300 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY sent by his father, a farmer near by, to point out to me the various objects of interest, and among them the hill called Tecumseh. Not until on my second tour of Ohio, and in his own office in Springfield, did I again meet my once little guide to the birthplace and battlefield. It was Gen. J. Warren Keifer who since has attained international renown," and singularly enough, a son of General Keifer—W. W. Keifer of Springfield —accompanied the peripatetic over the same route January 9, 1922, explaining in similar way the landmarks designated as the battlefield. It was three-quarters of a century after the visit of that first historian. A modern version of the Revolutionary situation is : "Text books in both England and America should be rewritten ; American histories should not begin all things with the Revolution, and English histories should remember that the American Revolution is a part of England's own history," and coming from an English woman visiting in America, who classifies the foregoing sentiment as propaganda? In an address, August 7, 1901, in connection with the Springfield Centennial program, General Keifer reviewed the military history of Clark County—a people springing from all nationalities and tongues, with varied race characteristics but finally so amalgamated in blood and character as to boast that the blood of all nationalities runs in the veins of its citizens. At the time of the summary, the history of Clark County was almost wholly limited to the nineteenth century, and the speaker had been active in two wars—Civil and Spanish American—holding official relation to them. He says the people responded to all calls of danger and duty, going forth to uphold constitutional liberty and the national rights of man. General Keifer says the sons of Clark County fought and died on every important campaign, and in every great battle in the last 100 years in which the country was engaged ; the blood of her sons has crimsoned the soil, and their bones have bleached on the great battlefields of the Republic. They have heroically borne on high the starry flag of Washington, the purest and proudest emblem of human liberty, both on land and sea. Wherever glory in the cause of humanity has been won through deeds of valor and by bloody sacrifice, Clark County's soldiers and sailors must justly be awarded a share ; this nation stands in first place among the great powers of the world. The early inhabitants of this area were soldiers in the defense of their homes ; the region round about was, on account of its perennial springs, rich pastures, quantities of fish in the pure waters, wild fruits, berries and nuts, deer, bear, turkeys and other wild game necessary to sustain man in a savage state, much coveted by the Indian tribes, and they fought for it with a desperation seldom witnessed in other parts. At the Piqua Shawnee Indian Village Tecumseh and the Prophet were born, and they became the most famous of all Indian war chieftains ; they waged war on the frontier settlers longer than any others of the wild tribes. While Henry Howe describes the overthrow of the Shawnee Confederacy at Piqua Village on Mad River, many libraries contain the volumes, and another version—Bradford's Notes on Kentucky—is drawn from for the battle, General Clark's returning to Kentucky. General Keifer says this battle gave more land to the United States Government than any other engagement in the Revolutionary war, and because the battlefield is now within Clark County full detail is given, beginning: "The principal part of Piqua Village stood upon a plain, rising fifteen or twenty feet above Mad River. SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 301 "On the south, between the village and the river, there was an extensive prairie ; on the northeast some gold cliffs terminating near the river ; on the west and northwest, level timbered land, while on the opposite side of the stream another prairie of varying width stretched back to the high grounds. The river sweeping by in graceful bend, the precipitous rocky cliffs, the undulating hills with their towering trees, the prairies garnished with tall grass and brilliant flowers, combined to render the situation of Piqua both beautiful and picturesque. At the period of its destruction Piqua was quite populous ; there was a rude log but within its limits surrounded by pickets. It was, however, sacked and burned, August 8, 1780, by an army of 1,000 men from Kentucky, after a severe and well conducted battle with the Indians who inhabited it. All the improvements of the Indians, including more than 200 acres of corn and other vegetables then growing in their fields, were laid waste and destroyed ; the town was never rebuilt by the Shawnees. "The inhabitants of Piqua Village removed to the Great Miami River and erected another town which they called Piqua, after the one that had been destroyed, and in defense of which they had fought with the skill and valor characteristic of their nation." Since Tecumseh was born in the Shawnee Village in 1768, he was only twelve and had not yet become the renowned fighter, but the fate of Piqua Village spurred him to action later, when the battle was spoken of as the Great Miami Slaughter, Mad River being considered part of the Miami waterway. It is said that Piqua Village was built after the French pattern, the houses at intervals for three miles along Mad River, most of the town on the plain above the stream. The Shawnees though war-like, were industrious and prosperous, but the beginning of the end is thus described : "On August 2, 1780, General Clark took up the line of march from where Cincinnati now stands (Fort Washington) for the Indian towns." PLAN OF ATTACK The line of march was as follows : The first division, commanded by General Clark, took the front position; the center was occupied by artillery, military stores and baggage ; the second, commanded by Colonel Logan, was placed in the rear. The men were ordered to march in four lines, at about forty yards distance from each other,.and a line of flankers on each side at about the same distance from the right and left line. There was also a front and a rear guard, who only kept in sight of the main army, in order to prevent confusion in case of an attack by the enemy. On the march of the army a general order was issued that in the event of an attack in. front, the front was to stand fast, and the two right lines to wheel to the right, and the two left lines to the left and form a complete line, while the artillery was to advance forward to the center of the line. In case of an attack on either of the flanks or side lines, they were to stand fast, and likewise the artillery, while the opposite lines wheeled and formed on the two extremes of those lines ; in the event of an attack being made on the rear, similar order was to be observed as in an attack in front. In this manner the army moved on without encountering anything worthy of notice until it arrived at Chillicothe. (situated on the Little Miami River in Greene County), about 2 o'clock in the afternoon, on the 6th of August. The army found the town not only abandoned but SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 303 burned or burning, most of the houses having been set on fire that morning. It encamped on the ground that night, and on the following day cut down several hundred acres of corn; and about 4 o'clock in the evening it took up its line of march for the Piqua towns; which were about twelve miles from Chillicothe. The army had not marched more than a mile when there came up a heavy rain with thunder and lightning, accompanied by considerable wind. The marching army was without tents or any other shelter from the rain, which fell in torrents ; the men were as wet as if they had been plunged into the river ; nor had they it in their power to keep their guns dry. It was nearly dark when the rain ceased and they were ordered to encamp in a hollow square with baggage and horses in the center, and as soon as fire could be made to dry their clothes. They were instructed to examine their guns and be sure they were in good order ; they were to discharge them in the following manner : one company was to fire and time was given to reload, when a company in the most remote part of the camp was to discharge their artillery, and so on alternately until all the guns were fired and known to be in condition. On the morning of the 8th the army marched by sunrise ; having a level, open way it arrived about 2 o'clock in the afternoon in sight of Piqua ; the Indian road which the army followed from Chillicothe to Piqua crossed Mad River about a quarter of a mile below the town ; as soon as the advance guard crossed the river, it was attacked by the Indians, who had concealed themselves in the high weeds. The ground on which the attack was made, as well as the manner in which it was done, left no doubt but that a general engagement was intended by the Shawnees. Colonel Logan with about 400 men was ordered to file off to the right, and march up the river on the east side, and to continue to the upper end of the town so as to prevent the Indians from escaping in that direction, while the remainder of the men under Colonels Lynn, Floyd and Harrod were ordered to cross the river and encompass the town on the west, while General Clark and the troops under Colonel Slaughter, and such as were attached to the artillery, marched directly toward the town. The prairie in which the Indians were concealed in the weeds was only about 200 yards across to the timbered land, and the division of the army destined to encompass the town on the west side found it necessary to cross this prairie where the Indians commenced the attack, to avoid the fire of the concealed enemy. The Indians evinced great military skill and judgment, and tb prevent the western division from executing the duties assigned them, they made a powerful effort to turn their left wing ; this was discovered by Floyd and Lynn, and to prevent being outflanked they extended the line of battle west more than a mile from the town ; the battle continued warmly contested on both sides until about 5 o'clock, when the Indians disappeared everywhere unperceived except a few in the town. The fieldpiece which had been entirely useless before was now brought to bear upon the houses, when a few shots dislodged the Indians which were in them. AN UNFORTUNATE AFFAIR A nephew of General Clark's who for many years had been a prisoner among the Indians, and who attempted to come to the whites just before the close of the action, was supposed to be an Indian and received 304 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY a mortal wound ; but he lived several hours after he arrived among them. The morning after the battle a Frenchman who had been taken by the Indians on the Wabash a short time before, was found in the loft of one of the cabins. He gave the information that the Indians did not expect the Kentuckians to reach their town that day and it was their intention to have attacked them in the night in their camp with the tomahawk and knife, and not to fire a gun. The Shawnees intended to have made an attack the night before, but they were prevented' by the rain, and also the vigilance evinced by the Kentuckians in firing off their guns and reloading them, the reasons for which they comprehended when they heard the firing ; they knew the wet guns would become rusted. Another circumstance showed that the Indians were disappointed in the time of the Kentuckians arriving ; they had not dined. When the men got into town they found a considerable quantity of provisions ready cooked, in large kettles and other vessels, almost untouched. The loss on each side was equal, about twenty killed. The French style of village extending along the margin of Mad River scattered the military forces ; in many places the houses were twenty poles apart. In order to surround the town on the east as was his orders, Colonel Logan marched fully three miles, while the Indians turned their whole force against those on the opposite side of the town. Colonel Logan's party never saw an Indian during the whole action, which was so severe that a short time bef ore the close Simon Girty, a white man who had joined the Indians and who was made a chief among the Mingoes, drew off 300 of his men, declaring it was folly in the extreme to continue the action against men who acted so much like madmen as General Clark's men, for they rushed in the extreme of danger with a seeming disregard of the consequences ; this opinion of Girty, and the withdrawal of 300 Mingoes, so disconcerted the rest that the whole body soon after dispersed ; it is a maxim among the Indians never to encounter a fool or a mad man (in which they included a desperate man) ; they say with a man who has not sense enough to take a prudent care of his own life, the life of his antagonist is in much greater danger than with a prudent man. DESTRUCTION OF CROPS It was estimated that at the two Indian towns, Chillicothe and Piqua, more than 500 acres of corn were destroyed, as well as other species of eatable vegetables ; in consequence of this, the Indians were obliged for the support of their women and children to employ their whole time in hunting, which gave quiet to Kentucky for considerable time. The day after the battle, August 9, was occupied in cutting down the growing corn, destroying the cabins and fort and collecting horses. On August 10, the army began its march homeward, and encamped that night in Chillicothe. On the 11th it cut a field of corn that had been left for the benefit of the men and horses on their return. At the mouth of the Licking the army dispersed, each individual making his best way home. Thus ended a campaign in which most of the men had no other provisions for twenty-five days than six quarts of Indian corn each, except the green corn and vegetables found at the Indian towns, and one gill of salt ; and yet not a single complaint was heard to escape the lips of a solitary individual. All appeared to be impressed with the belief that if this army should be defeated, that few would be able to escape, and that the Indians then SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 305 would fall on the defenseless women and children in Kentucky and destroy them. From this view of the subject every man was determined to conquer or die. Abraham Thomas, of Miami County, was in this campaign against Piqua. His reminiscences published in 1839 in The Troy Times detail some interesting facts omitted in the preceding account. While it differs it is probably more accurate. In the summer of 1780, General Clark was getting up an expedition with the object of destroying some Indian villages on Mad River. One division, under Colonel Logan, was to approach the Ohio by way of Licking River. The other, to which I was attached, ascended the Ohio from the falls in boats with provisions and six-pound cannon. The plan of the expedition was for the two divisions to meet in the Indian country opposite the mouth of the Licking, and thence march in a body to the interior. In descending the Ohio, Daniel Boone and myself acted as spies on the Kentucky side of the river, and a large party on the Indian side was on the same duty ; the latter were surprised by the Indians, and several were killed and wounded. It was then a toilsome task to get the boats up the river under constant expectation of attacks from the savages, and we were much rejoiced in making our destination. Before the boats crossed over to the Indian side, Boone and myself were taken into the foremost boat and landed above a small cut in the bank opposite the mouth of Licking. We were desired to spy through the woods for Indian signs. I was much younger than Boone and ran up the bank in great glee and cut into a beech tree with my tomahawk, which I verily believe was the first tree cut into by a white man on the present site of Cincinnati. We were soon joined by other rangers, and hunted over the other bottom ; the forest everywhere was thick set with heavy beech and scattering underbrush of spicewood and pawpaw. We started several deer, but seeing no signs of Indians we returned to the landing. By this time the men had landed and were busy in cutting timber for stockades and cabins ; the division under Colonel Logan shortly crossed over from the mouth of Licking, and after erecting a stockade and cabin for a small garrison and stores, the army started for Mad River. Our way lay over the uplands of an untracked, primitive forest through which with great labor we cut and bridged a road for the accommodation of our pack horses and cannon. My duty in the march was to spy some two miles in advance of the main body ; our progress was slow, but the weather was pleasant, and the country abounded in game. We saw no Indians that I recollect until we approached the waters of Mad River. In the campaigns of those days none but the officers thought of tents ; each man had to provide for his own comfort. Our meat was cooked upon sticks set up before the fire ; our beds were sought upon the ground, and he was the most fortunate man who could gather small branches, leaves and bark to shield him from the ground in moist places. After the lapse of so many years it is difficult to recollect the details of so many dates, so as to make the precise time of duration of our movements, but in gaining the open country of Mad River we came in sight of the Indian villages. We had been kept all the night before on the march and pushed rapidly toward the points of attack ; we surprised 300 Indian warriors gathered in the town with the view of surprising and attacking us the next morning. At this place a stockade fort had been Vol. 1-20 306 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY reared near the village, on the side we were approaching it, but the Indians feared to enter it, and took post in their houses. The village was situated on a low prairie bottom of Mad River between the second bank and a bushy swamp piece of ground on the margin of the river. It could be approached only from three points : the one our troops occupied, and from up and down the river. General Clark detached two divisions to secure the last named points, from which he extended his line to cover the first. By this arrangement the whole body of Indians would have been surrounded and captured, but Colonel Logan, who had charge of the lower division, became entangled in the swamp and did not reach his assigned position before the attack commenced. The party I had joined was about entering the town with great impetuosity, when General Clark sent orders for us to stop as the Indians were making port holes in their cabins and we should be in great danger, but added that he would soon make port holes for us both; on that he brought his six-pounder to bear on the village, and a discharge of grape shot scattered the materials of their frail dwellings in every direction. The Indians poured out of their cabins in great consternation while our party, and those on the bank, rushed into the village, took possession of all the squaws and pappooses and killed a great many warriors, but most of them at the lower part of the bottom. In this skirmish a nephew of General Clark who had some time before run away from the Monongahela settlements and joined the Indians, was severely wounded ; he was a great reprobate, and was said to have led the Indians in the morning's attack. Before he expired, he asked forgiveness of his uncle and countrymen. During the day the village was burned and the growing corn cut down, and the next morning we took up the line of march for the Ohio. This was a bloodless victory to our expedition, and the return march was attended by no unpleasant occurrences save a great scarcity of provision. On reaching the fort on the Ohio, a party of us immediately crossed the river for our homes, for which we felt an extreme anxiety. We depended chiefly on our rifles for sustenance, but game not being within reach without giving to it more time than our anxiety and rapid progress permitted, we tried every expedient to hasten our journey, even to boiling green plums and nettles. These at first, under sharp appetites, were quite palatable, but they soon became bitter and offensive. At last, in traversing the head waters of Licking, we espied several buffaloes directly in our track ; we killed one, which supplied us bountifully with meat until we reached our homes. (While the Thomas account says the battle of Piqua Village was without bloodshed, the Baradford notes place the loss at twenty on either side—Kentuckians and Shawnees.) Mention has elsewhere been made of the advanced conditions of agriculture among the Shawnees along Mad River, but destruction is one of the elements of warfare. While it has been chronicled in the annals of the Great Miami that John Paul produceed corn on Honey Creek in 1792, white men destroyed corn twelve years earlier along Mad River. It has been detailed that the early settlement was in Bethel Township, and it has been the privilege of many Clark County citizens to visit the 200-acre farm which is recognized as the site of the great conflict, with a sign posted at the corner : United States Military Reservation, and it has been christened Fort Tecumseh. While the writer had known the story of Tecumseh, it was an unexpected privilege to visit the place of his birth and to walk in the footsteps of Gen. George Rogers Clark, the SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 307 wilderness patriot of the Revolutionary period—the Washington of the West. It is hill slopes and valleys, and an early writer thus describes it : The sight was beautiful to the eye ; the river swept by in graceful bend ; the rocky bluffs stood up like battlements ; the rolling hills were crowned with lofty forest trees ; the prairies wore a summer robe of luxurious grasses and beauteous flowers ; the main part of Piqua Village was on a plain above the stream ; to the south extended broad prairies ; bold cliff s arose on the northeast, and level timber lands lay to the west and northwest ; across Mad River was a prairie tract of varying breadth, reaching back to the rising ground, and the twentieth century visitor will appreciate the foregoing bit of topography. The Kentuckians were used to attacks from the Shawnees in Ohio, and after their pilgrimage to the Mad River country when they subdued the Indians, they enjoyed a time of freedom. They were no longer afraid their women and children would be taken into captivity. The Indian meaning of the word Piqua—a man formed out of ashes—was no longer a terror to them because Piqua as well as Chillicothe had been reduced to ashes. The Piqua on the Great Miami was soon peopled by the whites and the name lost its significance. The story of the proposed Clark-Tecumseh monument belongs to the Clark County Historical Society Chapter, but in time this shrine of patriotism will be designated in a way that the chance visitor will learn the story. While Abraham Thomas later lived in Miami County the tragedy connected with the attempt of settlement by the Paul family is the only record of attempted citizenship in Clark County by a soldier who came to Mad River in General Clark's army. Simon Girty was at Piqua Village but lined up with the Shawnees, and there is mention of the activities of General Simon Kenton in Clark County. Since John Paul, Sr., was killed by the Indians, and he was in the Squirrel Hunter regiment of Kentuckians who visited Mad River with General Clark, his name should head the list of Revolutionary patriots buried in Clark County. Burial was given him by his son and daughter who escaped on the day of the Paul family massacre. (See Chapter II, The Adam of Clark County: John Paul.) The story of the death and burial of General Kenton is also elsewhere told, but he is not buried in Clark County. The 200-acre farm now occupied as a United States Military Reservation and designated as Fort Tecumseh, was leased by W. W. Keifer, April 1, 1921, to the state of Ohio as a training place for three machine gun, squads of the Ohio National Guard located in Springfield. The equipment is stored at Fort Tecumseh and used for rifle practice, and the maneuvers among the hills sacred to the memory of Gen. George Rogers Clark are enjoyed by the members of the 0. N. G. in Springfield. The rifle pits supposed to have been used by General Clark while maneuvering against the Indians are still in evidence. They are on the highest point of land east from the house, and are twenty-four in number. A few years ago Mr. Keifer caused two of the pits to be cleaned in a search for relics, but he obtained nothing of consequence. A survey of Tecumseh Hill indicates that the Indians established their village a little above these rifle pits. There are hollowed out stones that were used for mortars in grinding corn, and when the Clark-Tecumseh monument becomes a reality Mr. Keifer will cause those stones to be removed from the woods to the knoll dedicated for monument purposes. These stones have been bursted by the action of the elements, but they 308 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY may be placed together again, thus forming perfect caldrons. While they did not heat the mortars, some of the stones were evidently used for 'cooking. Older citizens of Clark County remember Fort Tecumseh as the Daniel Hartzler farm. He was a wealthy farmer who was murdered in the house now occupied by the 0. N. G., by arrangement with Mr. Keifer. While part of the farm is cleared, much of it seems never to have been turned by the plow. While there were mills and distilleries, and traditions early and late cluster about those hills and dales, the State of Ohio farms the land after the fashion of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It is excellent pasture land although dedicated to military maneuvers, and it is the center of historic interest in Clark County. IN 1880-CLARK COUNTY CENTENNIAL When the love of home and country is firmly established in the hearts of the youth of America, it is on a sure foundation. Pageants and anniversaries centering about civic and national traditions are educators ; they are community builders. The first American centennial celebrated in this country was the Declaration of American Independence, July 4, 1876— the, centennial staged in Philadelphia—and it was a gala day in Springfield. The town was profusely decorated with American flags, bells were rung and cannons were fired ; the banners and pendants everywhere betokened patriotic sentiment in the hearts of the citizens. Ulysses Simpson Grant was United States president. At his suggestion the people assembled in churches for early morning worship, Springfield people meeting at 8:30 in Union prayer meetings in the Methodist and Presbyterian churches. There was a big industrial procession in the streets later in the day. It was a complete representation of the triumphs of a century ; everything was in retrospect. All the arts were represented in the street parade ; it was educational and patriotic. The city government, the secret societies, the choral unions and the citizens forming a line several miles in length, and when the procession halted the Rev. H. H. Moore read the Declaration of Independence—perhaps the last time it has been read in public in Springfield—and the oration by Thomas F. McGrew-whetted up the interest in such anniversaries, and four years later Clark County staged a centennial celebration at the battlefield—Fort Tecumseh. While common usage has eliminated the final "e" in the name of Clark County, there is little doubt that the Ohio Assembly meant to honor Gen. George Rogers Clark on Christmas day in 1817, when formal recognition was given the new county. The Revolutionary sentiment still prevailed when on February 12, 1820, the patriotic Ohio governing body recognized the military group of fifteen counties lying northwest from Clark—Allen, Crawford, Hancock, Hardin, Henry,- Marion, Mercer, Paulding, Putnam, Sandusky, Seneca, Union, Van Wert, Williams and Wood, was outlined and all were named for Revolutionary soldiers—the spirit caught from that Christmas day christening of Clark County three years earlier. They all had their beginning in a splendid setting of patriotism, and their happy denouement has been in a burst of glory. In Williams County the warrants issued from the .office of the auditor bear the picture : "The Capture of Major Andre," a copy of the painting by A. B. Durand, showing David Williams, John Paulding and Isaac Van Wert dealing with the spy sent out by Benedict Arnold, three of the military group of counties being named for those captors--all Revolu- SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 309 tionary patriots. The picture of General Clark has been widely published, although not as yet commercialized on county warrants. The word centennial had not come into general usage until 1876, when many Clark County citizens went to Philadelphia. Four years later it was used in connection with another anniversary in Clark County. The word pageant had not beeen used extensively in 1901, when Springfield celebrated its centennial, nor a year later when the centennial of Statehood was being celebrated in Ohio. Many celebrations in 1902, although Admission Day was in the following February. The 1880 Clark County Centennial celebration at Fort Tecumseh attracted 20,000 people, so many going out from Springfield that the railroad company constructed a temporary bridge across Mad River. The twentieth century youngster who thinks in terms of trolley cars and electricity will think again and understand that more than forty years have cycled by since the Clark County centennial—the anniversary of the overthrow of the Shawnee Confederacy by General Clark. There was a sham battle staged, and they used fence rails on end in building the stockade ; there were wigwams everywhere, and Mad River was the Shawnee stronghold again. The Springfield militia represented General Clark's army, and there were plenty of volunteers for the part of the romance race—never any trouble to secure Indians for pageantry. Well known citizens painted themselves like warriors, and it was a great sham battle. When it was all over, all wanted to catch the same train back to Springfield. While it seemed that the streams were fed from unfailing springs, when the crowd assembled there was a shortage of the water supply, so many came on horseback and they were sent to Mad River for water. The horse-drawn vehicles were scattered all about (they did not say "parked" that long ago), and the visitors were not limited to Clark County. While there was continuous train service, hundreds walked to the battlefield. All who had been there a century earlier had walked a much greater distance. It is related that a bare-footed Negro got into a "bumble bee's" nest, and "hot-footed" it to safety. Because August 8, 1880, was Sunday the centennial program was enacted the following Monday, and a Miami County visitor present—David Jones, of West Milton—who wrote the Annals of Newberry pertaining to Carolina history, jotted down the following lines : "Last August 8, one hundred years ago, Near where Mad River's rapid waters flow, An Indian Village in Clark County stood Upon a hill surrounded by a wood ; A splendid scene of upland, glade and glen, The home of forest women—children, men ; That August morn these forest people rose As was their wont, from undisturbed repose, But ere had passed that August morning fair A thousand guns resounded on the air— George Rogers Clark, a warrior of renown, Had with a thousand men assailed the town; To its defense the savage warriors flew, And fierce and awful soon the battle grew." While the stanzas were published in Miami County at the time of the anniversary, the clipping had become misplaced and the writer had gone 310 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY the way of the world. The son, Davis W. Jones, who remembered the foregoing lines, could not recall the finish, and supplied the following : "With maddening shouts the slumbering air was stirred, And musket's roar and rifle's crack were heard ; But led by one whose prowess ne'er had failed The steady courage of the whites prevailed ; In wild confusion soon the Red Men fled And left the forest—still unknown the dead." NEWSPAPER SUMMARY A copy of the Springfield Republic, Tuesday, August 10, 1880, carries a complete story of the Clark County centennial program, estimating the crowd at from 20,000 to 25,000, mentioning music, addresses, sham battle, dinner, and burning of the Shawnee village of Piqua. Everything was quiet, orderly and pleasant, and Major '1)7\1. J. White, Captain of the Memorial Association, was chairman of the day and introduced the speakers. In his prayer, the chaplain, Rev. J. T. Harris, asked God's blessing upon the exercises and those taking part in them. One hundred years earlier the savage hordes had been overcome by men of strong arms and courageous hearts, and the land had been given over to freedom and civilization. The address of welcome was given by Gen. J. Warren Keifer, who was born. near the battlefield and who was familiar with every detail that had been published about it, the response being by Governor Charles Foster, who said it was the same old story—Clark the best county and Springfield the best city—and he congratulated the county assembled on its splendid civilization, its agricultural and manufacturing interests. Capt. D. C. Balentine reported many letters from friends unavoidably detained, some of them reviewing the history of Boston which once flourished in that vicinity. The skull of Black Hoof, who was the friend of Tecumseh, was shown by a Wapokeneta citizen. The principal thoroughfare of that town is Blackhoof. While one historian characterizes the Piqua Village battle as a "bloodless" victory, it was the consensus of opinion at the anniversary that General Clark lost about twenty men and that the Shawnees lost the same number. The speakers quoted Henry Howe and said that he had drawn from Drake's Memoirs of Tecumseh for much information. A folder sent out broadcast at the time of the anniversary read : "One hundred years ago the now fertile f arms, productive valleys, lofty ledges, and sparkling springs of Clark County were the homes, the haunts and the hunting grounds of the Shawnees," and one comment reads : "This is true, and may I be allowed to add that what is now the great state of Ohio was then to all intents and purposes a howling wilderness. One hundred years ago there was not in this vast extent of territory bounded on the north by the Great Lakes, on the east and south by the Ohio, and on the west by the Mississippi, a single permanent American settlement. "Beyond the Ohio looking north and west was everywhere an Indian country, and at that time all the tribes but one throughout the whole region were openly at war with the United States. That one was the Delawares, and the next year they took up the hatchet in favor of the British. The settlements west of the Alleghenies and those dotting the SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 311 wilds of Kentucky were, suffering the horrors of the Western Border War of the American Revolution, a war characterized by rapacity and blood-thirstiness. There had been two expeditions against these warring Indians, one from Fort Pitt (Pittsburg) in 1778, and the other from Kentucky in 1779, led by Col. John Bowman against Chillicothe, a Shawnee town in Greene County, and then in 1780 came the Clark campaign into the same territory—the Mad River country—and the anniversary speakers all used the expression : "One hundred years ago." The Shawnees and Mingoes were described as "horrible hell-hounds of savage war," and they murdered indiscriminately—the young and the old, helpless women and children, every age and either sex—and to prevent continual depredations of this character upon the inhabitants of Kentucky, for as yet no white people had located in what is now Clark County, the expedition was organized by General Clark, who was personally known and trusted by General Washington. While the immunity from the Indians in Kentucky was of short duration, whites did not begin settling along Mad River for several years. However, there was never again a battle waged in Clark County. Simon Girty was the Mingo leader, although he was not an Indian. He was born on an island in the Susquehanna and he was a renegade from the beginning and was always a conspicuous character where there were Indian difficulties, although it is said that he once saved the life of Simon Kenton. Girty was never a citizen of Clark County—he was just a visitor on Mad River. There were letters of regret from President Rutherford B. Hayes, Senator Allen H. Thurman, Senator George H. Pendleton, and many others, one letter reading: "The battle of Piqua was only the commencement of a long line of conflicts with the savages in various parts of the Great Northwest Territory ; it awakened the echoes in other places." But that is departure from Clark County history. It is known that David Lowry, who located on Mad River in 1796, came directly from Cincinnati (Fort Washington), where the previous year he had helped pack provisions for the U. S. army in preparation for the expedition under Gen. Anthony Wayne directed against the Indians in western Ohio, his march being from Cincinnati to Greenville. When the treaty was effected David Lowry lost no time in coming to Mad River. While the Indians ceded much valuable territory in Ohio, Indiana and all of Michigan to the U. S. Government, Tecumseh, who was then a fearless warrior twenty-seven years old, did not approve of the treaty and he began his active campaign of organization among the Indians, pursuing the same tactics still resorted to by great religious or political leaders. No DEFINITE RECORDS It seems that the Soldiers' Memorial Committee in charge of arrangements connected with the centennial program made an effort to gain exact information from the War Department, but the records had nothing concerning the engagement. It was rumored that an official report was on file in Virginia, but Thomas F. McGrew was unable to locate it. It is known that as a military officer General Clark was educated according to the standards of the time—that he had some experience in war and a reputation as an Indian fighter. His "backwoodsmen" army was of a type that has passed from earth, but they had qualities of personal endurance and patriotism. The Shawnees were the most war-like tribes, and 312 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY they were led by Indians of the highest type of strategic prowess. The battle of Piqua Village convinced the Indians that separate and independent tribes could not hold out against the advance of civilization. The Shawnees and Mingoes combined had lost the stronghold on Mad River, and from that time forward the Indians realized the need of foreign aid and confederation. When the day was ended in commemoration of the Piqua Village engagement that had cost the Shawnees their wigwams and given to the United States much valuable territory, in behalf of the Memorial Association Major White thanked all who had contributed to the success of the event, and the Rev. W. B. DePoy of Springfield spoke the benediction. While good people were assembled the "light-fingered gentry" were also in attendance, and reports say that thieves and pickpockets reaped a harvest. The bridge across Mad River to the trains, which were operated until 8 o'clock in the evening, was the scene of many robberies. There was such confusion in boarding the cars that women had their hats torn from their heads, and babies were handed into the cars through the windows. Cars were crowded and people "hung on by the little finger and one toe" to the platform in coming back to town. While fifteen robberies were reported and some arrests were made, it was unknown how much loot was taken by the thieves operating on the train. While a century milestone had been erected at Philadelphia in the shape of a centennial exposition, not many such events had been heralded to the world before the Clark County Memorial Association planned this anniversary program—the commemoration of the first 100 years since the overthrow of the Shawnee Confederacy—the exit of the Shawnee and the inevitable advance of civilization. While Clark County had no soldiers in the Revolution—because there was no Clark County—a number of Revolutionary soldiers found their final rest on the bosom of Clark County in later years, and there is a shrine in Ferncliff Cemetery sacred to them. CHAPTER XXXIV THE SECOND WAR WITH ENGLAND—LATER WARS While Gen. George Rogers Clark, the "Washington of the West," saved the day in what is now Clark County in the Revolutionary period, his body was not consigned to earth in this community. He lies buried at Clarksville, Indiana. In a summary of the past, Gen. J. Warren Keifer said : "There came to what is now Clark County, as to other parts of the West, some Revolutionary soldiers, bringing with them their patriotism and generally their poverty. Their love of liberty was put into practice and by example these veteran soldiers did much to build up peaceful communities. In 1912, Lagonda Chapter D. A. R. erected a tablet in Ferncliff Cemetery in memory of the men buried in Clark County who fought in the Revolution, and the names Lieut. John Bancroft, William McIntire, Samuel Lippincott, Sr., Cornelius Toland, Lieut. Jesse Christy, Elijah Beardsley, Merryfield Vicory, Capt. Richard Bacon, Stephen Harriman, Lieut. Henry Dawson, John Craig, George Lane, Jacob Ellsworth, Frederick Brown, James Kelly, Isaac Davisson, Benjamin Bridge, John Kellar, George McCleace, Jacob Ebersole Farnum, James Galloway and Melyn Baker are inscribed upon it. General Keifer adds the names of William Baird, Andrew Pinneo, Abraham Rust and William Holmes as having been local citizens. While these wilderness patriots had their rendezvous with death in different communities and they lie buried in different cemeteries, the Daughters of the American Revolution were fulfilling their filial obligation when they collated the names. The enduring monument—a shrine for- all time—is located on a southern hillslope in a secluded spot. Not a drum was heard nor a funeral note, and while all that was mortal had long ago moldered back to earth in other cemeteries, some of them on Columbia Street and in Greenmont, and in sequestered vales among Clark County hills, it was a gracious thing that Lagonda Chapter D. A. R. should muster them all "in one red burial blent," where posterity may receive inspiration from this silent testimonial to the ages, gallantry in the wilderness—the men who helped to make the nation. It is known that some who were with Gen. Anthony Wayne (Mad Anthony) in his campaign to the Maumee, who were in the Battle of Fallen Timbers and at the Treaty of Greenville and in other Indian expeditions, settled and died in Clark County. In territorial days, and long after Ohio was admitted as a state, it was a requirement that all able-bodied men should muster at least once a year, thus becoming familiar with firearms and military discipline. In 1792, quite early in the history of the republic, the United States Congress established militias in the different states. MUSTER DAY IN SPRINGFIELD All able-bodied white men between. the ages of eighteen and forty-five were required to report for service. Later the word white was stricken out and all male citizens were required to report for military instructions. The system was continued until after the Mexican war, and every county - 313 - 314 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY was thus the home of a regiment. The boy must put on a military cap and submit to discipline; the incorrigible submitted the same as the patriotic—it was a universal requirement. When the first plat of Springfield was made in 1801 it showed the military or muster square that is now occupied by the court house, a soldiers' monument and the county buildings. It was so planned that a palisade constructed there would afford protection for all the citizens. While the annual muster was a state requirement, very little equipment was furnished and Clark County men and boys improvised arms for the occasion. They sometimes used cornstalks when learning the manual of arms, and the poems "The Charge of the Light Brigade," and "Sheridan's Ride" did much to keep alive the military spirit. Since the Civil war the Ohio National Guard has supplanted Muster day ceremonies. While for a time musters were gala days, the training in manual without the use of firearms meant little to the men, and finally they were discontinued and later abolished by law. Some distinguished Springfield citizens of that period—Samson Mason and Charles Anthony—ranked as brigadier generals in muster ceremonies, and sons of these men later served in the United States army in war time. The annals of the young Republic, said General Keifer, are surpassingly bloody. From Lexington to Appomatox (1775-1865) almost one year out of five, not enumerating the constant Indian wars, was a year of war. The worthy pioneers acted constantly in the capacity of soldiers. They were on guard, whether in field, at home or at church—they were always alert against attacks by the Indians. It is known that when the citizens of Moorefield wanted better protection against the Indians they contributed to a fund and sent Andrew McBeth and Jeremiah Reese with the McBeth four-horse team to Cincinnati for arms and ammunition; that long ago the maxim "Trust in the Lord and keep your powder dry," prevailed in Clark County. While in times of peace the settlers did not need firearms, it was known that the Indians had respect for ammunition. Tecumseh had grown into manhood and he was commissioned a brigadier general in the Second war with England—the War of 1812, which he incited. He was the only commander who had power to control his fighters. Tecumseh was the only commander in charge of American forces who was able to compel his soldiers to forego the use of stimulants. While he could neither read nor write, he did not allow the use of whisky when danger was in prospect. He was a leader in the British army trying to regain lost territory. The Northwest Territory was the principal theater of the War of 1812, and while Tecumseh hailed from Clark County he did not represent local sentiment. The Ohio Gazetteer of 1841, one of the earliest records on the subject, said : "In every vicissitude of this contest the conduct of Ohio was eminently patriotic and honorable. When the battle necessities of the national government compelled Congress to resort to a direct tax, Ohio for successive years cheerfully assumed and promptly paid her quota out of her state treasury ; her sons volunteered with alacrity their service in the field ; no troops more patiently endured hardships or performed better service. Hardly a battle was fought in the Northwest in which some of these brave citizen soldiers did not seal their devotion to their country with their life blood." The Dayton and Belief ontaine road running by New Carlisle that was opened in 1810, really connected Fort Washington (Cincinnati) and SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 315 Fort Meigs (Toledo), and it was much traveled in prosecuting this war. It is a military road established by the United States Government, and General Hull with an army of 1,300 Kentuckians camped at. New Carlisle while en route from Cincinnati to Toledo. It was a wilderness thoroughfare crossed by a "bush-whacking" army, and in 1813 when Gen. William Henry Harrison at Fort Meigs was calling volunteers, as many as 500 men enlisted from Clark County. The firstto offer his services was James Shipman, a Springfield tailor. It takes nine tailors to make a man, but Shipman went alone. When others were ready their courage failed, and on the way to the rendezvous at Urbana Shipman met Thomas McCartney at the half-way point, and joining Captain McCord's cavalry at Urbana, they went to Fort Meigs together. While some of the Clark County contingent enlisted at Urbana—then all in Champaign County—other Springfield soldiers went to Troy and Piqua for their assignments in the service. A number of these soldiers returned and spent the remainder of their lives in the community. In the course of the War of 1812 many United States troops passed through Clark County, Ball's Squadron among them, and there were British and Indians in the community, although they found little local sympathy. Tecumseh, who was known as The Flying Panther—The Meteor, because of his war activities, had a confederate in his brother, The Prophet, who attracted some attention to himself because of his inclination to forecast events. He was known as Elkswatawa, or Tenskwatawa, and while some of the books say he was a half brother to Tecumseh, the tradition prevails in Springfield that triplets were born, that one died, and that Tecumseh and The Prophet completed the trio. No one equalled Tecumseh in war-time strategy. Jealousy among the Indians because of his leadership weakened their forces, and while he played an important part in the engagement at Fort Meigs beside inciting the Indians everywhere to action, on October 5, 1813, Tecumsesh met his death at the battle of the Thames. The report is current that the man who shot Tecumseh was Richard M. Johnson, later associated with the administration of Martin Van' Buren as vice president of the United States. An Indian who witnessed the affair said : "Tecumseh f ell dead and they all ran," and with their invincible leader removed there was no further trouble with the Indians. Thus heroically passed the majestic soul of Tecumseh. The final hopes of the Red Men were interred with his bones. Tecumseh gave his life for the rights of his race ; his requiem was the clash of arms and the din of battle. It is said that his grief-stricken warriors stealthily removed his body during the night as it lay under the fitful light of the victor's campfires, and one biographer says of Tecumseh : "He was the finest flower of the American aboriginal race." Since the Battle of the Thames was across the Canadian border, the bones of Tecumseh are not guarded by the American flag. He died an officer in the British army. The Toledo war in 1835 had to do with the Ohio-Michigan boundary difficulty, both states assembling their troops on the boundary, but the records are silent about Clark County representation. Before the opening of hostilities peace commissioners arrived from both states, and there was no bloodshed. There were concessions from both sides, and while Ohio gained the portage at Toledo, it relinquished all claim to the mineral counties in Northern Michigan. What Ohio wanted was the frontage on Lake Michigan, and in 1836 Congress decided in its favor. Otherwise 316 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY Toledo would be in Michigan. The Fulton and Harris boundaries were the questions in dispute, and a row of townships across the northern part of Ohio were once in Michigan. Stone markers have been placed at the southern line of the disputed territory—on one side the word Ohio, and on the other Michigan. Travelers appreciate them. They are two miles apart from Toledo west to the Indiana line, and thus Lucas, Fulton and Williams counties are separated from Michigan counties although once part of them. It was Governor Willis of Ohio who shook hands with Governor Ferris of Michigan when they had marked the boundary. There is some mention of a Reservoir war in Mercer which involved some other Ohio counties. THE MEXICAN WAR Ask the average Clark County citizen about the Mexican war ; when it began and when it ended, and he will say it has been continuous, thinking of the border warfare going on there for several years. However, in the '40s, the United States was involved in a war with Mexico. which General Keifer characterizes as a war in which to acquire territory to devote to slavery. There were but few volunteer soldiers, but Capt. Simon H. Drum, who was a graduate of West Point Military Academy, receiving his appointment from Springfield, was killed while a member of the Fourth Artillery United States Army, September 13, 1847, in the final assault and capture of the City of Mexico. Mention is elsewhere made of a visit from Gen. Winfield Scott to the family of Captain Drum in Springfield. Captain Drum's body lies buried in Ferncliff. The first railroad connecting Springfield with Cincinnati had just been completed in 1846, when the Mexican soldiers were carried that far on their journey. Mexico lies south of the Rio Grande, and Texas was the disputed territory. Since it was slave territory, it strengthened the South when the United States was again at war. In 1844, when Chancey Fall of Moorefield was called a whig, he was also thought to be an abolitionist. It required as much moral courage then to be an abolitionist as it does now to be a prohibitionist. Mr. Fall harbored runaway slaves, and because his neighbors were intolerant, he was tarred and feathered ; they rode him on a rail for it. It is said that a Springfield merchant one time took advantage of an opportunity. A Madison County settler gave to him the power of attorney to free some slaves he had left in Delaware ; the merchant was not so conscientious and he sold them, using the money to increase his stock of merchandise. Slavery was the question dividing the country, and the Rescue Case of 1857, illustrates it. RESCUE CASE OF 1857 Some years ago Dr. B. F. Prince, a trustee of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society, president of the Clark County Historical Society, and professor of History and Political Science in Wittenberg College, wrote the history of the Rescue Case of 1857, which was published in pamphlet form and deals with the fugitive slave question, saying: "The years between 1830 and 1860 brought great strain to the people of the United States ; the long border line between the slave and free states, stretching from the Atlantic on the east to a great distance beyond the Mississippi River, was crossed by a great many bonds- SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 317 men seeking liberty for themselves and for their families. Lines of cornmunication between points were established in all directions in the free states, where were located friends of the runaway slaves, and when once the slave had reached a station on the underground railroad, he was secretly conducted from station to station until he found some place of fancied security. "The slaves most timid and 'fearful of being carried back by their pursuing masters, did not stop in their flight until they had crossed into Canada, where they were free from any danger of recapture." The refugees had a chant : "I'm on my way to Canada, that cold and dreary land— The dire effects of slavery, I can no longer stand, I served my master all my days, without a dime's reward— But now I'm forced to run away, to flee the lash abhorred," there being several stanzas, the last one beginning: "I'm landed safe in Canada, both soul and body free," and there is no gainsaying the fact that the songs the people sing influence them in their methods. In communities settled by Quakers there were many fugitive slaves in hiding through the day, who were carried along under cover of darkness to the next underground station, and the Clark County Quakers in the vicinity of Selma know about John :Cooper whom they sheltered. He had a dream that he was being pursued, and that day a posse was after him; they were Kentucky planters and among them was Cooper's master, but he reached Canada in safety. When the war was over he came back to South Charleston, and lived with his family in the same cabin he had left so hastily. At another time a slave was captured, but the 'enraged populace arose en masse and shots were exchanged, and those engaged in the melee were brought to trial in Asbury Houston's court. The room was packed and the slave escaped, the incident remembered as the riot in South Charleston. It is related that once when Ross Mitchell was employed as bookkeeper in a distillery- along Mad River, some refugees were in hiding when the planters arrived in search for them. It was only a thin board wall that separated them from their pursuers, and as the owners inquired about their property, the slaves stood in fear and trembling, their eyes shining through the cracks when Mitchell, recognizing the situation, picked up a 'newspaper and stood glancing over it, holding it so the Kentuckians could not see the frightened slaves, and under the cover of darkness they went on again toward Canada, that cold and dreary land, but anywhere was better to them than bondage. It seems that Champaign, Clark and Greene counties are alike concerned with the Rescue Case of 1857, when Addison White, a Kentucky fugitive: was employed by Udney H. Hyde of Mechanicsburg. In 1856 he had escaped from his master. While the compromise of 1850 was intended as a check to the fugitive slaves, its harsh conditions intensified the friends of the renegades engaged in assisting them to freedom. The compromise provided for officers of the law following slaves to call upon citizens for assistance in apprehending them, those refusing being liable to arrest, and as a result of this measure more slaves escaped to freedom in the decade between 1850 and 1860 than had escaped in all the years of previous history. In was in 1856 that Addison White fled from servitude in Kentucky. 318 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY White was a man of great physical strength ; he could have disposed of any number of officers pursuing him in single combat. He was over six feet high, and weighed more than 200 pounds ; he was muscular and disposed to defend himself. Mr. Hyde, who employed White, was connected with the underground railroad, and at the time White came along he had assisted more than 500 slaves en route to freedom, directing, feeding and transporting them. While living in Mechanicsburg, Hyde was under suspicion, and in the spring of 1857, he removed from the village to a farm. White's wife was a free woman still living in Kentucky, and his place of hiding became known through letters passing between them, mailed at the postoffice in Springfield. He wished his wife to join him at the Hyde farm in Champaign County. William K. Boggs, Springfield postmaster, discovered these communications, and gave the information to the United States marshal at Cincinnati. It was discovered that Charles Taylor of Mechanicsburg wrote the letters for White, and when they were intercepted the officers had a clew to the whereabouts of the slave. A man named Edward Lindsay sought employment at the Hyde farm, and while he had little to say he was an observing person ; when he disappeared the officers came, and thus it developed that he was a spy. On May 21. 1857. B. P. Churchill and John C. Elliott, deputy United States marshals, accompanied by Capt. John Poffenbarger, also a deputy for Champaign County, and accompanied by five Kentuckians arrived before sunrise at the Hyde home in search of White. The first to note the approach of the officers was the fugitive himself, and White determined not to surrender without a struggle. The Hyde family lived in a double log house with a loft, the opening to it large enough to admit one man at a time, and here White secreted himself. He was an adept in the use of firearms, and was armed with a revolver. When the officers discovered the loose boards of the loft which made the floor, one of them fired through a crack while Elliott mounted the ladder with a double-barrel shot gun in readiness. When he put his head through the aperture, the fugitive fired at him striking the gun barrel, the ball glancing and marking his cheek and nipping his ear. At the time Mr. Hyde was in bed suffering from a broken ankle, but he soon assumed responsibility, sending a daughter for assistance. While one of the sons in the Hyde family had been seized, and was being held by the intruders the daughter soon aroused another son who lived near and he communicated with friends in Mechanicsburg. He secured a horse from a neighbor's barn, and in a short time a crowd was hurrying toward the Hyde farm. When the young girl was leaving to call her brother, the officers of the law called to her, threatening to shackle her, but she was fleet of foot and won in the race with one of them. The Mechanicsburg relief was armed with all kinds of weapons —guns, pistols, pitchforks and clubs—all of them in sympathy with the anti-slavery sentiment. When they assembled in the Hyde dooryard, the officers were nonplussed, until a citizen drew forth his watch and gave them five minutes in which to quit the homestead. They withdrew without securing the fugitive, and the friends of White conducted him to a place of safety. He was removed from place to place, and guarded with the utmost secrecy. Mr. Hyde realized that charges would be filed against him for harboring a runaway slave, and for several months he secreted himself in SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 319 Ohio and Indiana, notwithstanding the pain he suffered. When he ventured back, spies gave notice of his return ; the authorities were anxious to arrest such a noted violater of the laws, but he eluded them again. On May 27, when Churchill and Elliott with a posse appeared again, Charles and Edward Taylor, Hiram Gutridge and Russell Hyde, the son who was in charge of affairs at the Hyde farm followed them, and a controversy ensued. The f our men were arrested for obstructing United States officers in the discharge of their duties, and for harboring Addison White, the human chattel. They were taken without warrant, a fact that played an important part in subsequent events, however, they were allowed to change their clothes in preparation for the journey. At Mechanicsburg, the f our prisoners were given to understand that if they did not care to proceed further they would be released by the citizens. They decided to let the law take its course since the officers said they would be taken to Urbana for a preliminary examination. The prisoners and their friends alike accepted the statement, but some of the citizens trailed them. In a short time the officers turned their course away from Urbana, and there was an altercation along the highway. One of the pursuing party went to Urbana, and a writ of habeas corpus threw the matter into the courts of Champaign County. The United States marshals making the arrest had purposely avoided Urbana, knowing the citizens were hostile toward the institution of human slavery, and against the enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Law. When the officers realized they might be pursued from Urbana, they bound their prisoners and guarded them closely ; they were looking for trouble, and Churchill remarked that no process of any court should stop him ; it would only be fighters superior to himself. Armed with the writ of habeas corpus from the Champaign County Probate Court, Sheriff Clark, accompanied by the town marshal of Urbana and others, started in pursuit. The entire population in the vicinity of Urbana and Mechanicsburg was aroused, and every horse and vehicle available were used in overtaking the officers and their prisoners. They passed through the eastern part of Clark County, planning to take a train at South Charleston ; they would reach Cincinnati over the Little Miami, but the writ issued in Champaign County had been placed in the hands of Sheriff John E. Layton of Clark County. It was delivered to the Clark County sheriff by State Senator Brand and Pierce Morris of Urbana, who accompanied him, and Deputy Sheriff William Compton to South Charleston. When the news spread in Springfield others joined in the race to apprehend the officers crossing the county with Champaign County prisoners. When Sheriff Layton and party intercepted the fleeing officials, seizing their horses and stopping them, Churchill was not in humor to be interrupted, knocking down the Clark County sheriff with a Colt revolver, beating him so badly that he suffered from it the remainder of his life. Shots were fired, and Elliott later acknowledged in court that he shot three times at Compton who had snapped a revolver at him. By this time many Champaign County people were on the scene, among them Ichabod Corwin, a noted lawyer of Urbana, and other prominent citizens. In the face of such a gathering, Churchill deemed it wise to depart without waiting railway transportation. His horses were jaded, and the prisoners already worn out with the excitement of the journey. 320 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY The pursuers did not follow immediately as their horses were exhausted in driving from Urbana, Mechanicsburg and Springfield. Fresh horses were secured in the surrounding country, and at 9 :30 o'clock in the evening every available conveyance left South Charleston in pursuit of the fleeing officers of the law and their prisoners. Because of the injury to Sheriff Layton, a warrant was issued by Justice of the Peace J. A. Houston for the arrest of Churchill and his party. It was placed in the hands of Constable E. G. Coffin, and • the race began. When the party crossed the line into Greene County, the writ of habeas corpus was transferred to the hands of Sheriff McIntire, who joined in the pursuit. All night long they pressed forward, overtaking Churchill and party at sunrise in Clinton County. At the Village of Lumberton, when the officers realized they would be overtaken, they broke and ran in every direction, even entering houses while the people were yet asleep in their beds. While some of the abducting party escaped, ten of them with the four prisoners fell into the hands of those in pursuit, and all returned to South Charleston. The United States marshals were arraigned bef ore Justice Houston on a charge of assault and battery ; they were found guilty, and were bound over to the Clark County Common Pleas Court, and in the evening of May 28, Constable Coffin committed them to jail in Springfield. Next morning they were brought before Probate Judge James L. Torbert, who admitted them to bail in the sum of $150 each, when they furnished the necessary sureties, those admitted to bail being Churchill, Elliott and eight others, the bond being furnished by Dr. Cornelius Smith, David Shaffer, William Reid, William Anderson, John F. Chorpenning, William Berger and John Dillahunt. When Churchill and Elliott were released, they were again arrested on a warrant issued by Justice James S. Christie when, by their attorney, J. M. Hunt, they moved to quash the proceedings, the motion continued until the following day and on May 30, they appeared in court again, Mr. Hunt defending them and J. S. Hauke representing the state. They pleaded guilty and waived further trial, Justice Christie binding them over in the sum of $1,500 each for their appearance in common pleas court. When they were unable to furnish bond, Constable E. Crossland committed them into the custody of the jailer. On complaint of William H. Compton, deputy sheriff, the eight persons associated with them : Evan B. Carty, Jared M. Trader, Thomas Meara, Samuel B. Garvey, James Darrell, Theodore D. Bentley, William H. Keifer and John Puffenbarger were again arrested, charged with aiding and abetting Churchill and Elliott in their assault upon Sheriff John E. Layton. They were brought before Justice Christie in the evening, and they passed the night at the Akens Hotel in the custody of the constable and his assistants. At the instigation of Compton, a second warrant was issued for the arrest of Churchill and Elliott, charging them with maliciously shooting at him with intent to wound him ; when brought before the justice they again pleaded guilty, waiving trial, their bond was fixed at $1,000 each and in default, they were transferred to the county jail where they languished many hours before they were removed to Cincinnati. When they were taken bef ore Judge Humphrey H. Leavitt of the United States District Court for Southern Ohio, there was delay over the question as to whether the State of Ohio or the United States had precedence, Judge Leavitt SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 321 deciding that at the time of their arrest Churchill and Elliott were in the rightful and proper discharge of their duties, and thus were not amenable to state laws. They could not be arrested and detained for trial in state courts, and they were released, this move causing trouble in Clark County again. Numerous arrests were made of those aiding and abetting Sheriff John E. Layton. "It was a time that tried men's souls," those taken from Clark County to stand trial in Cincinnati being: Sheriff Layton and Deputies Compton and Fleming, Prosecutor John S. Hauke, Justice Christie, Attorney John C. Miller, Constables Temple, Crossland and Brown of Springfield ; Dr. M. L. Houston and Constable Coffin of South Charleston, and from Champaign County : Senator Brand, Sheriff Clark and David Rutan. The general charge against these citizens was resisting the United States officers in the discharge of their duties ; the cause of action against Doctor Houston was aiding Sheriff Layton. They were all held to bail in the sum of $1,500 each, their bondsmen being : James F. Whiteman, A. D. Rodgers, A. D. Coombs, Rodney Mason and David Compton, and their trial was set for the following October. When the Churchill-Elliott party was overtaken at Lumberton, the pursuing party had two classes of writs : Habeas Corpus for the prisoners, and warrants for the United States marshals, the latter being disposed of at South Charleston while it was necessary to return the Champaign County prisoners to Urbana, and the docket of Probate Judge Baldwin shows that Sheriff Clark conformed to the requirements, presenting Edward and Charles Taylor, Russell Hyde and Hiram Gutridge in court, and when the name of Churchill had been called solemnly three times, he failed to appear against them and they were set at liberty. The writ of Judge Baldwin also bears the indorsement of Daniel Lewis of Greene County, who placed the f our prisoners into the custody of Sheriff Clark. In the following July, the f our were arrested on warrant of the United States Court and taken to Cincinnati for examination. While Hyde and Gutridge were dismissed, the Taylors were held under bond for their appearance in October. The planter named White from Fleming, Kentucky, who owned the slave Addison White, was present and testified, saying that intercepted letters had enabled him to trace his chattel to Springfield, and thence to Mechanicsburg. Sheriff Clark and Senator Brand of Champaign County were examined in Cincinnati, and Stanley Matthews, who was United States attorney, became very bitter in his denunciation of those who would interfere with officers in the discharge of their duties. When Judge John A. Corwin of Urbana was called to their defense, a Cincinnati newspaper said : Judge Corwin, for the defense, made by far the ablest argument yet heard on either side ; it was an effort seldom excelled if ever equalled in Ohio courts for pertinency, aptness, logical force and consistency, legal erudition, bitter denunciation, withering sarcasm, biting mockery and powerful eloquence. * * * The first allegiance of a citizen of a state is to his own sovereignty." The conflict had not been between two sovereignties, but between the deputy marshals and the State of Ohio. In view of the expense attending so much litigation, efforts were made to secure a compromise. When $1,000 was paid to Daniel G. White for the loss of his chattel—the fugitive slave, Addison White—all civil and criminal action would be withdrawn. The proposition was spurned Vol. I-21 322 - SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY by many concerned, the men from Clark County being much opposed to it ; they would fight it, but Mr. Hyde of Champaign County had long been in hiding and his friends raised the money. Judge Corwin was authorized to pay $950 to Daniel G. White, and various personal law suits grew out of the Rescue Case of 1857, most of them brought before the courts in Cincinnati. George H. Frey was then editor of The Springfield Republic ; in an editorial way he commented on the actions of Churchill, and he was summoned to court in Cincinnati. Mr. Frey was assessed $5,000 damage, but Judge Storer dismissed the case on the ground that a witness cannot be sued in another county. Mr. Frey also published some reflections on the official conduct of Postmaster Boggs, asserting that the information came from him as to the hiding place of the slave in transit to Canada. Mr. Boggs brought suit demanding $6,000, but Mr. Frey entered a counter-suit. Esquires Christie and Houston were notified of suits brought against them in Hamilton County, but none of the suits in Hamilton or Clark counties ever came to trial. They were allowed to languish, and when time had soothed the feeling of the interested parties, they were withdrawn or lapsed from want of prosecution. Constable Coffin, who was a conductor on the underground railroad, suffered arrest in connection with the Rescue Case and other charges were brought against him. He was called into court, but the case was deferred from time to time until the Civil war came on which stopped further proceedings. However, Coffin became known to the public through such activities and four times he was elected Clark County sheriff, and three times mayor of Springfield. For eight years he was warden of the Ohio State Penitentiary in Columbus. There is a book on underground railroad activities written by Levi Coffin, who lived at Fountain City, Indiana ; he was a Quaker. On July 2, 1857, the citizens of South Charleston held a public meeting in which resolutions were passed declaring they would not resist the execution of any legal warrant issued by state or nation, but they objected to high-handed measures of drunken United States officers. They indorsed the action of Sheriff Layton and the citizens aiding him, adding: "We will make our town too hot to hold any spy or informer, resident or foreign, who may be found prowling in our midst endeavoring to involve our citizens in legal difficulties." The foregoing expressed the feeling almost universal in Ohio, and throughout the North. It foreshadowed the dark days when the Nation would be forced to settle the slavery question. After the purchase of his freedom, Addison White continued his residence at Mechanicsburg until he died there. His wife refused to come to Ohio, and he did not return to Kentucky. While he served two years as a soldier in the Civil war, and was honorably discharged, those who knew him best felt that he did not appreciate what was done for him when he was in sore need of protection. The people of three counties sacrificed for him, Mr. Hyde not only offering him shelter, but exiling himself until after the fugitive was freed through purchase, when he could come home again. The Rescue Case of 1857 brought a number of attorneys into prominence, among them James L. Goode, Rodney Mason, John and Ichabod Corwin, C. L. Vallandingham, Stanley Matthews, Judge Caldwell, John O'Neal and George E. Pugh. While the Rescue Case did not have its entire setting in Clark County, it involved a great number of Clark County citizens. The Rescue Case and the Oberlin Case stand out in SPRINGFIELD AND CLARK COUNTY - 323 the underground railroad history of Ohio ; they will long remain historic marks of the intensity of feeling engendered by the institution of slavery. In each case men suffered in their bodies, their private means and their personal liberties. The rigid enforcement of the law concerning fugitive slaves aroused the bitterest feelings of hate and prejudice; it engendered a constant feeling of suspicion, insecurity and hostility. In the courts where these cases were tried, the doctrine of state's rights was urged as against the laws and authority of the United States. The North had not yet learned the lesson that the supremacy of the general Government was paramount—but when South Carolina proposed to put the idea into practice, well, the Civil war corrected the error. The Emancipation Proclamation changed conditions, and the Negroes who come into Springfield and Clark County are not fugitives. CHAPTER XXXV CIVIL WAR : WAR OF THE STATES While the Revolution and the second war with England are as a story that is told as far as personal knowledge goes, men and women still linger who remember all the horrible details of the Civil war—the dark days from '61 to '65—and that human slavery was the underlying question. As an outgrowth was the question of state sovereignty, and when South Carolina seceded from the Union, opinion underwent a radical change in the northern states. When the gun was fired that was heard around the world—when Fort Sumter was fired on, April 12, 1861—Clark County citizens raised the American flag on houses, shops and stores ; they left their daily routine as Israel Putnam left his plow ; they answered the call of the country. War is resultant from conflicting ideas, and the Rescue Case of 1857 reflects the local sentiment. The question of human slavery convulsed the whole country, and abolitionists were everywhere active. The evidence of internal strife was apparent in the mutterings from all over the country—it was the time that tried men's souls. While other states produced opponents of human slavery in the days leading up the Civil war, Ohio produced some of the most active abolitionists, and their spirit had response in Clark County. It is said that Benjamin Lundy was the pioneer of the anti-slavery movement. As _early as 1815 he organized the first anti-slavery society, and other leaders were : Charles Osborn, James G. Birney, Joshua R. Giddings, Benjamin F. Wade and Salmon P. Chase. In 1817 Osborn published The Philanthropist, the first anti-slavery publication in America. Lundy and Osborn were leaders from the Belmont-Harrison County locality, that part of Ohio being settled much earlier than Clark County. THE ELECTION OF LINCOLN The time came when legislative compromises were no longer effective, and when in the presidential campaign of 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected, it was apparent that abolition of slavery would be the next thing in order ; a crisis was confronting the people of the United States. The problems of the ages have been solved on the field of battle; war has been the solution, and bloodshed has paved the way for many things. It seems that the events of the ages are not mere occurrences ; they are part of God's eternal plans, and the lessons of the centuries have been written in blood. In the Civil war the Clark County soldiers wrote their chapter in United States history along with the rest of the country. The number of soldiers who enlisted from Clark County is not known definitely ; there were officers, soldiers, and sailors in the regular and volunteer service who joined the army or navy on the Union side in the Civil war both at home and abroad ; some who enlisted in other places afterward became residents of Clark County, and the number can only be approximated ; it will reach about 2,550, not counting double enlistments. While some enlisted in the regular army and navy, most Clark County men belonged to volunteer organizations, as follows : The Thirty- - 324 -