100 - THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE THE EARLY BUSINESS AND TRADE OF MAUMEE CITY In reviewing the business and trade of the early settler of the Maumee River territory, we will have to yield the supremacy of the commerce to Maumee City. Before 1846 it was considered that Maumee City was destined to become the great metropolis of the Maumee Valley. The harbor of the western end of Lake Erie, with nearly two miles of wharf extending from Gibbs Street to Cory Street, with a line of large warehouses, with a large forwarding and commission business, supplying all the western portion of the Maumee Valley with all necessary commodities. The passengers, emigrants and freight to and from the foot of the rapids were transported in small sail craft. The first of these vessels to ply her trade from the Maumee River towns and to take her papers from the custom house at Maumee City, after the District of Miami was established, was the Black Snake, a schooner of 23 tons burthen, Jacob Wilkinson, of Orleans of the North, was master, trading regularly from the Maumee River ports. Then followed the same year, 1818, the Sally, 7 tons burthen, Wm. Pratt master. The business of the pioneer merchant was mainly the fur trade, which was a large and profitable business with the Indians, who were very numerous all along both sides of the river. Almon Gibbs Esq., Dr. H. Conant, John E. Hunt, Judge Robert A. Forsyth, Judge Ambrose Rice and John Hollister were among the pioneer merchants of Maumee City. These gentlemen were of a class of men who possessed intelligence and energy, and who permitted no THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE - 101 obstacle to obstruct their way, and were eminently qualified to develop the country. In 1836 W. W. Mumford of Rochester, N. Y., began the erection of a large warehouse and a dock at Michigan Street in the Third Ward of Maumee City. As the canal was soon to be completed to the river, and the navigable channel being on the Maumee side of the river, it was believed that the commerce and trade must center at Maumee City. George S. Hazard, James H. Forsyth and James Wolcott were the early forwarding and commission merchants at the head of Lake Erie. The building of Mumford's warehouse and docks were soon followed by other improvements, until four large warehouses were built near that point. Upon the close of the War of 1812, the foot of the rapids became an important point in the commercial business of the country. Large quantities of the produce of all the western part of Ohio and northeastern Indiana were brought down the river in flat boats and transferred at Maumee City to lake boats. The Indian trade in furs and peltries was very large, and that of sugar made by the Indians from the sap of the maple tree, fish and corn also constituted a large item in the business of the Maumee trade. WOOD COUNTY Wood County was erected April 1, 1820, and included all the territory north of the Maumee River to the Michigan line as claimed by Ohio, and was named after the brave and chivalrous Colonel Wood, a distinguished officer of the 102 - THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE engineers in the War of 1812 and 1813. Samuel H. Ewing, Daniel Hubbell and John Pray were the first commissioners of the county. The commissioners of Wood County held their first session for the transaction of county business in the upper story of Almon Gibb's store, situated in Maumee City on Front Street near the intersection of Allen Street, on the 12th day of April, 1820. Daniel Hubbell acted as clerk of the board. At this session Wm. Pratt was appointed treasurer of the county. At a session held on May 3, 1820, Seneca Allen, of Orleans of the North, was appointed clerk of the commissioners and David Hull, of Maumee City, was appointed sheriff of the county. Samuel Vance and Peter G. Oliver signed their names to his official bond. C. J. McCurdy, acting as prosecuting attorney for Wood County, was allowed $20.00 as compensation for his services. Thomas R. McKnight was allowed $23.00 for services as clerk of the court at the May term of 1820, and for serving returns of poll books and certifying election of county officers, an additional allowance of $5.00. Hunt and Forsyth were allowed a bill for stationery amounting to $16.12 ½ , and Almon Gibbs for use of his store building as a court house for one year from May 3, 1820, was allowed the sum of $40.00. Seneca Allen, auditor, was allowed $1.00 for publishing in the Columbus Gazette the rates of tax on land for road purposes. General John E. Hunt was allowed $11.25 for services as lister of taxable property and house appraiser. David Hull was appointed county collector. This first session of the commissioners of Wood County was held at Maumee City and the seat of justice was perma- THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE - 103 nently established there for three years. Win. Pratt qualified as treasurer of the county and filed his bond with Samuel Vance and Aurora Spafford as his sureties. Thomas R. McKnight and Almon Gibbs signed as sureties on the official bond of Seneca Allen, who had been chosen auditor of Wood County by joint ballot of the general assembly of Ohio, at a special session of the Board of Commissioners held at Perrysburg March 19, 1823. John Pray, Samuel Spafford and Hiram P. Barlow acted as commissioners. The board ordered that so much of Waynesfield township, as included in the organized County of Wood, and lying and being on the south of the south channel of the Maumee River, be set off and organized into a township by the name of Perrysburg; and that an election be held for the selection of township officers on the 19th day of June, 1823, at the house of Samuel Spafford in said township. The first court held at Maumee City, Wood County, was the May term, 1.820. No civil cases appear on record. The State of Ohio, appearing as plaintiff, vs. Thomas Gainor, George Jones and Isaac Richardson for resisting the sheriff, George Patterson for assault and battery. The county was then in the third judicial circuit and George Todd, father of Governor David Todd, was presiding judge, and Horatio Conant, Samuel Vance and Peter G. Oliver were associate judges. The following named gentlemen, citizens of the county, composed the grand jury: Wm. H. Bostwick, foreman; Aaron Granger, Wm. Pratt, Richard Gunn, Collister Haskins, Ephraim H. Leming, John T. Baldwin, Parris M. Plum, Aurora Spafford, Jeremiah Johnston, Josephus Tilor, Daniel Murray, John Hollister, Norman L. Freeman and John J. Lovett. 104 - THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE REAL ESTATE RECORD The first record made at the Recorder's office of Wood County was that the county was erected and embraced all of the territory north of the Maumee River, consisting of the plat of Maumee City which comprised the first plat, prepared by A. J. Wheeler for Wm. Oliver. Chloe Gibbs' addition to Maumee City. was recorded in 1835, having 28 lots and 3 streets. Hunt and Beaugrand's addition to Maumee City was recorded in 1835 with 172 lots and 12 streets. John E. Hunt's addition to Maumee City was recorded in 1835 with 50 lots and 6 streets. An addition to Maumee City by John E. Hunt, Levi Beebee, F. E. Kirtland and Chloe Gibbs was made in 1836. Elisha Mack's addition to Maumee City, one block of 9 lots, was recorded in August, 1836. Wolcott's addition to Maumee City was recorded April, 1837. Scott's addition to Maumee City was filed for record in May, 1838, by J. Austin Scott and others, and 10 lots in block 8 were set apart for school, church and other public buildings in 1845. John E. Hunt. to Rev. L. B. Gurley, lot 25 in Hunt's addition April, 1836, for $200.00; the same lot sold in June, same year, to J. H. Hobart for $900.00. Miami City Company to Wm. M. Mumford, lots in Miami City in 1836 for $4,750.00. Caleb S. Henderson to Henry Tyler, lot 10 in Hunt and Beaugrand's addition in 1836 for $6,500.00. In May, 1840, John E. Hunt granted to the commissioners of Lucas County lots 103, 104 and 105, the same having been donated for the use of county buildings. THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE - 105 R. A. FORSYTH, MERCHANT R. A. Forsyth and Company of Maumee City were for many years the leading merchants at the foot of the rapids. Their advertisement appears in the first number of the Miami of the Lake, dated Dec. 11, 1833, in which they say that they have lately received from New York a full supply of dry goods, groceries, hardware, cutlery and all other articles usually found at the best country stores, which they offer the public on favorable terms. DR. HORATIO CONANT'S LETTER IN 1822 The following letter of over one hundred years ago, by one of Maumee City's highly esteemed citizens, will convey some idea of the country and its prospects, and the animosity that existed between Maumee City and its rival, Toledo, as they appeared to many of the most far-sighted men at that time. "Ft. Meigs, Feb. 9, 1822. "Dear Sir: Feeling considerably interested in the measures proposed in Congress relative to this section of country, and not doubting your willingness to attend to any representations that might be communicated, I take the liberty of addressing a few lines to you on those subjects. I understand it is in contemplation to so alter the route of the great eastern mail to Detroit, that it shall not pass this place but go by Port Lawrence, nine miles below, on the Maumee River. Also to establish a land office at the River Raisin in Michigan for the sale of lands in this vicinity. Also to remove the port of entry to Port Lawrence, and also, I presume from a motion of Mr. Sibley, to open a road 106 - THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE under the provisions of the Brownstown treaty, not from Sandusky to Fort Meigs, according to the terms of said treaty, but from Sandusky to Port Lawrence. "I have been astonished at the fact that one delegate from Michigan should be able to have the brain, not only of a majority of Congress, but even of a considerable part of the Ohio Representatives, but from the success attending his motions, I am obliged to admit the fact as true. Port Lawrence has no claims to notice by Congress, much less to be honored by the proposed sacrifices. The River Raisin has no claim in shape superior to Fort Meigs, and in point of situation for a land office, or any other business far inferior. It is little more than thirty miles of the land office at Detroit. Fort Meigs is not within one hundred miles of any land office except that at Detroit, and is seventy-five miles from that. Respecting Port Lawrence, there is not, nor has there been for years, nor is there likely to be more than three English families, including all within three miles of the place, and whatever public business is done there, must be clone by one man, who is already Indian agent and Justice of the Peace for Michigan. "The distance proposed to be saved by altering the route of the mail ought not to come in competition with the increased risk in crossing the Maumee River, which in that place is very wide, and open to the unbroken surges of Lake Erie. The same objection will lie with increased weight against opening a military road to cross the river there. It might as well cross the mouth of the bay or any other part of Lake Erie. If there was any business done at the place, or was likely to be, I would not so much object to the THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE - 107 custom collector's office being removed there, but at present I should esteem it ridiculous to entertain the idea. "I did not suppose it entirely necessary to make all the above statements to you, sir, but it was difficult to say less and say anything. You must pardon the apparent haste and carelessness with which this is written, as I have just returned from a week's absence, and the mail is on the point of being closed. "Yours very respectfully, "HORATIO CONANT." "To the Hon. Ethan A. Brown, Senator in Congress." LUCAS COUNTY Lucas County was erected at an extra session of the Legislature convened June 8, 1835, and Toledo was made the county seat, and a term of Court of Common Pleas was directed to be held there on the first Monday in September following. Consequently the order was carried out on September the 7th, being the first Monday. Colonel Van Fleet's regiment was selected to act as a posse subject to orders of the sheriff. On Sunday, September 6, the three associate judges and sheriff met the soldiers at Fort Miami, ready to move to Toledo, under escort of Colonel Van Fleet's regiment of one hundred men. Immediately after 12:00 o'clock Sunday night the procession of soldiers took up the march of eight miles. They reached Toledo at three o'clock A. M., and here the first Court of Common Pleas was held, and the county seat of Lucas County was established, and remained there for five years until 1840 when, through the influence of General Hunt, who was a resident of Maumee 108 - THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE City and represented this district in the Ohio Senate, a committee of three were selected by the Legislature to relocate the county seat. On June 17, 1840, Maumee City beame the seat of justice of Lucas County, and on that day John E. Hunt, Thomas Clark 2nd and Horace White entered into bond in the sum of $10,000.00, securing the erection of a county building at Maumee City. The building was erected mostly from second hand material, taken from the wreck of the Hotel Building that was destroyed on the 23rd day of May, 1839. On October 8, 1841, the court house at Maumee City was accepted by the county commissioners, and this building was in use as the seat of justice of Lucas County until the removal of the county seat back to Toledo on October 11, 1852, when the commissioners returned $9,265.00, the cost of the courthouse, to the citizens of Maumee City to whom Maumee City was largely indebted for the county scat for 12 years. THE BATTLE OF FALLEN TIMBERS (Published in the Toledo Blade in 1857) Some corrections made in the generally accepted version of the great event. Many versions have been given of the Battle of Fallen Timbers, and anything relating to it and Mad Anthony Wayne is yet read with interest. The following are recollections of the battle given by Mr. Buckland, who died in Henry County about forty years ago, and were related to the Blade reporter by a pioneer of this city, who gathered all the details from one to whom the facts were told. Mr. Buckland was one of Wayne's cavalrymen, and that which THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE - 109 he related of that memorial event in the history of the United States gives information regarding the fight that has not as yet appeared in history. It will be seen that the place at which Turkey Foot fell is clearly stated. "The Americans," said the informant, "were under the command of Wayne, who personally gave orders, while the Indians were led to battle by Mesa-Kaas (Turkey Leg) or more properly speaking Turkey Pursuer, known as Turkey Foot in history. Little Turtle is said to have been in supreme command. That the reader may intelligently judge of the battle, a description of the ground on which the battle was fought is necessary. The lower end of Presque Isle is about two and a half miles above Fort Meigs on the north side of the river, the land laying along the river three-quarters of a mile. It is shaped similar to the letter P, with the long line being along the river, the small end of the island representing the small end of the P. The river side is a precipitous bluff about sixty feet high, while the opposite side is a gradual incline. It is separated from the main highland by a prairie about sixty rods wide. This prairie at the time of the battle was separated from the high land. In the center of the prairie was a marsh six to eight rods wide. Both sides of the prairie were skirted by thickets. The marsh drains the river into a bayou immediately under the hill, a short distance away. Wayne left Fort Adams Aug. 16 and on Aug. 20, 1794, camped at Roche De Boef (Beef Rock) one mile above Waterville, after three days' march from Fort Defiance, having destroyed on his way everything valuable in the way 110 - THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE of cabins, agricultural products, etc., but saw no Indians. He was now within eight miles of Fort Miami, which was garrisoned by British troops. After deliberation it became apparent to him that lie could not bring on an engagement with the Indians except by a ruse. To accomplish his purpose, he sent a white scout down to near Fort Miami, who, from that point, took the Indian trail leading back northwest obliquely to the Indian camp at the springs at the foot hills of the huckleberry ridges. The Indians here held a strong strategic position, from which it would have been an impossibility to bring on a general engagement, as they could readily have escaped into the oak openings, and thence into dense six-mile woods. The route of the scout is obvious as he desired the Indians to believe that he was a friend from the British garrison at Fort Miami. After reaching the Indian camp the scout had a talk with Chief Turkey Pursuer (popularly known as Turkey Foot) and convinced him that it would be an exceedingly foolish and cowardly thing for the Indians to do to run away from giving battle, as Wayne was camped and fortified with logs at Presque Isle, from whence it would be an easy matter to dislodge him, as his force was small, and when routed many scalps could be taken by them. Convinced that a general massacre would result from an attack, the Indians concluded to take Wayne and his forces by surprise. According, on August 20, Wayne having moved down from Roche de Boef to Fallen Timbers, where light log fortifications were built for the purpose of misleading and decoying the Indians, the Indians attacked in force. A few men who seemed to be greatly alarmed were kept in sight THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE - 111 by Wayne inside the fortifications, the main body being concealed. The Indians crossed the prairie by a rapid movement and attempted to carry the fortification by storm. They displayed great intrepidity, but at the opportune moment, Wayne ordered his troops, 2,000 in number, to fire upon the Indians, and volley after volley was delivered; the fire from the guns being so withering that the Indians were compelled to break, and were dismayed on observing that Wayne's cavalry, 400 in number, which he had concealed on his left, had deployed on the prairie in their rear, leaving the only way of escape down the river prairie bottom. The battle was then practically over, and became a rout and slaughter. Wayne's stentorian voice was heard above the din of battle shouting, "Charge bayonet, drive them to H—" Turkey Pursuer had three ribs broken by a ball in the battle, and attempted to run around the hill and escape across the river, but he was again shot, this time in the back, which brought him down, and he died twelve to fifteen rods from the stone popularly known as Turkey Foot Rock. The Indians who survived the battle ran down to Fort Miami for protection, which was refused them, and they scattered in all directions, and were not seen again until the time of the treaty of Greenville, which occurred the year following. The day after the battle Wayne drew up his army in front of Fort Miami and rode forward to a point near the fort, where he had a talk with the commander of the British forces. He used language more emphatic than elegant, 112 - THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE warning him that if he aided or harbored any of the Indians he would send him to h_____ also. The Indians gave Wayne the name of Che-Notin, which being interpreted into English means Big Storm; while Wayne's cavalry were afterward called Che-Mok-Mun, or long knives. THE OTTAWA INDIANS "A small remnant of whom still remain in this neighborhood are collecting in council to take into consideration the subject of a migration west of the Mississippi. R. A. Forsyth Esq. of this place has received the appointment of agent for their removal. We have heard that it is somewhat doubtful whether they conclude to go. Coon skins bring six shillings, and whiskey has fallen through the influence of competition; game is plenty yet, and all these things have their influence with the Indians." Published in 1839 in the Maumee City Express. "The Toledo Blade and Manhattan Advertiser are getting up a bit of a blow about the respective merits of the two places. This is all very well, though the argument could be carried on more feelingly by plenipotentiaries from the two great kingdoms of the frogs and the mud turtles." Maumee City Express, 1840. Young Ladies Select School. "Mrs. Peters (late Miss L. M. Converse) intends opening a school for young ladies in the Presbyterian Session room in Maumee City on April 29, 1840." Maumee City Express, 1840. THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE - 113 NOTES FROM THE MAUMEE CITY EXPRESS In 1839- "The Maumee City Temperance Society will meet at the Presbyterian session room on Thursday, the 2nd of May, at three o'clock P. M. An interesting discussion is expected and a general attendance requested." Saturday, Feb. 15, 1840 "Lucas County Seat. On motion of John E. Hunt, the Senate took up the report of the committee on new counties, upon the review and relocation of the seat of justice for Lucas County, and the question being upon agreeing to the resolution appointing commissioners to review and relocate said county seat. After some discussion and the reading of some of the documents relating thereto, the resolution was again laid upon the table, and was taken up and passed June 17, 1840, when Maumee City became the county seat." Jan. 23, 1840- "Mr. Van Buren is immensely rich; his private fortune is $600,000.00, so say the eastern papers. He can afford to keep his English coach, blooded horses and liveried servants, but his supporters should not sneer at General Harrison's poverty because he earns his bread as the clerk of a county court and lives in the plainest of manner. If Van Buren does live in a palace and drink Teneriffe and Tokay, his advocates should not attempt to discredit the honest old soldier by saying that a log cabin and hard cider will answer very well for him. The people won't think Van Buren any the better for his riches and high style of living, nor General Harrison any the worse for his poverty and being content with a log cabin." THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE - 115 THE ELM TREE This grand old veteran has withstood the storms and tempests for several centuries. Situated on Harrison Avenue near Cass Street, it has provided refuge for the red man as well as it has spread its beautiful foliage and its lofty branches over the young and the old as they enjoyed the evening breezes, the magnificent scenery of the valley of the river, and the golden sunsets, when seated in the shadow of the grand old weather scarred single witness of both sieges of Fort Meigs. During the siege of Fort Meigs, and on one of the most trying days, May 4, 1813, the officers and men at the fort were seriously annoyed by some Indian marksman who was stationed in one of the heavily leaved trees upon the opposite side of the Maumee River, and at such a height that he could pick off our men as they went to the river for water. So perfect was the aim of this Indian that he killed one man and wounded several at the river before he could be located. Orders were given forbidding soldiers to leave the fort for the purposes named. The officer of the day, selecting a squad of men, the best sharp shooters, ordered them to watch the smoke from the tree, discover the culprit and drop him. It was not long until the head of the Indian was seen above the thick foliage, looking for a soldier to fire at. In a very short time the commanding officer received the following report: "We discovered the Indian and we dropped him from the tree." Today, on the west bank of the Maumee River and within the corporate limits of the historic village of Maumee, stands the famous elm tree 116 - THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE which is held by the citizens as equally an important memorial of the early days as the fort and battle fields of the Maumee Valley. THE MASONIC LODGE IN NORTHWESTERN OHIO The first lodge of Masons regularly established in northwestern Ohio, and probably the outpost of masonry in all the northwest territory, was the Northern Light Lodge, No. 40, at Maumee City. Army Lodge, No. 24, Free and Accepted Masons, held meetings in Fort Meigs from 1813 until the abandonment of the fort by the soldiers in May, 1815. March 5, 1817, Henry Brush, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Ohio, Free and Accepted Masons, granted from Chillicothe a dispensation for Northern Light Lodge, No. 40, at Waynesfield, the present village of Maumee and vicinity. There were along the Maumee River at this time about forty families scattered from Waterville above to Delaware Creek below, of which families five men were Free Masons. The dispensation named Almon Gibbs, W. M.; Wm. Griffith, S. W., and Charles Gunn, J. W.; D. J. Thurston and James Adams were the other members. Seneca Allen was the first applicant for the degrees. The charter was issued Dec. 21, 1818. Owing to the great anti-Masonic excitement, the lodge discontinued meetings from December 27, 1827, after electing officers as follows: James Wilkinson, W. M.; J. H. Jerome, S. W.; R. A. Forsyth, J. W.; Horatio Conant, treasurer; Thomas R. McKnight, secretary; John Hollister, S. D.; J. THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE - 117 S. Herrick, J. D.; David Hull, Tyler. This lodge remained voluntarily suspended about eighteen years. Upon petition of Andrew Young in October, 1845, the charter was renewed and meetings again began the 21st of November. The charter members were: Eber Ward, Almon Gibbs, Wm. Griffith, S. H. Thurston, Charles Gunn, Sheldon Johnston, David Johnston, Wm. Preston and J. C. Adams. Its meetings were held in the second story of the Central House, a building erected by the Cincinnati Land Company, which owned the original plat of Maumee City. The Central House was located on Harrison Avenue, where the public school building now stands. Then for some time they were held in the upper story of Almon Gibbs' store building in the flats near the foot of Allen Street. Later they were held in a building on East Wayne Street in the two hundred block, until they removed into a building situated where the new temple is now located, and have occupied this location for nearly eighty years. The corner stone for the new building was laid November 21, 1916. Dedication of the new building took place September 3, 1917, and was made a double celebration in memory of the one hundredth anniversary of the founding of the lodge, and in honor of the new home. Merwin J. Jackson, acting Grand Master, was in charge of the ceremonies, assisted by W. T. S. O'Hara and others from Toledo. About two hundred Masons participated in these services. The officers in 1920 were: W. M., John H. Gunn; S. W., Wm. L. Rhonehouse; J. W., Earnest H. Perrin; Secretary, W. M. Baldwin; Treasurer, A. W. Cone; S. D., J. W. Brant; J. D., Fred S. Steva; J. S., Harry Hinish; J. S., Walter Smith. THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE - 119 THE BEGINNING OF PUBLIC EDUCATION AT THE FOOT OF THE RAPIDS OF THE MAUMEE The first institution of education established at the foot of the Rapids of the Maumee was at Orleans of the North, on the flats in front of Fort Meigs. In the winter of 1816 and 1817, Hiram P. Barlow was the instructor. In 1817 and 1818 Dr. Horatio Conant taught school in Maumee City, the year the town was named. The school buildings were located on the lowlands at the foot of the hill, as was about all of the town at that time. The school houses were constructed of logs until 1823 when the school house was constructed of lumber and nails, and on the high land. The school house was situated on the lot east of the present Methodist church. It was a one-room building and in the early days it was painted red. This one-room building was sufficient until 1845 when it was moved back and a two-story four-room building was erected, and the old building set up against the rear of the new structure, making in all a five-room school house. This served the purpose of education for twenty-five years, and until the present magnificent six-room building was erected in 1870. It is now more than one hundred years since the first settlers hewed the first school house out of the virgin forests with a broad ax, and by that means provided ample school room for the accommodation of the youth of that day. And exactly twenty-eight years from the erection of the first school house, Maumee City with a population of approximately 865 erected for that day a magnificent four-room school building with two adequate recitation rooms. And then, twenty-five years later, Maumee City in 1870, with a 120 - THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE population of 1463, deemed it necessary to provide more adequate school accommodations. The inhabitants were equal to the occasion and promptly erected at that time a most complete and handsome structure at a cost of $40,000. Today the grand old edifice stands as a memorial to the inhabitants of fifty years ago. In the year of our Lord, A. D. 1920. MORRISON R. WAITE—POLICE OFFICER Morrison R. Waite, Police Officer to Chief Justice of the United States. Incidents of Morrison Remick Waite's public career. Morrison Remick Waite was born at Lyme, Ct., Nov. 29, 1816. He was descended from a long line of distinguished jurists. His pilgrim ancestor was a son of one of the judges who condemned King Charles I. His father was a justice of the Supreme Court of Connecticut. Morrison R. Waite graduated at Yale College in 1837. Selecting the profession of the law as his life work, he studied law with his father, Hon. Henry M. Waite, but accepting the view then so prevalent in the east as to wider and more hopeful fields for activity in the then far west, he left Lyme in October, 1838, for the Maumee Valley, settling at Maumee City. He was admitted to the bar in 1839 and immediately formed a partnership with Samuel M. Young for the practice of law. Probably his first act of a public nature and the beginning of his political career took place in Maumee City on April 25, 1843, when lie, one of fourteen Maumee citizens, subscribed his name to a petition to the City Council of Maumee City to organize the four- THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE - 121 teen petitioners into a volunteer fire company, and again on May 26, 1843, when Mr. Waite made a motion to appoint a committee to draft a constitution and by-laws for the government of the company. His friends quickly observed in him the sound judgment always manifested, and his careful consideration of all things in which he was interested, no matter of how little importance. He was immediately considered the logical candidate for legal adviser for Maumee City, and on the 12th day of April, 1843, he was elected as city attorney. So well did he perform the duties of his office that on March 30, 1846, he was elected mayor of Maumee City. He also served as a police officer in Maumee City. On August 31, 1844, lie was appointed by Solomon Johnson and his appointment was confirmed by the Council. He also donated $129.00 for the erection of the Lucas County court house at Maumee City in 1840. He was elected to the Ohio Legislature in 1849. His conduct and ability in all public matters began to attract attention, and in November, 1871, he was appointed one of the Council of the United States to Geneva, Switzerland, to adjust claims of the United States against Great Britain. In 1874, while presiding over the Ohio Constitutional Convention, he was appointed by President Grant to the office of Chief Justice of the United States. WHEN WAYNESFIELD TOWNSHIP WAS IN LOGAN COUNTY With the beginning of civil authority in northwestern Ohio, and at the time when men knew no law but the moral rights of his neighbors, for before 1817 the territory in which 122 - THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE Waynesfield Township is situated was not yet fully under the protecting fold of the great state, Waynesfield Township was organized in Logan County on December 30, 1817, and I here present the last court record of Waynesfield Township, Logan County, Ohio, and the first record of Waynesfield Township, Wood County, Ohio, and transfer: The State of Ohio, Logan County, Waynesfield Township, March 28, 1820 Arthur Chictfield by P. W. Vance vs. George Campbell Debt $22.60 March 28, 1820, came George Campbell, defendant, and confesses judgment to plaintiff in the sum of $22.00 and costs of ,Justice of the Peace; costs, 89c; entering judgment, 19c. (Signed) Peter G. Oliver, J. P. The State of Ohio, Wood County, Ohio Jacob Wilkison vs. Jacob Shaffer Debt $14.00 Judgment on trial April 1, 1820; came the parties and proved $14.00 in favor of plaintiff. The defendant demands an adjournment to the 10th clay which was granted. Samuel Ewing and Samuel H. Ewing, bail. (Signed) Peter G. Oliver, J. P. I transfer the foregoing docket to Seneca Allen, a Justice of the Peace of Waynesfield Township. Given under my hand and seal this 8th day of April, 1820. Peter G. Oliver. I transfer the foregoing docket to Almon Gibbs, Esq., Justice of the Peace of Waynesfield Township, August 10, 1820. Seneca Allen. THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE - 123 SCRAPS OF EARLY HISTORY MIGHT NOT BE UNINTERESTING General Anthony Wayne died at Fort Presque Isle on December 15, 1796, at the age of fifty-one years, eleven months and fourteen days. Fort Presque Isle is at present Erie, Pa. During the year 1739 Mr. DeLongueuil constructed a road across the Ohio country from Detroit to the Ohio River, crossing the Maumee River at the foot of the rapids. During the year 1762 the terms of a treaty of peace were agreed upon between France and England. Early in 1763 France surrendered her possessions in North America to the English, and the Ohio country passed under the control of the British officials. The name Miami probably originated in the year 1740. At that time the Miami tribe of Indians in the Maumee Valley country was designated as Twetwes, Twigtwees, Omees and Omiamis. On the 31st day of March, 1835, and during the Ohio-Michigan war, Colonel Mathias Van Fleet commanded twelve hundred of Ohio's militia. The force went into camp at the old British Fort Miami, now within the Village of Maumee. The Maumee side-cut and the outlet lock were finished in May, 1842. At a meeting of the county commissioners March 4, 1853, Waynesfield Township was divided and new boundaries of Springfield established and Monclova Township constituted. Soldiers who came with General Wayne in 1794 to the 124 - THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE Maumee country and saw it in its wild state never afterward tired of extolling its beauties. Ephraim and Thomas Learning, carpenters and millwrights, came from Genesee County, N. Y., in 1814, and built dwellings near the river in front of Fort Meigs at what was then Orleans of the North. In the spring of 1818 they removed to Monclova and completed the erection of a saw mill on Swan Creek, which had been commenced by Samuel Ewing before the War of 1812. This was the first saw mill in the valley. The nearest saw mill previous to this time was at River Raisin (Monroe, Mich.). Gabriel Godfrey and John Baptiste Beaugrand had a settlement where aumeee is now situated in 1790. Fort Meigs was dismantled May 15, 1815. The locks connecting the Miami and Erie Canal with the Maumee River at Manhattan were abandoned by act of the Ohio Legislature March 26, 1864. On or about 1881. the outlet lock from the. Maumee side cut was abandoned. 'Thus since this date the only canal connection with the lower Maumee River has been through Swan Creek at Toledo. The Maumee side cut from the Miami and Erie Canal at Lock No. 9 to the river had a fall of sixty-three feet by six locks. The distance from Lock No. 9 at the head of the Maumee side cut to the Providence Lock is fifteen and a half miles. At this lock is situated the first state dam. The distance from the mouth of the Maumee River to the foot of the Rapids is eighteen miles. The first United States port for the collection of import and export duties at the west end of Lake Erie was at Miami, in the easterly part of the Village of Maumee. The THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE - 125 act of Congress to establish the Customs District of Miami was passed March 3, 1805, but the office was not opened until 1818. In 1822 a state road was authorized on the north side of the river from Maumee City to Defiance. In 1823 the Monclova road was authorized from Maumee City to the saw mill of Learning and Stewart on Swan Creek, Monclova. Colonel McKee's agency house was one mile and a half above the British Fort Miami and near the foot of the lowest rapids, probably near the foot of Ford Street within the village limits of Maumee. Alexander McKee was a native of Pennsylvania. He, and his two negro servants, with Mathew Elliott and Simon Girty, deserted the Americans who had trusted them at Pittsburgh in March, 1778, and joined the British at Detroit. The first Protestant society among the Americans by the lower Maumee River was a Methodist Episcopal church organized at Orleans of the North in 1819 by the Rev. John P. Kent. Aurora Spafford was appointed class leader, with Wm. Kelley, John Knowles and Sarah Wilkinson, members. Captain Jacob Wilkinson's dwelling house was their first meeting place. In the year 1836 it required thirteen days and nights to transmit mail from Maumee City to New York City. In 1843 the time was reduced to eight days and nights. Postage to three hundred miles was five cents. Attention of the Government was directed to the preservation of the health of the aborigines in the vicinity of the foot of the Rapids. On May 5, 1832, Congress made it the duty of the several agents to employ surgeons or physi- 126 - THE HISTORY OF AUMEEE cians to vaccinate the aborigines with genuine vaccine matter to be supplied by the Secretary of War. For this purpose $12,000.00 was appropriated, on account of the former great sufferings of these people with smallpox. Dr. Oscar White of Maumee City was employed for this purpose by James Jackson, the agent then residing at Maumee City, and in the year 1833 he vaccinated eight hundred aborigines, the most of them being Ottawas. James Knaggs was a son of the sister of Okeos, Chief of the Huron River Pottawatomis. Vehicles for carrying the mail and passengers began to be used through Ohio to Detroit in the year 1827, Nearly all travel up to this time was done by foot or horseback. Baggage or merchandise was carried on horses or by boat. Late in 1830 provisions were made for a daily line of stage coaches between Buffalo and Detroit. The first coach crossed the river at the foot of the rapids and passed the postoffice at Maumee City the 2nd day of January, 1831. In the year 1836 it required thirteen days and nights to transmit mail from Detroit to Chicago. In 1739 DeLongucuil constructed a road from Detroit to the Ohio River which passed through Maumee and crossed the river at the foot of the rapids. This road has been used at various times by the federal armies and Indians and by the French and British traders. In 1817 the Government sold the land within the twelve mile square at the foot of the Rapids of the Miami of Lake Erie. The sale was held at Fort Meigs. The exact center of the reservation of twelve miles square at the foot of the rapids is near the intersection of John Street and Waite Avenue in the Village of Maumee. THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE - 127 FORT MEIGS—GENERAL HARRISON William Henry Harrison was born at Berkeley, Va., February 9, 1773, and died April 4, 1841, at Washington, D. C.; his remains are interred near North Bend, Ohio. He was the son of Benjamin Harrison, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and afterwards governor of Virginia. The first appearance of Wm. Henry Harrison in the British Indian allied war took place in 1794 with General Anthony Wayne, when he achieved that grand victory at Fallen Timbers. He was appointed June 26, 1798, secretary of the territory of ississippii. In 1799 he was chosen the first delegate or representative of that territory to Congress, thereupon provisions were made for the organization of the Indiana territory, and William H. Harrison was appointed its first governor. He also had charge of the aborigine affairs for Indiana territory. By appointment of Governor Scott on August 25, 1812, he was made chief commander of the Kentucky forces. On the 22nd day of August, 1812, he was commissioned Brigadier General in the Army of the United States by President Madison, and in September General Harrison was given full command of the northwestern army by the Secretary of War. Harrison arrived at the foot of the Rapids of the Maumee the 2nd day of February, 1813, and immediately selected a location for a fort. His experience with General Wayne along the lower Maumee at the battle of Fallen Timbers and his later observations led him to choose as a site for this fort on the south side of the river, a high bluff point sixty feet above the low lands facing the river on the THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE - 129 north and a deep ravine on the east, and directly across the river from the Village of Maumee; it was a short distance below the lowest fording place and at the head of the navigable waters of the river, and near the lowest rapids. Captain Woods, chief engineer, adopted the plan which embraced eight block houses with heavy double timbers which would withstand their largest cannon; with four large cannon and a fortified area of seventy-five hundred feet in circumference. The erection of the fort was begun early in February, and its construction was very slow on account of bad weather and many other obstacles in the way of sickness and heavy work necessary. When the work was nearly completed it was named Fort Meigs in honor of the then governor of Ohio. Early in March, 1813, a party of Americans came to the fort from Detroit and reported that General Proctor was assembling an army of Canadian militia for the purpose of an attack on Fort Meigs. The mode of the assault was to establish strong batteries of their largest cannon on the north bank of the river directly opposite the fort, to be manned by British artillerymen, while the savages were to cross the river some distance below the fort and assail the Americans on all sides. In the opinion of the British a few hours action of their big cannon would drive the Americans out into the arms of the savages. General Proctor had been informed at Malden of the building of Fort Meigs and of the great amount of supplies being collected there. He was therefore gathering a force sufficient, in his opinion, for the capture of all, and he boasted to Tecumseh and his savages of their easy work to 130 - THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE secure the prize. The Canadian militia and the regulars embarked at Malden on a brig and several smaller vessels for Fort Meigs, convoyed by two gunboats with artillery. Nearly all the savage allies, or about fifteen hundred of them crossed the Detroit River and made their way on foot, while others accompanied the British in small boats. The army landed on the 28th day of April near the old Fort Miami, about two miles below and on the opposite (left) bank of the river from Fort Meigs, where they made their principal encampment. This fort had been used by the British during General Wayne's campaign of Fallen Timbers in 1794. The Americans were unable to prevent their landing at this place, as the savages had been gathering in the vicinity of Fort Miami and had it thoroughly surrounded. Proctor's army consisted of five hundred and twenty-two regulars, and four hundred and sixty-one militia, and about two thousand Indians on the north side of the river. The British on their arrival immediately began moving their artillery. There had been much rain and the task of moving the heavy British cannon and placing them with two hundred men and several yoke of oxen to each twenty-four pounder was very laborious. On the morning of April 30 they had completed two batteries nearly opposite. Fort Meigs on the sites of the present Methodist and Presbyterian churches in Maumee City, the first mounting two twenty-four pounder cannon (the heaviest at Fort Meigs being two eighteen-pounders), and the other mounting three howitzers, one eight-inch and the other two five and a half inches caliber. It was estimated that the large British guns THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE - 131 threw not less than five hundred balls and shells at Fort Meigs during the most active day of the siege. The American supply of balls and shells for their twelve pounders was limited to about three hundred and sixty with about the same number for their eighteen pounders. These guns, therefore, answered those of the British only occasionally, and then to the best advantage. To increase the supply a gill of whiskey was offered for every British ball of the sizes delivered to Thomas L. Hawkins, keeper of the magazine. The balls accepted for the reward were from the twelve pounders. The British completed a third battery of three twelve pounder cannon the night of May 1 between the other two. A battery of several mortars was also put in operation on the lowlands near the river on the night of the 3rd of May, and that same night smaller cannon and mortars were taken across the river below the fort and were mounted. Some of these were within two hundred and fifty yards of the rear angles of Camp Meigs. But a few well directed shots from the American guns caused hasty removal of the nearer cannon. General Harrison directed the strengthening of the encampment defenses as much as possible. With the exception of short intervals for block houses and batteries, this was picketed with timber fifteen feet long and from ten to twelve inches in diameter, set three feet in the ground. The army at this camp then numbered about eighteen hundred, and as soon as the lines of the fort were designated, portion of the labor was assigned to each corps, to erect the pickets and the erection of eight block houses with double timbers. To construct all the large storehouses and magazines re- 132 - THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE quired to contain the supplies of the army meant a large amount of work. A great deal of labor also was necessary in excavating ditches and making the abatis twelve feet high and twenty feet wide, and clearing away the wood and timber for a distance of more than six hundred feet around the camp, which was twenty-five hundred yards, over one mile and one-third, in regular circumference. The garrison had enjoyed comparative quiet for two or three weeks, when about the first of April the soldiers became excited over a desperate encounter of about a dozen French volunteer comrades who, while reconnoitering by boat the channels around the large Ewing Island below the fort, were surprised and violently assailed by two boat loads of savages, who were watching for them. In the encounter that ensued but one savage escaped death. Several of the Frenchmen were killed, and of the others but three escaped wounds. On the 1st, 2nd and 3rd of May the British kept up an unceasing shower of balls and shells upon the Fort, and the Indians climbed the trees in the vicinity of the Fort and poured in a galling fire upon the garrison. In this situation General Harrison received a summons from General Proctor for a surrender of the garrison. This was answered by a prompt refusal, assuring the British general that if he obtained possession of the Fort it would not be by surrender upon any terms. That should it. fall into his (General Proctor) hands, it would be in a manner that would do him more honor than any capitulation could possibly do. The most dangerous duty which was performed in the precincts of the Fort was in covering the magazine. The THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE - 133 powder was kept in wagons where it had no protection against bombs. It was, therefore, removed into a small blockhouse and covered with earth. The enemy judging their intention now directed their shot to this point. Many of the balls were red hot. Several of the soldiers volunteered to cover the magazine. One man was killed during this work. The number of casualties at the Fort were about eighty-one killed and one hundred and eighty wounded. Several had to suffer amputation of limbs. General Harrison, knowing that General Green Clay's Kentucky troops were on the way, dispatched Captain Win. Oliver, commissary at the Fort, with an oral message to hasten their coaling. At twelve o'clock on the night of the 4th, Captain Win. Oliver arrived from General Clay with the welcome message of his approach, stating that he, Clay, was just above the Rapids and could reach the Fort in two hours, and requesting his orders. Harrison at once determined upon a general sally, and directed Clay to land eight hundred men on the left bank, take possession of the British batteries, spike their cannon and immediately return to their boats and cross over to the American fort. The remainder of Clay's force was ordered to land on the right bank and fight their way to the Fort. Captain Hamilton was ordered to proceed up the river in a pirogue, land on the right bank and should pilot General Clay to the Fort, and then cross over and station his pirogue at the place designated for the other division to land. When the orders were delivered to him General Clay ordered Colonel Dudley, as the senior colonel, to assail the batteries as directed by General Harrison. He was ordered 134 - THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE to take the men in the twelve front boats and execute General Harrison's orders on the left bank. It was some time after daylight before the oncoming boats arrived at Hamilton's station, about two miles above the British batteries. Colonel Dudley succeeded in effecting a landing. General Clay kept close along the right bank until he came opposite the place of Dudley's landing, but not finding the subaltern there, he attempted to cross over and join Colonel Dudley. But this was prevented by the violence of the current on the rapids, and he again attempted to land on the right bank and effected it with only fifty men, amid a brisk fire from the enemy on shore, and then made his way to the Fort, receiving their fire until within protection of the Fort's guns. The other boats, under command of Colonel Boswell, were driven further clown the current and landed on the left to join Colonel Dudley. Here they were ordered to re-embark, land on the right bank and proceed to the Fort. Colonel Dudley executed his prescribed task most gallantly and successfully up to the capture of the batteries. When his command arrived near the batteries (which were in full action), the right led by Dudley, the left by Major Shelby. and the center by acting Major Morrison. Captain Combes, with thirty riflemen, including seven friendly aborigines, were in front and on the left flank. The columns marched so as to approach the batteries in a semi-circular front, Major Shelby's command passing around between the batteries and the British camp. The orders were to move quietly, but savages fired on Dudley's troops when near the batteries, and with a shout they charged, while the gunners THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE - 135 fled. The Americans rushed forward to the guns, spiked eleven of the largest and hauled down the enemy's flag. But the Indians and British, in large numbers in the adjacent woods, were pouring a terrific fire into the American ranks, so they were unable to complete the destruction of all the battery. This the brave Kentuckians could not stand without some resistance. The Americans were anxious for a contest, regardless of their short thirty days in the army and want of training, and being possessed of the spirit of the American patriot, the confidence and courage of a soldier, and exalted with their first success, they impetuously drove their enemy back into the woods. But they were soon involved in disorder and captured in the vicinity of where the Public Library now stands. Dudley was severely wounded in the action and afterwards tomahawked and scalped by the Indians. About five hundred were made prisoners, and the massacre started with the severest cruelty. They were marched to the British Fort Miami, under a guard of fifty British soldiers, where they were maltreated in every conceivable manner known to the savages. The dead and alive, heedless of their wounds, were stripped of their clothing, and those that could walk were taken. Some of the dead were eaten by the savages of the Minoumine tribe or left for food for the, wolf dogs that followed the savages. About forty of the Americans were murdered within the confines of Fort Miami in the presence of the British guards, General Proctor and the renegade Colonel Elliott and other British officers. This description does not bear out the statement of the British officers that they buried the American dead. THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE - 137 Colonel Dudley landed with eight hundred and sixty-six men, his regiment numbering seven hundred and sixty-one, and, in addition there were sixty of Colonel William E. Boswell's regiment and forty-five United States troops. About one hundred and seventy escaped to the Fort; about one hundred and ninety-six were killed in battle, and about the same number were murdered after their capture. At Fort Miami the prisoners were compelled to run the gauntlet where many were killed by the savages with war clubs, scalping knives, tomahawks and pistols. The Americans called loudly for General Proctor and Colonel Elliott to come to their relief. At this critical moment Tecumseh came rushing in deeply excited, and denounced the murderers as cowards. Tecumseh sprang from his horse, caught one of the savages by the throat and another by the breast and threw them to the ground. Drawing his tomahawk and scalping knife he ran in between the Americans and the savages, brandishing them with the fury of a madman and daring anyone of the hundreds that surrounded him to attempt to murder another American. He then demanded in an authoritative tone where Proctor was, and casting his eyes upon him at a short distance, sternly inquired why he had not put a stop to the inhuman massacre. "Sir," said Proctor, "your aborigines can not be commanded." `Begone," retorted Tecumseh, with the greatest contempt, "you are unfit to command, go and put on petticoats." Four days after the battle, on the 9th, Proctor seeing no prospects of taking the fort and finding his Indians fast leaving him, raised the siege. Leaving General Green Clay in command, General 138 - THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE Harrison left Fort Meigs on the 12th of May and started eastward with an escort of cavalry for Lower Sandusky, now Fremont. In the meantime supplies were being hastened forward with good success and everything seemed favorable to an early advance of the army, when General Harrison received at Franklington an express from General Clay informing him that a Frenchman, whom theBritish captured at Dudley's defeat, had escaped from Amherst-burg and informed him that Proctor was preparing for a second attack at Fort Meigs with an increased force, and that he, Clay, had ordered to Fort Meigs Colonel R. M. Johnson's regiment, then at Fort Winchester, after guarding boatloads of supplies from Forts Barbee, Wayne and Amanda. Colonel Johnson, upon receiving General Clay's dispatch in the afternoon, gave orders for the march down the Maumee, and within half an hour the whole force was on their way. The provisions and baggage soon followed in boats and all stopped for the night at General Winchester's Camp No. 3. Early next morning the march was resumed and they arrived at Grand Rapids at five o'clock that evening. Here another dispatch was received from General Clay, cautioning against ambuscades by savages who were lying in wait by their course. This information was communicated to the soldiers who signified a desire to proceed notwithstanding the savages. A guard was left at Grand Rapids with the boats, which were to continue the journey at daylight the next morning. The main body resumed the march, arriving at the foot of the rapids on the left bank of the river at ten THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE - 139 o'clock, and there encamped for the night. At about ten o'clock the next morning the order of march was given and passing above the foot of the rapids the Maumee was forded and the regiment encamped just above Fort Meigs. The fort was now in better condition for defense than before its siege. The trees, logs and stumps had been cleared away for a greater distance. The garrison had suffered much sickness, and during June and July intermittent and virulent remittent fevers prevailed which, with dysentery and other complications proved very fatal. Several soldiers died each day and night for some length of time, and the aggregate number increased to over one hundred deaths in a period of six weeks. General Harrison arrived at Fort Meigs on the 28th day of June. A detachment of one hundred and fifty under Colonel Johnson was ordered to reconnoiter the country, which they did without discovering any of the enemy, but the savages were now becoming more numerous and troublesome along the Maumee River. About the 15th of July fourteen soldiers, whose term of enlistment had expired at Fort Meigs, desired to return home on foot by way of Fort Winchester. They were attacked by savages a few miles above Fort Meigs and only two escaped. Eighteen cavalrymen, under Lieutenant Craig, while passing up the river to guard some flour at the Grand Rapids, were attacked by these savages. A retreat was ordered and obeyed by all but three men, who pursued the enemy. One of these three, Wyant by name, wounded a savage who seemed likely to escape until he dismounted, and followed him through the brush where the savage was 140 - THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE conquered and his weapons taken as trophies. For this courageous act Wyant was promoted to the rank of Ensign, while Lieutenant Craig was cashiered by a court martial. On the 20th of July the boats of the enemy were discovered ascending the Maumee to Fort Meigs. The force which the enemy had now before the fort was five thousand men under Proctor and Tecumseh, and the number of Indians was greater than any ever before assembled on any occasion during the war, while the defenders of the Fort amounted to only a few hundred. On the 21st Fort Meigs was surrounded by these five thousand British and Indians. General Clay called Wm. Oliver to his quarters, stating he feared the Fort would fall before the overwhelming force of the enemy. He imploredOliver to make his way through the Indian lines to General Harrison at Upper Sandusky, saying "I will reward you liberally if you succeed in the attempt." "I shall not put my life in the scale against money or promotion," replied Oliver. "My country has higher calls upon me than these, and from a sense of duty I will make the trial." Colonel John Miller, second in command to Clay, upon being informed of Oliver's intentions, inquired of him if it were true. "Yes," was Oliver's reply. Miller, much excited, said, "You are a fool. Why is it you are always called upon for these services of peril and danger?" General Clay requested Oliver to take with him any of his officers or men. He applied to one of the regular officers to accompany him. The officer begged to be excused as he did not have the nerve. At length Oliver succeeded in obtaining as a companion a Captain McCune, and the THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE - 141 men succeeded in getting away about nine o'clock that same night. When scarcely a quarter of a mile from the fort they became separated, and in a short time they were nearly naked, the briars and brush having torn away their clothing, and their bodies were covered with bruises. After a continuous ride of one day and two nights Oliver arrived at Fort Stephenson, the camp of General Harrison, and delivered his message. The British moved their main force to the right bank of the river on the 25th, but did not approach within a good range of the fort's cannon. Proctor and Tecumseh formulated an ingenious strategic plan for the capture of Fort Meigs at night with little fighting. The British secreted themselves in the deep ravine east of the fort. Tecumseh, with a large number of savages, opened a brisk cham battle along the road leading toward Lower Sandusky as near the fort as practicable to make it appear to the garrison that they were attacking an American force coming to reinforce the fort. This ruse was for the purpose of drawing the garrison from the fort, when the British (as with Colonel Dudley's command) would cut off their return and leave them to be surrounded and massacred by the horde of savages, while they would enter the gates under cover of the darkness, take the garrison by surprise and thus capture the fort. Many of the garrison desired to sally forth and assist their supposed hard-pressed comrades. General Clay, although unable to account for the firing, could not believe that General Harrison had so soon altered his intention, as expressed in a message despatched by Captain McCune, not 142 - THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE to send or come with any troops to Fort Meigs until there should appear further necessity for it. This intelligence, in a great measure, satisfied the officers, but not the men, who were extremely indignant at being prevented from going to share the danger of their commander-in-chief and brother soldiers. And, perhaps, had it not been for the interposition of a heavy shower of rain, which soon put an end to the battle, the General might have been persuaded to march out, when a terrible massacre of the troops would have ensued. The enemy remained around the fort only one day after this, and on the 28th they embarked with their stores and proceeded down the river. The opportune arrival of Captain McCune no doubt saved the fort, as the intelligence lie brought was the means of preserving them from an ingeniously devised stratagem of Tecumseh. On the evening of the 29th General Harrison received intelligence by express from General Clay that the enemy had abandoned the siege of Fort Meigs. It was difficult for several years to procure the necessaries of life, but the years 1814 and 1815 were years of unusual scarcity. Money had been at a discount of twenty-five per cent. Fort Meigs had been very short of rations and in January a detail of soldiers were dispatched up the river to Fort Winchester where they obtained as much as they could carry. Fort Winchester had at that time about three hundred barrels of flour, while Fort Meigs had very little. On the 27th of January, 1814, eighty soldiers were reported at Fort Meigs, and 9,461 rations of meat, 29,390 of flour, 25,688 THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE - 143 of whiskey, 1,271 quarts of salt, 1,018 3/4 pounds of soap, 948 pounds of candles and 1,484 pounds of tallow and grease. December 24, 1814, when the United States entered into full peaceable possession of the Maumee River territory, the discharge of volunteers and drafted men followed the reports of peace. The garrison at Fort Meigs was reduced to forty men under command of Lieutenant Almon Gibbs. In May, 1815, the military stores were loaded on the schooner Black Snake, under Captain Jacob Wilkinson, and taken to Detroit. Fort Meigs was thus abandoned. Immediately after the departure of the garrison in May, 1815, the buildings of Fort Meigs were occupied by the arrival of civilians, who were seeking locations for settlement, until houses could be constructed. There was some contention over the pickets and timber of the fort, and finally one of the parties to the quarrel set the remaining ones on fire. * * * * One of the largest meetings held in this Maumee Valley was held at Fort Meigs on the 11th day of June, 1840, during the presidential campaign of General Wm. Henry Harrison. The number in attendance was estimated at from forty to sixty thousand people, who came from all parts of Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Now York and Pennsylvania. The principal speakers were. General Harrison and Thomas Corwin. Many of the soldiers who had served under General Harrison at Fort Meigs were present. Among the incidents of the great political rally was the degrading of a large hickory pole that had been brought to the site of the fort by some Democrats to be erected to display their 144 - THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE party flag. Whigs of Maumee and Perrysburg gathered in the night and thrust this pole, little end down, into the deep water well, which had been dug during the siege twenty-seven years before. Sixty-eight years passed by when, in 1908, once more the attention of the residents of the Maumee Valley and those of our nearby states were called to this sacred spot to dedicate the Fort Meigs monument in memory of fallen heroes of nearly a century ago. The pioneers were called to order at 10 o'clock A. M., President Foster Pratt presiding. The vice-presidents were Justice McDonald of Maumee, W. C. Harris and J. L. Pray, Toledo, and A. R. Campbell, Bowling Green. Secretary, J. M. Wolcott, Maumee; Exuctive Committee, Rev. J. P. Michaelis and G. H. Blaker, Maumee; Jane Draper, G. N. Ballou and Jacob Englehart, Toledo. Dedicatory exercises beginning at 2 o'clock were conducted by John B. Wilson, chairman of the Fort Meigs Commission. The exercises opened by the Waterville chorus of seventy-five trained voices leading in the singing of America. Rev. J. P. Michaelis of Maumee offered the following invocation: "Oh, Lord, God of hosts, we beseech Thee to look with favor upon Thy people assembled here in Thy name. Inspire us today with the same lofty ideals of unselfish love of country and of steadfast devotion to principle which many years ago Thou didst move the men from Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Ohio to mingle their life blood in consecrating these grounds a shrine of our heaven born American liberty. And as Thy servant Jacob, awakening from his sleep in the field of Bethel, saith trembling, `How THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE - 145 terrible is this place,' so we now feel Thy awful presence that has hovered over this place, and we will pour the oil of gladness on the stone that is to be a monument of our gratitude. Grant, Oh Lord, that this shaft may always remind us and our children of Thy special gift to us, of freedom, and that we may always have that true appreciation of the brotherhood of man, for which those whose dust lies yonder fought so bravely. That thus we may always rejoice in being able to turn to Theo and call Thee our Father. Amen." Following the invocation Chairman Wilson, on behalf of the commission, presented to Governor Harris, on behalf of the State of Ohio, the monument. Chairman Wilson spoke in part as follows: "Ladies and Gentlemen: A little more than ninety-five years ago the battle of Fort Meigs was fought here. The results of that battle are a matter of history. Those familiar with the great results of that battle are truly grateful to the soldiers of that day, and honor them for the heroic deeds they accomplished. Yet, these grounds have remained all these years unmarked save by the silent earth works you see placed here by those brave men, for their own defense. Beyond the ravine to the east there lie buried the Kentucky soldiers, and across the highway to the south are the consecrated grassy moulds of the Pittsburgh Blues, and at the extreme west end of the fort, on the sloping banks of the Maumee, is the garrison burying ground, all unmarked, yet never disturbed by the owners of these grounds. And now to you, Governor Harris, as representative of the State of Ohio, I deliver this hallowed property 146 - THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE and commit this sacred trust, with the satisfying confidence that the property will be faithfully preserved, and the trust faithfully discharged. Besides this, Governor Harris, it is my pleasure to ask you to kindly take charge as chairman of the further exercises of the day." Governor Harris responded in part as follows: "Mr. Chairman, Members of Fort Meigs Commission, Ladies and Gentlemen: The dedication of a monument is always a beautiful and impressive ceremony. This is especially so if the monument be one to commemorate some unselfish act, some sacrifice made for humanity, or some noble and heroic services rendered to the nation. This towering shaft which we dedicate today commemorates all these things and more. It at once serves to perpetuate the memory of those who struggled so bravely to save this territory to the United States, and is an inspiration of patriotism to the generations of the future. In conclusion, Gentlemen of the Fort Meigs Commission, in the name of the State of Ohio, I accept from your hands this monument, dedicated to American patriotism. I wish to commend you gentlemen of the commission for the satisfactory, businesslike and efficient manner in which you have completed the work assigned you. I also desire to congratulate the members of the Maumee Valley Pioneer Association upon the fact that their efforts to secure a memorial to Fort Meigs have been so fittingly rewarded. Let us hope that this monument may stand here for ages, an object of pride and veneration to the people of our state, and an inspiration to the keenest appreciation of our civic duties and the highest sense of patriotism." THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE - 147 Then followed the addresses of the Lieutenant-Governor Honorable Robert S. Murphy of Pennsylvania, and that general of Confederate fame, Bennett H. Young. Major Robert W. Hunter of Virginia, also a Confederate veteran, delivered a forcible address. After them followed the Honorable Joseph B. Foraker, United States Senator of Ohio, with a terse and vigorous address on behalf of Ohio. The commemorative exercises were closed with the singing of the Star Spangled Banner by the Waterville chorus choir, and the benediction pronounced by Rev. R. D. Hollington, of St. Paul's M. E. Church of Toledo, as follows: "And now may the God, who inspired these men of old to deeds of daring on this hallowed spot, inspire our hearts to deeds of daring to preserve their heritage to us forever untarnished. Amen." 148 - THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE OLD FORT MEIGS The following song, set to the tune, "Oh, Lonely Is the Forest Shade," was written for the occasion of the celebration of June 11, 1840, by a soldier who fought there. Oh, lovely is the old green fort, Where oft in days of old, Our gallant soldiers bravely fought 'Gainst savage allies bold. But with the change of years have gone That unrelenting foe, Since we fought here with Harrison A long time ago. It seems but yesterday I heard, From yonder thicket nigh. The unerring rifle's short report— The Indian's startling cry. Yon river flows between its banks, As when of old we came; Each grassy path, each shady nook, Seems to me still the same. But we are scattered now, whose faith Pledged here thru weal or woe, With Harrison our soul to guard, A long time ago. But many a soldier's tongue is mute, And clouded many a brow; And hearts that beat for honor then Have ceased their beating now. We ne'er shall meet again in life As then we met, I trow; When we fought here with Harrison, A long time ago. THE HISTORY OF MAUMEE - 149 THE FIRST POSTOFFICE The first postoffice regularly established at the foot of the Rapids of the Maumee was located on the north side of the river and within the present limits of the Village of Maumee. Amos Spafford was the postmaster. His corn-mission bears date of the 9th of June, 1810, and was signed by Gideon Granger, Postmaster General. In the year 1816 it was the only post-office between the River Raisin and Lower Sandusky and between the head of the Maumee Bay and Fort Dearborn (now Chicago) , Almon Gibbs being the postmaster. In 1827 the receipts of the Maumee postoffice were $50.78; in the year 1828 the receipts were $51.69; in 1830, $58.91. In the year 1827 the receipts of the Port Lawrence postoffice (now Toledo) were $18.06; in the year 1828 the receipts were $15.84; in 1830, $20.26. Amos Spafford was also the first collector of customs. The records show the exports to have been of but two classes, as follows: For the three months ending June 30, 1818, skins and furs $5,610.85, and twenty gallons of bear oil, $30.00. TECUMSEH'S LAST BATTLE James Knaggs makes the following statement under oath: "I was attached to a company of mounted men called Rangers at the Battle of the Thames in Upper Canada on October 5,. 1813. During the battle we charged into a swamp where several of our horses mired down, and an order was given to retire to the hard ground in our rear, which we did. The Indians in front, believing that we were