it was indeed her own. He was pale as +death, but soon recovered, and lives to tell the story of an immense +catfish dragging him into the river while fishing.</p> + +<p>In 1823, news was brought by the traders that two white children<span class="pagenum" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</span> +were with a party of Sioux, on the St. Peter’s. It appeared +from what they could learn, that a family from Red River—Selkirk’s +settlement—had been on their way to the Fort, when a war party +of Sioux met them, murdered the parents and an infant, and made +the boys prisoner. Col. Snelling sent an officer with a party of soldiers +to rescue the children. After some delay in the ransom, they +were finally brought. An old squaw, who had the youngest, was +very unwilling to give him up, and indeed the child did not wish +to leave her. The oldest, about eight years old, said his name was +John Tully, and his brother, five years old, Abraham. His mother +had an infant, but he saw the Indians dash its brains out against a +tree, then kill his father and mother. Because he cried, they took +him by his hair, and cut a small piece from his head, which was a +running sore when he was re-taken. Col. Snelling took John +into his family, Major Clark the other, but he was afterwards sent +to an orphan asylum in New York. The eldest died of lockjaw, +occasioned by a cut in the ankle while using an axe. His deathbed +conversion was affecting and remarkable. One day, after he +had been ill several weeks, he said, “Mrs. Snelling, I have been a +very wicked boy; I once tried to poison my father because he said +he would whip me. I stole a ring from you, which you valued +much, and sold it to a soldier, and then I told you a lie about it. I +have given you a great deal of trouble. I have been very wicked. +I am going to die the day after to-morrow, and don’t know where I +shall go. Oh, pray for me.”</p> + +<p>His benefactress answered, “John, God will forgive you, if you +repent; but you must pray, too, for yourself. God is more willing +to hear than we are to pray. Christ died to save just such a sinner +as you are, and you must call upon that Saviour to save you.” All +his sins appeared to rise before him as he confessed them, and he +seemed to feel that he was too great a sinner to hope for pardon. +Mrs. Snelling read to him, and instructed him. He never had received +any religious instruction, except in the Sunday school taught +by Mrs. Clark and herself, and being accustomed to say his prayers +with her children, and always to be present when she read the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</span> +church service on Sundays. The next morning after the above conversation, +when she asked him how he had rested during the night, +he said, “I prayed very often in the night; I shall die to-morrow, +and I know not what will become of me.” For several hours he +remained tranquil, with his eyes closed, but would answer whenever +spoken to; then suddenly he exclaimed, “Glory! glory!” His +friend said, “John, what do you mean by that word?” “Oh! +Mrs. Snelling, I feel so good—I feel so good! Oh! I cannot tell +you how good I feel.” She knew not that he ever heard that word +unless from her prayer-book. He lost all consciousness on the day +he said he should die, and expired at the succeeding dawn.</p> + +<p>During this year the commandant was visited by Gen. Scott and +suite, and the fort was completed. Heretofore it had been called +Fort St. Anthony, but Gen. Scott issued an order giving it the name +of Fort Snelling. He expressed his approbation of the construction +and site of the fort, etc., spent a week with his friends, and visited +the falls and a chain of lakes where they were used to amuse themselves +fishing, and where the water was so clear they could see the +fish playing about the hook. One of the lakes Mrs. Snelling named +Scott Lake.</p> + +<p>Another of her amusements was riding on horseback. When a +child she had been accustomed to ride every morning with her +father, and acquired great confidence in the management of a horse. +Her husband seldom would ride with her, but Capt. Martin Scott +was in the regiment, and often accompanied her. One day they +saw a wolf; the dogs gave chase, and they followed until they ran +down the poor creature, the bonnet of the fair huntress having +fallen back, and her hair streaming loose in the wind.</p> + +<p>In 1825, the family left Fort Snelling to visit their friends in +Detroit. It was late in the season, October, before they set out +homeward, by the way of Green Bay, where Mrs. Snelling’s brother, +Lieut. Wellington Hunt, was stationed. They spent a week in his +family, and when they reached Lake Pepin the ice was running so +rapidly they were compelled to stop; the ice had cut through the +cabin so that it leaked. A small log cabin was put up, and an<span class="pagenum" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</span> +express sent to the fort, one hundred miles, for sleighs to convey +them thither, and provisions, as they had nothing but corn, which +they boiled in ash-water with a little salt. Fears were entertained +by Col. Snelling that the express might not reach the fort, and +another was sent a week after. One day, after two weeks, there was +a sound of sleigh bells, and Henry, who was the first to hear, ran to +meet them, and soon returned with two loaves of bread, which he +threw into his mother’s lap, crying, “eat, mother, eat.” The children +ate bread as if famished, and even the little Marion, but eight +months old, partook of the general joy. They had seen no Indians, +who had all gone to their winter grounds. Some of the officers +came to meet the Colonel’s family, and they were soon on the move +again. They were welcomed back joyfully by all their friends, and +many of their favorite Indians came to see them. One poor savage, +who always furnished them with game, came leaning on his staff, looking +pale and emaciated; he was very sick, he said, and came to see +them once more before he died. He could scarcely crawl back to his +lodge, and the next day expired.</p> + +<p>At this time a party of the Chippewas and Sioux held a council with +the Indian agent. There had been war between the two nations for +a long time; the agent desired to act as mediator between them, and +sent for them to meet him. After the council the two parties smoked +the pipe of peace. The Chippewas killed a dog, made a feast, and +invited the Sioux to their lodges, which were under the guns of the +fort. In the evening, about nine o’clock, the firing of guns was +heard; the sentinel called “corporal of the guard” repeatedly, in +quick succession. The wild cries of women and children were heard, +for the Chippewas had their families with them, and several Indians +came rushing into the hall of the commanding officer, trying to tell +what was the matter. The officer of the day reported that the +Sioux, after partaking of the hospitalities of the Chippewas, and +being apparently good friends, had some of them returned, placed +their guns under the wigwams, and fired, killing some and wounding +others. The wounded were conveyed into the hospital to have +their wounds dressed. Other particulars of this occurrence, with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</span> +the determination of the Chippewas to have vengeance, the action +of the commanding officer, and the surrender and punishment of +the perpetrators of the deed, are related in another memoir. The +traders said the Sioux were perfectly satisfied, much more so than +if the offenders had been imprisoned and sent to St. Louis.</p> + +<p>In 1826, Capt. Thomas Hunt, who was residing at Washington, +wrote to his sister, urging her and the Colonel to send their two +eldest children to him to be educated. Their daughter Mary was +now fourteen, and as Capt. Plympton and his wife were going, her +parents got her in readiness to accompany them. Her mother +thought not it would cost so many tears to part with her child; +but when she returned home from the boat, she told Mrs. Clark it +“seemed like a death in the family.” Soon an opportunity offered, +and they sent Henry also.</p> + +<p>In 1827 the Indians began to show signs of hostility near Prairie +du Chien; they murdered two white men and a young girl, the +daughter of one of them, and attacked two boats with supplies for +Fort Snelling, killing and wounding several of the crew. Col. Snelling +ordered out as many of his command as could be spared from +the fort, and with his officers descended the river to the relief of +Fort Crawford, or to attack any hostile force of Indians he might +meet. There were two large villages of Indians between the two +forts, and it was expected, when they approached, they would be +attacked, but there was not an Indian to be seen. When they +reached Prairie du Chien, they ascertained that the outrage had +been committed by Winnebagoes and not Sioux. When Gen. Atkinson +heard this at St. Louis, he sent and seized the chief, Red Bird, +and one or two others, who were tried, convicted, and executed. +After an absence of six weeks, the party returned without being +obliged to fire a gun.</p> + +<p>One day soon after his return, the Colonel came in to tell his wife +the express had brought them a mail, holding in his hand a letter +sealed with black. She exclaimed, “My Mary is dead.” “No,” +said her husband, “the letter is from Detroit.” It brought the intelligence +of her much loved brother Henry’s death. He was much<span class="pagenum" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</span> +loved and respected by all who knew him; was mayor of the city +and colonel of the militia, and his funeral was the largest ever known +in Michigan. After the massacre at Frenchtown by the Indians, +in 1813, he had spent a great deal of money in ransoming prisoners, +many of whom still affectionately cherish his memory. He had +proved a father to his sister and family, and was mourned by them +deeply and long.</p> + +<p>In the fall of 1827, the regiment was ordered to Jefferson Barracks. +When the family arrived at St. Louis, they took lodgings +for the winter. Colonel Snelling having obtained leave to go to +Washington to settle some public accounts and to bring home his +daughter. He wrote to her mother in glowing terms of her +improvement in person and mind, and that she received much +attention for one of her age, not yet sixteen. “As Mary will not +again,” he concluded, “have so good an opportunity, I have encouraged +her to accept invitations to the different soirées; she has had +cards for the season from all.” Mary wrote, “I have attended many +parties, but I do not enjoy them, for my dear mother is not with me, +and I am so impatient to embrace her.” Alas! the All Wise Disposer +of events had ordered it otherwise. One more letter her +mother received from her, and hoped before many weeks to see +her, but at the time she was expecting her arrival, a letter was +written to her sister, Mrs. Soulard, that Mary was dead!</p> + +<p>Col. Snelling wrote afterwards, that on the 2d of February she +had been at Mrs. Clay’s party and danced, and had taken cold +while standing to wait for the carriage; the cold terminating in a +brain fever. Mrs. Adams, the wife of the President, showed great +interest in the young stranger, as did many others, and every attention +was paid her that could be desired; but there was no solace for +the deep wound in the mother’s heart. She had felt a presentiment +that she should never more see her daughter, and was in some measure +prepared for the stroke which almost crushed her: she was +enabled to look with faith to Him from whose hand it came, to feel +that He was too wise to err—too good to afflict willingly, and to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</span> +bow in humble submission to the most painful dispensation of his +Providence. Her husband wrote that he should be obliged to +remain still longer in Washington; it would improve her health to +travel, and she must join him without delay. In May she left St. +Louis with her three children and nurse, found her husband and son +well, the latter much grown, and received a cordial welcome from +her brother and sister-in-law.</p> + +<p>Her cup of affliction was not yet full; in two months her husband +was seized with inflammation of the brain and died in three weeks. +In communicating the sad event to the army, the General-in-Chief +thought it but an act of justice to make a public acknowledgment +of his services.<a id="FNanchor_38" href="#Footnote_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a></p> + +<p>At this period of distress Mrs. Snelling’s youngest child, Josiah, +was not expected to live. She resigned him willingly; but he was +spared to her, and lived to be her great comfort. In a month she +was on her way to Detroit. A farm three miles up the river belonged +to her, and thither she took her children. Her brother, George +Hunt, took charge of the farm and lived in her family. After residing +two years upon it, Mrs. Snelling found it necessary to remove +into the city, where she took a few boarders, and rented her +farm. In 1835 she sold it for nine thousand dollars, purchased a +lot in the city and built a brick house. Her son Henry, who had +gone to New York on business, became acquainted with Miss Putnam, +the sister of the publisher, a lady of high literary ability and +intelligence, and they were soon afterwards married. Capt. +Thomas Hunt was at this time residing in Detroit. He died very +suddenly in consequence of a fall, leaving a very interesting family. +Gov. Mason offered Mrs. Snelling a high rent for her house, and she +consented to let it, provided he would purchase her new furniture, +which he did. She then accepted an invitation from her brother,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</span> +Gen. Hunt, at Maumee city, to reside in his family, having now only +her daughter Marion (afterwards Mrs. Hazard) and her youngest +son with her. Her son James had gone to West Point.</p> + +<p>In 1841 Mrs. Snelling was married to the Rev. J. E. Chaplin, the +grandson of President Edwards. He was appointed principal to one +of the branches of the Michigan State Institution, and they removed +to White Pigeon in Michigan, where Mr. Chaplin died in 1846, +much beloved and lamented. For five years his wife had lived with +him in great happiness, and she felt that he had only gone home a +little before her.</p> + +<p>In 1844 her son James graduated, and was ordered to Texas in +Gen. Worth’s regiment. He was at the battle of Palo Alto and +Reseca, in all the battles with Gen. Taylor excepting Buena Vista. +At that time Gen. Worth’s regiment was with Gen. Scott’s division. +He was at the siege of Vera Cruz and Cherubusco, at which time +Gen. Scott mentions him in his dispatches. At Molino del Rey he was +severely wounded; the ball entering the left breast passed under +his arm, and was cut out from his back. He received two brevets, +making him <i>passed</i> captain. Although his father had been in eleven +skirmishes and battles he had never lost a drop of blood, but the +son was less fortunate, and at twenty-three nearly lost his life. It +was six weeks after seeing his name published among those who +were severely wounded before his mother heard from him direct, +and during that time, her state of suspense was terrible. One day +as she left home for a walk, she noticed the stage approaching her +house, and as it was passing, Mr. Hazard put his head out and said, +“You had better go back, there is some one here you would like to +see.” She turned to go back, saw the stage stop, and her son get +out, and sank on her knees returning thanks to God that her eyes +again beheld him. He afterwards went to Texas with his regiment.</p> + +<p>In 1849 Mrs. Chaplin travelled with her nephew, Major Hunt, +and her two nieces up the Mississippi to Fort Snelling. She found +twenty-one years had made great changes and great improvements; +the party went in a splendid steamboat, beautifully furnished, with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</span> +table sumptuously supplied, and either side of the river was dotted +with cultivated fields and large towns—the transformation seemed +almost magical. When they arrived at the Fort, she met an old +friend in Col. Loomis, who was very polite in taking her about the +country that she might see all she could in the short time they had +to stay. She visited the grave of her little daughter, and could decipher +the name on the stone although much defaced. The Colonel +promised to have a new one put up. An old Indian woman recognized +her, saying she had seen her a long time ago, and she was much +delighted to find she had been remembered. She also went over +the house so long occupied by her family. On their return they +stopped at St. Paul’s, where the governor of the territory resides, +and there found a niece who had married Mr. Welsh of Michigan.</p> + +<p>One of the passengers taken in at that place, in conversation with +one of the ladies, related the story of the murder of the Chippewas +by the Sioux after the treaty, and the punishment of the guilty persons, +with some fanciful embellishment, by way of exemplifying the +Indian traits of generosity and self-devotion, stating that the friend +of one of the culprits had offered himself a voluntary victim in his +place, the other being a married man, and that the innocent substitute +had been delivered up to the Chippewas by the commanding +officer. His strictures on the conduct of Col. Snelling were interrupted +by a mild rebuke from Mrs. Chaplin, who informed him the +account he had given of the transaction was incorrect. “You seem +to speak knowingly on the subject, madam,” said the stranger. “I +should be happy to get the right story.” “I was the wife of that +commanding officer,” she replied, “and remember well all the circumstances;” +which she then related, and was told by the gentleman +that he was writing a book, “and had received the story from +a trader.” His experience in this instance might be a lesson to +those who rely on floating traditions unsupported by competent +authority.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Chaplin is now happily at home with her daughter, Mrs. +Hazard, and resides in Cincinnati. Her life has been a chequered and +eventful one, and many sorrows have fallen to her lot; but these have<span class="pagenum" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</span> +been borne with resignation and submission to the will of her +Heavenly Father, to whose guidance she committed her youth, and +who has blessed her with the enjoyment of the peace and prosperity +won through a period of hardship and distress. Her family connections +are numerous, and a very large circle of friends and +acquaintances admire her talents and love her virtues.</p> +<hr class="full"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="c20">XIX.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="c sp lsp">MARY McMILLAN.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap large">Lanman</span>, the author of a pleasing History of Michigan, says it +embraces three epochs; the first a romantic one, extending to 1760, +when the dominion over the small portion of inhabited territory +passed from France to Great Britain. The earliest gleam of civilization +at that period had scarcely penetrated its forests, and the +boat-songs of the French furtraders, as they swept its lakes, alone +awoke the echoes. The second epoch may be called a military one. +It commenced with the Pontiac war, and extends through the +struggles of the British, Indians, and Americans to obtain undisputed +possession of the country; terminating with the victory of +Commodore Perry, the defeat of Proctor, etc. The third and last +period comprises the enterprising, mechanical, and working age of +Michigan, commencing with the introduction of the public lands +into market; it is the epoch of agriculture, manufactures, and commerce; +the day of harbors, cities, canals, and railroads, in which +forests have been surveyed and cleared, streams and lakes covered +with sails, States founded, and their internal resources developed.</p> + +<p>A few small settlements were made along the lakes at a very +early period. Sault Ste. Marie, like the other French posts, had a +fort and chapel in 1688, and was a favorite resort for traders and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_339">[Pg 339]</span> +savages on their way to the forests of Lake Superior, its settlers being +a few Indians, called the Salteurs, who lived by fishing in the +rapids. A goldsmith, who went there afterwards, wrought from +the pure copper found in that region, bracelets, candlesticks, crosses, +and censers, for sale among the savages. From time to time +Jesuit missionaries were sent from Quebec and Montreal to these +distant posts, but they remained without any organized colonial +government, or any connected history, forming a part of the Canadian +domain, inhabited only by wandering Indians or migrating +traders, whose headquarters were at Montreal or Quebec. The +vast tracts extending from the St. Lawrence to the Mississippi, fertile, +and watered by noble streams, with inland seas offering facilities +for commerce, were thus wandered over by herds of deer, elk, +and buffalo, or tribes as wild as the beasts of the forest.</p> + +<p>Baron La Hontan, who came at a very early period, says, describing +Lake Erie, “It is assuredly the finest on earth; its banks +decked with oak trees, elms, and chestnuts, entwined with vines +bearing rich clusters to their tops, and its forests abounding with +turkeys, deer, and wild beeves, frequented too by warlike hunters.” +The French scattered along the lake border, were there for the purpose +of pushing the fur trade into the Indian territory, and except +the commandants at the posts, were chiefly merchants engaged in +this traffic. The coureurs des bois, or, rangers of the woods, were +often half-breeds, and were hardy and skilled in propelling the +canoe, fishing, hunting, or sending a rifle-ball to the “right eye” of +the buffalo. They procured cargoes of furs from the Indians, and +carried large packs of goods across portages in the interior, by +straps suspended from their foreheads or shoulders. They were +familiar with every rock and island, bay and shoal, of the western +waters. The ordinary dress of a Canadian furtrader, was a cloth +fastened about the middle, a loose shirt, a “molton” or blanket-coat, +a red worsted or leathern cap, and sometimes a surtout of coarse +blue cloth, and cap of the same material; elk-skin trowsers, with +seams adorned with fringe; a scarlet woollen sash tied round the +waist, in which a broad hunting-knife was stuck, and buck-skin<span class="pagenum" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</span> +moccasins. In later years they wore a shirt of striped cotton, +trowsers of cloth or leather, leggins like the Indians, deer-skin +moccasins, colored belt of worsted, with knife and tobacco-pouch, +and blue woollen cap with red feather. The half breeds were demi-savage, +and were employed as guides or rangers, to manage the +canoes in remote trading excursions. European goods were exchanged +for peltries, which were taken to the depôts on the lakes, +and thence transported eastward. The individuals who devoted +their attention to agriculture usually wore a long surtout and sash, +with red cap and deer-skin moccasins, while the gentlemen visiting +the country preserved the garb in vogue in the days of Louis XIV. +Agriculture was then limited to a few patches of corn and wheat, +the grain being ground in wind-mills. The French soldiers, with +their blue coats turned up with white facings, and short-clothes, and +the priests with their long gowns and black bands, who had their +stations near the forts, formed a strong contrast in their appearance +to the Indians who loitered around the posts.<a id="FNanchor_39" href="#Footnote_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a></p> + +<p>The women made coarse cotton and woollen garments for the Indian +traders. The amusements were chiefly dancing to the violin, +and hunting in the forests; to which may be added the observance +of the festivals enjoined by the church. Fishing was a constant occupation; +canoes passed in every direction over the streams and +bays, and the varieties of fish now esteemed so delicious, were taken +in great abundance, and formed a principal article of food. The +social condition of these primitive inhabitants was not as civilized as +in the larger colonial settlements; the humble emigrants went out +with their tents, their axes, their hoes, their stores of ammunition +and provisions, and their cattle, to win a subsistence by hard labor, +and had little regard to the amenities which are the growth of a +settled community. The priests had much influence, and frequently +was the lonely altar, with its rude candlesticks and censers carved +from native copper, erected under the forest boughs, surrounded by +savages in the wild costume of their tribes, deer or buffalo skins, +with the cincture of the war eagle on their heads, their necklaces<span class="pagenum" id="Page_341">[Pg 341]</span> +of bear’s claws, and moccasins embroidered with porcupine’s quills. +The solemn chant went up amidst the distant howling of wild beasts, +and the solitary bark chapels, adorned by no sculptured marble or +golden lamps, but surmounted by the rudely framed cross, looked +out on a domain of prairie, lake, and unbroken forest; yet was the +wealth of art surpassed:</p> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Iris all hues; roses and jessamines</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Reared high their flourished heads between, and wrought</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Mosaic; under foot the violet,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Crocus, and hyacinth, with rich inlay,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Broidered the ground, more colored than with stones</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Of costliest emblem.”</div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + + +<p>A volume might be written upon the Indian mythology of the +lakes. Each rock, island, lake, river, wood and cataract along the +shores of Michigan, had its presiding genius, good or evil; legends +peopled the earth and air, spirits floated through the forests and +danced along the streams; manitous of darkness performed their +orgies in the storms, and the islands abounded with golden sands +watched like the fleece of old, by serpents, birds of prey, and mighty +giants. To these, sacrifices of tobacco pipes and other offerings were +continually presented. In 1721, Charlevoix was informed that +Michabout was the manitou of the lakes, and the island of Michilimackinac +his birth-place. The name of this island signifies “a great +turtle,” from its resemblance to one, or in the Chippewa speech, +“the place of giant fairies.” This deity, it is said, created Lake Superior +that his Indians might catch beaver; and the savages believe +the fragments of rock at the Sault and other rapids are remains of +the causeway constructed by him to dam up the waters.</p> + +<p>The social condition of the settlers of Michigan was not much +improved by the transfer of the country from the French to the +British government. By the capitulation of Montreal, the French +subjects were permitted to remain, and the fur trade was prosecuted +by their agency under English companies. Till 1762 the peninsula +remained quiet, while war raged at a distance; but the war of the +Pontiac confederacy soon carried disturbance to its borders. The<span class="pagenum" id="Page_342">[Pg 342]</span> +details of this period belong to history. It is proper merely to mention +the plot by which this famous Indian chief aimed to destroy +the fort of Detroit. He had ordered his Indians to saw off their +rifles, conceal them under their blankets, and gain admission to the +fort under pretence of holding a peaceable council. On a signal +given by his delivering a belt of wampum in a specified manner, the +savages were to rush on the soldiers, and fling open the gates to the +body of warriors on the outside. Word was then sent to Major +Gladwyn that Pontiac would hold a council with the English commander +on the 9th of May, 1763. The evening before, an Indian +woman employed by the Major to make some elk-skin moccasins, +brought them to the fort. Gladwyn, pleased with her work, bespoke +more, and having paid her for the first, sent a servant to see her +safely through the gates. Here she lingered, looking wistfully at +the river, and her behavior appearing singular, the servant asked +the cause of her delay, but received no answer. The commanding +officer then called her in, and asked why she hesitated, when, calling +to mind his former kindness, the woman said she would not take +away the skin, as she would not be able to bring it back. This remark +exciting suspicion, she was induced by promises of safety and +reward, to reveal the whole plot. The officers thought it a trick, +but the night was spent in preparation; guards were placed on the +ramparts, and every man was ready for defence. Their suspicions +were confirmed by the distant sounds heard of the war-songs and +dances of the Indians. In the morning Pontiac came with his +chiefs and braves to the council-house, and was received by the +Major and officers. The appearance of warlike preparation could +not escape the Indians, and when they were seated on the skins, +Pontiac asked the cause, which he was told was the necessity of +military discipline. He professed much friendship for the English +in his speech, but his gestures became violent as he approached the +point when he was to give the concerted signal. The officers drew +their swords, the soldiers at the doors clattered their arms, and as +the chief presented the belt in his usual manner, thus failing to give +the signal, the Major accused him of being a traitor, and pulling<span class="pagenum" id="Page_343">[Pg 343]</span> +aside his blanket, showed his rifle. The Indians were ordered to +quit the fort instantly, being assured of safety beyond the pickets, +and were received by the warriors without with yells and firing, and +other demonstrations of hostility towards the garrison, the more +fierce on account of the failure of the enterprise.</p> + +<p>During the Revolutionary struggle the peninsula remained in comparative +quiet. Although constituting a part of the Canadian territory, +a magazine of arms for the savage allies of the loyalists, and a +mart where scalps were bought and sold, it can boast no prominent +events to give interest to its history, because not made the theatre +of action. A mere outpost of Canada, it was a magnificent extent +of wilderness, in which the axe had scarcely felled a tree; trackless, +save where Indian trails wound through the dense forests and +flowery oaklands; unbroken, except by scattered Indian villages +and corn-fields studding the prairies, or the solitary posts of furtraders. +The treaty of 1783 included the peninsula within the +bounds of American territory. At this time its sparse white population +consisted chiefly of French and English, whose settlements +were confined to the vicinity of trading posts along the lakes and +the banks of the principal rivers. When the ravages of the savage +tribes on the frontier were terminated by the victories of Gen. Wayne +and the treaty in 1795, the tide of emigration began to flow more +steadily westward. Michigan was erected into a separate territory +in 1805, but the progress of settlement was slow, and the principal +business carried on was still the fur trade.</p> + +<p>In 1810 the island of Mackinaw, a romantic point, rising like an +altar from the realm of waters, was the central mart of traffic, and +the lakes were sprinkled with canoes of traders and Indians; the +merry Canadian voyageur bartering his trinkets at booths scattered +along the shores, and the red warrior with his fantastic ornaments, +his silver armlets and embroidered moccasins, coming to exchange +his treasures, or on fishing and hunting excursions. The fur merchants +went up the lakes in large canoes, manned by Canadians, to +meet their agents returning from the remote wilderness at Fort +William, one of the principal pioneer posts of the northwest country.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_344">[Pg 344]</span> +The council house was a large wooden building, hung with trophies +of the chase, and Indian implements of war or peaceful employment. +Thus the romantic aspect of the country had not yet disappeared, +though the post was crowded with traders, and the epoch of mercantile +enterprise was in its meridian. The semi-barbarous dominion +exercised for a century over the lakes and the region on their borders, +had not yet been swept away even by the wings of commerce.</p> + +<p>The war of 1812 was a crisis which brought renewed devastations +upon the frontier, and the borders were overrun by the British and +their savage allies. Although, by act of Congress in May of +this year, two millions of acres were ordered to be surveyed, little +inducement was held out to emigrants to penetrate a remote wilderness, +through which there were no roads, and as late as 1820 +Detroit, Frenchtown, Mackinaw, and Sault Ste. Marie, were the chief +settlements within the present limits of the State. When, some +time afterwards, expeditions were projected for exploring the country, +the interior was yet a ranging ground for savages and wild +beasts, intersected by Indian trails, with here and there, by the lakes +or streams, a few clusters of log houses, or the huts of Frenchmen; +the roads constructed in 1823 scarcely passable in the most favorable +season. Gradually, however, the forest began to resound with +the huntsman’s axe, and the log tenements of the hardy pioneers to +stud the wilderness. The social progress of the territory was not +marked by any stirring events. The advance of emigration along its +rivers was solitary and silent; the cannon and bayonet had long since +given place to the plough and the woodman’s axe, and the subjugation +of the wild forest was achieved without the necessity of disputing +possession of the soil with human foes. The emigrants scattered +themselves by degrees over the interior, finding a dry and fertile +soil, well adapted for culture, and a country rich in varied and picturesque +scenery. The lake-like and rolling prairies, with their wooded +islands and forest borders, were beautiful beyond description; the +white oak openings were like stately parks enamelled with flowers, +and the burr-oak groves like orchards studded with large pear trees. +The mounds rose from thirty or forty to two hundred feet, and hill<span class="pagenum" id="Page_345">[Pg 345]</span> +and dale, secluded lake and forest tract, with its dense growth of +beech, black walnut, elm, maple, hickory, oaks of different kinds, +etc., its luxuriant wild grape vines and rich underwood, presented +scenes that might well captivate the new comers. One by one, or +in small numbers, wagons bearing the families of the pioneers, with +their furniture, might be seen winding over the rough roads or +along the shores; then smoke rose curling through the woods from +the prostrate trunks of smouldering trees; the settler having cleared +a small space, built his log house, while his cattle fed on the luxuriant +herbage in the vicinity; the labors of the plough followed +those of the axe, the winter was weathered through, and the succeeding +year saw him an independent freeholder, with a market at +his door for the produce of his farm.</p> + +<p>Mrs. McMillan was among the early settlers of the eastern portion +of Michigan. Her removal with husband and children from a populous +and cultivated region, was a laborious journey, performed in +the manner above mentioned, in a small wagon, laden with a few +necessary articles of comfort for their new home; by slow and toilsome +stages—their nights being passed under some temporary shelter, +insufficiently protected from the attacks of wild beasts, and subject +to inconvenience from night dews, cold winds, and troublesome +insects. Their establishment was attended with the same circumstances +of labor and hardship, which have been described in numerous +other cases. We pass to some incidents that may serve to +illustrate the times, as well as show the courage and energy of this +strong-hearted matron.</p> + +<p>In 1813 she was living on the Canada side, in a small house on +the banks of the Thames, a beautiful little river whose bright waters +were often skimmed by canoes of savages intent on plunder or +slaughter, the shrill war-whoop often resounding from the depths of +the woods. McMillan had left his family to enter into active military +service, and their home was two miles distant from the nearest +neighbor. The country had been kept in a continual state of alarm +by marauding parties of Indians, who did not hesitate to kill and +capture, as well as rob the defenceless settlers. Mrs. McMillan suffered<span class="pagenum" id="Page_346">[Pg 346]</span> +the more from anxiety at this critical period, as in the absence +of her husband the care of their young children devolved entirely +upon her, and her sole protection was her own prudence and energy. +One day having heard rumors of the approach of a hostile party, +and being apprehensive of a sudden attack, she took her infant and +walked to the nearest house in search of information. There she +was startled with the intelligence that savages had been seen in the +vicinity, and that they had gone in the direction of her dwelling, +where they would probably stop during the day. The matron +thought of the little ones she had left at home unprotected, and a +sickening terror entered her heart. She stayed to hear no more, +but hastened homeward, bearing in her arms the unconscious babe +who might now be all that remained to her. As she came near, +her eyes were eagerly strained for a sight of those beloved ones who +were accustomed to run to meet her; all was silence; and when +she dashed open the door and stood within the dwelling, a scene of +desolation met her view! Every article of furniture had disappeared; +the floor was dusty with the track of footsteps, and not one of her +children was anywhere on the premises.</p> + +<p>The alarm and anguish of the mother may be better imagined +than described. The fatal idea had flashed at once on her mind, +that her little ones had been either murdered or carried away captive +by the merciless Indians. In this terrible emergency she lost +none of her self-possession, nor her usual sagacity of judgment. +The savages could not have gone far, and her only course was to +cross the river and seek aid immediately. But there was no canoe, +nor mode of conveyance; she could not swim, nor could she leave +her helpless infant behind her. She was not long in discovering a +way to overcome the difficulty. Hastily rolling some logs into the +water, she placed two boards across them, forming a kind of raft, on +which she stepped cautiously, carrying her babe, managed to hold +the frail craft together while she guided its course, and reached the +opposite shore in safety. Here her terror and anguish were suddenly +changed into joy; the children had heard of the near approach +of Indians immediately after their mother’s departure, and having<span class="pagenum" id="Page_347">[Pg 347]</span> +taken the precaution to put the furniture in the cellar, out of the +intruders’ way, they had crossed the river to seek protection from +the neighbors on the other side.</p> + +<p>On another occasion Mrs. McMillan suffered from Indian depredation. +A large party from the different tribes was on the way to +Toronto, and in the course of a single day some two hundred of +them stopped at her house, plundering it of all it contained. +McMillan was still absent, and the mother did not dare to +interfere for the rescue of any portion of her property, lest she +should draw down vengeance upon herself and her innocent children. +The work of spoiling went on, therefore, while they stood +quietly aloof. A fine flock of geese, which she had raised with +care, was on the grass before the door, and the Indians soon commenced +execution among them. Mrs. McMillan started forward to +save her favorites; but a gun was instantly levelled at her, with the +threat of shooting, if she ventured to interrupt the sport. Like +many other matrons of that day, she prided herself on a handsome +set of pewter dishes and plates, which her industrious scouring kept +as bright as silver. Their polish and beauty pleased the Indians, +who tried them by biting, to ascertain if they were real silver, and +the whole stock speedily passed into the possession of the depredators, +who left only a knife and a tin cup in the house. When the +last of the enemy had passed over the river, the terrified family +found themselves in safety, but exhausted with hunger, while +nothing in the shape of food was left about the place. They were +compelled to fast till supplies could be brought from a distance of +several miles.</p> + +<p>When the war was over, and comparative quiet established, +McMillan and his family, with two or three others, removed to +Detroit, ascending the river on a large raft. The trials of the wife +were not ended. Straggling bands of savages were still lurking in +the neighborhood of the city, ready for any deed of robbery or +bloodshed. One evening when McMillan had left his home for a +short time, the silence was broken by the report of a gun, which +caused some alarm to his wife and children, though they were far<span class="pagenum" id="Page_348">[Pg 348]</span> +from anticipating the extent of their calamity. The father’s prolonged +absence caused apprehension, which was terminated by fatal +certainty; during the night his lifeless body was brought home. +This blow was severely felt by the bereaved wife, but a sense of +duty to the loved ones dependent on her, prevented her from being +utterly overwhelmed. It may be imagined, after this sad tragedy, +how anxiously passed the nights in her lonely dwelling. In the +middle of one dark night, the roar of the alarm guns was again +heard. The affrighted mother sprang up, gathered her children +hastily together, and knowing well there was no safety within +doors, hurried with them from the house. The house of a friend +at a considerable distance, offered shelter, but the darkness was +intense; the fugitives lost their way, and ere long found themselves +in the midst of the deep mire for which the roads of Detroit were +formerly so celebrated. More urgent peril, however, was behind +them; they struggled on, leaving their shoes in the mud, and managed +to escape to the house of their friend, where they were received +with kindness. The mother’s quick eye, scanning her rescued +group, now discovered that her son, eleven years of age, was +missing! The alarm was given, and the next day men were sent +in every direction about the country to search for him; but all in +vain. It was too certain that he had been captured, and the distracted +mother feared he had been murdered by the relentless +savages. For four long months she endured the tortures of suspense. +She then learned that her boy had been taken prisoner, and +was still held in captivity at some distance from the city. The sum +demanded for his ransom was speedily sent, and he was restored to +the arms of his mother. During his captivity he had fared hardly, +subsisting chiefly on buds and roots, and never having even a piece +of bread. This son is now living at Jackson, Michigan.</p> + +<p>After the termination of the Indian troubles, Mrs. McMillan +maintained her family by her exertions, giving each of her children +a substantial education, with such training as to fit them for every +duty and vicissitude of life. She made enough to purchase a valuable +piece of land near the Presbyterian church, with a large framed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_349">[Pg 349]</span> +house, which is now known as the Temperance or Purdy’s Hotel. +Mrs. McMillan resides in the city with one of her sons, and is often +solicited by those who have heard something of her romantic +history, to relate her adventures in detail, and describe the life +led by many who like her, encountered the perils of war in a new +country.</p> +<hr class="full"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_350">[Pg 350]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="c21">XX.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="c sp lsp">CHARLOTTE A. CLARK.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap large">This</span> lady accompanied her husband, who was commissary to the +United States troops, in November, 1819, to a military station on +the Upper Mississippi, situated on the St. Peter’s side of the river. +Several persons went with them from Prairie du Chien; the voyage +being made in keel-boats, and the waters so low that the men were +obliged frequently to wade in the river and draw them through the +sand. Six weeks were occupied in passing over the distance of +three hundred miles, one week of which was spent at Lake Pepin.</p> + +<p>Having reached the place of destination, the company were obliged +to live in their boats till pickets could be erected for their protection +against the Indians, who not understanding the object of this invasion +of the wild, or the display of arms and ammunition, might fall +upon them in some unguarded moment. Huts also had to be built, +though in the rudest manner, to serve as a shelter during the winter +from the rigors of a severe climate. After living with her family in +the boat for a month, it was a highly appreciated luxury for Mrs. +Clark to find herself at home in a log hut, plastered with clay, and +“chinked” for her reception. It was December before they got into +winter quarters, and the fierce winds of that exposed region, with +terrific storms now and then, were enough to make them wish +to keep within doors as much as possible. Once, in a violent tempest, +the roof of their dwelling was raised by the wind, and partially<span class="pagenum" id="Page_351">[Pg 351]</span> +slid off; there was no protection for the inmates, but the baby in +the cradle was pushed under the bed for safety. Notwithstanding +these discomforts and perils, the inconveniences they had to encounter, +and their isolated situation, the little party of emigrants +were not without their social enjoyments. They were nearly all +young married persons, cheerful and fond of gaiety, and had their +dancing assemblages once a fortnight. An instance of the kindness +of the commanding officer, Col. Leavenworth, deserves mention. +One of the other officers having been attacked with symptoms of +scurvy, and great alarm prevailing on that account, the Colonel took +a sleigh, and accompanied by a few friends, set off on a journey +through the country inhabited by Indians, not knowing what dangers +he might encounter from their hostility, or the perils of the +way, for the purpose of procuring medicinal roots. The party was +absent several days, and in the meantime collected a supply of hemlock +and spignet, which they used with excellent effect in curing the +disease.</p> + +<p>In the ensuing summer, when Col. Snelling had the command, +Fort Snelling was begun. St. Louis, distant nine hundred miles, was +at that time the nearest town of any importance. After the erection +of the fort, Mrs. Clark says—“we made the first clearing at the +Falls of St. Anthony, and built a grist-mill.” The wife of Capt. +George Gooding, of the 5th regiment, was the first white woman +who ever visited those beautiful falls. She afterwards married Col. +Johnson, and went to reside in St. Louis. The daughter of Mrs. +Clark, now Mrs. Van Cleve of Ann Arbor, was born while the +troops were stationed at Prairie du Chien. At that time Col. +Leavenworth received orders to go up to the place where, in the following +summer, Fort Snelling was built. He went, though he had at this +time no wholesome provisions; even the bread, it was said, was “two +inches in the barrels thick with mould;” no vegetables were to be +had, and several of the men were perishing with scurvy. The +Sioux Indians were in the vicinity, and they were mutually suspicious +of each other, so that no game could be bought; nor was +there a prospect of matters being mended till more amicable relations<span class="pagenum" id="Page_352">[Pg 352]</span> +could be established. The prices of such fresh edibles as could +be procured at Prairie du Chien were enormous; a small and lean +chicken procured for a sick lady cost a dollar; beets as large as the +finger, one dollar a dozen; and onions were ten dollars a bushel. +The cold is described as so intense that the soldiers called out merely +while they could answer to the roll, often had their faces frost-bitten; +the thermometer at seven in the morning being known to stand +thirty-five degrees below zero.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Clark remained at Fort Snelling, with the exception of +about a year, till 1827. The only young lady in the company was +married when about fifteen years of age, to a Mr. Dennis, also of +the army. The wedding took place in the winter, and the bridal +party was obliged to descend the river, three hundred miles, on the +ice, to Prairie du Chien, to have the ceremony performed. The +monotony of their life was varied by continual alarms and excitements, +from the encounters of the hostile tribes of Sioux and Chippewas, +who came frequently into their close neighborhood, and +were not scrupulous as to deeds of violence and treachery towards +each other. The incidents we shall mention, illustrative of other +experiences, are alluded to in a preceding memoir.</p> + +<p>The quarters within the fort were crowded, and Mrs. Clark’s house, +a substantial stone building, stood without the walls a few rods distant, +on the military land adjoining. After the conclusion of the amicable +treaty already mentioned, the Chippewas had pitched their camp +at the foot of a hill not far from this house. About nine o’clock in +the evening, the family was alarmed by an unusual noise in that +direction, and the discharge of firearms. A gentleman who was at +that time the guest of Mr. Clark, entered in haste and some trepidation, +saying that a bullet had just whistled past his head, and +that there must be some difficulty “below.” The seclusion of the +dwelling was thought of with terror whenever there was any alarm +at night, though the sight of the fort close at hand gave courage +to all in the daytime. Protection and aid, however, were promptly +invoked, and the troops aroused. It appeared that some of the +Sioux, after having sat in the wigwams of the Chippewas, smoked<span class="pagenum" id="Page_353">[Pg 353]</span> +the pipe of peace, and bid them good night, had deliberately +turned about and fired upon them. The confusion that ensued +may be imagined; the Chippewas flew to arms, and the treacherous +Sioux made their escape. The commanding officer of the garrison +had the wounded taken to the hospital, and attended to as +well as the circumstances permitted. Among them was an aged +chief and his little daughter, only ten years of age, in whom the +ladies were deeply interested. She was much injured, and survived +but a short time. The Indians called upon the commander, +as the representative of their “great father,” to compel the Sioux +to render satisfaction for this cruel outrage; and in pursuance of +the instructions of government to commanders on the out-posts, to +maintain peace as far as possible between the hostile tribes without +interfering in their affairs, he sent an order to the chiefs requiring +the surrender of the young men who had been guilty.</p> + +<p>Not long after this, a large party of Sioux was seen approaching +the fort. “We could see them,” said Mrs. Clark, “for a long way on +the hills by which Fort Snelling is surrounded, and it was easy to +perceive at once that they were disposed to resist the summons. The +interpreter, who was a thorough fellow, and knew how important +was an aspect of courage and determination in dealing with savages, +went out to meet them, and informed them what would be the +consequence of their refusal to comply with the just demand; their +great father, the President, would send into the country as many +warriors as there were leaves on the trees, or blades of grass under +their feet, and these would kill and burn until not a Sioux should +be left. A hurried council was held by the chiefs, and at length it +was decided that the criminals should be given up.” They were +accordingly delivered, and put in durance to await the pleasure of +the injured tribe. Meanwhile the old chief who had been wounded +and bereaved of his child, was rapidly sinking to the grave, and +true to his warrior nature, desired only to live long enough to see +just vengeance overtake the murderers. They were appointed to +suffer the Indian punishment of running the gauntlet.</p> + +<p>An enclosed piece of ground was selected, not far from the fort, lined<span class="pagenum" id="Page_354">[Pg 354]</span> +with men and women of both tribes, the soldiers of the garrison being +also spectators of the scene. The dying chief appeared, borne on the +shoulders of his young men; and all was soon in readiness. If +the condemned could reach the further side of the fence, where +their friends were stationed, their lives were safe. Again to quote +Mrs. Clark: “A gentleman who chanced to be in company with +several Chippewa braves who had just come from the fort, and +were walking towards the ground, told me they were laughing and +talking as if perfectly indifferent to what was going on, till they reached +the place where the deadly work was about to commence. Then +their countenances underwent a fearful change almost instantaneously, +expressing the darkest passion and the most ferocious hatred.”</p> + +<p>The scene was one of intense and terrible interest. It lasted +but a few moments, amid cheers from both sides, and yells +that were absolutely deafening. The children of the white residents +who witnessed it, partook of the wild excitement. “My +brother Malcolm,” says Mrs. Clark’s daughter, “a little fellow, +threw up his cap, and shouted with the rest. One young Indian—‘Young +Six’ he was called—had petted us frequently, and was a +great favorite; we were anxious he should escape, and watched his +fearful race with breathless eagerness. He reached the fence, and +sprang upon it; a moment more and he would have been safe +among his friends, who were ready to receive and welcome him, +when suddenly he bounded high in air and fell, pierced by a +shower of bullets.” Women and men then rushed frantically upon +the bodies of the slain; the scalps were torn off, and the corpses +horribly mutilated with hatchets, the squaws even thrusting their +fingers into the bullet-holes, and licking the blood as it flowed! +When the savage avengers supposed they had done their duty to +their lost friends, the scene was closed with their scalp-dance, the +fearful orgies being prolonged several hours.</p> + +<p>Perhaps, in the exposed and perilous situation of the garrison, the +commandant could not venture to interfere with the execution of savage +vengeance; for the mangled bodies of the slain were suffered to lie a +long time unburied. The old chief, feeling now that his time was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_355">[Pg 355]</span> +come for departure to the spirit-land, caused himself to be painted +according to Indian custom, and the scalps to be hung round his +neck, sang his own death-song, and expired with the calmness of a +hero or a philosopher.</p> + +<p>The daughter of Mrs. Clark was married to Mr. Van Cleve while +her parents were at Fort Winnebago. They were obliged to send +one hundred miles for the clergyman—Rev. Dr. Gregory, then missionary +to the Indians near Green Bay. It was said that when he +arrived, it was well he was familiar with the service, being so snow-blind +from his long drive, that he could not have read it.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Clark is described as still a very handsome woman, with +grey hair neatly arranged over a classic head, and a countenance +lighted up with intelligence and spirit when in conversation, with +great sweetness of expression at all times. She interests every one +who forms her acquaintance, and often delights her friends by a +narration of the incidents of her pioneer experience, delineating the +scenes at Fort Snelling with so much graphic and vivid power that +they seem to pass before the auditor. Her children inherit her +talent, with her agreeable person and manners, and are ornaments +of the polished society in which they move. Mrs. Van Cleve +resides at Ann Arbor, Michigan; Mrs. Clark, Miss Clark and Mrs. +Lincoln, in Cincinnati, and another married daughter on the other +side of the river in Kentucky. Malcolm Clark has spent many +years at a distance from civilization among the aboriginal tribes, and +is now a trader near Fort Benton in Oregon, married to a woman +of the “Black Foot” Indians. He is highly respected by them, +and called “Lesokin,” or “four bears,” because he killed four of +those animals one morning before breakfast. In 1850 he returned +to “the settlements,” on a visit to his family, bringing his two elder +children to his sister to be educated at Ann Arbor. The girl—Pistapowaca—had +been christened before her arrival by a Roman +Catholic priest, but the boy—Natiena—was baptized in St. Andrew’s +church in that village—the grandmother herself leading +him to the font, and appearing as the only sponsor. The father +had a Spanish boy with him, bound to his service by a tie of gratitude,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_356">[Pg 356]</span> +whose duty it was to attend the children. Mr. Clark wore his +Indian dress—the leggins ornamented with human hair—as far +east as St. Louis—and so much had his complexion changed, that +his sisters would scarcely have recognized him. The mother had +cheerfully consented to part with her children for their good, for she +had a stout heart, and knew they ought to be taught many things. +Her boy, she said, would certainly return; he was to be a great +chief, as her father had been; and so, when the canoe was ready +for the departure of her husband and children, she accompanied +them to the river side, and as the bark pushed off, threw herself +upon the ground, concealing her face in her dress. When, after +rounding a point, they again caught sight of her, she was still lying +motionless, absorbed in grief. When the father left his children to +return to his distant home, the little girl, taught to subdue the +expression of emotion, would not suffer herself to cry out; but +clasped her throat with her hands to choke down her feelings.</p> + +<p>One incident in Clark’s early life is characteristic. When a mere +lad, the men at the fort had trapped a wolf, and were debating +how they could manage to muzzle him, before taking him out. +Malcolm passing by, inquired what they were about, and immediately +offered to hold the animal. Suiting the action to the word, +he clapped his hands on either side the creature’s jaws, and held +them forcibly together, while the soldiers slipped on the cords. +Clark was at West Point when the Texan difficulties with Mexico +broke out, and departed to join the service; working his way afterwards +to his present home, where the traders have established a +garrison of their own, for protection against the hostile Indians. +Nearly all of them have married Indian women, who, proud of the +alliance, have become the “exclusives” of the country, refusing to +hold intercourse with other squaws. The boy aforementioned was +the son of a Spaniard by an Indian wife, and had been captured by +a party of Indians who had come unexpectedly upon the garrison, +seized him while others escaped, and were about to satiate their +revenge by torturing him. Watching his opportunity, with wonderful +address, Clark rushed out at the gate of the fort into the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_357">[Pg 357]</span> +midst of the savages, caught the boy, and was again safe within the +walls before the Indians had recovered from their surprise. The +poor lad was wounded severely by the hatchets thrown at him, the +scars of which he bore ever afterwards. He became so much +attached to his deliverer, that he could not be induced at any time +to separate from him.</p> + +<p class="gtb">******</p> + +<p>Hezekiah Geer was one of the most enterprising among the pioneers +of Illinois. His residence is now at Galena, where he is one +of the largest lead dealers in that region; and his present prosperity, +nobly earned as it has been, is doubly enjoyed from the remembrance +of the hardship, privation, and actual suffering endured on their +first migration into the country, when the means of the new settler +were inadequate without incessant toil to the wants of a large family; +when for years they scarcely saw the face of a clergyman, except +at distant intervals an itinerant missionary. The reward of these +labors, which Mr. Geer’s children share in peace and abundance, she +who partook all his cares, and practised every self-denial to lighten +them, did not live to enjoy. They removed from Massachusetts to +the southern part of Illinois some time about 1820, when the portions +of country now covered with smiling villages and thriving farms +were a wilderness untrodden save by the roving hunter, the surveyor, +or the savages who receded before the footsteps of civilization. Her +experience is much the same with that of many others who left +home and kindred to seek better fortune in the forest, and found +themselves obliged to struggle with difficulties they had never, or +but faintly imagined.</p> + +<p>During the Black Hawk war a large part of Michigan and +the neighboring territories suffered much from apprehension of +danger, kept up by floating rumors that the Indians were intent +on depredations and incited to attack the whites by the occurrences +that had taken place in Illinois. Mr. Geer and his family had +then been living at Galena some years. The inhabitants of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_358">[Pg 358]</span> +place and neighborhood were in a state of excitement from continual +alarms, and prepared to take refuge in the fort, in case of the appearance +of the dreaded enemy. It was an object with the commander +to assure himself that he might depend on the promptitude and +courage of his troops and the citizen volunteers in case of sudden +attack, and he adopted a singular method of testing these qualities. +One dark and stormy night he caused a select number to march off +silently to a hill not far distant, where they raised the Indian war +whoop. The ruse was but too successful in creating a general +panic; the soldiers of the garrison and men of the village were +instantly on the alert and ready for action; but the terror and confusion +that prevailed among the helpless women and children, were +beyond the power of language to describe. Mrs. Geer was at that +time the mother of a young infant, with twins not more than two +years old. Springing out of bed and hastily throwing on a few +articles of clothing, she caught in her arms her babe and one of +the twins—her eldest daughter—and followed by the other children, +rushed forth, hurrying to the shelter and protection of the fort. +Mr. Geer was at that time holding a command, having been on duty +since the breaking out of the war. The effects of this cruel experiment +were fatal to some of the children who were borne into the cold +night air and storm by their terrified mothers. Both those Mrs. +Geer carried in her arms died from the effects of the exposure. Yet +in the midst of the general consternation occasioned by the alarm, +some of the women found time to laugh; for one man who in his +fear had hid himself in a corner of the room where they were gathered +in the fort, was discovered by some of them, and driven out +with a flourish of broomsticks.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Clark said that while her husband was at Fort Winnebago, +it was no uncommon thing to test the courage of the soldiers by getting +up a false alarm. The lead mines were then attracting considerable +attention, and desertions to them were so common among +the soldiers in the winter of 1819, that orders were often given to +beat the long roll at dead of night, that it might be ascertained who +was missing. The commanding officer, just before this signal<span class="pagenum" id="Page_359">[Pg 359]</span> +sounded, would go round to the beds of those soldiers in whose +fidelity he had confidence to notify them of the object of the alarm. +But the women even of his own family, though warned, could not +hear the dismal note of the drum without a thrill of terror. It may +be supposed that experiments of this kind could not be frequently +repeated with the intended effect.</p> + +<p>At the time of Mrs. Geer’s last illness and death, her husband +sent two hundred miles for an Episcopal clergyman to administer +the sacrament and baptize his children; but the spirit could not +linger for the “slow arrival,” and had already gone to sit at the heavenly +table of Him on whom her hopes of everlasting life were +fixed. Her last resting place is near the great Mississippi.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Geer’s name was Charlotte Clark. She was the sister of +Rev. William A. Clark, D.D., Rector of All Saints’ Church, New +York, Rev. Orin Clark, D.D., formerly Rector at Geneva, New +York, and Rev. John A. Clark, D.D., of Philadelphia. Mrs. William +A. Clark should be numbered among the Western female pioneers. +When a young and gay girl, she removed with her godparents, +Mr. and Mrs. TenEyck, and the Vredenburghs to Skeneateles, +then almost a wilderness. At the time of her marriage, Mr. +Clark was one of the first missionaries of the Episcopal church in +Western New York; and to him she proved a true co-worker in his +duties, conforming cheerfully to the circumstances in which she was +placed, and giving up her own inclinations at all times. She became +the mother of nine children. The family removed to Buffalo about +1817, and to Michigan in the spring of 1837, after which Mrs. +Clark suffered every year from the fevers of the country, which +undermined a constitution naturally strong. She is retiring in +manner and domestic in her habits, yet fond of society at home, and +charming all who approach her. The habit acquired through years +of self-denial of sacrificing her own inclinations, has caused her to +think less of the merely ornamental than the useful in life. In the +first year after her marriage, she was accustomed to wear white muslin +dresses; but “some of the congregation” in the country village +where her husband officiated, decided that she was “too much<span class="pagenum" id="Page_360">[Pg 360]</span> +dressed,” and finding that the matter was commented on, she laid +aside the obnoxious garments and never afterwards wore white. +The corner stone of the first Episcopal church in Buffalo was laid by +Mr. Clark. He lived but three years after leaving the city of New +York for Michigan, and lies buried in a beautiful opening near the +village of Brighton, Livingston County. His children owe the cultivation +of their talents, and their usefulness in life, to the judicious +training of their parents, and most affectionately do they acknowledge +the obligation. They have truly risen up to call their mother +blessed. Two of them, Chloe and Mary H. Clark, now reside in +Ann Arbor, Michigan, and one is a minister of an Episcopal church +in Cincinnati.</p> +<hr class="full"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_361">[Pg 361]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="c22">XXI.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="c sp lsp">SARAH BRYAN.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap large">In</span> the severe labors peculiar to pioneers in a new country, the trials +and privations they were compelled to encounter from day to day, +Mrs. Bryan was as conspicuous as any of the early settlers of Michigan. +She came with John Bryan her husband, to Ypsilanti, taking +up their residence on a small farm at what is now called “Woodruff’s +Grove.” Her journal says: “We left Geneseo October 7th, +1823, for our new home—arrived in Detroit in ten days; put up at +the Widow Hubbard’s, who kept a sort of boarding house, and deposited +our goods in the cellar till my husband could go out to the +“Grove” (as the settlement was then called) and procure a team to +move us through. He returned in three days with a man, two yoke +of oxen, and a wagon, which we found was not sufficient to contain +all our goods and the family. This consisted of five children, besides +myself and husband. Fortunately for us, however, we found a young +man who was going out with but half a load, and persuaded him to +take the remainder of ours. After a wearisome and almost indescribable +journey of four days through thick woods, my husband cutting +the road before us with an axe, we came, the night of October 23rd, +to the beautiful Huron shore. We had the privilege of staying in +a log cabin till we could build one of our own, which we moved +into the last day of December. Eight weeks after this, February +27th, 1824, Alpha was born; we called him Alpha Washtenaw<span class="pagenum" id="Page_362">[Pg 362]</span> +the latter name being given in honor of the county, and the former +on account of his being the first white child born in the county.” +Allen and Ramsay, the first settlers of Ann Arbor, agreed to mark +the auspicious event by presenting the infant with a lot of land at +the county seat.</p> + +<p>“It was amusing that first fall and winter to hear the corn mills +in operation every morning before daylight. There were but two +in the settlement, made by burning a hole in the top of a sound +oak stump, large enough to hold a peck or more. After scraping +the coal clean from the stump, one end of a stick, some six feet +long and eight inches in diameter, was rounded, and it was suspended +from a spring-pole so that the rounded end would clear the +stump when hanging loosely. A hole was bored through this pestle +and a stick driven through projecting on each side for handles, and +the mill was finished. One man would pound a peck of dry corn +in half an hour so that half of it would pass through a sieve for +bread; the coarser part being either ground again or boiled for +hominy. Very little bread of any other kind was used in the settlement +for the first two years. But as regards my own experience, +the autumn of 1824 was the most trying. Thus far we had encountered +few more inconveniences than we anticipated in the wilderness, +and I was prepared for them, prepared to bear all without +a murmur. In October Mr. Bryan accepted an offer to finish a +building at Maumee city, and shipped his tools at Detroit, where he +had been doing an eight months’ job. He came home and stayed +a few days to provide some wood, and told me if he was likely to +be more than three weeks absent, he would return at the end of +that time and put up more provisions, as our small stock would +be then exhausted. No person had then attempted to penetrate +the forest from our place to Monroe, but rather than go round by +Brownstown, he determined to take the risk of finding his way +through the woods alone. My heart sank within me to think of +what would be my fate and that of my six children, if any evil +should befal him alone in the forest; I however summoned my +fortitude and resolved not to be faint-hearted.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_363">[Pg 363]</span></p> + +<p>An attack of illness followed. “The three weeks passed; a good +supply of potatoes was nearly all the provisions we had left, and I +began to look with great anxiety for my husband. A felon on my +right hand deprived me entirely of the use of it for more than three +weeks. With the pain, fatigue, and want of sleep I was ready to +despair, but for my children’s sake I kept up my resolution; still no +tidings came from Mr. Bryan, and my fears for his safety became +more and more painful. Two months passed, and brought cold December +for me and my little ones, but brought no news from him +whose duty it was to provide for us. My sufferings became extreme. +I tried to get some one to go in search of him, and ascertain at least +if he ever got through the woods alive, but I had no money even to +bear expenses, and all told me they ‘guessed’ he was safe and would +soon return. How myself and babes were to live meanwhile I knew +not. We had eaten nothing but potatoes for several weeks; the neighbors +were nearly as destitute and had nothing to lend, even if I could +have borrowed when I could not expect to pay again. For a temporary +change in diet from potatoes alone, I ventured to borrow a few ears of +corn, promising to pay if Mr. Bryan ever returned; this I shelled and +boiled to jelly, which we relished very much while it lasted.</p> + +<p>“It was now the 23d of December; I had been all day trying +to induce some one to go to Maumee for tidings, and had succeeded +in obtaining a promise from a young man that he would go in two +or three days if I would get a horse. Alas! horses were as +scarce as bread, and I knew it would be impossible to procure one. +I returned home and stood in our log cabin door, thinking what to +do next, when my husband rode up, and put an end to my fears. +He had written several letters, which were delayed in Detroit, and +never reached me. Finding wages high, and the roads very bad, he +had concluded to remain, supposing I was well provided for. Our +sufferings for five or six years after this were even greater, if possible, +than before, but it would take a volume to describe them.”</p> + +<p>These difficulties passed over. Mr. and Mrs. Bryan had what +served for a competence in those days, and were of excellent character<span class="pagenum" id="Page_364">[Pg 364]</span> +and industrious habits; being of respectable stock, and training +up their children to become useful members of the community. +Their care and efforts were required for a large family; and those +who live within reach of all the advantages of civilization, can hardly +understand the difficulties in the way of improvement which existed +in a pioneer settlement. There were no public schools, no churches, +nor did there seem to be any Sabbaths, judging from observation of +the habits of some of the backwoodsmen. The first Sabbath school +gathered together in this place, was in the summer of 1828. That +same year a small school was kept in a log room some twelve or +fourteen feet square, by a young woman whose education hardly +fitted her for the employment. Mrs. Bryan, with a few other +women of the settlement, took a great interest in the Sunday school, +and some other efficient plans for benevolent effort were set on foot +through her active agency and coöperation. She was directress of +the first benevolent society in that part of the country. The new +emigrants at that time suffered much from sickness peculiar to the +region, and often whole families were prostrated at once by the +fever of the country. Mrs. Bryan did not spare herself when her +aid or nursing was required by her neighbors; day and night found +her at the bedside of the suffering, or in the shanties of the poor, +and many an invalid who had no comfortable shelter has been taken +to her own home, provided with everything requisite, and waited +upon with all the tenderness and care of a mother.</p> + +<p>As the children grew older, the want of a good school was more +sensibly felt; and as there was none in the vicinity, Mrs. Bryan +appropriated to the purpose the best room in her house, and engaged +a young man of good education, who was in want of a comfortable +home, to teach her children, with others in the village who were +permitted to join them. Thus was a good foundation laid for the +advantages afterwards enjoyed, and each member of their large family +received a substantial English education. Some of them have since +attained to distinguished excellence in the higher departments of +literature. The eldest daughter, now residing in Illinois, was equalled +by few scholars of the time in various branches of study, particularly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_365">[Pg 365]</span> +mathematics; and the second daughter is now Mrs. Lois B. Adams, +with whose high reputation as a poet and prose writer many American +readers are acquainted. Her first poetical effusions appeared +in the Kalamazoo Telegraph, in which paper Mr. Adams had an +interest at the time of her marriage. She now resides in the southern +part of Kentucky, where she has charge of a female seminary.</p> + +<p>In 1835 or ’6 Mr. and Mrs. Bryan removed from Ypsilanti, and +at present are living in Constantine, Michigan. They had eight +children at the time of their removal, and all have grown up to respectability +and usefulness, having in early life had the judicious +training of a religious mother, who watched over them in love, guiding +them by precept and example, and by her affectionate and cheerful +spirit diffusing perpetual sunshine in her home.</p> + +<p>A lady whose family lived in Livingston county, one of the most +recently settled in Michigan, and inhabited generally by poor people, +says their range of what might be called society was limited to +less than half a dozen families, the nearest distant about four miles, +and some ten or more from each other. They had left a large circle +of friends in the city of New York, and as it may be supposed, felt +the change to the wild country; yet were they contented and cheerful, +pining only when prevented by inclement weather from wandering +through the woods or fields in summer, plucking the wild flowers +which grow in such profusion and beauty in the openings. The +annual fires kindled by the Indians and first settlers to destroy the +old grass, and prepare for an early and abundant crop in spring, are +said to have produced many of the openings, the flames extending +often beyond the marshes or prairies. The farmers were in the +habit of ploughing trenches round the outside of their fences to ensure +their safety; yet sometimes the fire did serious damage among haystacks, +wheat or barns, to which the wind carried it. In consequence +of this danger, severe legal penalties were attached to the act of setting +fire to marshes, yet it continued to be practised for years till they +became private property, sadly marring the beauty of the view, +destroying the trees, and preventing the growth of the young oaks. +The bushes which sprang in a season from their roots, called “oak-grubs,”<span class="pagenum" id="Page_366">[Pg 366]</span> +are difficult to remove from the soil. A poor man whose +means just sufficed to remove his family, and perhaps keep one cow, +had often to work out many days before he could afford to hire a +“breaking up team,” which was a plough constructed for the purpose, +and from five to seven yoke of oxen. The wife picked and +dried berries in the fall, often in marshes so wet that she was obliged +to wear her husband’s boots. By the sale of cranberries, she furnished +herself with many little comforts she could not otherwise +have procured. Flour could always be had at the mills in exchange +for this article. By such industry and patient perseverance was the +way prepared for the occupation of those lands by an intelligent, +enterprising, and now prosperous people. Not the least of the +sufferings of the primitive settlers arose from sickness, whole families +having to pass through the terrible acclimating, often at the same +time, and the ravages of disease sometimes leaving desolate the +widow and the orphan, far distant from kindred or early friends. +At such time the sympathy and kind offices of neighbors were never +withheld, even though they might also be suffering and almost destitute. +Physicians were few and far apart in the inland counties, +and even when their attendance could be had, their want of knowledge +of the local fevers was often the source of mischief rather than +good.</p> + +<p>A change has now passed over the face of the country. How +progressive has been the expression “the far West!” Many years +since it might have meant the western part of New York, as a resident +of its metropolis once said she had been “out west” to visit +her sister, who lived at Pennyan, in Yates County! A young +woman of Skeneateles was engaged many years—her friends being +unwilling to let her marry and go so far away as the Ohio; and when +finally the knot was tied, she remained three years under the parental +roof before she could be permitted to take so long and perilous a +journey. From the Ohio the foot of emigration bore “the far +West” farther; it settled for a while in Indiana, Illinois and +Michigan, then passed to Iowa and Wisconsin, and now is wavering +beyond the Mississippi in Minnesota, with the cry for Oregon and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_367">[Pg 367]</span> +California. And not long since, we noticed a jocular proposition to +erect a tollgate at the boundary of the domain of the United States, +in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.</p> + +<p class="gtb">******</p> + +<p><span class="smcap large">Sylvia Chapin</span>, the wife of Dr. Cyrenius Chapin, was the oldest +pioneer among the first settlers of Buffalo. In all the vicissitudes +she experienced, she well and faithfully discharged the duties that lay +before her, as wife, mother, neighbor, and Christian woman; exhibiting, +with the high qualities of firmness and energy, a quiet dignity, +gentleness and kindliness which won the affection of those who +knew her best, as well as commanded the respect of her acquaintances. +Her “patient continuance in well doing,” has met its reward +in the comfort and respectability of her advanced age, passed +among her children and descendants.</p> + +<p>Dr. Chapin came to Buffalo with his family in 1805. It is +stated in Turner’s “Pioneer History of the Holland Purchase of +Western New York, etc.,” that in 1806 there were but sixteen +houses in the place, and those located on what is now called Main +Street. It will be remembered that in December 1813 the town +was burnt by the British, who had crossed near Black Rock. On +hearing their firing, Chapin, who commanded a portion of the +citizen soldiery, went to meet the enemy, and holding up his cane, +with a white handkerchief fastened to the end, obtained a parley, +and finally a promise that the town should be spared. Mrs. Chapin +at this period of anxiety was compelled to leave home to assist in +the care of her daughter’s sick husband, but before her departure +instructed her two other little girls to sleep always with a bundle of +necessary clothing under their heads, and in case of alarm, to go off +with the rest of the citizens if necessary. The agreement not to +molest the town was violated. Dr. Chapin was on duty, and of course +unable to attend to his children. Louisa related how they were +waked at dead of night with the noise and confusion in the streets,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_368">[Pg 368]</span> +hurriedly made their simple preparations, and stepped out of doors +to join the crowd. In the darkness, amid the severity of winter, +women and children took up their doleful march. The first glimmering +of day mingled with the lurid glare from their burning +dwellings, and at almost every step those who fled from their homes +encountered the wounded and fugitives from the action below. In +the pressure and confusion of the crowd hurrying onward, mothers +were separated from their children, and lost sight of each other, +being in many cases for days ignorant of the fate of their beloved +relatives. On, on our fugitives went through the dark deep woods, +continually within hearing of the savage yells around them, and +trembling with fear, for they could not tell where the Indians were, +and they seemed to be coming upon them. Finally, after a travel of +some hours, the little girls halted with the rest, and were refreshed +with a drink of milk at a farmhouse. In the mean time, while this +was going on in the neighborhood of Buffalo, Mrs. Chapin was +overwhelmed with anxiety about her husband and children. The +sick man she nursed had died, and she was for weeks uncertain of +the fate of her children, and for some days of that of her husband, +for she knew there had been an engagement.</p> + +<p>One woman of masculine bearing, Mrs. St. John, persisted notwithstanding +the general alarm, in staying with her young daughters +to protect their property, and succeeded in obtaining the favor of +having the house she occupied exempted from destruction. It was +the only building saved except the stone jail, which resisted the +efforts to set it on fire. The house was afterwards presented to +Mrs. St. John by the authorities. A neighbor on the opposite side +of the street, a Mrs. Lovejoy, was less fortunate. It was supposed +that fear had driven her into temporary insanity; she made +no attempt to solicit mercy or protection, but barricaded her doors +and windows, and thus awaited the intruders. For a while she was +unmolested, till an Indian, bent on plunder, effected his entrance; +then, instead of submitting to what was inevitable, the loss of her +goods, Mrs. Lovejoy attempted to rescue them, and defended herself +with a large carving knife. In a contest for a red merino long<span class="pagenum" id="Page_369">[Pg 369]</span> +shawl she wounded the savage, nearly severing his thumb from his +hand. The Indian ran across the way to Mrs. St. John, whom he +ordered to bind it up; then hurried back, she knew too well for the +purpose of vengeance. The next thing she heard was a scream, +and presently the savage appeared again, a scalp with a woman’s +long hair hanging from his belt.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Chapin preserved several pieces of plate which were at that +time in her possession. A silver pitcher in her house bears the +inscription:—“Presented by the citizens of Buffalo to Colonel +Cyrenius Chapin, the brave soldier, the good citizen, the honest +man.”</p> + +<p>Tradition says that Tecumseh often caused much annoyance +to one lady in Detroit, by cutting the air with his tomahawk close +to her daughters’ heads; also that her ingenuity devised a scheme +of revenge on one occasion, when her children had the measles, and +the chief had laid himself on her floor to sleep. She gave him the +pillow from under the heads of the sick ones, hoping he would take +the disease and lose his life by following the Indian practice of jumping +into the water in case of fever. There was no time to test the +success of her plan, for shortly after this occurred the battle of the +Thames, in which Tecumseh lost his life.</p> + +<p>A woman in one of the remote counties of Michigan told one of +her neighbors, that after her removal to her new house, when the +few provisions they had been able to bring were exhausted, and the +roads so wretched through the heavily timbered land that it was +scarcely possible to bring supplies from Detroit, her family had lived +on potato tops, boiled with a little salt, till something better could +be raised. In the early settlement of Wayne county a family having +succeeded in getting a pig, penned it up and began to fatten it +for slaughter, when the matron one day, at home alone with her +children, was alarmed by the sight of a huge bear helping himself +without ceremony at her out-of-door larder. Fortunately, she was +acquainted with the use of a rifle, and having wounded, succeeded +in driving away the bear; he was afterwards tracked by the men, +and his thieving career ended with his life.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_370">[Pg 370]</span></p> + +<p>The story of Lucy Chapin—no relative of those mentioned—is +mentioned among the reminiscences of this period. A New England +family, sensible, well-educated, and accustomed to all the advantages +found in long established communities, from a flaw in the +deed securing their farm, found themselves suddenly homeless. One +of the brothers, who had learned the carpenter’s trade, went with +his sister Lucy to Hamburg, near Buffalo, and purchased land, +which he set about clearing to make a home for his mother and the +rest of the family. He built a rough log hut, which was for some +time without a window, the opening being closed when it was cold +or stormy, and the room left in darkness. The brother was obliged +to work out at his trade, for means to carry on improvements at his +own place, and meanwhile the sister was often left alone for three +weeks at a time. She became so nervously sensitive, that the +slightest noise would alarm her, and but for a determined spirit, +and her brother’s cheerful temperament, she thought her reason +would have given way. On one occasion, a weary old man called +at the house to ask for a cup of water; Lucy, terrified she knew +not at what, ran off, and was found by her brother on his return +after one of his long absences, sitting on a stump weeping. He +encouraged her, and both returned home, where they found the +stranger waiting quietly. Their neighbors lived at a considerable +distance, and were all poor and illiterate; they found no congenial +society, avoided all association with others except what necessity +and civility required, and led a life of hermit-like seclusion, +Lucy assisting to provide necessaries by sewing whenever she could +get any work to do. It was not long before a family by the name +of Russell, agreeable, intelligent, and kind-hearted, came to live in +their vicinity; they had been banished by change of fortune from +their early home, but were cultivated, and had books, and their +arrival was joyfully welcomed by the emigrants. Miss Chapin +afterwards kept house in Buffalo for her brother Roswell, who was +engaged in the practice of law, and many anecdotes are told of her +economy, industry, and ingenuity. She described, among her experiences +in the backwoods, her sufferings during an illness when<span class="pagenum" id="Page_371">[Pg 371]</span> +the snow-wreaths often lay upon the coverlet of her bed; their only +security for the door, till it could be hung, being to push the wash-tub +against it. She would never allow her friends at home in New +England to know the trials she endured. “They can never know +the half,” she used to say. The loneliness, anxieties, and hardships +she suffered so long, seriously impaired her health in after life.</p> + +<p>An anecdote illustrative of female quickness of apprehension +and presence of mind, is related of the housekeeper of Gen. Porter, +at Black Rock. Early one morning, before the General had risen, a +party of Indians in the British service, who had crossed from the +Canada side, came to the door, demanding to see him. The housekeeper, +without betraying the least surprise or alarm, informed +them that the General had just gone up to Buffalo, pointing to the +road which led thither by the most circuitous course. As the +savages hurried away, in hopes of overtaking the object of their +pursuit, she gave the alarm to the General, who lost no time in +mounting his horse and riding by the shortest way to the town, +where he arrived in time to make preparation for the enemy.</p> + +<p>Mr. Turner relates a story of “a night with the wolves,” which is +worth mentioning as an incident of pioneer life. One of the early +settlers of Niagara County had just finished building a log hut—the +door only wanting—in the woods, for the occupancy of his family. +It was so far to go to mill, that when it was necessary to fetch a +supply of flour, he was always obliged to be a night away from +home. One night, in his absence, the wife heard wolves snarling +just at the door, which was only defended by a blanket. Terrified +for the safety of her young children, she forgot all fears for herself, +and stood with axe in hand at the opening, keeping guard during +the long hours of that night, till the howling died away in the distance, +and she was satisfied the fierce creatures would return no +more.</p> + +<p>“The early settlers in Farmershill, Cataraugus, drew up a code +of rules for their mutual advantage, from which the following +curious section is extracted: ‘If any single woman over fourteen +years of age shall come to reside in our village, and no one of this<span class="pagenum" id="Page_372">[Pg 372]</span> +confederacy shall offer her his company within a fortnight thereafter, +then in such case our board shall be called together, and some one +shall be appointed to make her a visit, whose duty it shall be to +perform the same, or forfeit the approbation of the company and +pay a fine sufficiently large to buy the lady thus neglected a new +dress.’ Few towns,” continues Turner, “in the Purchase have been +more prosperous; and it is quite likely that this early regulation +aided essentially in the work of founding a new settlement and +speeding its progress.</p> + +<p>As an offset to the above, the same writer gives an account of a +bachelor’s settlement in Orleans County, which, as might be expected, +turned out a failure. A cotemporary says: “They began +in a year or two to go east and get them wives.” This broke +up the establishment, and most of its bachelor founders became +Benedicts and heads of families.</p> + +<p>“By perseverance I succeeded early one morning in getting to +the old burial place of the Senecas. The Indian church—now +used as a stable, with hay protruding from the windows and manure +heaps outside—arrested my attention, and I stopped opposite +the lane leading from the main road to the spot I sought. At the +end of this lane, leaping over a broken rail fence, and following a +little foot-path running by the side of a potato patch, a few steps +brought me to one of the most beautiful and quiet nooks in the +world; a pleasant opening, rather more elevated than the rest of +the field with which it was enclosed, and shaded here and there by +large oaks, the branches of which were now swaying in the wind, +and sighing a requiem to the memory of the red man. Graves +were thickly sown around—some marked by boards, others only by +the swelling of the turf. There were four marble slabs; two in a +picketed enclosure were monuments of white children; one of the +daughter of a clergyman, probably the local missionary. The +most prominent, which was not enclosed, bore the inscription, ‘In +memory of the white woman, Mary Jemison, daughter of Thomas +Jemison and Jane Irwin, born on the ocean between Ireland and +Philadelphia in 1742 or ’3, taken captive at Marsh Creek, Pa. in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_373">[Pg 373]</span> +1755, carried down the Ohio, adopted into an Indian family in +1759, removed to Genesee River, naturalized in 1817, removed to +this place in 1831. Having survived two husbands and five children, +leaving three still alive, she died Sept. 19th, 1833, aged about +ninety-one years, having a few weeks before expressed a hope of +pardon, etc.’ A little beyond Mary Jemison’s grave, was that of +Red Jacket, the celebrated orator and chief.” The stone was much +mutilated, being broken off so as to deface the inscription.</p> + +<p class="gtb">******</p> + +<p><span class="smcap large">Mrs. Anderson</span>, whose house was visited by depredators, +boldly faced them for the protection of her property. Seating herself +on a trunk they were about to carry off, she told them they +might shoot her, but should never possess it while she lived. The +Indians, with a significant “ugh” left her, saying she was too much +of a man to be robbed. One of the early settlers in Plymouth, +Wayne County, Michigan, showed a more timid spirit and fared +worse, it being her practice at first to yield implicitly to their +demands. Once she was compelled to hand out of the oven the +rolls she had just baked for supper. One evening, her husband +having gone to a neighbor’s a quarter of a mile distant, her child +lying asleep in the bed, and she occupied in sewing, the door was +softly opened, and an Indian entered, “with the stealthy tread +peculiar to the moccasined foot.” He made signs that he wanted +whiskey. After going around the house as if in search of the article, +followed by the savage, she took up her child, and making him +understand that it was to be had at the neighbor’s house, motioned +him to follow her, and walked the whole distance through the woods +with him to the place of safety, where she arrived breathless with +terror and agitation.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_374">[Pg 374]</span></p> + +<p class="gtb">******</p> + +<p><span class="smcap large">Eliza Bull</span>, afterwards Mrs. Sinclair, visited the capital of Wisconsin +in 1846 or ’47, and describes the country as very new, and +the society extremely limited. The scenery of the locality was wild +and picturesque, and from the window of her room at the inn Mrs. +Bull could frequently see as many as thirty-six prairie fowls going +to roost in a single tree. Every evening in the winter the sound of +men stunning fish by striking on the ice was plainly to be heard. +One large room in the capitol was appropriated to public gatherings +of all descriptions, and in the course of a single week would be used +for dancing assemblies, public lectures, funeral services, and preaching +by the Methodist congregation. At the balls, the belle of the +company was usually the chambermaid of the tavern which was the +place of entertainment, a young lady of ash-colored complexion, and +locks of similar hue, whose fairy feet were graced with red morocco +boots. The party was often enlivened by the presence of members +of the legislature. These, with a respectable attendance of their +constituents, shuffled around the room with great energy, having +cigars in their mouths, and for the most part wearing their hats. +If their boots or shoes were found inconvenient in their Terpsichorean +evolutions, they were kicked off without ceremony, and the +figures completed in stocking-feet. When supper was ready, the +company rushed pell-mell through a dark passage to the “provender,” +on which they fell to work without mincing.</p> + +<p>Near Madison are four small lakes, beside one of which, on +“Sauk Prairie,” then quite removed from the neighborhood of +civilized residents, stood the dwelling of an Austrian named Harazthy. +He was said to be a count, and his wife’s manners indicated +that they had been accustomed to cultivated society. It was +rumored that his voluntary banishment from his country had been +caused by political difficulties, and that he wished to seclude himself +from the sight and society of men, having been made misanthropic +by disappointed ambition. His father—who was called a general, +and always wore his military dress, came out with the family. The +elder Mrs. Harazthy did not long survive her removal, but died of +very home sickness. The younger used to relate how many years<span class="pagenum" id="Page_375">[Pg 375]</span> +before, a gipsey fortune-teller had foretold that they would remove to +a far country, and that the count’s mother would die in their new +home. Mrs. Sinclair described this foreigner as a fine, tall and +“rosy-faced” woman, with very pleasing manners, and conversation +made the more interesting by her foreign accent and imperfect command +of English. For months after her removal she refused to +receive visitors, but often at twilight would sit at her window looking +out upon the wild and strange scenery, watching sometimes +whole droves of wolves coming down to the lake to drink. Her +family was once startled in the night by piercing cries, and found +at their door a poor woman with a child in her arms; she had been +terrified by what she took for signs of a meditated Indian attack, +and had run twelve miles barefoot through the snow to seek protection, +her husband being absent. Her alarm proved groundless, but +she had endured as much as if flying from a troop of enemies. The +Austrian mentioned kept a variety store for the Indians and the +few settlers who lived in that portion of country. His log dwelling-house +was picturesquely situated on the margin of the lake and the +forest.</p> +<hr class="full"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_376">[Pg 376]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="c23">XXII.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="c sp lsp">MARY ANN RUMSEY.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap large">The</span> perils and privations incident to the occupation of the lands +in Michigan by the first settlers were not, indeed, so terrible or so +romantic as those encountered at an earlier period, when the adventurous +few who penetrated the wilderness were exposed to the fury +of a savage foe, and assaults far more to be dreaded than those of +the wild beasts of the forest. Yet the later pioneers, if they had +not to dispute the possession of the soil at the risk of their lives, +had their trials and sufferings—their dangers too—not the less difficult +to endure because the narration is rather amusing than thrilling. +They had also to struggle with that feeling of isolation and +loneliness which presses heavily on those who have severed all the +endearing ties of home, where cluster those fond attachments only +formed in youth. Many a sad hour was passed in remembrance +and regret by the young wife in the absence of her husband, when +she had no sympathizing friend in whose bosom she could pour her +griefs. Little given to repining as she might be, faithful to her +duties, and disposed to make the best of everything, still thoughts +of the loved ones from whom she had parted for life would weigh +on her spirits, and fill her eyes with tears, brushed hastily away +while she busied herself about her household employments. A +touching instance of the heart’s yearning for companionship occurs<span class="pagenum" id="Page_377">[Pg 377]</span> +to memory, mentioned by one of the female pioneers, who had +been three weeks in their new home without having seen the face +of another woman. “One Sunday,” she said, “I told my husband +that beyond the thick wood, just in the rear of our dwelling, I could +see from the upper window another log house. I wanted him to +go there with me; we went, and as we approached I saw the +woman come out, appearing to be busy about something at the +back door. <i>That was enough</i>; I did not care to go any further; +we went home; I had seen her, and that satisfied me.”</p> + +<p>Ann Arbor is the county seat of Washtenaw County. The Indian +name, <i>Washtenong</i>, signifies “grand” or “beautiful,” and Grand +River takes its name from the same word. It was called “Arbor,” +on account of the noble aspect of the original site of the village, +which was a burr oak opening, resembling an arbor laid out and +cultivated by the hand of taste. For the prefix of “Ann,” it was +indebted, according to undeniable tradition, to two prominent +women whose husbands were the first purchasers and settlers in the +vicinity. Some have maintained that the place owed its entire +name to them, from the fact that they lived, until houses could be +built, in a kind of rude arbor made by poles covered with boughs. +However that may be, it is certain that John Allen and Walter +Rumsey gave the name to the new settlement, afterwards confirmed +by State authority, and ever since retained. Their first garden was +the ground now occupied as the public square; and here Allen, +who had considerable skill in these matters, planted and raised a +fine stock of vegetables, enabling them to supply the neighbors +whom their persuasions had induced to join their little community. +The two leaders above mentioned came in February, 1824, Rumsey +being accompanied by his wife. This couple emigrated from +some part of the State of New York, which has furnished so many +enterprising families among the inhabitants of Michigan. Some of +the New England stock, who were a little proud of their land of +the pilgrims, were accustomed to say they “had <i>stopped</i> some years +in the State of New York on their way to the West.”</p> + +<p>The arbor, or tent, which formed the first shelter for this little<span class="pagenum" id="Page_378">[Pg 378]</span> +party, and served them as such for two weeks, was made of their +sleigh-box, with a rag carpet spread over boughs of trees, which +were of course denuded of leaves; for there grew not an evergreen +within miles, except a few cedars on a hill some two miles +from the locality. They had brought with them a few barrels of +provisions; and as there were no regular roads all the way to +Detroit, and the travelling was tedious and difficult, they lost no +time in making a treaty with the roving Indians, who agreed to +furnish them with regular supplies of corn and venison. On this +they subsisted while they industriously prepared the ground and +planted grain and vegetables to serve them for the coming summer +and winter. “Ann Arbor” had been the favorite dancing ground +of the Pottawattomies, many families of whom lived in the neighborhood. +Their place of council was in the light “opening” +selected by Allen for his garden, on which at this time there was +scarcely a tree. Those that now adorn the square, have been since +planted; most of them more than ten years afterwards.</p> + +<p>The visits of the Indians were peaceable enough, and generally +welcome, for they brought deer and wild turkeys to exchange for +other articles, game being then abundant in the woods. Sometimes, +indeed, when they found none but women at home, they +showed themselves a little disposed to encroach upon hospitality. +Mrs. Rumsey confessed being frightened at one time by their wild +behavior; but assuming a stern and commanding air, she bade +them begone, flourishing a broom at the same time; and though +they could not have been said to be afraid of her weapon, they did not +hesitate to obey. All the cotemporaries of Mrs. Rumsey agree in +describing her as a woman of remarkable beauty and distinguished +appearance, and of energetic character, singularly fitted to be a +useful pioneer in a new country where difficulties and discouragements +must be met with unflinching courage, fortitude, and patient +perseverance. Her commanding aspect—whether natural or the +result of a habit of being foremost in enterprise—was well suited +to her qualities of determination and strength of purpose. Her +cheerful disposition, disregard of hardships, and resolute way of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_379">[Pg 379]</span> +“making the best of everything,” have often been mentioned with +admiration. “When we had been out land-hunting,” said Mr. +Allen, “or otherwise engaged through the day, so that we returned +late and tired out, she was always ready for us with good humor +and <i>a good supper</i>.” By such aid and encouragement is it that +woman—a true help-meet—can hold up man’s hands and +strengthen his heart when disquieted by care and vexation. To be +enabled to appreciate the worth of such a household companion, +one must have spent a year at least in the backwoods. Experience +and necessity here furnished the best kind of education, fitting for +the endurance of every trial, and the thorough enjoyment of the +labor-bought pleasures which are relished most keenly when alternated +with privations.</p> + +<p>In the course of a few months other families moved into the +neighborhood; and on the succeeding Fourth of July (1824), there +was a joyous celebration of the nation’s birthday. The anniversary +falling on a Sunday, it was kept on Monday, having been celebrated +the Saturday before at “Woodruff’s Grove,” near the site of the +present village of Ypsilanti. About forty guests, among whom +were the women of course, sat down to partake of the rustic dinner. +It was either on this occasion, or on the anniversary following, celebrated +also at Ann Arbor, that the family of Mr. White, one of the +“neighbors,” were put to much inconvenience by the escape of their +oxen; which calamity imposed on them the necessity of walking +home in terror, for the distant howling of wolves could be heard all +the way. At the assemblage on the Fourth of July, 1825, the +white inhabitants of the county were present in mass—forty or fifty +in all.</p> + +<p>The howling of wolves was a species of nocturnal music often +listened to by the pioneers of Michigan. A lady who removed +there many years later, says that on moonlight evenings they +often stood to hear their howling, some three miles distant, answered +by the barking of their dogs. The sound was distinct, and appeared +to be much nearer. In the early settlement of the country, +a woman going one day to the spring for water, saw, as she supposed,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_380">[Pg 380]</span> +the dog belonging to the family drinking, and finding +that he did not get out of the way as she came up, struck him +with her pail, which she then filled and carried back to the house. +There she saw the dog lying quietly under the bed, and a sudden +flash of recollection convinced her that she had seen a wolf at the +spring. She roused the men, and the animal was pursued and +killed. Notwithstanding the cowardice of the gray wolf, it was +always, especially in packs, a terror to the women of the country. +Other wild beasts were disposed to dispute with man the possession +of their forest domain. A young woman in Livingston County, +standing one day outside her “shanty,” fancied she heard a crackling +in the boughs of the tree above her, and looking up, caught +the eyes of a panther glaring upon her, as the animal was preparing +for a fatal spring. With a presence of mind which the habit +of looking danger in the face alone could give, she stepped cautiously +backward, still keeping her eyes steadily fixed on the creature, +and slipping behind the blanket which served for a door, took +down her husband’s rifle, which was kept loaded and ready for use. +Lifting a corner of the blanket, she deliberately took aim and fired; +the shot took effect, and the panther fell to the ground in the death-struggle.</p> + +<p>In the eyes of her neighbors, Mrs. Rumsey was a prominent +female member of the community; for such qualities of mind, in a +primitive state of society, never fail to exercise a controlling influence. +Something of romance, too, was added to the interest surrounding +her. It was said—though it might have been mere +gossip—that her early life had been clouded by unhappiness consequent +upon an ill-assorted marriage, and that she had little to +regret in the years passed in her former home. Little was known +of her story, for she never showed herself inclined to be communicative +on the subject, and the intuitive delicacy of her associates forbade +their scrutiny into what plainly did not concern them. Those +were not the days withal when news travelled on the wings of the +wind, or with the flash of the lightning; and if there had been +aught in the experience of former years which she did not wish to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_381">[Pg 381]</span> +recall, Mrs. Rumsey was in no danger of having it snatched from +the friendly keeping of the past, and paraded before the curious +gaze of the public. So the mystery about her remained unfathomed, +as she did not choose to explain it. Her circumstances at that +time were comfortable, and happy in her round of duties, it did +not appear that she suffered her thoughts to dwell on the past, +though once, in a moment of great distress, on the occasion of the +sudden death of a beloved child, she let fall expressions which set +afloat the conjectures of her neighbors, and awakened curiosity +which was never fully satisfied. She was not, however, the less +respected on that account. In the first stages of society, when no +artificial distinctions are recognized, and social intercourse is unrestricted +by form, the standing of individuals is seldom questioned +if they prove useful and agreeable. Mr. Rumsey died at Ann +Arbor, and his widow afterwards married a Mr. Van Fossen, and +removed to Indiana, where she died.</p> + +<p>The first sleighs used by these primitive settlers were made by +bending two poles, which served for runners, a crate for the box +surmounting them. The large double sleigh was an improvement +pertaining to a more advanced stage. Before grain could be raised +it was often necessary, notwithstanding the aid of their Indian allies, +to go to Detroit to procure flour—a journey which usually consumed +a week. Whenever it had to be performed, the labor of +every man in the settlement was in requisition to put the roads in +order. In one case, when the head of a family was detained two or +three weeks by some accident at the mill, the wife dug ground-nuts +and picked up every other edible thing that could furnish food for +herself and children. Another woman who was reduced to her last +biscuit, declared laughingly that she would not have it said they +ever were out of bread in her western home, and had the biscuit +placed every day on the table for a fortnight, till new supplies came. +Game, particularly venison, was plenty in those days, and some of +the settlers, who were excellent hunters, killed enough for the use +of their families and for the demands of hospitality.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_382">[Pg 382]</span></p> + +<p>The second “Ann,” who gave the village of Ann Arbor its name, +came to Michigan in October, 1824, with the parents of her husband, +and his brother, James Turner Allen, who has ever since resided +there and raised a large family. The Allens were from +Augusta county in Virginia, and well to do in the world; they +brought several horses and other stock with them, a useful accession +to the means of the little settlement. The women performed +nearly all the journey on horseback, Ann Allen carrying her infant +child in her arms. This child is now the wife of Dr. Waddell, and +is living in Virginia. Mrs. Allen entered with a ready spirit of +enterprise into the laborious duties required of the wife of a settler. +As the community increased, her husband was called to fill official +stations of importance. He was afterwards twice elected Senator to +the legislature, but the roving habits of his early life, like those of +Daniel Boone, were in the way of his living contented in a settlement +that could no longer be termed “wild,” when lands further +west were yet unexplored. He went to California when the gold +fever was at its height, and died there.</p> + +<p>His widow returned to Virginia. Her bearing and manners were +those of a well-bred lady; uniformly gentle and quiet, and marked +by the ease and refinement which evince habitual acquaintance with +good society. Her maiden name was Barry; she was left an orphan +at an early age, and sent to Ireland to be reared under the care of +a maiden aunt. Her education was completed at Baltimore, under +the charge of her maternal uncle, Mr. Keim. She was quite an +heiress, and was married first to Dr. McCue, of Virginia. Her +many admirable qualities and winning traits of character, are +remembered by all her former neighbors in the village.</p> + +<p>Elizabeth Allen, her mother-in-law, still lives at Ann Arbor. +The character of this excellent matron, who is often described as the +ideal of a pioneer, is so remarkable as to call for a brief notice. +Coming so early to the backwoods, she had to encounter not a few +dangers as well as inconveniencies from the frequent visits of +savages, as yet not used to the sight of civilization. In her youth +she was eminently handsome, and even at the age of seventy-six<span class="pagenum" id="Page_383">[Pg 383]</span> +retains a most prepossessing appearance, having a tall and symmetrical +figure, but slightly bent, with a complexion showing the +freshness of habitual health. Hers was a proud and happy bridal +in the Old Dominion, and she was fondly attached to the country +where her best years had been spent; but she murmured not when +it became her duty to follow her husband to a distant land. He +now lies buried near the spot he chose for his home, with many +relatives around him; and by the widow’s direction, a place beside +him is reserved for her. Her religious faith, always sound and +bright—for she had made it the staff and guide of life—has been +strengthened by the chastening sorrow she has been called to +endure; and the humility with which she has submitted to every +painful dispensation, offers a salutary lesson both to the afflicted and +the prosperous. She has always been noted for the strong practical +sense which fits its possessor for every event and vicissitude, in every +station of life; yet is her heart open and kind, her benevolent impulses +withal being regulated at all times by sterling judgment. +She is one of those persons of whom it can be said, “Place her in +any situation, and she will appear well.”</p> + +<p>In her reminiscences of those early days, Mrs. Allen often speaks +of two young women in particular, who did much to enliven the +society of the place. One of them, Miss Hopy Johnson, undertook +the charge of the school kept in a small log house, to which she +was frequently obliged to walk quite a distance from down the river. +The exposure in all weathers, and with but indifferent protection +against the cold and wet, injured her health, and one evening she +informed the school she should not be able to teach any longer. +James, one of Mrs. Allen’s grandchildren, then under her care, came +running home, so out of breath that he could hardly speak, and +entreated his grandmamma to take the teacher to live in her house. +She promised to decide after consulting her husband, who was then +busily engaged in making “Michigan bedsteads” of tamarack poles +stripped of the bark. Plenty of beds had been brought from Virginia; +but some arrangement might be necessary for the accommodation +of another inmate. However, the child’s entreaty was so<span class="pagenum" id="Page_384">[Pg 384]</span> +urgent for an answer before Miss Johnson should have dismissed +her pupils and gone home, that his grandmother bade him “tell +her she may come and take us as she finds us.” He ran back +delighted, and presently returned with the teacher, so grateful for +the offer of a home which enabled her to continue her beloved occupation, +that when the little boy led her in with—“Grandmamma, +here is Miss Johnson,” she sank upon a seat and wept for joy. This +little incident throws an interesting light on the manners of that +day. When asked how they enjoyed life in the privation of so +many comforts and of the society of old friends, Mrs. Allen would +reply: “We were all brothers and sisters then. When my son +Turner was married, he said, ‘You have always given the other +children a good wedding; I want you to do as well by me;’ and so +we invited everybody in the village, and had as good a supper as +could be got up.”</p> + +<p>True to the habits of a matron of the olden time, Mrs. Allen has +always shown a delicate sense of propriety in her deportment and +conversation. She looks back with some pride to the days of her +bellehood, and speaks occasionally of the sixteen offers received before +she was eighteen; but with her characteristic regard for decorum, tells +of the reproof she once administered to one over forward suitor. In +the mountainous parts of Virginia, where carriages were but little +used, the men and women were accustomed to travel altogether on +horseback. Miss Tate (afterwards Mrs. Allen) was one day in attendance +at a funeral, after the conclusion of which the newly +bereaved widower rode up to the side of her horse, and to her +extreme surprise, expressed a wish that she might be induced to consent +to fill the place of the dear departed one whose mortal remains +had just been laid in the grave. The young lady regarded him +with astonishment and displeasure, and sternly forbade him to name +that subject to her again under a year. Just a year from that day +he proposed in due form, and was rejected!</p> + +<p>Mrs. Allen is accustomed to express herself at all times in a manner +so forcible and decisive, and at the same time with so much dignity, +as to evince talent of no ordinary kind. Frequently her<span class="pagenum" id="Page_385">[Pg 385]</span> +language rises almost to the poetical, without the least design +of ornamental expression. Speaking of a grandchild who was +extremely cold in her manner, she said, “I loved her much, that is, +all she would let me get at to love.” At another time, when a +young mother, showing her little daughter, apologized for the dirt +on her hands, as she had been playing in a sand heap, the +matron replied, “It will do her no harm; there is always rain +enough in the heavens to wash such clean;” thus unconsciously +using a phrase nearly identical with the words of Shakespeare, a poet +with whom she was by no means familiar. Being once asked if she +had not reared a large family, she answered, “Oh, no, I have only +had seven children. I laid out to have no less than a dozen; but the +grandchildren left motherless whom I have brought up, perhaps +make out the number.” She has reared five of these, and has lived +to see the third generation.</p> + +<p>There was a single piano in the settlement, owned by a Miss +Clark, now Mrs. Kingsley; and seldom did she touch the keys +without unexpected listeners. Often, as a shadow darkened the +window, could she observe the form of a Pottawattomie Indian, accompanied +perhaps by two or three squaws with their papooses. +This patriarch of pianos is still extant, and stands as prim as ever +upon its thin legs, a type amongst the scores that have succeeded it, +of a bygone age, and representing something of the stately politeness +and formal breeding of the ladies and gentlemen of its own +date.</p> + +<p>Some, with an obstinately rustic taste, seemed to prefer the rudest +articles of furniture used in the infancy of the settlement, to +the modern improvements afterwards introduced. A housewife in +Michigan, finding the men of her establishment too busy <i>clearing</i> to +lend her much aid, set about contriving a press in which she could +make cheese. She succeeded in making one in the corner of a rail +fence; and it was observed that, thrifty as she was, she could not +be induced without great reluctance, to exchange this press of +her own contrivance for one of more pretension, though adopted +and praised by all her neighbor.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_386">[Pg 386]</span></p> + +<p>Among the privations of the early settlers, not the least was the +difficulty of hearing from the friends they had left at “the East.” +Not only were the mails slow and uncertain, but the postage +of a letter was twenty-five cents; a fourth of a man’s pay for a hard +day’s work. So expensive a treat could not be often indulged in, +and accordingly it seldom happened that more than one or two +letters were exchanged in the course of a year by a single emigrant +family.</p> + +<p>The burning of the marshes often running far into the upland, +which was done every year by the Indians and old hunters, +was sometimes attended by accidents, the fire extending to the opening +and overrunning the land to the destruction of oak-grubs +and tall trees. An enterprising and industrious young emigrant had +built a comfortable house in a pleasant opening for himself +and his sisters, one of whom had charge of it. One day while she +was alone, the brother being absent on business, she discovered that +the grass was on fire, and that the devouring element was rapidly +approaching. All her efforts were bent to keep it from the premises; +but finding she could do nothing to check its progress, and that the +outhouses were in imminent danger, she ran to the door of +her dwelling for her bonnet, threw in her apron which she +pulled off hastily from a woman’s instinctive impulse of neatness, +and without looking back, hurried to the nearest neighbor’s, +some three miles off, for assistance. As soon as possible she +returned with help; but they were greeted by a melancholy sight. +The burning of the grass, it was evident, had not extended to the +house; but the building was in flames, and past the hope of saving +even an article of furniture. The poor girl then discovered that the +fire must have originated from her apron, which probably concealed +a spark when she threw it in; and thus she had the chagrin of +knowing that her very eagerness had been the means of depriving +herself and family of the only shelter they could call their own.</p> + +<p>The mention of fire reminds us of another curious anecdote +recorded in the annals of Detroit. There was at one time a town +ordinance that every house should be provided with a butt of water<span class="pagenum" id="Page_387">[Pg 387]</span> +for use in case of fire, the owner being subject to a fine in case of disobedience. +A widow whose neglect had been passed over several +times by the inspectors, one day saw them coming on their usual +errand, and resolved that they should not have it to say they +had found her cask <i>empty</i>, jumped into it herself. The stratagem +so pleased the men that, laughing heartily, they fetched water and +filled the butt for her.</p> + +<p>Some other incidents illustrative of the times, are mentioned by +the old settlers. One tells how a large sleighing party went at night +to Dexter, and how Judge Dexter figured as a seer, and told the +fortunes of the company. They were very merry returning, though +it was near morning, and intensely cold. A sudden breakdown +took place, and one of the gentlemen was obliged to go back some +distance to borrow an axe to repair the damage. Those left waiting, +fearing that without some precaution they should perish with cold, +spread the buffalo skins on the hard snow, and had a lively +dance upon them; till the sleigh being mended, they returned to +Ann Arbor without further hindrance.</p> + +<p>The inhabitants of Detroit may remember a remarkable old +woman, Mrs. Chappel by name, a true “Betty O’Flanagan,” +who followed in the rear of Wayne’s army, and afterwards kept pushing +away from civilization. At the time my informant knew her, +she kept a small tavern on the Pontiac turnpike, much resorted to +by the young men of the town, it being just distant enough for a +pleasant ride. As the hostess was very homely, they were accustomed +to call her in jest “Old Mother Handsome;” listening +often to the reminiscences with which she was wont to interlard her +preparations for supper. When grumbling at the trouble given her, +she would declare that she should have been better off had “Mad +Anthony” lived. She would have been a fine character for a +romance, and deserves more than a mere mention, as a representative +of the spirit of her day among the ruder class of settlers.</p> +<hr class="full"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_388">[Pg 388]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="c24">XXIII.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="c sp lsp">HARRIET L. NOBLE.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap large">In</span> 1824 there was almost as great an excitement in Western New +York about going to Michigan as there has been recently in regard +to California. One of those enterprising settlers, the wife of Nathaniel +Noble, has favored me with some of her recollections, which present +a graphic picture of early times in this State. No language could +be so appropriate as her own.</p> + +<p>“My husband was seized with the mania, and accordingly made +preparation to start in January with his brother. They took the +Ohio route, and were nearly a month in getting through; coming by +way of Monroe, and thence to Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor. Mr. John +Allen and Walter Rumsey with his wife and two men had been +there some four or five weeks, had built a small house, moved into +it the day my husband and his brother arrived, and were just preparing +their first meal, which the newcomers had the pleasure +of partaking. They spent a few days here, located a farm a little +above the town on the river Huron, and returned through Canada. +They had been so much pleased with the country, that they immediately +commenced preparing to emigrate; and as near as I can +recollect, we started about the 20th of September, 1824, for +Michigan. We travelled from our house in Geneva to Buffalo in +wagons. The roads were bad, and we were obliged to wait in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_389">[Pg 389]</span> +Buffalo four days for a boat, as the steamboat ‘Michigan’ was the +only one on the lake. After waiting so long we found she had put +into Erie for repairs, and had no prospect of being able to run again +for some time. The next step was to take passage in a schooner, +which was considered a terrible undertaking for so dangerous a +voyage as it was then thought to be. At length we went on board +‘the Prudence,’ of Cleveland, Capt. Johnson. A more inconvenient +little bark could not well be imagined. We were seven days +on Lake Erie, and so entirely prostrated with seasickness, as +scarcely to be able to attend to the wants of our little ones. I had +a little girl of three years, and a babe some months old, and +Sister Noble had six children, one an infant. It was a tedious +voyage; the lake was very rough most of the time, and I thought +if we were only on land again, I should be satisfied, if it was a +wilderness. I could not then realize what it would be to live without +a comfortable house through the winter, but sad experience +afterwards taught me a lesson not to be forgotten.</p> + +<p>“We came into the Detroit river; it was beautiful then as now; +on the Canada side, in particular, you will scarce perceive any +change. As we approached Detroit, the ‘Cantonment’ with the +American flag floating on its walls, was decidedly the most interesting +of any part of the town; for a city it was certainly the most +filthy, irregular place I had ever seen; the streets were filled with +Indians and low French, and at that time I could not tell the difference +between them. We spent two days in making preparations for +going out to Ann Arbor, and during that time I never saw a genteelly-dressed +person in the streets. There were no carriages; the +most wealthy families rode in French carts, sitting on the bottom +upon some kind of mat; and the streets were so muddy these were +the only vehicles convenient for getting about. I said to myself, ‘if +this be a Western city, give me a home in the woods.’ I think it +was on the 3d of October we started from Detroit, with a pair of +oxen and a wagon, a few articles for cooking, and such necessaries +as we could not do without. It was necessary that they should be +few as possible, for our families were a full load for this mode of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_390">[Pg 390]</span> +travelling. After travelling all day we found ourselves but ten +miles from Detroit (at what is now Dearborn); here we spent the +night at a kind of tavern, the only one west of the city. Our lodging +was the floor, and the other entertainment was to match. The +next day we set out as early as possible, in hopes to get through +the woods before dark, but night found us about half way through, +and there remained no other resource but to camp out, and make +ourselves contented. The men built a large fire and prepared our +supper. My sister and myself could assist but little, so fatigued +were we with walking and carrying our infants. There were fifteen +in our company. Two gentlemen going to Ypsilanti had travelled +with us from Buffalo; the rest were our own families. We were +all pretty cheerful, until we began to think of lying down for the +night. The men did not seem to dread it, however, and were soon fast +asleep, but sleep was not for me in such a wilderness. I could +think of nothing but wild beasts, or something as bad; so that I had +the pleasure of watching while the others slept. It seemed a long, +long night, and never in my life did I feel more grateful for the +blessing of returning day. We started again as early as possible, +all who could walk moving on a little in advance of the wagon; the +small children were the only ones who thought of riding. Every +few rods it would take two or three men to pry the wagon out of +the mud, while those who walked were obliged to force their way over +fallen timber, brush, &c. Thus passed the day; at night we found +ourselves on the plains, three miles from Ypsilanti. My feet were +so swollen I could walk no further. We got into the wagon and +rode as far as Woodruff’s grove, a little below Ypsilanti. There +were some four or five families at this place. The next day we left +for Ann Arbor. We were delighted with the country before us; it +was beautiful in its natural state; and I have sometimes thought +that cultivation has marred its loveliness. Where Ypsilanti now +stands, there was but one building—an old trading-house on the +west side of the river; the situation was fine—there were scattering +oaks and no brushwood. Here we met a large number of Indians; +and one old squaw followed us some distance with her papoose,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_391">[Pg 391]</span> +determined to swap babies. At last she gave it up, and for one I +felt relieved.</p> + +<p>“We passed two log houses between this and Ann Arbor. +About the middle of the afternoon we found ourselves at our journey’s +end—but what a prospect? There were some six or seven log +huts occupied by as many inmates as could be crowded into them. It +was too much to think of asking strangers to give us a place to stay +in even for one night under such circumstances. Mr. John Allen +himself made us the offer of sharing with him the comfort of a +shelter from storm, if not from cold. His house was large for a log +one, but quite unfinished; there was a ground floor and a small +piece above. When we got our things stored in this place, we +found the number sheltered to be twenty-one women and children, +and fourteen men. There were but two bedsteads in the house, +and those who could not occupy these, slept on feather beds upon +the floor. When the children were put in bed you could not set a +foot down without stepping on a foot or hand; the consequence +was we had music most of the time.</p> + +<p>“We cooked our meals in the open air, there being no fire in +the house but a small box-stove. The fall winds were not very +favorable to such business; we would frequently find our clothes on +fire, but fortunately we did not often get burned. When one meal +was over, however, we dreaded preparing the next. We lived in +this way until our husbands got a log house raised and the roof on; +this took them about six weeks, at the end of which time we went +into it, without door, floor, chimney, or anything but logs and roof. +There were no means of getting boards for a floor, as everything +must be brought from Detroit, and we could not think of drawing +lumber over such a road. The only alternative was to split slabs +of oak with an axe. My husband was not a mechanic, but he managed +to make a floor in this way that kept us from the ground. +I was most anxious for a door, as the wolves would come about in +the evening, and sometimes stay all night and keep up a serenade +that would almost chill the blood in my veins. Of all noises I think +the howling of wolves and the yell of Indians the most fearful; at<span class="pagenum" id="Page_392">[Pg 392]</span> +least it appeared so to me then, when I was not able to close the +door against them. I had the greatest terror of Indians; for I had +never seen any before I came to Michigan but Oneidas, and they +were very different, being partially civilized.</p> + +<p>“We had our house comfortable as such a rude building could +be, by the first of February. It was a mild winter; there was +snow enough to cover the ground only four days, a fortunate +circumstance for us. We enjoyed uninterrupted health, but in the +spring the ague with its accompaniments gave us a call; and by +the middle of August there were but four out of fourteen who could +call themselves well. We then fancied we were too near the river +for health. We sold out and bought again ten miles west of Ann +Arbor, a place which suited us better; and just a year from the +day we came to Ann Arbor, moved out of it to Dexter. There +was one house here. Judge Dexter’s; he was building a sawmill, +and had a number of men at work at the time; besides these +there was not a white family west of Ann Arbor in Michigan territory. +Our log house was just raised, forming only the square log +pen. Of course it did not look very inviting, but it was our home, +and we must make the best of it. I helped to raise the rafters and +put on the roof, but it was the last of November before our roof was +completed. We were obliged to wait for the mill to run in order +to get boards for making it. The doorway I had no means of +closing except by hanging up a blanket, and frequently when I +would raise it to step out, there would be two or three of our dusky +neighbors peeping in to see what was there. It would always give +me such a start, I could not suppress a scream, to which they would +reply with ‘Ugh!’ and a hearty laugh. They knew I was afraid, +and liked to torment me. Sometimes they would throng the house +and stay two or three hours. If I was alone they would help themselves +to what they liked. The only way in which I could restrain +them at all, was to threaten that I would tell Cass; he was governor +of the territory, and they stood in great fear of him. At last we got +a door. The next thing wanted was a chimney; winter was close +at hand and the stone was not drawn. I said to my husband, ‘I<span class="pagenum" id="Page_393">[Pg 393]</span> +think I can drive the oxen and draw the stones, while you dig them +from the ground and load them.’ He thought I could not, but +consented to let me try. He loaded them on a kind of sled; I +drove to the house, rolled them off, and drove back for another load. +I succeeded so well that we got enough in this way to build our +chimney. My husband and myself were four days building it. I +suppose most of my lady friends would think a woman quite out of +‘her legitimate sphere’ in turning mason, but I was not at all particular +what kind of labor I performed, so we were only comfortable +and provided with the necessaries of life. Many times I had been +obliged to take my children, put on their cloaks, and sit on the +south side of the house in the sun to keep them warm; anything +was preferable to smoke. When we had a chimney and floor, and +a door to close up our little log cabin, I have often thought it the +most comfortable little place that could possibly be built in so new +a country; and but for the want of provisions of almost every kind, +we should have enjoyed it much. The roads had been so bad all +the fall that we had waited until this time, and I think it was December +when my husband went to Detroit for supplies. Fifteen days +were consumed in going and coming. We had been without flour for +three weeks or more, and it was hard to manage with young children +thus. After being without bread three or four days, my little +boy, two years old, looked me in the face and said, ‘Ma, why +don’t you make bread; don’t you like it? I do.’ His innocent complaint +brought forth the first tears I had shed in Michigan on account +of any privations I had to suffer, and they were about the last. I am +not of a desponding disposition, nor often low-spirited, and having +left New York to make Michigan my home, I had no idea of going +back, or being very unhappy. Yet the want of society, of church +privileges, and in fact almost every thing that makes life desirable, +would often make me sad in spite of all effort to the contrary. I +had no ladies’ society for one year after coming to Dexter, except +that of sister Noble and a Mrs. Taylor, and was more lonely than +either of them, my family being so small.</p> + +<p>“The winter passed rather gloomily, but when spring came, everything<span class="pagenum" id="Page_394">[Pg 394]</span> +looked delightful. We thought our hardships nearly at an +end, when early in the summer my husband was taken with the +ague. He had not been sick at all the first year; of course he must +be acclimated. He had never suffered from ague or fever of any +kind before, and it was a severe trial for him, with so much to do +and no help to be had. He would break the ague and work for a +few days, when it would return. In this way he made his garden, +planted his corn, and thought he was quite well. About August +he harvested his wheat and cut his hay, but could get no help to +draw it, and was again taken with ague. I had it myself, and both +my children. Sometimes we would all be ill at a time. Mr. Noble +and I had it every other day. He was almost discouraged, and said +he should have to sell his cattle or let them starve. I said to him, +‘to-morrow we shall neither of us have the ague, and I believe I +can load and stack the hay, if my strength permits.’ As soon as +breakfast was over, I prepared to go into the meadow, where I +loaded and stacked seven loads that day. The next day my husband +had the ague more severely than common, but not so with +me; the exercise broke the chills, and I was able to assist him +whenever he was well enough, until our hay was all secured. In +the fall we had several added to our circle. We were more healthy +then, and began to flatter ourselves that we could live very comfortably +through the winter of 1826; but we were not destined to +enjoy that blessing, for in November my husband had his left hand +blown to pieces by the accidental discharge of a gun, which confined +him to the house until April. The hay I had stacked during the +summer I had to feed out to the cattle with my own hands in the +winter, and often cut the wood for three days at a time. The logs +which I alone rolled in, would surprise any one who has never been +put to the test of necessity, which compels people to do what under +other circumstances they would not have thought possible. This +third winter in Michigan was decidedly the hardest I had yet encountered. +In the spring, Mr. Noble could go out by carrying his +hand in a sling. He commenced ploughing to prepare for planting +his corn. Being weak from his wound, the ague returned again,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_395">[Pg 395]</span> +but he worked every other day until his corn was planted. He then +went to New York, came back in July, and brought a nephew with +him, who relieved me from helping him in the work out of doors. +Although I was obliged to stack the hay this third fall, I believe it +was the last labor of the kind I ever performed. At this time we +began to have quite a little society; we were fortunate in having +good neighbors, and for some years were almost like one family, our +interests being the same, and envy, jealousy, and all bitter feelings +unknown among us. We cannot speak so favorably of the present +time.</p> + +<p>“When I look back upon my life, and see the ups and downs, the +hardships and privations I have been called upon to endure, I feel +no wish to be young again. I was in the prime of life when I came +to Michigan—only twenty-one, and my husband was thirty-three. +Neither of us knew the reality of hardship. Could we have known +what it was to be pioneers in a new country, we should never have +had the courage to come; but I am satisfied that with all the disadvantages +of raising a family in a new country, there is a consolation +in knowing that our children are prepared to brave the ills of life, I +believe, far better than they would have been had we never left New +York.”</p> + +<p>In view of the formidable journey described by Mrs. Noble from +Detroit to Ypsilanti, it should be mentioned that it is thirty miles +by railroad, and ten miles thence to Ann Arbor; Dexter being still +ten miles further. As a confirmation of her remark about the awe +in which the Indians stood of Cass, an incident may be mentioned. +One summer’s day, accompanied by his negro man, he rode up, on +his way from the West, to the door of one of the early settlers in +this county, to get a draught of water from the well. As he was +about going on, a party of a hundred Indians on their way from +Detroit, stopped also, and began stacking their guns by the side of +the house, evidently intending to make a long stay. The woman, +who chanced to be alone, was very much frightened, and as the +savages paid no attention to her request that they would go on, +she begged Gov. Cass to interfere. He spoke a few words to them<span class="pagenum" id="Page_396">[Pg 396]</span> +in their own language, and as soon as they knew him, they shouldered +their weapons and were “marching off in double quick time.”</p> + +<p>The old picturesque looking windmill on the American side of +the Detroit river, is the one to which all the people in western +Michigan, some thirty years ago, were obliged to come for their +grinding. It is now dismantled of its wings, and the tower in a +ruinous state.</p> + +<p>The lady whose narrative is quoted is, it will be acknowledged, +“a pioneer indeed.” She is, moreover, an interesting and charming +woman, and admirable in all the relations she has filled. Her manner +is described as being remarkably attractive, and her portraiture +in conversation of the hardships and peculiarities of pioneer life, as +being vivid and thrilling. “She talks with so much spirit,” says +one of her friends, “that I know she can make a more sprightly +narrative than any I have read.” Her children have prospered +and are most highly respected, and neither they nor their descendants +will be likely to forget how deeply they are indebted to a +mother so enterprising and energetic, and so affectionately mindful +of their interests.</p> + +<p class="gtb">******</p> + +<p>The village of Dixboro’ in Washtenaw County, Michigan, was first +laid out by Mr. Dix of Massachusetts, and was once somewhat flourishing, +though now a miserable looking place, owning scarce a dwelling +that is not in a state of dilapidation. The inhabitants are not +remarkable for superstition; yet it is curious to notice how strong is +the current belief even to the present day, in an old ghost story. +“To doubt it,” says a resident, “is to offer a personal insult.” The +tale ran briefly thus: A new settler by the name of Van Wart, a +relative of one of the captors of André, who had taken up his quarters +in a house recently occupied by a widow then deceased, testified +to the nocturnal visits of an apparition, whom the neighbors supposed +to be no other than the woman’s ghost. From what transpired +during these visitations, it was supposed she had been murdered<span class="pagenum" id="Page_397">[Pg 397]</span> +by her brother-in-law for the sake of concealing some crime committed +years before. The matter was made the subject of legal +investigation, and Van Wart’s testimony taken in full, under oath, +by the magistrate before a jury. The grave was opened and the +body examined to ascertain if her death had been caused by poison; +probably the only instance in this century at least of a corpse being +disinterred upon the evidence of a ghost! The appearance of the +dead was startlingly like the description given by the ghost seer, who, +had never seen her living; but nothing was found to justify condemnation +of the accused, who was accordingly released and left the +country. The Scotch physician who attended the woman in her +last illness, and was supposed to be implicated in the deed, also +quitted the community. The old log house is still standing, with +the room called Tophet, because appropriated to the use of the sick +as a hospital—now in a sadly tumbledown condition, but once the +seat of cheerful hospitality. In the olden time, many a merry company +from Ann Arbor was wont to resort there, spending the evening +in dancing and festivity. Ypsilanti and Dexter were also favorite +places of resort for sleighing and pic-nic parties. The latter village +was laid out by Judge Dexter, brother to the celebrated lawyer of +that name in Boston.</p> + +<p>Miss Frances Trask was a cousin of Mrs. Dix, and figured prominently +at that day in the little community as a belle somewhat on +the Amazon order. She had much talent, with a degree of cultivation +that caused her to be looked up to with respect as a person of +unusual accomplishments; she possessed, moreover, real worth and +good qualities of heart; but her eccentricities and unfeminine defiance +of general opinion in many trifling matters, often startled her +quiet neighbors, and made it necessary for those who loved her most +to defend her from censure. She was much admired by the men; +her piquancy of wit, force and decision of character, and a sort of +happy audacity, setting off to advantage her personal attractions. +Yet she was not wanting in fitness for the usefulness peculiar to +woman; in cases of sickness she could do more than any one else, +and would watch for many nights together, bearing fatigues under<span class="pagenum" id="Page_398">[Pg 398]</span> +which an ordinary constitution must have sunk. In emergencies +that required prompt action, her energy was praised with enthusiasm +by her own sex. Finally, when pecuniary embarrassments made it +necessary for Dix and his family to leave their home, and the wife, +a gentle, ladylike creature, was overpowered with grief, and could +do little to expedite preparations, Frances was the <i>nerve</i> of them all. +She packed up everything, dressed the children one by one the last +morning, placing each on a chair when in readiness, with orders not +to move, and with cheerful alacrity arranged everything for their +departure. She had accustomed herself to firing at a mark, and +was considered one of the best shots in the country, besides being +able to ride a horse with any racer. It was said she could cut off a +chicken’s head at an almost incredible number of rods, and that she +often went out deer hunting; but this last tradition does not vouch +for. She was the life of pic-nics or pleasure parties, and seldom let +pass an opportunity of making a smart or satirical speech, sometimes +at the expense of delicate regard for the feelings of others. A +certain Judge Thompson, who had held office at Batavia at the time +of Morgan’s abduction, as sheriff of the county, and had earned a +notoriety in no wise enviable, chanced to be helping her at a pic-nic +on one occasion, and began to rally her on her penchant for meat; +“Yes,” she retorted, “I am fond of flesh; you of blood;” a rejoinder +which was keenly felt by the mortified official.</p> + +<p>On another occasion the lady seems to have met her match, being +excessively annoyed by a gallant who chose to vex her by pretending +to mistake her name, calling her “Miss Trash,” and then correcting +himself with an apparently confused apology. She used to +laugh heartily in mentioning a speech meant to be particularly ill-natured, +levelled at her at a dinner party at Ypsilanti by a lady of +her own stamp, who had become irritated beyond forbearance by +some of her sallies. Looking significantly at Miss Trask, she gave +her toast, saying, “When Boston next takes an emetic, I hope it will +turn its head towards the ocean.”</p> + +<p>It may well be imagined that those to whom Miss Trask chose +to be amiable, liked her much, while she was thoroughly detested<span class="pagenum" id="Page_399">[Pg 399]</span> +by those who had suffered from the arrows of her wit. Strange as +it may seem, she was held in high esteem by many of her own sex, +notwithstanding her boldness of carriage, from which it may be +inferred that she affected to be more lawless than she was in reality. +She accompanied Mr. Dix and his family when they removed to +Texas. Some two years since, when she returned on a visit to +Michigan, the manifest change and improvement in her bearing and +manners were the subject of general remark. She had grown absolutely +quiet and dignified; so that those who had heard only of +her early fame, expressed some disappointment at not finding her +the dashing, sprightly creature she had been represented. Time +and the trials and labors incident to life in a new country had tamed +her wild spirit; she had mourned the loss of a brother in the Texan +service, and had undergone a second term of the difficulties and +privations of pioneer life. The government of Texas, however, had +shown that they appreciated her services by voting her a large tract +of land in compliment to her opening the first seminary for young +ladies in that State. This possession, with the portion of land +assigned to her deceased brother, made her a wealthy woman. +Among the curiosities she brought from her new home, her Mexican +blanket attracted great attention from its novelty, elegance and +richness. Some said it had been valued in Boston at a thousand +dollars. A story had gone about, the details of which were denied +by the heroine, that during the struggle in Texas, a Mexican +attempting to force his way into the house at a time when Mr. Dix +was too ill to act on the defensive, had been shot by the intrepid +sister-in-law.</p> + +<p>It may be conjectured that Miss Trask had many admirers. +She had been engaged at Dixboro’ to Sherman Dix, a relative +of her brother-in-law, and somewhat her junior; but they quarrelled, +it was said, upon one occasion when she was suffering +from an attack of ague—about some trifling matter, and the +suitor was peremptorily dismissed. When the family removed +to Texas some years afterwards, the young man followed, and remained +a bachelor; whether on account of a lingering attachment<span class="pagenum" id="Page_400">[Pg 400]</span> +to the fair inconstant, or some other reason, it has not been recorded. +Miss Trask’s matrimonial destiny at length overtook her; she married +at Austin a Mr. Thompson, and was left a widow in a few +months. Her nephew by marriage is Secretary of State in Texas +and a son and daughter of Mr. Thompson reside at Chicago.</p> + +<p class="gtb">******</p> + +<p>Among the early settlers of Michigan who deserve a notice, should +be numbered Mrs. Hector Scott, the daughter of Luther Martin, the +lawyer who so ably and successfully defended Aaron Burr. She +came to the State before 1837, and is still residing in Detroit. She +has passed through many severe reverses and trials; but her intellectual +ability, energy, and firmness of character, have sustained her, +constraining the admiration and respect of all who enjoy her acquaintance. +Like her, Mrs. Talbot, once a celebrated beauty, retains the +dignified manners of the olden time. She was the daughter of +Commodore Truxton. She still resides on her farm near Pontiac; +the ancient log house embowered in eglantine, and showing evidence +within doors of a refinement of taste which can invest with elegance +the homeliest materials.</p> + +<p>At Union City, in the southern part of Michigan, lives Mrs. +Mosely, daughter of the missionary, Bingham, and the first white +child born in the Sandwich Islands. The first child born at the +Falls of St. Anthony was Mrs. Horatio Van Cleve, the daughter of +Maj. Nathan Clark. Orren and Ann White, descendants of the +New England pilgrims, came to Ann Arbor the second year after +its settlement, and still reside on the place they purchased, about +two miles from the village.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Goodrich, one of the pioneers, who came with her husband +and family to Michigan as early as 1827, prides herself somewhat +on a thrifty grape vine which ornaments her beautiful garden, +brought by her from New England, and a shoot from those vines +at “Bloody Brook,” the tempting clusters of which enticed the unfortunate +young men whose massacre gave name to the locality<span class="pagenum" id="Page_401">[Pg 401]</span> +Miss Hoit, who lived in the northern part of Livingston County, +when the country was covered with thick forests, wandered one day +so far, while gathering wild flowers, that she entirely lost her way. +In her distress she heard the tinkling of cow-bells, and following the +sound, remained with the cattle till evening, when she went home +in safety under their escort.</p> + +<p>The wife of a pioneer who had lived in “the bush” nearly three +years without seeing another white female face, has spoken of the +delight with which she found a dandelion in bloom near her door-step. +Probably the seed of the golden flower had been brought +with that of the “tame grass,” as they called “timothy” in distinction +from the native marsh grass; and its unexpected appearance +brought back so vividly her old home associations and +remembrance of the beloved ones there, that she could not resist +the impulse to “sit down and have a good cry.” “I felt less lonely,” +she said, “all that day, and ever since. My dandelions are the only +ones in the settlement, and I take care that they and the white +clover, which has since made its appearance, shall not run out.” +Another in Illinois, who had for a long time lived without windows, +found herself at last able to indulge in the luxury of glass panes, +and had a small window set, so that she could see to sew in the +day-time in winter. All the first day, while plying her needle, she +found herself continually looking off, to wonder at the novelty of +what she had been formerly used to regard as an indispensable convenience. +The dwellers on the heavily timbered land, which unlike +the pleasant “openings” where the sunshine falls, afforded no relief +except the “clearing” marked with blackened stumps, were subjected +to dangers as well as inconvenience. Mrs. Comstock, describing +her primitive home in Shiwasse County, says,—“We had +previously had a log house erected in the woods, but we came up +in a boat by the river, and when we reached the spot, were obliged +to have a road cut before we could get to our home. Here for a +long time I never dared trust our children outside the enclosure for +fear of the bears; for those animals would often come close about +us, even to the fence.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_402">[Pg 402]</span></p> + +<p>Many of the families who had removed to Detroit before the war +of 1812, returned east previous to its outbreak, being in dread of +attacks from the Indians in the neighborhood, who were known to +be in British pay, and made frequent demonstrations of hostility; +sometimes encamping near the houses of residents in numbers +of three or four hundred. Captives brought to Detroit by the +savages, were often purchased there to save them from a more terrible +fate. A young girl who had been thus taken into a family, one +day seeing a party of Indians pass by, uttered a piercing shriek, +and fell senseless to the floor. On recovering consciousness, she +declared that she had seen her mother’s scalp in possession of one +of the savages, recognizing it by the long light braid of hair. Her +story was confirmed by a person who had seen the mother and +daughter brought with other prisoners from near Sandusky, Ohio. +The mother being in feeble health, and unable to travel as fast as +was required, was tomahawked, her daughter being hurried on in +ignorance of the cruel murder.</p> + +<p>At the time of Hull’s surrender, the women expressed much indignation. +A Mrs. Woodward, since well known in Detroit, mentions +a hairbreadth escape. One morning during the war, she had +risen, dressed herself as usual, and was sitting by an open window +which looked upon the Canada side; suddenly a cannon-ball whizzed +past her face and buried itself in the side of the house. She avers +that it actually straightened the curls of her hair.</p> + +<p>The preceding notices may serve to show something of the privations +and perils encountered by female pioneers in Michigan, +and the heroism, patience, and energy with which they were met, +as well as afford a glimpse into the peculiar character which, marking +the early settlers, has in some degree been transmitted to their +children.</p> +<hr class="full"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_403">[Pg 403]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="c25">XXIV.</h2> +</div> + + +<p><span class="smcap large">Even</span> as late as 1835, the emigrants who poured into Michigan, +often building their homes in the dense forest or on wild prairie land, +are entitled to be called pioneers. An idea of the scenery of portions +of the peninsula at that period, and the mode of living +among the early settlers, may be given best in the language of one +who has had opportunity of observing them. For this purpose, I +am permitted to make a few extracts from a manuscript journal +kept by a highly gifted and accomplished lady, now residing in the +western part of New York, who travelled in that year on horseback +through the lower peninsula:</p> + +<p>“Bronson (now Kalamazoo), May 28th, 1835. Owing to the +uniform progress of journeying day after day from Jacksonburgh +to Marshall, a distance of thirty-six, and from Marshall hence, of +thirty-seven miles, ‘the little lines of yesterday’ have well-nigh +faded without being noticed. The memory of the beautiful, and +of such beauty—a forest in its wildness—is so much more powerful +than distinct, and having the same characteristics, presents so +much uniformity that but little record can be made. On our route +we passed over some twenty miles through the wild woods, without +seeing a human being. The foliage was just bursting from its +numberless sheaths into rich drapery, our pathway was literally<span class="pagenum" id="Page_404">[Pg 404]</span> +strewn with flowers, the horses pressing them at every step, while +the birds in their leafy homes, deluged the otherwise unbroken +stillness with wild and delicious melody. The silence of the deep +forest, during the brief intervals of these untaught lays, seems +strangely oppressive; yet ere you can analyze its unwonted power, +earth’s lyre, with its myriad tones, is struck again, and you are +roused to the liveliest sympathy. I had somewhat the feeling of +Milton’s Eve, differently applied. She asked, ‘Wherefore all night +long <i>shine</i> these?’ My heart-query was, ‘Wherefore all this +wealth of varied note and strain?’ But the same heart answered, +‘These feathered songsters know of home, and love, and sweet +companionship, and joyously give thanks for the gift of being, telling +to each other, and to Him who made them, of the blessing of +life.’</p> + +<p>“This day we first saw the Kalamazoo River—a narrow, dark +stream. We stopped at a small log cabin, which on its shingle +sign advertised ‘Entertainment for man and beast;’ doubtless after +the fashion of the settlements the proprietors had left, and we were +grateful for any shelter from the noonday sun. I noticed, while +sitting in an inner room, to which, as a lady traveller, I was ceremoniously +conducted, that the landlord eyed my husband with singular, +yet irresolute attention. I did not fancy, however, that he +had ever seen him before. He was an odd-looking personage; +rather slight in his general proportions, and short in stature; he +had large, prominent features, overshadowed by a shock of coarse +yellow hair, faded and worn, that gave him a wild and savage +aspect, particularly as this hair and his complexion seemed scarcely +to vary a shade in tint. After repeated advances, accompanied +with stolen and hurried glances at my husband, he rushed out from +his so-called bar, and broke out into a sort of earnest thanksgiving, +blessing him for having ejected him from one of the small pieces +of land contracted to settlers in western New York. He went on +to say that he did not at first recognize him, but he did now, and +could tell him that sending him from that farm was one of the best +things that ever happened to him; that after he was sent away<span class="pagenum" id="Page_405">[Pg 405]</span> +because he could not pay a cent on his land, he came to this +place, and would not give ten acres of it for fifty like that he left in +the State of New York. Setting aside the intrinsic value so earnestly +put forth, this new and much-prized possession was truly a +beautiful spot. The dark current of the river was rushing with +arrowy swiftness past the trail on which he had piled his log dwelling. +A fine piece of rising ground formed the back-ground, which +was imperfectly subdued by cultivation, while a little to the west a +scene lay revealed that might do for a glimpse of fairy-land. A +small lake, with its sparkling waters, reposed like a jewel in its +dark green setting. The forest, on the one side, was enlivened with +the luxuriance of the dog-wood, now in full blossom as far as the +eye could reach. The large white flowers dispensed in such profusion, +gave more the aspect of a boundless garden of lilies, than the +unsuspected treasures of an uncultivated wilderness. There were +clear openings on the other side, the meadow-like ground being +just sprinkled with trees, as if arrayed for picturesque landscape +beauty, affording wider vistas from the foliage only making itself +seen in delicate tracery, not being yet quite unfolded.</p> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">‘Many an elf and many a fay</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Here might hold their pastime gay.’</div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + + +<p>“Our landlady for the hour seemed to share fully her husband’s +feelings of self-gratulation, though she told me it was pretty hard +times when they had to live in and under their ox-wagon during the +early spring days, while the logs were felled and put up for their +home. This log house would be quite an object of interest to persons +unaccustomed to the pristine dwellings of the western territories. +It seemed to consist of three distinct buildings, probably put +up at different periods, to meet the increasing demands of ambition +as prosperity more abounded. What was evidently the first pile +of logs, was used as a bar-room of the roughest construction. This +also served as a counter for the ready-change business of this +much frequented inn. The boards, or rather planks of the floor, +were hewn, and laid down so unequally as to be perilous to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_406">[Pg 406]</span> +an unwary or even rapid step. Directly in the rear was the +kitchen, in which the culinary implements and table necessaries +were arranged, evidently with an attempt at order without the recognized +law thereunto of anything in heaven or earth. The cooking +apparatus was so simple, and the vessels for various uses so few +in number, as to excite my wonder and admiration at woman’s +homely tact and skill; and wayworn traveller though I was, the +preparation for our noonday meal was almost as engrossing as the +partaking thereof after it was prepared. A third division of the +house served as a <i>parlor</i> for our hostess, and as an occasional bedroom +for ‘special people’—a phrase which I found quite current as +a designation for the more fastidious class of travellers, who now +began to pass through this hitherto almost unknown territory. +Above the main part of these buildings extended a sort of garret, +lighted by a window of four small panes in one end, and the opening +of the ladder-way—the only mode of entrance. This was the +dormitory of India-rubber like capacity for the multitudes who in +this season of land-speculation, did here nightly congregate.</p> + +<p>“On the fifth of June, we pursued our journey toward the south-eastern +part of the territory, intending to take a look at Lake Michigan +from the mouth of the St. Joseph’s River. Our way lay +through forests and openings similar to those through which we +had passed for days, but afterwards we struck into the more heavily +timbered land, which the growth of the advancing season had clad +with cumbrous garments of foliage, closing up the vistas of beauty +and light; in places denying the summer sun its right to rest upon +the flowers and shrubs it had but lately warmed into being. At +nearly noon, we came upon the edge of a large prairie, the +largest in the Territory, which although much smaller than those +spread farther westward, had still all the distinctive features of those +vast and undulating plains. The landscape was expanded and beautiful, +and yet one can scarcely make intelligible the penetrating sentiment +of its beauty. Perhaps the first influence consisted in the +sense of relief from the pent up feeling we had experienced in the +close pressure as it were, of the deep, dark forest from which we<span class="pagenum" id="Page_407">[Pg 407]</span> +emerged. In the centre of this plain was a collection of ‘innumerous +boughs’ like an island in the midst of circling waters. The +prairie was begirt by a belt of timbered land, though the outline +was so dim in the distance, as rather to look like a lazy cloud resting +for support upon the verge of the horizon. We gave our +horses the reins, and they cantered merrily across the rich plain, the +whole covered in this early summer with short and close grass. +Innumerable flowers raised their variegated heads between the tiny +meshes of network woven by the wild pea, while the butterflies, +with their bright tints and quick fluttering wings, were perpetually +upspringing, startled by our approach. After crossing the prairie +we again struck into the forest, having previously stopped at the +island inn for some refreshment.</p> + +<p>“Towards evening, as was our wont, we felt that we must look +along our way for some lodging for the night. Our custom had +been, except in the villages, not to seek accommodation at the inns +scattered at irregular distances along the road. The new settlers +continually moving in toward their purchases, and the number of +speculators in pursuit of locations on which to raise, not dwellings, +but future fortunes, so completely filled them up, as to render it an +impossibility to find for a lady even momentary seclusion, much less +repose. Our practice was as soon as we found the shadows beginning +to lengthen, to stop at the first decent log house and ask for +a drink of water. Getting the water afforded time and opportunity +for reconnoitering; and if the tin cup or basin in which the draught +was offered looked clean, and the premises in any way inviting by +comparison, we made the request that we could be accommodated +for the night. We had not on this evening seen any houses, the +tract of country through which we had been passing for some hours +being without settlement.</p> + +<p>“On coming up to some woodmen whose gleaming axes told that +their whereabouts was near at hand, we stopped, and after exchanging +mutual glances of inquiry, my husband asked if they could tell +us where we could find a tavern? They looked at each other and +then askance at us. The question was repeated again; they looked<span class="pagenum" id="Page_408">[Pg 408]</span> +bewildered, when my husband thoughtfully changed his phrase and +said—‘Where can I stay to-night, and have good care taken of +my horses?’ The answer then came quickly—‘Oh, at Nicholas +B—’s, the Hooshier’s, he has a first-rate place, and takes in every +night a great many folks.’ We made two or three further inquiries +and passed on, with our expectations considerably raised in prospect +of the promised accommodation.</p> + +<p>“Just after sunset, we reached the place designated by the woodman, +and peering through the gloaming, I espied a good-sized +frame barn, with an enclosure, and all the appearance of a well +stocked barn and rick. I fairly screamed with delight, so important +to our further journey was the welfare of our horses, and so certain +did the indication seem of a comfortable resting place for my own +wearied limbs. We soon came out of the forest, upon the edge of +a small prairie; there stood the barn in very truth, but I looked +around in vain for the house which I had pictured in such glowing +colors to myself, as presenting some comparison in size and comfort +to the barn. A sudden chill of loneliness came over us. There +lay the prairie, about three hundred acres in extent, shrubless and +bare, except the patches of recent cultivation, which, however, in the +dim light, gave but little indication of richness or growth. The +trees shut us in completely, and after traversing the deep forest +as we had been for hours, we could not even let imagination picture +a livelier or brighter scene beyond. Night came rapidly on, while +we stood baffled, without a present sign of human existence. Our +horses had for a mile or two been lagging, perhaps in memory of +the morning scamper and noon-day refreshment; and now the +whole group seemed peculiarly sensible of the influence of solitude, +which in us soon resolved itself into utter dreariness. A fresh +glance of scrutiny, however, enabled us to descry a very small hut +jutting into the woods, as uninviting a log house as we had seen in all +our wanderings. We both looked at it for some moments without +speaking, so completely paralyzed were all our high raised expectations. +I then exclaimed, ‘We cannot stay in that hovel.’ But +fastidiousness was soon displaced by eagerness with me, when my<span class="pagenum" id="Page_409">[Pg 409]</span> +husband calmly said—‘We must find shelter there or in the barn, +for no further can we go to-night.’ We urged our horses to the +door; a well stood directly in front of it, a rare and great treasure in +a new settlement, and after grateful notice of this, my husband +entered the dwelling. He asked the woman civilly, ‘if she could +accommodate us for the night.’ Her answer came quick in utterance +and shrill in tone. ‘I suppose I shall have to, any way.’ +Such was our welcome. But necessity here giving no scope to +pride, or even wonted self-respect, obliged me to dismount and +receive the favor so grudgingly bestowed. The woman was perhaps +about thirty years of age, plain in feature, and old-fashioned beyond +my memory in attire. Her dress was a thick striped material, +woven to defy time and its ravages. It was unlike any fabric to +which I had been accustomed. It fitted the figure almost closely, +low in the neck, with sleeves just coming below the elbow. The +dress was extremely short-waisted, without a particle of fulness in +the skirt, save the ordinary plaiting just behind essential to convenience. +She had on no shoes or stockings, and a faded bandana +handkerchief was tied in a loose knot around her neck. Her hair +was bound straight about her head, and fastened with some sort +of a metal comb, just large enough to perform its office.</p> + +<p>“On my entrance a wooden chair was handed me, after being +hurriedly dusted; it was low and rickety, but it instantly bestowed +the promise of rest, which I so much craved after sitting so many +hours in the saddle. My husband, without entering the hut, went +on the woman’s vague direction to find the landlord, that our +horses, whose prospects of accommodation were so far beyond ours, +might speedily receive attention. As soon as he was gone, I essayed +an acquaintance with my hostess, and soon believed that her +want of courtesy at our reception proceeded more from a fear of +not being able to make us comfortable, than from vexation at the +present trouble. Two children, the eldest of them not more than +two years of age, divided her care with the present bustle of preparing +a meal and entertaining me by rapid talking. Her face became +almost pleasant with the interest it soon showed in transforming<span class="pagenum" id="Page_410">[Pg 410]</span> +me into a newspaper, from which she could extract without much +trouble the information desired by woman, let her nook of the +world be ever so obscure, or her connection with the things without +ever so slight. I had in my daily progress become quite used to +this sort of questioning, and in some instances had to make my +tarrying a lasting memorial of usefulness, by drawing patterns of +certain garments, collars, caps, etc., with a coal on the floor or table, +where paper could not be had, so that when cloth could be procured +the latest mode might be used in its fashioning. While thus +engaged in conversation, growing in self importance every moment, +and quite forgetting that I was an unwished-for guest, I took a +survey of the house. It was, of course, built of logs, fourteen feet +by sixteen; its sides five feet six inches in height, and the roof +covered with strips of bark. A few scattering boards made the +floor. It had not the ordinary stick and round chimney common +to log houses, but a sort of box was made of split logs at one end +of the room; this was filled in with dirt and ashes, and the fire +built in the centre of it. An opening in the ill-made roof permitted +the smoke to find egress, though occasional puffs during the +process of getting supper, advised us of its loitering presence. +After my survey of the room itself, I began to take notice of the +furniture, and more especially of its sleeping facilities. Two bedsteads, +each sustained by <i>one</i> post—-quite an anomaly in my previous +experience of cabinet furniture; a large chest, which had +evidently borne journeying when the essay at house-keeping was +made away from the paternal home; a small box of home manufacture, +and some other absolute essentials to the wants of even the +poorest dwelling, constituted its wealth. I must add a note of description +of the bedsteads. Two sides were formed by the projection +of the logs of which the hut was made into the room; the <i>one</i> +post supported the other two pieces, which were on the other ends +inserted into the sides of the house. Feather-beds were heaped +high upon them, and these were covered with blue and white +woollen coverlids, doubtless part of the portion brought by the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_411">[Pg 411]</span> +young wife to her husband. Small pillows, with clean-looking cotton +pillow-cases, completed their decoration.</p> + +<p>“I had noticed that my hostess, during her bustle and constant +chat with me, had gone frequently to the door, and looked anxiously +into the increasing darkness, I of course supposed from no other +motive than a desire to find out whether my husband had found +hers, and secured attention for our horses. But not so interested +was she in her stranger guests. At another visit to the low door, +her anxiety could not be restrained, and she exclaimed, ‘I wonder +where my children can be! They ought to have been here more +than an hour ago; they are always out of the way when I want +them.’ I looked aghast. More children! How many—how old! +What could be done with them! I had been puzzling myself to +know how <i>six</i> of us could be accommodated in the two beds, and +in this tiny room; and now an indefinite number to be expected, +how could we be made even tolerably comfortable? Speculation—quiet +though it was—was soon to be ended by more precise apprehension, +when <i>four</i> children, three boys and a girl, came rushing +from the woods into the house, animated by all the buoyancy of +hungry little mortals just liberated from a day’s confinement and +control. It being quite dark without, the light, small as it was +within the dwelling, formed a strong contrast, and the little urchins +were so suddenly arrested upon perceiving a stranger, that they +stood like so many statues, incapable of thought or movement. +The remonstrance of the mother quickly restored them, and then +began importunate demands for something to eat. Thus there +were six children, the father and mother, with ourselves, to be +stowed away for the night. It was in vain for me to speculate +upon the probable disposition of these numbers, so trusting as I +had often done before to the elastic capabilities of these log houses, +I determined to bide my time.</p> + +<p>“Our host came in with my husband, both bending low in passing +through the door. My husband gave a wistful glance at me, and +seemed reassured when a <i>widened</i> rather than a <i>lengthened</i> face was +turned upon him. Truth to tell, I was almost convulsed with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_412">[Pg 412]</span> +laughter at some of the previous proceedings of my hostess. The ill-jointed +planks which served for our floor, were quickly brushed +hither and thither with an Indian broom (made of wood finely +splintered); the flying dust seeming to have no particular destination, +save to seek new places of deposit. The children were repeatedly +hushed and pushed into sundry nooks and corners, while +the cooking of the supper went on. The little urchins peered at the +stranger, and anon played tricks with each other, when a sudden +burst, caused by outbreaking mischief, would occasion a new effort +at quieting. In process of time our supper was served, and ere long +we gathered to the meal. The table was an oaken plank, supported +by three stout sticks put into bored holes, for legs. A table-cloth +being altogether a superfluous luxury, we dispensed with it; some +bread, baked in an open kettle, pork fried in the same utensil, and +tea with maple sugar, formed the variety presented to us. Neither +milk nor butter were afforded, and yet we were at a regular house +of entertainment, kept by a large landed proprietor. Strange to +say, the meal was quite palatable, eaten with a healthful appetite +after a day’s ride on horseback of some thirty-five miles. Soon after +tea, the children being fed by pieces put into their hands during the +time we were supping, I ventured to hint, that as I was very tired I +should like to go to bed. The woman went to the chest which I +had before noticed, took out two clean sheets, spread them upon one +of the feather beds, and again put on the woollen coverlet, although +it was a June night, a fire burning briskly, and ten persons were to +inhabit the small apartment. Immediately after the bed was prepared, +the hostess said in an authoritative tone to her husband, +‘Nicholas, the lady wishes to go to bed; turn your face to the +wall.’ Nicholas, as if accustomed to this nightly drill, wheeled +swiftly about, and stood as still as if suddenly become one of the +scanty articles of furniture.</p> + +<p>“This said Nicholas looked somewhat like a barbarian, his bushy +head and unshaven beard presenting quite a wild appearance. He +however seemed intelligent enough for his locality and business, +and took most excellent care of our horses. My toilet for the night<span class="pagenum" id="Page_413">[Pg 413]</span> +was very speedily made, and I threw myself on the bed, having first +removed the odious coverlet. Still no new developements were +made in reference to the accommodation of the youthful group; +ere long, however, sundry signs of sleepiness appeared, betokened +by fretfulness and some quarrelling, and then the mother proceeded +to lift out two trundle beds made of pieces of board nailed together. +The absence of rollers made the operation rather laborious, but the +husband and father vouchsafed not his aid. It was finally done by +the woman alone, and into these five of the little ones were speedily +placed. Very soon after, the dim, flickering light was put out, and +we were left utterly abandoned, as I feared, to suffocation. I remonstrated +decidedly against the shutting of the door, but was told there +was fear of the wolves; and indeed before morning our ears were +saluted with the shrill, though somewhat smothered howl of these +prowlers of the forest. I bore the heat and bad air for several hours, +and then in desperation for want of a pure breath, I commenced +picking the chinking out from between the logs at the side of the +bed, and in this way secured for myself a breathing place, amid the +enjoyment of which I fell asleep, and awaked not until the broad +sunbeams were laughing in my face.</p> + +<p class="gtb">******</p> + +<p>“During the last week we have made an excursion into the upper +part of the lower peninsula of Michigan. Early in the morning of +Monday, we left the village and crossed the Ke-Kalamazoo in a miserably +constructed scow, and soon after receiving a wrong direction, +lost our way. Pursuing, however, a trail for some distance, not +knowing whither it would lead us, we came to an Indian trader’s +house, pleasantly located upon the banks of the river. We met +before we reached this place, some Indians curiously and fantastically +dressed with feathers, ribbons, &c. They were mounted on +ponies, and seemed bound on some official expedition. They all +appeared happy and good-natured. The trader gave us very vague +directions for our onward way, but perhaps as definite as a route +through an uninhabited forest could be made. The direction was +after this fashion:—Take the right hand trail, then the left, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_414">[Pg 414]</span> +afterwards strike across the woods to the right of the sun, with some +intimation that at certain distances lakes would be seen, and openings +which would give us fresh energy and perseverance. Making +practical these suggestions as far as we might, aided by a pocket +compass and the extra bestowment of shrewdness with which my +husband is endowed, we reached a prairie where there was a small +settlement, and stopped for a few moments to avail ourselves of the +intelligence, if so be we could find any, of a man loitering by the +side of the trail, in hopes of further direction, and then passed into +the dense wilderness. Our destination was an Indian village at a +distance of twenty-six miles. The interval had no human habitation, +and we were carefully charged to follow without deviation the +particular trail to the village. Here and there were traces of a +recent Indian encampment, and in one or two places we saw the +smoke ascending from their unextinguished fires. The country had +the same beauty with which we had become so familiar. The few +clouds were motionless, the water in the many lakes we passed +sparkled, but scarcely showed the tiniest ripple. As before nature’s +deep repose was broken, when the many birds swelled out their rich +choruses, and every little trill met our ears with peculiar distinctness. +We passed over a number of small but beautiful prairies, like garden +spots covered in wild luxuriance with flowers of every form and hue +emitting delicate and delicious perfume. This last seemed rather peculiar +to this part of the country, for in spite of what philosophers tell +us, wild flowers have ordinarily no fragrance to common perception. +In some districts we rode through dark and tangled forest, the straggling, +yet by its heavy masses closely plaited foliage, bounding our +vision to a few feet on either side, and then almost before we felt the +confinement we passed out into an opening, where the bright sunbeams +darting quick lines of light left the shadowed portion darker +from the contrast. Again we would ride among the trees on the +smooth turf, not a shrub or a brush marring the velvet surface, while +the lofty trees overarching in their rich foliage, canopied our pathway.</p> + +<p>“The hours of the day seemed long in passing, from the necessity<span class="pagenum" id="Page_415">[Pg 415]</span> +of carefully watching the trail, and not having any incident linked +to humanity to enliven us. About half an hour before the summer +sun was to sink to his rest, we came upon the edge of a wet prairie +or marsh about half a mile in extent. I shrank from crossing it, +as the uncertain tread of my horse’s feet upon the yielding turf +made my seat unsteady, and altogether annoyed and repelled me. +But there was no alternative; the trail wound across it in its zigzag +line, and we dared not at that hour run the risk of delay, lest we +should lose in the deepening twilight its uncertain guidance. We +pressed on, feeling at every step that our horses at the next might +sink their hoofs too deeply for extrication. The peculiarity of this +marsh was in the fact that there was not the slightest appearance of +mud; all was a bright green sward, or would have been in the glowing +sunshine, but this was resting on a watery bed, into which it +sank at every pressure. We however at last safely crossed the +marsh after some toil, when lo, a new anxiety awaited me. A +dark stream intervened between us and the solid ground, and as the +spot where we stood was evidently the ford, cross it we must. The +pool, or creek, or whatever might be its appropriate designation, was +black as Erebus, with sloping banks, and though narrow, looked so +deep in the uncertainty, that I quite feared it would engulph us. +My husband bade me tarry until he had crossed it, and I felt quite +sick with fear for him when I saw him plunge in. The struggling +of his large and powerful horse tended not to reassure me, but when +safely across, he said he would return and exchange horses with +me. I could not think of permitting him to do so, and this gave me +a momentary spasm of courage, trusting to the agility, if not +strength of my own animal. The moment of descent into the +pool was the last of distinct consciousness, and I was borne through +I know not how. When I recovered I found myself sitting upon +the ground, the muddy water streaming down my face, where it +had been thrown in profusion by my terrified husband. He had +expected to see me fall from my horse into the stream. I had not +been well for a day or two, and this descent into the turbid waters +quite unnerved me.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_416">[Pg 416]</span></p> + +<p>“To our dismay we perceived our horses had strayed, and already +it was almost too dark to see the trail, our sole guide. I immediately +anticipated an unguarded night in the wild wood before us; +but a kind Providence induced our steeds to regard my husband’s +well known whistle, and both returned to our eager grasp. Ere it +was quite night we heard the cheering sound of a woodman’s axe, +and guided by its repeated stroke, soon perceived a dim light in the +distance. On coming up to the man, who seemed to be cutting +wood for culinary purposes of the night, we asked for the trader; +the man said he was about home, and could accommodate us and +our horses for the night. We passed on. I entered the dwelling; +it was laid up with logs, some fifty or sixty feet square, and but very +recently erected. It had neither door, window, nor division between +earth and roof. There was no floor laid, except for a small part of +it, which formed a sort of dais, on which were two bedsteads and +beds. A large pleasant-looking Frenchwoman met me, and in imperfect +English gave me a cheerful welcome. I believe she was +really delighted to greet me, so seldom did a woman find her way +to her far-off dwelling. I was utterly weary, but the large, bare, +unfurnished room gave but little promise of seclusion or quiet. +Supper was soon served, venison, cranberries and bread, with a +good cup of tea, sweetened with maple sugar, forming our meal. I +soon found that eleven men, with the trader and his wife, and her +maid of all work, were to occupy the same sleeping apartment with +my husband and myself. I was too much jaded, however, to regard +the absence of even such proprieties of life with much sensibility, +and begged to go to bed, as my only prospective comfort on earth. +In this I was gratified, and within an hour after my arrival I had +taken possession of one of the two visible beds. My fellow-lodgers +I believe rested on buffalo skins strewn at their will about the earth +enclosed by the logs.</p> + +<p>“Soon after going to bed I discovered what my husband had carefully +kept from me—that we were surrounded by some two hundred +Indians, who were now sheltered in the hut the trader had +abandoned for this new one, and were preparing to hold, this night,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_417">[Pg 417]</span> +one of their peculiar festivals. Soon after they commenced their +hideous singing and dancing, accompanied by the beating of sticks +upon something that resembled a gong, altogether forming a combination +of sound and movement as revolting as any thing I ever +saw or heard. In the intervals when they paused for rest, the night +hawks, wheeling close to our low hut, by their wild shrill cries effectually +set sleep at defiance. Never amid earth’s varied experiences +shall I forget that night.</p> + +<p>“Feverish and ill, I arose the next morning, with scarcely purpose +enough to link thought with plan, but on the suggestion that if we +proceeded on our journey to the Grand River country, I must suffer +myself to be paddled across the Thornapple river by an Indian, alone +with him in his canoe, while our horses should swim under the +guidance of my husband, I decided that it was not possible, and +soon after got ready to retrace our steps. To avoid the re-crossing +of the marsh, and the discomforts of the evening before, the Indian +trader, at our suggestion, indeed solicitation, promised to be our +guide by a more circuitous route. To be our companion it was +necessary to catch one of the many Indian ponies that were feeding +in a drove not far from the hut. The process amazed me much. +A rope was fastened to the side of the house, some four feet from +the ground, and two or three of the Indians held the line firmly at +the other end, while others drove the horses up towards the house, +and when sufficiently near, quietly enclosed them with the circling +cord, which as soon as the horses perceived, they yielded quietly, and +the one selected even bowed his head to the halter. Experience +had evidently taught them that resistance was vain.</p> + +<p class="gtb">******</p> + +<p>“Late on Saturday afternoon we arrived at the village of ——, +where we proposed spending the Sabbath. Externally the inn promised +well, as it was large, well ventilated, and apparently comfortably +furnished. We soon tested the truth of the ever applicable +maxim, that ‘appearances often deceive.’ Our supper was one of the +worst prepared and most uncomfortable meals that had been offered +in all our journey. The utter want of cleanliness was absolutely<span class="pagenum" id="Page_418">[Pg 418]</span> +disgusting, and no part of the house seemed in its arrangement to +recognize the fact that human comfort and health required as indispensable +the use of fresh water and soap. I was shown with some +parade into my room, which was a large one, furnished barely with +the things required, and soon retired after a serious conflict between +weariness and the revulsion of feeling occasioned by the appearance +of the bed. However, fatigue triumphed; and protecting myself +from contact with sheets and pillow-cases as best I might, I threw +myself upon the bed. Almost immediately after I was informed in +a sort of apologetic way, that my room was the thoroughfare of the +sleeping loft above; and as there was no other ingress or egress, I +was compelled to acquiesce in the arrangement, as if it were a +matter of course. Some twenty men passed thus to their repose; +but as they were sad laggards on the beautiful Sabbath, I was able +to get up, and take such time as I pleased for my toilet, without +fear of being disturbed.</p> + +<p>“The evening before I had asked the little handmaid of the inn +to bring me in the morning a basin of water and a towel, having +provided myself with the latter article in case of need on my journey, +but not thinking of using my own in a large inn, and that in +one of the chief villages in Michigan. In the morning I again demanded +of the girl the indispensable convenience, which she +speedily brought in the form of an earthen <i>pint</i> bowl of water, +and a coarse towel, not quite half a yard square. I however +received it gratefully, and determined to make the best of it until I +could find pump, cistern, or spring, when to my amazement and +amusement too, in a few moments the girl returned with the request +that I would <i>lend</i> my towel to the Judge (the Circuit Court +was holding a session there), and she would <i>return</i> it in a few moments.</p> + +<p>“After a breakfast which was but a slight improvement upon the +evening meal, we asked if there was any religious service held in +the place, and were told that there was, at the usual hour, in a certain +school-house to which we were directed, and which we reached +after a disagreeable walk across a marsh. The school-house resembled<span class="pagenum" id="Page_419">[Pg 419]</span> +in proportions a ten-pin alley, rude and incomplete in construction, +and exhibited marks (such as broken windows, etc.) of physical +energy ill directed, rather than the practical effects of any mental +skill. When we reached the house about a dozen were assembled, +which number increased in about twenty-five minutes to as +many persons. I became weary and impatient, but the audience +contented themselves while awaiting the arrival of their minister +who was regularly employed to preach twice on the Sabbath, with +conversation one with another. After a while, when the delay even +to the villagers seemed unreasonable and unaccountable, and possibly +the ‘on dits’ of the past week had been thoroughly gone +over, there was a visible stir in the congregation, and as if with one +consent they evinced a disposition to inquire into the matter. At +last one man arose, observed that there must be something the +matter with their minister, and inquired if any one present had +heard of his having left town. No one seemed to know anything +respecting him, and then a proposition was made to disperse. A +hymn was given out by some one who commenced without delay +in a powerful and rather pleasant voice, and sang manfully through +six verses of a hymn unknown I presume to the rest of the audience, +and which was entirely inappropriate to both time and circumstances.</p> + +<p>“Before this was quite ended the people began to go out, and at +its close there was a general movement. Suddenly this seemed to +be arrested, and we all stopped at the whisper, ‘He has come—he +is here!’ We again took our seats, and the clergyman walked in +and up to the desk with calm unruffled mien, as if the ordinary +hour for his duty had but just arrived. After sitting a moment, +with due solemnity he arose, and instead of offering prayer, or any +religious sentiment, said coolly, ‘My friends, I did not hear the bell +when it was rung this morning, and forgot to look at my watch; I +was waiting for the bell when one of the young men came up for +me. As there are so few left here of the congregation, I think we +will wait for service until the afternoon.’ And then, without a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_420">[Pg 420]</span> +prayer, benediction, or reminder of any sort that this was holy +time, we were allowed to depart.</p> + +<p>“That afternoon my husband and myself preferred to worship in +the glorious temple of the adjoining forest, where we found</p> + + +<div class="poetry-container"> +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“‘’Neath cloistered boughs the floral bell that swingeth,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">And tolls its perfume on the passing air.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Makes Sabbath in the woods, and ever ringeth</div> + <div class="verse indent16">A call to prayer.’”</div> + </div> +</div> +</div> + + +<p class="gtb">******</p> + +<p>A few extracts from another journal of a lady residing in Michigan, +whose family removed thither in 1837, and as usual occupied a log +cabin till their house was ready, will further illustrate our subject.</p> + +<p>“The house stood on a plain which had once been covered with +beautiful trees, of which now remained only the stumps—for every +thing like a tree which could possibly cast its longest shadow within +range of the dwelling had been hewn down; and there, as an old +woman said to me, ‘the sun could shine in nicely all day long, looking +so <i>improvement</i> like;’ and there the tenement stood, not with bare +walls, for the native bark had not left the logs. A small door gave +entrance to its one room, eighteen or twenty feet square; one little +window with four panes of glass made darkness, dust, and cobwebs +visible; a huge ‘Dutch chimney’ occupied the opposite side, and as +time had been busy with its untempered clay, having broken away +one half its hearth and left many of its ribs bare, added greatly to +the dust and litter covering the black oaken boards of the floor. +These boards had been laid down without planing or nailing to the +beams on which they rested, and it behoved one to step daintily in +approaching their extremities. I giddily wished to be first to set foot +within our new home, and had jumped from the carriage and rushed +to the latch-string, exclaiming ‘now on your patron lady call,’ +when I found myself landed in the cellar. Fortunately it was not +very deep, and on my ascension, mamma’s rueful face warned me to +make merry of it all. New rough boards were laid about half way<span class="pagenum" id="Page_421">[Pg 421]</span> +across the beams overhead, and these our ‘landlord’ called the +‘chamber floor.’ The ascent was by a ladder of most primitive +construction.” * * *</p> + +<p>“We have knelt together in prayer for the first time in our new +home, and have gathered around the family board to our first ‘meal +in our own wilderness. This family board was two boards resting +at either end on barrels, and we sat on our trunks, as we have no +chairs; our furniture cannot be brought from Detroit until the mud +assuages and the dry land begins to appear. Seventeen of us sat +down, and my dear father looked quite patriarchal, dispensing food +to such a multitude. Such artificial distinctions as servant and +master not eating together, are not to be known among us.” * *</p> + +<p>“We have tacked sheets against the edges of the boards constituting +the ‘chamber floor,’ which are to be drawn up during the +day, and at night let down to form a sleeping room for what our +helps call the ‘females.’ We have made a bedstead for papa and +mamma, by putting together six large trunks, which during the daytime +serve us for seats, and fortunately we brought a feather bed +in the baggage-wagon. For the rest we have filled straw ticks with +the sweet smelling marsh hay.</p> + +<p>“<i>May 24th.</i>—Last night just as sleep had pressed his heaviest +seal upon our eyelids, the fearful cry of ‘fire,’ dispelled his poppy +charm. We waked to a startling consciousness of danger, at the red +glare and roaring crackling flames. Then dash went the cold water, +darkness followed, and then came running little rivulets of the +extinguishing element, making deposits around our beds upon the +floor. We were half frozen for the rest of the night, and this morning +they are building a new chimney. The logs are sawn out, and +large cobble stones piled one upon another—the chinks filled in +with clay—then from among the trees of the forest are sought out a +couple of bent boughs with exactly the right curve—these are the +jams, and are fastened—the upper ends from ten to twelve feet +apart—in the beams that support the second floor. They are set +from five to six feet from the logs of the house side, into which +their lower ends are securely fastened. A quantity of green wood<span class="pagenum" id="Page_422">[Pg 422]</span> +is then split up into slats, nailed across these and also laid up above +them as children build pens with corn cobs, gradually lessening as +they approach the roof, from which they rise some two feet; the +whole is finally plastered over with new clay, and the chimney is +now ready for use; the blue smoke begins to curl from its top; +and there will be no danger of this one’s taking fire for some years; +being made of such green materials. It was a good thing that +mamma with her New York notions about fires, refused to go to +sleep last night without two pails of water in the house, although +the men had to go a quarter of a mile to the creek for it. This +perseverance in an old habit saved us our present home, as the fire +never could have been extinguished if the water had not been on +the spot.</p> + +<p>“Our carpenter is making us some seats and a table. The +latter consists of two wooden horses with a moveable top, made of +four boards nicely planed and joined together: the seats are slabs +about four feet long, with four sticks driven for legs. They are one +and all to go out of doors at nights, to let the beds come in—the +latter take day board on the fence. Some wooden pins have been +driven into the logs on one side of the house, and boards placed +upon them for shelves, and on these must repose the milk-pans, +dishes, &c. When we would go into the cellar we take up an +entire board and jump down about four feet. But what are a few +trifling inconveniences in the midst of a world so robed in beauty, so +garlanded with flowers!</p> + +<p>“<i>May 25th.</i>—Papa inquired yesterday at dinner of our landlord +if he could find us a washerwoman. His characteristic reply was, +that he presumed the widow Lewis would willingly come and help +us wash, if she was sure of being ‘treated like a human.’ ‘And +how shall that be?’ asked papa. ‘Oh, if the young ladies will call +on her. You know the folks round here think you are all so +proud.’ Papa looked at me, and I said I would call if it was not +too far. ‘Oh they live just over the hill, not more than half a mile. +Mrs. Lewis is the daughter of old Mr. Dean, who was here this +morning—she has five children—there are two married sons with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_423">[Pg 423]</span> +their wives and two children each, also living with them in the +house, and then there is another daughter, Jenny Deans, as they +call her, quite an old girl.’ My ideas brightened at the charmed +name of ‘Jenny Deans,’ and I began to fancy it would be pleasant +to call—and so call we did—but the Deans were all gone for the +cows. We went in and had a little chat with old Mrs. Deans, +whose pale grey hair neatly folded beneath the plain cap, looked +quite beautiful. It was a very comfortable new log house, with its +clean and stationary floor—its two doors opening opposite each +other—its large sash window, home-made chairs and bedsteads too. +‘Your house is much better than Mr. B—’s,’ observed I, in reply to +some inquiry of the old dame, as to how we liked living in a log +house. ‘Ah yes,’ said she, ‘but it will do you good to learn how +poor people live.’ It seems to give the people here indescribable +happiness to know we are worse off than themselves.</p> + +<p>“About an hour after our return, the whole missing population +of the Dean mansion returned our call. We arranged with them +the preliminaries for ‘the great wash,’ which is to come off to-morrow. +Mamma could not coax them to take it to themselves +although, because of the scarcity of water in our own immediate +neighborhood, the clothes are all to be taken to their own washing +ground on the banks of a beautiful lake, a little back from their +house. The widow Lewis would have one of us to help her, +although offered double the amount to do it alone. And so I shall +attend upon her ladyship to-morrow, although mamma will not +believe that I know anything about washing. Papa came to our +aid with the observation, ‘the children must all learn to work, and +the sooner they begin the better.’</p> + +<p>“<i>May 27th.</i>—Yesterday was one of those glorious days when +earth, sky and sunshine, seem to have met in gala mood to +celebrate the carnival of time. At an early hour the requisites for +the grand washing were placed in our oxen chariot, and the children, +who looked upon the whole as a fine frolic, mounted on top of +the load. How beautiful looked the world as we slowly wended +our way beneath those stately old oaks which, shading the flowery<span class="pagenum" id="Page_424">[Pg 424]</span> +lawns, deserve the name of oak orchards. The birds were +singing and the sun was shining, and not yet were the dewdrops +exhaled. Those pert little children of spring, the anemones and +violets, were everywhere opening their blue eyes. On one side of a +growing wheatfield, a soft green sward sloped gently to the shore of +a little gem of a lake, bordered by a stately growth of park-like +trees on all sides but one, where a heavy growth of tamarack cast a +deep shadow, beautiful from the contrast of cheerful light. In the +most picturesque spot on the borders of this lake was built our +gipsy fire—and around it were gathered such a group! The +beau of the morning was the man who owns our log tenement, and +acts in the double capacity of landlord and laborer; beside him sat +upon the same log Jenny Deans. Oh, with what a broken pinion +came fancy from her dreamland flight—and yet she seems a character +in her way—dressed in a gown of many colors, from the oft +application of a new piece to the old garment. Her ugliness, however, +faded to a thing of naught beside the Lewis family—the +whole of whom, six in number, were present with us for the entire +day. * * * *</p> + +<p>“Mamma is beginning to look almost worn out with her many +cares, and constant watching and anxiety about papa, who suffers +continually. It seems as if those who sit beside the sick and suffering +endure half their agony, feel every pain that racks the anguished +nerves, and almost lose their identity in the strong sympathy that +hour after hour binds frail woman to the side of the weary couch, +through long nights suspending every breath and motion of the +tired frame, longing to hush the very beatings of her heart, lest she +disturb the light half slumber of the invalid. Ah, these are the +hours that take large drafts from life, that dim the flush of youth, +that drink the dew of the morning. But they give the soul its +beauty and perfection, and therefore should we rejoice that they are +woman’s allotted task.” * *</p> + +<p>“<i>May 29th.</i>—Mrs. B—— was telling us to-day that many +people lived for weeks last winter on boiled acorns. It is almost<span class="pagenum" id="Page_425">[Pg 425]</span> +impossible to get seed for planting—potatoes after the eyes were cut +out, it is said, have sold for ten dollars a bushel.”</p> + +<p>“<i>June 1st.</i>—A barrel of white fish is spoiled to-day. The field +mice have got into the milk pans and committed suicide.”</p> + +<p>“<i>June 2nd.</i>—Returning with little Jessie from a visit, as the twilight +was beginning to grow shadowy, we crossed the desert marsh +and came in sight of a lonely house on its verge. On the height +that overlooked our way, stood a woman looking weird as any +Meg Merrilies that ever haunted “Ellengowan.” Her form was tall, +straight and very lank, a closely clinging, scanty garment of a +gloomy gray material added, if possible, to her height; her head +was covered with a red bandanna, pinned cornerwise beneath her +chin, in her hand she held an oaken stick, and just as we came near +she was lifting up her voice to cry aloud. The shriek formed itself +into the words, “have you seen Mary? have you seen Mary or the +cow?” I had not seen Mary or the cow, and went on my way +wondering. It seems the tall woman is no common person. According +to the heraldry of the wild woods the Winchel’s are quite +a distinguished family. Such distinction would have suited the +leader of a bandit horde in the dark forests of old Germany, or have +given renown to one of the fierce barons of feudal times. Uncle +Jake, as the head of the house is called, inhabits the lonely log cabin +by the marsh-side, and exercises his taste for cruelty at the expense +of his cattle instead of the lives of his fellow creatures, so we call +him an old savage, and probably his name will die with him, as die +yearly many of his flocks and herds from the effects of his blows. +Strange to say, however, this rude, fierce man, with all his uncurbed +passions and taste for club discipline, has never been known to ill-treat +his wife. It is said she commands his respect in an extraordinary +degree by her quiet dignity of manner and womanly reserve, +never noticing his violent outbursts of rage, nor interfering in the +least with his proceedings, though he has during the few years of +their sojourn here, beaten two cows to death and several oxen. +Their food is of the coarsest kind, but she asks no luxuries; the social +tea-kettle finds no place on their hearth, no chicken scratches in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_426">[Pg 426]</span> +desolate barnyard, no soft-furred pussy purrs beside the door, no +dog could live upon the premises; corn, bread, potatoes, and milk +when the cow gets leave to live, constitute their bill of fare the year +round. Only one child and that a daughter has come to the desolate +home of these people, the Mary who was missing to-night.</p> + +<p>“<i>June 3rd.</i>—We had another visitor this afternoon, A pleasant, +kind looking man, of a most excellent countenance, rode up +to the door and claimed papa as a cousin, and was recognised at +once though they had not met for twenty years. He has a house +full of daughters with whom we are to be excellent friends, although +they live some fifteen miles hence, and he promises us some chickens +and a kitten, a necessary kind of domestics that we have not yet +seen in the region round about. A good old woman, too, has sent +for the washing, which she will perform at her own house, without +any of us acting as laundry maids. The drove of calves is increasing, +and they begin to talk about sacrificing the two oldest, but +Liney and Niagara shall not want for petitioners before the house of +Lords.”</p> + +<p>“<i>June 10th.</i>—Rain! rain! rain! For three days the windows +of heaven have been opened, and torrents of water have fallen over +the earth, and some few cataracts have found their way through +our roof, which, by the way, is not shielded by shingles, but covered +with long slabs held down by poles of tamarack or willow.</p> + +<p>“When the door is open the rain beats in, and when it is closed +the chimney smokes. The cattle, on social thoughts intent, have +gathered round the house, from which no fence excludes them, and +thus increase the mud every body is bringing in on their feet. The +beds are piled up in one corner; the table seems more huge than +ever; the topheavy slab seats are continually tumbling over; +papa’s rheumatism is horrible; the baby cries because of the +smoke; the men, under shadow of the ladder, are mending nets +and making hoe handles, ox bows, and whip stocks, and of course +increasing the general litter with their whittling; the children are +building play-houses under the table, and of course greatly facilitating +the motion of the pen essaying to write above. The four<span class="pagenum" id="Page_427">[Pg 427]</span> +little panes of glass just make darkness visible, and around them +those who would read or write congregate—a solemn looking +assemblage, and as ruminating as those chewing the cud without. +But the children are coming from under the table asking for a +story; the babe consents to go to sleep; the shavings are swept +into the fire, which therefore concludes to blaze more and smoke +less; our good father is falling into a doze, and so the owl’s eyes +shall be laid aside with madam goose’s fragment, and pleasant fairydom +come with its gorgeous dreams at the juvenile bidding. It +will not take much imagination after this week’s experience for them +to believe that whole nations of people could live in a nut-shell, or +more magnificent still, inhabit gorgeous palaces within the cup of +the lily.”</p> +<hr class="full"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_428">[Pg 428]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="c26">XXV.</h2> +</div> + +<p class="c sp lsp">ELIZABETH KENTON.<a id="FNanchor_40" href="#Footnote_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a></p> + + +<p><span class="smcap large">The</span> name of Simon Kenton has a conspicuous place in the annals +of the early pioneers, second only to that of the renowned woodsman, +Daniel Boone. One of the counties of Kentucky is named after +him, and the incidents of his life are related in the history of that +State and in many biographical sketches, forming a narrative more +thrilling in interest than any romance ever written. Such instances +of desperate and mortal encounter, such hairbreadth escapes from +imminent peril, such hours of fearful suspense and sudden alternations +from hope to despair, from the very grasp of death to unexpected +deliverance, were surely never pictured by pure imagination. +Born in Virginia, he was involved when scarcely grown to manhood +in a romantic adventure growing out of rivalry in love, which came +near to having a fatal termination, and launched him into life with +no protection but a resolute spirit and a robust frame. Leaving his +home, he plunged into the wilderness of the Alleghany mountains, +and joining parties of explorers and traders, spent two or three years<span class="pagenum" id="Page_429">[Pg 429]</span> +in hunting and trapping in the neighbourhood of the Kanawha river, +till the breaking out of the war between the Indian tribes and the +colonies in 1774, in which campaign he did service as a spy. With +two companions he afterwards penetrated the wilds of Kentucky and +built a cabin on the spot where now stands the town of Washington, +aiding the other settlers in their struggles with the Indians, and +meeting with many adventures. The most remarkable of these—unparalleled +in the history of the West—is the succession of incidents +that followed his capture by the Indians when carrying off +some of their horses. For weeks his fate vibrated between life and +death, the gleams of sunshine quickly followed by deepest gloom, +no efforts or wisdom of his own availing aught to save him at any +time, but the changes in his fortune wrought by seeming accidents. +He was tied, Mazeppa-like, on the back of an unbroken horse; was +eight times exposed to the gauntlet, and three times bound to the +stake, with no prospect of rescue from a terrible death. Once he +was saved by the interference of Simon Girty, who, learning his +name, discovered in him an old companion and friend; once the +celebrated Mingo chief, Logan, interceded in his behalf, and he was +rescued by an Indian agent. These experiences, and his after services +with Gen. George Rogers Clarke, and in other campaigns to +the close of Wayne’s decisive one, are fully related in recent biographies.</p> + +<p>The first wife of Gen. Kenton was Martha Dowden, to whom he +was married about 1785, in Mason County, Kentucky. They lived +together ten years, when she died, leaving him four children, all of +whom lived to maturity. The only survivor among them is the wife +of John McCord, of Urbana, Ohio.</p> + +<p>Elizabeth, the second wife, was the youngest daughter of Stephen +Jarboe, a native of France, who settled first in Maryland, where he +married Elizabeth, the daughter of Thomas Clelland. She was a +well educated woman, and a deeply spiritual Christian, in membership +with the Presbyterian Church. The family removed to Mason +County, Kentucky, about the year 1796, at which time Elizabeth, +the daughter, was seventeen years old. Her opportunities of education<span class="pagenum" id="Page_430">[Pg 430]</span> +had been such as were usual in that early day, when the +acquirements of women were generally confined to reading, writing, +and the elements of arithmetic.</p> + +<p>Not long after the removal to Kentucky, Mr. Jarboe was obliged +to go to Maryland, whence he was prevented from returning to his +family by ill health, for seven or eight years. It will be borne in +mind that travelling, in those days, was no light undertaking. +Within that time Mrs. Jarboe with her children had removed into +what is now Clarke County in Ohio. Her home was with her youngest +son, Philip Jarboe, about four miles north of Springfield, where +she died in the spring of 1808. Shortly after her death Mr. Jarboe +was enabled to return, and in the same year, at the same house, he +also closed his earthly pilgrimage. His acquaintances remember his +arrival—a feeble old man, sadly emaciated, coming, as he said, to +lay his bones by the side of her who was the companion of his youth. +After a life of many sorrows they sleep in a quiet spot within sight +of the Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad, near their last home on +earth.</p> + +<p>Their daughter Elizabeth was a young woman of rare attractions +of person and manner, and as it may be supposed, had numerous +admirers. Among these a Mr. Reuben Clark had found favor in +her eyes, and it was expected that she would marry him. But the +sagacious pioneer and hero of Indian encounters had seen and loved +her, and moreover had lost none of his early aversion to a rival. +He gave young Clark some employment which took him to Virginia, +and would oblige him to be absent a considerable length of time. +Having removed him from the scene of action, he laid siege presently +to the heart of the fair lady, and brought the citadel, ere long, to +terms of capitulation. They were married in the year 1798, at +Kenton’s Station, the Rev. William Wood of the Baptist Church +officiating; nor did the wife ever again see her former lover.</p> + +<p>A few months after the marriage, General and Mrs. Kenton removed +to Cincinnati, where they resided six or eight months, and +removed in the spring of 1799, to what was then called the Mad +River country. Their first residence was near a trading house kept<span class="pagenum" id="Page_431">[Pg 431]</span> +by a Frenchman named De Baw, about four miles north of Springfield. +The whole region, at that period, was an almost unbroken +wilderness, traversed continually by parties of Indians, who, though +not openly hostile, were exceedingly troublesome. Often when intoxicated +they would visit the cabins of the settlers, and finding the +men absent, by threats extort provisions and whiskey from the +women. On one occasion, when there were no men on the premises, +and all was quiet in Mrs. Kenton’s cabin, the door was suddenly +burst open, and a drunken Indian, entirely naked, came in and demanded +whiskey, threatening to kill her, with furious gestures, in +case of refusal. When he found his menaces were likely to be of +no avail, he snatched up the child, her eldest daughter, out of the +cradle, and made for the camp of the savages as fast as his feet could +carry him. The feelings of the terrified mother cannot easily be +described; but her agony of suspense was soon over; the rest of +the party immediately brought back the child, and called upon Mrs. +Kenton to say what punishment should be inflicted on the delinquent. +She required nothing, however, but to be protected against such +outrages in future.</p> + +<p>The home of the forest warrior consisted of two roughly constructed +log cabins, with the usual accompaniment of puncheon +floors, mud chimneys, clapboard doors, etc. Here were established +Kenton’s family, composed of himself and wife with five children, +and his two mothers-in-law with their families, besides some black +people. Their experiences of privation and suffering during the +earliest years of the settlement may be understood in some measure +by those already described; but there were circumstances which +added much to the trials that fell to the lot of Mrs. Kenton. The +General, it will be remembered, being one of the earliest pioneers +of Kentucky, besides defending the first settlers against their Indian +foes, had located their pre-emptions, traversing with them the rugged +mountains and rich valleys in search of the best lands. The latch-string +of Kenton’s cabin always hung outside the door, and a +welcome was ready for all who sought his hospitality. His +generosity and habitual kindness to strangers had contributed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_432">[Pg 432]</span> +as much as that of any other man in Kentucky to stamp the +character for liberal hospitality, since proverbially attached to +the State. He was extensively known, and had the reputation of +wealth; his wealth, however, consisted wholly in Kentucky land +claims, which were totally unproductive, while his cabin was the +resort of every shelterless emigrant, land hunter, or soldier, and even +the wandering Indian had liberty at any time to claim the supply +of his wants. The readers of Gen. Kenton’s life will recollect the +incident of an Indian at old Chilicothe seizing an axe and breaking +his arm with it. The name of this savage was Boner, and it was +afterwards his custom to come frequently to his house, and after eating +and drinking, amuse the company by acting out a pantomime +representing his own outbreak of fury, and the terror and grief of +Mrs. Kenton on that occasion.</p> + +<p>With this continual influx of visitors, for whom provision was +necessary as well as for the wants of a large family, with means of +procuring none of the luxuries and but few of the comforts of life, +and without congenial society, the first ten years of Mrs. Kenton’s +residence in Ohio were passed in incessant toil and privation, relieved +by little of the quiet so necessary to one like her, and so ardently +desired. But she was a seeker of “a better country,” and the firm +faith of a Christian sustained her in every difficulty. In 1808 she +became a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1810, +Gen. Kenton removed to Urbana, in Champaign County, where the +family lived eight years. Here their privations were less, but Mrs. +Kenton suffered from incessant mental anxiety caused by the injustice +done her husband, and the loss he sustained in endeavoring to +recover something of his extensive land claims in Kentucky. Being +wholly uneducated, he was obliged to entrust the management of his +business to agents who proved dishonest, and involved him in inextricable +lawsuits in which he was mulcted in heavy costs. Nay +more, truth compels the record which is a stain upon the national +honor—the barbarous laws then in force, sanctioning these wrongs, +permitted the imprisonment of the brave pioneer, and his confinement +within “prison bounds,” for several of the best years of his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_433">[Pg 433]</span> +life. Thus was he reduced from a supposed condition of opulence +to abject poverty, and even pursued like a felon, his free spirit harassed +by more than the deprivation of liberty to the limbs, the +sense of cruel injustice and oppression.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Kenton possessed a disposition peculiarly sensitive, and these +wrongs and sorrows embittered what should have been the happiest +years of her life. In 1818, having procured a small portion of +wild land in what is now Logan County, they took up their residence +upon it, obtaining from it a meagre living, far from those +who had thronged around them in the days of their prosperity. +In 1836, after enduring much suffering, Gen. Kenton departed this +life, rejoicing in the prospect of one where his portion could not be +taken from him. His faithful wife attended him in his painful +illness with the assiduous tenderness and care bestowed by a mother +on her child. Her spirits, already weighed down by calamity, were +broken, and her strong constitution impaired by the exertions necessary +in this labor of love, and after her husband’s death she never +recovered her health or cheerfulness. In the same year she removed +to Indiana. Her strength gradually declined until the autumn of +1842, when she became almost helpless. Having long looked on +approaching death with calmness and Christian hope, she quietly +made a disposition of her remaining effects, leaving to each of her +children and grand-children a small bequest, in token of affectionate +remembrance. To the sons of her eldest daughter, Mrs. Parkison, +she left quilts on which she had wrought their names with her own +hand. Her faculties were retained perfectly to the last, though she +spoke not for some hours before the final moment. Her sufferings +terminated at the residence of J. G. Parkison, her son-in-law, in +Jasper County, Indiana, Nov. 27th, 1842.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Kenton was rather tall, and had a very graceful figure; her +complexion was extremely fair, and she had blue eyes and dark +hair. Her daughter, Mrs. Parkison, describes her appearance on +one occasion, on returning from Dayton, thirty miles distant, where +she had been to acknowledge a deed. She wore a dark calico dress +made in the fashion then called a habit; long-waisted, and the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_434">[Pg 434]</span> +skirt plaited full all around; over this a “joseph,” or short riding +dress of brown cassimere, with green spots, and a green silk or +satin bonnet differing little from the late fashion, without a cap.</p> + +<p>This lady remembers, among the visitors at her father’s house, +old Isaac Zane, who had an Indian wife. He brought his half-breed +daughter to be instructed by Mrs. Kenton in the knowledge +and manners of the white ladies. Ebenezer Zane, his son, was also a +frequent visitor, and told Miss Kenton he had named his little +daughter—Matilda—after her. The child received the customary +present, and some twenty year’s afterwards Mrs. Parkison was surprised +at being shown a piece of the new dress given her little namesake +by the General. Mrs. Parkison still resides in Indiana.</p> + + + + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1" class="label">[1]</a> For an account of this expedition, and the planting of the settlement, +see the memoir of Sarah Buchanan,—<i>Women of the American Revolution</i>. +Vol. iii. p. 310.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_2" href="#FNanchor_2" class="label">[2]</a> Valentine Zavier (the original family name), the father of John Sevier, +was a descendant from an ancient family in France, but born in London; +emigrated to America; settled on the Shenandoah, Va.; removed thence to +Watauga, N. C.; and finally settled on the Nola Chucka, at Plum Grove.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_3" href="#FNanchor_3" class="label">[3]</a> The private orderly, or memorandum-book of Col. De Poister, on whom +the command devolved after Ferguson was killed on King’s Mountain, and +who ordered the surrender, was, with other papers, handed to Col. Sevier. +This book was presented to the writer of this memoir by Mrs. Gen. Sevier +and her son, G. W. S., after the writer’s marriage into the family.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_4" href="#FNanchor_4" class="label">[4]</a> See Wheeler’s North Carolina.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_5" href="#FNanchor_5" class="label">[5]</a> When the paper currency of North Carolina was so depreciated that a +$100 bill would rarely buy “a pone of corn-bread and slice of ham,” and +many persons would not take it at all in exchange for provisions or other +property, the <i>soldier</i> could always purchase an ample supply at a fair estimate +at Plum Grove, and thus by sales of lands, personal property, and perhaps +in satisfaction for his military and public services, did the “old Continental +currency” accumulate in the desk of Gen. Sevier to sums of between $200,000 +and $300,000, which, with his papers, were left in the hands of his son, the +late Col. G. W. S., of Tennessee.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_6" href="#FNanchor_6" class="label">[6]</a> See Butler’s History of Kentucky. Some of the biographies of Boone +state that he went alone on the expedition. Flint gives a beautiful romance +which unfortunately has been contradicted on reliable authority.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_7" href="#FNanchor_7" class="label">[7]</a> McClung’s Sketches of Western Adventure.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_8" href="#FNanchor_8" class="label">[8]</a> Butler’s Kentucky.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_9" href="#FNanchor_9" class="label">[9]</a> Haywood.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_10" href="#FNanchor_10" class="label">[10]</a> Copied from MS. letter in the Historical Collection at Nashville.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_11" href="#FNanchor_11" class="label">[11]</a> MS. Letter.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_12" href="#FNanchor_12" class="label">[12]</a> Burnet’s Notes.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_13" href="#FNanchor_13" class="label">[13]</a> Haywood gives the date of the taking of the fort as the 10th September, +but in his appendix the 15th.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_14" href="#FNanchor_14" class="label">[14]</a> For the incidents connected with the attack on Buchanan’s Station, see +<i>Women of the American Revolution</i>, vol. iii., Memoir of <span class="smcap">Sarah Buchanan</span>, +which should be read in connection with the Tennessee Sketches in this +volume. In it the Shawanee chief is represented as performing the heroic +part really performed by Kiachatalee.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_15" href="#FNanchor_15" class="label">[15]</a> Mrs. Shelby.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_16" href="#FNanchor_16" class="label">[16]</a> Flint—Indian Wars of the West.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_17" href="#FNanchor_17" class="label">[17]</a> See De Hass for this and following anecdotes.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_18" href="#FNanchor_18" class="label">[18]</a> This memoir is taken from “Sketches of Virginia, Historical and +Biographical,” by Rev. William Henry Foote, D.D., portions being abridged. +The authentic materials were obtained by him from Rev. James Morrison +the son-in-law and successor to Rev. Samuel Brown.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_19" href="#FNanchor_19" class="label">[19]</a> American Pioneer, vol. II.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_20" href="#FNanchor_20" class="label">[20]</a> Doddridge’s Notes.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_21" href="#FNanchor_21" class="label">[21]</a> American Pioneer.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_22" href="#FNanchor_22" class="label">[22]</a> Memoir of Jane Gaston, Vol. III. page 229</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_23" href="#FNanchor_23" class="label">[23]</a> A description of this battle, communicated by a southern gentleman, has +been rendered superfluous by the very full and graphic account contained in +Mr. Wheeler’s excellent <i>History of North Carolina</i>, recently published.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_24" href="#FNanchor_24" class="label">[24]</a> See sketch of Elizabeth Zane. “<i>Women of the American Revolution.</i>” +Vol. II.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_25" href="#FNanchor_25" class="label">[25]</a> Her husband commanded a company at Crawford’s defeat. He was a +large, noble looking man, and a bold and intrepid warrior. He was in the +bloody Moravian campaign, and took his share in the tragedy, by shedding +the first blood on that occasion, when he shot, tomahawked and scalped +Shebosh, a Moravian chief. But retributive justice was meted to him. +After being taken prisoner, the Indians inquired his name. “Charles +Builderback,” replied he, after some little pause. At this revelation, the +Indians stared at each other with malignant triumph. “Ha!” said they, +“you kill many Indians—you big captain—you kill Moravians.” From that +moment, probably, his death was decreed.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_26" href="#FNanchor_26" class="label">[26]</a> Historica. Collections of Ohio.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_27" href="#FNanchor_27" class="label">[27]</a> The foregoing memoir is much shortened from the original one by Dr. +Hildreth.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_28" href="#FNanchor_28" class="label">[28]</a> This account is abridged from one prepared by Gen. Lewis Newsom, +one of the early residents of Gallipolis. He has also favored me with notices +of Mrs. Bailey’s life.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_29" href="#FNanchor_29" class="label">[29]</a> Historical Collections of Ohio.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_30" href="#FNanchor_30" class="label">[30]</a> MSS. in possession of John Barr, Esq., of Cleveland.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_31" href="#FNanchor_31" class="label">[31]</a> Moses Cleveland, the Director of survey commenced by the Connecticut +Land Company.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_32" href="#FNanchor_32" class="label">[32]</a> MS. of J. Barr, Esq.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_33" href="#FNanchor_33" class="label">[33]</a> Gen. John E. Hunt, of Maumee City, Ohio.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_34" href="#FNanchor_34" class="label">[34]</a> I have availed myself throughout this sketch, of a narrative of the massacre +printed at Chicago in 1844; said to be written by an accomplished lady +residing in that city.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_35" href="#FNanchor_35" class="label">[35]</a> A trading establishment—now Ypsilanti.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_36" href="#FNanchor_36" class="label">[36]</a> The spot now called <i>Bertrand</i>, then known by the name of <i>Parc aux +Vaches</i>, from its having been a pasture-ground belonging to an old French +fort in that neighborhood.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_37" href="#FNanchor_37" class="label">[37]</a> Col. Johnson says that Capt. Wells seeing all was lost, and not wishing +to fall into the hands of the Indians, wetted powder and blacked his face in +token of defiance, provoking the Indians, in the heat of the action, by taunts +and jeers, to despatch him at once, instead of attempting to take him +prisoner.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_38" href="#FNanchor_38" class="label">[38]</a> “Colonel Snelling joined the army in early youth. In the battle of Tippecanoe, +he was distinguished for gallantry and good conduct. Subsequently +and during the whole of the late war with Great Britain, from the battle of +Brownstown to the termination of the contest, he was actively employed in +the field, with credit to himself and honor to his country.—<i>Letter written by +order of Major-General Macomb, dated August 21st, 1828.</i></p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_39" href="#FNanchor_39" class="label">[39]</a> Lanman’s History.</p> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a id="Footnote_40" href="#FNanchor_40" class="label">[40]</a> The papers relating to Mrs. Kenton were received after the volume +was stereotyped, which accident causes the appearance of the memoir thus +out of its proper place. It should be read next to that of Rebecca Boone. +I am indebted to the kindness of B. Henkle, Esq., of Rensselaer, Indiana, to +whom the materials were furnished by the daughter of Gen. Kenton.</p> + +</div> +</div> + +<div class="transnote"> + +<p class="c">Transcriber’s Notes:</p> + +<p>Variations in spelling and hyphenation are retained.</p> + +<p>Perceived typographical errors have been changed.</p> + +</div> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78929 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/78929-h/images/cover.jpg b/78929-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0a2cfba --- /dev/null +++ b/78929-h/images/cover.jpg diff --git a/78929-h/images/fig1.jpg b/78929-h/images/fig1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..85ed8f7 --- /dev/null +++ b/78929-h/images/fig1.jpg |
