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AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 33 CHAPTER III. FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES. While the Land was yet a Wilderness—Declining Sway of the Red Man—Dawn of Ohio's Civilization—Wanderings and Good Work of "Johnny Appleseed"---"The Old Northwest" and the Ordinance of 1787. In the 17th and the earlier part of the 18th centuries the Wyandot, Delaware and Mingo tribes of Indians occupied the northern and northeastern parts of Ohio, including what is now Columbiana County. In common with other Indian tribes they did not till the soil, but were hunters and fishers. They were not natives of this section, but had found their way hither from the surrounding country. Their title to the hunting ground was contested by the English and French, and also by the ferocious Iroquois or Five Nations, who claimed ye conquered all this country 40 years before the appearance of the French. The French abandoned their claim in 1726. DAWN OF OHIO'S HISTORY: At about the middle of the 18th century may be fixed the dawn of Ohio's history. At least absolutely reliable information cannot be obtained from an earlier date. Many traditionary stories, claiming to be history, are at best unreliable. The region which we at present know as the State of Ohio, which is now really the gateway to the great West, was, 150 years ago, an almost unbroken wilderness. Yet here and there throughout the region were evidences of prehistoric life, both of the higher and lower orders. Among the most remarkable of these are the works of the "Mound-Builders." The most notable of these are at Marietta, and in the valleys of the Muskingum, the Scioto and of the Miamis. By 1750 white people in limited numbers had become associated with Ohio Indian tribes in one way and another. First of these were probably the French traders, the stragglers and deserters who had drifted on the streams of Northern and Central Ohio. They left no trace of their sojourn in this early era of semi-civilization in the State, unless it be the axe-marks upon trees, sometimes thickly overgrown, or rusty relics in the form of guns and skillets which have in later years puzzled antiquarians. THE CANFIELD TREE AND ITS AXE-WOUNDS. Speaking of ancient axe-wounds in forest trees, a writer in Whittlesey's "Early History of Cleveland" says: "In 1840 I was requested to examine the stump of an oak tree, which was then recently cut, and which stood in the northwest part of Canfield, Mahoning County. The diameter was two feet ten inches when it was felled, and with the exception of a slight rot at the heart was quite sound. About seven inches from the center were the marks of an axe, perfectly distinct, over which 160 layers of annual growth had accumulated. The tree had been dead several years when it was cut down, which was in 1838. When it was about 14 inches in diameter, an expert chopper, with an axe in perfect order, had cut into the tree 34 - HISTORY OF COLUMBIANA COUNTY nearly to its heart. As it was not otherwise injured, the tree continued to grow, the wound was healed, and no external signs of it remained. When it was felled, the ancient cut was exposed. I procured a portion of the tree extending from the outside to the center, on which the ancient and modern marks of the axe are equally plain, the tools being of about the same breadth and in equally good order." After speaking of a tree which had been cut near Willoughby containing axe-marks near its heart, and which showed about 400 annual layers of growth over the marks, and of other trees with marks which had been made by rude Indian axes, the writer continues : "If the cuts mentioned were made by the Indians with their rude squaw axes, they possess no special interest. Those upon the Canfield and Willoughby trees were by a different tool, a well-formed axe, with a clear sharp cutting edge. Very soon after the French and the English encountered the Indians in 1608-20, they were furnished with squaw axes. These axes were narrow-bitted, made of iron or inferior steel, and were never kept in order by the Indians. Where they have used them upon modern trees, the style of stroke at once shows it to be this kind of a tool. It is never, sharp enough to cut a surface smooth like a modern chopper's axe. The Jesuits were among the Iroquois of Western New York as early as 1656, but we have no historical traces of them as far west as Ohio. The Canfield tree must be considered a good record as far back as 1660." By 1780 some primitive settlements existed along the north bank of the Ohio as far down as the Muskingum, and even 30 miles back from the river, and a military officer, sent to break up these colonies of squatters, reported as many as 12 settlements west of the upper Ohio, among them some of considerable population. As has been mentioned, these settlers were squatters, and their titles consisted solely in what were called "tomahawk rights." They made their choice of abode to suit their fancy and convenience, usually near a spring, built a but of some sort, cleared a patch of land for cultivation, and published their claim of ownership by chopping their initials on the trees at the corners of their clearings. (Rufus King's "Ohio.") Among the early squatters in this part of Ohio, and among those who had allied themselves with the Indian tribes, there were refugees who had left older settlements under a cloud; and some of these, renegades and degenerates, afterwards became the most ferocious enemies of the early settlers. Then there were captives, white and black, who had been spared from the stake and adopted as members of Indian tribes. Two of these are especially known,—the "white woman" after, whom Wahlonding originally was named, and Col. James Smith. The former is introduced to us by Captain Gist as Mary Harris, captured in New England when a child by the French and Indians, and with her Indian husband and children brought to the West. "She remembers," says Gist. "they used to be very religious in New England, and wonders how the white men can be so wicked as she has seen them in these woods." Colonel Smith was captured in boyhood near Fort Duquesne, and brought up among the Indians in Northern Ohio. His account of his captivity and life among them, their customs, manners and general characteristics, is probably the most truthful, intelligent and interesting narrative ever written on the subject. It is an admirable picture of the Indian at home or in repose. WANDERINGS AND GOOD WORK OF "JOHNNY APPLESEED." In the curious fusion of the whites with the Indians which was going on at this early period, there were hermits also ; people who sought the wilderness for quiet or seclusion. They were not only not molested, but were treated by the red men with superstitious regard. Such a wandering, kindly specimen was John Chapman, or "Johnny Appleseed," as the early settlers named him, who came to the Ohio and Muskingum valleys, late in the 18th century. He spent hiS life chiefly in scattering nurseries of apple trees about the country for the benefit of the coming generations. Indians and whites alike respected his quaint, inoffensive life and ways. With nothing but his axe and bag of AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 35 apple seeds, or sometimes, as the settlements grew, a few Swedenborgian tracts (for he was a devout adherent of the Swedenborgian sect), he made his pilgrimages far into the wilderness, where he cleared or deadened patches in the forests. There he sowed his seeds and, rounding them with hedges of brush to keep off the deer, left them as gifts to those who should follow. Many a fruitful orchard in the State was planted from these seedlings. (Rufus King's "Ohio.") W. H. Hunter in a paper entitled "The Pathfinders of Jefferson County,"—one of the 0hio Archaeological and Historical Society's publications,—thus describes "Johnny Appleseed" "John Chapman, or 'Johnny Appleseed,’ was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1775. He would tell little about himself, but his half sister, who came West at a later period, stated that Johnny, when a boy, showed a fondness for natural scenery. and often wandered from home in quest of flowers, and he that liked to listen to the singing of birds. His usual price for a young apple tree was a ‘fippenny-bit,' (six and one-fourth cents) ; but if the settler had no money, he would give him it, credit, or take old clothes. Johnny was fairly well educated, was polite and attentive in manner and chaste in conversation. He usually wore a broad-brimmed hat, went barefooted not only in summer but often in cold weather, and a coffee sack with neck and arm-holes served as a coat. He lived, when located for any length of time, in a rude cabin, and when journeying camped out. Chapman never married, and rumor said a love affair in the old Bay State was the cause of his living as a recluse and celibate, but such stories are common of almost every bachelor of peculiar character. He planted his first nursery on George's Run in Jefferson County. Chapman died at a good old age near Fort Wayne, Indiana, having extended his good deeds across the western border of the Buckeye State." THE WYANDOTS AND DELAWARES. The Wyandots, who claimed to be the owners of the soil of Ohio for a long period, lived in the north central part of the State, with their principal village near the present site of Upper Sandusky, but were not confined within any limits, roaming at will throughout the whole territory. At one time about the earliest settlement of Columbiana County, "the Wyandots encamped in the north part of the county, near where Salem now stands, and, being in a very destitute condition, the whites gathered up provisions and went to their relief, and in return for their kindness received as a present from the Indians a wampum, or bead belt (being the highest token of gratitude and friendship,) which belt was afterwards kept and preserved in the family of old William Heald, who was one of the first government surveyors in our county."' (From an address by Hon. H. H. Gregg, before the Columbiana County Pioneer and Historical Society, September, 1873). The Delaware Indians occupied the rich lands of Columbiana County, with those now forming Carroll, Coshocton, Jefferson, Mahoning and parts of Ashland, Holmes, Knox and Tuscarawas counties. Taylor, in his "History of Ohio," says : "About 1740-50, a party of Delawares, who had been disturbed in Pennsylvania by European emigration, determined to remove west of the Alleghany Mountains, and obtained from their ancient allies and uncles, the Wyandots, the grant of the derelict tract of land lying principally on the Muskingum. Here they flourished and became a very powerful tribe. From 1765 to 1795 they were at the height of their influence, but the treaty of Greenville, and the disasters sustained by the Delawares in Wayne's campaign were a death blow to their ascendency. The Delawares were the ancestral tribe, and their biography contains an unusual number of remarkable personages, though none of so extraordinary career or character as to be known in the present generation." Henry Howe, in his "Historical Collections of Ohio," gives an interesting account of the death of White Eyes. He says : "This county (Columbiana) was settled just before the commencement of the present century. In 1797 a few families moved across the Ohio and settled in its limits. One of them, named Carpen- 36 - HISTORY OF COLUMBIANA COUNTY ter, made a settlement near West Point. Sh0rtly after, Captain White Eyes, a noted Indian chief, stopped at the dwelling of Carpenter. Being intoxicated, he got into some difficulty with a son of Mr. Carpenter, a lad of about 17 years of age, and threatened to kill him. The young man, upon this, turned and ran, pursued by the Indian, with uplifted tomahawk, ready to bury it in his brains. Finding that the latter, was fast gaining up0n him, the young man turned and shot him, and shortly afterward he expired. As this was in the time of peace, Carpenter was apprehended and tried at Steubenville, under the territorial laws, the courts being then held by justices of the peace. He was cleared, it appearing that he acted in self defense. The death of White Eyes created great excitement, and fears were entertained that it would provoke hostilities from the Indians. Great exertions were made to reconcile them, and several presents were given to the friends of the late chief. The wife of White Eyes received from three gentlemen the sum of $300. One of the donors was the late Bazaleel Wells, of Steubenville. This was the last Indian blood shed by white men in this part of Ohio." This incident, it will be observed, occurred in 1797. The noted fight between the Poes and the Wyandot warriors, of which an account is given elsewhere in this work, occurred in the summer of 1782. THE OLD NORTHWEST. What was known as the Northwest Territory, or "The Old Northwest" before the Territory was formed into separate States of the Uni0n, comprised all of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin, and a small part of Minnesota. But since this work has to do almost exclusively with c0mparatively but a small portion of one of these States, the history of the Northwest Territory proper, with that of the States which were afterward evolved from it. need occupy but little attention here. "The Old Northwest." in two volumes— "Before the Revolution" and "After the Revolution"—by B. A. Hinsdale, Ph. D., is referred to as giving a very accurate history of the evolution of this vast and important section of our country from a condition which bordered upon the howling wilderness into prosperous and populous States of the Union. However, the principles which actuated the pioneers of this part of the country, and the motives which guided those who framed the early forms of government, embodied ideas which were so potent in later years in molding the people and the laws of the past century, which had been so remarkable for progress, that it is deemed important to make some reference to the celebrated Ordinance of 1787. THE ORDINANCE OF 1787. The "Land Ordinance," enacted in 1785, was intended to attract settlers, and was supplemented by the Ordinance of 1787, a measure which established a government for, the Northwest Territory. The motives impelling Congress to enact this second 0rdinance are apparent. In the first place, Congress hoped to place the finances of the young republic on a good basis by selling a large tract of land west of the mountains ; and in the second place, a company of purchasers was awaiting the completion of the ordinance before closing its contract for the land in question being especially anxious to see slavery forever excluded from that part bf the country. (1). Already in June, 1783, 285 officers of the Continental Army—of whom more than four- fifths were from New England and more than one-half from Massachusetts—had petitioned Congress to set apart the region comprising almost the entire eastern two-thirds of the present State of Ohio for colonization, in time to be admitted one of the confederated States of America. (2) and to include their bounty lands in this district. This was the beginning of the Ohio Company of Massachusetts, which was organized in Boston, March 3, 1786, at the "Bunch of Grapes". tavern. The association made its purchase through Rev. Manasseh (1) Winsor, "The Westward Movement." (2) Hinsdale, "The Old Northwest." AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 37 Cuttler, the land selected being on the Ohio River immediately west of the Seven Ranges and lying on both sides of the Muskingum. (3). The purchase was connected with a speculative scheme, and 5,000,000 acres were bargained or, for but only 964,000 acres fell to the Ohio Company. Certain principles were embodied in the Northwest ordinance which have always been highly cherished by the people of Ohio, and preserved by them in their State constitutions, framed in 1802 and 1851, respectively. These principles are set forth in the famous six articles of the ordinance, and form an enduring compact between the original States and those carved from the Northwest Territory. The first article guaranteed freedom of religion to those demeaning themselves in an orderly manner. The second secured to the settlers and their descendants the privileges of the common law, and such safeguards as trial by jury, the (3) Rufus King's "Ohio." and proportionate representation in the Legislature. The third declared that good faith should writ of habeas corpus, the validity of contracts, be kept with the Indians, and that schools and the means of education should forever be encouraged. The fourth ordained that the States formed within the Territory should forever remain a part of the United States, and be subject to its laws. The fifth provided for the formation of not less than three nor more than five States out of this region, each of which should attain equal footing with the original States when possessed of a population of 60,000 free inhabitants and a republican form of government. The 'sixth declared that there should be no slavery in the Territory, but recognized human bondage to the extent of permitting the reclamation of fugitive slaves, wh0 had escaped hither from any slave State. It was under these terms that the orderly settlement and civil life of the budding State of Ohio began. ( Siebert, "Government of Ohio.") |