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diff --git a/78929-0.txt b/78929-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..942d09d --- /dev/null +++ b/78929-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,14528 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78929 *** + + + + + PIONEER WOMEN OF THE WEST + + + + + THE + + PIONEER WOMEN + + OF THE + + WEST. + + + BY + + MRS. ELIZABETH F. ELLET, + + AUTHOR OF “THE QUEENS OF AMERICAN SOCIETY,” “THE WOMEN OF + THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION,” ETC. + + [Illustration] + + PHILADELPHIA: + PORTER & COATES. + 1873. + + + + + PRESS OF + HENRY B. ASHMEAD, + 1102 and 1104 Sansom St. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +An 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +E. F. E. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + Page + + I. MARY BLEDSOE, 13 + + II. CATHARINE SEVIER, 29 + + III. REBECCA BOONE, 42 + + MRS. MASON, 58 + + ANNA INNIS, 61 + + SARAH COMBS, 62 + + IV. CHARLOTTE ROBERTSON, 63 + + MRS. DUNHAM, 75 + + V. JANE BROWN, 79 + + SARAH WILSON, 106 + + VI. MARY MOORE, 110 + + MRS. DENIS, 111 + + MRS. CLENDENIN, 112 + + MRS. CUNNINGHAM, 113 + + MRS. SCOTT, 115 + + MRS. GLASS, 118 + + VII. ANN HAYNES, 145 + + VIII. RUTH SPARKS, 153 + + IX. SARAH SHELBY, 162 + + X. REBECCA WILLIAMS, 171 + + LOUISA ST. CLAIR, 178 + + MRS. LAKE, 185 + + SALLY WARTH, 191 + + JANE DICK, 193 + + MARY HECKEWELDER, 193 + + RUHAMA GREENE, 196 + + XI. REBECCA ROUSE, 199 + + XII. SARAH SIBLEY, 225 + + XIII. MARY DUNLEVY, 226 + + XIV. ANN BAILEY, 245 + + XV. ELIZABETH HARPER, 254 + + SARAH THORP, 266 + + MRS. WALWORTH, 271 + + MRS. CARTER, 272 + + XVI. ELIZABETH TAPPEN, 274 + + XVII. REBECCA HEALD, 281 + + MRS. HELM, 302 + + MRS. SNOW, 303 + + MRS. LEMEN, MRS. EDWARDS, 304 + + XVIII. ABIGAIL SNELLING, 305 + + XIX. MARY MCMILLAN, 338 + + XX. CHARLOTTE A. CLARK, 350 + + CHARLOTTE GEER, 357 + + MRS. CLARK, 359 + + XXI. SARAH BRYAN, 361 + + SYLVIA CHAPIN, 367 + + MRS. ST. JOHN, MRS. LOVEJOY, 368 + + LUCY CHAPIN, 370 + + MRS. ANDERSON, 373 + + ELIZA BULL, MRS. HARAZTHY, 374 + + XXII. MARY ANN RUMSEY, 376 + + ANN ALLEN, 382 + + ELIZABETH ALLEN, 382 + + XXIII. HARRIET L. NOBLE, 388 + + FRANCES TRASK, 397 + + MRS. SCOTT, MRS. TALBOT, MRS. GOODRICH, 400 + + MRS. COMSTOCK, 401 + + MRS. WOODWARD, 402 + + XXIV. JOURNAL, 403 + + XXV. ELIZABETH KENTON, 428 + + + + +THE PIONEER WOMEN OF THE WEST. + +I. + +MARY BLEDSOE. + + “Men’s due deserts each reader may recite, + For men of men do make a goodly show; + But women’s works can seldom come to light, + No mortal man their famous acts may know; + Few writers will a little time bestow, + The worthy acts of women to repeat; + Though their renown and the deserts be great.” + + +The 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 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. + +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.” + +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. + +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 +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 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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +While the British Colonel Ferguson, under the orders of Cornwallis, +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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 _he_ 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 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. + +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. + +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 of Captain +(afterwards General) Robertson and Col. John Donaldson, to establish +the earliest colony in that part of the country.[1] + +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. + +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 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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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, 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. + +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 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. + + + + +II. + +CATHERINE SEVIER. + + +In 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.” + +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 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. + +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.[2] + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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, 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 +_in uniform_.” + +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 _so out of danger_, 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. + +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. 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. + +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. + +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.”[3] + +In the course of years, Mrs. Sevier became the mother of eight +children, three sons and five daughters; and thus Col. Sevier was 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. + +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-- + + “The wife of John Sevier + Knows no fear.” + +“I neither skulk from duty nor from danger.” + +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. + +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?” + +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 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. + +“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!” + +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. + +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.[4] + +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. 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.” + +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.[5] + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +During the twelve years in which he officiated as Governor of +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.” + +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.” + +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. + +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 _bench_, 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 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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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.” + +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. + +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. + +She departed this life on the 2d October, 1836, at Russelville, in the +State of Alabama, aged about eighty-two. + + + + +III. + +REBECCA BOONE. + + +In 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. + +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 of Morgan Bryan, of Virginia, the head +of a very respectable family. His daughter, Rebecca, was born near +Winchester, in Virginia. + +Flint’s “Life of Boone,” contains the following account of his first +meeting with his future wife, referred to as authentic by other +biographers: + +“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 _fire pan_, 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--_shining the eyes_. + +“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 +_shined the eyes_ 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 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. + +“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. + +“‘Sister went down to the river and a _painter_ chased her, and she is +almost scared to death,’ exclaimed the boy. + +“The ruddy, flaxen-haired girl stood full in view of her terrible +pursuer, leaning upon his rifle, and surveying her with the most +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 _shined_ 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.” + +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, 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. + +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.” + +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 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. + +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 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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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 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.”[6] + +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. + +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 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 _pawpaw_ 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 _flunkers_, 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 of which Lexington is the +centre--and such were others built at that period. + +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. + +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 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. + +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 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. + +“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.” + +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 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 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.” + +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, 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. + +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 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![7] + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +“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; wooden vessels either prepared by +the _turner_, the _cooper_, 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 _scalping knife_, 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 _rifle_, 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 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.”[8] + +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 _earliest_ emigrants, the state +of society exercising high physical qualities rather than mental or +artificial endowments. + + * * * * * + +ANNA INNIS, 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 +_Frankfort Commonwealth_ says: + +“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.” + +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.” + +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.” + + NOTE.--See page 428. + + + + +IV. + +CHARLOTTE ROBERTSON. + + +Charlotte Reeves 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. + +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, 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. 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. + +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. + +“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 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.” + +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 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.” + +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. + +“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 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.”[9] + +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. + +“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 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.”[10] + +Gov. Blount writes to Gen. Robertson, March 8th, 1794: + +“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.”[11] + +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. + +The following description of the game is furnished by a gentleman of +Nashville, who has lived among the Indians. + +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 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. + +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 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. + +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. + +One thing which I have observed extremely objectionable in these +plays, is this; any one of the party is allowed to _double up_ his +antagonist, notwithstanding they are not permitted to strike, scratch, +or bruise each other. The _doubling_ 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. + +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. + +In 1794, Mrs. Robertson went on horseback into South Carolina +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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, 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. + +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 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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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 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. + +“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 buildings for safety +and protection against the inclemency of the weather, after they had +arrived at their destination.”[12] + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + + +V. + +JANE BROWN. + + +Many 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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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 time, to have smoked the pipe +of peace, and buried the tomahawk for ever. + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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 wide bosom of a noble river, where they would be comparatively +free from the ambuscades of lurking savages. + +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. + +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, 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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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!” + +The trader calmly replied to her, “He’s only a little boy. It’s a shame +to kill children. He shall not be killed.” + +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. + +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. + +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?” + +Answering the look rather than the words, the trader stepped out of his +door, and said to the bloody brave, “Take him.” + +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. + +“Will the brave chieftain kill the boy in my house? Let not the boy’s +blood stain my floor.” + +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. + +In the path which led from the house, the boy fell upon his knees, +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! + +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.” + +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 +_loved_ the boy, and would not kill him, his savage followers replied: + +“No, no, he does not love the boy; it’s the boy’s negroes he loves.” + +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, and +kicked him so rudely in the side as almost to kill him, exclaiming, +“I’ve got the Virginian’s scalp.” + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + Oct. 15th,[13] 1798. + +_To Mr._ JOHN SEVIER _and_ JOSEPH MARTIN, _and to You, the Inhabitants +of the New State_. + +“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. + +“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. + +“For you, you beguiled the head man (Big Tassel), who was your friend, +and wanted to keep peace. + +“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. + +“And you must march off in thirty days. + +“Five thousand is our number!” + +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. + +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 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. + +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.” + +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. + +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 side by a party of Cherokees, and borne back, +she knew not whither, nor for what end. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +Col. McGillevray at once informed him that she was in his 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?” + +“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.” + +“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!” + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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.[14] + +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 +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +The troops made a forced march, reached the Tennessee river just 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. + +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 one instance, he killed an +Indian warrior in single combat, and carried away his scalp. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +This blow was so unexpected and successful, that it inspired the +Cherokees with a sincere desire for peace, which they soon after +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +Col. Brown had at that time a claim before Congress for the 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. + +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. + +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. + +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.” + +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 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!” + +Here Cutty-a-toy hung his head, and said, “It is all true: do with me +as you please.” + +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. + +“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.” + +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 take the rest, including two women and +some children, which was generously done. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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, 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. + + * * * * * + +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 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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +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,[15] 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. + +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 remembrance of home and friends, and the home +circle was again complete. + +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. + + + + +VI. + +MARY MOORE. + + +Before 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. + +“The escape of Mrs. Denis, who had been taken captive in the 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. + +“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.”[16] + +The settlement was made to suffer severely for this hospitable act. “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. + +“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 prevent its cries +attracting the attention of the savages. Such were some of the horrid +realities endured by the first settlers of Western Virginia.”[17] + +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. + +“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 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. + +“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.” + +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 + + “Go worship at Immanuel’s feet,” + +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 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. + +“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.” + +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 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. + +“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, wandering +in the trackless wilderness. Finally, on the eleventh of August, she +reached a settlement on Clinch River known as New Garden. + +“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.” + +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 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. + +“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 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. + +“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. + +“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. 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. + +“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.” + +The party reached Beach Bottom fort that night. Mrs. Glass subsequently +married a Mr. Brown, and was long a resident of Brooke County. + +“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.[18] 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. + +“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.” + +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 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. + +“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. + +“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 +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. + +“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. + +“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 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. + +“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. + +“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. + +“After some twenty days of wearisome travel down the Sandy 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. + +“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. + +“The two girls remained with the Shawnees till the fall of the 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. + +“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 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. + +“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. + +“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 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. + +“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. + +“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. + +“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, These they afterwards +showed to my sister. Near this, Old Wolf went off and procured some +bullets which he had secreted. + +“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.” * * + +“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.” + +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 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 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. + +“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.” + +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. + +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.[19] “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. + +“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 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.” + +“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.” + +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 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.” + +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.” + +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. + +“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.” + +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. + +“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. 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. + +“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.’ + +“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 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. + +“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 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. + +A description of a wedding among the pioneers may serve to illustrate +their manners. The following is taken from Doddridge’s Notes: + +“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. + +“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 to be sprained, it was tied with a +handkerchief, and little more was thought or said about it. + +“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.’ + +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, 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.” + +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. + +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. + +“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 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. + +“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. + +“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. + +“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 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! + +“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. + +“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 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.”[20] + +“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.”[21] + + + + +VII. + +ANN HAYNES. + + +It is mentioned in “The Women of the American Revolution,”[22] 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 _the right_. +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, 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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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 _range_ 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. + +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.” + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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.[23] + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + + + + +VIII. + +RUTH SPARKS. + + +Ruth Sevier 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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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 in persuading the savages +to accede to the wishes of the whites for the extension of boundaries +and the promotion of peace. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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 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, + + Of moving accidents by flood and field,” + +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 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. + +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. + +In Natchez and other towns where there was anything that could 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. + +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. + +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 her first governor, +holding that office, with an interval of only two years, for more than +eleven years. + +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. + + + + +IX. + +SARAH SHELBY. + + +Sarah, 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 being able to make the fathers run, he +was content with making the daughters dance.” + +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. + +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. + +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 +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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 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 + + “How oft at night + Their sleep was broke by sudden fright, + Of Indian whoop and cruel knife + To spill the blood of babe and wife; + How prowling wolves and hungry bears + Increased their dangers and their cares; + How bold and strong these pilgrims were-- + That feared not Indian, wolf, or bear; + By sickness pressed, by want beset, + Each ill they braved, each danger met; + ’Midst want and war their sinews grew,--etc.” + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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.” + +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. 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. + +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. + + + + +X. + +REBECCA WILLIAMS. + + +Walter Scott’s 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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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.[24] +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +A brief account of the progress of this first settlement made in Ohio +will be interesting, and may here be appropriately introduced It is +prepared from a large volume of Notes on Pioneer History, by Dr. S. P. +Hildreth. + +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. + +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 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.” + +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. + +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 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. + +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.” + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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 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, + +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 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.” + +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. + +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 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: + +“‘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 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 _looking so_; she would put things a little to rights.’ +After a while the old lady arrived, bringing the looking-glass, knives +and forks, etc.’” + +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 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.” + +“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 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.” + +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.” + +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. + +One instance of strict honor, in the midst of privation is mentioned +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. + +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 +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. + +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. + +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 terms, +than those who had undergone all the privations, labors, and sufferings +which preceded the privileged season. + +“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, you might have fancied you were +in the confines of Eden or the borders of Elysium.” + +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.” + +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 _brother_! It seemed to renew the scenes of the first year’s +settlement, and make us almost forget war was upon our border.” + +After the banquet and ceremonies were concluded, the chiefs were 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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +This is a brief notice of the earliest settlement in Ohio, the germ +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. + +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. + + * * * * * + +Mary Heckewelder, 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 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. + +“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. + +“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; and the poorest +of the Indians were obliged to live upon their dead cattle, which died +for want of pasture. + +“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. + +“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.” + +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 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. + + * * * * * + +“Ruhama Greene 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. + +“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 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. + +“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.[25] + +“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. + +“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. + +“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. + +“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.”[26] + + + + +XI. + +REBECCA ROUSE. + + +Among 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. + +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 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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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 again +in the spring, and if he found the slats replaced, he would give him +another and still sounder thrashing. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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 +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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.[27] + + + + +XII. + +SARAH WHIPPLE SIBLEY. + + +Sarah W. Sproat 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. + +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 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.” + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +Mrs. Sibley was warmly welcomed on her arrival by her husband’s +friends, and so kindly treated that she soon felt at home. The 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. + +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, and they left him with +regret. Their journey was a long and fatiguing one, but they arrived in +safety at Marietta. + +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. + +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 open air. The gentlemen from the other side have been liberal in +furnishing provisions, which are still much wanted. + +“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.” + +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. + +But few events worthy of note occurred during the interval between 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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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.” + +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. + +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 accompanied an age of refinement, the softening down +of strong points of character, and in too many instances, enervation +and effeminacy. + +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. + +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.” + +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 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. + +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. + + + + +XIII. + +MARY DUNLEVY. + + +Few 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. + +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 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 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. + +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 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. + +The emigrants who established themselves at Columbia, were men 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. + +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 _esprit du corps_ +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. + +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 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 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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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 +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. + +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 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. + +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 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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + + * * * * * + +The following sketch of life in the woods is extracted from an article +written by John S. Williams, the Editor of the American Pioneer: + +“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. + +“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 _window_, +when perhaps it was the largest spot in the top, bottom or sides of the +cabin at which the wind _could not_ 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. + +“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 _three-legged_ stools, as four legs of any thing could not all +touch the floor at the same time. + +“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 _was_ laid, the +reader will readily conceive of its imperviousness to wind or weather, +when we 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. + +“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. + +“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. + +“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 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. + +“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 morning. At daylight we would eat the +rest as we walked from the house to work. + +“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. + +“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. + +“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.” + +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 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.” + +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.” + + + + +XIV. + +ANN BAILEY. + + +The 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.[28] + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +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 +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. + +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 “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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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, 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. + +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. + +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 +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. + +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. + +Mrs. Bailey’s life was prolonged far beyond the ordinary limits; +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. + + + + +XV. + +ELIZABETH HARPER. + + +Elizabeth Bartholomew, 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. + +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 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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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 County, was one of those which fell to the +company formed at the town of that name in New York. + +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. + +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; 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. + +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. 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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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 _for her_, 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 down on all fours, and leaving +the hog behind, retreated to the forest and resigned the field to the +woman.” + +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. + +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 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. + +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 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. + +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 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. + +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. + +During all the privations, trials and sufferings which Mrs. Harper was +compelled to undergo, she was never known to yield to despondency, 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. + +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. + + * * * * * + +“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 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.”[29] + + * * * * * + +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 water from +tin cups, and firing the usual number of salutes from two or three +fowling-pieces.”[30] 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[31] 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.” + +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 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. + +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. + +“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 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. + +“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. + +“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 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.” + +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.[32] + +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 the scamperdown, double-shuffle, +western swing, and half-moon” in that unostentatious place of +assemblage. + +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 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.” + + + + +XVI. + +ELIZABETH TAPPEN. + + +Elizabeth Harper 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. + +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 calamity, had a due influence on the +minds of her children, and the feeling of discontent was soon subdued. + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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 fright of Mrs. +Harper had such an effect upon her that she suffered in health for many +years. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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 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. + + + + +XVII. + +REBECCA HEALD. + + +It 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. + +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 +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +The gentleman[33] 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. + +The peninsula of Michigan was then a wilderness, peopled only 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.[34] 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. + +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. + +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, 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. + +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 when they came opposite +Burns’ they called to warn the family of their danger and hastened on. + +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. + +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. + +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 +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. + +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. + +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. + +Capt. Heald was immediately informed of this advice, and replied 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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +“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. + +“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 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,[35] 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. + +“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. + +“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 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. + +“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. + +“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, _Black Partridge_, 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 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. + +“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[36] +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. + +“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. + +“As the troops left the fort the band struck up the dead march. 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,[37] 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. + +“‘They are about to attack us,’ shouted he, ‘form instantly, and charge +upon them.’ + +“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. + +“‘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. + +“‘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 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?’ + +“‘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. + +“‘Look at that man,’ said I; ‘he at least dies like a soldier!’ + +“‘Yes,’ replied the unfortunate man, with a convulsive gasp, ‘but he +has no terrors for the future--he is an unbeliever!’ + +“‘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. + +“‘I was immediately plunged into the water, and held there with a +forcible hand, notwithstanding my resistance. I soon perceived, +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. + +“‘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.’” + +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 his death-blow from +one of his pursuers, who stabbed him in the back. + +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. + +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. + +“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; and +literally suffered herself to be cut to pieces, rather than become +their captive. + +“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 _Shaw-ne-au-kee_. 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. + +“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 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. + +“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. + +“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 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. + +“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 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. + +“‘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.’ + +“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. + +“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. + +“Of the other prisoners, Capt. and Mrs. Heald had been sent 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. + +“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. + +“Lieut. Helm, who was likewise wounded, was carried by some friendly +Indians to their village, on the _Au Sable_ 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. + +“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 period they +experienced more kindness than was to have been expected from an enemy +in most cases so merciless.” + +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. + +MRS. HELM 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. + +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 and with a sincerity and +devotion rarely equalled, did she obey the precept, “thou shalt love +thy neighbor as thyself.” + +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. + +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. + +“On a beautiful Sunday morning in Detroit,” continues my informant, +“I heard the scalp whoop of a war party coming up the 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.” + +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. + + + + +XVIII. + +ABIGAIL SNELLING. + + +Thomas Hunt, 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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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 she gradually sank, until she died in six months after the death +of her husband. + +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.” + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +Before long, intelligence was brought of the approach and the 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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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, 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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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 _never marry an Englishman_.” His weeping +bride assented without being able to speak, and they parted. + +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 project would +have been carried into effect. On that morning Gen, Miller was very ill +of chill and fever. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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.” + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +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.” 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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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 +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!” + +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. + +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 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. + +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, +_en route_ 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. + +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, Eliza M. Hunt, was +married to Mr. Soulard, a French gentleman of great worth. + +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. + +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. Their daughter had been married a +few days previous to the Adjutant of the regiment. + +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. + +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 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! + +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. + +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 known who +had done the deed; there was a mystery about it that was never solved. + +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. + +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 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.” + +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. + +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. + +In 1823, news was brought by the traders that two white children 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.” + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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! + +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 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. + +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.[38] + +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, 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. + +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. + +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 _passed_ 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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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 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. + + + + +XIX. + +MARY McMILLAN. + + +Lanman, 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. + +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 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. + +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 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.[39] + +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 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: + + “Iris all hues; roses and jessamines + Reared high their flourished heads between, and wrought + Mosaic; under foot the violet, + Crocus, and hyacinth, with rich inlay, + Broidered the ground, more colored than with stones + Of costliest emblem.” + +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. + +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 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 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. + +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. + +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. 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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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 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. + + + + +XX. + +CHARLOTTE A. CLARK. + + +This 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. + +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 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. + +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 +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +An enclosed piece of ground was selected, not far from the fort, +lined 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.” + +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. + +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 +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. + +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. + +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, 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. + +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 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. + + * * * * * + +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. + +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 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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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 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. + + + + +XXI. + +SARAH BRYAN. + + +In 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 +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. + +“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.” + +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. + +“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.” + +These difficulties passed over. Mr. and Mrs. Bryan had what served +for a competence in those days, and were of excellent character 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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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,” 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. + +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 +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. + + * * * * * + +Sylvia Chapin, 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. + +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, 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. + +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 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. + +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.” + +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. + +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. + +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 +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. + +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. + +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. + +“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 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. + +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. + +“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 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. + + * * * * * + +Mrs. Anderson, 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. + + * * * * * + +Eliza Bull, 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. + +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 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. + + + + +XXII. + +MARY ANN RUMSEY. + + +The 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 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. _That was +enough_; I did not care to go any further; we went home; I had seen +her, and that satisfied me.” + +Ann Arbor is the county seat of Washtenaw County. The Indian name, +_Washtenong_, 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 _stopped_ some years in the State of New York on their +way to the West.” + +The arbor, or tent, which formed the first shelter for this little +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. + +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 “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 _a good supper_.” 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. + +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. + +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, 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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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.” + +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 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.” + +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! + +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 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. + +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. + +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 _clearing_ 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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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 _empty_, +jumped into it herself. The stratagem so pleased the men that, laughing +heartily, they fetched water and filled the butt for her. + +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. + +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. + + + + +XXIII. + +HARRIET L. NOBLE. + + +In 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. + +“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 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. + +“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 +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, determined to swap babies. At last she gave it up, and for +one I felt relieved. + +“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. + +“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 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. + +“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 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. + +“The winter passed rather gloomily, but when spring came, everything +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, 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. + +“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.” + +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 in their own language, and as soon as they knew him, +they shouldered their weapons and were “marching off in double quick +time.” + +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. + +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. + + * * * * * + +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 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. + +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 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 _nerve_ 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. + +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.” + +It may well be imagined that those to whom Miss Trask chose to be +amiable, liked her much, while she was thoroughly detested 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. + +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 +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. + + * * * * * + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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.” + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + + +XXIV. + + +Even 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: + +“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 +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 _shine_ 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.’ + +“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 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. + + ‘Many an elf and many a fay + Here might hold their pastime gay.’ + +“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 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 +_parlor_ 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. + +“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 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. + +“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. + +“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 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. + +“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 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. + +“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 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 _one_ 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 _one_ 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 young wife to her husband. Small pillows, with +clean-looking cotton pillow-cases, completed their decoration. + +“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 _six_ 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 +_four_ 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. + +“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 _widened_ rather than a _lengthened_ face was turned upon him. +Truth to tell, I was almost convulsed with 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. + +“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 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. + + * * * * * + +“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 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. + +“The hours of the day seemed long in passing, from the necessity +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. + +“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. + +“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, 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. + +“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. + + * * * * * + +“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 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. + +“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 _pint_ 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 _lend_ my towel to the Judge (the Circuit +Court was holding a session there), and she would _return_ it in a few +moments. + +“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 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. + +“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 prayer, benediction, or reminder of any sort that +this was holy time, we were allowed to depart. + +“That afternoon my husband and myself preferred to worship in the +glorious temple of the adjoining forest, where we found + + “‘’Neath cloistered boughs the floral bell that swingeth, + And tolls its perfume on the passing air. + Makes Sabbath in the woods, and ever ringeth + A call to prayer.’” + + * * * * * + +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. + +“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 _improvement_ +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 across the beams overhead, and these our +‘landlord’ called the ‘chamber floor.’ The ascent was by a ladder of +most primitive construction.” * * * + +“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.” * * + +“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. + +“_May 24th._--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 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. + +“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! + +“_May 25th._--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 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. + +“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.’ + +“_May 27th._--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 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. * * * * + +“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.” * * + +“_May 29th._--Mrs. B---- was telling us to-day that many people lived +for weeks last winter on boiled acorns. It is almost impossible to get +seed for planting--potatoes after the eyes were cut out, it is said, +have sold for ten dollars a bushel.” + +“_June 1st._--A barrel of white fish is spoiled to-day. The field mice +have got into the milk pans and committed suicide.” + +“_June 2nd._--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 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. + +“_June 3rd._--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.” + +“_June 10th._--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. + +“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 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.” + + + + +XXV. + +ELIZABETH KENTON.[40] + + +The 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 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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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 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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] For an account of this expedition, and the planting of the +settlement, see the memoir of Sarah Buchanan,--_Women of the American +Revolution_. Vol. iii. p. 310. + +[2] 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. + +[3] 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. + +[4] See Wheeler’s North Carolina. + +[5] 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 _soldier_ 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. + +[6] 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. + +[7] McClung’s Sketches of Western Adventure. + +[8] Butler’s Kentucky. + +[9] Haywood. + +[10] Copied from MS. letter in the Historical Collection at Nashville. + +[11] MS. Letter. + +[12] Burnet’s Notes. + +[13] Haywood gives the date of the taking of the fort as the 10th +September, but in his appendix the 15th. + +[14] For the incidents connected with the attack on Buchanan’s Station, +see _Women of the American Revolution_, vol. iii., Memoir of SARAH +BUCHANAN, 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. + +[15] Mrs. Shelby. + +[16] Flint--Indian Wars of the West. + +[17] See De Hass for this and following anecdotes. + +[18] 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. + +[19] American Pioneer, vol. II. + +[20] Doddridge’s Notes. + +[21] American Pioneer. + +[22] Memoir of Jane Gaston, Vol. III. page 229 + +[23] 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 _History of North +Carolina_, recently published. + +[24] See sketch of Elizabeth Zane. “_Women of the American +Revolution._” Vol. II. + +[25] 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. + +[26] Historica. Collections of Ohio. + +[27] The foregoing memoir is much shortened from the original one by +Dr. Hildreth. + +[28] 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. + +[29] Historical Collections of Ohio. + +[30] MSS. in possession of John Barr, Esq., of Cleveland. + +[31] Moses Cleveland, the Director of survey commenced by the +Connecticut Land Company. + +[32] MS. of J. Barr, Esq. + +[33] Gen. John E. Hunt, of Maumee City, Ohio. + +[34] 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. + +[35] A trading establishment--now Ypsilanti. + +[36] The spot now called _Bertrand_, then known by the name of _Parc +aux Vaches_, from its having been a pasture-ground belonging to an old +French fort in that neighborhood. + +[37] 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. + +[38] “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.--_Letter written by order of Major-General Macomb, dated +August 21st, 1828._ + +[39] Lanman’s History. + +[40] 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. + + + + + Transcriber's Notes: + + Italics are shown thus: _sloping_. + + Variations in spelling and hyphenation are retained. + + Perceived typographical errors have been changed. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78929 *** |