w
QieNI??AUO<^V '^OLL.ECmON
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
3 1833 01729 2464
GENEALOGY
977.1
F498B
1902
DECEMBER 1, 1902. PRICE. 50 CENTS: POSFAGE 6 CENTS.
NEW SERIES VOLUME XIV.
The Firclands Pioneer
I'UPUSHKD BY TlIK
FIRELANDS HISTORICAL SOCIETY
HKADOIAKTKKS IN
THE FIRELANDS MEMOKIAL BUILDING
NOKWALK, OHIO.
NORWALK, OHIO |
THE LANING COMf»ANY ' [
1902 j
DECEMBER I, 1902 PRICE, 50 CENTS
NEW SERIES VOLUME XIV
The Firclands Pioneer
PUBLISHED BY THE
FIRELANDS HISTORICAL SOCIETY
HEADQUARTERS IN
THE FIRELANDS MEMORIAL BUILDING
NORWALK, OHIO
NOBWALK, OHIO
THE LANING COMPANY
1902
OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY FOR 1902-1903
Hon. Rush R. Sloane, President . . - - Sandusky
Hon. S. a. Wildman, First Vice-President - - Norwalk
A. J. Barney, Second Vice President . - . . Milan
Dr. a. Sheldon, Recording Secretary - - - - Norwalk
Hon. F. H. Jones, Treasurer ------ Norwalk
Hon. C. H. Gallup, lyibrarian ----- Norwalk
Dr. F. K. Weeks, Biographer Huron County - Clarksfield
John McKelvey, Biographer Erie County - - Sandusky
BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND TRUSTEES
The President and Secretary, Ex-Officio,
M. Whiton, C. H. Gallup, I. M. Gillett,
Thomas M. Sloane, Hon. J. F. Laning.
PUBLISHING COMMITTEE
Hon. C. H. Gallup, Hon. J. F. Laning
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
OF THE
FORTY-FIFTH ANNUAL MEETING
OF THE
FiRELANDS Historical Society
HELD IN
THE FIRST METHODIST CHURCH AT NORWALK, OHIO.
OCTOBER 23. 1901. 10 A. M.
MORNING SESSION
October 2}^, 1901.
The annual meeting' of the Firelands Historical Society was
called to order at the First Methodist Church of Norwalk by the
president, Judge Rush R. Sloanc, at 10 A. AI.
Invocation by Rev. Dr. Hildreth. Miss Reed then favored
the societ}- with a song'.
President Sloane said :
ADDRESS OF HON. RUSH R. SLOANE
AT ANNUAL .MEETING HELD IN NORWALK, OCT. 23, 19OT.
Fellow Pioneers, Ladies and Gentlemen:
The forty-hfth annual meeting of our society was postponed
last June for various reasons, and it was understood that it would
be held in September. Upon short notice we are called to meet
tn-dav at the h(ime of "The Firelands Historical Societv."
788 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
The last number of the "Firelands Pioneer.'" published De-
cember 1. I goo, contains the proceedings of the annual meeting
of the society held at Norwalk in June, 1900, and the meeting held
at Sandusky, October 3, 1900. There can be no question but the
Sandusky meeting was in every respect the most successful ever
held bv our society, and we point with pride and satisfaction to
the addresses made and the financial results to the society. Every
dollar of the expense of the meeting was defrayed without call-
ing upon the funds of the society.
The subject which will be especially discussed to-day follow^-
ing the address of our honored friend Judge Penny well, who, by
the wa)', was a native of Sandusky, upon "The Surrender of De-
troit" in .A.ugust, 1 812, will be the connection of the Firelands
with that war, and all are invited to participate in this discussion.
We all advert w^ith a filial fondness to those pages of our history
which show the wisdom of our fathers, the invincibility and
strength of their arms and their many virtues. To these traits
we cannot too often refer, and the}- thus remain as the corner
stone and arch in the perpetuation of our national glory, for in
every age wisdom coupled wath valor have founded empires.
Much of interesting history has already sunk under the pall
of oblivion and more w^ould share a similar fate, if it were not for
the outstretched hand of societies like ours, making great efforts
in its preservation. We want the truth in relation to the past, for
too much of fable and poetry supply the place of chronology.
Let us then confine ourselves scrupulously to the facts, rather
than claim what is not justly due.
America commenced the War of Independence wathout
credit, arms, clothing, money and without munitions of war. We
engaged in this war only relying upon stout hearts and the as-
sistance of God for the success of a righteous cause. The result
proved that with such aid, with the right on its side, a nation has
little to fear. But the Treaty of Paris of 1783, by wdiich Great
Britain acknowledged the independence and sovereignty of the
United States, was on her part merely a truce, a sacrifice for the
time only, of her national honor and pride to national interest ;
it was not an honest settlement of dift'erences, without the inten-
PROCEEDINGS 789
lion to renew the controversy. Indeed, so little did this power
conceal her policy on this suhject that our first American minister
liad scarcely passed into her court, when he discovered a spirit
of anim.osity towards the United States. The northwestern mil-
itary posts were forcibly retained, though within the acknowl-
edged limits of the United States. The Indian nations in alliance
with Great Britain were openly instigated to a renewal of hostili-
ties. Wayne's victory in 1794 had checked her aid in the west
to the Indian tribes, but in 1809 she attempted to separate the New
England states from the union and to reconnect with the British
empire. Matters continued strained and all efforts at a correc-
tion of the evils and of the demands of Great Britain proved un-
availing, and when at last in refusing longer even to discuss
wrongs, England officially announced "farther negotiations were
inadmissible." And thereupon the United States declared war
against Great Britain the i8th of June, 1812 ; but this was not de-
clared by the unanimous action of the United States, either in the
house or the senate. In the house were 79 yeas and 49 nays. In
the senate were 19 yeas and 13 nays.
The states of South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky
and Ohio gave unanimous votes for the declaration of war, while
Rhode Island, Connecticut and Delaware voted unitedly against
the war; and the remaining nine states, divided on the question.
The English prints were strong in their denunciations of
America and prophecy of victory for their arms. I quote from
"The London Courier" of June, 1812:
■'America knows not that the vigour of the British empire
increases with the necessity of exerting it? ; that our elasticity rises
with the pressure upon us ; that difficulties only make us more
firm and undaunted; that dangers only give us the additional
means of overcoming them. It is in such a state of affairs, in
such a great crisis, that a nation like Great Britain becomes
greater. We are now the only bulwark of liberty in the world;
placed, a little spot, a speck almost on the ocean, between the old
and the new world, we arc contending with both ; with one arm
we are beating the armies of the master of the continent of
790 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
Europe; and with the other, zvc sJiall s))iitc his Prefect, an the Con-
tinent of America."
It was the wish of the Americans to induce Indians to be
neutral. Humanity and civilization plead in favor of not adding
savage barbarity to the other evils of war ; but unfortunately, the
policy of a "magnanimous" enemy was different and we soon
found the enemy leagued with the ruthless savage of the wilder-
ness; and the tom.ahawk and scalping knife was to act with all
means in the Briton's power against the people of the United
States. The only bloody conflict during the war of 1812 within
the confines of the Firelands was in Danbury township, now in
Ottawa county. I will not give a description of this battle, but
refer you all to a full description by Hon. J. R. Giddings, one of
the participants, and was published on page 37 and following
pages of "The Pioneer," at Sandusky, in May, 1859.
About September 20, 1812, one regiment of troops raised in
Ohio encamped in Erie county between Huron and Milan, some
three miles below Milan. Several murders were committed by
Indians at Cold Creek and on the Peninsula.
On July 31st the British army which attacked Fort Steven-
son was seen to enter Sandusky Bay. This attack proved disas-
trous. It was a brilliant and successful defense, the American
loss only one killed and seven very slightly wounded. The
enemy lost about one hundred and fifty in Idlled and wounded.
Then comes Perry with his fleet in the mouth of Sandusky Bay
and Harrison placed on board one hundred and fifty marines.
The desperate and bloody repulse at Lower Sandusky fin-
ished the last invasion of Ohio by the British and savages.
Soon after this important victory an engagement was fought
on the waters of Lake Erie within the limits of Ohio, which re-
sulted in a victory so complete that, as to Ohio, the War of 181 2
was terminated. This was known as 'Perry's Victory" when he
sent his renowned dispatch —
" We have met the enemy and they are ours.''
In one respect this victory was without a parallel in naval
annals, — he captured a whole squadron. At the Nile two ships
of the line and two frigates escaped and four French ships at
PROCEEDINGS 791
Trafalgar, against whom were fought the battles of the Nile and
Trafalgar against Frenchmen, and against Spaniards and French-
men. But our marine battles in the War of 1812 were fought
against Englishmen, the conquerors of Spaniards and of French-
men; and "on the element" where they had always claimed a cer-
tainty of victory.
And now let me say, since the War of 1812, our flag is looked
up to with respect, and as a symbol of triumph, under every
heaven. And our navy has ever since been covered with renown.
The fabric which has grown from the colonies at Plymouth and
Jamestown, now stands the mark and model, as well as the ad-
miration and wonder of the world !
The appalling tragedy which has cast a gloom and darkness
over the whole nation has in no place been greater than with the
Pioneers of the Firelands. The intensity of horror with which
the news of the attempt upon President McKinley's life was re-
ceived, and the joy which was felt when it became almost sure
of his recovery from his wounds, was universal and not confined
to locality or to party afifiliations ; not only in America but in
every part of the civilized w^orld came messages of sympathy and
denunciations of the wicked crime. The press of England and
continental Europe united in condemning "the deep damnation
of the taking off," and demanding united action by the nations
of the world to combat the common danger. Anarchism. From
what occurred during the fateful visit at Buffalo to his dying
moment, the world has no example of right-mindfulness more
perfect, human nature was capable of nothing better. The
awful shot was aimed not so much at William McKinley. as
against our president, officially, and thus to injure and destroy
our institutions. His speech the day before the assault upon him,
like Washington's farewell address, should be treasured by the
American people ; it showed that '"'Truly the period of exclusive-
ness is past ;'' that ''commercial wars are unprofitable ;'' that, "A
policy of good will and friendly trade relations will prevent re-
prisals."
Mr. McKinley was a God-fearing and God-serving man. He
was virtuous and faithful. No man ever stood more true to his
792 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
country, as he saw his duty; he was firm to his rehgion, and lov-
ing and kind in his home. He was brave in war, successful as a
politician, had a wonderful influence in congress, and was the best
beloved president since Lincoln.
We have no example in the records of European convulsions,,
in the darkest hour of partisan hatreds, of an assassin plot, at
once so senseless, so horrible and so successful. He will live in
the remembrance of the world and of his countrymen for ages, for
he acted on a greater stage than any of his predecessors.
The hearts of all go out to Mrs. McKinley in this, her hour
of supreme trial. Americans, without regard to party, and the
whole civilized world join in tribute to William McKinley our be-
loved president. One of the teachings of this terrible event, is
the lesson that our national republic does not depend upon any
one leader. So while we m>ourn William McKinley dead, we
must recollect that the president can never die.
'' Rest, thy noble work is done.
Sleep among- the hallowed dead :
Millions bend above thy head
Evermore.
No assassin can invade
Where thy precious dust is laid,
Evermore. ' '
The President: It is now in order, before calling for the
reports of the different officials of the society, to appoint a com-
mittee for the nomination of ofificers for this society, and I will
name Ex-Presidents Stewart and Schuyler and Dr. Sheldon as
that committee.
Dr. Sheldon: In connection with this matter, I would like
to nominate for life membership to this society. Judge F. H.
Tones, of this city.
Mr. Gallup : A nomination is unnecessary. The simple pay-
ing of the money, is all that is required.
Dr. Sheldon, however, wished this matter put in the form
of a motion. The mocion was seconded, and carried.
The biographer was called upon for a report, and said : The
past year has been very severe in the death of Pioneers in Erie
PROCEEDINGS 793
county. Further than this, my report will be in writing, and will
appear in onr publication.
The librarian's report was asked for, and Mr. Gallup said :
At the last settlement a year ago, there was in my hands, $40.60.
I have paid out and received as follows :
President Sloane : Just give us the sum total ; the full report
will appear in the minutes.
Mr. Gallup: Well, I have received $530.75 and paid out
$471.37, leaving a balance of $59.38.
The president then appointed as an auditing committee,
Messrs. Gillett, McKelvy and Manahan.
The treasurer's report was referred to this committee.
The auditing committee reported as follows :
TREASURER S REPORT.
igoo. Cr. Dr.
June 2^, to balance invested $521.87
Aug. 29, to cash from Librarian 40.00
Oct. I, to dividend from H. S. & L. Co 13.04
1901.
March 14, to cash from Librarian 394-29
March 19, by printing Vol. 13 $405.40
April I, to dividend from H. S. & L. Co 14.08
Oct. I, to dividend from H. S. & L. Co 14.38
$405.40 $997.66
405.40
Oct. 23, to balance invested in H. S. & L- Co. . . $592.26
Approved by —
L. S. Gibson,
L M. Gillett,
T. F. HiLDRETH,
Committee.
794 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
librarian's report.
1900. Cr. Dr.
June 27, to balance on hand $40.66
June 27, to Pioneers sold Dr. Weeks 7.00
June 2j, by paid Dr. Weeks bill for printing and
postage $4.00
June 27, by paid Mrs. Scroggie, — Pioneer din-
ner 18.25
Aug. 20. by paid Wm. Myers, — labor .75
Aug. 29, to life membership J. McKelvy 10.00
Aug. 29, by paid C. W. Manahan, Treasurer . . 40.00
Sept. 25, by paid Rose Bidwell, stenographer . . 3.00
Oct. 2, by paid freight on package Pioneers . . .10
Oct. 27, to life membership J. O. Cunningham 5.00
Oct. 27, to cash received on half-tone cut .... 1.50
Nov. 3, by paid W. K. Moorehead for book. . 2.30
Dec. 21, by paid postage on 28 Pioneers, at
6 cents 1.68
1901.
March 13. by paid postage stamps .50
March 14, by paid C. W. Manahan, treasurer . . 394.29
June I, bv paid J. A. Roscoe, drayage 5.50
To Pioneers sold 402.59
To copyright charge collected i.oo
By copyright charge paid i.oo
$471.37 $467-75
Oct. 23, to received on annual membership fees 63.00
$471-37 95530.75
471-37
Oct. 23, cash on hand $59-38
C. H. Gallup, Librarian.
Approved by —
L. S. Gibson,
I. M. GiLLETT,
T. F. HiLDRETH,
Committee.
PROCEEDINGS 795
The Nominating Committee i^eported as follows :
Hon, Rush R. Sloane, President; Hon. S. A. Wildman, ist
Vice President ; A. J. Barney, 2nd Vice President ; Judge F. H.
Jones, Treasurer; Hon. C. H. Gallup, Librarian; Dr. A. Sheldon,
Secretary : Mrs. I. F. Mack,Corresponding Secretary ; Hon. C.
H. Gallup, Trustee ; ]. M. Whiton, Trustee ; T. M. Gillett, Trustee :
Thomas M. Sloane, Trustee; John Laylin, Trustee; Dr. F. E.
Weeks, Biographer for Huron County ; John McKelvy, Biog-
rapher for Erie County.
A motion was made that the reports be adopted. Seconded.
Adopted unanimously.
Dr. Sheldon : There is to be a picture taken of this meet-
ing at one o'clock, and you all want to be here at that time, and
get in the picture ; — one o'clock Standard time.
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned.
AFTERNOON SESSION
After calling the meeting to order. President Sloane said :
The edition of the Pioneer published in 1900 is regarded as a very
valuable volume ; it contains the proceedings of the annual meet-
ing held in Norwalk, and that was a very interesting meeting, es-
pecially so to the' citizens of Huron county. We had some very
interesting addresses made upon that day, — one by an old boy
who spent his early days in Clarksfield, Mr. J. O. Cunningham.
Then at the Sandusky meeting, w^e had an address by Jay Cooke,
the great financial agent of the Ifnitecj States at a very crucial
period of her history, and a man who by his ingenious methods
succeeded in raising over two billions of dollars with which to
carry on a great war. He gives in that address, for the first time,
the methods that he pursued, and the volume is one that ought to
be in the bands of ever\- individual or family, not only on the Fire-
lands but in the United States. There is also an address by Gen-
eral John Beatty, a brave soldier with our southern neighbors.
796 THE FIRBLANDS PIONEER
Then there is an address by a lady who was born in Norwalk, Mrs.
Moss, — a very interesting history of the hbraries of Sandusky,,
down 1o the erection of the Carnegie Library Building. All in
all, it is a most interesting volume. I urge every person in this
room lO take that volume, and persuade your friends to take
it.
President Sloane, observing the presence of two of the ex-
presidents of the society in the room — P. N. Schuyler and G. T.
Stewart — asked them to come forward and take seats on the plat-
form.
President Sloane then said : I have a very agreeable duty
before me this afternoon. The gentlemen who will address you
— he does not look it — but he and I were school boys together in
the old seminary of Norwalk nearly sixty years ago. I remember
when I came here in 1842 to attend this seminary, I carried a
letter of introduction from my father to the honored father of
Judge Pennjfcwell, and he it was who secured me a boarding home
in the home of a Widow Smith who lived in the brick house
nearly opposite the Penn}iwell house. Mr. Pennswell, also, was
born in the city of Sandusky by the way. His life on the Fire-
lands and his life in the city where he now resides has been of such
marked ability that it has been an entering way to any home or tO'
any province in the United States. Judge Pennjtwell has kindly
consented to address this meeting to-day. I had hoped, and such
was the intention when I prepared for the Sandusky meeting, to
have Judge Penn^well at that meeting, but an engagement in an
important suit, he plead as an excuse, but said that he would be
very glad to read an address before this society at some subse-
quent meeting, and I now have the pleasure of presenting Judge
Penn^well, who will deliver an address upon the "Surrender of
Detroit."
Judge Penn^rwell said : I thank Judge Sloane for the very
pleasant words he has used in introducing me, and I assure you
that it is a real pleasure to look into so many faces I knew years
ago.
PROCEEDINGS
THE SURRENDER OF DETROIT
S
BY JUDGE PENN^WKLL
The principal event of which I am about to speak to-day took
place in the month of August in the year i8t2. The scene of
this event which has always been spoken of by our historians as
•disgraceful, as well as disastrous, was what was then known as
"The Straits" in the Territory of Michigan, now the city of De-
troit in that state. The responsible actor in this shameful transac-
tion was Gen. William Hull, who handed over to a British army
the most important military post upon our western frontier, gar-
risoned by a brave army, without any show of resistance what-
ever. This act was without consultation with his officers, and
against the emphatic and spirited protest of such of them as knew
what was about to happen. This was the act of an old, ex-
perienced military officer of the American army, conspicuous for
his services in the Revolutionary War, a man who fought bravely
and commanded skillfully in many of the most important engage-
ments of our Revolutionary struggle — at White Plains, Trenton,
Princeton. Stillwater, Saratoga, Fort Stanwix, Monmouth and
Stony Point.
Gen. Hull was a native of Connecticut, born at Derby, June
21, 1/53, ^^^^ ^t the time of which we are about to speak only
liftv-nine years of age. During the trying period wdiich pre-
ceded and accompanied the outbreak of our Revolutionary con-
test, Hull was an ardent patriot, casting his lot with the Colonies,
and just past his twenty-second birthday in 1775, raised a com-
pany of soldiers, was elected its captain, and joining a Connec-
ticut state regiment commanded by Col. Webb, remained in the
Continental service until independence was attained and the
Treatv of Peace was proclaimed in 1783. He attained the rank
of major in the Continental army and was one of Washington's
trusted officers.
In the year 1805, upon the organization of the Territory of
Michigan, he was appointed by President Jefferson its governor,
and held that position with usefulness to the people and govern-
798 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
ment and with credit to himself until after the surrender of the
post at Detroit.
In August, 1 812, he was both the governor of the Territory
of Michigan and the commander-in-chief of the Northwestern
Army.
A few words may be spoken here to recall to our minds some
of the causes which led our government to declare war against
Great Britain in June, i8t2.
The Treaty of Peace which closed the Revolutionary War
took efl'ect September 3. 1783, and among its provisions was one
requiring Great Britain to vacate all military posts in its posses-
sion throughout the territory which it ceded to the United States.
Instead of doing this, it kept possession and control of many of
these posts, especially in the interior and on the western fron-
tier, by one pretext and another for many years after that time.
In fact, it did not yield up Detroit, one of the strongest and most
important military posts, until 1796 — thirteen years after it had
solemnly engaged to do so. Making use of these posts on the
frontier as stations for its merchants and traders, the officers in
charge used their influence to stir up the Indian tribes then nu-
merously scattered throughout the northwest to acts of hostility
to the United States, and to acts of barbarity against the American
setters throughout that entire region.
In the more settled portions of the I'nited States and es-
pecially along the upper Atlantic coast, there were very serious
causes of complaint against the British government — especially
am.ong the mercantile classes and those engaged in foreign com-
merce and the coasting trade. Here we had a grievance of more
than twenty years standing. While the hardy frontiersmen were
contending with Indian savages, supplied with arms and ammuni-
tion by the British traders, the sailors on American ships and the
merchants owning them and iheir cargoes were combating the
selfish and destructive polic\- of the British government, adopted
to check, cripple, and destroy our growing foreign trade and to re-
cruit the British navy at the expense of our merchantmen. This
is whai is known in our early history as England's claim of the
PROCEEDINGS V9»
right to search American vessels and impress into its service sail-
ors fonnd on them, as heing British subjects.
Before 1812 it had for years been the practice of the British
naval commanders to board American merchantmen and take ofT
from them as many of the best sailors as they happened to need
at the time, and with very little reference to their nationality.
This right of search they based on the claim that a British
subject could not throw ofif his allegiance to the country of his
birth ; but in the exercise of this alleged right by the naval com-
manders, very little attention was paid to the question, whose sub-
ject the sailor was. The governing principle was — How many
sailors are needed by my ship? — and that number was impressed
without regard to nationality. Asa result, Englishmen, Germans,
Swedes, Danes, Portuguese, and even negroes from the states
of the Union, were taken off the merchantmen. So extensively
was this annoying, insulting and disastrous practice carried by
the British naval commanders, that in 181 1 it was reported by
those in authority that more than six thousand American sailors
were serving under compulsion in the British navy. These im-
pressments took place not only on the high seas, but often within
the limit of three miles from our shore, over which our maritime
jurisdiction extended. In fact, impressments were made at times
m our very harbors. Coasting and fishing vessels were deprived
of their men, while many times the larger ships, bound for foreign
ports were so robbed of their crews by these impressments that
iheir voyages were broken up and the ships compelled to return
to their home ports for want of men to sail them. This was a
most serious evil and constantly growing worse.
Then there was the resort by Great Britain to the paper
blockade system, which consisted merely in proclaiming a blockade
without the presence of armed vessels to enforce it. By this
means our nation, though strictly neutral in the conflict then rag-
ing between England and France, was forbidden by the English
government under pain of forfeiting its ships and cargoes, from
visiting any port of France, its colonies, or any port of its allies,
except by vessels that had first entered a British port. Of
course, France retaliated and proclaimed the entire coast of
800 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
Great Britain to be under blockade and prohibited any ship which
came out of a British port from entering any port on the French
coast. These are known in our early history as the English
"Orders in Council/" and the "French, Berlin and Milan decrees."
As one can readily see, these measures wrought incalculable mis-
chief and loss upon the infant but promising and growing com-
merce of our people.
Embassies from this government, composed of our ablest,
wisest and most experienced statesmen, to the Court of St. James,
after negotiations long and patiently continued, produced no effect
whatever upon the government of Great Britain. The wrongs
to our sailors.' the injuries to our commerce, and the grievous
losses to our merchants by seizures and confiscations of their
ships and cargoes, went on until our people, unable longer to en-
dure the wretched condition to which these measures had brought
them, declared through large, intiuential and representative con-
ventions, state legislatures and the public press throughout the
land, that the only course of effectual redress for these grievances
was war, :^.nd demanded of their representatives all through the
twelfth congress in 1811-12 and of President Madison and his
cabinet, that war be proclaimed without further delay against
Great Britain.
Accordingly, President Madison and his secretary of state,
Mr. Monroe, prepared and on the 6th day of June, 181 2. sent a
message to congress, setting forth at great length the wrongs, in-
juries, insults, losses and grievances which our people had for
vears been suffering at the hands of Great Britain, and declaring
it as the president's deliberate judgment that this country was not
only justified, but compelled to resort to the arbitrament of the
sword to protect our interests, defend our rights and uphold our
national honor. After a debate, lasting nearly two weeks, on the
18th day of June, 1812, a solemn declaration of war was made by
congress, and on the next day proclaimed to the world by Presi-
dent Madison.
The year 181 t was characterized by great activity among
the Indian tribes throughout the northwest, and in fact, from the
northern lakes to the extreme south.
PROCEEDINGS 801
Tecumseh, confessedly the then greatest chief of his tribe and
race — famed throughoiit the northwest and southwest as a warrior
and orator, and his brother, Elk^attawa, claiming to be and pro-
claimed bv his tribe, Shawaneese, to be a prophet of the Great
Spirit, all through this year and the latter part of the year 1810,
were carrymg out their great plan of a general confederation of
all the Indian tribes throughout that region, to stop any further
progress of the white race and even drive all the whites then
within the bounds of the northwest, back beyond the Ohio, and, as
the Prophet proclaimed, to the ocean whence they came.
Large bodies of Indians were gathered at their villages, scat-
tered throughout all this region and were visited by the Prophet
and promised by him that a great future awaited them ; that they
should regain all their hunting grounds, which the Great Spirit
had said to him in visions of the night, would be done if they
would obey his word and act together with zeal and determination
in support of this great cause.
Following the Prophet, Tecumseh visited every Indian tribe
from Lake Superior to the Gulf, accompanied by a band of young
warriors, holding councils with the tribes and urging them by his
lofty and vehement speech to general and united action in a war
to destroy ano. drive to the Atlantic ocean the detested race
which had robbed them of their lands and homes.
The condition of the northwest became so serious from this
source in the summer of 181 1 that the government deemed it
iiece'^sary to bring a large force into the field to meet and put
down this dangerous Indian conspiracy against the white inhabi-
tants of this territory. The fourth regiment of infantry, raised
and officered mostly in the New England states and commanded
by Gen. Boyd, was ordered to report at Vincennes to Gen. Wm. H.
Harrison, then governor of the Indiana Territor}-. At the same
time several regiments of volunteer mounted infantry were called
for from Kentucky. These marched in September and October,
181 1, to Vincennes, and were placed under command of Governor
Harrison.
At this time there were assembled at what is known as the
""Prophet's Town," situated on an extensive prairie, running back
802 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
from Tippecanoe creek in Indiana, a very large force of Indians
from the tribes which had been visited by Tecumseh and his
brother, during the spring and summer of the same year. Gen.
Harrison, having moved his forces to near the town of the
Prophet, here was fought on the 7th of November, 181 1, the
battle which is known in our history as the "Battle of Tippe-
canoe," and which resulted in a signal victory for the ITnited
States force^,. After this battle the Kentucky volunteers returned
home.
These and other evidences of Indian hostility toward the gov-
ernment and toward the settlers in the northwest, and the immi-
nence of war with Great Britain had become so great that in the
winter of 1811-12 the government deemed it necessary that Ohio
should be called upon to raise a body of volunteers to march on
the opening of the season of 1812 to Detroit, in order that this
remote frontier post should be well protected against the Indians
and in case of war with Great Britain, be there in readiness to
move promptly into upper Canada. For it was the settled policy,
in case of war being declared, at once to invade Canada on the
southwest from Detroit, and on the northeast from f>utTalo or the
Niagara frontier.
Accordingly, the general government called upon Governor
Meigs to raise and prepare for actual service, three regiments.
T he governor promptly issued the necessary orders for the raising
of these forces. The call was responded to with great zeal and
enthusiasm from the central and southern parts of Ohio, and
early in May commenced assembling in camp about three miles
north of Dayton. Ohio, in an extensive plain fronting on Mad
river.
Governor Wm. Hull, of Michigan Territory, in February
previous (1812) had been appointed brigadier-general and made
commander of the northwestern army, which was to be composed
of the forces to be raised by Governor Meigs and such other forces,
regular and volunteer, as should be placed under his command.
At the time of his appointment. Gen. Hull was in Washington
and remained there until the latter part of April, when he started
for Ohio to take charge of his command. He arrived in Cincin-
PROCEEDINGS 803
nati early in May, where he met Governor Meigs, who had suc-
ceeded in raising the forces called for by the president. Having
made arrangements for the necessary supplies and transportation
of his army, Gen. Hull proceeded to Dayton to superintend the
organization of the Ohio volunteers. These forces were organ-
ized in the three regunents.
Of the first, Duncan McArthur was elected colonel. Of the
second, James Finley was elected colonel, and of the third. Louis
Cass was elected colonel.
On the 25th of May. 1812, Governor Meigs handed over these
organized regiments to Gen. Hull, who then took active command
of them in their camp near Dayton.
On the loth of June (1812) these regiments had advanced
to Urbana, Ohio, a little northeast of Dayton, and on that day the
Fourth United Sta<:es Regulars from Fort Vincennes, Indiana,
numbering about three hundred effective men under command of
Lieutenant-Col(>nel Miller joined them, and these forces, regular
and volunteer, being all assembled, commenced on that day from
this point their march for Detroit, about one hundred and seventy-
five miles distant.
The route oursued was almost directly north, through what
are now the counties of Champaign, Logan, Hardin. Hancock
and Wood, to the rapids of the Maumee river, at the point where
the towns of Perrvsbi\rg and Maumee are now situated, and reach-
ed this p(v;nt across and north the Maumee on the 30th day of June.
The army made this distance, about one hundred miles, in about
twenty days. The weather was pleasant and the marches neces-
sarily slow. The course pursued was through a dense wilderness
through which the army had to cut a road for the wagons con-
taining the supplies, army stores, munitions of war, entrenching
tools, biu being well supplied, the army reached the point just
nam.ed in good her- 1th and fine spirits.
From this point on the north of the Maumee river, the army
continued its northerly course through what is now Lucas county,
and along the west shore of Lake Erie, in the territory of Mich-
igan, to and across the river Raisin, at the mouth of which there
v>'as then the little village of Frenchtown. now known as tine citv
804 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
of Monroe. The river Raisin was reached and crossed in the
afternoon of the third day of July.
Here it is proper to stop for a few moments in our narrative
to state incidents which both friends and foes of Gen. Hull have
regarded as important as reflecting upon his conduct from this
time forward.
It will be remembered that war was declared by congress on
the i8rh day of June and proclaimed by President Aladison on the
19th.
On the very day on which war was declared by congress, the
secretary of war, Mr. Wm. Enstis, of Massachusetts, addressed
Lwo letters to Gen. Hull. In the first he directed the general to
advance to Detroit as expeditiously as possible and carry out the
orders already given him, using his best discretion. In this first
letter he made no reference whatever to war having been declared.
This letter he dispatched by a special messenger and it reached
Gen. Hull on the 24th of June, while on his march through the
wilderness, about a week before reaching the Maumee river.
The Ather letter, written the same day, informed Gen. Hull
of the action of congress in declaring war against Great Iiritain.
This letter, containing this supremely important intelligence, in-
stead of being sent by special messenger, and l)}' the most direct
route to Gen. Hull, was sent by common course of mail to Cleve-
land, Ohio, which place it reached Monday, the 29th day of June,
and the postmaster at that place was ordered to forward it to the
commanding general by such means as he had at hand. The post-
master at Cleveland liired a young man named Shaler to carry
this letter on horseback — the most expeditious means of travel —
to the general, whom he found with his army across the river
Raisin, about two o'clock in the afternoon of the 3d day of July.
This letter Gen. Hull always claimed was the first informa-
tion he had of any kind of the declaration of war or of the imme-
diate prospect of it.
Certain prominent officers of his army, however, asserted that
Mr. Worthington. then senator from Ohio, communicated by
special messenger to Col. McArthur, the fact of war being pro-
claimed and that this was communicated to Hull at the same time
PROCEEDiNLS 805
that the first lelter was received by him, on the 24th of June, but
that (yen. Hull distrusted this news and treated it as the old
story curreni all that spring, and said it could not be true or the
secretary of war would have informed him at the earliest moment
that the measures had been resolved upon.
On the arrival of the army north of the Maumee river and
near the present site of the city of Toledo, Gen. Hull hired a
small sloop, on board of which he put his personal baggage, that
of many of his officers, many of his hospital stores, his instructions
from the War Department and his commission, also two ladies,
Mrs. P'uller and Mrs. Goodwin, the wives of two of the officers
of tha< regiment and Lieut. Goodwin, with about thirty soldiers,
and it was asserted by his officers that he was actually on the
point of sending the paymaster with the public money in his
charge, but was dissuaded from it by some of his officers.
The sloop, on passing Amherstburgh, was captured. The
British officer in command at Fort Maiden on the Canada side
had already been inform.ed of the declaration of war.
Here certainly was a series of blunders of which not only
Gen. Hull was guilty, but the War Department was especially so.
Gen. Prevost, the commander of all the Canadian forces, was in-
form.ed at Quebec of the proclamation of w^ar by the president
as early as June 24; Gen. Brock two days afterwards, and Col.
St. George, commanding at Maiden, on the 30th, the day Gen.
Hull crossed the Maumee.
Gen. Hull was informed of the capture of the sloop by the
commander of the fort at Maiden, the next day after it had sailed,
and shortly after he had received the second letter from Secretary
of War Eustis, informing him of the declaration of war by con-
gress.
This information came to him while still in camp on the north
side of the river Raisin, by the arrival of a large yawl, manned
by British soldiers, bringing to him the two ladies, Mrs. Fuller
and Mrs. Goodwin, wives of the two officers of the fourth regi-
ment, who took passage on the sloop for Detroit with the detach-
ment of soldiers under Lieut. Goodwin.
806 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
This information had a most depressing effect upon Gen.
Hull. Instead of arousing him to great vigilance and determina-
tion to hasten forward and carry out his instructions, he seemed,
as his officers afterwards testified, to take counsel of his fears.
To resume our narrative :
We left Gen. Hull with his army on the north side of the
river Raisin on the afternoon of July 3d, wliere and when he re-
ceived the first intelligence from the War Department of the
proclamation of ho.stilities.
During the forenoon of the next day. Saturday. July 4, the
armv reached, and before sundown crossed, the river Huron, en-
camped on the north side, and during the next day passed the
Old Indian couicil ground, known as Brownstown, crossed the
E'Course river, advanced and encamped at a place called "Spring
Wells" about two and one-half miles down the river from the fort
nt Detroi*. The next day, the 6th of July, Col. Miller and his
regulars marched to the fort and entered it, and on the 7th of July
she volunteers advanced and took position near the fort on the
north, west and south sides of it, so that in the afternoon of the
7th of July, all the forces under Gen. Hull with all his supplies,
tent equipage, munitions of war, and wagon trains, were in place
:n and about the point to which he had been directed by the gov-
ernment and had reached in less than thirty days actual time from
Urban?., and considering the circumstances under which the march
was made, through a dense forest, with a wagon-road to be cut,
the whole distance was accomjplished in a very short time.
The fort was situated on what is now the site of the customs
building in Detroit, and the surrounding ground, located a little
more than a quarter of a mile north and back from the river.
The town of Detroit, then covering about two acres, was sit-
uated nearer and down the river from the fort. All the other
ground in the vicinity was an open common with a road running"
up the river between the fort and the town. The town was en-
closed by palisades about fifteeen feet high, and the fort, which
was the strongest and best equipped of all on the frontier, in form
a parallelogram, was surrounded by a deep ditch twelve feet
broad at the surface and eight feet deep, with strong projections
PROCEEDINGS 807
at each corner, with draw-bridges at the gate and palisades of
hardwood stakes, ten feet high out of the ground, sharpened at the
top anci firmly set at the base of the rampart with an inclination
of about forty-five degrees.
Here the Army of the Northwest, under Gen. Hull, was
gathered in and about the fort as early as the 7th day of July. 1812.
After resting about five days from its march, on the evening
of the iirh day of July, orders were given to be prepared at two
o'clock the next morning to cross the river into Canada ; and by
davligbt the next morning the army had safely crossed the stream
on bateaux, and without opposition, marched down the Canada
side of the river and established its camp almost directly opposite
the fort on the Detroit side. The expectation of the army was
that an immediate advance would be made by Gen. Hull on the
British fort, about eighteen miles below at Maiden, and which if
it had then been made, it was the universal judgment of his offi-
cers and men. would have been taken with very little opposition.
But for one reason and another, all the result of a vacillating and
apparently cov^'ardly policy of the commanding general, no gen-
eral advance was made, though preparations seemingly for that
purpose, v/ere constantly going on. So much so, that on the even-
ing of August 7, a month after encamping on the British side, it
was reported in camp that the army would march on Maiden dur-
ing that night. Instead, however, of orders being issued to march
down the river to the attack on Maiden, orders were actually
given from headquarters during that night to break camp and re-
cross the river to Detroit, and the next morning the army, with
a small force, left in camp, was again in the very position it was
about a n^onth before in and around the fort on the Detroit side.
As you may well imagine '"the most profound astonishment
and indignation pervaded the entire army at what was felt by
officers and men alike to be a deep but undeserved disgrace."
Some days before the events we have just described, Capt.
Brush, in command of a force of about two hundred and thirty
men of Ohio volunteers, had come from that state with supplies
for the army, and had reached Frenchtown at the river Raisin,
about thirty-six miles below Detroit. Here he awaited an escort
80s THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
from Hull's army to add to his company as escort for the re-
mainder of the distance to the fort.
Maj. \'an Horn was entrusted with this duty, and on the 4th
day of August, crossing the liver marched down toward Brush's
camp, and on the second day out, near Brownstown, was suddenly
attacked on all sides by British soldiers and Indians, who had
crossed from Canada, evidently advised of Van Horn's errand.
His lit^^le force, consisting of about two hundred men, made a
determined resistance, and being commanded by a brave and skill-
ful officer, was brought off with a loss of nineteen killed and
missing and nine wounded. This little fight and the return of the
squad without accomplishing its object seemed to unnerve the
commanding officer and doubtless had something to do with lead-
ing Gen. Hull to abandon his plan of marching his army to the
assault of Maiden, abandoning his position on the Canada side of
the river and retreating across it to his old position in and about
the fort on the American side. Mr. H. M. Brackenridge^ whose
little history of the War of 1812, published in Baltimore as early
as i8t8, speaking of this remarkable action of Gen. Hull in cross-
ing the river to his old position before the fort, says on page
thirty-four: "This operated like a thunderbolt upon the army; the
volunteers murmured ; they upbraided their commander with
pusillanimity and even treachery ; and it was with difficulty they
could be restr.iined by their own officers. The disappointment
and vexation which ensued can be better imagined than described ;
all confidence in their leader seemed to be at an end. If treach-
erous he might deliver them to be massacred. It was evident he
lacked the courageous spirit needed to command. It was with
gieat reluctance and indignation that the gallant little band, ready
to advance, was compelled in obedience to the command of its
general to abandon, almost in disgrace, the flattering hopes which
they thought themselves on the point of realizing, by making an
attack upon Maiden.''
After getting back to his old position the general, on the
next day, August 9, dispatched a force under Lieut. Col. Miller,
consisting of about three hundred men of the fourth regiment of
regulars, who the season before had fought under Harrison at
PROCEEDINGS 809
Tippecanoe, aiifl about two hundred militia to escort Capt. Brush
from Frenchtown to Detroit. The British, who by this time had
lieen considerably reinforced by soldiers which had arrived at
Maiden, and Indians under Tecumseh, anticipating a renewal of
^he attempt to reach Capt. Brush and escort him to the fort, sent
reinforcements across the river from Maiden to those already
there, so that their force above Brownstown, on the American
side. v.\is about seven hundred and fifty men, all under ATaj. Minn,
a gallant officer of the British army. The position of Maj. Minn
was defended by a breastwork of logs and trees, about four miles
above Brownstown, at a place called by the Indians, Magagua.
A fight ensued here. Our regulars and volunteers, after a short
and brisk firing, made a gallant and furious charge upon the
British regulars and the Indians and drove them in full retreat
to Brownstown, where they hastily embarked in boats provided
for their reception and crossed to Maiden. In this engagement
the British had fifteen killed and thirty or forty wounded, and of
Indians, about one hundred were left on the field. Our loss was
fifteen killed and about sixty woimded. The battle lasted nearly
two hours, but all through it our officers and men showed them-
selves gallant, courageous fighters, ready and anxious to meet the
foe.
The next day, the Toth of August. Col. Miller, who kept pos-
session of Brow-nstown during the night, received orders from
Detroit to return to the fort, and the force returned, flushed with
the well earned and complete victory, which caused great en-
thusiasm in their comrades, and should have taught Gen. Hull that
all he had to do with his army to insure decisive and successful
results was to meet the British forces, which then consisted of
regulars. Indians, and some Canadian militia.
On the 14th of August, 1812, orders w^ere issued from head-
quarters for a detachment of three hundred and sixty men, under
Colonels McArthur and Cass, of the volunteers, to march at twi-
light along a circuitous trail which passed the river Rouge several
miles above its mouth, in the interior, passing the Huron river,
striking the river Raisin, passing down it to Frenchtow^n, where
Brush then w^as encamped. The officers in command of the force
810 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
were informed thiit a messenger had been dispatched to Brush
to move along this trail and meet our forces at a point about
twelve miles from, the fort, but should the forces not meet there,
the detacliment should go on tijl Brush was met. These were the
orders.
The detachment moved out at dusk and arriving at the point
where it was to meet Col. Brush, crossed over a stream there, and
after a halt of some hours, at two o'clock of the morning of the
15th contmued its march, crossed the Huron at a ford waist-deep,
and still continuing until four o'clock in the afternoon reached the
headwaters of the river Raisin. Here a small troop of horse was
st^t forward down this trail to within about fifteen miles of
Frenchtown. The troop returned at six o'clock, reporting that
110 sign of Brush had been seen. In fact, he had not been ordered
10 march and no messenger had reached him.
The detachment, now being twenty- three or twenty-four
miles from. Detroit and about the same distance from Brush, con-
cludeil to return to the fort instead of going on, something which
has never been explained. The detachment marched all night
on the return, on the same trail, and at the first dawn of day of
the i6th of August, cannonading was heard in the direction of the
fort and this continued at times till about ten o'clock, when it
ceased.
We must stop at this point to go back a little.
After Gen. Hull had withdrawn all his forces from the Can-
ada side, Gen. Brock, who had arrived at Maiden with a small
force on the I3lh of August, took position opposite the fort and
planted a battery there, from which a desultory lire was kept up
till the afternoon of the 15th of August, when it opened vigorously
and continued during that night and during the morning of the
i6th.
On the afternoon of the 15th, Gen. Brock, the commander
of the British forces, sent Lieut. Col. McDonald and Maj. Gregg
under flag to demand from Gen. Hull the surrender of the fort
and the forces under his command. These officers brought from
Gen. Brock a letter stating that the forces under his command
justified him in making this demand for surrender, and concluded
PROCEEDINGS 811
with these words: "It is far from my intention to join in a war
of extermination, but you must be aware that the numerous bodies
of Indians who have attached themselves to my troops will be be-
yond m.y control the mom.cnt the contest commences. You will
find me disposed to enter into such conditions as will satisfy the
most scrupulous sense of honor. Lieut. Col. McDonald and
Maj. Gregg arc fully authorized to enter into any arrangements
that may tend to prevent the unnecessary efYusion of blood."
To this summons to surrender, Gen. Hull returned a brave,
haughty and defiant reply, informing Gen. Brock that the fort
and army under his command would be defended to the last ex-
tremity and that with his forces he could and would successfully
resist any attack which he might see fit to make. During the
short time taken to make this demand and to receive the reply.
Brock's battery was silent, but upon the reply of Gen. Hull being
received it opened more vigorously than ever and continued at
times until the morning of the i6th of August.
Here is a fitting place to ascertain as nearly as we can what
forces and military equipment Gen. Hull then had with which to
make a successful resistance, or rather to defeat Gen. Brock, as
It was always the judgment of his officers that any capable and
skillful general could easily have done.
It has always been a matter of dispute as to the forces, muni-
tions and sup^plies on hand at this date under Gen. Hull's command.
McAfee, who was with the army, speaks of "one thousand
four hundred brave men longing for battle."
Brackenridge, in his history of the late war, speaks of his
forces being upwards of one thousand six hundred men.
Wm. Stanley Hatch, who was acting assistant quartermaster
general of the Army of the Northwest, during Hull's campaign,
tells us that Gen. Hull had available on the morning of the i6th
of August twenty-three hundred men. This number included
three hundred Michigan militia. Hatch says that he had thirty-
eight pieces of ordnance — iron and brass — an immense amount
of fixed ammunition for cannon and small arms, and a large sup-
ply of the material of war of all kinds, twenty-five days' provisions
on hand at the fort, besides the supplies which were with Capt.
812 THE FIRELANDri PIONEER
Brush at the rn-er Raisin. Hatch, to make this iiuirJier of men^
estimates nineteen hundred in and about the fort, and three hun-
dred men under Cass and McArthur, on their way back from
their attempt to reach Maj. Brush. (See Note.)
The forces under Gen. Brock, the British commander, could
not have numbered, all told, Regulars, Canadian militia and In-
dians, to exceed fourteen hundred men. In fact Brock's report
shows only thirteen hundred and thirty men. Brock's forces
were well armed and with them were five pieces of artillery only,
consisting of three six-pounders and two three-pounders. There
certainly must have been with Gen. Blull more than with Gen.
Brock.
To resume our narrative :
After the summons made by Gen. Brock upon Gen. Hull for
the surrender of his army, no measures whatever were taken by
Hull to prevent the British general from crossing the river. Bat-
teries might have been planted along the river to prevent his forces
from landing, but nothing whatever was done. And so, on the
morning of the T6th of August, in full view of Hull's pickets, with-
out resistance or opposition of any kind, Brock landed his forces
on our side of the river, below the fort at a place then called
"Spring Wells," a little over two miles down the river from the
fort. The landing was completed about ten o'clock in the morn-
ing, and as soon as all had debarked, the British forces commenced
their advance toward the fort, along the road leading from
"Spring Wells" to the town. The advance we are told "was in
close column and twelve deep." Brackenridge informs us that
"the American force was judiciously disposed to meet their ad-
vance. The militia (the Michigan militia were there three hun-
dred strong) and a great part of the volunteers occupied the
town and were posted behind pickets, whence they could annoy
the enemy's flank. The regulars defended the fort, and two
twenty-four-ponnders charged with grape were advantageously
Note. — Mi-. Silas Farmei-, who has written a history of Michigan,
in letter to me of August 20, 1901. says : ■' There were about two thou-
sand four hundred men under Gen. Hull. August 16, 1812.'"
PROCEEDINGS 813
posted on an eminence and could have swept the enemy's whole
line."
Mr. Hatch informs us that twenry-six of the iron and brass
pieces were mcmnted in and about the fort "loaded with ball and
grape," and, of course, in position to do g-reat execution.
The British advanced to within about a quarter of a mile
from the fort and halted in full view of it. Our pickets withdrew
to the main body. There was no advance from this point by
■either army ; but at this very moment an order came from Gen.
Hull to the militia and volunteers to retire to the fort, and those
in charge of the artillery did not tire a shot. The troops were or-
dered to stack their arms and simultaneously with this order a
white f\ag was unfurled from the walls of the fort, telling the
British to come and take it.
I The British commander surprised apparently at this token
of submission after the brave defiance of a day before, sent an
officer to ascertain the cause, and was told that it meant what it
declared, unconditional surrender of his forces, munitions of war,
■subsistence, fort, town, its inhabitants, and the Territory of the
Northwest, which Hull was there to protect and defend.
All history, certainly all modern history, fails to tell us of a
surrender so absohitely abject, cowardly and disgraceful on the
part of the genera^ commanding as this. Though humiliating to
the last degree, it w-as not disgraceful to the American army, but
the dishonor and disgrace centered alone on Gen. Hull. The
army was ready, willing and eager to fight, but instead, without
firing a gun, were compelled to surrender themselves prisoners of
war, without terms even, and at the discretion of the British com-
man<ler.
It would l^e impossible to describe the effect of this conduct
•of Gen. Hull upon his brave forces, officers and men alike.
Many of them openly declared themselves basely betrayed, and to
such a pitch of indignation did the whole army reach that it was
with the greatest difficulty that the officers could restrain their
men from using personal violence upon their commander.
The British took immediate possession of the fort, with all
the supplies which it contained, and in the articles of capitulation
814 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
which followed, the whole territory and all the forts and garri-
sons within the district of Gen. Hull were formally surrendered.
The detachment under Colonels McArthur and Cass, as well as
the company under Capt. Brush, thirty-five miles from the fort,
were included in the capitulation.
The sensations produced by this occurrence throughout the
United States, and particularly in the western country, where the
war fever had been raging fiercely against Great Britain for the
last three years, cannot be adequately portrayed.
Brackenridge, who lived among the scenes, speaking of this,
says: "At first no one could believe so extraordinary, and unex-
pected event. It was so dififerent from what had been antici-
pated, the public mind being totally unprepared for it. that uni-
versal astonishment was excited. It had not been supposed that
the situation of Hull was critical. Whatever doubts might have
been entertameil of his being able to subdue the country he had
invaded, there were none of his being able to defend himself.
Never was any people more deeply and universally chagrined.
Th'.s was in a country where every man had a personal feeling for
the honor and welfare of the nation, and where the strongest
sympathy was felt for the friends and families of the brave
soldiers, and for the soldiers themselves, who had been basely be-
trayed by their wretched commander."
Gen. Brock remained but a couple of da> s at Detroit after
the surrender. He at once paroled the volunteers, officers and
men and furnishe^l such as washed boats to go to Cleveland, others
to go lO their homes by the route they came. He sent <)en. Hull
and the regular troops to Montreal, and the militia of Michigan
to their homes. Issuing a proclamation to the inhabitants of his
conquered territory and leaving Col. Proctor in command, he went
back to his headquarters in Lower Canada, which he left on
the 5tl- of August, and to which he returned on the 22nd in
triumph, with the surrender of the American general, all his
forces, and tHe immense territory over which he had military
jurisdiction.
Gen. Hull remained in Montreal until the winter of 1812,
when he was exchanged for thirty British prisoners. Shortly
PROCEEDINGS 815
after his return to his home the (government ordered him before
a court-martial at Philadelphia, of which Gen. Wade Hampton
was president, and A. J. Dallas, judge advocate. This court was
dissolved. Another was ordered and assembled January 3, 1814,
at Albany, New York, with Gen. Dearborn as its president , com-
posed of twelve officers and Mr. Dallas, judge-advocate. The
charges against Gen. Hull were treason, cowardice, and unofficer-
like conduct. The trial lasted eighty days. A large number of
witnesses were examined, and during the trial the charge of
treason was withdrawn.
Gen. Hull was found guilty of the two remaining cliarges,
-—his brother officers being unanimous in their verdict. Their
sentence was that he should suffer death ; but they all joined in
lecommending lu'm to the mercy of the president, on account of
his services in the Revolutionary War and his advanced age.
The sentence was approved, but the execution of it was remitted
by Mr. Madison, and his name was ordered stricken from the
rolls of the army by a general order issued from the adjutant
general's office, April 25. 1814, in this language : "The roll of the
army is to be no longer dishonored by having upon it the name
of Brigadier General William Hull."
Such is the story, plainl\- told, of the surrender of the im-
portant military post a*- Detroit, at a very critical period of its
history.
Occu]iied as it was, to protect our frontier, its surrender at
once removed that important barrier and incited the numerous
Indian tribes of all that region to begin anew, with increased
ferocity, their nuirderous raids upon our defenseless people.
These tribes, urged to merciless barbaritv by the British of-
ficers, whose allies they became, were constantly supplied with
guns and amnmnition with which to wage a war of extermination
upon the white settlers who had built their homes along the west-
ern frontier.
The history of the three )ears next following the event of
which I have spoken, and resulting largely from it, is one of
pillage, burnings, massacre and blood, ending in the wiping out
e^f the white settlements and the scattered families alou"' that
816 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
frontier, and to some extent reaching into the borders of the
Firelands.
It would be interesting to speak of the defense that Gen.
Hull made before the court-martial convened to try him. He
made his defense, urged his excuses and stated his reasons at
great length before his brother officers for his conduct at Detroit.
They gave him full opportunity to make his showing and listened
patiently and with impartiality to him and those who spoke for
him, and to all arguments presented in his behalf to lead his
triers to say that there were circumstances attending the sur-
render of that post which excused his act. But, as already stated,
the thirteen members of that military board were unanimous in
their opinion that there was no excuse whatever for Gen. Hull's
conduct, and that under the rules of war, he deserved to suffer
death.
Many reflections might be indulged as to the disastrous ef-
fects of this act of Gen. Hull upon the whole country, aside from
the Indian raids, but time forbids it, and I must leave these reflec-
tions to be made by yourselves.
Gen. Hull lived to the age of seventy-two years. He died
November 29, ]825, at his home in New^ton, Massachusetts,
honored because of his valuable services to his country before
the year 1812, but detested by the great majority of his country-
men because of his cowardly military campaign in the summer
of that year.
Mr. Schuyler said : I wish to move a vote of thanks to Judge
Pennywell for his able address, and a request for a copy of the
same for publication in the Pioneer.
Alotion seconded. Carried.
President Sloane : The president of the Richland Historical
Society is with us this afternoon, and we would be very glad to
hear from him. I take great pleasure in introducing General
Brinkerhoff.
General Brinkerhoff said: Lyadies and Gentlemen. I have
not come here prepared to make any address. T came here simply
because I am interested in historical matters. I have come here
PROCEEDINGS 817
with some otlurs to represent the Richland Historical Society, and
personally to represent the Ohio Historical and Archaeological
vSocietv, with v/hich I have been connected from the beginning.
We arc glad to be here, and we are glad to meet the members of
this association. This association has been familiar to us for
many years. I became interested in Ohio history fifty year ago ;
and in my own county, about forty-five years ago, I assisted in the
organization of a local historical society, which has not been able
to keep up continuously, as you have, but we have succeeded in ac-
complishing a great deal in the perpetuation of the history of our
own county. This is a work I have always been deeply interested in.
When I came to this state, I became associated very early with the
pioneers of Ohio — in fact, I married the daughter of a pioneer.
Then I became a newspaper man. and that again brought me into
contact with the pioneers, and 1 soon became very much interested
in them. The pioneers of Ohio were picked men, noble men.
Later on, I becam.e interested in the archaeology of Ohio.
T soon discovered that the prehistoric races of this country knew
a good section as well as we do. They knew that Ohio was
a section in which they v/anted to live, and in these valleys and on
these plains of Ohio, these people lived for ages before the white
man came. Tlie prehistoric relics in Ohio now are larger in ex-
tent than anywhere else. We are looking into the mounds, and
we have now acquired over fifty thousand prehistoric relics which
we have in Ort on Hall in Columbus. We have been doing some-
thing in a historical way also, — bringing together the history of
our state. Naturally our state society is interested in our local
societies. I am. famih'ar v.'ith what has been done in the various
counties of Ohio, and I will say that there is no society in Ohio
that has done more and better work than you have. You have
had a continuous existence since 1857, and your publications have
been very valuable, and I hope that the citizens of these two
counties v.'ill encourage this society so that you can have a perma-
nent home. And so, in the same way, I hope that at the next
meeting of the legislature to have the state interested in giving
to the state society adequate support and an adequate building.
Of all the western states, Ohio ought to have the largest and
818 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
most complete opportunity of preserving these historic treasures.
Wisconsin has a building to-day as big as the state house of this
state. Iowa has just dedicated a splendid building. If we could
have such facilities and advantages, we could be of great service
to all the local societies of the state.
I am also interested in this society because I have many
friends in this society. As a boy, in 1846, I came from Buffalo
by boat to Cleveland, and then took a light boat up to Milan, and
stopped there v/ith a gentleman whom I presume Judge Sloane
knew, Jacob Honbeck. Jacob Honbeck claimed that he taught
me my letters, and I presume that he did. From Milan I went to
Sanduskv, and from there to Mansfield on the only railroad —
except one — in the state. So you see, I became acquainted quite
early with the Firelands.
Ohio is the greatest state in the Union. (Applause.) There
is no block of land on the earth so well suited for civilized man
as the state of Ohio. It is the richest state, and most populous —
of itself — in the Union ; that is, leaving New York City out of
New York State, and Chicago out of Illinois. I have no hesitancy
in saying that Ohio is the state whose history is worthy of contem-
plation. When we think of it, where is there a state that has pro-
duced so many men of international renown as has Ohio ? I re-
member about the close of the war in '65 I was for a time stationed
in the war office with Mr. Stanton. One day there came a little
lull in the business of the office, and Mr. Stanton turned around
and began to talk about Ohio. Finally I asked him, "Mr. Stanton,
how does it happen that Ohio has produced so many great men?
Look in the senate or the house, — Ohio is always represented by
great men. How does it come?" He said, "Well. I will tell you.
Of all of the states of the Union, Ohio was the most difficult to
subdue to civilization. It had wilder animals and wilder men,
and it took a generation of the best and bravest men of the east
to subdue Ohio. Only the best stock of the east came to Ohio
and remained. Out of that generation have come the giants that
are around us now." Then he told me about his career, — how he
started the practice of law without books, and how he travelled
around from county to county to try a case. "We had no re-
FROCBEDINGS 819
ports in '.hose days, and cases were tried on their merits. And it
made men of ns," he said. We have speciaHsts now days, — in-
surance lawyers and railroad lawyers, but not the all-around
lawyers of the early days.
Now we knew that we had great men in the early days in
Ohio, — men whose monuments, had they lived in New England,
would stand in all public places, but when we began to hunt up the
history of our early governors and other intellectual giants, we
found that they were forgotten, almost myths. So we began the
slow task of gathering in the materials of Ohio history, and that
is what you are doing here, and I think that in your Pioneer
publication, you have been doing this very largely. The business
of these historical societies is to correct, gather together and pre-
serve the records of those noble men of those early days, and I
am glad to be liere and look into the faces of people who take
enough interest in these things to come together, and to gather the
facts of our early history and print them. I bid you Godspeed
in the work.
President Sloane said : Two facts occur to me that might
be of interest at this point. After the death of President Hayes,
vvho delivered at one time an address before our society, General
BrinkerhotT succeeded him in the work of prison reform. He is
to-day also one of the eleven survivors who organized the Re-
publican party in 1856.
President -Sloane : We have with us to-day, an ex-president
of this society, who labored for years in its behalf, Mr. Schuyler,
who will perhaps say a few words.
]Vlr. Schuyler: Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen. I
would take pleasure in talking a little while upon the same sub-
ject to which our attention has been very fully called already by
the Hon. Judge Sloane and Judge Pennywell, but I hardly feel
ju'^tified in comm.encing a subject which might take too mucli time.
As ^^■as indicated by some remarks of Judge Sloane. tlie War
of 1812 was in some sense a sort of continuation of the Revolu-
tionary War. The Treaty of Paris of February 10, 1763, be-
tween England and France and Spain, had given England the
ownership and control of all America lying north of Florida, and
820 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
from the Atlantic west to the Allegheny Mountains. It was a
compulsory treaty. France lost all her interests in America ; Eng-
land and Spain owned the continent. The treaty of 1783, at the
close of the Revolution, was a compulsory treaty upon the British.
Our forces, aided by those of France, forced England to give up
the best part of her territory upon the earth, and the end of the
Vv^ar left her feeling that while we were at peace nominally, we
were not at peace in heart. The British government assented to
this treaty, as I say, but their intentions toward us were not peace-
able. The British had the most powerful navy on the earth.
They were the most hated and abusive of all the nations on the
globe. Great Britian, taking pride in the strength of her navy,
made it the means of tyranny over the globe.
It had been the customary claim that the colonies of any
particular country had no right to trade or carry on commerce
except with the mother country itself. So it was with us before
the Revolutionary War. If we had anything to sell, we had to
sell it in England and nowhere else, and we had to buy from Eng-
land exclusively also. This was the doctrine of all the European
colonial nations, and England held this doctrine for fifty years
before the time of the wars with Napoleon. England had also
maintained this doctrine tor many years ; — that for a neutral na-
tion to carry goods from the colonies of one nation to a nation
with which England was at war was really an intervention against
her, and made the neutral nation a party to the war. But by this
time she had modified her doctrine so that a neutral nation, as for
instance, the United States, could carry goods from Rio Janeiro to
Portugal, for instance, by the vessel first coming to some port
in the United States and reshipping the g;oods from here to Portu-
gal. Our vessels took advantage of this, and England went back
on this doctrine and began to confiscate vessels so doing, under
authority of the Orders in Council of 1805.
English haughtiness at that time was caused by the fact that
she had recently defeated the French at the Battle of the Nile ; in
1801, she defeated the Danish fleet at Copenhagen; in 1805, she
defeated the combined fleets of France and Spain at Trafalgar, —
and about this time she concluded that she owned the earth. •
PROCEEDINGS 821
At this time, however. Napoleon was at the zenith of his
power on the continent, and in order to inflict damag'e to his cause,
the Enghsh ( )rders in Council of 1806 were pronmlgated. declar-
ing that the coast of Europe from Brest to the Elbe — a distance
of eight hundred miles — was in a state of blockade. As a retalia-
tory measure, Napoleon, after the Battle of Jena, in 1806, issued a
counter order declaring the British Islands blockaded. The Eng-
lish now made another Order in Council, forbidding any neutral
nation carrying on any commerce with a nation w^ith wdiich Eng-
land was at war without first paying duties in some British port.
Then Napoleon came back with his A/Iilan decree, to the effect
that any ship which submitted to the British Orders in Council
should be confiscated by France. This was the condition Ameri-
can vessels had to meet, and the Yankee skippers declared that
they were willing to take the chances, as there was a large profit
for any ship that could escape the Orders in Council and Na-
poleon's decrees, and land a cargo on the northern coast of Na-
poleon's empire. Jefferson, however, and his party were not com-
mercial men, coming as they did from the south and from Pennsyl-
vania, and they did not sjunpathize with Yankee enterprise on the
sea, so in order to avoid difficulties with Great Britain, they passed
the "Em.bargo Act." b}' which no American vessel was permitted
to sail from an American to a foreign port. But this did not
work very w^ell, and the cry arose, "Free ships; free trade." The
Embargo Act raised a storm of protest in the New^ England states,
and so it was "repealed, and the Non-Intercourse Act was passed,
by which our m.ariners were not allowed to trade with England or
France or their dependencies, — there was to be no intercourse with
these nations as long as their orders and decrees were in force. It
was also provided that if either na,tion repealed her orders, this
act should be repealed with reference to her but still enforced
against the other. Napoleon offered to do this, so we rescinded our
action toward France, and commerce was resumed with that nation.
This tended to increase the ill-feeling between the United States
and Great Britain.
Great Britain had long insisted that a subject of a state could
not denaturalize himself. She claimed also the right to go upon
822 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
our vessels wherever they were and take therefrom any such
sailors as they claimed were British. But she was not merely con-
tent with taking British sailors, but would take any sailor who
could talk English ; thus thousands of American sailors were im-
pressed in the British Navy.
And so, on account of these different grievances, the govern-
ment of this United States, on the i8th of June, 1812, declared
war on Great Britain. The War of 1812 was simply the clearing-
up shower of the Revolution, and at the close of the war, we did
not say a word about these things in the treaty of peace ; but Eng-
land was taught that the American people knew their rights and
would maintain them, and since then they have not seriously in-
fringed upon the rights of the Yankees.
Judge Sloane : I am now going to call on another citizen
from Richland county, Mr. Bushnell.
Mr. Bushnell : Ladies and Gentlemen. There was some-
thing said early in the afternoon about looking each other in the
face, and as I stand here to-day, I feel a little like a boy who has
been out west for miany years and has come back home again,
because in 1852, I came here as a lad to attend school at the old
Norwalk Institute, and I see here in this audience, my old profes-
sor, Mr. Newman. I have been in Norwalk several times and
have inquired after him, but have not met him for many years
until to-day.
Well, in this matter of collecting history, we are very happy
to see the progress you have made here. I have read your liter-
ature, and want to read more of it, and trust that you will go
on with this work in the future as successfully as you have for
many years past. I thank you for your invitation to attend this
meeting ; it has done me good. I bid you Godspeed.
A. J. Baughman, of Mansfield, secretary of the Richland
County Historical Society, was introduced to the audience and
said :
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen :
I have had the honor of addressing you at former meetings
of your society and shall not attempt to make a speech upon this
PROCEEDINGS 823
occasion. However, I am glad of the opportunity to thus publicly
thank your president, secretary and others of the Firelands for
the encouragement and assistance they have given the Richland
County Historical Society of which I am secretary. And I want
to acknowledge our indebtedness to your president, Judge Sloane,
for the very interesting and valuable address he delivered before
our society at its annual meeting in Mansfield, June 2, 1900.
To your secretary, Dr. Sheldon, I am grateful for advice and
counsel in many things, and his regular attendance at our meet-
ings is appreciated by us all. Friends, we have learned of you,
and have been benelited by your experience.
I am glad you take so much interest in historical matters.
That interest is the kinship betv/een your society and ours.
My ancestors were among the first settlers of Richland
coimty, and I early took an interest in pioneer history, and in my
many years of newspaper work, sought opportunities to give
sketches of men and of events, and within the past few years T
contributed over two hundred historical articles to the press,
and also wrote a centennial history of our county. My writings
have dealt with the history of the past — that of the present takes
care of itself.
Hoping to see many of you at our meeting next June, I thank
you for your attention.
Judge Sloane : I am now going to call on another of the ex-
presidents of this society, Mr. Stewart.
Mr. vStewart : I will respond by merely calling attention to
something we have been in the habit of doing at other meetings ;
that is, calling up the names of those pioneers who have passed
the century line. At the last meeting, I presented the name of a
lady of Peru who had passed the century line, Mrs. Sarah Robin-
son Atiierton, who still continues in the possession of all her ex-
cellent faculties. If there are any others present who know of
anyone within the Firelands who has passed the century line, we
would be pleased to enter their names on the minutes.
I would suggest further, that Mr. Gallup has some facts which
he has gathered, and which ought to be presented, together with
824 THE FIRELANDb PIONEER
some interesting documents right along the line of the acUlress of
to-day.
Miss Miller now sang a solo, accompanied by Miss Reed on
the piano.
Mr. Gallup : Mr. President, I simply want to put into the
minutes the fact that I have present certain papers which will
eventually appear in our publication. In your address, this morn-
ing you spoke of the account of the campaign on the Penitisula.
I hold in my hand, papers and original reports made by partici-
pants in that campaign, collected by Elisha Whittlesey, and which
papers T found in his files a year ago. These papers give reports
of participants in that cam.paign, and several of them criticise the
report of Joshua R. Giddings, on the plea that he was onty six-
teen years old at that time. Several of these papers are by Cap-
tain Cotton, who was one of the captains of that expedition.
Judge Sloane: I am very glad indeed that Mr. Gallup has
the possession of these papers. I have been aware for a number
of years that certain papers seemed to render some of the state-
ments made by Josuhua R. Giddings somewhat inaccurate. These
papers are vouched for perfectly — indeed, Elisha Whittlesey would
have imposed none others than genuine upon us.
I want to say in this connection that there is an address by
Mr. A. J. Riddle dealing v/ith this subject which I believe ought
to be published in the next volume of the Pioneer. I have not
read the address, in fact, do not know which side it takes, but it is
endorsed to me by several gentlemen as an accurate and able ad-
dress. I would like to have it published if possible.
Judge Wildman : I would request that the president be
asked to procure a copy of that paper for publication, if it should
come within our requirements.
It was suggested that this matter would be in the hands of
the Directors of Publication, so Judge Wildman withdrew his sug-
gestion.
Judge Sloane said further: I am not surprised that Judge
Pennywell has come to the condemnation of Gen. Hull that he
has, but there are other matters which have not been inserted in
the Judge's article, and .statements made and referred to by the
PROCEEDINGS 825-
Secretary of War, in Armstrong's History, and then in the work
pubHslied in defense of Hull that would go somewhat to palliate
a course that does seem treacherous and false, and which I want
to say from my own knowledge was universally condemned.
There being nothing further to come before the society, Judge
Wildman said : I wish to move a vote of thanks to the Methodist
Church for the use of the building, and to the ladies for the de-
lightful music they have furnished us.
Seconded. Carried unanimously.
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned.
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
OF THE
FORTY-SIXTH ANNUAL MEETING
OF THE
FiRELANDS Historical Society
HELD IN
THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH AT NORWALK, OHIO,
JUNE 18. 1902.
MORNING SESSION
The president of the societ}^ not yet having arrived, the meiet-
iv.g was called to order by Vice-President S. A. Wildman, at lo
o'clock A. M, After prayer by Rev. Dr. Broadhiirst, the chair-
man said :
It is a pleasant thing to know that the Firelands Historical
Society through ?o many years has preserved its life, and has
continued to carry out the purposes of its organization. To some
people, it may seem like an idle thing and a worthless thing to deal
so much with matters of mere history — to deal with the past in-
stead of looking to the future, or to the work of the present. It
is sometim.es said that experience is like the stern-light of a ship
that illumines only the path that it has traveled, but it has been
well written by one that it is wise to talk with our past hours,
and ask them what report they bore to Heaven. It is a good thing
for a person to spend a sober hour in retrospect, to look back over
828 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
the life which he has lived, to see what sort of a record he has
made. I have, and have always had, a feeling that it is due, not
only to ourselves, but due to those that have lived before us, and
Vv'ho have made our paths straight for us, to render some tribute
to the history of the Firebnds. T think that every section of this
country of ours should endeavor to preserve the record of its
own beginnmgs, — of ail its struggles through pioneer times to
the prosperity of the highest civilization. The old members of the
Firelands Historical Society are passing away, and its affairs will
have to be left to the younger men, and yet it is well enough to
call the attention of the younger people in our community to this
fact from time to time. The Firelands Historical Society has pre-
served in its printed records a mine of valuable information with
regard to the histor}^ of the Firelands, and in the years to come,
as in the years that have passed, there is no reason why we who
are making history should not write down and place upon the
pages of that magazine, the record of our work. We are making
history ; we are living now in eventful times. No people in the
history of this globe have had more interesting years in which to
write the story of their lives than have we. We have recently
closed the portals of the century, and crossed the mysterious thresh-
old of another. Now^, almost upon this boundar3^-line, it is well,
while we are looking with glad eyes to the future-in this morning
of the hundred years to come, that we should cast a glance back-
ward at the years that have gone.
For back in the ninteenth century, this society was organized.
It has written not only its own history, but the history of the com-
munity in which it was born ; and the Firelands Historical Society
relies upon its members now, and also upon such as it may here-
after gather into its membership, to preserve the history and the
biographies of the men who have made the Firelands historic. I
suppose it is hardly worth while to spend much time over the read-
ing of the minutes of former meetings. The minutes have all
gone into print, but it is necessary to prepare for the work of this
afternoon, and for the work of the ensuing year. Committees
must be appointed, and the accounts of the officers audited ; an
auditing- committee should be appointed, and officers selected for
PROCEEDINGS B29
the coming year. It has been customary to appoint a nominating
committee to present names for the various offices. I would
suggest in the first place that if the present officers are ready to
make their reports, that these reports be read at the present time.
Dr Sheldon, being called u]ion, said that he had no written
report to make.
Mr. Gallup said: During the past year there has been but
one meeting of the board of trustees, and that related to the
litigation which hss arisen over the Michael Lipsett will, by which
this association was made a residuary legatee, and wliich some
of the heirs have commenced .suit to contest. The board of trus-
tees took steps to defend their rights in the matter, and has em-
ployed Hon. C. P. Wickham as attorney. The matter is in the
courts, and in the opinion of the trustees, there is no good case
against the will. It is the opinion of the board of trustees that
we will be succesh:fui in defending it. I am advised that, on the
settlement of that estate, if the will is not disturbed, we shall be the
jecipients of somewhere in the neighborhood of seven thousand
dollars. Aside from this. I think no other action has been taken
by the trustees.
Now, Mr. President, the minutes of the last annual meeting
have not vet been published. There was no volume last year,
but the m.aterial is on hand, and in the near future the volume
will be issued, wh'ch will include the minutes of this meeting, and
the last meeting. Now I move you, ]\[r. President that the read-
ing of the minutes of the last meeting be dispensed with.
Motion seconded and carried.
Mr. Gallup : T move the appointment by the chairman, of
two comm.ittees, — one to audit the accounts of the treasurer and
librarian, and one to nominate officers for the next year — each
committee to be composed of three persons.
Motion seconded and carried.
The chairman appointed on the auditing committee, ^Messrs.
T. M. Gillett. J. M. Whiton and A. J. Barney, and on the nom-
inating committee, Dr. A. Sheldon and Messrs. G. T. Stewart and
Isaac McKesson.
830 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
Mr. Stewart said he did not wish to serve on the nom-
inating committee, and at the suggestion of the chairman,
he and Mr. Barney changed places, Mr. Barney serving on the
nominating committee and Mr. Stewart on the auditing com-
mittee.
The chairman next called on the treasurer for his report,
which was then read.
Mr. Gallup m.oved that the report be referred to the auditing
committee.
Motion seconded and carried.
The chairman then called upon the librarian for his report,
which was then read.
Dr. Sheldon moved that the report be referred to the audit-
ing committee.
Motion seconded and carried.
Mr. Gallup said : Now, Mr. President, I have been in the
habit of going aroimd and getting annual members, and have thus
received $33.00, and I want to say that if there are any here to-
day who will subscribe one dollar for membership. I would like
to have them do so. The annual membership for one dollar car-
ries with it th"r current number of our publication — one volume
of the Pioneer.
The chairman then read the names of the thirty-three new
members referred to by Mr. Gallup.
President Sloane, having just arrived, was called to the chair-
by Judge Wildman.
Dr. Sheldon : Tf the societv is ready to hear us, the nom-
inating committee is ready to report.
The President said : Before asking for this report, I would
ask if the biographer for Huron county has any report to make?
The Huron county biographer was not present.
The biographer for Erie coimty being called upon, said : I
have no special report to make. Since our last annual meeting,
about one hundred pioneers have died, whose biographies will be
sent in.
The report of the nominating committee, being called for.
Dr. Sheldon reoorted the following nominations : For President,.
FROCEEDINGS 831
Hon. Rush R. Sloane; for First Vice-President, Hon. S. A. Wild-
man ; for Second Vice-President, Mr. A. J. Barney ; for Record-
ing Secretary, Dr. A. Sheldon ; for Treasurer, Judge F. H. Jones ;
for I^ibrarian, Mr. C. H. Gallup ; for Biographer for Huron
county, Dr. F. E. Weeks ; for Biographer for Erie County, Mr.
John McKelvy ; for Members of the Board of Trustees, Messrs.
Thos. M. Sloane, J. F. Laning, J. M. Whiton, C. H. Gallup and
J. M. Gillett ; for Members of the Publishing Committee, Messrs.
C. H. Galiup and J. F. Taning.
Judge Wildman : Mr. President, I move the adoption of the
report of the comm_ittee, and the choice of those officers, except as
lo the first vice-president.
This motion was amended, that the report in toto be adopted.
Amendment and motion seconded and carried.
Mr. Gallup said : Now if there are any parties present
who have not volume 13 of the Firelands Pioneer, we have them
here for sale at fifty cents each.
Mr. Gallup moved that the meeting adjourn until i :30 P. M.
Motion seconded and carried.
AFTERNOON SESSION
The President said : Pioneers, Ladies and GentlemiCn. Will
those ladies and gentlemen who are seated in the distant part of
the hall have the kindness to come forward and fill up these front
seats? If you only knew how inspiring it is for a speaker to
have his audience close around him, you would all come forward
and fill up the front seats. Now, in accordance with a time-
honored custom of this society, I will call upon Rev. Mr. Smith,
v")f Wakeman, to invoke the blessing of Divine Providence upon
ihis meeting this afternoon.
After the invocation, the meeting listened to a vocal solo by
Miss Elizabeth Flinn.
832 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
The President then said: Fellow Pioneers, Ladies and
Gentlemen : I have committed to writing, a few remarks, taking
about twelve or fifteen minutes onl_y, which I shall read this after-
noon. (President Sloane then read his address.)
PRESIDENT SLOANE'S ADDRESS
June 1 8, 1902.
Ladies, Gentlemen, and Fellow Pioneers :
We are assembled to-day to perpetuate the life of this time-
honored society, by holding another annual gathering, electing
officers, extending fraternal greetings, and giving as best we may,
by our presence, our words, and whatever we may do, an added
impulse and interest to our work.
We who are living are daily making history. By our
coming together, by our words and our acts, we are here making
a record which will soon be historic. The mother of the back-
woods, with her children around her as she related the adventures
of their early settlement, was an historian.
We also live history and relate it. . And oh, how eventful
has been the history of the past year! How momentous the re-
sults of disastrous Avar ! How terrible the calamities of nature !
The significance of time's changes is to be noted in the mem-
ories evoked by the ceremonies in connection with the unveiling
of the "Rocham.beau Memorial" at Washington, on Saturday, the
24th of May, commemorating one of the most important events
in Am.erican history, and second only to the Declaration of In-
dependence.
For it was the opportune arrival of Rochambeau and his
French fleet that made independence a reality. The struggle
might possibly have been continued a year or more and then
have succeeded, though this is doubtful. But the presence of Ro-
chambeau and his army decided the issue.
It was the only great service ever bestowed upon this na-
tion by any foreign country. The French people have never
vaunted the assistance rendered bv France. And their modesty
PROCEEDINGS 833
has been most reinarkablc, in view of the important part played
by their country in the War of the American Revohition. And I
only voice the universal sentiment of our nation, when, in the
language of Washington, I say "that the aid rendered the col-
onies by France had made the nation very dear to us, and formed
ties and left impressions which neither time nor circumstances can
destroy."
A second historical occurrence of universal interest is the
freeing of Cuba. And when, on the 20th of May, 1902, the gov-
ernment of that island was transferred from the United States
to the president and congress of that republic, it was an event of
great significance, — a deed for which the United States will be
honored in all parts of the world. Our American flag, "Old
Glory," has been hauled dowm ; but a free nation has been bom
under its folds. It is hauled down in honor, and in token of the
nation's faith ?nd truthfulness : and the act is without a parallel
in the history of the world.
In view of the horrible and unparalleled catastrophe in the
French Island of Martinque, — the eruption of the Mont Pelee
volcano, — by which all the inhabitants of St. Pierre, standing five
miles distant, were killed and the town destroyed without warn-
ing, giving the people no time or opportunity to escape, even had
they received ample notice, — in view of all this, I say, how vain
and idle is the habit of boasting of man's conquest over nature !
So m.uch has been accomplished in our day, in subverting to
mean's use the material forces of the universe, that it is only when
some tremendous convulsion of nature occurs, — which we cannot
predict in advance or even account for afterwards, — that we re-
cognize how far from complete is man's control over the gigantic
and mysterious natural forces by which he is surrounded.
Our scientists nov; — in their fallibility and weakness — are
predicting a spread of volcanic eruptions in the West Indies ; and
only four weeks since, over six hundred were killed on the main-
land in Guatemala. In Central America, the deaths by earth-
quake are counted by thousands.
And almost coincident with the Martinique disaster, came the
eruption at St. Vincent, a British island, where about two thou-
834 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
sand lives were lost. The volcano on this island near its northern
end is about four thousand feet high, and had been quiet for
ninety years. The eruption continued three days, burying the
north end of the island, for more than fifteen miles, in lava, stones,
and similar missiles.
The distance of this island from Martinique is eighty miles,
and between the two lies the island of St. Lucia.
Our congress, under popular demand, voted the sum of two
hundred thousand dollars, to be distributed under direction of
the president; in relieving distress among the sufferers on both
these islands.
Time will not allow even a brief review of the appalling dis-
asters during the past year, of floods, cyclones, fires and painful
accidents on the sea and the land. Truly misfortune^ follow fast
upon each other's heels.
How awful the assassination and death of our honored presi-
dent, which plunged our nation into gloom ! How deplorable
the wars in which all nations of the earth have been involved ! —
not one can be excepted. Our OM'n country has been called to
mourn its thousands of victims to the demon of war, and to the
many awful accidents of the year. While in England, scarcely
a family lives but mourns its dead in South Africa.
The demand of the public has forced a peace — no matter what
the terms ! — more honorable than bloody war. And this peace
in the Transvaal will be a large factor in ensuring the permanent
peace of Europe for the future. For England, from the beginning
of the war, has been disappointed and deceived. The financial
credit of the nation has been strained and its strength has been
impaired. In view of England's experience, no cautious states-
men in Europe will now lightly enter into war.
And may the God of Battles, the Ruler of men and nations,
so direct the people of the United States, with their president,
government and congress, that this dreadful strife and bloodshed
in the Philippines shall soon cease I
Since our last meeting, a suit has been commenced in Rich-
land county, — after waiting more than two years, and until the
last day or two within which such suit could have been com-
PROCEJBDINGS 835
menced, — to break or declare invalid the will of Michael Lipsett,
formerly a resident of Sandusky, who had so generously remem-
bered the Firelands Historical Society and the Ladies' Library
Building Association of Sandusky.
We do not anticipate an adverse decision, unless the trial
is delayed and old neighbors of Mr. Lipsett shall be unable to
give their testimony, which is improbable.
If we should fail in this suit, so vital to our society, then we
should appeal to the legislature of Ohio for assistance in erecting
the contemplated M.em.orial Hall upon our society's lot, in this
beautiful town of Norwalk.
We antedate all active historical societies in the state, and
we have more early history in our published volumes than any
other society. Justice will demand this appropriation, precedent
will sanction it, and the good done will justify it. Not more
than ten thousand dollars would be required, and the money could
not be devoted to a more useful object, nor one benefiting more
people.
For a few m.oments, allow me to call your attention to a
matter of more than ordinary historic interest, involving the
question as to when Ohio became, a state.
Prior to the adjournment of the last legislature in this state,
a resolution was adopted, declaring that "Ohio became a state,
Thursday, March i, 1803."
The reasons for the necessity of this action and a brief re-
view of the stale's early history in this matter, will be of interest;
and of use, as well, in fully confirming the date as fixed upon by
the legislature, in the said resolution.
The state of Ohio was the fourth admitted under the con-
stitution, and stood the seventeenth on the roll of the states. Ver-
mont was admitted in 1791; Kentucky, in 1792; and Tennessee,
in 1796. The two first were formed from other states, and had
been organized as territories. Tennessee had been known as the
territory south of the river Ohio. For neither of these three
states was there an enabling act of congress.
836 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
Sinct Ohio's enabling- act of April 30, 1S02, all the states
have had enabling acts, the features of which were copied after
Ohio's enabling act.
It is a singular fact, that, of all the states that have been ad-
mitted into the Union since its national life began in 1776, Ohio
is the only one in regard to which, as to the time when she be-
came a state, there has been a doubt or question.
This can be accounted for by the fact that no early his-
tory of the state v/as written. Then when "Harris's Tour" was
published in 1805. he made the grave blunder of stating "that
Ohio was admitted into the Union by an act of congress, April
28, 1802." This date no one attempted to correct. Books were
not plenty in those days, and newspapers were scarcer than books.
In 1833, Hon. Salmon P. Chase published his Preliminary
Sketch of the History of Ohio, — fixing no date, other than when
congress agreed to the amendments asked for by the Ohio con-
vention.
Then in 1838. Caleb Atwater, in his history, fixed the 19th
of February, 1803. Hildreth, in the fifth volume of his history,
fixed the date March 1. 1803. Hickey, in his work on Ohio Con-
stitution, fixed November 29, 1802. In Vol. i, p. 575, of the Ninth
Census Report, the date of June 30, 1802, is given. Walker, in his
History of Athens county, gives the time when congress assented
to the proposed m.odifications, March 3, 1803. In Black's Story
of Ohio, the date of February 19, 1803, is given. Hon. Rufus
King, in his History of Ohio, gives March i, 1803.
It will be seen, by reference to the act of April 30, 1802,
that certain propositions were made and offered to the convention
of the eastern state in said territory when formed, for their ac-
ceptance or rejection. Did these not require the action of the
convention, either to accept or reject them?
Judge Burnet, in his letters, says, 'Tt was generally under-
stood that they were to be accepted or rejected unconditionally,
and that the action of the convention, either way, would be final."
But such was not the case; and, instead of rejecting the proposi-
tions, as it was believed they ought to do, the convention passed
an ordinance in which it was resolved to accept them, provided
PROCEEDINGS 837
certain additions and modifications should be agreed to by con-
gress.
Now it is clear that until these additions and modifications
were in some way agreed to by congress, or should be waived by
the people of Ohio, there could be no state established. We find,
however, that Hon. Thomas Worthington, — who had been ap-
pointed by the Ohio convention, as special agent, to go to Phila-
delphia, and present the new constitution and ordinance, with
the desired changes and modifications, — performed that duty, and
secured a favorable and unanimous report of the committee to
whom the whole case had been referred, on February 2, 1803.
(See Annals of Congress, VII Congress, 2nd Session, pp. 1326,
The certainty of the adoption of the committee's report
induced congress to pass an act to extend the laws of the United
States over the state of Ohio; as, otherwise, such laws would
not be operative until the next congress could pass such an act.
Now, by reference to page 27, Annals of Congress (VII
Congress), you find under date of January 19, 1803, the follow-
ing:
"Mr. Breckenridge, from the committee to whom was re-
ferred, on the seventh instant, the motion to inquire whether any,
and if any, what, legislative measures may be necessary for ad-
mitting the state of Ohio into the Union, or for extending to that
state the laws oi the United States."
Now this clearly shows that at that time Ohio was not a state
in the Union. It also shows that the act was, as I have claimed,
for the future operation of the laws of the United States in that
state, and not to create a state.
Congress, since Decem.ber, 1802, had had the new constitution
before it ; and a committee, after consideration, had prepared two
acts ; both, the result of the appeal and ordinance of Ohio, as
urged by Mr. Worthington, special agent for Ohio. One was
passed February 19, 1803. The other act, — which changed the
conditions of the enabling act of April 30, 1802, — was passed in
the house, February 22, 1803 : and. on February 22 it was sent
to the senate, asking the senate's concurrence. On February 23,
838 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
the bill was read the second time ; and on February 26, it was
ordered that the bill pass to the third reading.
This was three days before the Ohio legislature convened.
But here was the concurrence of congress and of the people of
Ohio. However, Ohio was not yet a state, it was still the
Territory of Ohio.
And this was provided by the new Ohio constitution, and
agreed to betv^^een the territorial officials and the state. I quote
here, in full, Sec. 3 of the Schedule of the Constitution :
"Sec. 3. The governor, secretary and judges, and all other
officers under the territorial government, shall continue in the
exercise of the duties of their respective departments, until the
said offices arc superseded under the authority of this constitu-
tion."
And here we see that the formation of the inchoate state
which was framed by the Constitutional Convention, was post-
poned by the aforesaid section, by its express submission to the
territorial governm.ent, until the state government could be formed
and set in operation. And the very day when this occurred was
Tuesday, March i, 1803.
For section 25 of the constitution was in these words :
"The first session of the General Assembly shall commence on
the first Tuesday of March next, and forever after the General
Assembly shall meet on the first Monday of December, in every
year, and at no other period, unless directed by law. or provided
for by this constitution."
Here we have the concurrence of the people and their of-
ficial representatives in the Territory of Ohio, northwest of the
river Ohio; also, of the people of the eastern division of Ohio, as
represented by the new constitution passed November 29, 1802;
and of the congress of the United States ; all united in fixing the
date when Ohio became a state in the Union, as Tuesday, the
first day of March, 180^. ,
Confident of the ratification of the report by act of congress,
Mr. Worthington at once returned to Chillicothe to give assur-
ance of the certain adoption by congress of said report, and to
PROCEEDINGS 839
have the newly elected legislature convene as stipulated in the
constitution.
Mr. Worthington, by the way, had a great personal interest
in this, as it was a general understanding that he was to be one of
the new United States senators elected by the legislature; as,
indeed, he afterwards was.
We have seen that the act of February 19, 1803, by which
the laws of the United States were extended over the state of
Ohio, did not make Ohio a state before the time fixed in the
new constitution, which was March i, 1803.
We must also remember that the right of Paul Fearing, —
the delegate sent from the Territory of Ohio to sit in the seventh
congress, — was objected to about January, 1803; and the subject
was made a question for the investigation and report of a com-
mittee of congress ; which committee unanimously reported that
Paul Fearing was still entitled to his seat as delegate; and this
he held to March i, 1803. But he certainly could not retain his
seat after Ohio became a state.
Now the date when Ohio became a state has been fixed beyond
any question or doubt, by an act of congress. On page 1228,
Annals of Congress, ninth congress, first session, w'ill be found
an act which is given in full hereafter. This law was passed to
determine when the Territory of Ohio ended. And zvhenever
this zuas, of course at that date, Ohio became a state.
In 1804, Judge Meigs and associates of the Ohio territorial
court presented a petition stating that they had continued their
judicial duties until April 15, 1803, and had applied for payment
of their salaries. The accounting officers, on the advice of the
attorney general, had refused to allow it beyond November 29,
1802, — the day on which the state constitution and form of
government had been adopted. The judges had then applied to
the Ohio legislature, and they likewise refused, holding it to be
an obligation of the United States.
After full reports by two different committees, and a close
division in the committee of the whole, an act was passed on Feb-
ruary 21, 1806, directing the salaries of the territorial officers
840 THE FIRBLANDS PIONEER
to be allowed, and paid at the treasury, until March i, 1803.
Here is the full text of the act of February 21, 1806 :
"An act for the relief of the governor, secretary, and judges
of the late territory northwest of the river Ohio.
"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the United States of America in Congress assembled, that the
proper accounting officers of the Treasury be, and they are hereby
authorized and directed to settle at the rate of compensation
heretofore established, the account of the governor, secretary, and
judges of the late territory of the United States north-west of
the River Ohio, for their services while acting in those capacities
respectively, at any time between the 29th day of November, one
thousand eight hundred and two, and the first Tuesday of March,
one thousand eight hundred and three.
"Approved Feb. 21, 1806."
These men were officials of the Territory of Ohio, and would
receive compensation to the time when the territory ceased its
existence; and when the law-making power and sovereignty was
no longer in the territory, but was transferred to the state. And
this was March i, 180^; to which time, under this act of con-
gress, these officials received their pay. This act was, and has
been considered, an authoritative decision, as to when Ohio be-
came a state.
It is very clear that, whenever Ohio ceased to be a territory,
then it became a state ; there could be no inter regnitm. On March
1, 1803, the legislature convened which had been elected, as re-
quired in the new constitution, on the second Tuesday of January,
1803. It effected its organization, and at once became the reposi-
tory and superior representative of the sovereignty of the state.
Ohio was no longer the territory — it, on that day, became the
state — of Ohio, and a member of the Federal Union ; and the Ter-
ritory of Ohio had ceased to exist.
In conclusion, let me say, the story of the doubt and un-
certainty as to when Ohio became a state, which has prevailed
for almost one hundred years, is a most convincing illustration
of the great importance of accuracy in giving dates correctly,.
PROCEEDINGS 841
when g-iven at all. It is a strong plea for correct and reliable
history.
Such glaring inaccuracy has been the bane of many publica-
tions since the centennial year of 1876, in county books and other
works published under the guise of "History/"' and which now
make the "lumber piles" in so many public libraries, — these works
being prepared in the interest of irresponsible adventurers, for
the sole purpose of putting money into their own pockets, and
with no intention whatever to promote the cause of history.
Let us all aid to hand down to future time reliable history
and actual facts, — not fiction or romance.
The President then said : I have the great pleasure of pre-
senting to you this afternoon, a gentleman who occupies a very
leading position in our state, — a native of Ohio, and while he was
not bom in the Firelands, it was so near to the Firelands, that
we can safely call him a son. Mr. Randall has for several years
occupied the very responsible position of reporter of the Supreme
Court of Ohio, to his own credit and to the great satisfaction of
the leading lawyers of the state. During the greater portion of
this time, he has occupied a position of still greater importance,
m my own judgment — that of secretary of the Historical Society
of this state. A few years ago our friends in neighboring states
would say, "Why don't you have a state historical society in your
state?'' but T am happy to say that now they say, "Why, vour
historical society of Ohio is publishing most excellent volumes,
to which every one interested in history should be a subscriber."
Mr. Randal] in one respect is a very remarkable man, and one
like him in this respect has never addressed this meeting. Within
the last few days my friend has declined a nomination to con-
gress from the Capitol district, handed to him, as one might sa)%
on a silver platter, preferring to remain here and serve the state
of Ohio as he has dene heretofore. I take great pleasure in pre-
senting Mr. E. O. Randall, who will address you on the subject
of "Tecumseh, the Hero."
842 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
TECUMSEH
BY E. O. RANDALL, SECRETARY OF THE OHIO STATE ARCHAEOLOGICAL
AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
(An address delivered at the annual meeting of the Firelands
Historical Society, held at Norwalk, June i8, 1902.)
Among the savage races of history no one is more interest-
ing, unique or fascinating in character, action and appearance,
than that race that inhabited the forests of North America before
and at the arrival of European discoverers and settlers.
There roamed the Indian
» * * " As free as nature first made man,
Ere the base laws of servitude beg-an,
When wild in woods the noble savage i-an."
— Dryden.
In these people were singularly mingled the elements of the
human and the animal, the barbarity and simplicity of the primeval
creature, and the majesty, nobility and sentiment of the enlight-
ened man. These people had their leaders, their shrewd sachems,
their chosen chiefs, their mighty men in war, politics and re-
ligion, and they may boast of heroes that might excite the envy
of any age or nation.
One of tlic great families of the Indian race was known as
the Algonquin, perhaps the most active and attractive of all the
great divisions. The Algonquins were supposed to have consti-
tuted half of the native population east of the Mississippi at the
time of the foreign settlement of this country, and numbered prob-
ably not less then a himdred thousand. Their language, of which
there were many dialects, scholars tell us, was stately and rhetori-
cal, replete with oratorical and epigrammatic phrases.
The Shawnees formed a leading tribe of the Algonquins.
The history of these people, like most of the Indian tribes, is
wrapped in much obscurity. Restless and fearless, wary, war-
like and wandering, they were ever seeking new fields for conquest
and opportunity. Moreover to a superlative degree they were
proud, haughty and sagacious, regarding themselves above their
PROCEEDINGS 843
fellow stock in all the natural and acquired qualities of the Indian.
They boasted in a tradition "that the Master of Life, the Creator
himself, the originator of all peoples, was an Indian. He made
the Shawnees before any other human race. They, the Shawnees,
sprang from his brain. He gave them all the knowledge he him-
self possessed and placed^ them upon the great island (America)
and all the other red people descended from the Shawnees.
After the Creator had made the Shawnees, he made the French
and English out of his breast, the Dutch out of his feet, and the
TECUMSEH
'Long Knives' (Americans) out of his hands." All these inferior
races of men he made white and placed them beyond the "Stinking
Lake ;" that is, the Atlantic ocean.
This arrogant, aristocratic and autocratic pride, coupled with
war-like ferocity, made the Shawnees one of the most formidable
of all the tribes with which the western settlers had to contend
in the Ohio valley. The Shawnees rejoiced in battle and carnage,
in cunning deception, savage stratagem and at times gross faith-
lessness.
844 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
Tecumseh was born of this tribal breed ; he was the embodi-
ment and acme of the Shawnee daring, hauteur, boundless energy
and innate ability. Measured by his time and opportunity there
is no more splendid genius than Tecumseh ; possessed of courage^
fortitude and endurance in common with this people, he added
to these qualities superior practical wisdom, lofty sentiment, wide
sweeping range of mental vision, a prescience and poetry of soul,
marvelous aptitude in dealing with men, great gifts of leader-
ship, matchless oratory, a magnetism of manner, a boundless am-
bition, intense loyalty and devotion to his own people, a keen
realization of their capabilities, their limitations, their aspira-
tions, their inevitable termination. He studied the past, he
grasped the present, he foresaw the future. He was the great
hero of his race — one of the great heroes of all history and tHe
whole world. He died a martyr in the dramatic and desperate
effort to redress the wrongs of his people, and stay the anni-
hilation of his race. Tecumseh was one of the greatest of the
great — how could he help it — he was born in Ohio, a genuine
full-fledged native of the Buckeye soil, that prolific soil that
has produced so many men who have been, not only the very
"salt of the earth," but stars in the strife, struggle and triumphs
of modern civilization.
Tecumseh's parents were probably at first inhabitants of
Florida, in one of the southern divisions of the tribe. His
mother's name was Methoataska and means "A turtle laying eggs
in the sand." She is reputed as a woman of unusual character,,
virtue and force. His father, Puckeshinwau, rose to the rank
of chief, and died valourously on the field of battle. So that
Tecumseh descended from no ordinary stock. His parents re-
moved with others of their tribe under the lead of the great
chief, Black-Hoof, from the south to the valley of the Ohio about
the middle of the eighteenth century. They settled in the new
country at first on the Scioto and afterwards on the banks of the
Mad river, one of the tributaries of the Great Miami. The ac-
counts of his birth and early childhood are colored with the usual
mvths. contradictions and semi-historical traditions that usuallv
PROCEEDINGS 845
■embellish the initial days of one who later becomes conspicuous
on the stage of the world.
He was born probably in 1768; perhaps in the very year that
marked the death of the great Ottawa chief, Pontiac, the prede-
cessor and prototype oT Tecumseh. The birthplace of Tecumseh
has been in much dispute; as with the great Greek, blind bard
Homer, many towns have contended for the honor of his nativity.
The site of the present town of Chillicothe, Ross county; of
Oldtovvn in Greene county, and of the trolley car station prosaic-
ally known as Snyderville, on the Mad river, about six miles below
Springfield, are respectively claimed by authorities as the locality
where the Shawnee Tecumseh first saw the light of heaven.
This is not the time or ])lace to debate this question. The pre-
ponderance of probability seems to favor the location near Spring-
field. This confusion may arise from the fact that the Shawnee
villages were not permanent. They were movable and the same
"town" may have been at one time on the Scioto, at another
on the Miami and again on the Mad river. It has been said that
some people find it cheaper to move than pay rent. Certain it
is that the aborigines found it easier, for sanitary purposes, to
move than to clean up. Hence one reason for the migratory na-
ture of their habitations.
The name Tecumseh means "a shooting star," indicating the
brilliant and meteoric career of which the bright boy gave early
promise. His youth was doubtless that of the usual Indian boy's
experience and education. Because of his early precocity, we
can ill imagination picture his mother and brothers bestowing
peculiar attention upon his growth and development. His school-
house was the vast forest ; his books the "babbling brooks" and
sighing boughs : his workday tools the bow and arrow and the
fishing spear ; his course of study the forest trails, the hunt and
the hardihood of a child of nature.
The death of Puckeshinwau left the little Tecumseh father-
less at the age of six, possibly five. He had one sister, Tecuma-
pease, whorh he dearly loved and by whom in turn he was most
affectionately regarded to the time of his death. He had five
brothers, Cheeseekau, the eldest, whO' filled the part of a father
846 THE PIRELANDS PIONEER
to Tecumseh and was most watchful of his education, such as it
was. Cheeseekau died in battle in an expedition to the south;
Sauwaseekau, a warrior of distinction, killed in the Battle of Fallen
Timbers fighting by the side of Tecumseh; Nehaseemo, third
brother of Tecumseh, seems to have left no record of his deeds.
The two remaining brothers and youngest children of the family
were Kumskaukau and Laulewasikau, claimed by the family tradi-
tion to be twins. The latter becam.e the famous prophet of whom
we shall speak at length further on.
The youthful Tecumseh developed an unusual passion for
war. It was the field of vent for his restless energy and courage.
His boy pastime, like that of Washington and Napoleon, was
said to have been the sham battle field. He was the leader of his
companions in all their sports, dividing them into contending par-
ties. One of these he always headed for the purpose of engaging
in a mimic fight, in which he outdid his playfellows by his activity,
agility, strength and skill. His dexterity in the use of the bow
and arrow exceeded that of all the other Indian boys of his tribe
by whom he was loved and respected, and over whom he exercised
great influence.
The little Tecum.seh was hardly past the papoose period when
the American Revolution began. Its rumblings on the Atlantic
coast echoed across the mountains and reverberated in the Ohio
valley. The Indians caught the sound and appreciated its signifi-
cance.
Great Britain in her war with France had adopted the policy
of securing the alliance and assistance of the Indians. (In
France-England war, 1754, the Ohio Shawnees aided the French.)
England now sought to attach the Indians to her side against the
American colonists. The Ohio Indian had therefore lived in an
atmosphere of international warfare. This contest between Amer-
ica and the mother country was a matter of vital interest and
importance to the American. Indian.
Tecumseh, with a most mature mind and prophetic power,
early realized that in these conflicts between the white nations
his red race would be slowly ground as the com between the upper
and nether stone. Tecumseh saw that the white man was crowd-
PROCEEDINGS 847
ing in the north from beyond the Great Lakes ; that to a greater
extent he was moving in a steady and widening column across the
mountains from the east, pushing his frontier hne toward the set-
ting sun.
BATTLE OF POINT PLEASANT.
In 1774 hostilities broke out on the Ohio frontier between
the Indians of the Northwest territory and the settlers in Virginia.
The English government had reserved this territory, after the
French and Indian war, for the exclusive occupation of the
Indians. The latter resented any encroachments by the white
colonists. I'he Virginians claimed part of this territory by char-
ter right. The Earl of Dunmore, royal governor of Virginia,
raised an army for the purpose of subduing the Indians. This
army was organized in two divisions. Lord Dunmore commanded
one division of some fifteen hundred men. It proceeded from
Wheeling down the Ohio to the Hocking, and thence to the
Pickaway Plains on the Scioto. The other division was under
the command of General Andrew Lewis. It organized in the
interior of Virginia and proceeded down the Kanawha to its
mouth on the Ohio. There, on October 10, 1774, these Virginia
backwoodsmen, some eleven hundred in number, unexpectedly
met the combined Indian forces from Ohio under the famous
Shawnee chief and king of the confederacy, Cornstalk. The
Indian command was about equal in number to the army of
Lewis, and consisted of the chosen young braves of the Shawnee,
Mingo, Delaware, Wyandot, Cayuga, and minor tribes. Many
famous chiefs were aides to Cornstalk, viz., Logan, Red Hawk,
Red Eagle, Blue Jacket, and Packishenoah, the Shawnee chief and
father of Tecumseh. It was a great battle. "Such a battle with
the Indians, it is imagined, was never heard of before," says the
writer of a letter in the government reports. The whites won
that battle, but Packishenoah lost his life in the thick of the fight.
The defeated Indians retreated across the Ohio and marched to
their hom.es on the Scioto and other Ohio rivers. So little Te-
cumseh was early acquainted with the horrors and bitterness of
the racial war. The treaty of peace which Cornstalk made with
Dunmore was soon forgotten.
848 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
A few years later the frontier war invaded the territory of
Tecutnseh's home. The Indian village of Piqua was attacked and
probably destroyed by the expedition of Colonel George Rogers
Clark (1778-9). Tecumseh, a boy of ten, witnessed the devasta-
tion brought to his people by the onward march of the invincible
pale face. His intense Indian nature was aroused. Hatred of
the white man look possession of his whole being. As Hannibal
swore eternal enmity to the I^omans, so Tecumseh swore implor-
able hostility to the American settlers.
In 1786 Tecumseh received his baptism of fire as a young
warrior, fighting under his brother, the distinguished brave
Cheeseekau, in resisting an attack near the present city of Dayton,
made by Capt. Benjamin Logan, with a party of mounted men.
A little later we find Tecumseh thoroughly imbued with ani-
mosity to the whites, taking part in the attacks constantly made
by the Indians on the white immigrants as they came down the
Ohio on the flat boats. In these attacks he evinced great cunning
and total absence of fear. It was the cruel custom of his people
after capturing these boats to seize the property and then torture
and often burn the prisoners. When Tecumseh first witnessed
this revolting act he expressed his abhorrence and dissent in an
eloquent and forceful speech, declaring he would never take part
in, or permit, if he could prevent, such barbarous cruelty.
Throug-hout his life he was ever humane and generous in the treat-
ment of his prisoners. It would make a remarkable picture, this
stripling Indian boy pleading with his associates on the banks
of the Ohio, for the merciful treatment of his nation's enemies.
roiRS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY.
In 1787 Tecumseh and his brother Cheeseekau led an Indian
expedition to the west, through Indiana, Illinois and the north-
west, perhaps to the Mississippi. He followed this with another
extensive tour through the south, visiting the Indian tribes as
far as Florida. These two tours occupied some five years and
were a great education, giving him wide knowledge of the country,
its geography, natural resources and the various Indian tribes
PROCEEDINGS 849
with their manners, sentiments and civiHzaticns, as well as knowl-
edge of the white man.
U])on his return to the Ohio home, although the Revolution-
ary war had ended some s(;ven years, the English still held posts
in the western country, it having heen agreed when the independ-
ence of the United States was acknowledged hy Great Britian,
that the Americans should he responsihle for the debts due to the
British subjects which had been contracted before the war and
repudiated after the Revolution began. The new and weak-
American government was unable to enforce the collection of
these debts in opposition to statutes enacted by several states
to defeat British creditors, and this alleged non-compliance with
the treaty of peace and independence gave the British govern-
ment a pretext for refusing to surrender the western frontier
posts, the holding of which kept the profitable fur trade in the
hands of the Canadian traders. These were not surrendered un-
til a new treaty was made in 1794. Meantime, the continuance of
this semi-hostile military power of the British and the unscrupu-
lous Indian traders kept the Indians in a state of constant enmity
to the growing American settlements in the west.
DRFIJATS OF HARIMAR AXD ST. CLAIR.
General Harmar, appointed commander in chief of the army
of the United States September 29, 1789, had been sent by Presi-
dent Washington into the west at the head of 300 federal troops
and 1,100 Kentucky volunteers to penetrate into the Miami
country and destroy the cornfields of the Indians. The expedition
was successful, but upon its retiring, the Indians under Blue
Jackei. a Shawnee chief, and Little Turtle, a Miami chief, suc-
ceeded in leading the army into an ambuscade, at the ford of
the Maumee, October 23. 1790. and heavily slaughtered the
troops, driving the panic stricken survivors in ignominious flight.
It was a signal victory for the Indians.
In the fall of 1791. General St. Clair, a brave and veteran
soldier, made a march into this country at the head of 1.400
troops. Tecumseh did valiant service at the head of a skirmishing
party against the approach of St. Clair on his wav to Greenville
850 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
and the headwaters of the Wabash. General Harmar's defeat
was followed by an equally disastrous defeat of St. Clair and his
army at the place known as Fort Recovery.
By this time the country had become alarmed and aroused
by the spread of the Indian war on the frontier. The administra-
tion of President Washington was severely condemned by the op-
position for the defeats which it had suffered at the hands of the
Indians in the expeditions under Generals Harmar and St. Clair.
The government treasury had been seriously depleted by the ex-
pense which these expeditions had entailed. The war with the
Indians was deplored and denounced.
GENERAl, AMTHONY WAYNE (1792).
Under these circumstances the government felt compelled
to take forcible measures, and the dashing and daring General
Anthony Wayne was placed in command of the Northwestern
Army ; the famous Mad Anthony Wayne. Washington selected
him to retrieve the fortimes of the United States in her Indian
wars. The troops placed under General Wayne were new and
undisciplined. The government, through General Wayne, in
hopes of avoiding war, made overtures of peace to the Indians,
but they were elated with their late successes and refused all
compromise. Wayne recruited and trained his troops at Ft.
Washington f May-October, 1793), and then pushed forward to
the north. Among other forts built by General Wayne was one
erected on the spot of General St. Clair's defeat and called Fort
Recovery. This fort was attacked in the summer of 1794 by a
body of 1.500 Indians. Among them was Tecumseh. The re-
sult was a signal victory for General Wayne. Wayne now called
upon the governor of Kentucky for 2,000 mounted volunteers.
They arrived July, 1794. under command of Major General
Charles Scott.
FALLEN TIMBERS (AUGUST 20, 1794)-
General Wayne with some 3,000 soldiers now moved rapidly
and intrepidly into the heart of the Indian country and built Fort
Defiance at the junction of the Maumee and Auglaize rivers. He
PROCEEDINGS 851
was not far (two miles) from the frontier forts of the British,
viz., Fort Miami, northeast of Ft. Defiance, near the shore of Lake
Erie. The Indians assembled in great force and held a coimcil
of chiefs, representing some ten tribes. The Miami chief, Little
Turtle, was opposed to battle and favored peace. He argued that
with Mad Anthony Wayne in the field they were "up against
the real thing," and they had better *go slow."
The Shawnee chief. Blue Jacket, was for fight. They had
"done up" Harmar and St. Clair, and Wayne's turn had come.
The next day was fought the historic battle of Fallen Timbers.
Blue Jacket commanded the combined Indian forces. Tecumseh
led the Shawnees and fought most desperately, striving to rally
liis failing braves. A brother (Sauwaseekau) was shot by his
side. Tecumseh defied death and defeat in the front and midst
of the fray. But the Indians were facing the most alert and
vigorous enemy they had yet encountered. The same daring
tactics that carried Stony Point and made Anthony famous,
were here directed against the Indians and their Canadian allies.
Wayne won a decisive victory. His name was forever after a
terror to the savage foe. They called him the "Tornado," and
the "Whirlwind."
In this battle Tecumseh was for the first time opposed to
William Henry Harrison, one of Wayne's aides, and a young man
of only nineteen years. An immense destruction of Indian villages
and cornfields followed the victory of Wayne at Fallen Timbers.
The Indians were not only fearfully repulsed and demoralized,
but the Canadian allies were crestfallen and paralyzed.
TREATY OF GREENVILLE (l795).
Tlie Indians were now ready for a peaceful compromise. In
the winter of '94-5, a few months after Fallen Timbers, thev
agreed to meet Wayne in the summer of 1795 at Greenville, with
all their ^^achems and war chiefs and conclude a definite treaty of
peace. In Atigtist (3), 1795 (one year after Fallen Timbers),
the Greenville Treaty was signed — one of the most potent events
in our state or western history. The red men ceded to the
"thirteen fires," as they called the confederated thirteen states,
852 THE P^lREl.ANDS PIONEER
about two-thirds of tlie present state of Ohio, and guaranteed the
safety of all settlers who would respect the Indians' rights. This
peace continued so long as the memory of Wayne's victory re-
mained fresh in the minds of the savages. The tide of western
emigration v/as now renewed and the settlement of Ohio pro-
gressed without serious hindrance or detriment for some eighteen
years, until the hostile attempt of Tecumseh and his brother, the
Prophet, to stem the tide.
Tecumseh did not attend the council for the conclusion of
the Treaty of Greenville. He hated the treaty, for it had given
peace to the settlements of the whites and confirmed their title
to the land on which ne,w and powerful frontier communities were
sure to grow up.
The war ended. Tecumseh's occupation was gone and he
chafed under the restrictions of peaceful pursuits. The hunt was
tame excitement for him. It was no business. He did not care
for game, for property or gain.
Yle was not avaricioi^s and his generosity was proverbial.
The furs that lie caught, or the goods he got by exchange, he al-
ways dispensed with a bountiful hand. This was one of the
secrets of his great popularity with his people. Yet he was as
great a hunter as he was warrior. Indeed, he was pre-eminent
among his fellows. It is related that while encamped on Deer
Creek in 1795, one of his brothers and several of the other young
Shawnees made a bet with Tecumseh that they could each kill
as many deer in three f.iays as he could. Tecumseh accepted the
challenge and thev all repaired to the \voo';ls. When the three
days were up they returned with the skins of the deer to test the
wager. None of the Indians had more than twelve deer skins.
Tecumseh hart thirty. From this time he was confessed the
greatest hunter in his nation.
In tlie spring of lyqb, Tecumseh and his followers moved to
the Great Miami. The next tall they moved to the upper branches
of tile White river (or Water) where they remained during the
summer of 1797. In 1798 Tecumseh received an invitation from
the Delawares to take up his quarters with them on the White
river in Indiana. Tliis invitation was accepted, and here with
PROCEEDINGS 863
liis Sliawnet'S he rcma'ned iov several years, mostly occupied in
the peaceful hunt. During- this time, iiowever, he was gradually
extcn ling his influence among the diilerent tribes and adding to
his band of fcillowers. Tn 1709 some difficulty arose between the
red and white people on the Mad river. A council was held be-
tween the chief? of many tribes near the ])lace where l/rbana
now stands. Tecumseh was present and was the principal orator
of the occasion, making one of his great speeches, which his in-
terpreter said was ditiicult to translate because of his lofty flights
of rhetoric.
In 1803 we find Tecumseh at a gathering in the village of
Chillicothe. endeavoring to allay, by his eloquence, an uprising of
the Indians because of the wanton retaliation of the whites on ac-
count of the alleged massacre of Captain Herrod. In his speech
at this time he expresses his approval of the treaty at Greenville.
The immense tract of land between the Ohio and the Missis-
sippi rivers, now divided into many states, constituted the Old
Northern Territory. In 1803, on March [, the state of Ohio
wa.s formed out of this and the remainder was called the Indiana
Territory, of which William Henry Harrison was made governor.
In the Indiana Territory there were then but three settlements.
They were widely separate. The first was a grant of one hun-
dred and fifty thousand acres at the falls of the Ohio at the south-
em extremity of the present state of Indiana. This grant was
made to (general George Rogers Clark's successful troops. The
second settlement was the old French settlement at Vincennes
and the third the old settlement between Kaskaskia and Cahokia
on the Mississippi. Th'? whole of this vast territory then con-
tained but five thousand people.
THE PROPHET.
Tecumseh's famous brother, called "The Prophet," now for
the first time comes into notice and enters upon that wonderful
career so weird and interesting and so influential in the subse-
quent history of the Indians and of his brother Tecumseh. The
Prophet had many Tndian names, the more common one perhaps
being L,aulewasikaw, or the Loud Voice, in recognition of his
854 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
boastful and stentorian tones. In 1805 the Shawnees living at
the Tawa villages at the bead of the 7\uglaize river, invited the
various divisions of their scattered nation to meet with them and
the Prophet's shrewdness and craftiness was joined to Tecumseh's
statesmanship and eloquence, to bring about the nucleus of a con-
federacy of all the Indian nations for defensive and offensive
purposes against the whites. Tecumseh began to divulge the
purpose that he had thus far concealed of a union of the Indians
as there had been a union of the colonies. The Prophet was put
forward as the main factor in this unique scheme, using his re-
ligious influence, united to Tecumseh's political power. Supersti-
tion and religion had always been a powerful element in the Indian
nature. They have had their medicine men, their eocoricists,
miracle workers and superstition mongers. The Prophet added
to |:hese the character of a seer and a moral reformer among his
people. He was the new Mahomet that was to instigate the re-
ligious passions of his people, wdiile Tecumseh was to stir their
patriotism. The Prophet, it is said, doubtless with much truth,
got ideas from the Shakers and the Moravian missionaries ; like
Peter the Pfermit, he was a preaching prophet to arouse the
people ultimately to a great crusade against their enemies. In
November, 1805, at a great assembly at Wapakoneta, in northern
Ohio, the Prophet made a speech declaring his new vocation. He
denounced drunkenness, harangued against witchcraft, declared
that he was a medium of inspiration, that he had gone up into the
clouds and had visited the upper regions. He preached against
the Indian women intermarrying with the whites. He proposed
a community of property. He denounced the tendency of the
Indians to adopt the dress and manners of the white man. He
promised that his followers should have all the comfort and hap-
piness enjoyed by their ancestors before the advent of the fron-
tiersmen. He closed by announcing that he possessed the power,
from the Great Spirit, to confound his enemies, to cure disease
and to prolong life and prevent death, either from sickness or ex-
posure on the battlelield. He began at once to create a tremen-
dous impression and influence, not only among the people of his
own tribe, but of all the Indian tribes to which his fame extended.
PROCEEDINGS . 855
As to the sincerity and truthfulness of his behefs and practices,
we ha-i/e not time tc discuss.
In the spring of 1805 the Prophet estabhshed headquarters at
Oreenville, Ohio. Followers began to flock to him as they did to
Mahomet, or later in Ohio to Joe Smith, the first prophet of the
Mormons. Contemporaneous with the Prophet's teachings,
witchcraft began to be prevalent among the Indians to such an
alarming extent that Governor Harrison sent a long message to
the Delawares, deploring the growth of witchcraft and warning
them as to its dangerous and destructive results. Many embassies
passed between Governor Harrison and the Prophet and
Tecumseh.
In 1807 Edward Tiffin, then governor of Ohio, sent Thomas
Worthington and Duncan McArthur to Greenville to meet with
the Prophet and Tecumseh, in order to inquire what was their in-
tention in assembling so large a body of Indians within the limits
they had ceded to the United States in the treaty of 1795. Blue
Jacket was present and acted as spokesman for the Indians. He
made a lengthy and very impassioned speech, concerning the re-
lations that had existed between the English and the Americans
and both the latter and the Indians. Subsequently the four great
chiefs, Tecumseh, Blue Jacket, Round Head and Panther re-
lumed with the comm.issioners, Worthington and McxA.rthur, to
the seat of government of Ohio at Chillicothe. Here Tecumseh
was the chief speaker. He m^ade one address lasting three con-
secutive hours. It was an exhaustive review of the history of the
conflicis between the Whites and the Indians and what he claimed
to be the non-fulfillment of their treaties by the Americans.
Those who heard this speech report that the utterance of the
speaker " was rapid and vehement ; his manner bold and com-
manding; his gestures impassioned, quick and violent; his coun-
tenance showed that there was something more in his mind
struggling for utterance than he deemed it prudent to express."
Governor Tiffin was satisfied at the conclusion of this council
that there was nothing to be feared from these Indians at Green-
ville and Ft. Wayne and he accordingly disbanded the militia
which had been called into service. In the fall of 1807, another
856 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
council was heir' at Springfield, at which Tecumseh and the
Prophet were present. During their stay at vSpringfield. they
amused themselves at times with games and athletic sports in
which Tecumseh was always the leader and generally victorious.
Thev had a game something like football, in which Tecum-eh was
doubtless the dauntless fullback. Tecumseh and his brother now
established a village on the Tippecanoe, which came to be known
as the Prophet town, gathering about them great numbers of
northern Indians, and the Prophet's followers for the first time
began to combine v^-ariike sports with their religious exercises.
Tecum.seh's genius gradually asserted its ascendency over the
Prophet's gift for exciting religious fanaticism. Further negotia-
tions took place between the Prophet and Governor Harrison,
who became more and more alarmed at the progress of the Pro-
phet. In all these events Tecumseh stood in the background shift-
ing the scenes, while the Prophet seemed to be the leader, and stood
the chief actor before the footlights ; but Tecumseh's greatness
:s shown nowhere more than in his ability to conceal his purposes
and patiently abide his time. He more and more was convinced
that if he couM succeed in bringing together all the Indians so
that the southern border could be harassed at ilie same time that
the western border was being overwhelmed, the whites could
finally be subdued and brought to sue for peace and the tide of
western immigration stayed. Tecumseh was long-headed, diplo-
matic, when necessary, despotic, though not tyrannical. He had
the Italian craft, the Spanish revengefulness, the German patience.
His mind was alert and penetrative, foreseeing the probable de-
struction of the Indian tribes through the forces of white civiliza-
tion. He became not only intensely and fanatically patriotic to
his own people, the vShawnees, but to the Indian race, and inimical
not only to the American whites, but to the white race in gen-
eral. He was ambitious, probably not so much for power in itself,
as to be the defender and saviour and hero of his persecuted
people.
In the spring of the year 1808, Tecumseh and the Prophet
removed their settlement from Greenville to a tract of land
PROCEEDINGS 857
granted them by the I'ottawatamies and Kickapoos, on the Tippe-
canoe, one of the tributaries of the Wabash river. Here the
Prophet renewed his hostile plans.
IN'rKRVlICWS WI'l'II IIAHKISON.
In the winter of iSn() and 1810, the plans of Tecuniseh for
imiting the Indians in an offensive campaign began to be .sus-
pected by the L'nited States government. He was invited, with
some of h's retinue, to visit General Harrison at the governor's
official residence in X'incennes, that the chief might explain, if he
would, his apparently warlike preparations.
Tecumseh responded to the summons. He spoke in an eva-
sive manner, denying any sinister purpose and claiming that the
Indians were merely acting in self protection. At the meeting in
Vincennes in June, 1810, both parties were suspicious of the
other. The governor had several companies of armed troops at
his command while Tecumseh had two or three hundred warriors
accompanying him.
Tlie governor had intended that the conference should be
held on the portico of his own house, which was fitted up with
seats for that purpose. Here he placed himself, attended by the
judges of the Supreme Court, some officers of the army, a sergeant
with twelve soldiers from Ft. Knox and a large number of citizens.
At th*:- time appointed Tecumseh was encamped outside of the
town with forty warriors. He approached within thirtv or forty
rods and stopped. ("Governor Harrison sent an interpreter to re-
quest him and his followers to take seats on the porch. Tecumseh
refused to do this, s'-iying that he did not think it a proper place
to hold a council, that he preferred a grove of trees wdiich stood
a short distance from the house. The governor answered that
he had no obiecticn to the grove, but that there were no seats
vhere. Tecumseh replied that it would only be necessarv to bring
out chairs enough to accommodate the white men, saying "the
earth is my mother and on her bosom will I repose." The gov-
ernor yielded and chairs and benches were removed to the grove,
and Tecumseh and his warriors, according to their habit, sat
upon the grass.
S58 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
Here Tecumseh made a great speech. "The Great Spirit,"
he said, "gave this great island (America) to his red children;
he placed the v/hites on the other side of the big water. They
were not content with their own, but they came to take ours from
us. They have driven us from the sea to the lakes. We can go
no further. They have taken upon them to say that this tract
belongs to the Miamis, this to the Delawares and so on. But the
Great Spirit intended it as the common property of us all. Our
father ( President "> tells us that we have no business upon the
Wabash ; the land belongs to other tribes ; but the Great Spirit
ordered us to come here and here we will stay."
Tecumseh claimed in this speech, which was long continued,
that the Indians were as naturally one nation as the colonists were
one nation. That they had a right to come together and form
a confederacy precisely as the whites had formed a confederacy,
and that the governor had no more right to suspect the purpose
of the Indian confederacy than the Indians had to mistrust the
colonial confederacy. The discussion at last became acrimonious
and even hostile in its intensity, the Indians seizing their weapons
and the governor's party raising their guns. An outbreak was
narrowly averted. Tecumseh was followed by Wyandotte, Kick-
apoo, Pottawatomie, Ottawa and Winnebago chiefs, all saying
that the}' had joined Tecumseh's confederacy, made him their
leader and that they would stand by him. Governor Harrison
candidly told the chiefs that the President would insist upon the
allotment of the lands to the vafious tribes and that that division
would be supported, if necessary, with the sword. He hoped the
two races would not get into warfare. But Governor Harrison
said he would report Tecumseh's views to the President and do
what he could to prevent a clash. "'Well," said Tecumseh, "as
the Great Chief (that is, the President) is to determine this matter,
I hope the Great Spirit will put sense enough into his head to in-
duce him to direct you to give up this land (to us). It is true that
he is so far off that he will not be injured by the war; he may sit
in his town and drink his wine, while you and I will have to
fight it out." The governor, at the close, made one final request
of Tecumseh that in case they came to war, the chief would put
PROCEfcJDINGS 859
a Stop to the crnel and disgraceful mode of warfare which the
Indians were accustomed to wage against women and children.
Tecumseh readily agreed to this and sacredly kept his promise.
In the fall of 1810, two or three months after the last council,
the chief of the Kickapoos visited Governor Harrison and told
him of the hostile designs of Tecumseh and the Prophet. At the
same time Governor Clark, of Missouri, wrote to Harrison that
war-belts had been sent to the tribes west of the Mississippi, with
an invitation to them all to join in a war against the United States
which was to begiii with an attack upon Vincennes, the residence
of the governor. Governor Harrison made preparations for the
attack, sending a request to the government that a regiment then
stationed at Pittsburgh under Colonel Boyd immediately be sent
to Vincennes. Messages passed between the governor and Te-
cumseh as a last effort on the part of the governor to prevent
war.
Tecumseh made a final visit to Vincennes in the latter part of
July. The visit was unsuccessful and Tecumseh set off! from
Vincennes intent upon the accomplishment of his great plan.
General Harrison wrote to the War Department at Washington
at this time : "If it were not for the vicinity of the United States,
Tecumseh would perhaps be the founder of an empire that would
rival in glory that of Mexico or Peru. No difificulties deter him.
For four years he has been in constant motion. You see him to-
day on the Wabash and in a short time hear of him on the shores
of Lake Erie or Lake Michigan or on the banks of the Mississippi.
Wherever he goes he makes an impression favorable to his pur-
pose. He is now upon his last round to put a finishing stroke
to his work. I hope, however, before his return, that that part
of the work which he considered complete will be demolished and
even its foundation rooted up."
Tecumseh visited many Indian nations and made impassioned
appeals for their support. He appeared before the tribes from
the extreme south to *he extreme northwest, from the Gulf of
Mexico to the headwaters of the Mississippi. He traversed
Florida, Alabama, Missouri and Indiana, covering in a few months
a vast territory, holding councils, addressing assemblies of the
8G0 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
Indians and visiting villages and settlements. Governor Harrison
in the meantime was making every preparation for the oncoming
war. Government troops were sent to Harrison, who, in Sep-
tember, 1811, encamped on a spot on the Wabash where a battle
had formerly been fonght between the Illinois and Iroquois In-
dians. Here a fort was built called Fort Harrison. A month
later, the last of October, 181 t, the American army marched out
of Fort Harrison toward Tippecanoe.
B.ATTLE: of TIPPECANOE.
On the 5th of November, the troops encamped within a mile
and a half of the Prophet's town. This was according to their
leader, The Prophet, a place chosen for them by the Great Spirit,
like Jerusalem among the Jews, the peculiar home of their re-
ligion and their patriotism. The Prophet told them that their
fortifications around the town were impregnable to white troops,
and now the strength of their faith and their arms were to be
tested. Tecumseh was hastening on his return from the south,
but had not yet arrived. He left orders that war should be
avoided at all hazards during his absence. Just before daybreak
:n the morning the whole force of the Prophet's braves were
creeping through the grass upon the sentinels around the Amer-
ican camp (7th of November). Harrison was in full preparation.
Immediately the war-whoop sounded upon all sides and the whole
Tippecanoe force commanded by White-Loon, Stone-Eater and
Winnemac^ the Pottawatomie chief, were upon them in an in-
stant. The Prophet, in virtue of his sacred office and perhaps as
has been sugges^-ed, unwilling to test at once "the rival powders of
his '^ham prophecy and the real American bullet,'' did not take
part in the battle, but stationed himself on a small hill near at hand,
where he chanted a war song and presided like an evil genius, as
the Indians soon had reason to think, over this battle in the
darkness. He had prophesied that the American bullets would
rebound harmless from the bodies of the Indians and that the
Indians would have plenty of light, while all would be thick
darkness to the pale faces. Never were savages known to battle
more desperately. They abandoned their practice of fighting
PROCEEDINGS 8t>l
stealthily and from behind shelter. I'nder the influence of the
fierce fanaticism in which they had been steeped, they braved the
vhites in open battle rushing recklessly upon their bayonets.
The conflict lasted until shortly after daybreak when, with a last
charg-e, the troops put the Indians to flight. During the battle
Harrison rode from one side of the camp to the other disposing
of his troops and conducting them in person. The battle had
Its tragic and comic incidents. At one time Harrison saw a
French ensign in the American line standing behind a tree. He
reproached him with cowardice and told him he ought to be
ashamed to be under shelter when his men were exposed. The
Frenchman, when the batt'e was over, explained it by saying, "I
was not behind de tree. De tree was before me. Dere was de
tree ; here was my position. How can I help. I cannot move de
tree ; I cannot leave my position." That logic was as good as his
position. The loss in this battle to the Americans was fifty
killed. The total loss in killed and wounded, i88. The Indians
left thirty-eight dead upon the battlefield, which with those they
carrietl off with them, must have made the loss equal to that
on Hie American side. The Prophet's influence was broken for-
ever, and in Tecumseh's absence there was no one to rally the
defeated savages. A few days after the battle of Tippecanoe,
Tecumseh returned io find his town destroyed, his followers scat-
vered and the Prophet in disgrace. He reproached the Prophet
with great severity for disregarding his command to prevent the
outbreak of the wa'r until his return. The Prophet tried to excuse
himselt. but the enragerl Tecumseh took him by the hair and
shook liim, threatening to kill him. Tecumseh's confederacy, the
work of years of peril and difficulty, seemed crushed at the first
blow, and indeed his own immediate band was scattered and his
headquarters destroyed, but the chief had wide influence over
distant tribes. Like Napoleon he knew not defeat or discourage-
ment. He plunged once more into the effort to attain his life's
ambition. He sent a message to (Governor Harrison that he would
like to visit the President at Washington and hold a council with
him. The governor replied that he would see that Tecumseh had
an escort, and that he might go to Washington, but that no other
862 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
Indians should go with him. Tecumseh refused to go without a
retinue worth}; of his rank. This was the last of his intercourse
with Harrison.
TECUMSEH AND THE BRITISH.
Tecumseh now turned to the British to form an alliance
against the Americans. He joined the British at Maiden. The
War of 1812 was just breaking out over "the right of search."
In the month of June, 1812, war was declared. In anticipation of
this, a body of 1,200 militia had been raised in Ohio for the in-
vasion of Upper Canada. This command was given to General
Hull, an old Revolutionary soldier and governor of Michigan
Territory. He was joined at Urbana by the Fourth Regiment
which had fought with Harrison at Tippecanoe. This made Gen-
eral Hull's force about 1,800. Hull arrived at Detroit, crossed
into Canada, issued a boastful proclamation to the inhabitants
and proceeded to the capture of Maiden, delaying, however, until
Tecumseh, with a band of followers, joined the British. Hull sent
out Major Van Horn and a detachment to meet the English under
Major Brush at the river Raisin. Van Horn was surprised by
seventy Indians and forty British soldiers in ambush, led by
Tecum.seh. Van Horn retreated with great loss. This was the
first action in the War of 1812. In a later encounter of the two
forces, the English were repulsed and retreated, though the
Indians under Tecumseh held out obstinately. Tecumseh and the
British commander, Muir, were both wounded. This was known
as the battle of Brown stown, and for his services in these en-
counters, Tecumseh was made a brigadier general in the English
army.
hull's surrender (august, 1812).
Major General Brock was now in command of the British
operations at Maiden. He demanded the surrender of General
Hull. Hull refused. Brock made an attack and after a slight
repulse, Hull surrendered. The surrender of Hull (August,
1812) threw all Michigan into British hands, and laid the whole
northern part of Ohio open to British invasion. It was Hull's
PROCEEDINGS SOS
disgrace; he was court-martialed, sentenced to be shot, was re-
prieved, but he has ever since been an object of the anathemas of
historians and patriots. Colonel Hatch, on General Hull's staff,
describes Tecumseh's appearance at the time of Hull's surrender :
"He said he was five feet nine or ten inches in height, had a
noble face, a straight and handsome nose and a beautiful mouth.
His eyes were hazel, but clear and pleasant in conversation, but
like balls of fire when excited by anger or enthusiasm. His teeth
were very white and his complexion light, more brown than red."
General Harrison, who was put in command, retrieved the
defeat and disgrace of Hull, deferring, however, the further
siege of Maiden until a more opportune time.
sikge; ot? roRT meigs.
Fort Meigs was the depot of the American artillery and
military stores for the next campaign. Harrison's main object
at present was to hold this fort, opposite to which was the Eng-
lish Fort Miam.i. Tecumseh with the assistance of the Prophet,
had been collecting the Indians from the different tribes during"
the winter. In the latter part of April. 1813, the English, com-
manded by General Proctor, and the Indian allies under Tecumseh,
appeared before Fort Meigs. They erected three batteries on a
high bank on the opposite side of the river. The encounter was
disastrous to the Americans. Upon the arrival of General Green
Clay, with 1,200 Kentucky volunteers, Harrison decided to make
a sally from Fort Meigs against the enemy. Colonel Dudley was
sent out with the American soldiers to meet General Green Clay.
The English and Indian forces under Proctor and Tecumseh met
Dudlev and the American troops. The Americans were over-
powered Colonel Dudley himself fell by the tomahawk and
less than 200 out of the 800 American soldiers reached Fort Meigs
in safety. Te^cumseh fought fiercely and bravely in this battle,
though his force did not amount to more than 1.200, owing to this
encounter on the 5th of May. Proctor finally withdrew the Eng-
lish forces and abandoned the siege. On the 20th day of July,
the English, with their Indian help, 5,000 strong in all, again ap-
proached Fort Meigs, of which General Clay was now the com-
861 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
mander. The second attempt at the siege was unsuccessful, the
Engh'sh withdrawing into Canada. It is unnecessary for us to
follow the details of this war, except to follow the career of Te-
cumseh, who soon saw the futility of his union with the British.
He discovered the treachery and cowardice of Proctor, to whom
he said once: "If I ever detect you in a falsehood, I. with my
Indians, will immediately abandon you." He treated the Amer-
ican commander, Harrison, with equal contempt. At one time
during the siege of Fort Meigs, he sent a challenge to Harrison,
which ran thus : "General Harrison : I have with me 800 braves.
You have an equal number in your hiding place. Come out with
them and give me battle. You looked like a brave man when we
met at Vincennes and I respected you. but now you hide behind
logs and in the earth like a groundhog. Give me answer. Te-
cumseh."
perry's X'lCTORY.
On the TOth of September, 1813, was fought the famous
naval battle on Lake Erie between Commodore Perry and Com-
modore Barclay. It was the turning point in the war. It is
claimed that Tecumseh, from the shore, was a witness of that
battle. That is doubtful. At any rate. Proctor lied to the chief
as to the result of the battle, claiming that the British ships were
merely disabled and were changing their position that they might
more readily destroy the American vessels. Proctor found Te-
cumseh a difficult ally to handle, imperious and wilful, not easy
to subdue or control. Tecumseh grew restive and desperate as he
learned the weakness and treachery of the English, and the futil-
ity of his own people.
proctor's retreat .\ND THAMES BATTLE.
Proctor insisted upon a retreat of the British and Indian
forces. Tecumseh was indignant and the haughty chief looked
General Proctor in l:he face and called him a "miserable old
squaw." Tecumseh had hoped to obtain assistance from the
English in righting the wrongs of his people, but his contempt for
the Vv'hite people now extended beyond the American nation ; it in-
PROCEEDINGS 86^
eluded the Eng^lish race and the entire white man. The English
army began its march up the Detroit river, and on the 26th of Sep-
tember, Malflen was destroyed. Tecumseh was compelled to re-
tire with Proctor. Proctor kept promising Tecumseh from time
to time that he \\ould halt and give battle. When the chief
started upon this retreat with Proctor, he told young Blue Jacket :
''We are now going to follow the British and I feel well sure we
shall never return." Proctor and Tecumseh finally decided to
make a stand at Dalson farm, a place where an unfordable stream
falls into the Thames, for Tecumseh refused to retreat further.
The English and the Indians arranged themselves in order of
battle, ready to meet the Americans whenever they should appear.
Tecumseh made his final appeal to his Indian followers, who
dramatically stood around him while he said: "Brother warriors:
We are now aboul to enter into an engagement from which I
shall never come out. My body will remain on the battlefield."
Unbuckling his sword and handing it to one of his chiefs, he
said : "When my son becomes a noted warrior and able to wield a
sword, give this to him." He then removed his British uniform
and took his place in line clothed only in the ordinary deer skin
hunting suit. He did not wish to end his career in the garb of
the people who had so grossly failed him. Like the young Duke
of Reichstadt lie would end his life in the costume of his own
loved country, for Vhose cause he was to do and die. There are
few scenes in history more chivalric or pathetic than this of the
preparation for death of the noble, patriotic and intrepid chief.
Following the example of the illustrious Earl of Warwick at thb
battle of Barnet. Tecumseh sought the midst of the struggle and
courted death. His desire was not denied him. The fight was
soon on. The impotent English wavered. The struggle with
the Indians was more desperate. There were nine hundred Eng-
lish sokliers under Proctor and a thousand braves under Te-
cumseh. Tecumseh started the battle by giving the Shawnee war-
whoop and firing his gun. Colonel Johnson's advance American
guard w^as nearly all cut down by the first deadly fire of the In-
dians and Johnson himself was severely wounded.
866 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
The Americans were commanded by General Harrison. The
clash of battle was fierce and furious, but only for a short time,
when the war-whoops of Tecumseh, that resounded above the din
of the contest, were heard no more. That voice that had been to
his people the clarion call to arms and like the blast of Wallace's
bugle, was worth a thousand men — that voice was suddenly
hushed in death. "Tecumseh fell dead and they all ran," was the
testimony of a Pottawatomie chief. The first of the Shawnees
and the last of their leaders dressed in a simple buckskin attire
for his shroud, with no ornament but an English medal hung about
his neck, was killed by a pistol shot from a mounted soldier. He
died as only the brave and patriotic would — on the field of valor,
for his race.
•• Oh, fading honors of the dead :
Oh, high ambition lowly laid."
His spirit was wafted to the happy hunting grounds. His
stricken companions stealthily recovered his body during the
night, as it lay upon the field in the fitful light of the American
camp fires. And his sepulcher no man knoweth to this day. But
his niemory needs no monument of marble nor tablet of brass. It
is indelibly recorded on the pages of imperishable history. He
was the finest fiower of the aboriginal American race. His was
a noble and grand and inspiring character. He was hospitable,
generous, humane. Braver fighter never faced the foe. As a
warrior he had no superior among his people. For wisdom he
was unequaled. In statesmanship and diplomacy he was a match
for the ablest American. In oratory the peer of his contem-
poraries. In national loyalty he was the "noblest Roman of them
all." He ranks with Wallace and Bruce and Kossuth and
Schamyl and Bolivar and Garibaldi and the greatest of the world's
national loyalists. He devoted his life and finally gave it, to the
cause of his people — to avert the fate that threatened their exist-
ence. As Canute would becken back the waves of the sea, so Te-:
cumseb wnth a patriotism mounting to fanaticism, would revert
the resistless tide of civilization. But the brave and simple child
of the forest could not stay the course of empire as westward it
took its way. It is the decreed destiny of human progress. Te-
PROCEEDINGS 867
cumseh's tragic end marked the last struggle in the Ohio valley of
the red men against the encroachment of the pale face. He died
facing the rismg sun, whence came his enemy and conqueror.
The sod that fell upon his unmarked grave sounded the irretriev-
able defe-it of his tribe. They must take up the journey toward
the setting sun.
•*On a loiiii and distant journey
[n the glory of the sunset,
In the purple midst of evening.
To the cegions of the home-wind,
Of the Morthwest wind Keewaydin,
To the island of the Blessed :
To the Kingdom of Ponemah,
To the land of the Hereafter."
The President then said : Ladies and Gentlemen :
The eloquent, instructive and vivid word-picture which has been
given us by our polished speaker concerning this most remarkable
Indian character deserves to receive the thanks of our society to
the speaker, and I think should be ordered printed if we can secure
a copy.
Mr. Gallup : This address has been of wonderful interest
to the society ; it is in line with the programme we followed last
year. Together with the address of Judge Pennywell, upon the
''Surrender of Hull,"' and with the papers which I have secured
from tlie files of Elislia Whittlesey, it should make the next num-
ber of the ' ' Pioneer '" wonderfully interesting. This address was
very valuable, and I move that the thanks of the society be ex-
tended to the honorable Mr. Randall for this eloquent address,
and that he be reciuested to furnish a copy for publication.
The President : Will there be room for this address in the
next number of the Pioneer?
Mr. Gallup: Yes, sir, there will be.
Mr. Gallup's motion seconded and carried.
Mrs. (). M. 'Harter then favored the meeting with a vocal
solo.
riic President then said : Will the chairman of the auditing
conmiittee now make his report if he is ready to do so?
868 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
Thf Chainnan of the Committee said: Mr. President, the
auditing committee finds the reports and papers referred to it for
insj)ection to be correct.
It was moved and seconded that the report of the committee
be accepted. Carried.
trk^surkr's report.
ICpT.
Oct. 23 to balance invested $592.26
igo2.
Jan. 10, to received from Librarian 63.00
March 8, to received from Librarian 20.00
April T, to H. S. & L. dividend 15.26
June 17, to received from Librarian 33-00
June iS, to balance invested in H. S. & L. Co $723.5.2
Exam.ined and approved-—
L M. GlLLETT,
J. M. Whitox,
G. T. Stewart,
Auditing' Committee.
June 18. 1902.
librarian's report.
1901.
Oct. 2T,, to balance on hand $59.38
Oct. 23, by paid pioneer dinner $i7-5o
Nov. 4, by paid stenographer 5.00
1902.
Jan. 10, by paid Treasurer 63.00
March 8, by paid Treasurer 20.00
To Annual Members [901-2 additional i3-00
March 8. to life mem!)er fees of Chas. Graefe,
T. M. Sloane and F. H. Jones 30.00
June 18, to Pioneers sold 7.00
June 17. by paid Treasurer 3300
$138.50 $109.38
PROCEEDINGS
June i8, to Annual Members 1902-3 . .
869
3300
$138.50 $142.38
138-50
June 18, cash on hand . . .
Examined and approved-
June 18, 1902,
$3-88
C. H. Gali.up, Librarian.
I. M. GiLivETT,
J. M. Whiton,
G. T. Stewart,
Auditing: Committee.
The President then said : Now what is the further wish of
the meeting? I would like to have someone who is not a resi-
dent of Norwalk move a vote of thanks for the efforts to make this
meeting as successful as it has been.
It was moved and seconded that a vote of thanks be extended
to the Presbyterian Church Society for the use of their audience-
room, and to the ladies who furnished the music. Carried.
Mr. Gallup then moved that the society adjourn: Seconded
and carried.
MISCELLANEOUS
WHITTLESEY PAPERS
Six of the papers, found as described in The Firelands Pio-
neer, New Series, Vol. XII, p. 501, relating to the War of 1812
are here given.
The indorsement or filing on the back of each paper is in the
handwriting of Elisha Whittlesey and is here given in italics as a
heading to each one.
Those who may become interested in reading these old papers
are referred to The Pioneer, old series, June, 1858, p. 23; The
Pioneer, old series, March, 1859, pp. 3, 21 ; The Pioneer, old series,
May, 1859, p. 37; The Pioneer, old series, Sept., i860, pp. 35, 46;
The Pioneer, old series, June, 1862, pp. 41, 81 ; The Pioneer, old
series, June, 1865, P- 43- — (Editor.)
John H. Patch to IViUiam Patch, April 8th, 1858.
Copy
Respecting the Murder of Gibbs and Biiel.
"Danbury, Ohio, April 8. 181 2.
"Yesterday afternoon, as Mr. Wolcot and myself were sitting
at supper, two young women came in and alarmed us with an
account, that the Indians were on the other side of the bay com-
mitting depredations ; that they had murdered Mr. Gibbs and
another man, and that Mr. Nash had come over to give the infor-
mation. T im.mediately repaired to Mr. Bull's, where I found
almost all the men of the peninsula, collected to hear the story
from Mr. Nash, who in reality had just arrived from the other
side of the bay, vv'here he resides. It proved but too true, that
Mr. Gibbs, a near neighbor to Mr. Nash, and a man by the name
MISCELLANEOUS 871
of Biiei, a boarder with Mr. N., had been cruelly murdered. In
consequence of this affair, a general meeting of the inhabitants
of the peninsula was appointed to be held last evening at Mr.
Wolcot's to concert, upon what measures were best to be
adopted. We met, and after appointing Major Parsons for our
m.oderator. we came to the following resolutions, viz. : That a
committee of three be appointed to go over the bay to-morrow,
and ascertain as far as they can, what will be the proper mode of
defence, and also what was the cause of the murders.
"It was mentioned in the course of the meeting, by Mr. Bull,
that at the time he left home, there was a large fire appeared on
his point of land, which runs into the lake. Mr. Mix, Mr. Cox
and Air. Woolsey were appointed a committee to go and ascertain
the cause of this fire.
"They accordingly prepared themselves, each with a musquet
loaded with seven rifle balls, some buck-shot, a tomahawk and
long-knife, and set out for the place of their appointment. On
their way they met a company of twenty-five men, under the com-
mand of Capt. Russell of Huron, going to scour the peninsula in
pursuit of the Indians who had committed the murders. They
tarried here all night, and set out early this morning. They were
joined here by six young men, which made in the whole a company
of thirty-one com.pletely armed with mAtsqucts, rifles, tomahawks
and knives. They marched by platoons, seven rods distant from
each other, and have gone up to Carrying river, from thence they
are to proceed on to the Miami of the Lakes, and then return back
to this place. The company under Capt. Russel's command, has
separated into two parties, one of these under the command of
his lieutenant, had gone up the other side of the bay, had taken
some Indians, and sent them to Huron, wliere they now remain as
prisoners."
"9th— 5 o'clock P. M.
"The troops have just returned and brought with them an
Indian prisoner. Circumstances pronounce him guilty in very
strong terms. Another Indian by the name of Semo, is supposed
to be the leader in the business ; he was found by a part of the
troops ; but in consequence of not strictly obeying their orders,
872 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
ihey gave him an opportunity of making his escape, which he
effected in the following manner : When the troops arrived at the
mouth of the Carrying river, they found that Semo had gone up
the river with som.e other Indians, whereupon, they were ordered,
one-half of them to station themselves in the prairie on the
opposite side of the river, and the other half, except two men, to
remain where they were, and wait for the canoe to come down
the river again, when they were to rise upon the Indians and take
them prisoners. The two men were sent up the river to the
trading house, where they supposed Semo had gone. They found
him buying powder, thc}^ had strict orders not to fire, but, to let
Semo repair to his canoe and go down the river. On seeing these
men come in, Semo was very much agitated, telling the trader
he would not wait for his powder, but would take it another time,
and im.mediately ran towards his canoe, upon which the two
soldiers fired their guns, though not at Semo, which ?o frightened
him, that instead of getting his canoe, he took to his heels, and
before the other troops could come up, he had got completely away
from, them. The fellow they brought with them is brother of
Semo and the probability is, that both were together when the
murder was committed.
■'The men who were killed, were very respectable and much
esteemed. Mr. Buel (with whom I was well acquainted), was
found bv Mr. Nash's sons dead in the house ; he had a spear run
throiigh his neck as he lay on the floor, his head was all beat in,
and his backbone cut in two so far that his kidneys lay open.
Gibbs was found about twenty rods from the house. It appears
from circumstances, that he was out of doors while the Indians
were murdering Buel, and as he entered the door, they struck
him in the face with some kind of weapon which cut him very
badly, upon which, he sat out and ran towards his brother's house.
After he had got about twenty rods, it appears there was some
other Indians in ambush, who fired upon him and shot him through
the body, after which they came up with him and cut him to
pieces. A spear or lance was found in his head, which Mr. R.
(a blacksmith) says he will swear is the one that he made last fall
for Semo ; he made one of a similar kind for the Indian whom we
MISCELLANEOUS 873
now have here, it was found with him, and these, together with
other circumstances, reduce it ahiiost to a certainty that he was
one of the men.
"We have ihis day had another meeting', and sent on a peti-
tion to the secretary of war, either to cause some regular troops
to be sent here, or else to accept of a regiment of volunteers for the
purpose of gua'-ding the north and south shores of Sanduskv bay.
"We do not consider the abcn-e murders as an act of war from
the Indians, cv at least we hope not. Conjecture savs, that it
originated from^ some old quarrel which had happened between
Semo and Mr. Buel. Tt is much to be feared, however, that the
British agents at Fort Maiden are using their influence to set the
Indians at v.-ar with the inhabitants of this part of the state of
Ohio.
"ioth.--We are at present in no more feai" of Indians, than
we were before the late afi'air happened."
Hugh Beard's Statement.
HUGH BAIRD's STATKMKNT .!UNE 30, 1858.
Captain Doud's company arrived in May at the muster to
go into the service as a company, if any call should be made.
The news of Hull's surrender was received at Canfield by express
from Cleveland on the morning of the 21st of August. Genl.
Wadsv/orth immediately notified Captain Doud's company to pre-
pare for to march the next morning. The full company was on
parade accordingly. Gen. Wadsworth and his aide-de-camp,
Major Elisha Whittlesey, with Captain Doud and company left
Canfield about 10 o'clock, A. M. sabbath day for Cleveland. The
report was that the British and Indians were coming down the
lake in great force. The Mahoning was approached at Vannet-
ten's and was high and could not be crossed ; marched down to op-
posite Price's mill ; got a pilot and crossed the river ; rested a few
moments, and proceeded on the town line to Campbell's, arrived
vhere betv.^een o and to o'clock P. M. : a rain detained the corps
about two hours, proceeded on and crossed the Cuyahoga river
at Upper bridge in the direction of Huron called Haymaker's
bridge just at daylight, and reached Huron Basortt's in Hudson
«74 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
at about 6 o'clock; halted a short time to refresh men and beast,
and resumed the march ; at or near Tinker's creek we met some
of the prisoners released on parole and learned for the first time
that the boats that came down the lake were loaded with the
American prisoners and not with the British and Indians as had
been supposed. The man who gave us this information was John
vStouton, known to Hugh Baird, from Urbana, Ohio; arrived at
Cleveland on the 23rd about 4 o'clock, P. M. Captain Murray
and company were on guard. C)n the 24th, Col. Cass arrived.
Samuel Huntington was at Cleveland and on the 25th, Col. Cass
and Mr. Huntington set off for Washington bearing a letter to the
secretary of war from Gen. Wadsworth. The first position taken,
was at Cleveland village, but after a considerable force collected,
Gen. Wadsworth encamped back of the village on the road to
Newburg. Col. Hays on the crossed the Cuyahoga river to
march to Huron river by the lake road. After some days Gen.
Wads'.vorth ordered Major Whittlesey with a guard consisting of
Hugh Baird, Comfort S. Mygatt and Comfort Starr to visit the
command of Col. Hays, and to report their position. They found
them on the lake shore and reported their position was one of
peril. The troops were soon ordered to encamp on the Huron a
few miles from its mouth, and the ground was designated Camp
Avery, as the location was in the town of Avery. Gen. Wads-
worth marched from his camp at Cleveland to the Old Portage on
the Cuyahoga and from thence in September he sent a message at
Delaware by Hugh Baird a member of Captain Doud's company.
After his return to camp Mr. Baird conveyed an order from Gen.
Wadsworth to Gen. Bealle who was on the Black Fork of the
Mohican or near to it and was cutting a road in the direction of
Lower Sandusky. The order was to march his command to the
Huron. Gen. Bealle put Mr. Baird under guard and after about
tv.'O hours Col. Hindman and Col. Andrews released him. Gen.
Bealle was afterwards arrested by orders from Gen. Wadsworth.
The last of October or first of Novem.ber Gen. Wadsworth sent
Lieut. Church with an escort of twelve men, of whom Hugh
Baird v.'as one, for Gen. Harrison at Delaware and he returned to
•camp with the escort.
MISCELLANEOUS 875
THE BATTLE OF THE PENINSULA.
Mr. Baird with eighteen men rank and file under Captain
Warren Bissel left Camp Avery after the battle of the Peninsula,
to go to the Peninsula to relieve Captain Cotton and so many of
the men as were In the house that had been occupied by Captain
Cotton and the men that had taken possession of it, and had de-
fended tl:emselves against the Indians. The party went down on
land to the mouth of the Huron, took boats at the mouth of the
Huron and reached the m^outh of the bay at the break of day and
pushed up to the Peninsida near Bull's Orchard : landed ; left one
man with the boats, and marched for the house. The inmates
saw the party and both shouted. Those within the house came
out. Captain Cotton and fourteen persons were relieved. All of
them went in the boats to Cedar Point, where those who were
the most fresh walked down the beach to the mouth of Huron
and all v/ent to camp about 2 o'clock P. M. Mr. Baird saw
Joshua R. Giddings in camp before Captain Bissel and party
started for the Peninsula and did not go with them. Understood
by Mr. Baird by conversation with Mr. Giddings with whom he
was well acquainted in camp, that he was one who had been left
bv Captain Cotton to guard the boats when he left to march to
the two harbors or the opposite side of the Peninsula. The week
following, and Mr. Baird thinks on Wednesday, about thirty per-
sons started from camp to go onto the Peninsula to bury the dead,
v/ho were killed in battle. At the mouth of Huron they took
some boats that had brought salt from Bufitalo. They found six
bodies in a state of high decomposition. The last body found
was a few miles from, the bay shore. The bodies were too putrid
to handle. The party had no tools to dig holes and the bodies
were as well protected by logs as they could be and left in that
condition. Mr. Giddings was not of this party.
MATTHEW GUY.
Matthew Guy was in Captain Cotton's company from Austin-
town and was in Cleveland when Col. Hays sent down about the
first of September for provisions. The provisions being fur-
nished, Mr. Guy wa.s one who volunteered to go with the boats
876 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
lo the mouth of Huron. Having discharged that duty, the officer
of the boats asked the men to vokinteer and go to Bull's Island
for some wheat. When the boats were loaded and the men went
onto the Peninsula to get some apples, and as Mr. Guy was walk-
ing in the path to the orchard, a Frenchman who was associated
with the Indians shot and scalped him.
THK P'RENCHMAM WHO SHOT MATTHIjW GUY.
In the month of November vessels were seen laying off the
mouth of Sandusky bay. A party was ordered to reconnoiter^
Major Messer, of the infantry, and Captain Doud, of the dra-
goons, were of the number. The party was about half way from
Huron to San(]usky bay when the vessels hoisted sail and put up
the lake, and as the party reached Cedar Point the vessels were
turning the point of Cunningham's Island. Five boats were dis-
covered near the shore of the bay opposite to Bull's Orchard^
wliich were seized, and being examined they were found to con-
tain beef, pork and apples. The British had killed the cattle and
hogs they found on the Peninsula and inasmuch as the vessels
might not be safe in the bay, the boats were to take their loading
out to the vessels. The beef, pork and apples were taken to camp
and used by the troops under the comm.and of Gen. Perkins.
When the boats had been seized, the men went to the orchard to
look for apples to eat and in a hay-stack they found a Frenchman
tomahawked and scalped. He was still alive and was conveyed
to the mouth of Huron where he confessed he killed Mr. Guy.
Dr. Manning trepanned him, but he died. The Frenchman had
lived on Cunningham's Island ; had been intimate with the Indians^
but on securing the property in the boats a difficulty arose and
the Indians inflicted the wounds mentioned.
POMEROY.
A man came to Cleveland and wanted to raise a company of
rangers to serve on the frontier. He enlisted several, and Mr.
Baird said he knew as high as fifteen, but getting drunk he dis-
closed his plan to be to deliver them, to the British. This being
known, he fled. In November, Mr. Baird and Jacob Dustman
MISCELLANEOUS 877
were at Lower Sanduslcy and went, to the Whitaker place to get
some turnips, and when getting into the patch, they discovered
the head of a man, the body having been ate up by the hogs-
They brought the head to camp, and Adjutant Macken directed
it to lie on a boat turned bottom upwards and placed a guard over
it. Captain Murray saw it and said it was the head of Pomeroy
he thought, and to know with certainty he said if it was there was
a full set of tee^h except one, which he drew at Cleveland. An ex-
am.ination discovered only one tooth missing. The next day Mr.
Whitaker and Mr. Geer came to camp and said it was the head
of Pomeroy, that the vhree were sitting together about a week
before and were fired upon by Tndian.s and Pomeroy was shot. ,
The body had been slightly buried and wild animals or hogs had
exhum.ed it.
JOHN WII^SON.
John Wilson was a son-in-law of Whitaker and was with the
Indians at the battle with Gen. Wayne in 1794 at the Miami of
Lake Erie. When at Lower Sandusky in November Mr. Baird
and Comfort Starr found a trunk near the house occupied formerly
by Wilson partly buried in the ground. On raising and opening
!t, old papers were discovered to be its contents. On reading
them, copies of letters were found and other papers which showed
that Wilson was in correspondence with the British before the
battle of the Fallen Tim.bers, and stated that the Indians must be
provided with provisions, arms and ammunition or they would
not remain. It was also shown that the supplies were furinshed.
Mr. Baird says that the officers in camp at lyOwer Sandusky
thought the papers of great importance, as they showed the
British did furnish the Indians, which they had denied. The
trunk was delivered to Gen. Perkins to send the papers to Wash-
ington.
The foregoing "statement" is correctly copied from the orig-
^inal paper which is in the handwriting" of Elisha Whittlesey.
C. H. Gallup.
878 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
Military Papers.
Captain Joshua T. Cotton, Dec. 22, i8^y.
Reply to mine of the 4th, i8^y, giving an account of his ex-
pedition to the Peninsula in 1812.
OssiAN, Dec. 22, 1857.
Mr. Elisha Whittlesey:
Dear vSir — In answer to your communication I would say
first to question first :
Q. I. I have not the roll as my brother John was first ser-
geant and he by the law of war was holder, and I expect he has
lost it in consequence of the lapse of time.
Q. 2. My company was composed of different regiments,
volunteered from all parts of the camp.
O. 3. John vShannon, major, was commander at the time in
consequence of a disease of Col. Hage, which made him incompe-
tent to act.
O. 4. The object of the expedition was that the spies
brought in word that there were forty-seven Indians at Ramsdell's
house. Maj. Shannon ordered all us captains to meet at his tent..
We met. The question was asked who would volunteer as com-
mander to rout the wily foe. All appeared fearful. I, though
young, exclaimed, I will go.
O. 5. The boats used in the expedition were four.
Q. 6. The boats lay at Cedar Point and we had to walk all
the way there. We landed at what we called the "French
Orchard.'' Ycu called it the Bull's Orchard. We intended by
the spies' word to be there before daylight to surprise the Indians,
but it was clear day before we arrived.
Q. 7. T detached three to each boat and gave a man by
the name of Coffin the command of the whole, and he was to go-
out in the rushes and there guard the same until I returned \vith
my Hag on my bayonet.
O. 8. I did not know Joshua Giddings at that time, nor do-
I know whether he was in my company.
Q. 9. Three to each boat.
MISCELLANEOUS 87&
Q. 10. We had been to Ramsdell's and to the two harbors
both, and at the time I granted Ramsdell ten men to put on the top
on his wheat stacks with the orders to follow me directly, as my
pilot took me a new route and after we had traveled a half a mile,
we heard the news by the noise of deadly weapons that our few
were attacked by the foe. Therefore we went to their relief and
drove the enemy off the ground. In the encounter there were
three killed, which were buried under logs, and three wounded,
which we brought with us.
Q. II. In connection with the above engagement was one
bloody tragedy which took place in sight of Sandusky bay, right
opposite Bull's Island, where in ambush they lay in thickest spice
brush.
Q. 12. Six killed and eight wounded.
O. 13. As stated, three were buried under logs, in the first
battle. Two were buried under the same, in the last battle. One
was brought to the house by his brother. He might have been
recovered. I do not know.
Q. 14. Yes they were, and all lived.
Q. 15. About sundown when the last battle was fought and
half a mile Avest of Bull's Orchard.
O. 16. As stated above, I left three men to guard the boats.
They left their post contrary to my orders and went into the or-
chard, was surprised by the Indians and double manned the two
boats and made good their retreat, leaving the other two, which
were scuttled, and they were found down at the mouth of the
bay.
No, our beats were good.
We stayed in a log house and defended ourselves.
We were not attacked but as above described.
None of our men were killed during the night.
In fifteen minutes after we went into the house.
By a boat sent to^ our relief.
I commanded myself and party after my relief.
The 28th of September the expedition comm.enced,
the battles were fought on the 29th. We were sixty hours in the
house above described with the foe around us and nothing- but
Q-
17-
Q-
18.
Q-
19.
Q-
20.
Q-
21.
Q-
22.
Q-
23-
0.
24.
880 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
parched corn to eat. And on the ever memorable first of October
\ve returned to camp, leaving the bodies of six of our braves to
tell the horrors of that dread day.
Mr. Whittlesey — Old friend and acquaintance :
I have w^rote you an answer to the best of my recollection,
and if it will be pleasing to you I v\'ill give you a history of the
battle from first to last.
This from your friend,
Joshua T. Cottons
Military.
Captain Joshua T. Cotton's Statement of the Battle on the Pen-
insula of Sandusky Bay, September, 1812.
Communication of J. T. Cotton, published in Chronicle of
Feb. 25, 1846,
Mr. A. W. Parker :
Dear Sir — In your paper of January 22, 1845, appeared a
letter from Hon. J. R. Giddings, giving his recollections of "Skir-
mishes in the Peninsula in t8i2," in which communication there
are some inaccuracies and errors, which may readily be accounted
for by the early age of Mr. G. (16 years) and the private capacity
in which he acted. Having had the principal command of that
expedition, I presume no one was better acquainted with the
whole history of those skirmishes than myself ; and the corrections
which I now propose to m.ake are from the recollections and im-
pressions as fresh and indelible in my mind as they can be in that
of any other. By giving the following a place in your paper, you
will oblige your friend,
Joshua T. Cotton.
On the evening of the 28th of September, 1812, a rumor
came into our camp, called Camp Avery on Huron river, inform-
ing us that our spies had discovered forty-seven Indians at Rams-
dell's house on the Peninsula ; and that our spies, eleven in
number, and eleven boatmen, were waiting at Cedar Point, at the
MISCELLANEOUS 881
entrance of Sandu.sky ba\-, for assistance from the camp, to surprise
tiiem during- tiie night. I vohmteered, with about sixty men
under my command ; but it was nearly 9 o'clock at night before
we could get ready to march. The night being very dark, our
march was necessarily slow, and when we reached the mouth of
Tiuron river the boat in which we were to cross had to be unloaded
before we could use it. As we had started without provisions,
bread was baked and sent after us. It came to hand just as we
crossed the river. After dividing it by guess in the dark, we
marched nastily up the beach ten miles to Cedar Point, where we
found the .spie.^: and boatmen waiting for us. There were here
three boats, but all had to be unloaded. Tn these we crossed the
bay, about three m.iles wide, and landed at sunrise. I formed my
men in single file. A part having muskets and part rifles. I placed
the muskets in the center and the rifles on each flank. Three men
were left in each boat, and the command given to Corporal Coffin,
with a chr-irge to put out into the rushes and lie concealed until we
would return. We were told by our pilot that it was four miles
to Ramsdell's houFe, but we found it not less than seven or eight.
On our arrival we found a cornfield east of the house. We en-
tered it, each man taking a row, the flanks being in advance oi the
center, we marched in shape of a half moon, and so encircled the
house, but found no enemy there. We then went toward what is
called the "Four Bays;" and at a place where Col. Edwards had
stored his wheat, we found potatoes in a fire and a piece of fresh
pork (not beef as Mr. G. states), lying beside it, and an Indian
hat. We went further and climbed trees, but seeing no Indians
we returned to Rimsdeil's house. Having left our knapsacks in
the boats with the expectation of returning soon, and my men now
being trred, hungry and thirsty, begged of me to disband them for
a short time to Inmt some melons. This I granted them. Finding
but few here, we were toM there was a field at a short distance
and tov^ards camp, where there were plenty. We then formed for
march. Ramsdell being- with us, asked for ten men to put the tops
on his wheat stacks, which had been thrown off by the Indians.
I granted it, with orders to follow as soon as done. We went to
the field, got a few melons, and then took up the line of march.
882 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
I sent a man to tell Ramsdell that we were going a new path to
intersect the one we came at a short distance, and for him to follow
us ; but he took the old trail and fell in with a small party of
Indians. We, hearing the guns, ran to them and drove the In-
dians off. I then tried to form my men into rank, but this they
refused to do ; but said if I would go to the edge of a prairie,
they would form. I went there, formed them, and then had the
dead buried under logs, there being three killed — Bill Blackman
and Ramsdell's son. (The third, according to Mr. Giddings, was
James S. Bills.) We then commenced our march again with a
front and rear guard, and also one on each side. A man was
placed on each side of the wounded, who could not go without
help. Scon afterwards an Indian shot at our front guard, and he
returned ^he fire : and Vvdien we got into a high prairie, we overtook
four or five of our m^en who had run on ahead. They said they
had seen some Indians ahead. We then formed in lines six feet
apart and when we got out of the prairie into open woods, we
saw eleven Indians running into a thicket. We followed them,
arud when within fifty steps of a large lying tree, the Indians ( 130,
as we afterwards learned) fired from behind it, but wounded only
one man. We rushed upon them, returning fire and giving them
their own play for it in broken order. Whenever 1 ordered a
charge bavonet they would run. In this way the contest con-
tinued some time ; when the Indians outflanked us to the right,
I ordered my men to incline to the right. About this time I was
told that twenty or twenty-five men were standing back at a
fence and not fighting. I ordered Lieut. Rainey to go and bring
them up. He said I had better go myself. I then told Sergeant
Alyers to go ; he refused and said I should go. I encouraged my
men to fight on whilst I would be gone. I ran to them and
begged of them to come up and fight, and told them my appre-
hensions that our boats were cut up ; they still refused. I added
that if they did not I would return them if ever we got into camp.
They said I could not as I did not know their names ; and neither
did I. Then running back toward the battle ground, I met the
largest p?.rt of my men retreating. I begged of them to halt
and try it awhile longer, but they ran on past me. A few still
MISCELLANEOUS 883
held their ground and continued their fire. To save them, I or-
dered a retreat, which they oheyed. We ran to an old cabin
house and I ordered all into it, but about one-half followed my
first sergeant on to th.e bay. In this action there were three
killed ; Mason, our pilot, Simons and Minger. In both actions
eight were wounded.
The party that ran on found two boats sunk with holes cut in
them. The other two had gone down to the mouth of the bay, as
we afterwards learned. The men in charge of the boats had
stayed ?o long at the orchard where we landed, until the Indians
got so close, unobserved, that they narrowly escaped with two
of the boats. The party with the first sergeant ran on to the
mouth of the bay, having with them a wounded man by the name
of Lee, whom Sergeant Rice carried part of the way till his
strength failed, and when he put him down, James White, now
of Wea^hersfield, took him up and carried him the rest of the dis-
tance. At the mouth of the bay they found the boats and crossed
to Cedar Point about dusk. After shoving off in boats, they
lookei-l back and savv- the beach covered with people, whom my
brothc, Jolm Cotton, and some others supposed to be those of
us who had entered the house — but they proved to be Indians.
We who entered the house exchanged a few rounds with the
enemy, which prevented them from seeing those who ran to the
boats. We went into the house on the 29th of September, and
there stayed wii-hout provisions until the morning of October 2,
when we were relieved. On the first of October we sent two
runne'"s to the bay in search of means to cross. After much
search, they found a canoe in which they went down the bay and
met a boat coming to relieve us, and in which we crossed on the
morning of October 2. Minger, who was killed, had been brought
into an old house by his brother at the time of our retreat ; and the
next day we had him buried under the floor. Clayson and Simons
lay in the woods until relief came, and were then buried under
logs. We found them both scalped ; Simon's right arm was cut
nearly oft' below the elbow, and a knife was sticking in his back
fnot breast as Mr. G. states). After peace was declared, I was
884 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
told by one of n:y soldiers, wlio had it from the Indian chief at
Detroit, tliat we had killed forty Indians in the two engagements.
The above is an acctirate statement of the most material facts
as nearly as mv memory wmII serve.
J. T. C.
(This statement was written by Charles Whittlesey, Esq., of
Hartford, Connectictit, and sent to me with his letter of Decem-
ber 10, 1857. See it on file.--Elisha Whittlesey.)
Military Papers.
James Rflflf's Sfafcjiicnf of the Baffle on the Peninsula in 1812.
In the year 1812, I think ( as we lived on pumpkins and
watermelons in part during- the events herein stated ) , it was in
the month of September, I went out in one of two companies of
volunteers, v/hich left Camp Huron \^'hich was then garrisoned by
parts of one or two regiments under Gen. Perkins, to go to Fort
Sandusky, latterly Fort Croghan, to get some salt which some-
how or other had been left there. One company under Capt.
Dulls went up by land, and the other under Capt. Alurray went
by water. Having obtained the salt and taken also some invalids,
we em.barked the next day for Camp Huron. We stopped the
first night on our return at some islands near the mouth of the
Sandusky river. The next morning about two or three o'clock
we started again and went along to Bulls Island near the mouth
of Sandtisky bay, where we stopped, not far from dawn of day.
In the course of two or three hours, we saw a skifif coming from
the peninsula 10 the island where we were, with some three men
in it, who proved upon landing to be Mr. Ramsdell and son, Mr.
Allen and Mr. Lee. They said there were Indians over there
committing depredations u])on them, killing their hogs, destroy-
ing their crop=, etc., and wanted us to go over and help them drive
them ofif. Wc made ail due inquiry about the matter and finally
despatched a niessenger to Camp Huron for reinforcements, and
at eve crossed the bay and bivouacked on the beach near the site of
Sandusky. About midnight Sercreant Flamilton. \yho had met
MISCELLANEOUS 885
our messeng^er to Ihe camp, came in with about twelve or fourteen
men, and about dawn Capt. Cotton who had been sent out by Col.
Hayes from the camp, joined us with about sixty men, making
the additions about seventy-five men. We had some pork and
perhaps some b^ead but were on rather short allowance. We went
across the bay to "Bulls Orchard" so-called and marched for
Ramsdell's farm across the peninsula to a place on the lakeside
called "Two Harbors" for some w'heat, which Mr. Edwards had
brought from Pudding Island and had stacked there. When we
got over, we found no Indians but found traces of them, such as
burning fires, remains of hogs, meat scattered around and the
wheat gone. We then turned back to Ramsdell's house.
Thence we parted, the greater part going around to the right
skirting the woods, while about fifteen, among whom I was,
took our way through the woods. We had not got into the
woods more than forty or fifty rods when there was a cry of
Indians and a fire commenced. This brought the two parties to-
gether who, very shortly, after forming a connection and a line,
drove the Indians before them. In this skirmish w^e had three
men killed and four or five wounded. The dead we buried or
covered with logs, etc., as we could, and we started along
carrying the v.^ounded. When we got within a mile or so
of the boats we had left (which consisted of three lake boats or
barges and one skifif and in each of which boats we had left two
men, among whom w^as Hon. Joshua R. Giddings as I am in-
formed) there was another cry of Indians and we immediately had
another fight. In the first of it we had the better of it, and drove
them hard, but they afterwards recovered and drove us and we
van from the field. Some thirty of us took refuge in a cabin and
the rest took to the boats. In this engagement we had three
killed and five — six — seven wounded. These Indians we had
to do with, came down the bay and as the men in the boats saw
Uiem coming, being no match for them, they all got into one of
ihe barges and leaving the others went very providentially down
to the mouth of the bay and there stopped and waited to learn the
result. The Indians scuttled all the boats that had been deserted
by those left in charge, which those retreating found out when
886 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
they came to the boats. The\' then went around about two or
three miles, found this single boat which had gone down to the
mouth of the bay. all got into it and went over to Camp Huron.
Those in the cabin stayed there two nights and one day. when a
boat brought up from Black river b}' ^tcssrs. Perry and Read, two
old sertlers, came and took us off and carried us to Camp Huron.
I have no idea of the nuraber of Indians killed, only one scalp
was brought in, though we saw bloody trails where bodies had
evidently been drawn along the ground ; nor have T any idea of
the number of Indians in the fights. In the first one they were
apparently less *hen we, but in the last., had probably not far from
our own number. I soon after left on a fnrlougfh.
Military.
Captain Joshua T. Cotton,
(without date)
It zvas zvritten the fore part of the year i8j8. He gives an ac-
cottnt of the Battle on the Peninsula in September, 1812.
While in Camp Avery, there were eleven spies sent out on the
28th of September. One returned and said there were forty-seven
Indians at Ramsdell's house. Maj. John Shannon, being com-
mandant of the camp, wanted a volunteer company to go and sur-
prise them before day the next morning. I volunteered to go
:-md about sixty men out of all the companies there were in camp.
We did not get ready before dark. A man by the name of Mason
was our pilot. We did not arrive at Cedar Point but a little be-
fore day. There we met the spies and boatmen with four boats.
The boats being loaded, we had to wait for them to be unloaded
which detained us some time. By the time we landed the sun
was up. I then formed m.y men in single file, the muskets in the
center and the rifles on each flank. I left three men to each boat
under command of a m.an by the name of Coffin with orders to
go in the rushes (thev were higher than a man's head above the
water) till we came back. Our pilot told us that it was but four
miles to Ramsdell's house. We left our knapsacks in the boat
MISCELLANEOUS 887
SO thai we wonld be more free if we should get into brush. We
then marched on till we came in sight of the house. There being
a cornfield on the east side, I formed my men a man to each,
causing the flanks to project forward so as to form a half moon,
50 as to surround the house before the Indians could escape if
they were there ; but they were not. We then marched towards
"the Four Bays" so called. We could see no Indians, but where
Colonel Edv/ards' wheat was there were potatoes in a fire, a piece
of a hog and an Indian hat. We then marched back to Ramsdell's
house, our men being dry and hungry, it being eight miles instead
of four. There y/ere plenty of melons. Then I disbanded them
for a little while. At the time I was forming line. Ramsdell asked
the fayor of ten men to top out his wheat stacks, as the Indians
had thrown them ofif. I granted it, but gaye him orders to follow
us as the pilot was going to take another path to intercept the
one we came on a mile or two ahead, but Ramsdell instead of
obeying my orders took the old trail. We went where a small
party of Indians lay in ambush. We heard the firing and ran to
their relief. In that skirmish there were three killed and three
or four wounded. I tried to form the line, but I could not do it,
part of m_y men were so scared, but by taking them to a prairie a
little posse of two got them in line, all but one man who stuck to
a tree till I had to prick him with my bayonet. I then ordered
some men to bury the dead under logs and bring off the wounded.
We then went on, carrying our woundtd with us. I then placed
■\ guard before and behind and on each side. Our front guard
v/as shot at on our march. When we came to an open prairie we
found a few of our men who had gone ahead. They said they saw
Indians ahead. They were lying flat in the grass. I then formed
my men in line six feet apart. We then marched on till we came
to a piece of woods between us and two houses. There we saw
eleyen Indians filing off into a black walnut bottom, thick spice
wood brush. Wc followed them, and when we came within about
fifty or seyenty-fiye steps of a yery large fallen tree, there lay
130 Indians, as we heard afterwards. They then fired upon us
and we at them. Soon I ordered my men to take Indian play.
We followed them, btit the brush was so thick that we would get
888 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
Stalled sometimes, then I would order my men to bayonet. That
would rout them. We would shoot them as they ran and so went
on, till it seemed to me there were some of my men back of a fence
next to the houses, not fighting'. I ordered a sergeant to go bring
them on. He said they would not mind him. 1 told Leiut. Rainy
to go. He said the same and that I had better go. T told him if
1 went they would all break up and retreat. He said he Vvould
keep them to it. I went. There were about twenty-five men all
standing with their guns in their arms. I coaxed and threatened,
but all to no purpose. They thought I would not know them
when we got to camp. I then started back, but before T got half
way to where they were fighting, the biggest part were running.
I tried to turn and rally again, bu*^ they ran pasr me. There were
about eight or ten of my best men fighting yet, they did not know
that any of my men had retreated, the brush was so thick. T then
ran to them and ordered a retreat, and we all ran to the largest
house and all into the house, but my John, being first sergeant,
saying that they would set fire to the house, ran on for the boats
and half of the men went w-ith him. The rest of us went into
the house. Wlien John and his party got to the boats, they found
only two and those scuttled and sunk. The boatmen, instead of
obeying ray orders, stayed in the orchard eating apples till the In-
dians got so close to them in their canoes that they had to double-
man tv/o boats and go down to the point of the bay where "John"
and his men found them and got across. But the Indians were so
close to them when they got the last boat over they saw the shore
black with them. When w-e went into the house, we fastened the
door and windows with, the punching on the floor. The Indians
fired at the house awhile. We returned the fire. I am pretty
sure I dropped one, for I saw him fall. We stayed there that
night. The next day I sent two men to see if they could get a
craft to take us across the bay. They were a little cowardly and
came back without finding any. The next da}- I sent two more.
They found a canoe and crossed and met a boat with twenty-five
men coming to relieve us the next morning, making three nights
and two days we were at the house with nothing to eat except
parched corn and roasted pumpkin.
MISCELLANEOUS 889
Yoli wish to kno\v whether Giddings was with me or not.
T do not recoiled such a name on the roll, as I never called the
roll b'.it once and that was when we started from camp. I did
write the history of the battle and pnt it in the Chronicle. My
reason for so doing was to refute some statements that Giddings
made against my conduct which clash with the statement I have
made of the battle. I am willing; to be sworn. So I have been
particular in writmg everything. You can make such use as you
please of it.
John T. Cotton.
(I should have written before but T was not well. I am
getting old and T cannot v/rite plain, but may be you can read it.)
PRESIDENT SLOANES ADDRESS ON LAFAYETTE
Our president, Hon. Rush R. Sloan e, is also vice president,
and has been fcr a number of years, of the "Western Reserve So-
ciety," of the Sons of the American Revolution. This society
celebrates the 22nd of February with an annual banquet at Cleve-
land, Ohio, which is the home of the organization. In 1897 i^ was
celebrated at the Hollenden Hotel, m that city. A large con-
course was present at the bancjuet and following the address of
the evening's honored guest, Mr. Wu Ting-Fang, Envov Ex-
traordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of China to the United
States, Judge Sloanc delivered a most interesting address upon
''The Marquis de LaFayette'' which we take great pleasure in
placing before our readers.
Mr. President, Ladies, Gentlemen, Compatriots :
Sacred and solemn is this annual houi',
Our mingling spirits bow beneath its power —
The pi-esent fades, the mighty past returns,
Rolls back time's muffling shades and glows and burns,
The good, the great, the gloinous live once more,
The moss-grown toiubs their buried dead restore,
While memory, the Elijah of the soul,
Breathes o'er the forms that spurn the graves control,
Wakes them to new vitality — and sheds
890 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
Prophetic splendors ' round their honored heads.
They come, they come, a long- and shadowy band —
The Heroes, Sages, Fathers of our land.
From Vernon's mount, Columbia's holiest shrine.
From Bunker's Hill, through battle's gory line,
B'rom Monticello's heaven up-lifted brow,
Where ere our mountains rise our rivers flow,
They come in all the grandeur of the past
And on our souls their spirit glances cast.
On this- birthday of Washington how appropriate to speak of
his ilkrstrious compatriot Gilbert Mottier Lafayette, who was born
September 6, 1757, the inheritor of a princely fortune, and a mar-
quis of noble ancestry.
At eleven years of age he entered college at Paris. Here the
lovely but ill-fated Antoinette, queen of France, took him under
her patronage, and when very young he became an officer in the
King's Guards.
He married the Countess de Noilles, a lady of high rank at
the court of France. But Lafayette soon wearied of this life, was
bored by light talk and could not dance a minuet, and withdrew to
his regiment at Strassburg. He had expressed views unfavor-
able to monarchical and in favor of a constitutional government.
Jle was opposed to slavery and believed with the American col-
onies, "that all governments derive their just powers from the con-
sent of the governed."
He believed in civil liberty and it became his ruling thought.
He liad watched tlie struggle between Great Britain and her op-
pressed subjects and resolved to make any sacrifice in their behalf.
His wife gave him her heroic sympathy, notwithstanding her
youth and her infant babe. She wished for the good of the world
and felt that he would accomplish it. This ardour in the cause
of liberty did not desert them in after years. Lafayette was in-
fluenced and controlled by two passions, the one for his wife, the
other for freedom.
What fidelity to his love of liberty and what sincere convic-
tions did he evince in espousing the cause of the colonies at a time
when their situation was one of overwhelming gloom. For it was
when Washington, defeated on Long Island, was retreating
MISCELLANEOUS 891
through New Jersey v/ith a handful of ragged soldiers before
Howe's victorious and well equipped army, and so desperate was
the condition that Doctor Franklin felt bound in conscience and
honor to try to dissuade the noble youth from such an unpromis-
ing enterprise.
The answer to this candid advice shows the spirit of his whole
life. "Hitherto," said Lafayette, "1 have done no more than
wish success to your cause, T now^ go to serve it. The more it
has fallen in public opinion, the greater will be the effect of my
departure. Since you cannot procure a vessel. I will purchase and
fit out one at my own expense."
Unfortunately the project became known and the King for-
bade him to go. His zeal knew no restraint and quitting Paris
in secret he eluded pursuit and was soon on his way in a winter's
passage beset with British cruisers, to the colonies. The King's
course incited much enthusiasm for Lafayette and promoted the
early acknowledgment by France of American independence.
LTpon his arrival at Philadelphia, Lafayette presented himself
before congress. "I am come," said he, "to request two favors
of this body. One is that I may serve in your army, the other that
T receive no pay."
FTe was taken at once by Washington into his family and con-
gress gave him a commission as major general. Learning of the
desperate straits of the army he gave sixty thousand francs to
procure much needed supplies and the delighted Washington em-
braced him with tears of ioy.
He immediately entered the service and at the battle of
Brandywine gave evidence of his bravery and military ability.
He was severely wounded in this bloody contest. Upon his re-
covery he joined General Greene at the head of two thousand men
whom, at his own expense, he had armed and equipped and had
himself disciplined. He was actively engaged until 1779 when he
returned to France to obtain assistance. In this he was success-
ful and in May, 1780, returned with the joyful intelligence that a
PVench fleet and army would soon arrive on our coast.
He resumed his command and in the campaigns follow- ing
displayed the most consummate generalship in maneuvering his
892 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
little army then opposed to Lord Cornwallis. He had lieen
placed in charge of the Virginia campaign by Washington and
managed it with great skill. At length at the siege of Yorktown,
confident and undismayed, he shared largeh in the honor of the
surrender of Cornwallis.
The great conflict in which he had been so worthily and
bravely engaged, drawing near a conclusion, Lafayette arranged
to return to his own country. On his arrival in France the en-
thusiasm and admiration for him as the conqueror of Cornwallis
was unbounded, and his popularity universal.
He was m.ade a field marshal of France and his bust was
placed in the Llotel de Ville. Later he was elected to the Assem-
bly of Notables and made president of that body. He was also
commandant of the National Guards.
Time forbids a review ever so brief of the years before and
during the Revolution or of the reign of terror in France. But at
this period Lafayette was deprived of his command, a price was
set on his head and he was compelled to flee his country. He was
thrown into prison by the king of Prussia, and afterwards im-
prisoned and chained by the emperor of Austria in the citadel of
Olmutz. His estate was confiscated, and in prison he was sub-
jected to the most cruel treatment and threatened with igno-
minious death.
But in 1797 when settling the terms of peace with Austria,
Bonaparte stipulated that Lafayette should be set at liberty. After
the overthrow of the French directory in 1799 he returned to
France.
Few men have lived and done more for others than La-
fayette. His charities were ceaseless and frequently involved
serious self-sacrifice. .He zealously engaged in efforts to improve
the condition of the French Protestants who could not contract
a marriage or make a will which would be valid before the law,
and who were persecuted at the whim of the church and whose
onlv alternative was suffering or exile.
Madam De Stael in one of her letters to Lafayette expressed
the feeling of every liberal Frenchman, "As long as vou live I have
MISCELLANEOUS hi*3
hopes for the human race." Certainly in his hfetime no man was
ever more appreciated.
During- the year 1824 in response to an invitation from the
president and con^^^ress. General Lafayette, accompanied by his
son George Washington Lafayette, revisited the United States.
He was received everywhere with the greatest honor, affection
and gratitude. His tour was a triumphal procession, such as no
Roman consul ever led, not through a city, but over a continent,
followed not by captives in chains of iron, but by a nation in bonds
of affection.
Illustrious man, little did he realize when he came that all
America was waiting to receive him. He was present at the lay-
ing of the corner stone of Bunker's Hill monument, and heard that
great oration in Avhich the highest eulogy that was ever given to
man was awarded to him.
Turning towards Lafayette, Webster exclaimed: "Fortunate,
fortunate man, with what measure of devotion will you not thank
God for the circum.stances of your extraordinary life ; you are con-
nected with both hem.ispheres, and with two generations. Heaven
saw fit to ordain that the electric spark of libertv should be con-
ducted through you from the new world to the old, and we who are
now here to perform this duty of patriotism, have all of us long
ago received it from our fathers to cherish your name and your
virtues."
Laden with honors and with every feeling of his heart grat-
ified by the spontaneous reception received in the country of his
adoption, Lafayette returned to the land of his birth the following
summer, stil! the guest of the United States and imder its flag.
He was carried back in the then new national ship "Eh-andywine,"
named in honor of his bravery on that memorable battlefield which
was wet with his blood.
Men have made sacrifices and have suffered and died for
their country : but tell me, who other than Lafayette has ever gone
to a distant foreign shore, tearing himself away from family, home
and native land, and a brilliant career, to engage in an almost
Jiopeless cause, spending his fortune and spilling his blood for hu-
894 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
man rights and the freedom of a people to whom he owed no duty
of allegiance and was not even bound by ties of consanguinity.
The history of the world does not show a parallel instance of
such unselfish devotion and love for freedom and for human
rights.
But who is he, the high born and the brave,
Who wings his way o'er the Atlantic wave,
Pledges for us his fortune, life and fanae,
And twines with Washington his glorious name V
Say, does he come an exile's home to crave V
Or reckless rover seek an alien's grave?
No, in palaces of kings he dwelt.
Though even there at Ireedom's shrine he knelt.
The star of Gallic chivalry,
The theme of minstrel's harp, of beauty's morning dream.
Say, does he come mid foreign scenes to hide
A breaking heart V No, a fair loving bride
Back to her arms the young adventurer wooes
Or with her prayers his daring flight pursues.
Freedom beholds him from her mountain home
And claims the Gallic stranger as her own.
Girds her bright sword upon his side, and flings
Her banner o'er him, while her Eagle wings
Dipped in the sun with golden plumes unfurled
Send their far shadows to another world.
Go search our country's history, read the page
Where Gloucester's heroes tamed the lion's rage-
Reddened the Delaware from British veins.
While warm his blood ensanguined Jersey's plains.
Then turn to Monmouth's field, what flashing sword
High in the battle's van gleaming, unlowered,
Shines like a beacon o'er the sea of blood,
What crimsons Brandywine's once peaceful flood ?
Answer, ye children of unconquered slices.
Whose arms then waved that weapon's beacon fires,
Who bade the battle's sun in victory set?
The young, the bi'ave, the matchless Lafayette.
Another scene invites your ardent eyes.
The storm of war is hushed, the earth and skies
In bloom and glory meet, on every hand
Are seen the blessings of a ransomed land.
Though little once, a mighty nation now
And despots bow before its laurel brow.
MISCELLANEOUS 895
But Bark ! what sounds of joy and triumph ring,
They rise, they deepen on the sounding wing
Of every gale the shouts of millions swell.
From city, dell, high mount and lowly vale.
What means this thrilling of a nation's soul ?
These waves of joy that through its being" roll ?
He comes once more, the trans-Atlantic guest
To greet the land his youthful feet have pressed,
The land his youthful blood had bathed, like wine,
Glorious libation poured at freedom's shrine.
Yes, he, the friend of Washington and man
The great philanthropist, whom Austria's ban
Doomed for long- years the dungeon's gloom to share
But whose unfettered soul no chains could wear.
He who in moral greatness stood the shock
Of royal despotism, like the rock
Whose strength remains by ocean's wrath unmarred.
Whose brow throws off the lightning blaze unscarred.
He comes the hero of two worlds to claim,
A welcome worthy of his God-like name.
That scene is past, low in the dust the head
O'er which a nation's blessings once were shed.
The noble form has yielded up its trust
'Till the last trump shall wake the sleeping just,
And calmly I'ests beneath the covering sod
The temple once of an indwelling God.
EIGHTY- SIX YEARS AGO
THE PERKINS METTHODIST EPISCOPAL SOCIETY WAS ESTABLISHED
— HISTORICAL SKEICH.
(By Wil! H. Oswalt, Pastor. Read at the Perkins Church
Rally, Atig-nst i8, 190T.)
The history of methodism in Perkins township is inseparably
connected with the history of the township, for, as the Hebrew
patriarch, upon arriving at a new stopping place, immediately set
up an altar to the living God, so the pioneers of Perkins, having
brought from their New England homes the holy zeal, enthusiasm
and religious experience of the early Methodists, immediately be-
gan in the forest home the worship of the I.ord in the simple de-
vout manner of their beloved church.
896 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
From their very beginning Methodists have been pioneers.
The pecuHar itinerant system, the restless zeal and heroic spirit of
rheir m.inisters, in a wonderful way, adapted this system to the
work of introducing the gospel into new sections of the country.
This was eminently true in North America, in whose wild forests
there was no place for a "kid-gloved ministry." and where failure
would have come to any other method of preaching than the
earnest, powerful, searching Scriptural presentation of the word
of God, characteristic of the pioneer Methodist preacher who
filled the forests with the thunders of warning concerning sin and
a coming judgment, and yet who was happiest when proclaiming
the unsearchable riches of Christ in the salvation and sanctification
of the soul.
The pioneer preacher's church was the log cabin or the log
school house. His pulpit, a rude table, and yet it was a mighty
throne of power in transforming lives and lifting them toward
God. No modern automobile, vv'ith lightning speed, carried the
pioneer preacher through the forests. He traveled, not by "horse-
less carriage," but by carriageless horse. His horse and saddle
bags were his inseparable companions. In the early conferences
it was customary tor the bishop to admonish the preachers to "be
kind to their beast," and truly these itinerant horses shared with
their riders in the arduous toil and struggle connected with plant-
ing the gospel. The pioneer preacher's library was a portable, or
■'traveling" library, consisting of a Bible, hymn iDOok, discipline
and a few other books, carried in the saddle bags and read on
horseback, or by the wierd flicker of the pine knot or tallow-candle
in the cabin of the pioneer. Degrees and titles, collegiate and
theological, did not burden his name. Not the "higher criticism,"
but the higher life engaged his thought. Filled with the happy
assurance that he was a pardoned and accepted child of God, per-
forming the work to which he had been divinely called and sent,
discouragement gave way to gladness as he heard in his soul the
hopeful cry of Paul: "Henceforth is laid up for me a crown of
righteousness," and his very loneliness became a Patmos from
which with apocalyptic view he beheld the opened heavens.
MISCELLANEOUS 897
Tlie Methodist preacher has always been a pioneer. This
tact is generally conceded. It is related that when the first train
load of people entered Oklahoma, a Congregational preacher
boarded the first coach, determined to be the first preacher on the
ground. As he found no other preacher on the train he con-
gratulated himself upon his enterprise, but when he alighted from
the car in Oklahoma, imagine his surprise and astonishment at dis-
covering that a Methodist preacher had ridden in on the cow-
catcher and was already distributing tracts, had a meeting an-
nounced and was getting ready to take a collection.
True to his character, the Methodist preacher was the pioneer
in Perkins township. Tn the fall of 1811, Rev. William Gurley,
grandfather of W. F. Gurley, now a member of Perkins church,
arrived on the "Firelands," having com.e from Connecticut in a
wagon, and settled, after a little delay, in a log cabin near the
south line of Perkins township. This was the celebrated William
Gurley wlio was born in Wexford, Ireland, March 12, 1757. Al-
though his father was a member of the Church of England, his
home was always open to the Wesleyan preachers, whose influ-
ence and prayers led William to Jesus Christ. Although a mem-
ber of a Methodist class for some time previous, he was converted
under the influence of a prayer made by John Wesley in a love
feast. W'hen Mr. Gurley entered the meeting, he states that he
"could only sigh and mourn," but when Wesley had ceased pray-
ing, the young man arose, as he says, "full of joy and peace in be-
lieving." vSaid He: "I was all alive and all love, and thought I
should never know trouble or sorrow more ; but O, what have I
since passed through ! but still I stand on the 'Rock of Ages.' "
Wm. Gurley's experiences in Ireland were interesting and
thrilling. He was converted under the influence of and licensed
to preach by John Wesley, the founder of Methodism. Under
Roman Catholic persecution, Gurley was three times imprisoned
and condemned to death, yet, in the providence of God, was
spared to preach the gospel in the new world. While in prison
awaiting death he held prayer meetings and many were con-
verted and the power of God was. often gloriously manifested.
His last imiprisonment was in a time of great peril, and death
898 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
seemed inevitable ; but just as hope seemed to be dying forever,
deliverance came, and rescued ones, grateful and rejoicing, as-
sembled at Gurley's home, v/here they joined in singing the old
h\mn of Isaac Watts :
"I'll praise IB y Maker while I've breath,
And when my voice is lost in death,
Praise shall employ my nobler powers ;
My days of praise shall ne'er be past,
While life and thought and being last,
Or immortality endures."
As stated above, Rev. Wm. Gurley began preaching in this
section in 1811. When he arrived there was no other minister
of the gospel within forty miles. Hence his coming gladdened
the hearts of the pioneers. He preached in a school house in
Bloomingville to an audience m.ade up of people some of whom
had come ten or twelve miles. Among his hearers were a few
Indians who sat with becoming gravity near the door during the
services. They were in their hunting costume, with rifle, toma-
hawk and knife.
At the close of the service Mr. Gurley organized a class which
soon numbered fifteen or twenty, some of whom resided five or
six miles distant. This was the first sermon and society in the
county, or on the Western Reserve west of Cleveland.
From this time until the year 181 5, pioneer preachers
preached occasionally in Perkins township. The year 181 5 is
marked by the memorable settlement of the "Connecticut colony,"
comjjosed of the follov/ing persons with their families : John
Beatty, Julius House, Joseph Taylor, FJeizur Bell, Jesse Taylor.
Plinney Johnson, Harvey Coveil.Roswell Eddy, Roswell Hubbard,
Holly Aikins and Richard P. Christophers. William Robinson
and William R. Beebe, single men, were also with the company,
Kleizur Lockwood, previously of Canada, settled in Perkins the
same year. Nearly all the members of this Connecticut company
came from Hartford county. They traveled in the primitive man-
ner, with ox teams, fourteen in number, and many experiences, in-
t'^'resting, romantic and trying, are connected with that journey
MISCELLANEOUS 89&
of seven hundred miles over unbroken roads, nuieh of the way
through forests.
As before mentioned, the members of this company were
New England Methodists, and their hard journey of seven hun-
dred miles did not lesren their love for their church or their
Christ. Accordingly, they began at once, in the fall of 1815, to
hold religious services in their log houses. John Beatty, the
leader of the company, was a local preacher in the Wesleyan
Methodist cliurch, and he was their first preacher. A Methodist
class was organized, the first in Perkins township, and Julius
House was chosen class leader, a position which he faithfully filled
for fifty years. Services were held in the log school house on
land now owned by T. B. Taylor, until about the year 1830, when
the frame church was built on the C. W. Taylor farm just op-
posite the place where the brick church now stands.
At this point it may be stated that F. D. Parish, in an article
in the "Firelands Pioneer" of June, 1865, states that "the first
sermon p'-eached in rhe township was by Rev. Mr. Montgomery
in 1816. a Methodist preacher then residing near Cleveland."' This
mav have been the first sermon by a regular Methodist preacher
in charge, but religious services had previously been held in the
township as stated above. In 1813 the great northwestern terri-
tory became an annual conference, called the "Ohio Conference."
It included a portion of Kentucky, and had six districts. On
September 3, 1817, at the sixth session of the Ohio conference,
at Zanesville, Rev. James B. Finley, famous preacher, was reap-
pointed presiding elder of Ohio district, and Huron circuit was
created. Rev. Alfred Bronson was sent to take charge of the new
work. Perkins being one of the appointments, the largest and
most flourishing on the charge. Alfred Bronson, Perkins' first
regularly appointed pastor, came from Fowler, Trumbull county,
Ohio, in January, 1818. In the Western Pioneer he has this in-
teresting item concerning himself and his charge :
'T was clad in homespun, the product of my wife's industry.
My horse and equipage were 'of the humblest kind. The journey
was mostlv through a dense forest. I traveled thirty miles before
I could find a road leading westward along the lake shore. Where
900 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
Elyria now stands there was no bridge, and 1 crossed the river on
the ice. Mv circuit extended from Black river along the Ridge
road by where Norwalk now stands, then to the little town of New
Haven, and thence by a zigzag course to Sandusky bay and
Venice and Portland, now Sandusky city, thence through Perkins,
east along the lake shore to the place of beginning. I soon formed
a four weeks' circuit of twenty-four appointments with 2O0 miles
of travel. I preached the first sermon ever preached in Sandusky
city, (then in t8i8) containing some half a dozen houses."
For a number of years Perkins remained the strongest so-
ciety on the charge. It is stated that the pastor being absent from
the first quarterly meeting at Perkins, Rev. Wm. Gurley took
charge, this being the first quarterly meeting ever held on the
Firelands.
Rev. Wm. Gu.rley, although not in the regular itinerant min-
istry, as a local deacon continued to render noble service among
the people of Perkins for many years. In its memory of him,
this community has a precious legacy.
Perkins was thus a part of a large work, which, in the pas-
tor's absence, was faithfully cared for by the pioneer class leaders.
Among the preachers of an early day who visited the Perkins
settlement were Wm. Gurley, True Pattie, James Mclntyre and
Harry O. Sheldon. As the great Methodist historian, Abel
Stevens, says these were the days characterized by "extraordinary
triumphs of the gospel, and men of gigantic proportions, intellec-
tual and moral."
The first Sunday school in Perkins was organized by Judge
Farwell and Hon. F. D. Parish in 1830 or 1831.
Feehng the need of a house of worship it was decided in 1830
to build a frame church. The ground was secured from Joseph
Taylor in what is now C. W. Taylor's garden, just opposite the
brick church. The subscription paper was circulated by Rev. John
Hazzard, preacher in charge. The building was plain, but sub-
stantial, and met the needs of the society.
The first seats were m.ade by sawing from logs pieces about
two feet i-ong, standing them on end and placing boards across
them.
MISCELLANEOUS 901
In 1836 a great revival meeting was held in the old church,
conducted by Thomas Dunn, whose assistant preacher was John
Kellan. This meeting, beginning in a watch-night service, held
the last night of the year 1835, continued six weeks, marked by
the presence and pov/er of God in the conversion of many souls.
One hundi-ed and fifteen united with the church, which was greatly
strengthened and advanced in influence and power. Among those
converted in that memorable meeting there yet lingers
among us our loved and honored sister in the Lord,
Mrs. Cyphia Mitchell, who, in her early youth, in her
fourteenth year, consecrated her life to God, in whose
providence she became the faithful helpmate of an itin-
erant A/[ethodist preacher, Rev. O. Mitchell, with whom she
shared the trials and triumphs of twenty years of life in the
ministry. At the close of her husband's active ministry they set-
tled in Perkins, where Rev. Mitchell occasionally preached until
the time of his coronation in 1869, since when Mother Mitchell
has resided among us, making the church and community richer
by her presence.
At the time of the "big revival" Jonathan Hudson taught
school in the school house where the brick church now stands.
He was an earnest Christian man, and always closed his school
with singing and prayer. His influence upon his pupils in the
school room and in the revival meeting, in which he sang and
prayed and testified for Christ, helped in leading many into better
lives.
Among the pastors wdio preached in the old frame church
were Louis Pounds, Thomas Barkdull, Thomas Dunn, William
B. Disbro, later presiding elder, Chaplain Collier, dear, faithful old
patriarch, whose face and voice are familiar to thousands of Meth-
odists ; Russel Bigelow, the famous, powerful pioneer preacher, a
presiding elder in the old frame church ; David Gray, father of the
Hon. D. S. Gray of Columbus ; Leonard B. Gurley, the eloquent,
apostolic preacher and presiding elder ; Luke Johnson. John Pow-
ers, presiding elder ; Bradley, Safford, Kellam, Seymour, Geo. W.
Breckenridge, presiding elder, and Simon D. Lee.
902 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
Among the leadmg- members of the church, who worshipped
in the old frame building, where Julius House, Joseph Taylor,
Norman Hills, Jesse Allen, Wm. Robinson, Henry Claflin. Jesse
Taylor. Joseph Taylor, Jr., Harry Covell, Obed Kenney. Joseph
Eddy, Eleizur Lockwood, Dvvight Buck. Their wives were also
faithful members, doing- their full share in the work of tlie church.
As already stated, Perkins was then on a large four weeks'
circuit, and in the pastor's absence one of the class leaders took
charge of the services, usually reading a printed sermon. Prom.pt-
ness and regularity in church attendance were pioneer character-
istics. The obligation of church membership was made a matter
of conscience, and usually members were in their places in the
church every Sunday, unless they had excuses which they could
legitimately give to God. The numerous diversions of more
modern days had not yet come to interfere with the performance
of religious duty. These new days have their advantages, their
joys, their enlarged opportunities, and yet there seems to be
needed a baptism of old-time interest and power.
The quarterly meeting was a great occasion. People pre-
pared for it as if they were getting ready to entertain an annual
conference. The common question among the good sisters was,
"Have you done your cooking for quarterly meeting?" People
came thirty miles. The log houses of the settlers were thrown
open to welcome the visitors, who crowded the homes, and en-
joyed the hospitality of their entertainers. Saturday and Sun-
day were filled up with services, characterized by strong sermons,
powerful prayers and conversions. Many people are yet living
throughout Methodism, who cherish the memory of these great
quarterly seasons of the outpouring of the Holy Ghost.
Having outgrov/n the old frame church around which gath-
ered so many precious memories, the society decided to build a
new, larger and more substantial building. Accordingly, in the
fall of 1853 the movement was started. The ground was pur-
chased from Nelson Taylor and Julius House.
The trustees and leaders in the building of the brick church
were John Matson, Henry Covell, Wm. Covell, James DeWitt,
Lindsev House, Norris House, Julius House, Joseph Eddy. Wm.
MISCELLANEOUS 903
Covell, our beloved father in Israel, the oldest male member of
the church, is the only surviving member of that board of trustees,
made up of men most worthy, strong and substantial.
The work of building the brick church was let to Contractor
Frairie of Monroeville, who failed to complete the building, which
was finished by Mr. Cole, who had been foreman for Frairie. The
building cost $3,100., The people who built it were not wealthy,
but gave liberally, some even beyond their means, toward the
building, which is a good church home, a commodious two-story
brick structure, with large audience room upstairs and rooms
downstairs originally used for class meetings, but in these later
days have been transform.ed into a Sunday school room, library,
kitchen, cloak room, etc., making a very pleasant meeting place
lor Sunday school, Epworth League and grange.
The church was dedicated in the spring of 1854. The dedica-
tory serm.on was preached by Wm. B. Disbro, the presiding elder
at that time. The pastor in charge was Simon D. Lee. It was a
-great occasion.
For vears the preachers lived on other parts of the charge,
at Monroeville, Milan, Huron and other places. Then thev lived
in the Perkins neighborhood in various houses. Father McKean
lived in the house now occupied by Mr. Johnansen, on the T. B.
Taylor farm. Haldeman and Broadwell lived in the house which,
remodeled, is now the hom.e of L. F. Baird. Lakey lived in Bo-
gart. When Rev. F.lvero Persons came on the charge, he lived
in the Wm. Ramsdell house in Bloomingville. Rev. Persons
started and carried through the movement to build a parsonage in
the lot adjoining the church at Perkins. The ground was pur-
chased of Julius House. With his characteristic push and vigor,
ihe young preacher took ofif his coat and helped to build the par-
Fonage. He held the scraper while making the excavation for the
•cellar. D. H. Hills, a brother of W. M. Hills, built the parsonage.
The stone was donated by Col. Richmond. Other donations were
made, and the building cost $1,200.
Speaking of W. M. Hills, one of the early members in the
brick church, and now the patriarch of our Bloomingville society,
is a reminder of the fact that one winter near the time of the dedi-
904 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
cation of the church Mr. Hills taught school in Perkins. He had
sixty-four pupils, among them heing the following boys and girls :
Frank and F.ugene Hills, Wen. Taylor, Martha Taylor, Truman
B. Taylor, Mary and Martha Eddy, Lewis and Julius House, J. F.
Greene, Esther Diggins, Susan J. Morrow, Walter Taylor, Almon
Taylor, Judge Lloyd DeWitt and Albert W. Miller. From that
group came several teachers, a county teachers' examiner, a bank
president, a judge and a city clerk.
In the winter of '56 the church was greatly helped by a re-
vival which gave new impetus to all church work.
The older members remember the brick church where were
held the class meetings, so profitable in former days. In the early
history of the brick church there were five classes in charge of the
following leaders: Audience room, Julius House; right-hand
room downstairs, Lindsey House ; left-hand room, Aaron Baird ;
vSunday school room, Joseph Eddy. These classes met every Sun-
day.
The Thursday night prayer meeting was well attended. It is
said that Jas. DeWitt, Lindsey House and Wm. Covell entered
into a covenant to be there every Thursday night, so they were
always sure of having three present, and even in the busy harvest
season the prayer m.eeting was held.
In addition to leading class meetings the leaders visited the
sick, reproved the wayward and collected the quarterage, which
was always ready, for these were the good old days when the
word "deficiency" was known in connection with a quarterly
meeting.
The old-time love feast was also a most interesting service,
promotive of fellowship and spiritual life. Members were ad-
mitted only by ticket, and young ladies coming to the church with
gayly trimmed hats were requested to remove them outside.
For many years Dwight Buck very successfully led the sing-
ing, which of course was by the congregation, with no organ ac-
companiment, as the older people were strongly opposed to an or-
gan in church.
Following are the names of leading members and friends of
the church in its first years in the brick building: Lindsey House
MISCELLANEOUS 905
and wife, Joseph Eddy and wife, Wm. Covell and wife, James
DeWitt and wife, Jacob DeWitt and wife, Reuben Stoors and
wife, Elisha Stoors and wife, Isaac Ransom and wife, Dennis
Taylor and wife, Joseph Taylor and wife, John Matson and wife,
Ogden Baker and wife, Wm. Allen, Wm. Gurley and wife, Dwiglit
Buck and wife, Edwin Eddy and wife, Julius Taylor and wife, Ly-
man Taylor and wife, Julia Taylor, David Hunter and wife, Wm.
Banks and wife, Aaron Baird and wife, Mrs. Phidelia Pritchard.
Three other active workers were Polly Fox, Electa Tucker and
Mrs. George Hoyt, who held prayer meetings in different homes
and in school houses, and these meetings were generally marked
by old-time shouts, and pow^erful prayers.
Great names are these ! Not great in deeds of statesman-
ship or war, but great in faith and love and noble character.
From out the past they seem to speak to us to-day, in old-
time exhortation to be true to God. In the presence of such a
"cloud of w^itnesses" may God help us to be true to their memory
and to their Christ.
As stated, when the brick church was built, Perkins was a part
of a la^ge four weeks' circuit, in charge of two preachers. vSince
then several clianges have been made. Huron remained on the
charge until 1886, when it was transferred to Berlin Heights. The
same year Sand Hill and Bloomingville were transferred to Per-
kins, and the circuit has since consisted of these three appoint-
ments.
Tnere is some uncertainty concerning the succession of
preachers in the brick church in its first years, but as near as can
be ascertained the following is a list of pastors who have had
charge since the brick church was dedicated: Simon D. Lee,
George Brown, T. J. Pope, J. S. Haldeman, J. S. Broadwell, N. J.
Closed A. K. Owen, J. T. Phelps, Elvero Persons, G. A. Weber,
N. W. Wagar, Wm .Kepler, B. J. Hoadley, Charles D. Patterson,
S. L. Kauffman, O. Pearce, James Gray, E. B. Shumaker, Samuel
L. Stewart and Will H. Oswalt, who came to the charge in Octo-
ber, 1900.
The membership of Perkins church is now (August, 1901) 88.
At present (August, 1901) the trustees are : James D. Parker,
906 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
T. B. Taylor, Lewis House, Frank A. Akins, Isaac Hoyt.
Stewards — F. A. Akins, A. A. Storrs, J. D. Parker, L. J. House,
Jas. Galloway, W. F. Gurley, W. D. Taylor, E. H. Hills, Richard
Staley. Sunday school superintendent, F. A. Akins. President
of Epworth League, Miss Edith Storrs.
My task is done. The historian of later days will write the
names of all those who, as the twentieth century begins to unfold
its splendid opportunities for great Christian progress, are lead-
ing in the work begun by the fathers. May their mantle fall on
us. And may we love this dear old church for the sake of Christ,
saying out of our hearts:
'•I love Thy king-dom, Lord,
The house of Thine abode,
The church our dear Redeemer saved
With His own precious blood.
" I love Thy church, O God !
Her walls before Thee stand,
Dear as the apple of Thine eye,
And graven on Thy hand.
" For her my tears shall fall,
For her my prayers ascend.
To her my cares and toils be given.
Till toils and cai'es shall end."
PERKINS CHURCH REOPENED
HISTORIC CHURCH DEDICATKD IN 1854 REMODELED AND RE-
OPENED SUNDAY, OCTOBER 5, 1902 — IMPRl'SSIVE SERVICE
OF SERMON, SONG, REMINISCENCE AND REUNION.
Perkins Methodist Episcopal church is a building of historic
interest, connected as it is with the pioneer times. The present
generation of Perkins people cherish with affectionate regard the
"traditions of the elders," the story of pioneer life in the Perkins
forests, the settlement of the immortal "Connecticut colony" and
the founding of the church in their log cabin homes eighty-seven
years ago.
When the fourteen families ended their long journey with
ox-teams from far-off Connecticut, and landed in what is now
MISCELLANEOUS 907
"Perkins," in the year 1815, like Columbus, the discoverer of a
new world, among their first acts was the setting up of an altar
of w^orship to their God, in whose service they had been faithfully
trained and nurtured by pious parents. That was good, sturdy,
vigorous stock from which the ancestors of our Perkins families
sprang, and the present generation of men and women who lead
in the active afifairs of Perkins church and community are cred-
itable and worthy descendants of their New England sires.
A Methodist class was organized in Perkins in 181 5. The
pioneer preacher, on his long rounds, preached at the cabins of the
settlers. The society grew, and a frame church was built across
the road from where the brick church now stands. That was
about sixty years ago. The church steadily grew until a new build-
mg was a necessity, and the brick church was erected, and dedi-
cated in 1854. Like all the work of the Perkins fathers, whether
material or spiritual, this building is most substantial, built strong
and solid, to stand for generations as a monument to the zeal and
sacrifice of the men and women whose efforts made it possible.
P'or several years it has been apparent that certain changes
and improvements were necessary to modernize the building, and
make it, not only a fit temple of worship for the people of to-day,
but to make it worthy of the men who built it. An improvement
campaign was started in the spring of 1902. Several meetings
were called by the pastor, Rev. W. H. Oswalt. It was finally de-
cided to make extensive improvements throughout the building.
A building committee was elected from the board of trustees as
follows : J. D. Parker, T. B. Taylor and A. A. Storrs. A sub-
scription book was circulated among the people, who responded
generously to the solicitation for money. Fifeen hundred dol-
lars was the amount aimed at, but the subscriptions soon amounted
to $1,971.00. Work w^as begun, under the superintendency of
James D. Parker, who proved himself to be perfectly qualified for
the position. He was on the ground every day, working and di-
recting the work. The handsome new stairwa}' is largely the
work of his hands. Every detail of the improvements was under
his supervision. Heartily co-operating with him were the other
members of the committee, T. B. Taylor and A. A. Storrs, who
90"< THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
have shown most thorough and intense interest in every step of
the movement. All the work of this building committee has been
done in a most business-like and systematic way, which would do
credit to any building committee in any church.
The writer of this article feels that it is due to T. B. Taylor
to speak in commendation of his untiring efforts to bring about
these improvements. By heading the subscription list with a lib-
eral amount, by his personal canvass of the larger part of the com-
munity, and by his push and enthusiasm, he, in large measure,
made the improvements possible. He is an indispensable man in
Perkins church, and, although he protests against any personal
mention, this statement is due him. He deserves the gratitude of
all our people.
Following is a description of the changes and improvements,
although the description inadequately does justice to the trans-
formed church, every square foot of whose interior has been
brightened and beautified :
The audience room upstairs has been replastered, and the
side walls and ceiling embellished with ingrain paper as the
ground work. The walls are finished in a light terra cotta shade,
and the ceiling in green. The border and ceiling are finished in
fresco work, the designs being most artistic and pleasing. The
work was done by Herb & Myers' decorators, Sandusky, and it
is safe to say there is no more beautiful interior in any other coun-
try Methodist church in Ohio.
The platform has been extended across the end of the church
on both sides of the pulpit, making room for musical instruments
and choir.
The seats have been grained in oak ; and are comfortably
cushioned. The wainscots are grained in quarter oak.
The altar railing has been remodeled and the railing grained
in oak, with top in walnut.
The entire floor of the audience room has been carpeted with
handsome parlor Brussels carpet, of light green color, harmoniz-
ing with the ceiling. The hallways and stairway have been cov-
ered with nacier matting.
The room will be heated bv two large new stoves.
MISCELLANEOUS !iOi»
It. is intended to place in tlie church a new organ, and, pos-
sibly, a new piano, to be used in concerts and on other occasions.
A vocalion organ was used in the services Sunday, and its
clear, strong pipe organ tones delighted everybody who heard it.
On the pulpit desk lies a new pulpit Bible, presented to the
church last Sunday by the pastor and his wife, Rev. and Mrs. Os-
ualt And last, but not by any means least, among the furnish-
ings of the temple, are two very handsome collection plates, bear-
ing artistic (!t>igiiS. m.ade by the process of pyrography. These
beautiful plates were presented to the church by Mr. and Mrs.
Burt E. Taylor.
At the rear of the audience room is a spacious cloak room,
ii?wiy papered and painted, a most convenient addition.
Perhaps the most noticeable improvement is the new stair-
way. The old stairways were taken out. On the west side the
icitchen was extended over the space formerly occupied by the old
stairway. On the east side a portion of the class room wall was
lemoved, and a new, spacious modern stairway, with two land-
ings, was built. The stairway is six and a half feet wide, and is
a model of excellence and convenience.
The hallwavs have been changed, enlarged and built on
wider lines, modernizing them in appearance and convenience.
The walls of the downstairs hallways have been covered with In-
gram paper, finished in water colors. Wainscots of durable green
burlap made the hallways complete. Near the foot of the stairway
is a toilet room with ticket window^ to be used at entertainments.
The kitchen has been enlarged and improved throughout. The
walls and ceilings have been calcimined in salmon pink. New
shelves, a large new cupboard, new sink, tables and other furnish-
ings have been put in. With the new range and complete kitchen
outfit the Perkins ladies are thoroughly equipped for service on
social occasions.
The Sunday school room has also been transformed. Walls
and ceilings have been painted in shades of green.
All the doors in the church have been grained in oak.
A- splendid improvement is that of the new windows. Up-
stairs they are leaded glass of beautiful designs, such as are used
910 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
in many city churches. One window is inscribed, "Dedicated
1854." Another will bear the inscription, ''Remodeled 1902."
The windows in the lower room, excepting the one of beautiful
colored glass near the first stairway landing, are especially de-
signed for basement rooms. The lower part of each window is
of chipped glass, and the upper part is of prism glass, by which
the room is made many times as light as formerly.
A fine improvement is the new lighting system by which the
upstairs audience room is lighted by gasoline gas.
The belfry and spire have been painted ; also the stonework
on the outside of the building.
The foundation has been thoroughly inspected, repaired and
put in first class condition.
The horse sheds have been reroofed with 36,000 red wood
shingles.
In fact, nothing has been left undone to make Perkins ^I. E.
church an attractive, modern house of worship, a credit to the
commtmity.
The reopening services, Sunday afternoon, October 5, 1902,
were attended by one of the largest audiences that has assembled
in the church since its dedication. Several surrounding towns
and neighborhoods were represented. Ferns and flowers added
to the beauty of the scene.
The music was furnished by the Presbyterian choir, San-
dusky, Paul Browne Patterson, director, and was of the high ar-
tistic order characteristic of Prof. Patterson and singers under his
direction.
Prof. Patterson played a prelude on the vocalion organ.
Hymn No. 6, "Come, Thou Almighty King," was sung.
The Apostles' Creed was recited, followed by prayer by
Chaplain G. W. Collier.
The choir sang an anthem, "A Day in Thy Courts."
The 122nd Psalm was read responsively.
A trio, "Thou, O Gracious God," was rendered by ]\Iiss Har-
ris, Miss Scheufler and Mr. Ussher.
A Scripture lesson was read.
MISCELLANEOUS 911
F. A. Akins, secretary of the board of trustees, made a finan-
cial statement, showing that the improvements cost over $2,000.
An offering was taken, amounting to $21 — a good start for
the new collection plates.
Anthem, "Break Forth and Rejoice," by the choir.
The sermon was preached by the Rev. Elvero Persons, who
was pastor at Perkins thirty-three years ago — his first charge —
now pastor of First M. E. church, Berea. The next was Prov. 29 ;
18, "Where there is no vision, the people perish." The sermon was
a masterly discourse, excellent in thought and language, inspiring
and uplifting. The reference to the godly men who have min-
istered in Perkins pulpit, and to the honored men and women who
have worshiped in the pews, were tender and appropriate. The
sermon was itself a glorious "vision" of the great things God can
accomplish through men and women in union and fellowship with
the Lord Jesus Christ.
Miss Scheufler sang a contralto solo, "Hosanna."
The pastor asked all who were present at the dedication in
1854 to arise, and a dozen persons arose, among them being Mrs.
N. E. Hadden, of Catawba Island, who was the organist at the
dedicatory services in 1854. Then at Chaplain Collier's request
a half dozen persons arose, indicating that they attended services
fifty-two years ago, when he was pastor. Mrs. Hadden was then
introduced. At the church dedication, she being the organist for
Sandusky M. E. choir, which furnished the music for that occa-
sion, presided at the organ. In a happy manner she spoke words
of greeting and reminiscence.
Chaplain G. W. Collier was then introduced as "the guest of
honor." Everybody knows him, everybody loves him. He never
fails to produce an "arousement," and, on this occasion, by ready
wit, sparkling humor and tender pathos, he carried the audience
with him. His reminiscences of the old times were most valuable
and touching, and his audience gave him a most sympathetic re-
sponse in tears, inexpressible emotions and words of approval.
God bless Chaplain Collier ! His presence anywhere is a
benediction.
912 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
For his sake the audience sang, "When the Roll is Called L'p
Yonder." Then the chaplain arose, and, turning to Prof. Patter-
son, said, "Patterson, I want to lead the singing awhile/' and, in
good, old-fashioned way, led in singing "When I Can Read My
Title Clear to Mansions in the Skies." The older people es-
pecially joined heartily in the old song, and tears were in many
eyes as memory recalled the sainted ones who so often sang these
words, and who, long ago, joined the "choir invisible."
After words by Dr. Persons, Prof. Patterson sang the beauti-
ful solo, "Calvary," which made a profound impression upon the
audience. Perkins people greatly rejoice in the success which
has come to Paul Browne Patterson as an accomplished musician.
In a sense, he is a "Perkins boy," being a son of Rev. C. D. Pat-
terson, twenty years ago pastor at Perkins. Truly, as Chaplain
Collier said, "Mr. Patterson was well born, well raised and well
married."
Words feebly express the Perkins people's appreciation of
the services of Mr. and Mrs. Patterson and the Presbyterian choir.
Special mention should be made of Mrs. Patterson as organist, of
Miss Scheufier as soloist, and of the trio by Miss Harris, Miss
Scheufler and Mr. Ussher.
The doxology was sung and Chaplain Collier pronounced the
benediction.
A season of delightful fellowship and reunion followed,
closing one of the most memorable and impressive services of ser-
mon, song, reminiscence and reunion ever held in Perkins.
W. H. O.
THE FIRST FLOURING MILL IN OHIO
On the seventh day of April, 1788, the first body of men, who
were the founders of the Northwest Territory, landed on the Mus-
kingum river, in Washington county, Ohio, where the settlement
of Marietta began. In the spring of 1789 settlements were
begun at Belpre, Waterford and Duck Creek. Among the first
settlers was Major Haffield White, steward and quartermaster.
MISCELLANEOUS 913
Among the settlers at VVaterford were Col. Robert Oliver and
Capt. John Dodge.
The great difficulty of procuring food for the infant settle-
ments rendered the erection of mills a prime necessity. Col.
Oliver, Maj. White and Capt. Dodge began the erection of mills
on Wolf Creek in 1789, about three miles from Fort Harmar, and
soon had them running. These mills were the first successful
mills built in the Northwest Territory or the state of Ohio.
Although the settlers were obliged to abandon their homes and
retire to the fort, on account of Indian wars, the mills were not
destroyed. One of the first mill stones used in these mills is
still owned by some of the descendants of John Dodge, a photo-
graph of which, as well as one of the sites of the mills, I present
to this society.
F. E. Weeks.
EXTRACTS FROM THE MEMOIRS OF DAVID MARKS
(Furnished by Dr. F. E. Weeks.)
HIS JOURNEY TO PORTLAND IN 1822.
David ]\fai-ks, of Seneca county, N. Y., became an evan-
gelist at an early age and labored faithfully during his life of
forty years. He died at Oberlin, Ohio, December i, 1845. O"
the 13th of June, 1822, before he was seventeen years of age, he
embarked on a schooner at Black Rock, on his way to Ohio, where
he felt he had a call to preach the gospel. We give the important
narrative of his journey in his own words :
"Monday, June 17, the wind and storm abated. Our voy-
age having been longer than we expected, and the wind being still
contrary, the captain of the vessel, notwithstanding his engage-
ment, refused to take me to Portland ; and after receiving my last
money for the passage, he set me ashore with four others on the
peninsula west of Sandusky Bay and six miles opposite Portland.
Here was a light-house, and besides the man who kept it, there
were no inhabitants on this part of the peninsula. It was now
914 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
after sunset, and during the last forty hours I had eaten but one
meal, which was given me by the captain of the vessel. The man
who kept the light-house had but little provisions with him, hav-
ing been disappointed of an expected recruit in consequence of
the unfavorable wind. So without tasting any food, I lay down
on the floor and closed my eyes to sleep, hoping to forget my
hunger. But recollections of the kind brethren in New York,
who had often fed and lodged me with willing and joyful hearts,
together with the painful contrast of my present situation, drove
slumber from my eyes.
"When the men who landed with me had fallen asleep, the
keeper remembering the 'poor boy that had come far from a
father's house to preach the gospel,' brought me a cracker and
half a pint of milk, which I received with thanksgiving. Next
morning the sun rose in splendor, and I walked out to view the
surrounding scenery. The waters of Erie lay on the east, west
and north ; south, the prospect was bounded by a wood ; across the
bay Portland appeared in sight. But I knew no way to go
thither, for there was no vessel on this part of the peninsula, and
I could not go by land, as the distance was sixty miles through
a marshy wilderness. Notwithstanding my gloomy situation
Christ was precious, and my soul Avas filled with joy unspeakable.
Two of the men who landed with me had each of them a rifle ;
and going this morning into a wood, thev killed a fawn, which
v/e cooked and ate without seasoning or any other kind of food ;
but such was our hunger that it seemed as delicious a morsel as
was ever tasted. The next day, being weary of waiting for a
passage, one of the men and myself caulked an old skifi^ that had
been washed upon the shore and set ofif for Portland. The skiflf
was so small, that our weight sunk it nearly to the top; and it
leaked ?o fast that it kept me busy in lading out the water with
my shoe, which I used for want of something better.
■'After rowing along the shore about two miles, we changed
our course directly across the bay for Portland. The wind was
against us ; and when about one mile from the shore, the waves
ran three or four feet high, and frequently came over the top of
the skifif. As we could not swim, we now began to view our-
MISCELLANEOUS 915
selves in danger; but having no wish to return, we endeavored to
make our way through wind and waves. Every moment our sit-
uation grew more perilous. The wind increased so that we made
but little progress, and we determined to return, if possible. On
turning the skiff about, we were in danger of falling into the
troughs ; but we succeeded so well, that not more than a pail full of
water ran into our vessel and we reached the shore at Sand Point
about two miles from the light-house. I was glad to g"et on land
again, though I suffered with hunger in addition to being both
wet and cold. * * * Soon we met with a man who came to
the peninsula in search of cattle, and was waiting the arrival of a
vessel. I gladly warmed myself by the fire he had kindled, and he
gave LIS some bread and pork. In the afternoon we were glad-
dened by the sight of a vessel, coming from Portland, and, on its
arrival, we solicited a passage.
"As their business would not permit them to land us at Port-
land, they took us across the bay to Cedar Point. Taking our
portmanteaux on our shoulders, we walked nine miles on the
beach of the lake, before we came to any house ; and being very
thirsty were glad to drink some poor water. After traveling
three miles further into Milan, I found brethren who received me
affectionately. ^= * ='" Elder Collins, of New York, and my-
self appointed a general meeting in Milan on the 29th and 30th of
June. Brethren attended from three small churches in JNIilan,
Greenfield and Clarksfield, Avhich were the only Free Will Bap-
tist churches in this part of the country."
He speaks of addressing meetings at New London, Danbury,
Greenfield, Plymouth, Fitchville, Greenwich, Florence, Bronson,
Clarksfield and Portland.
OBITUARIES
HURON COUNTY
Adams, Allen S., a son of William A. Adams and Caroline
Stuart, pioneers of Huron township, was born in Huron township
in 1849, and lived there until 1868 when he moved to Clarksfield
with his parents. He was married to Rose Stiles in 1871. He
died at Kansas City, Kansas. January 10, 1902.
Arnold, Airs. Samantha, was a daughter of Ira Starr and
Eliza Alead, and was born in Cornettsville, Ind., July 22. 1825.
In 1828 she came to Clarksfield with her parents. In 1847 she
was married to Avery F. Arnold and they lived in Clarksfield and
New London until 1864 when they moved to Iowa, where Mr.
Arnold died in 1874. She died at Toledo. Iowa, March 5, 1902.
Arthur, Wm. H., a son of John Arthur and Alartha Easter.
was born in Greenfield township. February 20. 1831. In 1867 he
was married to Jennie Armstrong. He died in Greenfield in 1900.
Bassctt, Henry E.. a son of William Bassett, an Englishman,
was born in Clarksfield, March 13, 1840. He married Alcie M.
Rogers. He died at Lodi, Ohio, January 31, 1902.
Bradish, Mrs. Margaret, a daughter of Levi Gift'ord and
Patience Jaqua. was born in Pen Yan. N. Y., August 26, 1826.
She came to Crawford county, Ohio, with her parents when a
small child, and then moved to Michigan. In 1837 she came to
Clarksfield with her parents. She was married to Jay Bradish
in 1847 ^^id they lived in New London and Berlinville until 1862,
when they moved to Clarksfield. Mr. Bradish died in 1897 and
Mrs. Bradish March 16, 1902.
Bathrick, William Henry Harrison, was born in Cayuga
county, N. Y.. July 14. 1822. He was a son of Peter Bathrick,
OBITUARIES 5»17
and came to Huron county with his father's family in 1834. He
died in Norvvalk township in 1901. He was married to Parthena
Cole in 1844.
Barnes, Selden, born in Southbury, Connecticut, March zy,
1798, was married to Polly Wheeler, December 13, 1824. They
came to Wakeman in 1826 and lived in different places in Huron
county, but finally settled on a farm in Wakeman, where he lived
until his death, September 16, 1859. His wife was born in South-
bury, Conn.. January 13, 1800, and died September 8, 1871.
Barnum, John N., a son of Ebenezer M. Barnum and Betsy
Nickerson, was born in Clarksfield, November 16, 1820, and lived
his whole life in the same township. In 1840 he was married to
Miss Catherine Croxford, of Clarksfield. She died in 1886. In
1888 he was married to Mrs. Elizabeth Thomas. Mr. Barnum
moved to Clarskfield village in 1856 and opened a store. He fol-
lowed mercantile pursuits for thirty years. He died November
14, 1901. At the time of his death he had lived in Clarksfield
longer than any other person born there.
Barnum, William L., a brother of the above, was born in
Milan, July 12, 1825, but grew to manhood in Clarksfield and was
married to Maria E. Scctt, of Clarksfield, in 1845. He was after-
ward married to Mrs. Augusta Sanford. He died at New Bos-
ton, Mich., November 24, 1901.
Barkdull, Rev. Thomas, was the youngest son of Joseph and
Mary Barkdull i.nd was born in Columbiana county, Ohio, June
24, 1 81 3, In 1834 he attended school in the Norwalk Seminary,
and in the same year was licensed to exhort, and was admitted to
the Ohio Conference (Methodist) the next year and began
preaching at Elyria, Ohio. In 1836 he was married to Miss Caro-
line Hendry, of Elyria. In 1837 he moved to Clarksfield and
lived a year or so, then had the following appointments : San-
dusky, Ml. Vernon, Ashland, Wooster, Canal Dover, Norwalk
and Milan (1845), Maumee, Tiffin, Wooster, Plymouth, Shelby,
Elyria, Cleveland. He died in Mt. Vernon in 1869.
918 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
BENEDICT
About the year A. D. 1500, William Benedict, of Xottingham-
shire, in England, had an only son born to him whom he called
William ; this William, 2d, had an only son whom he called Wil-
liam ; and this William, 3d, had in 1617 an only son, whom he
called Thomas.
In 1638, Thomas came to America and settled in New Eng-
land ; after remaining there for a time he removed to Southhold, on
Long Island, where were born to him five sons and four daughters,
whose names were Thomas, John, Samuel, James, Daniel, Betty,
Mary, Sarah and Rebecca. From Southhold the family removed to
Hassamamac, from there to Jamaica, IvOng Island (where Thomas
was married), from there, last of all. they removed to Norwalk,
Fairfield county, Connecticut, where all the remaining children
were married.
Daniel married Mary, daughter of Matthew Marvin, of Nor-
walk ; and was a soldier in the "direful swamp fight" of December
19, 1675 (Connecticut Historical Collections, pages 20-1 — Pal-
frey's History of New England, vol 3, pages 176 to 180) ; after
which, at a Norwalk town meeting, January 12, 1676, "The towne,
in consideration of the good service that the soldiers sent out of
the towne ingaged and performed by them, and out of respect and
thankfulnese to the sayd soldiers, doe wath one consent and freely
give and grant to so many as were in the direful swamp fight,
twelve acors of land ; and eight acors of land to so many as w^ere
in the next considerable service." Accordingly, there was granted
by the plantation, as a gratuity unto Daniel Benedict, "being a
souldier in the Indian warr, twelfe acres of land and lyeth in three
parcels."
He sold his Norwalk property in 1690, and removed to Dan-
bury.
His children were Mary, Daniel 2d, Hannah and Mercy.
Daniel 2d married Rebecca, daughter of Thomas Taylor, one
of the original settlers of Danbury, Connecticut, and their children
were Daniel 3d, Matthew, Theophilius, Rebecca, Mary, David,
Nathan and Deborah.
OBITUARIES
919
Captain Daniel 3d, born 1705, married Sarah Hickok 1728,
and died November 9, 1773; their children were, Daniel 4th,
Lemuel, Noah, Sarah, Jonas, Aaron, Ruth, Mary and Amos.
Jonas was born September 21, 1742; married January 14,
1767, to Mercy Boughton, and died October 30, 1820. He was
a member of the general assembly of Connecticut in 1809. Their
children were Elizabeth, Jonas 2d, Piatt, Sarah, Daniel 5th, Mary
and Eli.
V ?V \-^>- \V
PI,ATT BENEDICT
Pounder of Norwalk, of the Sixth Generation of Benedicts in America.
Piatt Benedict was born at Danbury, Connecticut, March 18,
1775, and was of the sixth generation of Benedicts in America.
He married, November 12, 1795, Sarah, daughter of Daniel De-
920
THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
Forest, of Wilton. Connecticut. She was l^orn August 2^, ^777 ^
and died June 24, 1852, at Xorwalk, Ohio. Their children were :
Clarissa, born September 4, 1796; married Hallet Gallup,
April 9, 1820; died January 11, 1878, at Xorwalk. Ohio, leaving
two sons and four daughters now living in X'orwalk, Ohio, viz. :
Catherine, Maria (wife of Alarlin A. Dunton), Carroll, Sarah
(wife of Henry Brown), Caleb H. and Lizzie F.
David Alead, born August 17, 1801 ; married September 24,
1833, to ^lary Booth Starr; and died June 16, 1843, at Danbury,
leaving no issue.
Daniel Bridgum, born June i, 1803; died September 9, 1827,
at X^ew Orleans, Louisiana. X"ot married.
JONAS BOL'GHTON BENEDICT
Of the Seventh Generation of Benedicts in America.
OBITUARIES 921
Jonas Boughton. iDorn March 2^, 1806; married October 8,
1829, to Fanny, daughter of Henry Buckingham, and died at Nor-
walk, Ohio, July 29, 1851, leaving one sen, David DeForest, and
one daughter. Fanny B., who married Louis H. Severance, of
Cleveland, and died August r, 1874. Married as second wife
Caroline Chapman, May 26, 1842; no issue.
And EHza Ann, born August 27, 1812; married William
Brewster, May i, 1832, and died August 17, 1840, at Nor walk,
Ohio, leaving two sons, both of whom died in childhood.
June 17, 1856, he married, as his second wife, Mrs. Lavina P.
Benton, of Republic, Ohio, who survived him and died February
9, 1875. No issue.
Benedict, David DeForest, of the eighth generation of Ben-
edicts in America, was born at Norwalk, Ohio, August i, 1833;
graduated from Kenyon college in i856_as a Bachelor of Arts, and
from the Cleveland Medical College in 1858 as an M. D. October
14, 1856, he and Harriet M. Deaver, of New Haven, Huron
county, Ohio, were married. January 14, 1852, he enlisted as a
contract surgeon and was appointed by Gen. McCook as medical
director of the hospitals at Louisville, Ky. February 5, 1863, he
was commissioned assistant surgeon of the 17th Ohio and served
under Generals Buell and Rosecrans in most of their campaigns in
the west. September 20, 1863, after the battle of Chickamauga, he
refused to leave the wounded and escape, and as a result suffered
the horrors of Libby Prison until exchanged in November, 1863.
After a few months furlough he rejoined his regiment June 27,
1864; was promoted as a field surgeon May 6, 1865, and was mus-
tered out, after the war closed, July 21, 1865. During his service
he was placed in charge of a smallpox hospital at Mumfordsville,
Tennessee, and was one of the immortal legion that marched with
Sherman to the sea. Just as the twentieth century was dawning,
January 5, 1901, he joined the "bivouac of the dead on fame's
immortal camping ground." The one supreme sorrow of his life
was the loss of his only son "Fred," a bright, lovable, manly boy
just budding into manhood, who was taken away from him March
II, 1885. Forgetting that he himself was the last of the line,
922
THE 'FIRELANDS PIONEER
he mourned for his boy as "The last of the Benedicts." The direct
Hneal descendants of Jonas Benedict of the fifth generation of
Benedicts in America are ver}- numerous, but "David" was the last
male of the line. At the time of his death he was a member of
DAVID DE FOREST BENEDICT
Of the Eighth Generation of Benedicts in America.
the Whittlesey Academy Association ; senior warden of St. Paul's
Episcopal church ; treasurer of the Home Savings and Loan Co. ;
trustee of the Norwalk Cemetery Association ; a director of the
Firelands Historical Society, and a member of the Loyal Legion.
OBITUARIES
•J-iS
About 1846, there stood on the corner where the Whittlesey Acad-
emy now stands, a small frame building used as a barber shop by
Robert Shipley whose irritable temper incurred the dislike of "the
boys." One Fourth of July night a large cannon was fired into
FREDERICK PLATT BENEDICT
Of the Ninth Genei'ation of Benedicts in America.
the building, carrying away a large part of its front. When asked
by his father : "David, were you one of the boys who destroyed
Shipley's front?" "Yes, sir." "Who were with you?" "I was
one, but I will never tell on the others." "All right, my boy, I
«24 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
will pay the bill." That was the boy that a Confederate army
could not drive away from his wounded and dying comrades on
the field of Chickamauga. True to his friends, faithful in all the
relations of life, remembered by all with affection and love. His
faithful wife survives him and their descendants are as follows :
Mary Deaver, born July 26, 1857.
Harriott Melvina, born January 6, 1859; married to Henry
W. Owen, Jr., October 14, 1881, who died July 8. 1889. On Sep-
tember 28, 1897, was married to William B. Benham.
Agnes Caroline, born February 11, 1861; married Frank D.
Wickham, October 14, 1886. Children: Eleanor Shaon, born
October 4, 1887; Harriott Benedict, born Alay 23, 1890; William
Preston, born September 13, 1893; Lucv Preston, born July 31,
1897.
Fanny Buckingham, born January 14, 1863; married Andrew
J. Hottel, October 14, 1889, who died August 9, 1899. Children:
David Benedict, born July 22, 1890; Mary Harriott, born March
14, 1895; Agnes Edna, born October 2. 1897.
Frederick Piatt, born April 7. 1866; died March 11, 1885.
Ellen Eliza, born June 21, 1868; married Louis W. Wickham,
August 9, 1892. Children: Suzan Cora, born June 25, 1893;
Cora Taber, born February 2^,, 1895 ; Frederick Benedict, born
April 8, 1900.
Suzan Rosa, born November 29, 1873.
Bissell, Joshua B., was the youngest son of John Milton Bis-
sell and Sally Birch and was born at Saulsbury, Conn., December
26, 1826. He came to Clarksfield with his parents in 1832. He
was married to Ann Wheeler, of Wakeman, and lived in Clarks-
field until the death of his wife in 1876. He went to Valparaiso,
Ind., where he married again. He died at Citronelle, Ala., No-
vember 25, 1 90 1.
Bissell, William Wallace, brother of the above, was born
June 7, 1825 ; came to Clarksfield in 1832 and spent the rest of his
life there. He was married to Antoinette Judson. of Florence,
August 17, 1853. He died February 24, 1902.
OBITUARIES 925
Carpenter, Mrs. R. B. Elizabeth Ann Perrin was a daughter
of Gurdin and Polly Perrin, and was born in Wilkesbarre, Pa.,
October 29, 1825. vShe came to Milan with her parents in 1837.
In 1846 she was married to R. B. Carpenter. She died in Dow-
ney, Cal., December 24, 1900.
Carter, John II., a son of Robert Carter, a Scotchman, waa
born in Florence, Ohio, February 29, 1836. In 1862 he was mar-
ried to Julia Graves who died in 1867. In 1868 he was married to
Adelaide Gould, who died in 1899. In 1900 he was married t(t
Mrs. Rose Howard. He died February 28, 1901, on the farm
where he had always lived.
Carter, Mrs. Miles. Irana Sackett was a daughter of Jamej
H. and Thalia Sackett, and was born in Ruggles township, De-
cember 27, 1826. She was married to Miles Carter in 1881. She
died November 14, 1900.
Clark, Rowland, a son of Upton Clark and Sally Day, was
iDorn in Clarksfield, July 21, 1829. He was married to Mahala
Case in 1849. They moved to Kansas in 1879. He died August
13, 1902. His father came to Florence in 181 1, to Greenwich in
1818, and to Clarksfield in 1823.
Cole. Calvin, \\as born in the state of Xew York, March 15,
1812. In 1834 he came to Peru. In 1835 he was married to Mrs,
Narc'ssa Lawrence Cole. A few years afterward he moved to
Indiana. The wife and children soon returned to Peru, and in
1842 Mr. Cole returned, but found that the wife had died during
liis absence. In i84_| he was married to Mrs. Elizabeth Hindley
and lived at Peru until 1874, when he moved to Norwalk, where
he died March i. 190T.
Cooley, Warren, w'as born in Manchester, Conn., August 19,
i8to, and came to Clarksfield when a young man. He was mar-
ried to Amarillus Seger, February 3. 1833. They lived in Clarks-
field until 1847. ^Ii'- Cooley died in. Kansas in 1890. Mrs.
Cooley was a daughter of Eli Seger and was born in Danbury,
Conn., June 22. t8i6. She came to Clarksfield with her parents
in 1817. She died in 1889.
926
THE F1RELAND3 PIONEER
Cooper, Susan Elizabeth, was a daughter of Albert W. Seger
and Emeline Mead, and was born in Clarksfield, August 12, 1841.
She went to Kansas with her parents and was married to Clark O.
Cooper in 1869. She died at Kansas City, Kansas, July 7, 1901.
Crawford, David, was born December 4, 1810, in Beaver
county, Pa. He moved to Richland county, Ohio, with his parents
in 1830, and was married to Margaret Miller, September 4, 1834.
DAVID CRAWFORD
They reared a family of ten children, four boys and six girls,
Mrs. E. S. Andrews, of this city, being the eldest living. During
his life he held various offices of trust and for many years he was
postmaster at Richland (Plank town), about two miles east of
where Shiloh now stands. At this time mails were carried by stage
coach from Sandusky to Mansfield ; also a mail was carried from
Norwalk via Fairfield on horseback. He moved to Huron county
OBITUARIES 927
in the year 1848 and engaged in the timber and milling business.
At that time there were large lots of very heavy timber in Ripley
township. He cut millions of feet, mostly for the Cleveland,
Columbus & Cincinnati Ky. Co., now a part of the Big Four
system. In fact he furnished the p'ank for about twenty miles of
this road. Plank instead of ties were used in the construction of
this road, being four inches thick and from ten to twenty inches
wide. The plank proved to be a failure and were soon taken out.
He then cut out ties to replace the plank for about the same dis-
tance. He also got out large lots of black walnut timber in large
squares for export. About the year 1863 he quit the milling
business and moved to Maxville, Peru township, where he spent
the balance of his days. He had three sons in the Union army,
J.H., now living in Peru ; S. E. and W. D. Crawford, in Norwalk.
On the second day of April, 1865, he was extended the right
hand of fellowship in the Universalist church at Peru and was a
very devoted member of this church until his death, which occurred
on the second day of April. 1884, nineteen years to a day from
the date of the extending of the hand of fellowship.
Crawford, Margaret Miller, was born in Baltimore county,
Maryland, October 8, 1810, and moved to Ohio with her parents
about the year 181 2. She experienced the hardships of pioneer
life from her early childhood, as her parents after crossing the
mountains to Ohio stopped for a t:me in Harrison county, Ohio,
then started farther west, locating in the forest on the county line
between Richland and Huron counties, about four miles east of
where now stands the village of Plymouth. As she grew up she
and her sisters helped their fath.er clear away the timber and erect
their log cabin. There being no grist mills at this time within their
reach they made mortars of large stumps by burning out the
center. Clearing out the charcoal, they would parch the corn a
little and then grind it with pestel or maul. Such life seemed to
agree with her as she hardly knew what it was to be sick, as a
glimpse at her portrait will show. September 4, 1834, she was
married to David Crawford, by whom she bore ten children, six
girls and four boys, five of whom still live, to-wit : Mrs. E. S.
«28 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
Andrews, of Norwalk ; J. H. Crawford, of Peru ; S. E. Crawford
and W. D. Crawford, of Norwalk ; J. L. Crawford, resident of
Wichita, Kansas. There were in all twenty-three grandchildren.
She moved with her husband and family to Ripley township,
Huron county, in 1848. During the war they moved to Maxville,
Peru township. Three of the four boys en'i^-^tecl during the re-
MARGARET MILLER CRAWFORD
bellion, all coming home at the close of the war. She died at her
home in Peru, October i, 1885, at the age of seventy-five years.
Dailey, Maria L., a daughter of Thomas and Sarah Dailey,
was bom in Mt. Morris, N. Y., July 1 1, 1825. She came to Green-
field township with her parents in 1833, and died here Xovembei
29, 1901.
Daley, Mrs. James. Sarah Hoag Weeks was a daughter of
Thomas T. Weeks and Marv Hoag and was born at Somerstown,
OBITUARIES 929
New York, May "14, 1820. She came to Florence with her par
ents in 1837. She was married to James Daly, Jr., October 6,
1 84 1. Tliey lived in Henrietta, Florence, Clarksfield and Wake-
man. She died in Clarksfield, February 4, 1901.
Darling, Mrs. Abbie, a daughter of George Gregory and Polly
Waring, was born in Dutchess county, N. Y., in 1823. In 1828
she came to Clarksfield with her parents. She was married to
Joseph M. Darling and they lived in Sandusky, where Mr. Dar-
ling died in 1874, and where she died March 31, 1902.
Day, Mrs. Ephraim. Sarah Parker, a daughter of Samuel
Parker and Ruth Root, was born in Livonia, N. Y., November 4,
1816. She was brought to Florence by her parents in 1817, and
to Clarksfield in 1828.- In 1833 she was married to Ephraim Da}/
and they lived in Clarksfield until their deaths, his occurring in
1872 and hers February 14, 1901.
Dowd, Asahel, a son of Asahel Dowd and Tabitha Pease, wa$
born ni Berkshire county, Mass., February 15 1799. In 1823 he
was married to Fannie Morley. They came to Clarksfield about
1836 and lived there until 1850, when they moved to Cook's Cor-
ners, where he died in February, 1855. Fannie Morley was a
daugliter of Derrick Morley and Thankful Morse, and was born
in Massachusetts. February 24, 1794. She died in Clarksfield,
(while on a visit) June i, 1854. Of their children, Sabrina Maria-
married Charles \\^ Bunce, of Wakeman. She was born March
19, 1824, and died at Toledo. Iowa, July 6, 1887. Harriet, born
in 1825, married a Mr. White and died in Norwalk in 1882. Lucy
Ann, born in 1826, married George Edwards, of Clarksfield, and
died at Toledo, Iowa, September 18, i860. James Watson, born
in Clarksfield in 1837, died in Andersonville prison in 1864.
Dunning, Cyrus, was born in Connecticut in 1779 and was
married to Sally Wheeler in 1819. In 1833 they came to Clarks-
field, where the wife died in 1841. Mr. Dunning married a widow
Smith about 1845, and she died in 1854. Mr. Dunning then went
to Nebraska and died some time later.
Durand, Mrs. M. Wealthy Higgins was a daughter of Lewit
Higgins and Anna Post, and was born in Florence, July 20, 1822
930 THE FIRBLANDS PIONEER
She was married to Merari Durand, October 3, 1850, at Hen-
rietta, Ohio. She died at Monroeville, February 25, 1901.
Dunning, Mrs, Lucretia, was a daughter of Asa Wheeler, Jr.,
and Olive Minor and was born in Clarksfield, May 3, 1824. She
was married to Oliver Dunning, March 29, 1842. In 1856 they
moved to Nebraska. She died in Oklahoma, September 29, 1901.
Edwards, Rev. Arthur, D. D., editor of the Northwestern
Christian Advocate, and widely known in Methodist Episcopal
church circles, died Wednesday night at his residence in Chicago.
Rev. Mr. Edwards was born in Norwalk, Ohio, November
23, 1834. In 1858 he graduated from the Wesleyan University of
Ohio and the same year he entered the Detroit conference of the
Methodist Episcopal church. He went to the front at the out-
break of the Civil war as a chaplain, but resigned after the battle
of Gettysburg to become colonel of a cavalry regiment. In 1864
he left the army and became assistant editor of the Advocate. On
the retirement of Dr. Eddy in 1872 he became editor in chief and
every four years since that time he has been re-elected to the posi-
tion b}^ the directors. He has been prominent in church work
from that time on, having been a member of the general confer-
ence since 1872. He was a delegate to the ecumenical conference
in London in 1881.
Edwards, Abraham, was born in Worthington, Mass., May
6, 1783. Olivia Daniels was born November 19, 1786. They
were married January 22, 1804. They raised a family of eleven
children. In May, 183 1, they came from Massachusetts to Nor-
walk and settled on the David Gibbs farm. In 1835 they came
to Clarksfield. In 1855 they moved to Toledo, Iowa, where the
wife died December 30, 1865, and the husband September 3, 1872.
Of their children who came to Ohio, Philander T., born September
24, 1808, married Mary Keeler, of Norwalk, and died at Toledo,
Iowa, December 25, 1874. Lucy Ann, born August i, 1810, mar-
ried Allen Brown, of Norwalk, and died at Dartford, Wis., April
4, 1887. Mary E., born March 19, 1816, married Joseph Wilson,
who died in 1886. She is yet living. Ransloe D., born May 18,
1819, married Mary Book, of Norwalk, but died at Toledo, Iowa,
OBITUARIES 931
in 1855. Samuel H., born October 11, 1821, was married to
Elizabeth Church and died at Toledo, Iowa, September 22, 1883.
Louisa M., born December 29, 1823, married John Nickerson, of
Clarksfield; is yet living. Rev. George G., born January 23, 1827,
married Lucy Ann Dowd, in 1848; died in Iowa, November 8,
1869. Rev. Ezra S., born May 10, 1829, married Louise Phillips ;
is yet living.
Eweli, Austin, born in EHiottville, N. Y., June 15, 1820, came
to Ohio before 1840, lived in Townsend and Milan and died in
Norwalk, March 9, 1901.
Fisher, Charles, a son of Nathaniel Fisher and Mary Knapp,
was born in Clarksfield, April 4, 1842. He was married to
Lucretia Gibson, of Florence, in 1867. In 1870 he was married
to Helena Walton. He was killed by the cars, March 18, 1901.
He lived in Clarksfield all his life.
Frazier, Thomas, of Highland Scotch descent, was born in
Ireland in 1769. He came to America in 1786. He married, first,
Nancy McMillan ; second, Levice Gorsline. Mr. Frazier came to
Clarksfield in the thirties and died there in 1837. He was the
father of sixteen children.
Goodrich, Calvin, was born in Otsego county, N. Y., August
13, 1836, and came to Huron county in 1839. He married, first,
Abbie Place ; second, Julia Keeler. He died in Fairfield township,
November 21,-1901.
Gregory, Mrs. Matthew. Harriett Rogers, a daughter of
Joel Rogers and Betsy Ells, was born in Lyons, New York, Octo-
ber 13, 1832. While a babe she was brought to Hartland by her
parents and lived there until 1845, when the family came to Clarks-
field. She was married to Matthew Gregory, May 11, 1884, and
lived in Clarksfield until her death, December 29, 1901.
Gregory, Mrs. Harriet, a daughter of Joel Rogers and Betsy
Ells, was born at Lyons, N. Y., October 13, 1832, and came to
Hartland with her parents when an infant and to Clarksfield in
1845. She was married to Matthew Gregory, May 11, 1884. She
died in Clarksfield, December 29, 1901.
932 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
Hamlin, Mrs. Deborah, a daughter of Thomas B. Knapp and
Mercy Seger, was born at Danbury, Conn., in 1819. and came to
Clarksfield with her mother and brothers and sisters in 1837. She
was married to Eleazer Hamhn in 1840 and they lived in Clarks-
field for a few years, then moved to Iowa, where Mr. Hamlin died
in 1892. vShe died in Norwalk. August 1 1, 1902.
Hand, John, a son of James Harvey Hand, was born at Galen.
N. Y., February 28, 1824. He came to Clarksfield vrith his par-
ents in 1837. In 1844 he was married to Clarissa Fletcher, who
died in 1898. He died in Wakeman township. July 8. 1902.
Hall, Rev. Franklin P., was a son of Edmund Hall and Betsy
Phelps, and was born at Gorham, Ontario county, X. Y., Sep-
tember 3, 1810. He came to ^Nlilan in 1835 and taught school,
and settled in Fairfield township the next year. In 1838 he was
ordained to preach, and was pastor of Baptist churches in Fitch-
ville. New London, Milan, Clarksfield. etc. He was married to
Margaret Burn on June 2, 1839. He lived in Clarksfield from
1844 until 1849, then moved back to his farm in Fairfield. He
died in Olena, April 3, 1890. ^largaret Burn was a daughter of
William Burn, a Scotchman who settled in Fitchville in 1832. She
was bom in Greene county, X. Y.. May 14. 1818, and died July
,13, 1892.
Hayes, Henry, a son of John Hayes and Clarissa W'ildman,
was born in Clarksfield village, X'ovember 11, 1833. He died July
29, 1901, having spent his whole life in the same township. He
was never married.
Hester, John S., a son of ]\Iartin Hester and Mary M.
Stough. was born in Columbiana county, O., Xovember 8, 1810.
He came to Ashland county with his parents in 181 5 and in 1827
to Bronson, and in i8-|0 moved to X'orwich. He was married to
Jane Pancoast, October 13, 1836. She died and on April 6, 1842.
he was married to Lucinda ^I. Hildreth. He died February 17,
1901.
Hosmer, Mrs. J. T., a daughter of Lyman Knapp and Arvilla
Curtiss, was born in Clarksfield, July 15. 1829. She was married
934
THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
to John Titus Hosmer, of New London, in 1844. They Hved in
Clarksfield until 1855 ; then moved to Michigan and hved until her
death January 16, 190 1.
Hosmer, Daniel S., was born at Pen Yan, N. Y., January 11,
1827. He came to New London with his parents in 1836. In
1850 he was married to Sylvia Tower, and after her death to
Rachel Jones, and in 1880 to Mrs. Bithynia (Gifford) Hubbard.
After her death he was married to Mrs. Maria (Tower) Curry.
He died in Clarksfield, January 17, 1902.
Howard, Mrs. Wealthy Ann, was a daughter of William
Barnes and Helen Bissell and was born in Clarksfield, September
II, 1 841. She was married to John Howard, February 12, 1879,
and died in Clarksfield, December 26, 1901.
ICHABOD B. HOYT
OBITUARIES 935
Hoyt, Ichabod B. Ichabod Benson Hoyt, one of the sons of
Walter and Caroline Hoyt, was born at Owasco, Cayuga county,
N. Y., March 31 1827. At the age of six weeks he came with his
parents to Ohio where they settled on what has since been known
as the Hoyt homestead in Fairfield township, where he always
lived, except a short time on his farm in Greenfield township, until
he moved to the village. In 1855 he was united in marriage to
Elizabeth Godfrey and unto them one child (Carrie) was born.
He passed peacefully away December 14, 1900, at 5 A. M., at the
age of J 2^ years, 9 months and 17 days. Thus we see
he was a resident of this vicinity over seventy-three
years — a longer period of time than any other person now
living here. He was our oldest pioneer, always attending the
Firelands Pioneer meetings and having in his possession all of the
books ever published by that society. He had lived to see the
forest transformed to all Fairfield now is. The log cabin, the log
church, the log schoolhouse and the ox team were all familiar
scenes with him. Reared in a new country, he acquired habits of
industry and honesty. He was a schoolmate of T. F. Hildreth,
now of Norwalk.
Hoyt Elizabeth. Elizabeth Godfrey Hoyt was born at
North Fairfield, Ohio, August 6, 1833. At the early age of nine
years her mother died and she went to Ruggles to live with rela-
tives and friends. She returned to Fairfield and lived with her
aunt, Mrs. Davis Miller, until May 10, 1855, when she was mar-
ried to Ichabod Hoyt. At the age of nineteen she united with
the Baptist church and continued in this fellowship, until death,
forty-nine years. She was willing to bear her full share of all
burdens in making her home a cheerful, happy place for all those
who have gathered there. She cultivated and scattered flowers
and sunshine and good cheer. Her flower garden bloomed for the
village. She was one of the pioneers and took great interest in
talking of the early days. She was a helpmeet to her husband,
sharing pleasure and sorrow. She died February 26, 1901,
about two months after the death of her husband. She was aged
67 years, 6 months and 21 days. Her death was sudden
and peaceful, without a struggle, retiring to rest as
936
THE PIRELAND3 PIONEER
usual, leaving her lamp burning and her watch lying
open near by and in the morning was found sleeping the
unconscious sleep from which none ever awaken. The daily
paper and her well worn Bible lay on the stand where she had
ELIZABETH HOYT
read her last lesson. She sleeps the blessed sleep, leaving her
daughter, Carrie Hoyt Scott, to mourn her loss.
Hunter, Manoah, was born at Ticonderoga, N. Y., April 2"/,
1795 ; was married to Susanna Griswold, January 22, 181 5. (She
was born February 8, 1796.) They lived in Vermont until about
OBITUARIES 'Xil
1830. then came to Marion county, Ohio, and in 1836 to Clarks-
field, and to East Norwalk about 1842. The wife died here De-
cember 3, 1854, and the husband October 2, 1864. Their children
were — Polly, born February 9, 1816; married Luther Cooley, Jr.,
and came to Clarksfield in 1836 and died there in i860. John J.,
born April 12, 1818: married Mary Deforest; died in 1880.
Betsy, born June 30, 1820; married Truman S. Cartwright, De-
cember 7, 1836; died in 1885. Phidilla, born November 13, 1822;
married John Vanator, January 3, 1843; died at Clyde in 1896.
Milo, born May 5, 1825 ; married Jane Shedd, September 29, 1849 ;
moved to Clyde in 1869 and died in 1877. Chester, born Novem-
ber 22, 1827; married Nancy Lynn, July 12, 1850; died at Clyde
in 1893. Lydia, born August 8, 1830. Fanny Jane, born Novem-
ber 7, 1833; married, first, Nelson Isham; second, Wliliam Keith;
third, W. B. Harrison ; fourth, Samuel Patterson ; lives at Berlin
Heights. William Anson, born September 26, 1837, in Clarks-
field ; married Martha Hunter in 1857; died in Clyde, April 8,
1901. This family was noted for their large size. The father
weighed 308 ; Polly 300, and Betsy 250. The combined weight
of the parents and eight children was at one time 2,400 pounds.
Milo, Chester and William carried on the business of ax-making
at East Norwalk and later at Clyde, and their axes were much
sought for by the wood choppers in this section of the state.
Husted, Mrs. O. J. Mary W. Hurlbutt was a daughter of
Robert W: Hurlbutt, and was born at Pittsburg, Pa., October 31,
1823. She came to Clarksfield with her father about 1835. She
was married to Obadiah J. Husted, December i, 1841, and they
lived in Clarksfield until 1887, when they moved to Kansas City,
Kansas. She died February 28, 1901.
Jones, Mrs. Julia, was a daughter of Thomas Starr and
Clementina Clark, very early settlers in Erie county, and whose
marriage was the first one occurring in Florence, and was born
in Berlin township, December 5, 1821. She was married to
Alexander Jones, May 29, 1842, and they came to Clarksfield in
1844. In 1855 they moved to Rochester, Ohio, and in 1875 to
Cleveland, where Mr. Jones died. She died in Rochester, Jan-
uary 4, 1902,
938 THE FIRBLANDS PIONEER
Jones, LvUcien, a son of Brace Jones and Lucretia Partridge,
was born in Windsor county, Vt., March ii, 1812. He came to
the Firelands in 1838. He died in Sherman township, March 26,
1901.
Justice, Peter, a son of Nathan Justice, was born in Somerset
county. Pa., in 1796. He went to Holmes county, Ohio, and was
there married to Lydia Twaddle in 1827. In 1837 they came to
Clarksfield, where the wife died in 1872, and he in 1881.
Knapp, Mrs. John. Mary A. Blackman was a daughter of
Simeon Blackman and Wealthy Barrett, and was born in Russia
township, Lorain county, Ohio, March 26, 1833. In 1839 she
came to Clarksfield with her parents. She was married to John
S. Knapp, of Clarksfield, May 5, 1858. They lived in Clarksfield
until about 1880, then moved to Iowa, where she died March 21,
1901.
Lee, James M., a son of James Lee, was born in New London,
June 15, 1842. He was married to Sarah J. Gridley, April 21,
1870, and died in Clarksfield, June 23, 1902.
McKenney, Almeron, a son of John McKenney, was born in
Madison county, N. Y., January 10, 1812. He was married to
Jane Tibbitts in 1836, and they came to Clarksfield the same year.
About 1856 or 1857 he moved to Oberlin; in 1859 to Maumee
City, and in 1877 to Chicago, where he died May 26, 1897.
Miller, Rebecca. The subject of this sketch was born in
Baltimore county, Maryland, at a place called EHicots Mills, about
twelve miles from the city of Baltimore, in the year 1779. She
was married to Henry Miller about the year 1799. She was the
mother of twelve children, two sons and ten daughters. Their
first child, Miller William, was born in 1800. About the year
1812, they being slaveholders, freed their slaves and moved to
Ohio, a number of the slaves following them. They settled for
a time at or near Cadiz, Harrison county, Ohio. William, the
eldest child, remained in Cadiz, engaging in the milling business,
while the balance of the family pushed farther on into the forest
and located on the county line between Richland and Huron
OBITUARIES
939
counties, about four miles east of where the village of Plymouth
now stands. There they erected their log cabin, and with the aid
of their children cleared away the forest and commenced life in
the new world.
Indians at the time were very numerous, but friendly, and
often visited them at their cabin and making the children presents
REBECCA MILLER
of trinkets. Her husband, Henry Miller, died about the year
1841 or '2, her children then being about all married. She spent
the balance of her days with them, coming into Huron county in
1848 with the family of David Crawford, her son-in-law, husband
of Margaret Miller Crawford, where she spent the most of the
time in her old age and passed away October i, 1872, being at
the time ninety-three years old. The only surviving member of
940 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
her family at this date, November 20, 1902, is her youngest
daughter, Clarinda Miller Backus, now a resident of Peru town-
ship, this county.
Nicholls, J. A., a son of John Xicholls and Sarah Peck, was
born in Cayuga county, N. Y., May 12, 1827, and came to Bron-
son township with his parents in 1837. He w^as married to
Rosanna Fisher, August 24, 1870. He died in Xorwalk, June 9,
1902.
Nye, Airs. P. H. Hannah M. Foote was a daughter of Jar-
vis Foote, and was born in Fitchville, December 23, 1834. She
was married to P. H. Nye, of Bronson, December 25, 1859. I"
1865 they moved to Michigan, where she died in August, 1901.
Palmer, Mrs. Henry. Charlotte Burgelt was a daughter of
Guerdon and Julia Burgelt, and was born at Norwalk, Ohio,
August 17, 1835. She was married to Henry Palmer in i860.
She died in Fitchville, November 20, 1901.
Peck, Erastus J., the eldest son of Philemon Peck and Caro-
line Taintor, was bom in Hartland, June 15, 1833. He went to
Wisconsin in 1853. In 1861 he was married to Violet Tibbetts.
He died at Ft. Scott, Kas., February 25, 1898.
Penfield, Ephraim P., a son of Samuel Penfield and Clara
Woodworth, was born at North Fairfield in 1833. He became
a physician and lived at Bucyrus, Ohio, for thirty years and at
Spokane, Wash., where he died, for twelve years. He died Sep-
tember 9, 1902.
Phillips, Wm., was a son of John Phillips and Eva Lewis and
was born in Jefferson county, N. Y., August 12, 1827. He came
to Florence with his parents in 1837 and to Clarksfield in 1847.
He was married to Ellen Sinclair in 1857 and she died in 1900.
He died in Clarksfield, August, 1902.
Pitezel, Mrs. J. H. Esther Ann Gibbs, a daughter of Samuel
R. Gibbs, was born in Norwalk, Conn., April 21, 1815. She came
to Norwalk, Ohio, with her parents in 1818. In 1834, she was
converted and became a missionary among the Wyandotte Indians
at Upper Sandusky. She was married to Rev. George W. Breck-
OBITUARIES 941
eniidge, August 31, 1836. After his death she was married to
Rev. J. H. Pitezel, December 14, 1887. She died at Norwalk,
April 15, 1901.
Potter, George, a son of Joseph Potter and OHve Webb, was
born in New York state, December 5, 1820. He came to Flor-
ence with his parents in his youth and later to Clarksfield. He
was married to Elizabeth Scott, of Clarksfield, December i, 1846.
They lived in Clarksfield for a time, then moved to Michigan,
where he died May 11, 1901.
Reed, Dighton, a son of Israel Reed and Azuba Powers, was
born in Seneca county, N. Y., November i, 1817. He came to
Clarksfield with his parents as early as 1828. He was married to
Lorana Gififord, July 14, 1842. He died in New London town-
ship, February 24, 1902.
Reeds, Mrs. James. Susan Case was a daughter of Charles
Case and Emeline Belden, and was born in Clarksfield in 1837.
She married William Sprague, of Hartland, and they moved to
Missouri, where Mr. Sprague died. She then married James
Reeds. She died in Missouri, November 27, 1901.
Reding, Mrs. L. Pamelia Keeler, a daughter of Luke and
Jemima Keeler, was born in Norwalk, Conn., January 2, 1816, and
came to Norwalk, Ohio, with her parents the next year. In April,
1833, she was married to John Johnson, of Rochester, N. Y., and
he died a year later. In July, 1840, she was married to Loyal
Reding. She died at Norwalk, on the farm where her father
located in 1817, January 24, 1901. She was the last of a family
of eleven children.
Remlinger, Mrs. Christina, was a daughter of Ransloe D.
Edwards and Mary Book, and was born in Norwalk, January 14.
1844. She was married to Peter Remlinger in 1862. She died
in Milan, February 25, 1902.
Reynolds, Isaac Thorn, was a son of Daniel Reynolds and
Phebe Thorn, and a grandson of Daniel and Elizabeth Reynolds.
His mother was a daughter of Isaac Thorn and Rachel Birdsall
and a granddaughter of Thomas Thorn, and Sarah Haight, of
y42 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
Westchester county, N. Y. Mr. Reynolds was born in Newbiirg^
Orange county, N. Y., December 12, 1805. He came to Berlin
township with his parents in 1817. He grew to manhood in the
"log cabin" period of the history of the Firelands and became
accomplished in all the "arts" necessary to change the dense
forest into fertile fields. On December 15, 1830, he was married
to Miss Margaret Furman, of Florence, but who was a native of
Neversink, N. Y., and they began their married life in a log house
in Berlin township. They prospered so as to be able to build a
brick house, eight years afterward, which, with later additions, is
the home of C. L. Hill. The farm which Mr. Reynolds purchased
cost from one to two and a half dollars per acre, in its wild state,,
but it was one of the most fertile tracts of land in the Firelands
and he took great pride in making it the premium farm in the coun-
try, and in 1856 he received a premium for the best farm in Ohio.
The wife died June 8, 1877, and on November 20, 1878, he was
married to Mrs. Alice Niles, of Clyde, Ohio, and they took up
their residence in Berlin Heights, where he died December 2,
1901. His daughters, Mrs. O. C. Tillinghast and Mrs. C. L. Hill,
live in Berlin. The eldest daughter, Mrs. T. B. Hine, died in
Toledo in 1898. During the eighty-four years of his residence
in Berlin township he saw the land stripped of its dense forests and
become covered with fields of grass, grain, orchards and vine-
yards. He saw the log cabins disappear, and comfortable and
elegant houses take then- place. He saw the corduroy roads im-
proved by gravel and stone. He saw the only mode of travel,
the ox cart and stage coach, replaced by steam and electric rail-
ways, and almost lived to see the trolley car in Berlin Heights,,
which was a backwoods village in his youth. His was a life well
spent and he made more than two blades of grass grow where one
grew before, and lived to see his posterity enjoy the fruits of his
toil. (See Pioneer, September, i860, page 24, and January, 1894,
page 113.)
Rogers, Joel, was a son of Benjamin Rogers who was
descended from one of three Rogers brothers who came to Amer-
ica in the Mayflower. He was born in 1793 and was married to
Betsy Ells in 1816. He came from Lyons, N. Y., to Hartland.
OBITUARIES 943
in 1832 and to Clarkslield in 1845, and later to Berlin and lastly
to Wakeman, where he died in 1854. The wife died in Clarks-
field in 1888 at the age o£ ninety-two.
Roscoe, Boughton, a son of Dr. John B. Roscoe, of
Schoharie, N. Y., was born in 1805. In 1827 he was married to
Mary Washburn. About 1833 they came to Bronson township,
and in 1835 to Clarksfield. In 1840 they moved to Norwalk, then
Milan, then to Indiana and Iowa, and in 1852 to California, where
he died in 1892. He used to spell his name Rusco.
Rounds, George Nelson, a son of Isaac Rounds and Polly
Waldron, was born in the state of New York. He came to Hart-
land with his parents in 1840. In 1849 he was married to Mary
Elizabeth Knapp, and they lived in Hartland until the death of the
wife. In 1893 he was married to Mrs. Sally Hopkins and they
lived m Clarksfield, where he died November 6, 1900.
Rowland, Benjamin S., a son of Ezra Rowland and Ann
Stiles, was born in Clarksfield, July 4, 1829. He was married to
Lydia M. Odell, who died in 1875. He died at Rochester, O.,
March 4, 1902.
Sawyer, James, was born in Bexhill, England, January 9,
1820. He came to America at an early age with others of his
family and located in Lyme township. He never married. He
died February 11, 1901.
Shank, Adam, was born in Fayette county. Pa., M^rch 2,
1814, and was married to Sarah Twaddle, March 19, 1839. They
came to Clarksfield the same year and lived until his death, De-
cember 13, 1901.
Sisson, L. P., was born in Wayne county, N. Y., January 15,
1823, and came to Huron county with his parents, Sanford Sisson
and Flavia West, in 1827. He was married to Elizabeth Mills in
1844. He died in Greenwich township in 1900.
Smith, Franklin, came to Fairfield about 1837. He died at
Norwalk, April 19, 1902, at the age of eighty-five.
Smith, Enos, was a son of Rev. Nathan Smith, of Florence
and Berlin, the first preacher in Florence. He was born in Penn-
944 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
sylvania, January 20, 1793. He came to Florence at a very early
date, before 1816. He was married to Sally Sampson, of New
London, January 6, 1819. They lived in Clarkslieid for a time,
then went to Florence. He died September 15, 1874. Sally
Sampson was a daughter of Deacon Isaac Sampson and Marian
Calkins, and was born April 9, 1798, her place of birth not being
known to the writer. Her father was a soldier in the Revolu-
tionary War and was one of Washington's body guard. He was
one of the pioneers of New London. She died ]March, 1892.
Smith, Wesley, a son of the above, was born in Florence,
November 20, 1831, and was married to Eunice Wines in 1853.
He died in Florence, October 29, 1893.
Smith, Charles, a son of Nathan Smith, and brother of Enos,
was born May 17, 1797, and married Phebe Mead, of Fitchville,
in March, 1818. He died September 10, 1856. He lived m
Clarkslieid, Florence, Berlin, Townsend, etc. He raised a family
of twelve children.
Smith, James D., was a son of John and Frances Smith, and
was born in Hector, Tompkins county, N. Y., December 13, 1801.
He was married to Jane Van Ortwick. In 1834 they came to
Clarksfield, where Mr. Smith died January 30, 1874. Mrs. Smith
was a daughter of Abraham Van Ortwick and w^as born January
19, 1814, and died in Michigan, February 4, 1888.
Smith, Abraham Y., son of the above, was born in Hector,
N. Y., March 6, 183 1 and came to Clarksfield with his parents.
He was married to Roxena Hills, May 16, 1850. In 1861 he
moved to Michigan and died there March 4. 1901.
Starr, James T., a son of Ira Starr and Eliza Mead, was born
in Indiana, February 25, 1822. He came to Seneca county, Ohio
with his parents and in 1828 to Clarksfield. He was married to
Maria Gordon and they lived in Clarksfield. After her death
he married Mrs. New, of Berlinville, and lived at Berlinville for
several years. He died at Massillon, Ohio, September 19, 1901.
Stevenson. Andrew M., was a son of Philo Stevenson and
Lucena Elsworth, and was bom at Middleboro, Vt., April 27,
OBITUARIES
945
1830. He came with his parents to Norwalk in 1833, then went
to Peru and to Clarksfield in 1843. He went to California across
the plains and lived there several years, then returned to Clarks-
field and was married to Joanna Starr, December 8, 1868. He
died January 25, 1902.
LOUIS D. STRUTTON
Strutton, Louis Dehayes, born in London, Eng., January 16,
182 1, was educated at Christ's Hospital, one of the great English
Charter Schools commonly known as Blue Coat School. He
married Eliza A. Wiles, December 19, 1846; came to America,
1849; lived at Milan, Ohio, about six months, then came to Nor-
946 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
walk. He was the first employe of the Toledo, Xorwalk & Cleve-
land Ry. Co. as bookkeeper and civil engineer. Studied law and
was admitted to the bar in 1858. He died April 7, 1902. Chil-
dren : Mrs. Sarah L. Taber, Norwalk ; Lizzie, dead ; Charles,
dead; William, Bellevue ; Louis D., Jr., Savannah, Ga. ; Rebecca,
Cleveland; Lucy E., Norwalk; John A., Norwalk.
Stevenson, Philo, was born in Plattsburgh, N. Y., in 1793.
He was married to Lucena Ellsworth in 1816. In 1833 ^^ey
moved from Middleboro, Vt., to Norwalk, then to Ripley, and
in 1843 to Clarksfield. He died in 1873.
Stotts, Mrs. A. D. Maryette Boughton was born in Alle-
ghany county, N. Y., June 12, 1831, and came to the Firelands in
1835. In 1850 she was married to Abram D. Stotts, of Fitch-
ville. She died May 31, 1901.
Thomas, Eli, a son of Levi Thomas, was born at Brighton,
Monroe county, N. Y.. July 3. 1809. He was married to Jennette
Griswold of Townsend, October 12, 1834. He lived in different
towns in Huron county, living in Clarksfield from 1840 to 1847.
He lived in New London for about thirty years. The wife died
in 1843 and Mr. Thomas married a widow Kidwell, of Clarksfield.
He died in Norwalk, September 28, 1901.
Thomas, George B., a son of James and Catherine Thomas,
was bom in Hartland, March 18, 1830. He was married to ^Nlrs.
Sally Washburn in 1861. They lived in Townsend until 1901,
when they moved to Wakeman, where he died July 31, 1902.
Topping, Mrs. G. H. Isabelle Farr, widow of the late ^Nlajor
George H. Topping, of Ashland, died October 20, 190 1, at the
age of eighty-two. She was a former resident of Norwalk.
Tremain, Joseph, was a son of Justin Tremain and Fanny
Chandler, and was born in Oneida county, N. Y., in 1820. He
came to Hartland with his parents in 1835. He was married to
Dolly Chandler in 1840. She died in 1901 and he in 1902.
Tremain, Mrs. Joseph. Dolly Chandler, a daughter of Eben-
ezer Chandler and Lydia Post, was born in ^Madison county, N. Y.,
January 23, 1825. She came to Hartland with ITer parents in 1836.
OBITUARIES 947
She was married to Joseph Tremain, August 17, 1840. They
lived in New London, Michigan and Clarksfield. She died in
Clarksfield, May 20, 1901.
Tucker, Mrs. Calvin. Susan Cunningham was born at Ver-
million, Ohio, September i, 1828. She was married to Calvin
Tucker, May 14, 1845. She and her husband have lived in East
Norwalk since 1864. She died May 26, 1901.
White, Mrs. Adelbert. Caroline A. Galloway was born in
Perkins township, Erie county, Ohio, in 1843. She was married
to Adelbert White, of Hartland, in 1869. She died in 1901.
White, James, a son of Samuel and Jane White, was bom in
Pennsylvania, April 4, 1802. He came to Cold Creek, Erie county,
Ohio, in 1810, but went back to Pennsylvania and came to Berlin
after peace was declared, and lived until 1820, when he moved to
Hartland. He was married to Fanny Howard, January i, 1829.
He died May 4, 1880. At Cold Creek his parents lived near the
Snow family which was murdered by the Indians.
Williams, James, the "last of the Wyandots," died in Nor-
walk, August 28, 1902. For history of his life see Firelands
Pioneer, October, 1895, New Series, Vol. VHI, page 52.
Wines, Thomas, was born in the state of New York, April
6, 1793. He came from Long Island to Florence in 1825. He
married Phebe Ely, of Long Island. He died in Florence in 1850.
Phebe Ely was a daughter of Wells Ely, a Revolutionary soldier,
and was born on Long Island, N. Y., April 7, 1796. She died in
1850.
ERIE COUNTY
Adams, AVilliam H., died at his home in East Milan, Erie
county, Ohio, February 27, 1901, aged seventy-eight years.
Aicher, Mrs. L^., died in Huron, Erie county, Ohio, August
10, 1 90 1, aged eighty-five years.
Akins, Mrs. Martha (Eddy), died at 2 P. M., August 26,
1900, at her home in Perkins township, Erie county, Ohio. She
948 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
was the daughter of Joseph Eddy and wife, Caroline Akins, and
was born April 22, 1852, on the farm where she died, the farm on
which her father had resided for over eighty-one years. She was
married to Frank A. Akins, October 19, 1876. They had one
daughter, Cora B., born August 30, 1877. She is survived by
her husband and daughter ; also by her sister, Mrs. Truman B.
Taylor.
Anderson, Capt. A. M., Commandant of the Soldiers and
Sailors Home, Sandusky, Ohio, died suddenly x\pril 18, 1901, hav-
mg been apparently well the preceding day. He was born in Del-
aware, Ohio, April 21, 1841. He enlisted in the 4th Regiment O.
V. I. April 16, 1861, and served during the war. He was pro-
moted to first lieutenant, and as such while leading his men was
wounded at Spottsylvania, but continued in the service. He was
connected with the Home for many years as Adjutant under Gen.
Force, and after the death of the latter was promoted to Com-
mandant.
Arnold, Levi, died at his home near Avery, Erie county, Ohio,
December 19, 1900. He was born in Ashtabula county, Ohio,
March 6, 1833, ahd moved to Knox county in 1838 and thence to
Erie county in 1844, where he resided till his death. He was mar-
ried to Rachel Everett and they had five sons, three of whom and
their mother survive him. Mr. Arnold was for some years past
engaged extensively in the cultivation of strawberries on his farm
near Avery.
Baker, George P., died ]\Iay 24, 1901, in Florence, Erie
county. He was born in Florence township, Xovember 2^), 1841,
and was a son of Jeremiah and Xancy Baker, early pioneers of
Erie county. He was married to Hattie Klady, December 10,
1877. His widow and one son survive him; also three sisters
and one brother.
Barker, Jacob A., died at his home in Sandusky, Ohio, Decem-
ber 22, 1898. • He was born in Buffalo, X. Y., December 9, 1818,
and was the son of Zenas W. Barker, a soldier and government
agent during the War of 1812, and a grandson of Judge Zenas
Barker, a soldier of the Revolution. Zenas \\'. Barker moved with
OBITUARIES
949
his family from Bufifalo to Sandusky, Ohio, in 1834, whert he
resided for about forty-five years till his death. He was honored
by election to several public positions, including that of mayor of
the city. In 1846 Jacob A. Barker entered the service of The
Mad ^viver & Lake Erie Kaih-oud Co., and was rapidly promoted
JACOB A. BARKER
in that service till he attained to the position of general freight
agent, which position he retained till 1857, when he severed his
connection with the company. About four years thereafter he
accepted the Sandusky agency of the United States Express Co.,
which position he held for thirty years, retiring in 1891, at the
950 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
age of seventy-three years, on a pension awarded him by the com-
pany in recognition of his long and faithful service. During the
time he was connected with the express company, Mr. Barker was
many times honored by election to public positions. He served
as a member of the city council from 1874 to 1876, and as presi-
dent of that body signed the bonds issued for the construction of
the Sandusky waterworks. From 1872 to 1886 he served twelvj
years as a member of the Sandusky board of education, being out
one term of two years — 1878- 1879 and 1879- 1880 — by rea-
son of a change of residence from the first to the second ward.
During the year of 1884- 1885 he was president of the board.
He was prominent in musical circles and was president of the
musical institute, of which Prof. Bonn was director. In politics
be adhered to the principles of JefTerson and Jackson, but was a
patriot rather than a partisan, his sympathies being on the right
side during the Civil War. He was for twenty years senior war-
den of Calvary Episcopal church, and devoted much time and
means toward its support. He was possessed of a generous, kind
disposition and many instances of his generosity wall be gratefully
remembered by the recipients. Burial December 24, 1898, in Oak-
land cemetery, Sandusky, Ohio, Rev. J. F. Butterworth of Grace
church, and Rev. E. V. Shayler of Calvary, conducting the serv-
ices. He was married to Mary Elizabeth Paterson, November
22, 1847, who with their four sons, Major George R., and J- A.,
of Sandusky, Ohio; Frank S., of Bufifalo, N. Y., and Hary K., of
Baltimore, Md., survive him.
Bauder, Silas E., died in Cleveland, June 12, 1900. He was
born August 2, 1848, and married Belle L. Washburn, of Florence
township, Erie county, where they resided till he w^as elected clerk
of the courts of Erie county, when they moved to Sandusky,
where they resided during the term of his service, after which
they moved to Cleveland.
Baum, Charles, died January 3, 190 1, in Perkins township,
Erie county, where he resided for over fifty years. He was born
February 13, 1826, and settled in Perkins when quite young prior
to his marriage.
OBITUARIES 951
Becker, Conrad, died June 20, 1900, in Sandusky, Ohio,
where he had resided for many years, and operated a cooper shop,
employing a number of men.
Berrigan, William, died in Cleveland, Ohio, May 15, 1900.
He was at one time marshal of Sandusky. His parents were
early settlers in Sandusky and on Kelley's Island.
Biehl, Frederick, -died in Sandusky, August 14, 1900, aged
seventy-two years. He had resided in Sandusky since 1849.
Bigelow, Mrs. Sarah Hull, died at her home in Sandusky,
Ohio, November 29, 1900. Sarah Hull was bom in Perkins town-
ship, Erie county, Ohio, December 24, 183 1, and was the daughter
of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Hull. She was married September 3,
1855, to Jabez G. Bigelow, who is now the second oldest member
of the bar in Sandusky. She is survived by her husband and
three children, Mrs. Clara Wharton and Dr. G. J. Bigelow, of San-
dusky, and John W. Bigelow, of Cleveland, Ohio.
Blair, Edward, died in North Milan. February 14, 1901, aged
eighty-three years.
Boalt, Judge John H., died May 9, 1901, at his country estate
"Montefada," Sonora county, California, aged sixty-three years.
He was buried at San Francisco, his place of residence. May 12,
1901. He was a son of Charles Leicester and Eliza Griswold
Boalt, of Norwalk, and later of Sandusky, Ohio. Judge Boalt
was an alumnus of both Amherst and Harvard colleges.
Breen, Felix, died at his residence in Sandusky, January 27,
1901, aged seventy-six years. He was a pioneer resident of San-
dusky. Two sons, John J. and James E., and two daughters,
Mary J. and Anna R., survive him.
Brown, Prof. Moses True, died September 11, 1900, in San-
dusky, Ohio. He was born in Deerfield, New Hampshire, March
4, 1827. He married Cora B. Barney, daughter of the late George
Barney, in 1863. He was for a time Professor of Oratory in
Dufifs College, Boston.
Buckley, Valentine died at his residence in Sandusky, Ohio,
August 13, 1901. He was born in Baden, Germany, in 1817, and
came to Sandusky in 1842, where he resided till his death.
952 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
Burlew, Gorclon, died in Fredonia, Kansas, October 12, 1900.
He formerly resided in Berlin, Erie county, where he was mar-
ried tu Dora Stahl.
Butts, Rosina B., wife of Andrew Butts, died June 22, 1901,
at Berger, Missouri, where she had gone for a visit. She was
born January 10, 1827, and prior to her marriage to Mr. Butts
she was the widow of Nicholas Bloomer, a pioneer German resi-
dent of Sandusky.
Butman, Myron, died at his home in Saginaw, Mich., Jan-
uary 10, 1901. He was a former resident of Milan, Ohio.
Cable, Mrs. Louisa (Griffin), died at her home in Florence
township, Erie county, January 28, 1901. Louisa Griffin was born
in Sempronius, N. Y., April 15, 1819, and was one of the thirteen
children of Gilbert and Elizabeth (Palmer) Grifiin. In 1831 she
came with her parents from New York state to Berlin township,
Erie county, where she resided till 1852, when she was married
to Marcus Cable, of Florence township, in which township they
resided till her death. They had two children, Charles and Clar-
ence. The latter died in early childhood. Her husband, who is
an invalid, and their son Charles survive her.
Camp, Miss Elizabeth, died November 4, 1900,, in Lancaster,
Ohio. She was born in Sandusky and was a daughter of J. A.
Camp, and granddaughter of Major Camp, one of the early pio-
neers of Sandusky. The burial was in Oakland cemetery, San-
dusky, Ohio.
Carpenter, Mrs. Jane, died at Huron, Erie county, July 12,
1901, aged seventy-eight years.
Carter, John R., was born in Florence township, Erie county,
Ohio, February 29, 1836, and died February 28, 1901, on the same
farm where he was born and had resided during his entire life.
He was married to Julia H. Graves, July 2, 1862, who died March
6, 1867, leaving a daughter, now Mrs. Clara Boehm, of Toledo,
Ohio. He was married, second, to Adelaide A. Gould, May 20,
1868, who died May 8, 1899. They had two sons, Henry G., of
Wakeman, and Marvin G., of Toledo. He was married, third,
OBITUARIES 953
November 28, 1900, to Mrs. Rose R. Howard, who survives him
Burial in Birming-ham cemetery.
Chapman, Col. James, died September 30. 1900, aged eighty-
four years. He resided in Margaretta township and in the city
of Sandusky,
Chapman, Mrs. Eliza (Phillips), died January i, 1901, in
Berlin township, Erie county, Ohio, where she was born March
10, 1821. She was married to T. O. Chapman, September 5, 1851.
He died six years since. They began housekeeping in the house
where she died. They had three children : Corwin, Frank P. and
Clara, but only one, Frank P., survives her. He was with her
during her sickness and at the time of her death.
Conley, Mrs. Alice, died April 26, 1901, aged seventy-four
\ears, in Sandusky, Ohio, where she had resided over fifty years.
Crosson, P. J., died August 16, 1900, in Sandusky. He was
superintendent of the city waterworks.
Culver, Frank P., died December 31, 1900, at his home in
Sandusky, Ohio, where he was born October 28, 1864. He was
a son of Capt. Elisha M. Culver and wife, Clarissa A. Prout, and
a grandson of A. H. Prout and wife, Mary Emeline Carpenter,
early pioneers of Erie and Huron counties. He was engaged in
the practice of law in Sandusky.
Curran, A. M., died at the Soldiers and Sailors Home near
Sandusky, Ohio, March 23, 1901. He was born in Huron county
in 1827, was a soldier of the Civil War, and entered the Home
from Bucyrus in 1897.
Curtis, Howard J., died November 8, 1900. He was born
March 11, 1856, and prior to his death was one of the prominent
successful business men of Sandusky.
Cuthbert, Mrs. Isabella, died in Sandusky, Ohio, April 23,
1901, aged sixty-eight years. She was the widow of the late
Richard Cuthbert and had resided in Sandusky about fifty years.
Davis, Thomas H, B., died September 3, 1900, in Sandusky,
Ohio. He was born October 27, 1841, m New Haven, Conn., and
954 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
was married to Mary Frances Lockwood, daughter of Judge Wil-
liam F. Lockwood, June 19, 1872, who with their two children,
Thomas H. B. and Edith L,., survive him.
Davlin, Ann J., died August 16, 1900. She was born in Erie
county in July, 1839.
Deitz, Mathias, died January 21, 1901, in Sandusky, Ohio.
He was born December 6, 1832, and was an early settler in San-
dusky.
Dewey, Hiram T., died at his summer residence, Edgemore,
Long Island, N. Y., July 11, 1901, in his eighty-fifth year. He
was born in Poultney, Vermont, July 13, 1816, and soon thereafter
his parents moved to Sandusky, Ohio. When thirteen years of
age he went to work in his father's jewelry store and learned that
business, which he followed for many years in Sandusky. July
3, 1857, Mr. Dewey purchased twenty acres of land on the east
side of the Milan road, a short distance south of the city of San-
dusky, but now within the city, and planted thereon the first vine-
yard on the main land in Erie county. In 1865 j\Ir. Dewey moved
to New York City, where, and in Brooklyn and at his summer
residence on Long Island, he spent the remainder of his life. Five
children, three sons and two daughters, survive him.
DeWitt, William H., died at his residence, corner of Adams
and Hancock streets, in Sandusky, Ohio, August 30, 1901. He
was born in Trenton, New Jersey, November 4, 1820, and came
with his parents to Sandusky, Erie county, Ohio, in 1831, and was
married to Hannah Buck in 1840. They had three children. He
was a brick mason but had not worked at his trade for many years,
having the latter part of his life been engaged in farming. He has
resided in Sandusky seventy years. A widow and three children,
George H., Chester L. and Mrs. Jane Bixby, all residents of San-
dusky, survive him.
Diebisch, Julius, died February 10, 1901, in Sandusky, Ohio.
He was born in Prussia in 181 1 and came to Sandusky in 1852,
where he resided till his death. He is survived by two sons, Julius
and Paul, and two daughters, Bertha and Mary.
OBITUARIES 955
Doller, Valentine, died at 6:30 A. M., May i, 1901, at his
home on Put-in-Bay Island. Mr. Doller was born in Bammenthal,
Germany, November 28, 1834, and came to Sandusky, Ohio, in the
fall of 1 85 1, where he resided till the fall of 1859, when he became
a resident of Put-in-Bay, where he has for some years been one
of the most prominent citizens of that Island. He was one of the
projectors and principal owner of the Put-in-Bay Telegraph. He
erected and owned a number of buildings, including the present
Put-in-Bay House. He also owned lands and vineyards. He
purchased and donated the land upon which the U. S. Fish Hatch-
ery is located. He also donated the land for the town hall.
Doran, Fenton, died April 8, 1901, in Sandusky. He was
born in Ireland in 1825 and came to Sandusky in 1847, where he
resided till his death. He was a mechanic. A widow, three sons,
James, John and Joseph, and three daughters, Mary, Louisa and
Lucy, survive him.
Doran, Paul, died in Cleveland, Ohio, November 2, 1901.
Burial in St. Joseph's cemetery, Sandusky, Ohio. He was aged
seventy-six years and had resided in Sandusky many years.
Douglass, Henry, died in Toledo, Ohio, August 25 1900. He
was a former resident of Berlin township, Erie county.
Drake, Mrs. Elizabeth (Sprague), died at her home on
Catawba Island, Ottawa county, Ohio, September 22, 1901, aged
seventy years. Burial in Oakland cemetery, Sandusky, Ohio.
She was the widow of Charles Drake, and was born in Erie county
and resided for many years in Sandusky. She is survived by
three sons, Ferris, of Duluth, Minn. ; Livingston, of Columbus,
and Ellicott, of Catawba Island ; by two sisters, Mrs. F. W. Alvord
and Mrs. J. T. Beecher, of Sandusky, and by one brother, Charles
Sprague, of Dayton, Ohio.
Eastman, Mrs. Hannah (Cherry), died in Norwalk, Ohio,
August 9, 1901. She was born in Milan, Erie county, January 29,
1 82 1, and was married to Stillman Eastman in Milan in 1846.
She is survived by two sons, also by a brother, George Cherry, of
Sandusky, Ohio.
95»5 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
Englebry, Mrs. Mary Ann (Lingebach), died at her home in
Vermillion, Erie county, Ohio, November 15, 1901. She was born
in Reitzhausen, Germany, June 10, 1842, and came with her par-
ents to Vermillion, Erie county, in 1852, and was married to John
A. Englebry in 1861. They had seven children, three of whom
survive her, Dr. F. E., Charles H., and Mrs. Flynt Nichols.
Felden, Mrs. Angeline, widow of the late John Felden, died
December 23, 1900, in Perkins township, Erie county. She was
a pioneer of that township. Two sons and four daughters survive
her.
Ferris, Mrs. Anna Damarius (White), died October 9, 1901,
at her home in Sandusky, Ohio, in the same room where she was
born, August 11, 1838, in a house erected by her father on Adams
street, which he gave her after the death of her mother. She was
the daughter of Samuel White and wife, Damarius Pendleton,
early pioneer settlers in Sandusky, Ohio. She was married to
Benjamin F. Ferris, October 22, 1861. They had three children,
William, now of Cleveland, Ohio ; George, of Montana, and Frank
W., of Sandusky, who, with their father, survive her ; also a
brother, Samuel M. White, of Cleveland.
Flenning, Mrs. Addie Rogers, died June 13, 1900. She was
born in Margaretta township, Erie county, March 27, 1867, and
was the daughter of Stephen H. Rogers, one of the early pioneers
of Margaretta township.
F'oster, Mrs. Carlotte C. (Brush), died in Margaretta town-
ship, Erie county, March 17, 1901. She was born in St. Albans,
Vermont, August 20, 1810, and was married there to W. H. Fos-
ter. In 1836 they came to Ohio and located in Margaretta town-
ship where they resided till their respective deaths, her husband
having died in 1874. Three children survive her, Mrs. J. C. Pren-
tice, of Margaretta ; Mrs. Samuel Irvine and Romeo W. Foster,
of Sandusky, Ohio.
Foster, William D., died July i, 1901, in Sandusky, Ohio,
where he was born, his parents having been early settlers of San-
dusky.
OBITUARIES 957
Fowler, Mrs. Prudence Rebecca (Snow), widow of the late
Isaac Fowler, died at her home in Berlin, Erie county at 8 P. M.,
November 17, 1900. She was born in East Haddam, Conn., in
1820, and married Isaac Fowler, September 6, 1839, and located
in Vermillion, Erie county, where they resided for one year and
then moved to Berlin, where she resided about sixty years, till her
death.
Fowler, Mrs. Mary E. (Lyman), died at her home in Carro-
ville, Florida, August 25, 1901. She was born in Erie county,
Ohio, of pioneer parentage, and was married to Richard Fowler,
who survives her. He was born in Margaretta township, Erie
county.
Fox, Peter, died in Milan, Ohio, January 14, 1901. He was
born m Baden, Germany, February 22, 1824. He came to Amer-
ica and settled in Milan, Erie county, Ohio, in 1847. ^^ 1852 he
was married to Theresa Sheibly, who, with six of their eight chil-
dren, survive him.
Frey, Mrs. Mary Magdalena, widow of Fred Frey, died April
25, 190]. She was born June 19, 1822, and was an early settler
in Sandusky.
Gaston, Mrs. Louisa (Bissell), died in Milan, Erie county,
March 6, 1901. Louisa Bissell was born in East Windsor, Conn.
With her parents she moved in 1835 to Milan, where in 1840 she
was married to George R. Gaston who for many years was one
of the leading business men of that village till his death in 1879.
She united with the Presbyterian Church in 1836 and continued
a consistent member thereof for the remaining sixty-five years of
her life.
Gatten, Nicholas, died at his home near Venice, Erie county,
at 10 A. M., July 23, 1901, aged seventy-eight years. He was one
of the early grape growers in the vicinity of Sandusky, where he
has resided for over fifty years. His wife and a son survive him.
Gaufif, David K., died in Milan township, Erie county, April
I, 1901. He was born in Norwalk, June 30, 1834. His parents
having died when he was about three years old, he thereafter lived
958 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
with his grandfather, Martin Kellogg, till his marriage to Ange-
lina Odell, December 30, 1857, when he bought a farm in Hart-
land, Huron county, and made that his home for thirteen years,
after which he located on a farm in Milan township, Erie county,
where he resided till his death. February 2.2, 1864, he enlisted
in Company B, 25th Regiment O. V. I., and was honorably dis-
charged June 18, 1866. His wife and their only child, Mrs.
Rebecca Anna Miller, survive him.
Geise, George, died June 12, 1901, aged seventy- four years
in Sandusky, Ohio, where he had resided many years.
Gessner, Mrs. Louisa, died September 28, 1901, aged sev-
enty-five years, at the residence of her daughter, Mrs. Albert
Barbe, Sand Hill, Erie county, Ohio, where she had resided nearly
her entire life.
Gibbs, Mrs. Anna Judson, died in Toledo, Ohio, April 12,
1901, aged seventy-eight years. The funeral was conducted at
the mortuary chapel, Oakland cemetery, Sandusky, Ohio, where
the remains Vv^ere interred. She w^as a pioneer resident of Erie
county.
Gilchrist, Mrs. Alexander, mother of Capt. J. C. Gilchrist,
died at Vermillion, Erie county, Ohio, at i A. M., May 17, 1901,
aged eighty years. Two sons, Capt. J. C. and C. P., both resi-
dents of Cleveland, and one daughter, Mrs. Frey, of Findlay, sur-
vive her.
Gillard, Miss Belle, died at Rocky Ridge, Ottawa county,
Ohio, November 5, 1901. Burial at Oakland cemetery, San-
dusky, Ohio. She was born in Erie county of pioneer parentage
and Vt^as a sister of Dr. E. Gillard, of Sandusky, Ohio.
Green, Frank A., died suddenly in Lima while there tem-
porarily on business, Thursday morning, December 13, 1900. He
was born in Perkins township, Erie county, Ohio, and was of
early pioneer parentage.
Gregg, Harry, died in Denver, Colorado, November 19, 1900.
He was a son of Philander Gregg, who it is said was the first
white child born in Sandusky, Ohio.
OBITUARIES 959
Hamilton, Robert, died November 26, 1900, at his home on
Kelley's Island, where he had resided for many years, having been
one of the pioneer settlers of that island. He was over eighty
years of age.
Hart, Gottleib, died August 8, 1900, in New York City at the
home of his son, aged seventy-eight years. Mr. Hart was pro-
prietor of a clothing store in Sandusky over fifty years since, and
later was engaged in the grocery business in that ciity, which was
his home till his visit to New York a short time prior to his death.
He was a highly respected Hebrew.
Harris, Larvin, died in Perkins township, July 31, 1901, aged
ninety-four years. He was born in the state of New York, but
came to Erie county as an early pioneer.
Harris, Wilham H., died in Seattle, Washington, May i, 1901.
He was born in Oxford township, Erie county, Ohio, November
21, 1841, of pioneer parentage. He had resided in Seattle for the
past eighteen years.
Hastings, Mrs. Sarah, widow of the late W. G. Hastings, died
August 25, 1900. She was a pioneer resident of Groton township,
Erie county.
Hathaway, Betsy (Stevens), died in Milan, Erie county,
Ohio, June 14, 1901. She was born in Milan, September 12,
1823, and was married to Peter Hathaway, February 9, 1851.
They had two children, a daughter and son. Her husband and son
died some years since. Her daughter, Mrs. William Rosekelley,
and an aged sister. Miss Rhoda Stevens, survive her.
Hathaway, Mrs. Prudence Direxa (Craw), died at the resi-
dence of her daughter Elizabeth, Mrs. E. H. Eddy, near Adrian,
Michigan, April 10, 1901. She was born in Fairfield, Vermont,
May 20, 1814, and moved from there to Milan, Erie county, Ohio,
in 1833, and was married May 20, 1834, to Peter Hathaway who
died in Milan, July 26, 1881. They had four children, only one
of whom, Mrs. Eddy, survives her, with whom she had resided
since the death of her husband. She was one of the charter
members of the Friends Church at Milan and was a recognized
960 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
minister in that society for many years. The funeral was held in
the Friends Church at Milan, Saturday, April 13, and the remains
were interred in the Milan cemetery.
Healy, John, died at his residence, 1121 Jefferson street, San-
dusky, Ohio, February 11, 1901, aged eighty-three years. He was
a pioneer citizen of Sandusky.
Heath, Courtney Kellogg, died in Atlantic City, N. J., Sep-
tember 18, 1 90 1. He was born January 31, 1848, in Florence
township, Erie county, Ohio, and was the son of Asher and Ma4-
vina Heath, early pioneers of that township.
Hendry, A. W., died in Shawnee, Oklahoma, April 15, 1901.
He was born in the state of New York, March 22, 1820, and came
from there to Sandusky where he engaged in the practice of law
in 1843. He served two terms as prosecuting attorney, and two
terms as probate judge of Erie county. After the death of his
wife he went in 1890 to Shawnee, Oklahoma, where he resided
with his two daughters till his death. His remains were brought
from there to Sandusky and interred in Oakland cemetery, Friday,
April 19, 1901. Five children survive him, two daughters, Maria
and Jennie, and three sons, all being engaged in the railroad busi-
ness. Frank P. being general passenger agent of the Atchison,
Topeka & Santa Fe, and Jay A. being treasurer of the Mexican
Central Railroad Company.
Hill, Horace, died Monday night, December 3, 1900, at his
home in Berlin, Erie county, aged nearly ninety-four years. At
the funeral, December 6, Hudson Tuttle delivered the discourse.
W. G. Spear sang a solo and Miss Emma Rood Tuttle read some
appropriate poems. Mr. Hill spent nearly all his life in Berlin,'hav-
ing resided there since his early boyhood. His wife was Fanny
Tennant, who alone of their family survives him, their three
children, two sons and one daughter, having died prior to the
death of their father.
HofFinger, Mrs. Catherine (Kromer), died in Sandusky, Ohio,
August 15, 1901. She was born in 1822, and was married to
Jacob Hoffinger in 1846. He died about twenty-five years since.
They had nine children, five of whom survive her. John, Charles,
OBITUARIES 961
Gustav, Mrs. Adolph Lang, of Sandusky, and Mrs. Martin Cecil,
of Groton, Erie county. She is also survived by three brothers,
John, Charles and Joseph Kromer and two sisters, Mrs. Christ.
Holderer and Mrs. Hoffinger.
Hogg, Mrs. Mary, died at her home in Danbury township,
Ottawa county, Ohio, November 6, 1900, aged eighty-four years.
She was the widow of Thomas Hogg who assisted in the building
of the first railroad steam engine operated west of the Allegheny
Mountains, It was the engine known as the "Sandusky," built by
Thomas Rogers, of Paterson, New Jersey, in 1837. It was at first
designed for use on the New Jersey Railroad, but was sold to the
Mad River and Lake Erie Railroad Co., and forwarded on the
Schooner Sandusky by canal and lake to Sandusky, Ohio, Mr.
Thomas Hogg accompanying it for the purpose of setting it up
and giving instruction for its operation. No rails had been laid
on the road when the engine arrived at Sandusky, but were there-
after laid, fitting the track to the gauge of the engine, four feet and
ten inches wide, and it was subsequently provided by an act of the
legislature that all roads thereafter constructed in the state of
Ohio should be of that gauge. After the track was laid, Mr. Hogg
set up the engine and run it for some time. He decided to make
Sandusky his home, and resided there for many years, being
master mechanic of the Sandusky, Mansfield & Newark Railroad
for a long time before retiring from active life. He subsequently
moved on a farm on the Peninsula opposite Sandusky where he
spent the remaining years of a long and useful life.
Homegardner, Mrs. Jane B. (Robinson), widow of Jasper
Homegardner, died in Sandusky, Ohio, July 4, 1900. She was
born August 31, 1834.
Homegardner, Mrs. Mary, widow of George Homegardner,
died in Sandusky, Ohio, July 20, 1900. They were early settlers
in Sandusky.
Hosfeld, Mrs. Anna, widow of George Hosfeld, died at the
residence of her son, George Hosfeld, in Sandusky, Ohio, No-
vember II, 1901, aged eighty-four years. She was an early resi-
dent of Erie county.
962 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
Hughes, Elisha Wilkinson, died in Milan, Erie county, Ohio,
May 13, 1 90 1. He was born in New Jersey, November 24, 1824,
and when six months old his father, John Hughes, moved to Milan
in 1825. He was married to Eliza Root, daughter of Hiram Root,
of Spears Corners, June 10, 1850, and located in Huron township
where they resided for a time, then moved onto the Hiram Root
farm where they resided till 1888, when they moved to Milan,
where he died. His widow, a daughter, and four grandchildren
survive him.
Hunt, Jonathan, died at the Soldiers and Sailors Home near
Sandusky, Ohio, October 29, 1900. He was an early pioneer
settler in Erie county.
Hunter, Mrs. P., died at the residence of her son, Nat Hunter,
in Florence, Erie county, Ohio, April 5, 1901. Three children sur-
vive her ; two, Fred C. Lee and Julia Lee (Mrs. Henry Lay, of
Sandusky) by her first husband, and one, Nat Hunter, by her
second husband.
Huntly, Mrs., died at the residence of her son, Shur Huntly,
November 7, 1900, aged eighty-four years. She was a pioneer
settler in Erie county, Ohio.
Her, Mrs. Jerusha (Worthington), died in Sandusky, Ohio,
October 2, 1901. She was born in Sandusky in 1829. She is
survived by two brothers, William and Benjamin Worthington,
who are at the Soldiers Home.
Jenkins, Lydia Susannah (Butler), died at Berlin, Erie
county, Ohio, December 17, 1900. Lydia Susannah Butler was
born in Berlin, Erie county, June 4, 1844, and was of pioneer par-
entage. She was married to George Jenkins in 1861. They had
twelve children, nine of whom survive her ; also her husband,
three brothers and one sister.
Johns, Henry, died at his home in Sandusky, Ohio, May 15,
1901. He was an old resident and was in the employ of the
Sandusky, Mansfield & Newark Railroad and its successor, the B.
& O., for forty-three years in the city of Sandusky.
OBITUARIES 963
Johnston, Mrs. Maud, daughter of the late J. T. Johnston, of
Sandusky, Ohio, died at IndianapoHs, Ind., November 6, 190 1.
She had been married to Wilson Walls, but was divorced from
him and restored to her maiden name. She was aged thirty-two
years, and born in Sandusky.
Jones. Nathaniel (colored), died in Sandusky, Ohio, May
I, 1901. He was born in North Carolina, May 28, 1833. His
parents were free and with their fourteen children moved to
Richmond, Indiana, in 1836. In 1851, Nathaniel came to San-
dusky, Ohio, and at first served as a waiter at the old Townsend
House, where an older brother was cook. He changed his voca-
tion to that of a barber at the same hotel till it was destroyed by
fire, after which he m.oved to the Colton House, and thence a
little later to Columbus avenue, where he continued in the busi-
ness till a short time previous to his death. In 1853 he married
Susan Butler. They had nine children, but two of whom sur-
vive him, Charles W. and Abram L,-, the latter having been the
first colored graduate of the Sandusky High School. Mr. Jones
was prominent in organizing the Decatur street Colored Baptist
Church and thereafter spent much time and money in the inter-
est of its maintenance. Through industry he was enabled to ed-
ucate his children and secure for himself and wife a comfortable
home.
Jones, Mrs. Elizabeth, wadow of W. H. Jones, a pioneer res-
ident of Sandusky, died June 20, 1900.
Kafferly, John B., died at his home in Sandusky, Ohio,
August 22, 1901. He was born in Switzerland, April 12, 1845,
and came to Sandusky with his parents when a child. He was
married to Catherine Houck and they had nine children, seven of
whom and his wife survive him. He was several times honored
by election to public office, serving several times as member of
the Sandusky city council and as president of that body. He was
the Democratic condidate for representative of Erie county in
1897, but was defeated by a few votes by Dr. Love, the Repub-
lican candidate.
964 THE FIRBLANDS PIONEER
Keller, Jacob, died July 30, 1900, in Milan, Erie county.
He was born in Switzerland, July 28, 1812. He came to Ohio in
1833 ^"d resided in Milan for many years. He was married to
Clara Green wald in 183--.
Klein, Mrs. Alvira (Adams), died in Milan, Erie county,
Ohio, July 29, 1901. Alvira Adams was born at Francisville,
New York, November 15, 1832. When a babe her parents moved
to Ohio, locating first in Lorain county and thereafter in 1842 in
Milan, where she resided during the remaining fifty-nine years
of her life. April 18, 1850, she was married to D. C. Klein, who
died several years since. One daughter, Mrs. W. W. Stoddard,
of Milan, with whom she resided the latter years of her life, sur-
vives her.
Kohlman, Mrs. Dora Bier, died December 10, 1900, in San-
dusky, Ohio, where she had resided over fifty years, aged eighty-
four years.
Krock, Mrs. Susan, died in Huron, May 12, 1901. Three
sons three daughters survive her. She was an early settler in
Huron, Erie county.
Krohnthal, Joseph, died in Cleveland, Ohio, at 1 1 45 A. M.,
November 4, 1901, aged seventy-five years. His wife, three
daughters and one son survive him. He was for many years a
leading merchant in Sandusky, Ohio.
Kurtz. Henry, died in Milan, Ohio, March — , 1901. He
was born in Hesse, Germany, in 1822, and came to Milan, Erie
county, Ohio, in 1848 where he resided the remainder of his
life. He was married in 1850 to Emeline Maher who died about
a year thereafter. In 1853 he was married to Miss Catherine
Hull who, with one daughter, survives him.
Langwell, E. J., died in Oxford township, Erie county, and
the funeral was held at the Sand Hill church in that township,
April 2, 1 90 1. He was born and spent his entire life in that
vicinity.
Lea, James D., died at is home on Wayne street in Sandusky,
Ohio, January 8, T901. He was born July 21, 1817, at Pine Creek,
OBITUARIES 965
Lycoming county, Pa., and came to Sandusky, Ohio, in 1839. He
was married to Miss Caroline Mackey in 1841. They had two
daughters and three sons. Mr. Lea had learned the carpenter
trade before he came to Sandusky, and a short time before his
death he told the writer that when he came to Sandusky he im-
mediately secured work at his trade at fifty cents per day, but
after he had worked for such wages one week his employer ad-
vanced his wages to one dollar per day and gave him a further
advance thereafter. He soon himself became an employer in the
carpenter business, and within a few years engaged in the lumber
yard business, in which he continued for many years, during which
time he had several partners. Through industry and good man-
agement he secured a comfortable competence and some years
prior to his death retired from active business and devoted his
time to the care of his property. He is survived by his wife and
three children, Mrs. W. H. Herbert and Lewis M. Lea, of San-
dusky, and John R. Lea, of Seattle, Washington.
Learned, Mrs. Mary, died in Toledo, Ohio, April 23, 1901.
The remains were interred at Oakland cemetery, Sandusky, Ohio,
of which city she was an early resident.
Lebensberger, Mrs. Caroline, widow of Moses Lebensberger,
died at her residence in Sandusky, Ohio, August 24, 1901, aged
seventy-three years. She had resided in Sandusky the past forty-
six years. Seven children survive her, three daughters and four
sons, the latter having been leading merchants of Sandusky.
Leonard, Waldo M., died at St. Paul, Minnesota, September
22y, 1900. He was an early resident of Erie county, Ohio.
Leonard, Capt. John, died in Cleveland, Ohio, November 6,
1900. He was an early resident of Erie county, Ohio.
Lewis, Mrs. Clara, widow of the late Joseph Lewis, died
in Chicago, May 4, 1901. The remains were interred Monday.
May 6, in Oakland cemetery, Sandusky, Ohio, where her hus-
band was previously buried. They were both early pioneers
of Sandusky, Erie county.
Lockwood. Judge William Francis, died at the West House,
Sandusky, Ohio, at 9:45 P. AL, Friday, February 9, 1901. aged
966 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
nearly eighty years. He is survived by his wife and three
duaghters, Mrs. T. H. B. Davis, of Sandusky, Ohio; Mrs. Pom-
eroy, of Cleveland, Ohio, and Mrs. D. W. Lockwood, of New
York, all of whom were at his bedside when he died. In accord-
ance with his request his remains were cremated at Cleveland,
Ohio.
Lockwood, William E., died in Milan, Erie county, Ohio, No-
vember 6, 1 90 1. He was born in Milan, August — , 1822, and
was a son of Ralph Lockwood. He was prominent in securing
the building of the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railroad and was for
a time general manager of the Huron branch. Three brothers,
Stephen, Francis and Ralph, and one sister, Mrs. Elizabeth Mar-
vin, survive him.
Loos, William, died at his home in Oxford township, Erie
county, February 10, 1901, aged seventy-seven years. Three
daughters, Mrs. Charles Frank, Mrs. Philip Dietz and Mrs. B.
Hoffman, and two sons, James and William, survive him.
Lowry, Mrs. William, died in Toledo, Ohio, October 20,
1900. The remains were interred at the cemetery in Berlin town-
ship, Erie county, where she was bom of pioneer parentage.
Lucal, William, died in Perkins township, Erie county, at
12 :30 P. M., December 28, 1900 aged ninety-five years. Funeral at
I P. M. at his residence, and at 2 P. M. at the Sand Hill church,
Monday, December 31, largely attended. He was believed to
have been the oldest man in Erie county. He was born in Eller-
hausen, Hesse, Germany, November 10, 1805, and came to the
United States when a young man. In 1840 he was married in
Lewiston, Pa., and in the same year came to Sandusky and has
resided in Erie county since. His wife Catherine, died March 4,
1890. Four sons, three daughters and thirty-eight grand-
children survive him. He was sincerely devoted to his wife, and
after her death he wrote in German a history of their first meeting,
courtship and marriage, the penmanship being good and gram-
mar perfect. His mind was clear and active up to the time of his
death.
OBITUARIES 967
Lyman, Hiram A., died at the government dwelling house
on Cedar Point, Erie county, Ohio, September 3, 1901, aged
seventy-nine years. He had resided in Erie county since 1834,
and had been in charge of the Cedar Point light house for the
past thirty years.
Marshall, Benjamin, died in Galveston, Texas, November
30, 1900. His death resulted from exposure during the Galves-
ton flood. He was born November 20, 1852. He spent his boy-
hood in Sandusky, was a graduate of Oberlin College, and ex-
tensively engaged in the cotton seed oil and oil cake business
for a few years prior to his death. His father, James E. Marshall,
of Sandusky, ninety-three years of age, and sister, Mrs. Mary
Elizabeth, widow of the late Lewis Moss, survive him.
Marshall, Mrs. Amelia (Holland), died at her home, 415
Franklin street, Sandusky, Ohio, at 11 A. M., September i, 1901,
aged eighty-four years. She was born in Galway county, Ire-
land, in 1817, and came with her parents to Sandusky, Ohio, in
1832, where in 1835 she was married to William Marshall. They
had seven children, five of whom survive her, Mrs. Walter S. Spar-
ling, of Detroit, Mich.; Maria, George and Joseph T., of San-
dusky, and Frank Marshall, of Topeka, Kansas, who is treasurer
of the Rock Island Railroad. Also a brother, John Holland, of
Sandusky, and a sister, Mrs. White, of Greenwich, Huron county,
survive her. Burial in Oakland cemetery.
Marshall, William K., died in Sandusky, Ohio, September
12, 1900. He was born in Sandusky, Ohio, February 12, 1838,
and was the son of William and Amelia (Holland) Marshall.
He was married April 29, 1868, to Miss Emma Ransom, daughter
of Orlando Ransom and wife, Louisa Newton, and granddaughter
of Daniel and Eunice (Clemmons) Newton, who located in San-
dusky in 1819. They had two children, William and Fred. Mr.
Marshall was industrious and devoted his time closely to business
from early youth till his health gave way, a short time prior to
his death. His wife, two sons, his mother, two sisters and three
brothers survive him.
968 THE FIRBLANDS PIONEER
Massey, Lieutenant Solon F., died in Manila, Philippine Is-
lands at 3 A. M., July 12, 1901. He was born in Rutland, N. Y.,
but when he was quite young his father, Dr. I. B. Massey, located
in Sandusky, Ohio, where he was engaged in the practice of his
profession for about forty years till his death. Solon F. Massey
was appointed a cadet to West Point in 1873 and graduated
therefrom in 1877, ranking ninth in a class of seventy-six. He
remained in the U. S. service till 1891, when he was retired from
active service for disability. He spent some time in South Amer-
ica and in California, and slowly regained his health to the extent
that he was again able for active service in 1898, and was given
charge of disinterring the bodies of the soldiers who had been
buried in Cuba, and removing them to the United States for re-
interment. He subsequently went with the army to China, and
thence to the Philippines, where he held an important position.
His body was sent from Manila to Sandusky and taken thence
to Detroit where it was cremated and the ashes returned to San-
dusky for burial in Oakland cemetery.
Masson, Mrs. Margaret, widow of Charles Masson, died
December 19, 1900, at the residence of her daughter in San-
dusky, Ohio. She was born October 30, 1814, and was a pioneer
resident of Erie county. Five children survive her, Charles
Masson, Mrs. Roehms and Mrs. Weaver, of Detroit ; George
Masson, of Columbus, and Mrs. William Lawrence, of Sandusky,
Ohio.
McConnelly, George, died in Huron, Ohio, April 30, 190I;
aged nearly seventy-two years. Burial in Berlin township, Erie
county, where he was a former early resident.
McGookey, James, died in Findlay, Ohio, October 5, 1900.
He was born in Venice, Margaretta township, Erie county, Ohio,
September 2, 1827. When a boy he entered the store of S. W.
Butler at Venice as a clerk and remained there till he became
the proprietor. He succeeded Mr. H. M. Fish as agent or man-
ager of the Heywood mills and other property in the vicinity of
Venice. He moved to Findlay in 1885, where he resided till his
death. One daughter, Mrs. P. S. Shoupe, one brother and one
sister survive him.
OBITUARIES 969
Mellin, Cornelius, died September i6, 1900, in Sandusky,
Oiho, where he had resided since 1847 ^ son, J. J. Mellin, is the
Sandusky manager of the Central Union Telephone Company.
Meredith, Thomas, died suddenly August 25, 1901, while
On a visit to a sister, Mrs. John Hingle, at Sheguindah, Manitou-
lin Island, Ontario, aged seventy-four years. He located in San-
dusky, Ohio, about fifty years since. The remains were interred
in Oakland cemetery, Sandusky, Ohio. Four children survive
him, Reuben h., formerly proprietor of the Sandusky Business
College, but now of Zanesville, Ohio ; Mrs. S. C. Prout, of Ox-
ford, Erie county; Mrs. James Webster, of Sandusky, and Mrs.
Eliza Waters, of Toledo.
Merriam, Joseph P., died in Sandusky, Ohio, January 31,
1901. He was born in Watertown, Connecticut, January 16,
1 819. Soon after his marriage to Miss Robinson he located in
Tiffin, Ohio, where he remained but a short time, then movea
to Sandusky, Ohio, where he resided till his death. He was an
expert mechanic, and for a time was engaged in the manufacture
of machinery in Sandusky. Four sons and one daughter survive
him, Willis S., of New York; Edward G., of Detroit; Robert R..
of Sandusky; Walter, of Boston, and Mrs. E. M. Hoagland, of
New York.
Metzger, Mrs. Barbara, widow of the late Peter Metzger,
died May 27, 1901, at the residence of her daughter, Mrs. Dunlop,
in Sandusky, Ohio, aged nearly eighty-two years. She was a
pioneer resident of Sandusky.
Miller, William, died November 11, 1900, aged eighty-six
years, in Sandusky, where he had resided for over fifty years.
Miller, Christian, died November 22, 1900, at his home in
Margaretta township, Erie county, wheic he had resided for over
fifty years. He was an industrious good citizen.
Milner, Mrs. Huldah (Westfall), died at her home in Perkins
township, Erie county. May 12, 1901. She was born in Chemung
county, N. Y., December 29, 1825, and was the daughter of
Abraham Westfall who subsequently moved to Huron township,
970 THE FIRBLANDS PIONEER
Erie county, where she was married to Henry Milner in 1847. In
1852 they moved to Perkins township, Erie county, locating on
the farm where she died and where her husband died October 21,
1889. They were both prominently interested in agricultural
societies. By industry and good management they acquired a
fine home and a liberal competence. An adopted daughter, Mrs.
Charles Stein, survives her and resides with her husband on the
home farm.
Moore, Mary Althea, died November 13, 1900, at the resi-
dence of her nephew, Harry Moore, near Avery, Erie county,
Ohio. She was born in Monroe county New York, and moved
to Erie county, Ohio, in 1837, where she has since resided, the
greater part of the time in Sandusky with her two sisters, Eliza
and Sarah, who were for many years teachers in the Sandusky
public schools, and who were held in such high esteem by their
many pupils that after many of them had grown to manhood and
womanhood they caused a fine monument to be erected to the
memory of their teachers in Oakland cemetery, Sandusky, Ohio.
None of the three sisters married, but spent their long lives to-
gether in Sandusky, Eliza and Sarah being the teachers and Mary
Althea the housekeeper, all noble women.
Moss, H. O., died in New Berlin, N. Y., March 2, 1901, aged
ninety-three years. His wife died but a few weeks before him.
Mr. Moss was not a resident of the Firelands, but being for
many years either cashier or vice president of the First National
Bank of Sandusky, and its successor, the Moss National Bank,
and for many years previous to the organization of those banks
a member of the. banking house of Moss Brothers, he spent con-
siderable time in Sandusky and was interested in the business af-
fairs of that city. Three children survive him, Charles H. Moss,
of Sandusky, Ohio ; Samuel A. Moss, of Montpelier, Vt., and Mrs.
Gilbert, of Connecticut.
Neuschler, Gottleib, died at his home in Venice, Erie county,
Ohio, February 14, 1901, aged eighty-nine years. He had resided
in Erie county over fifty years.
OBITUARIES 971
Oaks, Jeremiah, died in Detroit, September 21, 1901. He
was a former resident of Huron, Erie county, Ohio, where a son
now resides.
Packard, Mrs. Edna May (Kinney), died in San Diego, CaH-
fornia, October 29, 1900. She was born in BerHn, Erie county,
August 3, 1873, and moved with her parents to San Diego in
i8qi, where she was married to J. C. Packard, April 11, 1894.
She was a descendant of early pioneers of Erie county.
Page, John T., died at the residence of his daughter, Mrs.
Leland, 59 Hendric avenue, Detroit, Mich.; February 28, 1901.
He was born in Milan, Erie county, Ohio, in 1842, and resided
there for thirty years, when he moved to Lansing, Michigan,
where he resided till within a brief period prior to his death, and
where he was buried. Two daughters survive him, Mrs. Frank
Myers, of New York, and Mrs. F. B. Leland, of Detroit, Mich.
Parsons, Mrs. C. B., died in Vermillion, Erie county, Ohio,
August 31, 1901. Three daughters survive her.
Peck, Mrs. Martha J. (Clark), died in Toledo, Ohio, at 2
P. M., November 25, 1901, aged nearly seventy-five years. She
was born in Washington county, Pa., and when quite youn§
came with her parents to Sandusky, Ohio. Some of the older
residents of Sandusky well remember her heroic conduct dunng
the cholera scourge in 1849 when she entered many infected homes
and gave what comfort and assistance she could to the sick and
dying members. She was married to O. L. Peck, November 12,
1849. They resided in Sandusky till 1865 when they moved to
Toledo. She is survived by her husband and three children, Eliz-
abeth and Fanny, who have resided with their parents, and O. L.
Peck, Jr., general manager of the Pennsylvania lines west of
Pittsburg.
Pelton, Milton M., died suddenly, falling from his chair
while eating his dinner at his home in Vermillion, Erie county,
March 16, 1901, aged fifty-eight years. He was of pioneer par-
entage.
Pelton, Thomas, died in Berlin, Erie county, March 19, 1901,
where he had resided over sixtv-five vears. He was born in Gus-
972 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
tavus, Trumbull county, Ohio, August 4, 1809, and was married
to Jane Dyer, April 18, 1832. They had five children, only one
of whom, ]\Iarilla Jane (Mrs. Edmunds), of Lansing, Mich., sur-
vives him. He was married, 2d, to a widow, Mrs. Betsey Ann
(Rowland) Styles, August 20, 1845. Of the children of this
second marriage two survive him, Mrs. Lilla May Gordon and
Fred D. Pelton, of Berlin.
Perry, Catherine Blumer, died in Sandusky, Ohio, August
9, 1900, aged eighty years. She was the widow of Jonas J.
Perry who was marshal of Sandusky many years since, and whose
son is now sheriff of Erie county.
Peters, J. J., died suddenly from heart failure at 10 A. M.,
April 20, 1901, at his home in Sandusky, Ohio, being well the pre-
ceding day. He was sixty-nine years of age. He is survived by
a widow and four children, Mrs. John P. Stein, Charles A., Al-
bert J. and William F., the latter being a noted musician and com-
poser.
Pfeil, Henry, died in Sandusky, Ohio, September 2^, 1900,
aged eighty-five years. He was an early resident of Erie county.
Phanner, Catherine, wife of John Phanner, died at her home
in Sandusky, November 21, 1900, aged seventy years. She had
resided in Sandusky nearly her entire life.
Prentice, Manasseh, died in Townsend township, Sandusky
county, January 9, 1901. He was born in Margaretta township,
Erie county, Ohio, February 4, 1827, and was a son of Levi Pren-
tice who came from Cazenovia, N. Y., to Sandusky, Ohio, with
the late Dr. Tilden in 1816. and was a grandson of Ebenezer Hart-
well who settled near the vSeven Mile House in Margaretta town-
ship, Erie county, in 1814. He was married tO' Wealthy Barnes,
October i, 1846. since which time they had resided till his death
in Margaretta and Townsend townships. His wife and seven
children survive ; five daughters Mrs. Antoinnette Hamilton, of
Cleveland, Ohio ; Mrs. Mary Heisley, of Teemes, Ohio : Mrs.
Alice Norman, of Whitmore, Ohio ; Mrs. Olive Dehnhoff, of
Westerville, Ohio, and Mrs. Nellie Wright, of Erlin, Ohio ; and
two sons, Henrv, of Teemes, and Burton D., of Colorado. Mr.
OBITUARIES 973
Prentice was quite successful as a farmer and owned and occupied
a fine farm and beautiful residence at the time of his death.
Prout, Clara Emeline, died at her home in Oxford township,
Erie county, Ohio, May 25, 1901. She was born April 11, 1879,
and was a daughter of A. H. Prout, and granddaughter of A. H.
Prout and wife, Mary Emeline Carpenter, early pioneers of Ox-
ford township.
Pulver, Mrs. Catherine (Mack), died in Milan, Ohio, Janu-
ary 27, 1 90 1. Catherine Mack was born in Madison county, N.
Y., April 12, 1835, and came with her parents to the Firelands in
her infancy. In 185 1 she was married to William Clark, who
died three years thereafter. July 4, 1855, she was married to
A. J. Pulver. They had ten children, six of whom and her
husband survive her.
Pulver, A. J., died at the residence of his daughter, Mrs.
Theodore Taylor, south of the village of Milan, November 6,
1901.
Purcell, Patrick, died May 27, 1901, in Perkins township,
Erie county, Ohio, aged sixty-two years. He was a veteran of
the Civil War, having served in the 3rd O. V. I. from 1861 to
1865. He leaves a widow and seven children. He came into
Erie county in 1852.
Ransom, Charles H., died at his home in Margaretta town-
ship, Erie county, Ohio, near Sandusky at 2:15 A. M., July 11,
1901. A few weeks prior to his death Mr. Ransom fell down a
stairway in the Engels-Marshall-Myers store in Sandusky, strik-
ing on his head and was for a time unconscious. The fall was
the incidental cause of his death. He was born at Lyme, Connec-
ticut, October 24, 1821, and was the son of Capt. Judah Ransom.
His parents moved to Black River, now Lorain, in 1823, and
thence to Sandusky in 1825. In 1847 he was married to Susan
Slaughter, and in 1853 he erected the brick house on his farm
near Sandusky in which they resided till his death. Mr. Ransom
was a successful farmer and acquired a comfortable fortune. He
is survived by his wife, four sons, Albert H., Jay W., James and
Ross L., and by two daughters, Mrs. G. Fletcher and Mrs. John
974 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
F. Atwater, both residents of Chattanooga, Tennessee ; also by-
one brother, John C. Ransom, of West Clarksfield, Huron county.
Ransom, Mrs. CaroHne (Taylor), died at her home 529
Hayes avenue, Sandusky, Ohio, at 5:40 A. M., October 6, 1901.
She was the daughter of Nelson Taylor and wife, Martha Akins,
and granddaughter of Joseph Taylor and wife, Sophia, who came
from Connecticut to Perkins township, Erie county, Ohio, in
181 5. She was born in Perkins township, March 24, 1839, and
was married to D. L. C. Ransom, December 23, 1869. Mr. Ran-
som was born in Perkins township, August 28, 190 1. He grad-
uated from the Sandusky High School in i860 and entered the
Volunteer Army in 1861 and served therein during the Civil
War. He was a son of Isaac Ransom and wife, Mary Wright, a
grandson of Russel Ransom and great-grandson of Joseph Ran-
som who was a soldier in the State Troop during the Revolu-
tionary War. .This Joseph and wife and his son Russel and fam-
ily were early residents of Berlin township, Erie county. Joseph
left there to go east and took passage on a boat sailing from
Huron. The boat was wrecked and Joseph was never heard from
thereafter. His widow died in Berlin township. Her husband
and one brother, Charles W. Taylor, survive her.
Redenbach, Daniel, died in Sandusky, Ohio, November 6,
1 90 1. He was born September 9, 1827, and lived nearly his entire
life in Sandusky. His wife and one child survive him.
Remington, Mrs. Ouintilla (Hand), died at her home in Per-
kins township, Erie county, August 2, 1901. She was born in
Erie county, August 23, 1845, ^^^ "^^''^s married to Allen Reming-
ton, January 14 1863. They had seven children, five of whom,
Allen, Edward, Mrs. Cora Anthony, Susie and Elinor, and her
husband, survive her.
Rheinheimer, Mrs. Elizabeth, widow of the late Frederick
Reinheimer, died in Sandusky, Ohio, November 14, 1901, aged
seventy-three years. She had resided in Sandusky over fifty
years. Three sons, Edward, Charles and Alfred, and two
daughters, Mrs. Henry Newmeyer and Mrs. Henry Hemrick, sur-
vive her.
OBITUARIES 975
Rhonehouse, Mrs. Tamison W. (Lewis), died at her home in
Maumee, Lucas county, Ohio, September 20, 1901. She was
born in Sandusky, Ohio, July 7, 1848, and was the daughter of
L. W. Lewis, an early pioneer resident of Sandusky. She was
married to Dr. George W. Rhonehouse, September 21, 1881.
Her husband and two sons, Lowell and William, survive her.
Riedy, John, died at his home in Margaretta township, Erie
county, Ohio, August 10, 1901. He was born in Baden, Ger-
many, in 1825, and came to Sandusky, Ohio, in 1848. He is said
to have planted the first vineyard on Kelley's Island and helped
to build the West House in Sandusky. He is survived by a
widow, eight children and forty grandchildren.
Rogers, Mrs. Elizabeth (Hartwell), died May 13, 1900, at
the home of her son, E. J. Rogers, Sandusky, Ohio. She was born
July II, 1815, in Margaretta township, Erie county, being the
first white child born in that township, and was a daughter ol
Ebenezer Hartwell who settled in Margaretta township in 1814.
She was twice married and had seven children.
Roland, William J., died in Florence, Erie county, Ohio,
October 7, 1900. He was born July 12, 1816, at Lyme Connec-
ticut. In 1828 his parents moved to Livingston county, N. Y., and
in 1844 he moved to Florence, Erie county. He was married in
1836 to Frances Munson who died in 1845, and in 1848 he mar-
ried Mrs. Jane Andres Buckley, of Birmingham, Erie county.
Root, Miss Martha, died October 28, 1900, in Chicago,
Illinois, where she resided with her sisters, Mrs. Amelia Brownell
and Miss Elizabeth Root. She was born in Sandusky in 1840 and
was a daughter of Hon. Joseph M. Root and wife, Mary S. Buck-
ingham. For cuts of her grandfather and grandmother, John
Buckingham and wife, Sarah Ebert, see page 536, Volume, XII,
New Series.
Sacket, Alvah P., was killed by lightning at Barnesville,
Georgia, July 9, 1900. He was born on the Peninsula opposite
Sandusky, November 4, 1853, his parents having been pioneers
of the Firelands.
976 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
vSands, Mrs. Alvina (Sayles), died in Milan, Erie county,
March 28, 1901. »She was bom in Berlin, Erie county, April 20,
1832, and was the oldest of the thirteen children of Duty and
Alma Sayles, who were among the early pioneers of Berlin town-
ship. June 26, 1 85 1, she was married to William Sands. They
resided at Laughlin's Corners for two years and thereafter on a
farm near Fries Landing till 1890, when they purchased a resi-
dence in the village of Milan in which they resided till her death.
Her husband, two sons, four sisters and four brothers survive
her.
Schaub, Mrs. Catherine, widow of the late Ferdinand
Schaub, died m Sandusky, Ohio, April 4, 1901, aged nearly
seventy-eight years, and was an early resident of Sandusky.
Schade, Mrs. Susan (Heck), died December 12, 1900, at her
home in Sandusky, Ohio, where she had resided nearly her entire
life. Two children survive her.
Schaeffer, Fred, died August 24, 1900, in Sandusky, Ohio,
where he had resided over fifty years.
Schmidt, Airs. Mary (Landon), died December 15, 1900, in
Sandusky, Ohio, where she had resided for over fifty years. She
was bom in Hesse Cassel, April 23, 1823, and came to Sandusky
in 1850.
Schumacher, Mrs. Mary B., wife of Jacob Schumacher, died
December 30, 1900, in Sandusky, Ohio, where she had resided
since 1851. She was a member and active worker for many years
in the Evangelical Salem church. She is survived by her husband
and five children, Jacob L., and Peter R., of Chicago; J. M., of
Mansfield, Ohio; Henry G., of the firm of Harris & Scuhumacher,
of Sandusky, Ohio, and Mrs. Ed. Wals, of Bell Plains, Iowa.
Schnell, Mrs. Mary, died in Sandusky, Ohio, August 3, 1901.
She was born in Hessville, Sandusky county, Ohio, August 11,
1839. Three daughters and five sons survive her.
Seebach, Gottfried, died September 24. 1901. aged eighty
years, in Sandusky, Ohio, where he had resided fifty-two years.
He was born January 9, 1821. A widow, five sons and two
daughters survive him.
OBITUARIES 977
Sessler. Edward, died September 20, 1900, in \*enice, Erie
county, where he had resided for over fifty years.
Skilliter, Mrs. Anna (Haddock), died May 9, 1901, aged
nearly eighty years. Resided in Erie county about fifty years.
Her husband and eight children survive her. Burial at Castalia.
Skilliter, Thomas, died at Whitmore, Sandusky county, Ohio,
June 18, 1901. aged eighty-nine years. Burial at Castalia. He
was a pioneer of Margaretta township, Erie county. Eight chil-
dren survive him. His wife died May 9, 1901.
Smith, Anthonv, died February 25, 1901, in Perkins. Erie
county, where he had resided for many years. He was aged
eighty-five years. His wife, five sons and two daughters survive
him. He was a pioneer resident of Erie county, and when mar-
ried rifty-six years since he and his bride each carried a candle to
the aitar, with the understanding that thev were to be kept and not
lighted till separated by death. The one he carried was placed at
the head of the coffin and lighted to signify that one spirit had
departed and rhe union was broken.
Smith, Fred, died in Norwalk, Ohio, June 29, 1901. He was
born in Sandusky, Ohio, July 2"/, 1845, of pioneer parentage.
Three sisters. Mrs. Martin C. Zimmerman, ]\Irs. C. H. Myers and
Mrs. . of Sandusky, and one brother, George H. Smith,
of Tiffin, Ohio, survive him
Solon, Thomas, died at the residence of his daughter, Mrs.
Gallagher, in Margaretta township, Erie county, April 26, 1901,
aged seventy-four years. He was an early resident of Erie
county.
Springer, Mrs. Lodema (Fuller), died in Berlin, November
28, 1900. She was born in Erie county in 1845 of pioneer par-
entage. She was married to George W. Springer, January 27,
1868. They had one daughter, Mrs. Stevens, who, wath a grand-
son, survives her.
Stahl, Mrs. Alice (Kilbourne), died in Huron, Erie county,
21, 1900. Burial in Berlin Heights cemetery. She
was born in Collins. Huron county. December 16, 1868. of pioneer
parentage.
S78 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
Staley, Mrs. Hattie \'iola (Alatsonj, died January lo, 1901,
at her home in Perkins township, Erie county, in 1870, and was
the daughter of Norman and JuHa Matson and a descendant of
early pioneers of Erie county. She was married to Richard Sta-
ley, January 27, 1897. Her husband and two children survive her.
Starr, Miss Orelia M., died in Oberlin, Ohio, March 22, 1901,
aged eighty years. Her remains were interred in the cemetery
at Birmingham, Erie county. Her parents with their eight chil-
dren, of whom she was one, came from Connecticut to Birming-
ham, Erie county, about seventy years since. Four of the eight
children lived to be over seventy-five years old.
Starr, John Milton, died in Huron township, Erie county,
Ohio, March 15, 1901. He was born at Malta, Saratoga county,
N. Y., September 30, 1813. He with three brothers and one
sister came to Huron township in 1828. He was married to
Deboreh W. Wilkinson, March 30, 1851. She died June 23,
1894. They had five children, four of whom survive him; John
W. and Arthur E., of Huron, Ohio ; Mrs. C. W. Hart, of Balti-
more, Md., and Mrs. E. E. Highland, of Indianapolis, Ind.
Stevens, David, died in Toledo, Ohio. His remains were
taken from Toledo to Milan, Erie county, for interment in the
cemetery there, by special train, February 28, 1901. Mr. Stevens
was an early resident and business man of Milan, having been
engaged in the grain business with his brother, B. A. Stevens,
now of Toledo.
Stevens, Mrs. Permelia B., died at Catawba Island, Ottawa
county, Ohio, June 21, 1900, aged eighty-two years and was an
early resident of the Firelands.
Stevens, Washington W., died at his summer residence,
"Ogontz," Erie county, Ohio, August 19, 1901, and was buried
in the Stowe cemetery in Erie county. He was born in Perkins
township, Erie county, June 12, 1832, at the old Stevens home-
stead. He resided on the farm till eighteen years of age, after
which he taught school and subsequently studied law in the office
of Lucas S. Beecher, of Sandusky, Ohio. Soon after the begin-
ing of the Civil War he left his law studies and enlisted in Co. B,
OBITUARIES 979
145th O. V. I. and served therein till the close of the war. In
1865 he was appointed to a position in the U. S. Treasury Depart-
ment and served therein, being gradually advanced to higher
positions, till his death. In 1859 he was married to Mary Fox,
a daughter of Capt. Fox, a Western Reserve pioneer. They had
two children, Francis H., and Mary L., who with their mother
survive him.
Stewart, Frank, died by his own hand July 6, 1900, at the
Sloane House, Sandusky, Ohio. He was aged forty-seven
years and was born in Sandusky, and was the son of J. H.
Stewart, who was superintendent of the Sandusky, Mansfield &
Newark Railroad when Frank was born, and resided in San-
dusky.
Storrs, Mrs. Jerusha (Taylor), widow of Elisha Storrs, died
at 8:30 A. M., March 13, 1901, at the residence of her son, Arden
Storrs, in Perkins, Erie county, Ohio, but a short distance from
where she was bom in 1820. She was the daughter of Joseph
and Sophia Taylor who settled in Perkins township in 181 5.
Strickfaden, Mrs. Theresa, died in West Milan, Erie county,
Ohio, October 11, 1901, aged eighty-seven years.
Stuckey, WilHam, died May 13, 1900, in Sandusky, Ohio,
where he had resided for over fifty years.
Summers, Mrs. Mary A. (Pelton), died at the residence of
her daughter in Oakland, California, October 5, 1901. She was
the daughter of Josiah Pelton and born in Vermillion, Erie
county, Ohio.
Taylor, Lyman, died January 7, 1901, on the same farm in
Perkins township, Erie county, Ohio, where he was born Sep-
tember 13, 1824, and where he resided during his entire life. He
was a son of Joseph and Sophia Taylor, who were members of
the colony who moved from Connecticut to Ohio with fourteen
ox teams in 181 5 and located on land in Perkins township, Erie
county. That colony was composed of the following men with
tlieir families: John Beatty (father of General John Beatty), of
Columbus, Ohio ; Julius House, Joseph Taylor, EHzur Bell, Jessie
980 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
Taylor, Plinney Johnson, Harvey Covil, Roswell Hubbard, and
Holly Akins. Also single men : Richard P. Christopher, William
Robinson and William Beebe. In 1846 Lyman Taylor was mar-
ried to Polly Ann Lockwood, daughter of E. Lockwood. an early
pioneer. They had four children, three of whom survive him,
Walter N., of Norwalk ; Almon S., of Perkins, and Mrs. Ida Gun-
lach, of Sandusky. His father, Joseph Taylor, died October 20.
1865, aged seventy-six years, and his mother, Sophia Taylor, died
March 26, 1883, aged eighty-four years.
Taylor, Mrs. Charlotte (^Nlerry), died in Lansing, INIich..
September 19, 1900. She was born in Erie county. Ohio, of early
pioneer parentage.,
Taylor, Mrs. Cantace D., died at the residence of her
brorher-in-la\\ , D. L. C. Ransom, Sandusky, Ohio, November 10,
1901. She was born in Perkins township, Erie county. April 18,
1844, and was the daughter of Nelson Taylor and wife, ]^Iartha
Akins. She was married to Frank A. Green, but was divorced
from him and restored to her maiden name of Taylor. She was
a granddaughter of Joseph Taylor, who settled in Perkins town-
ship, Erie county, Ohio, in 181 5. One brother, Charles \\'. Tay-
lor, survives her.
Thompson, Henry B., died December 4, 1900, in Vermillion.
Erie county. He was one of the old residents of that village.
Thompson, Milton, died suddenly at his home in \'ermillion.
Erie county, Ohio, Tuesday evening, March 19, 1901. He was a
pioneer of Erie county, having resided sixty-nine years in the
same house where he died.
Thompson, DeWitt C, died in Sandusky, Ohio, ^March 20.
1901. aged fifty-five years. He was born and lived his entire life
in Erie county and was of pioneer parentage. A widow two
daughters and five sons survive him.
Tilden, Otis H., ex-mayor of Vermillion, Erie county, Ohio,
died at liis home in that village. September 16, 1900.
Till, Levi, died in Sandusky. Ohio, at 4 A. 'Si., July 28, 1901.
He was born April 4, 1826, in Staflfordshire. England, and was
OBITUARIES 981
married to Anna Mayer, August 21, 1847, ^"^1 moved to San-
dusky, Erie county, Ohio, in 1849, where he resided till his death.
They had six children, four of whom survive him : William B.,
Thomas and Caleb, of Sandusky, and Mrs. A. M. Davidson, of
East Liverpool, Ohio. He was an efficient architect, and a reli-
able, honest man.
Walter, Mrs. Elizabeth (E ), died at Kennedy Heights,
Ohio, January i, 1901. She was bom in Marietta, Ohio, and
was graduated from Maplewood Institute, Pittsfield, Mass. She
was married to the Rev. John H. Walter, July 29, 1856, who at
that time was pastor of the Presbyterian church at Milan, Erie
county, Ohio, and resided in Milan during his long pastorate of
twenty-seven year?, and was held in high esteem by the people of
that village.
Waterbury, Mrs. Ellen (Nettleton), died at the residence of
her daughler, ?ilrs. Nellie Waterbury, Rogeberg, at Christiana,
Norway, March 4, 1901. She was the widow of Charles Water-
bury who was for a number of years one of the proprietors of the
Sandusky Register. Two sisters, Mrs. L. B. Johnson and Mrs.
I. D. Everett, who are pioneer residents of Sandusky, survive
her; also two brothers, one, A. B. Nettleton, was assistant sec-
retary of the treasury, and for a time acting secretary during
Harrison's administration.
Webb, William S., died in Earned, Kansas, October 21, 1901.
He was born at Delaware, Ohio, June 16, 1823, and was a son of
Joseph L. W^ebb and wife, Isabella Ball. In his youth he was a
schoolmate with president Hayes and several others who subse-
C{U(;ntly became distinguished. After leaving school his first work
was in connection with steamboat and shipping business with his
Uncle at Detroit, and while thus employed he met and married
Miss Elizabeth Kelley, daughter of Datus Kelley, and they
located as pioneers on Kelley's Island, Erie county, Ohio, where
they resided for many years. He was clerk on the steamer
^slander, tlie first regular boat running between Sandusky and
the Islands. He was engaged in the mercantile and stone quarry
business on the island prior to the Civil War, but during the war
982 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
he enlisted a ecmpany of which he was elected captain, and, as
such entered ?.i tive service and remained therein till the end of
the war, after which he returned to Kelley's Island. He was sub-
sequently fleeted one of the commissioners of Erie county, in
which capacity he served during the time of the erection of the
court house at Sandusky. He spent considerable time in looking
after its construction and is entitled to much credit for the good
quality of the building and the economical expenditure for its
erection. For the purpose of being near the family of one of
their children, Mr. and Mrs. Webb moved from Kelley's Island,
their long time home, to Larned, Kansas, where Mr. Webb served
several consecutive terms as mayor of that city till his health com-
pelled him to decline further election to that office. His wife
and three children survive him : Mrs. Sarah Rush, of Larned,
Kansas ; Mrs. Belle Park, of Atlanta, Georgia, and Charles Webb,
of Massachusetts.
Weidel, Christian, died in Sandusky, Ohio, June 2t,, 1901.
He served in the U. S. Volunteer Army during the Civil War and
was subsequently elected sheriff of Erie county. Three daughters
survive him.
West, Mrs. Maria Ann (Francis), widow of Thomas D.
West, died at the home of her daughter-in-law, Mrs. Julia Bell
West, at 10 P. M., November 17, 1901. She was born January
23, 1822, in Pittsfield, Mass., were she was married to Thomas
D. West and thereafter moved to Sandusky, Ohio, where she has
since resided. They had but one child, Robert F. West, who
died some years since leaving a widow, Mrs. Julia Bell West, and
daughter, Bell West, who survive her. Not having resided on
the Firelands prior to 1840, under the present rule Mrs. West
would not be called a pioneer, but her disinterested devotion to
the cause of patriotism and charity during her fifty years' resi-
dence in Sandusky should entitle her to a few words of recog-
nition at the close of her life. Her death will renew in the minds
of some of the older residents of Sandusky reminiscences of the
Civil War times. It will be remembered that the noble women
of the country were then busily engaged in making and securing
articles of comfort and delicacies to be sent to the soldiers in the
OBITUARIES 983
camps and hospitals, and they will remember that among the
many women so engaged in the city of Sandusky a few of the
most active were Mrs. Orin Follett, Mrs. Dr. McMeens and Mrs.
T. D. West. Mrs. West devoted nearly her entire time to making
such articles as she believed would afford comfort to the Ohio sol-
diers in the camp and in the hospital. In her tribute to the mem-
ory of Mrs. West, published in the Sandusky Register, Mrs.
Elizabeth Orton Hudson relates the following incident: "After
one of the great battles there was a demand for comforts for the
sick and wounded. The ladies here went to work at once to
make 'double gowns' for the convalescing men in the army, hos-
pitals. Many of these wrappers were made by Mrs. West's tire-
less hands, and in the pockets of each she placed a note telling
the soldiers how happy the women were in being able to work
for them. She received several answers to these little letters but
none pleased her more than a finely written letter from one of the
Confederate hospitals. Some of these supplies were captured
before reaching the Union camps and one of the warm wrappers
found its way to a southern officer. He wrote Mrs. West a most
grateful letter, telling her how, when greatly suffering, he had
put his hand into the pocket of the gown and found there the
little note of sympathy. Although the garment and kind missive
had not been intended for him, he wrote to thank her for the
great comfort and pleasure they had been to him." Mrs. West's
devotion to charitable work did not end with the war, but was
continued to the extent of her ability to the end of her life.
Wildman, Jr., Horatio, died in Colorado in August, 1900.
He was bom in Sandusky, Ohio, and was a son of Horatio and
Emily (Smith) Wildman and great-grandson of Zalman Wild-
man, one of the proprietors of the city of Sandusky.
Williamson, Mrs. Susan, died July 27, , in Sandusky,
Ohio, aged seventy-three years. Her husband, William William-
son, died a few years since. They were both residents of San-
dusky over fifty years. Their daughter Caroline was buried
July 25, but three days before the death of her mother.
984 THE FIRELANDS PIONEER
Wilson, John, died in Huron, Erie county, Ohio, August lo,
1901. Burial in the Ruggles cemetery near is old home. He was
a pioneer of Erie county.
Wilson, Henry, died at his home south of the village of
Huron, January 12, 1901. He was born in Huron, Erie county,
January 31, 1843, of pioneer parentage. Two sisters. Miss Bella
Wilson and Mrs. Sampson, survive him.
Windan, Mary Eva, wife of Herman Windan, died in San-
dusky. Ohio, May 12, 1901. aged seventy-five vears. She was a
pioneer resident of Sandusky. Her husband and seven children
survive her.
Winkel, Frederick, died ^lay 15. 1901. aged seventy-five
years, in Perkins tow'nship, Erie county, Ohio, an early resident
of Perkins.
Woodford, J. E., died January 14, 1901, at the residence of
his son in A^^ichita, Kansas, while on a visit there. He was one
of the early residents of Kelley's Island. Erie county. Ohio.
W^oolmer, Thomas, died at Elsie, Clinton county, ]\Iich.,
March 8, 1901. He was born in Leicester, England. December
22, 1824, and came to the United States in 1847. and to Sandusky,
Ohio, in 1849. He was head miller at the Heywood ^lills. Venice.
Erie county, for a number of years. He left a widow but no
children.
Wunderly, Mrs. Elizabeth, died at Huron. Erie county,
Ohio. January 7, 1901.
Young, Mrs. M. L. (Francisco), died in Cincinnati, Ohio,
October 26, 1901. Burial in Oakland cemetery, Sandusky. Ohio.
She was born in Sandusky an^ was married and resided there
lor many years. Her husband died some years since in Sandusky.
She had one son, Merit L. Young, who was treasurer of th.e Bar-
num Show Co., and died a few years since. He was buried in
Oakland cemetery, and whenever the show exhibits at Sandusky
the members of the company place large quantities of flowers
on his grave.
LIFE MEMBERS.
The Constitution of the Firelands Historical Society provides
for membership as follows:
Art. 6. x\ny person may become a member of the Society
by signing its Constitution and paying into its Treasury as an
Annual member, the sum of one dollar yearly in advance, or, as
a Ivife member, the sum of five dollars in advance. All members
shall be entitled to one copy each of all new publications of the
Society issued during the first year of their membership, and by
the payment of an additional five, making it ten dollars, in ad-
vance, a lyife member will also be entitled to one copy of all
numbers of the Firelands Pioneer published since September,
1861, and at the time of such payment owned and for sale by the
Society, and of all its future publications. Honorary Members of
it may be elected by vote of the Society.
PRESENT LIFE MEMBERS:
Cunningham, J. O. , Schuyler, P. N.,
Gardiner, John, Sloane, Rush R. ,
Gallup, C. H., Sloane, T. M.,
Green, C. R., Stewart, G. T.,
Graefe, Charles, Taylor, Truman B.,
Jones, F. H., Whiton, J. M.,
leaning, J. F., Whitney, Calvin,
lyoomis, F. R., Williams, Theodore,
McKelvey, John, Wildman, S. A.,
Note — Members will call in person on the Librarian for
their volumes. No fund is provided for postage or express
charge^.
A FINANCIAL APPEAL
The Firelands Historical Society now appeals to the Pioneers
of the Firelands, their sons and daughters, and to all friends of
the Society for aid in its patriotic efforts to provide a place suit-
able for the preservation of its large and valuable collection of
historic and pre-historic relics and antiquities; the purchase of
books, periodicals, prints, maps or other works to increase or
improve its library, and especially to continue the publication of
the FiRKLANDS Pioneer, containing over three thousand pages
of the history of this part of Ohio, treasured up through more
than forty-five years, and constantly enlarging the supply of its
rich productions.
The Society asks for this aid in the form of life memberships
and donations from the living, and devises or bequests of testa-
tors. One of the daughters of an eminent Pioneer bequeathed
to it the sum of five hundred dollars, known and honored as The
Catherine Gallup /'//wo^, which , from its accruing interest, has, for
many years, been the main financial support of this publication.
That this commendable example may be as well and wisely fol-
lowed, the following forms of devise and bequest to the Society,
to maintain and enlarge its noble mission, are here appended:
GENERAL DEVISE.
I give and devise to The Firelands Historical Society, formed
in the city of Norwalk, Ohio, in the year eighteen hundred and
fifty-seven, and incorporated in the year eighteen hundred and
eighty, and to its successors and assigns forever, all that piece or
parcel of land situated, etc.
GENERAL BEQUEST.
I give and bequeath to The Firelands Historical Society,
formed in the city of Norwalk, Ohio, in the year eighteen hun-
dred and fifty-seven, and incorporated in the year eighteen hun-
dred and eighty, the sum of dollars, to be applied to
the uses and purposes of said Society.
CONTENTS.
NEW SERIES. VOLUME XIV.
PAGES CONSECUTIVELY NUMBERED FROM NEW SERIES. VOL. X.
ILLUSTRATIONS.
Ttcumseh 843 John S. Hester 933
Piatt Benedict 919 Lucind a M. Hester 933
Jonas B. Benedict 920 Ichabod B. Hoyt 934
David D. Benedict 922 Elizabeth Hoyt 936
Frederick P. Benedict 923 Rebecca Miller 939
David Crawford 926 Louis D. Strutton 945
Margaret M. Crawford 928 Jacob A. Barker 949
RECORD OP PROCEEDINGS.
Officers of the Society 785 Forty-sixth Annual Meeting... 827
Forty-fifth Annual Meeting.... 786 Committees appointed 829
Treasurer's Report 793 Election of Officers 831
Librarian's Report 794 Treasurer's Report 868
Election of Officers 795 Librarian's Report 868
ADDRESSES AND PAPERS.
President's Address, by Hon. President's Address, by Hon.
Rush R. Sloane 787 Rush R. Sloane 832
Surrender of Detroit, by Hon. Address — Tecumseh, by Hon.
C. E. Penn^well 797 E.O.Randall 842
Remarks by General Brinker- Whittlesey Papers 870
hoff : 816 Address — Lafayette, by Hon.
Remarksby P. N. Schuyler.... 819 Rush R. Sloane 889
Remarks by M. B. Bushnell 822 Perkins M. E. Church 895-906
Remarks by A. J. Baughman. 822 First Flouring Mill in Ohio... 912
Vice President's Address, by Memoirs of David Marks 913
Hon. S. A. Wildman 827
OBITUARIES.
Huron County 916-947 Erie County 947-984
SPECIAL NOTICES.
Life Members 985 Financial Appeal 986
