274 - HISTORY OF WYANDOT COUNTY.

CHAPTER IV.

INDIAN OCCUPANCY-CONTINUED.

(FROM 1816-18, TO 1843.)

DEMORALIZED CONDITION OF THE WYANDOTS IN 1816-JOHN STEWART, THE

COLORED PREACHER, APPEARS AMONG THEM-SKETCH OF HIS EARLY

LIFE-COLDLY RECEIVED, BUT FINALLY GAINS THEIR CONFIDENCE-AN

ACCOUNT OF HIS PROCEEDTNGS-REV. JAMES B. FINLEY APPOINTED RES-

IDENT MISSIONARY-His TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS-DEUNQUOT, THE HEAD

CHIEF, CREATES A SENSATION-MISSION SCHOOL OPENED-THE MISSION F

ARM-DEATH OF STEWART -BUILDING THE MISSION STONE CHURCH -

PROSPERITY-CHIEFS VISIT EASTERN CITIES-FINLEY DEPARTS IN 1827 -

THE SAVAGE DELAWARES CEDE THEIR RESERVATION TO THE UNITED STATES -

AN ACCOUNT OF SOME OF THEM - AN INDIAN EXECUTION - THE WYAN-

DOTS SELL THEIR LANDS-TERMS-THEIR FINAL DEPARTURE FOR REGIONS

WEST OF MISSOURI - FAREWELL SONG.

At the time of Gen. Wayne's treaty with the Northwestern tribes, the Wyandots, under the lead of Tarhe, including men, women and children, numbered about 2,200. From that time, until the date of their settlement upon the reservation in the present county of Wyandot, they had lost but very few men in battle, yet, by reason of being on the extreme borders of civilization, and mixing with the most abandoned and vicious of the whites, they had sunk in the most degrading vices, many of them became the most debased and worthless of their race, and drunkenness, lewdness and attendant diseases, had reduced them in twenty years nearly one half in numbers. For many years, they had been under the religious instruction of priests of the Roman Catholic Church, but, from the state of their morals, and from the declarations of those who professed to be Catholics, it seems that they had derived but little benefit. "To carry a silver cross, and to count a string of beads; to worship the Virgin Mary; to go to church and hear mass said in Latin; and be taught to believe that for a beaver's skin, or its value, they could have all their sins pardoned, was the amount of their Christianity, and served bat to encourage them in their superstition and vice."*

Such was their condition when, in November, 1816, John Stewart first visited them. From Mr. Finley's "History of the Wyandot Mission," it is learned that John Stewart, a free-born mulatto, whose parents claimed to be mixed with Indian blood, was born in Powhatan County, Va. He became disabled in early life. When quite a youth, his parents moved to the State of Tennessee and left him behind. Subsequently he set out to join them, but on. his way to Marietta, Ohio, was robbed of all his money. Discouraged over his losses, he remained at that place for a considerable period, and gave full scope to habits of intemperance, in the drinking of strong liquors, to such a degree that at one time he determined to put an end to his miserable existence by drowning himself in the Ohio River. Finally he united with the Methodist Episcopal Church at Marietta, where, subsequently, he engaged in his trade of blue-dyeing.

*J. B. Finley.

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In the fall of 1814, he became very ill, and no one expected be would recover. But be invoked the blessings of God, and promised if he was spared that he would obey the call. Soon after this, he went into the fields to pray. "It seemed to me," said he, "that I heard a voice, like the voice of a woman praising God; and then another, as the voice of a man, saying to me, 'You must declare my counsel faithfully.' These voices ran through me powerfully They seemed to coma from a northwest direction. I soon found myself standing on my feet, and speaking as if I were addressing a congregation. This circumstance made a strong impression upon my mind, and seemed an indication to me that the Lord had called on me to warn sinners to flee the wrath to come. But I felt myself so poor and ignorant that I feared much to make any attempt, though I was continually drawn to travel toward the course from whence the voices seemed to come. I at length concluded that if God would enable me to pay my debts. which I had contracted in the days of my wickedness and folly, I would go. This I was soon enabled to do; and I accordingly took my knapsack and set off to the northwest, not knowing whither I was to go. When I set off, my soul was ,very happy, and I steered my course, sometimes in the road, and sometimes through the woods, until I came to Goshen, on the Tuscarawas River. This was the old Moravian establishment among the Delawares. The Rev. Mr. Mortimore was then its pastor." Here Stewart found a few of the Delawares. among them the old chief Killbuck and his family. He remained a few days and was kindly treated by all. And it was here doubtless that Stewart learned something of the Delawares and Wyandots further to the north; for these Delawares had many friends and relations that lived at a point on the Sandusky River called Pipetown, after the chief who lived there; and to this place he next proceeded.

At Pipetown was a considerable body of Delawares under the control of Capt. Pipe, son of the chief of the same name, who was prominent at the burning of Col. Crawford. At this place Stewart stopped, but as the Indians were preparing for a great dance they paid but little attention to him. The proceedings on the part of the Indians were all new to Stewart, and for a time their vociferations and actions alarmed him exceedingly, but at last they became somewhat quiet, when Stewart took out his hymn book and began to sing. He, as is usual with many of his race, had a most melodious voice, and as a result of his effort the Indians present were charmed and awed into perfect silence. When he ceased, Johnny-cake said in broken English, " Sing more." He then asked if there was any person present who could interpret for him; when old Lyons, who called himself one hundred and sixty years old (for he counted the summer a year and the winter a year) came forward. Stewart talked to them for some minutes and then retired for the night. In the morning, he almost determined to return to Marietta, and from thence proceed to the home of his parents in Tennessee. But so strong were his impressions that he had not yet reached the right place, though he was invited by the Delawares to remain with them, that he continued his course northwesterly anti finally arrived at the house of William Walker, Sr., at Upper Sandusky.

Mr. Walker was an interpreter, and the United States Indian sub-agent at this point. At first he suspected Stewart to be a runaway slave; but the latter accounted for his presence here in such an honest, straight forward manner, that all doubts or suspicions were at once removed. Mrs. Walker, who was a most amiable woman, of good education, and half Wyandot, also became much interested in Stewart after hearing his account of himself.

276 - HISTORY OF WYANDOT COUNTY.

She possessed great influence in the Wyandot nation; and this whole family became his hospitable friends, and the untiring patrons to the mission which was afterward established. Mr. Walker, Sr., his wife and his so were all good interpreters. spoke the Indian tongue fluently, and all, except old Mr. Walker, became members of the church.

This family directed Stewart to a colored man named Jonathan Pointer. The latter, when a little boy, had been captured by the Wyandots at Point Pleasant, Va. His master and himself were cultivating corn when Indians came upon them. They shot his master, caught Jonathan, an took him home with them. This man could speak the Indian language well as any of the natives. When Stewart called upon him, and made known his wishes, Jonathan was very reluctant, indeed, to interpret for him, or to introduce him as a preacher. He told Stewart that " it was great folly for him, a poor colored man, to attempt to turn these Indians from their old religion to anew one." Bat Stewart persevered; he believed that God had sent him here, and he was unwilling to give up until he had made a trial.

Jonathan was going to a feast and dance the next day, and Stewart desired to go along, to which he rather reluctantly. consented. Stewart in. duced him to introduce him to the chiefs, when he gave them an exhortation and sung a hymn or two. Finally he requested that all who were willing to hear him next day at Pointer's house should come forward and give him their hand. This the most of them did. But he was much disappointed the next day, for none of them came other than one old woman, to whom he preached. A meeting was appointed at the same place for the following day. The same old woman, and an old chief, named Big-Tree, were present. To these Stewart again preached. The next day being the Sabbath, he appointed to meet in the council house. At that place eight or ten came. From this time his congregations began to increase in numbers, and it is presumed that nothing contributed more to increase them and keep them up for awhile than his singing. This delighted the Indians. No people are more fond of music than they are, and for that reason Stewart mixed his prayers and exhortations with numerous songs.

Mr. Finley relates that many of the Wyandots had been Catholics, and they began to call up their old Catholic songs, and sing them, and to pray. By this means,, some of them got stirred up, and awakened to see their lost condition. However, Stewart considered it to be his duty when they prayed to the Virgin Mary, and used their beads and crosses in prayer, to tell them that it was wrong. He also spoke against the foolishness of their feasts and dances, and against their witchcraft. These reproofs soon excited prejudices against him. Many that-had joined in the meetings went away, and by voice and actions did all the harm they could , Some even visited the Catholic priest at Detroit, related what was going on, and asked for instractions. The priest told them, "that none had the true word of God, or Bible, but the Catholics; that none but the Catholic priests could teach them the true and right way to heaven; that if they died out of the Catholic Church they must perish forever; and that they could not be saved in any other way, but must he lost forever." They came home from Detroit in high spirits, and soon it was reported through every family that Stewart did not have the right Bible, and was leading them wrong. Some charged him with having a false Bible, but how to test the matter was the difficulty. Finally, all agreed to leave it to Mr. Walker, Sr. The time was set when the parties were to meet, and he was publicly to examine Stewart's Bible

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and hymn book. The parties came together at the time appointed. Deep interest was felt on both sides, and all waited in solemn suspense. After some time had been spent in the examination. Mr. Walker said that the Bible used by Stewart was a true one, and differed from the Catholic Bible only in this: one was printed in English, the other in Latin. He also affirmed that his (Stewart's) hymn book was a good one, and that the hymns it contained were well calculated to be sung in the worship of God.

This decision was received with joy by the religious party, and in a corresponding degree sank the spirits of the other. It is believed, however, that none were so influential in putting down the superstitions of the Catholics as Mrs. Walker. She was no ordinary woman. Her mind was well enlightened, and she could expose the folly of their superstitions better than any one in the nation. As she stood so high in the estimation of all, her words bad more weight than anyone else.

Stewart continued his labors among the Wyandots from November, 18 16, until early in the following spring. His interpreter, Pointer, had professed to obtain religion, and also a considerable number of rather unimportant Indians; but the leading chiefs and head men of the nation stood aloof. After passing several months at Mariette, Stewart returned to Upper Sandusky in August, 1817. He found upon his return that but few of his flock had remained steadfast. Most of them had fallen back into their former habits, and one of the most hopeful of the young men had been killed in a drunken frolic. At this time Mononcue* and Two-logs, or Bloody Eyes (the last mentioned chief being a brother of Be tween -the- logs), raised a powerful opposition to Stewart, and represented in most glowing colors the destruction that the Great Spirit would visit upon them if they forsook their old traditions; that the Great Spirit had denounced them as a nation, and

*This renowned chief of the Wyandot nation was of medium stature, and remarkably symmetrical in form Mr. Finley says he was one of the most active men he ever knew, quick in his motions as thought, and fleet, as the doe in the chase. age.

As a speaker, he possessed a native eloq uence which was truly wonderful. Few could stand before the overwhelming torrent of his eloquence. He was a son of Thunder. When inspired with his theme, he could move a large assembly with as much case, and rouse them to as high a state of excitement, as any speaker I ever heard. There is a peculiarity in Indian eloquence which it is difficult to describe. To form a correct idea of its character, you must be in the hearing and sight of the son of the forest; the tones of his voice and the flash of his eye must fall upon you, and you must see the significant movement of his body. As an orator, Mononcue was not surpassed by any chieftain.

I will give a specimen or two of the eloquence of this gifted son of nature. Imagine yourself, gentle reader, in the depths of the forest, surrounded by hundreds of chiefs and warriors, all sunk in the, degredation and darkness of paganism. They have been visited by the missionary, and several converted chiefs. One after another the chiefs rise and address the assembly, but with no effect. The dark scowl of infidelity settles on their brows, and the frequent mutterings of the excited auditors indicate that their speeches are not acceptable, and their doctrines not believed. At length Mononcue rise$ amidst confusion and disturbance, and ordering silence with a commanding voice, he addresses them as follows:

"When you meet to worship God, and to hear Prom His word, shut up your mouths, and open your ears to hear what is said. You have been here several days and nights worshipping your Indian god, who has no existence, only in your dark and beclouded. minds. You have been burning your dogs a vension for him to smell What kind of a god or spirit is he, that he can be delighted with the smell of a burnt dog? Do you suppose the great God that spread out the heavens, that hung up the sun and moon, and all, the stars, to make light, and spread out this vast world of land and water, and filled it with men and beasts, and everything that swims or flies, is pleased with the smell of your burnt dog? I tell you today, that His great eye is on your hearts, and not on your fires, to see and smell what you are burning,. Has over one evil? No! You have not taken the first step to do better, which is to keep this day holy. This day was appointed by God Himself, a day of rest for all men, and a day on which men are to worship Him with pure hearts, and to come before Him that He may examine their hearts, and cast out all their evil. This day is appointed for His minister to preach to us Jesus, and to teach our dark and cloudy minds, and salvation are freely offered to all that will forsake sin and turn to God. He adverted to the judgment day, and the awful consequences of being found in sin, and strangers to god. On this subject he was tremendously awful. He burnt into tears; he caught the handkerchief from his head, and wiped them from his eyes. Many in the house sat as if they were petrified, while others wept in silence. Many of the females drew their blankets over their faces and wept. "Awful, awful day to the wicked!" said this thundering minister. "Your faces will look much blacker with your shame and guilt than they do now with your paint." I have no doubt but God was with Mononcue on this occasion, and that many were convicted of sin and a judgement to come.

Mononcue was of great service to the mission at Upper Sandusky as a local preacher, and was always prompt In the discharge of every duty. He remained a true Christian and friend of the whites until big death, which occurred some time before the removal of the Wyandots west of Missouri.

278 - HISTORY OF WYANDOT COUNTY.

would abandon them forever, if they left His commandments, and exhorted the people never to think of turning aside from their fathers' religion.

Late in the year 1818, Stewart encountered other difficulties. It seems that certain missionaries, traveling to the northward, passed through Upper Sandusky, and finding that Stewart had been somewhat successful in his labors among the Wyandots, wanted him to join their church, saying that they would assure him a good salary. He refused on the ground of his objections to the doctrines they held. They then demanded his authority as a Methodist missionary. As he held no other authority from the church than an exhorter's license, he frankly told them he had none. Through this means, it became known that he had no authority from the church to exercise the ministerial office; although he had both solemnized matrimony and baptized several persons, both adults and children, believing that the necessity of the case justified it. This operated greatly. to his disadvantage, for the missionaries aforesaid and the traders asserted that he was an impostor.

Stewart now determined to attach himself to the Methodist Episcopal Church, at some point nearer than Marietta. The same winter (1818-19), he visited a tribe of the Wyandots that lived at Solomonstown, on the Great Miami River. He there formed the acquaintance of Robert Armstrong, and some Methodist families living near Bellefontaine. From them be learned that the quarterly meeting; for that circuit, would be held near Urbana. To that place he proceeded (in company with some of the Indians), recommended by the converted chiefs and others, as a proper person to be licensed as a local preacher in the Methodist Episcopal Church. In March, 1819, his case was brought before the conference, and by a unanimous vote of that body, he was duly licensed. At this meeting, several of the local preachers present volunteered to go in turn and assist Stewart, but it appears that Rev. Anthony Banning, of Mount Vernon, anticipated their action, and was the first to aid him.

At the annual conference, held at Cincinnati in August, 181.9, the Indian mission at Upper Sandusky was named as a regular field of labor in the Lebanon District, which then extended from the Ohio River northward to and including Michigan Territory. At the same time Rev. James B. Finley was appointed Presiding Elder of the district, and Rev. James Montgomery, missionary to assist Stewart. Subsequently, Montgomery was appointed by Col. John Johnston, sub-agent over the Senecas, and Moses Henkle was employed to fill the position vacated by Montgomery. As a result of these proceedings, Stewart's prominence as a missionary among the Indians began to wane, and others proceeded to occupy the field which he had opened.

Although Mononcue and other prominent men of the Wyandots opposed Stewart's efforts for a time, they were, comparatively speaking, early converts to Methodism. Thus,. Finley relates that the first quarterly meeting appointed for the benefit of the Indians was held at Zanesfield, at the house of Ebenezer Zane, a half-breed, in November, 1819. About sixty Indians were present, among them the chiefs known as Between-the-logs, Mononcue, John Hicks, Peacock, Squindighty and Scuteash. Robert Armstrong and Jonathan Pointer were the interpreters. All of the chiefs mentioned, besides several others, spoke to the white men and red men there assembled. The address of Between-the-logs, interpreted, was as follows: "Will you have patience to hear me, and I will give you a history of religion among the Indians for some time back, and how we have been

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HISTORY OF WYANDOT COUNTY. - 281

deceived. Our fathers had a religion of their own, by which they served God and were happy, before any white men came among them. They used to worship with feasts, sacrifices, dances and rattles; in doing which they thought they were right. Our parents wished us to be good, and they used to make us do good, and would sometimes correct us for doing evil. But a great while ago, the French sent us the good book by a Roman priest, and we listened to him. He taught us that we mast confess our sins, and he would forgive them; that we must worship Lady Mary, and do penance. He baptized us with spittle and salt, and many of us did as he told us. Now, we thought, to be sure we are right. He told us to pray, and to carry the cross on our breasts. He told us, also, that it was wrong to drink whisky. But we found that he would drink it himself, and we followed his steps and got drunk too. At last our priest left us, and this religion all died away. So, many of us left off getting drunk, and we began again to do pretty well. Then the Seneca prophet arose and pretended that he had talked to the Great Spirit, and that he had told him what the Indians ought to do. So we heard and followed him. It is true, he told us many good things, and that we ought not to drink whisky; but soon we found that be was like the Roman priest-he would tell us we must not do things, and yet do them himself. So here we were deceived again. Then, after these cheats, we thought our fathers' religion was still the best, and we would take it up again and follow it. After some time the great Sbawanese prophet [Tecumseh's brother] arose. Well, we heard him, and some of us followed him for awhile. But we had now become very jealous, having been deceived so often, and we watched him very closely, and soon found him like all the rest. Then we left him also, and now we were made strong in the religion of our fathers, and concluded to turn away from it no more. We made another trial to establish it more firmly, and had made some progress when the war broke out between our father, the President, and King George. Our nation was for war with the king, and every man wanted to be a big man. Then we drank whisky and fought; and by the time the war was over we were all scattered, and many killed and dead.

" But the chiefs thought they would gather the nation together once more. We had a good many collected, and were again establishing our Indian religion. Just at this time, a black man, Stewart, our brother here (pointing to him), came to us, and told us he was sent by the Great Spirit to tell us the true and good way. But we thought that he was like all the rest, that he wanted to cheat us, and get our money and land from us. He told us of all our sins; showed us that drinking whisky was ruining us; that the Great Spirit was angry with us; and that we must leave off these things. But we treated him ill, and gave him but little to eat, and trampled on him, and were jealous of him for a whole year. We are sure if the Great Spirit had not sent him, he could not have borne with our treatment. About this time our father, the President, applied to us to buy our lands, and we had to go to the great city to see him. When we came home, our old preacher was still with us, telling us the same things; and we could find no fault or alteration in him. About this time he talked about leaving us to see his friends; and our squaws told us that we were fools to lot him go, for the Great God had sent him, and we ought to adopt him. But still we wanted to hear longer. They then told us what God bad done for them by this man. So we attended his mee ting in the council house, and the Great Spirit came upon us so that some cried aloud, some clapped their hands, some ran away, and some were angry. We hold our meeting all

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night, sometimes singing and sometimes praying. By this time we were convinced that God had sent him to us; and then we adopted him, and gave him mother and children. About this time a few of us went to a great. camp-meeting near Lebanon, Warren County, Ohio, and were much blessed and very happy. As soon as this work was among us at Sandusky, almost every week some preacher would come and tell us they loved us, and would take us and our preacher under their care, and give us schools, and do all for us that we wished. But we thought if they loved Indians so, why not go to the Senecas and Mohawks? They have no preacher; we have ours. Some told us that we must be baptized all over in the water, to wash away our sins. And now they said they cared much for us; bat before Stewart came they cared nothing for us. Now some of us are trying to do good, and are happy. We find no alteration in Stewart. But when others come, and our young men will not sit still, they scold; and we believe Stewart is the best man. Some of the white people that live among us and can talk our language say, 'The Methodists have bewitched you;' and that, 'It is all nothing but the works of the devil; and the whites want to get you tamed, and then kill you, as they did the Moravian Indians on the Tuscarawas River.' I told them that if we were to be killed, it was time for us all to be praying. Some white people put bad things in the minds of our young Indians, and make our way rough." Between-the-logs concluded his ad. dress by telling of the goodness of the Lord, and requesting an interest in the prayers of his people.

In August, 1821, in accordance with the suggestions of the Methodist preachers,. the chiefs, Deunquot, Between-the-logs, John Hicks, Mononcue, Andauyouah, Deandoughso and Tahuwaughtarode, signed a petition, which was drawn up and witnessed by William Walker, United States Interpreter; and Moses Henkle, Sr., Missionary, requesting that a missionary school be established among them, at Upper Sandusky, and for that purpose they donated a section of land at the place called Camp Meigs, where existed a flue spring of water and other conveniences. The Indians also requested of conference that the teacher sent them should be a preacher, thus obviating the necessity of a traveling misssonary being continued among them. Thereupon Rev. James B. Finley, was appointed resident missionary and teacher at the Wyandot Mission. He says in his history of the mission: " There was no plan of operation furnished me, no provision made for the mission family, no house to shelter them, nor supplies for the winter; and there was only a small sum of money, amounting to $200, appropriated for the benefit of the mission. However, I set about the work of preparation to move. I had a suitable wagon made, bought a yoke of oxen, and other things necessary, took my own furniture and household goods, and by the 8th of October was on my way. I had hired two young men, and one young woman, and Sister Harriet Stubbs volunteered to accompany us as a teacher. These, with my wife and self, made the whole mission family. We were eight days making our way out. Sixty miles of the road was almost as bad as it could be. From Markley's, on the Scioto, to Upper Sandusky, there were but two or three cabins. But by the blessing of kind Providence, we arrived safe, and were received by all with the warmest affection. There was no house for no to shelter in on the section of land we were to occupy, but by the kindness of Mr. Lewis, the black. smith, we were permitted to occupy a new cabin he had built for his family. It was without door, window or ch inking. Here we unloaded, and set up our Ebenezer. The Sabbath following, we hold meeting in the council house,

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and had a large congregation. Brother Stewart was present, arid aided in the exercises. We had a good meeting, and the prospect of better times.

" We now selected the place for building our mission house. It was on the spot called 'Camp Meigs,' where Gov. Meigs had encamped with the Oh io Militia in time of the last war, on the west bank of the Sandusky River, about a mile below the post of 'Upper Sandusky.' We commenced getting logs to put us up a shelter for the winter. The first week one of my hands, left me, A day or two after, while we were in the woods cutting down timber, a dead limb fell from the tree we were chopping on the head of the other young man, so that he lay breathless. I placed him on the wagon, drove home half a mile or more, and then bled him, before he recovered his senses. I now began to think it would be hard times. Winter was coming on, and my family exposed in an Indian country, without a house to shelter in. For years I had dons but little manual labor. But the Lord blessed me with great peace in my soul. My worthy friend, George Riley, recovered from his hurt, and we worked almost day and night, until the skin came off the inside of my hands. I took oak bark, boiled it, and washed my hands in the decoction, and they soon got well and became hard. We built a cabin house, 20 x 23 feet, and without door, window, or loft. On the very day that snow began to fall. we moved into it. The winter soon became extremely cold. We repaired one of the old blockhouses, made a stable thereof for our cattle, and cut, hauled and hewed logs to put up a double house, forty-eight feet long by twenty wide, a story and a halt high. We hauled timber to the saw mill, and sawed it ourselves into joists and plank, for the floors and other purposes. I think I can say that neither brother Riley nor myself sat down to eat one meal of victuals that winter but by candle-light, except on Sabbath days. We always went to bed at 9, and rose at 4 o'clock in the morning, and by daylight we were ready to go to work. In addition to this, I preached every Sabbath and met class, attended prayer meeting once every week, and labored to rear up the church. Brother Stewart assisted when he was able to labor, but his pulmonary affliction confined him the most of his time to the house, and I employed him to teach a small school of ten or twelve Indian children at the Big Spring; for these people were so anxious to have their children taught that they could not wait until preparations were made at the mission house, and they wanted to have a separate school by themselves. To this I would not agree; but to accommodate their wishes until we were ready at the mission house to receive their children, I consented that they might be taught at home."

Mr. Finley remained with the Wyandots at Upper Sandusky (assisted meanwhile at different periods, by Revs. John Stewart, Charles Elliott, Jacob Hooper, John C. Brooke and James Gilruth), about seven years, and his published statements of the proceedings while here, are quite interesting and complete. Yet, except in a few instances, the scope of this work-the great variety of topics to be treated- precludes the practicability of our giving full accounts obtained therefrom, or indeed of doing but little more, while speaking further of the Wyandot Mission, than to merely make mention of some of the most prominent events.

While the chiefs and head men known as Between-the-logs, Mononcue, John Hicks, Squire Grayeyes, George Punch, Summundewat, Big-tree, Driver, Washington, Joseph Williams, Two Logs, Mathew Peacock, Harrihoot, Robert Armstrong, Scuteash, Rohnyenness, Little Chief, Big River, Squindatee and others (with a following of about one-half of those

284 - HISTORY OF WYANDOT COUNTY.

on the reservation), professed to have obtained religion, and were enrolled as members of the Mission Methodist Episcopal Church, Deunquot, who be. came the head chief of the nation upon the death of Tarhe, together with the other half of the Indians under his control, remained true to the religion (if so it may be called) of their fathers. Finley speaks of an occurrence in which Deunquot prominently figured as follows:

" Some time after this the head chief, Deunquot, and his party came one Sabbath to the council house, where we held our meetings, dressed up and painted in real Indian style, With their head-bands filled with silver bobs, their bead-dress consisting of feathers and painted horse hair. The chief had a half moon of silver on his neck before and several hanging on his back. He had nose-jewels and our-rings, and many bands of silver on his arms and legs. Around his ankles hung many buck.hoofs, to rattle when he walked. His party were dressed in similar style. The like nesses of animals were painted on their breasts and backs, and snakes on their arms. When he came in he addressed the congregation in Indian style, with a polite compliment, and then taking his seat, struck tire, took out his pipe, lighted it and commenced smoking. Others of his party followed his example. I knew this was done by way of opposition and designed as an insult. Soon after I took my text, John v, 16, 'Wilt thou be made whole?' etc.; and commenced on the diseases of man's soul, and showing from history the injustice of one nation to another; the treatment of the white people to the natives of North and South America; the conduct of man to his brother, and his conduct to himself, his drunkenness etc., and all the good we have comes from God, to make as happy. But that we, from the badness of our hearts, use these blessings to our own hurt; and that all evil proceeds out of the heart; the refore, all our hearts must be evil, and that continually; that we are proud, and of this we have an example before us in our grandfather, the head chief. Surely these things can do him no good, but to feed a proud heart. They will not warm his body when cold, nor feed him when hungry.

"As soon as I sat down. he arose with all the dignity of an Indian, and spoke as follows: 'My friends, this is a pretty day, and your faces all look pleasantly. I thank the Great Spirit that He has permitted us to meet. I have listened to your preacher. He has said some things that are good, but they have nothing to do with us. We are Indians, and belong to the red man's God. That book was made by the white man's God, and suits them, They can read it we cannot; and what he has said will do for white men, but with us it has nothing to do, Once, in the days of our grandfathers, many years ago, this white man's God came himself to this country and claimed us. "But our God met him somewhere near the great mountains, and they disputed about the right to this country. At last they agreed to settle this question by trying their great power to remove a mountain. The white man's God got down on hie; knees, opened a big book, and began to pray and talk, but the mountain stood fast. Then then the red man's God took his magic wand, and began to pow-wow and beat the turtle shell, and the mountain trembled, shook, and stood by him. The white man's God got seared and ran off, and we have not heard of him since, unless he has sent these men to see what they can do.' All the time he was speaking, the heathen party were on tip-too, and often responded, saying, ' Tough gondee'-that is, true or right; and seemed to think they had won the victory.

"As soon as he sat down, I arose and said: 'Our grandfather is a great

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man-he is an able warrior, a great. hunter, and a good chief in many things;, and in all this I am his son. Bat when it comes to matters of religion, he is my son and I am his father. He has told us a long and queer story. I wonder where he obtained it. He may have dreamed it, or he has heard some drunken Indian tell it; for you know that drunkards always see great sights, and have many revelations, which sober men never have. (Here my old friend Mononcue said, I Tough gondee.') But my friend, the head chief, is mistaken about his gods; for if it requires a God for every color, there must be many more gods. This man is black (pointing to Pointer), I am white. and you are red. Who made the black man? Where is his God? This book tells yon and me that there is but one God, and that he made all things, and all nations of the earth of one blood, to dwell together; and a strong evidence is, that the difference of color is no obstacle to generation. God has diversified the color of the plants. Go to the plains and see how varied they are in their appearance. Look at the beasts; they are of all colors. So it is with men. God has given them all shades of color, from the jet black to the snow white. Then your being a red man, and I a white man, is no argument at all that there are two gods. And I again say that this book is true in what it states of man having a bad heart, and being wicked; and that my friend has a proud heart is evident from his dress and painting himself. God made me white and that man black. We are contented. But my friend does not think the Great Spirit has made him pretty enough; he must put on his paint to make himself look better. This is a plain proof that he is a proud man, and has an evil heart.' Seeing that the chief was angry, I said, 'My grandfather will not got angry at his son for telling him the truth, but he might if I had told him a lie.'

"He then rose, considerably excited, saying: 'I am not angry but you cannot show in all your book where an Indian is forbid to paint. You may find where white people are forbid, but you cannot show where an Indian is.' I then arose, and read from the third chapter of Isaiah, at the sixteenth verse; and told him that these people were not white men, as the Americans, and yet were forbidden to use those foolish ornaments. He arose and said I had not read it right. I then handed the book to one of the Mr. Walkers, and he read and interpreted it; so that the old man was at last confounded, and said no more." Nevertheless, Deunquot remained steadfast in the belief of his ancesters until his death, which occurred about a year after the affair in the council house, just narrated. He was succeeded by the chief termed Warpole.

In the summer of 1823, the mission school was formally opened. It was conducted according to the manual labor system. The boys were taught the art of farming, and the girls, house-work, sewing, knitting, spinning cooking, etc. The boys were averse to labor at first; but instead of force stratagem was brought into play. They were divided into separate groups, and each encouraged to excel the others. Sixty scholars were enrolled in the year last mentioned, among them being a number of children sent from Canada, by members of the Wyandot nation there residing. Bishop Me Kendree also visited the mission and reservation during the same year. In a letter written by him in August, 1823, he said: "Oar missionary establishment is at Upper Sandusky, in the large national reserve of the Wyandot tribes of Indians, which contains one hundred and forty-seven thousand eight hundred and forty acres of land; being in extent something more than nineteen miles from east to west, and twelve miles from north to south. Throughout the whole extent of this tract, the Sandusky winds its course, re-

286 - HISTORY OF WYANDOT COUNTY.

ceiving several beautiful streams. This fine tract, with another reservation of five miles square at the Big Spring, head of Blanchard's River, is all the soil that remains to the Wyandots, once the proprietors of an extensive tract of country. The mission at Upper Sandusky is about sixty-five or seventy miles north of Columbus, the seat of government of Ohio. To the old Indian boundary line, which is about half way, the country is pretty well improved. From thence to the Wyandot Reserve, the population is thinly scattered, the lands having been but lately surveyed and brought into market."

During the same year (1823), Col. John Johnston, United States Indian Agent, likewise visited the Wyandots on their reservations. He passed several days among them, and at the close of his visit-August 23-reported as follows: "The buildings and improvements of the establishment are substantial and extensive, and do this gentleman [meaning Mr. Finley] great credit. The farm is under excellent fence, and in tine order; comprising about one hundred and forty acres, in pasture, corn and vegetables. There are about fifty acres in corn, which, from present appearances, will yield 3,000 bushels. It's by much the finest crop I have Been this year, has been well worked, and is clear of grass and weeds. There are twelve acres in potatoes, cabbage, turnips and garden. Sixty children belong to the school, of which number fifty-one are Indians. These children are boarded and lodged at the mission house. They are orderly and attentive, comprising every class from the alphabet to readers in the Bible. I am told by the teacher that they are apt in learning, and that he is entirely satisfied with the progress they have made. They attend with the family regularly to the duties of religion. The meeting-house, on the Sabbath, is numerously and devoutly attended. A better congregation in behavior I have not beheld; and I believe there can be no doubt, that there are very many-persons, of both sexes, in the Wyandot nation, who have experienced the saving effects of the Gospel upon their minds. Many of the Indians are now settling on farms, and have comfortable houses and large fields. A spirit of order, industry and improvement appears to prevail with that part of the nation which has embraced Christianity, and this constitutes a full half of the population." During the year 1823, the sum of $2,254.54 was expended at the mission, which had been gathered from various sources.

The same year was also made memorable in the history of the mission by reason of the death of the colored preacher, Rev. John Stewart, who died of consumption December 17, 1823. It appears from Finley's account, that in 1820, conference appropriated money for the purpose of purchasing a horse for Stewart, and to pay for clothing he had bought; besides which, he received many presents from friends in and about Urbana. Soon after, he married a women of his own color, and wished to have a place of his own. Thereupon the venerable Bishop McKendree collected $100, with which sixty acres of land wore purchased and patented in the name of Stewart. It adjoined the Wyandot Reservation, and was occupied by him from the spring of 1321 until his death. Afterward his wife and brother sold the land and appropriated the money to their own use. Stewart was the recipient of regular supplies from the mission to the time of his decease; although a year or so before that event he had withdrawn from the Methodist Episcopal Church, and joined the Allenites, a sect of colored Methodists.

In the spring of 1824, the Indians turned their attention to the improvement of their farms, and to the building of comfortable houses. A number

HISTORY OF WYANDOT COUNTY. - 287

of hewed-log houses were put up, with brick or stone chimneys; and great exertions were made to enclose large fields, for raising grain and grass. Many purchased sheep, and means were taken to improve their breed of cattle and hogs. With the means at their command, they did all they could to provide for the future, without following the chase, for they clearly saw that the white settlers would soon occupy all the country around them, and that they must starve unless they could procure the means of living at home. The same year, too, was built the mission church, now standing in rains. Says Mr. Finley: "We were much in want of a place of worship, so there was no proper meeting-house. Sometimes we worshiped in the old council house, as the largest and most roomy. This was an old building, made of split slabs, laid between two posts stuck in the ground, and covered with bark peeled from the trees. No floor but the earth-no fireplace but a hearth in the middle, and logs laid on the ground on each side for seats. In the winter we met in the mission schoolhouse, which was much too small.

On my tour to the East, I visited the city of Washington, in company with the Rev. David Young. Here I had an interview with President Monroe, and gave him such information as he wished, as to the state of the mission and Indians in general. I had also art introduction to John C. Calhoun, Secretary of War. This gentleman took a deep interest in Indian afairs, and gave me much satisfactory information respecting the different missions in progress among the Indians; the amount of money expended on each establishment, and the probable Success. I made an estimate of the cost of our buildings, and he gave me the Government's proportion of the expense, which amounted to $1,333. 1 then asked him if it would be improper to take that money, and build a good church for the benefit of the nation. His reply was, -that I might use it for building a church; and he wished it made of strong and durable materials, so that it might remain a house of worship when both of us were no more. This work was performed, and the house was built out of good limestone, 30x4O feet, and plainly finished. So these people have had a comfortable house to worship God in ever since. It will stand if not torn down, for a century* to come."

* Such would have been the case, doubtless, if the successors of the Wyandots here-the white Dien had exhibited the least particle of public spirit, or of pride, in the preservation of th ts, and other priceless mementoes of a past race and age. Under date of May 12, 1881, the very able editor of the Wyandot Democratic Union speaks of this: "The Last Landmark of the Wyandot Reservation," in the following lucid, unmistakable style: * * * "We remember with what Interest we viewed, on our first visit to the town ---shortly after these so-called wild men had taken their departure-the council house, the block-house, many of their cabins, and especially the church, which had witnessed so many gracious manifestations of the presence of the Holy Ghost, and which now is almost a heap of ruins. Then they were considered souvenirs of the peo le that for generations had occupied the land, and whose untutored minds had formed certain well defined Tows much In accordance with nature for their government; and who, to enforce them, ,had their officers, prisons and courts of justice. All these were left as mementoes of the age that had preceded our,. They should have been protected by the people who succeeded them, and guarded as legacies handed down from those whose hands had built them. But this was not the case. A different spirit actuated those who succeeded them, although they boasted of a higher order of civilization, that had the Christian religion for its corner stone. The tide of emigration that pressed into the reservation under the new order of things, had no appreciation for the venerable relics they found standing every where, as monuments of the genius of the people who had preceded them, and with the greed ever manifested by the whites to gain property, and to turn everything found in their way into a channel that would lead to such results, therefore, nothing belonging to Indian mythology was deemed too sacred to be sacrificed to this unholy thirst for riches.

" After the organization of the county, the council house, which bad witnessed so many grand scenes connected with the primeval history of the Wyandots, used for holding the courts of justice, and by .beer carelessness in storing ashes in a barrel, it took d was burned tip. The blockhouse or jail gave way for a more imposing building. to be used as a dwelling-house. Other memorial stones that were set tip as commemorative of Indian history were thrown down, and at last the 'Old Mission Church,' the only landmark remaining is about to fall into decay. More than this, the vandal hand was seen a few years ago in the almost total obliteration of the marble slabs that marked the last resting-place of a number of the most noteworthy of the Indian chiefs of the Wyandots, many of them having, ere they died, gloried in the power of the Dew birth, and believed in Him who is the resurrection and the life. But nevertheless, men calling themselves Christians, some of them ministers of the Gospel, with uplifted hands, struck piece after piece from these grave marks of the noble dead, until there does not remain a single one to tell where rests

288 - HISTORY OF WYANDOT COUNTY.

For the year ending September 30, 1826, the following report of the mission school, etc., was rendered to the War Department of the United States: Name of the site or station, Wyandot Mission School, Upper Sandusky: by whom established, by the Bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church, with the consent of the Ohio Annual Conference; when established, October 16, 1821; name of Superintendent, J. B. Finley; number of scholars, sixty-nine; number of teachers, one male and one female teacher, principals-ten others-in all, twelve; amount of funds received, including annual allowance of Government, $2,454.471; amount of disbursements, $2,600; deficiency, $145.52 1/2; value of property belonging to the establishment, $10,000. At that time this was the most successful and prosperous Indian school and mission in the United States. We will also mention here, that the building known as the mission school and boarding-house was situated about half a mile northeast of the church. It entirely disappeared many years ago. It was commenced by Mr. Finley in the winter of 1821-22 See his account as shown on preceding pages:

In explanation of the number of white men or partly white men found among the Wyandots, it appears that this nation, although never behind other savage tribes during their wars with the whites, were more merciful than their neighbors-the Delawares, Shawanese, Miamis, Ottawas, Chippewas, etc. They saved more prisoners, and purchased many from other Indiana, and adopted them into their families. Thus did they become allied with some of the best families in the country. The Browns, an old Virginia family; the Zanes, another well-known family; the Walkers of Tennessee, and the Williams, Armstrongs, McCulloughs and Magees of Pittsburgh, were all represented among them. Robert Armstrong, one of the best interpreters during Finley's time, was taken prisoner by the Wyandots about the year 1786, when is boy about four years old. His parents resided a few miles above Pittsburgh, on the banks of the Allegheny River. One Sunday morning a young man of the family, with little Robert, took a canoe and crossed over to the west side of the river to visit a camp of friendly Indians of the Cornplanter tribe. This camp was situated about four miles distant from the river. After they had made their visit and were returning home, in passing a dense thicket through which the path led, they heard a noise and stopped to look, and to their great surprise and terror, four hideously painted Indians of the Wyandot nation rose up and ordered them to stop.

the sleeping dust of Mononcue, Summundewat Between-the-Lugs Deunquot or any other of the braves whose remains had been deposited In the ground around this Old Mission Church.' It is a record at which the Christian should blush with shame. It was a vandalism of which the Goths, in their palmiest days, would have blushed to have been charged with, and yet in this advanced age, in the light of the sun shining on its in this, the nineteenth century, there were men wearing the livery of heaven that boldly, in open daylight, were guilty of this crime.

"But the past cannot be recalled. What has been done cannot be remedied. But the le of Upper Sandusky have a sacred duty to perform in the preservation of what remains of the 'Old Mission Church from total obliteration. Last winter, had there been sufficient enterprise the object sought for might have been attained. Through the persevering efforts of Hon. E. B. Finley, a bill passed the Senate of the United States, a appropriating $8,000 for repairing the Old Mission Church, and building a suitable monument in honor of the Wyandot allot nation. Mr. Finley notified our citizens of this fact, and Invited their co-operation. What was done by our people? Simply nothing! We made an appeal to them through the columns of the Union. Our appeal had about as much effect as pouring water upon a goose's back. We talked privately to our business men, but they turned a deaf ear to all we said, and the result was that with the expiration of the last Congress, the bill died a horning in the house, and the town Is out of the $3,000 for the fitting-up of the old mission grounds If our citizens would have met in public meeting, and taken steps to cooperate with Mr. Finley. our member of Congress, and sent a delegation to Washington to work up the matter, the bill could, we have no doubt, have been passed. But as it is, we see now no hope. The church that should stand as a monument of other days and of another people Is going into decay and it will not be long until there will be nothing left of it. We are chargeable with Its destruction, and the generations that will come after its, looking for these mementoes of a prehistoric race, will condemn us for bur want of liberality in not preserving them. We have now had our say on this subject, and we close by reiterating our former belief, that if our citizens had moved at the proper time, Finley's bill would have passed the National Congress, and an amount sufficient would have been placed at the disposal of the proper person to have put In repair this old landmark, and to have erected a suitable monument to the memory of the sleeping braves whose bodies have returned to dust around it."

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The young man attempted to make his escape by running but had made a few steps only, when the Indians fired and he fell dead. Little Robert ran a few yards, but one of the Indians soon caught him and picked him up. Said he: "I was so seared to see the young man tomahawked and scalped that I could hardly stand, when set on my feet, for I expected it would be my lot next. One of the men took me on his back and carried me for several miles before he stopped. The company then divided. Two men took the scalp, and the other two had charge of me. In the evening they met, and traveled until it was late in the night, and then stopped to rest and sloop. The next morning I had to take it afoot as long as I could travel; and although they treated me kindly, yet I was afraid they would kill me. Thus they traveled on for several days, crossing some I large rivers, until they got to an Indian town, as I learned afterward , on the Jerome's Fork of Mo hickan Creek, one of the branches of Muskingum River. Here they rested awhile, and then went on until they came to Lower Sandusky."

Young Armstrong was adopted into the Big Turtle tribe of Wyandots, and named O-no-ran-do-roh. He became an expert hunter and a perfect Indian in his feelings and habits of life. He married an Indian woman or half-breed, and bad so far lost the knowledge of his mot-her tongue that for years he could speak or understand but little of it. After Gen. Wayne's treaty he mingled more with the whites, conversed more in English, and finally learned to talk the language of his fathers equal to any of the traders or settlers. He became an excellent interpreter, and was employed in trading and interpreting the rest of his life. His wife was a daughter of Ebenezer Zane-a half Indian woman-and they raised a family of interesting children. He lived for some years at Solomonstown. Afterward he moved to Zanesfield, on Mad River, and from thence to Upper Sandusky, where he died of consumption in April, 1825. We have thus briefly sketched the career of Armstrong for the reason that it is a fair illustration, probably, of the life and experiences of many other whites who had been captured and adopted by the Wyandots.

In the summer of 1826, Rev. J. B. Finley, accompanied by the chiefs Mononcue and Between-the-logs, and Samuel Brown as interpreter, visited the cities of Buffalo, Albany, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington. At each point great crowds gathered to see and hear them, and all expressed the utmost surprise and delight after listening to the addresses of these eloquent, Christianized sons of the forest. They returned home at the end of three months.

In the autumn of that year, Judge Leib, an agent appointed by the government to visit all the Indian mission schools to which the government had made appropriations of money, reported to the Secretary of War as follows: "On Tuesday, the 10th of November last, I left Detroit for Upper Sandusky, where I arrived on the 12th, and found this establishment in the most flourishing state. All was harmony, order and regularity under the superintending care of the Rev. Mr. Finley. Too much praise cannot be bestowed on this gentleman. His great good sense, his unaffected zeal in the reformation of the Indians, his gracious manners and conciliating disposition fit him in a peculiar manner for the accomplishment of his purpose, and the fruits of his labors are everywhere visible; they are to be found in every Indian and Indian habitation. By Indian habitation here is meant a good comfortable dwelling, built in the modern country style, with neat and well-finished apartments, and furnished with chairs, tables, bedsteads and beds, equal at least, in all respects to the generality of whites

290 - HISTORY OF WYANDOT COUNTY.

around them. The Wyandots are a fine race, and I consider their civilization accomplished, and little short in their general improvement to an equal number of whites in our frontier settlements. They are charmingly situated in a most fruitful country. They hunt more for sport than for subsistence, for cattle seem to abound among them, and their good condition gives assurance of the fertility of their soil and the rich herbage which it produces, for the land is everywhere covered with the richest blue grass.

" They mostly dress like their white neighbors, and seem as contented and happy as any other portion of people I ever saw. A stranger would believe he was passing through a white population, if the inhabitants were not seen; for besides the neatness of their houses, with brick chimneys and glazed windows, you see horses, cows, sheep and hogs grazing everywhere, and wagons, harness, plows, and other implements of husbandry in their proper places. In short. they are the only Indians within the circle of my visits whom I consider as entirely reclaimed, and whom I should consider it a cruelty to attempt to remove. * * * A good and handsome stone meetinghouse, forty feet in length by thirty in breadth, has been erected since last year. * * * The mission farm is well supplied with horses, oxen, cows and swine, and all the necessary farming utensils. I cannot forbear mentioning a plan adopted by this tribe, under, the auspices of the Superintendent, which promises the most salutary effects A considerable store has been fitted upon their reserve, and furnished with every species of goods suited to their wants, and purchased with their annuities. An account is opened with each individual who deals thereat, and a very small profit acquired. Mr. William Walker, a quadroon, one of the tribe, a trustworthy man, and well qualified by his habits and education to conduct the business, is their agent. The benefits resulting from this establishment are obvious. The Indians can, at home, procure every necessary article at a cheap rate, and avoid Dot only every temptation which assails him when he goes abroad, but also great imposition. The profits of the store are appropriated to the general benefit. This plan, it seems to me, promises many advantages. The merchandise with which this store is furnished was bought in. New York on good terms."

Between-the-Logs died of consumption January 1, 1827. During the last part of the same year, Rev. Mir. Finley terminated his labors with the Wyandots, leaving Rev. James Gilruth in control. Among the successors of the latter were Messrs. Thompson, Shaw, Allen and Wheeler, ministers of the Methodist Episcopal Church. It is probable, however, that the mission attained its greatest degree of activity and substantial prosperity just at the close of Mr. Finley's superintendency.

By a treaty concluded at Little Sandusky August 3, 1829, between John McElvaine. Commissioner on the part of the United States, and the chiefs and head men of the Delawares, the latter ceded their reservation to the United States for the sum of $3,000, and removed west of the Mississippi. This reservation was granted to the Delawares at the treaty of the Maumee Rapids. It contained nine square miles, and adjoined the Wyandot Reserve on the southeast, thus embracing portions of the present townships of An. trim and Pitt, in Wyandot County. By permission of the Wyandots, these Indians made a village on the west bank of the Sandusky River, below the mouth of Broken Sword Creek, where a fine spring emerges from the river bank. Capt. Pipe, Jr , a son of the Capt. Pipe who burned Col. Crawford at the stake, was with them, and their village was called Pipetown, Capt. Pipe's village. Among those named in the original grant at

HISTORY OF WYANDOT COUNTY. - 291

treaty of the Maumee Rapids (several of whom survived until after their removal beyond the Mississippi) were Capt. Pipe, Zeshauau or James Armstrong, Mahautoo or John Armstrong, Sanondoyeasquaw or Silas Armstrong, Rlack Raccoon, Billy Montour, Buckwheat, William Doudee, Thomas Lyons, Johnnycake, Capt. Wolf, Isaac Hill, John Hill, Tishatahooms or Widow Armstrong, Ayenucere,, Hoomaurou or John Ming and Youdorast.

The Delawares were ever a savage, superstitious, treacherous race, and the whites of the pioneer days never placed much dependence upon their promises. Buckwheat, one of the Indians mentioned above was part negro. About the year 1827 he was accused of witchcraft, and after haying been tried and found guilty was sentenced to die by being burned alive. Maj. Anthony Bowsher, the founder of Bowsherville, and one of the very few surviving pioneers of the county, witnessed the burning. From his account, it appears that Buckwheat was first made so drunk with whisky that he was unable to stand, then he was bound and placed upon a blazing fire of brush, wood, etc., and to insure his remaining there, a heavy and long piece of green timber was placed upon his body, and that kept in place by Indians sitting upon both ends of it. Around the victim circled and danced all the Indians there assembled. All were maddened with whisky passed around by an old squaw, and the shouts and songs rendered were most terrifying. The hideous orgies continued for two days and nights. Even Bowsher was made to move around the burning, remains of Buckwheat with them, but he states that he refused to taste any of the whisky. This affair took place near the bank of the river, opposite the present !own of Little Sandusky.

Thomas Lyons. or "Old Tom Lyons, " as he was termed by the whites, was another conspicuous character among this small band of Delawares. He claimed that Gen. Wayne gave him his name and a coat, likewise that he was more than one hundred and sixty years old. However, as old Tom counted the summer a year. and the winter a year, his alleged great age can easily be accounted for. He it was who interpreted for the colored man Stewart at Pipetown, in 1816, when the latter was traveling toward Upper Sandusky. He had lived with the Delawares in Pennsylvania before these Indians were forced to remove to Ohio. He had been a strong, powerful man, and made many enemies among the whites, by reason of his fondness in boasting of his deeds of prowess, and in relating many incidents of the wars through which he had passed. He seemed to take great delight in assorting that he had killed and scalped ninety-nine whites, including men, women and children, and only desired to make the number an even one hundred before being called to the happy hunting grounds. Various accounts have been published concerning the time and place of his death. One statement is that Samuel Spurgeon, who, in common with many other white men of his acquaintance, did not enjoy such boasting, met him alone one day in the woods and offered Lyons an opportunity to make him the hundredth victim, but Lyons failing in his aim, Spurgeon shot him dead and left his body lying in the forest as food for wild animals. Another person claims that old Tom was shot in his wigwam, near Fort Ball, by two white hunters from Delaware County, while others assert that he died a natural death at Pipestown, on the Delaware Reservation. Lyons' wife is reputed to have been one of the finest -looking squaws in the tribe, being, in fact, a queen of beauty among them. He was very proud of her, and kept her dressed in the height of Indian fashion, and did not compel her to per form menial labor, us was the custom among the Indians.

292 - HISTORY OF WYANDOT COUNTY.

Solomon Johnycake, the husband of Sally Williams, was well known to the early settlers of the region now known as Wyandot County. He was a well-developed, good natured, friendly hunter, and it was customary for Sally and the children to accompany him on his hunting excursions. He usually constructed a neat bark wigwam to protect his squaw and children from the storms and exposures of the forest, while he ranged the woods in search of game. He sometimes exchanged venison for side-pork with the white settlers, and frequently parties, who had a curiosity to see Sally (who was a quarter-blood) and the children visited his wigwam. Sally was regarded as a very neat housekeeper, and preferred, as far as possible to imitate the whites. Her mother, a white woman, by the name of Castleman, was captured in girlhood, upon the Pennsylvania frontier. Johnycake went West with his people. Three of his sons served in a Kansas Indian company of the Union army during the war of the rebellion.

Capt. Billy Doudee, or Dowdee, was, in point of notoriety, nearly equal to Old Tom Lyons. Nickels, his son-in-law, was a very bad Indian, and Dowdee's son Tom was not much better. Capt. Beckley, in his reminiscences of pioneer life, relates the following incidents, as told by Benjamin Sharrock, a former citizen of Marion County:

"About the year 1821 or 1822, there were several Indians who frequently camped and hunted on the waters of the West and Middle Forks of the Whetstone, to wit, Capt. Dowdee, his son Tom, and Capt. Dowdee's son-in-law, Nickels (the bad Indian), the subject of this narrative. He was regarded as a dangerous man among his own companions. He had become embittered against Benjamin Sharrock, his brother, Everard Sharrock, and Jacob Stateler, who, with his three sons, Andrew, James and John (the two latter were twin brothers), lived in a cabin on or near the land now owned by George Diegle, Esq., in Tully Township. The Dowdees had frequently shared the hospitalities of our cabin and we regarded them as peaceable and well-disposed citizens.

"Mr. Sharrock, in relating his difficulty with this bad Indian, says : "This Indian, Nickels, bad been skulking around and watching my house, trying to get a chance to shoot me. I have seen him dodge from tree to tree when trying to get a shot at me. He also made threats of killing my stock. About this time, be and the two Dowdees were encamped on the boundary north of where Iberia now is. Mr. Catrell, my brother and myself held a consultation, whereupon we resolved that this state of things should no longer be tolerated, and the next morning was the time agreed upon to bring this matter to the test. They were to be at my house fully armed for any emergency. They were promptly on time, and as Catrell had no gun, he took my tomahawk, sheath knife, etc.

"In this plight, we went directly to their camp, called Tom Dowdee out and ordered him to take those coon skins out of " them" frames. (They are stretched in frames to dry and keep them in shape.) We next went to the tent of Tom's father, old Capt Dowdee, and told him how Nickels had been watching my house, and that he threatened to kill me and my stock. I told him to call Nickels out, but he would not leave his hilt. We told them we would not endure such treatment any longer, and that we had come to settle it right then and there, and were ready to fight it out. The Dowdees seemed to be peaceably inclined, and as Nickels did not show himself, the matter was dropped for a short time. Some time after this, as I was returning from Wooster, where I had been to enter a piece of land, I saw quite a number of moccasin tracks in the snow near Hosford's.

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I thought there would be trouble, as it appeared from the tracks that there were about thirty persons, and by the way they had tumbled about, concluded that they were on a big drunk. I followed their tracks from Hosford's down the road leading to our cabin. They had not proceeded far before they left their tracks in the snow somewhat besprinkled with blood. I afterward learned that Tom Dowdee had stabbed another Indian, inflicting two dangerous wounds. They were camped north of my house on the land now owned by James Dunlap. The excitement among the settlers now became intense, and soon a number of us repaired to their camp, but we had not been there long before Tom Dowdee rushed upon me and grasped me by the collar, perhaps intending to retaliate for the visit we had made to their camp a few days before. I was not slow in returning the compliment by taking him by the throat, and my arms being the longest I could easily hold him at bay. At this moment we saw an Indian boy loading a gun. I told Dowdee several times to let me alone, but be still persisted in fighting me. I then attempted to give him a severe thrust with my gun barrel; he sprang and grasped the gun which the boy had just loaded, when several of the squaws also grasped it to prevent him from shooting me. All this time I kept my rifle up with a steady aim upon the Indian, ready to fire before be should be able to fire at me. At this crisis Joel Loverick interfered and the Indians allowed him to take possession of the gun, so the quarrel was then settled without bloodshed. But what grieves me to this day is that Bashford and Loverick both knew that my rifle was not primed all the time I was aiming it at the Indian, and they did not tell me. The next day I was out in the woods with my gun, and came upon Dowdee before he discovered me. He had no gun with him, and he bogged and implored me not to kill him, promising over and over that if I would not he would never molest me, but would be my fast friend as long as he lived. I gladly agreed to his proposal, and to his credit be it said I never saw him after that time but that he met me with the kindest greetings.'

" About the same time some of the Indians told Stateler, 'Nickels. bad Indian, by and by he go to Stony Creek, before he go he say he kill Stateler and two Sharrocks, and we 'fraid that big fight. We want white man to kill Nickels, then Indians say Nickels gone to Stony Creek.'

" We never saw Nickels after about that time, bat did not know at what moment he would come down upon us. I often asked the Indians whether they knew where Nickels was, and they usually replied that he had gone to Stony Creek. We had often seen a gun in the settlement, first owned by one, then by another, that I believed was Nickels' gun. Jake Stateler often stayed with us several weeks at a time, and many times when we spoke about those Indians, Jake would say, 'Nickels will never do you any harm,' but made no further disclosures until a long while after; when the subject again came up, he said:

" 'Ben, Nickels will never hurt you nor your brother.

" 'How do you know, Uncle Jake?'

"'I know very well how I know, Uncle Ben.'

"'Did you never know what became of Nickels?,

"'No, Jake, I never know what became of him any more than what the Indians told me, that he had gone to Stony Creek.'

"' I thought my boys had told you long ago, as they always thought so much of you. I will then tell you how I know what became of Nickel After he was about ready to start for Stony Creek, he had only one more job to do before he could leave Pipetown. and that was to kill Stateler and you

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and your brother, if possible. No sooner had Nickels left Pipetown than the Indians sent another Indian by a different route to give us notice of his coming and of his intentions, desiring us to kill him and they would say he had gone to Stony Creek. The messenger arrived in time and departed. I loaded my rifle, put it in good order and went up to Coss' cabin to watch the Pipetown trail, on which I expected him to come. I did not wait long before I saw him coming, and stepping behind a tree, closely watched his movements. After he had come within easy range of my rifle, he stopped and commenced looking all around, which enabled me to take a steady aim at him; I fired, he sprang several feet from the ground with a terrific scream and fell dead, and that was the last of "Bad Indian." We took his gun, shot-pouch, tomahawk, butcherknife, etc., and laid them by a log, and buried him under the roots of a large tree that had been blown down near the foot of the bluff bank of the Whetstone, nearly opposite the old Coss cabin. Now, Uncle Ben, that is the reason why I know Nickels will never do you, or me, or your brother any harm."'

Capt. Pipe, Jr., son of old Capt. Pipe, who burned Col. Crawford, was a small, rather spare man, and taciturn in his disposition. He never married. He went West with his tribe and died on their reservation about 1840. Among his own people he had the reputation of being a great "medicine man." At an early day, Reuben Drake, who lived in Grand Prairie Township, Marion County, had two children bitten by a rattlesnake, one of whom died. Having heard of Capt. Pipe's reputation, he sent for him to come and cure the other child. Pipe is said to have been somewhat under the influence of whisky at the time, and refused at first to go; but being strongly urged, finally visited the cabin of Mr. Drake. Upon his arrival he looked at the child, which was in great pain, exclaiming, great pain, very sick." He then stated he could do nothing for half an hoar, and laid down by the cradle and snored soundly for some time, then arose and called for milk, which was furnished, when he pounded some roots, which he had brought with him, poured the milk over them, gave the child a portion to drink, applied more of the same in the nature of a poultice to the place bitten, rocked the child some time in its cradle, when it fell into a slumber and soon began to perspire freely. Upon seeing this effect of his remedy, the Captain said, "It get well;" and true enough the child recovered rapidly.

The Delawares as well as the Wyandots, when journeying from their reservations in search of game , almost invariably stopped at all the houses of the white settlers, and when they came to a white man's cabin, expected to receive the hospitality of its inmates; if they did not, they were much offended. They would say, " very bad man. very bad man." They would never accept a bed to sleep upon; all that was necessary was to have a good back-log on, and a few extra pieces of wood near by, especially in cold weather, for them to put on the fire when needed. They usually carried their blankets, and would spread them upon the floor before the fire, and give no further trouble. Often they would leave those who had sheltered them a saddle of venison or some other commodity which they had to spare. Says an early pioneer: " We have seen as many as twenty or thirty in a caravan pass by here, with their hunting material and equipments packed on their ponies, all in single file, on their old Sandusky and Pipetown trail. If we would meet half a dozen or more of them together, it was seldom that we could induce more than one of them to say one word in English. One of them would do all the talking or interpret for the others. Why they did so I could not say. Tommy Vanhorn once related an amusing incident.

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He had been imbibing a little, and on his way home met one of those Indians who could not utter one word of English, but used the pantomimic language instead-that of gestures or motions. But it so happened that while they were thus conveying their thoughts to each other, Tommy stepped around to windward of the red man or the red man got to leeward of Tommy, and his olfactories not being at fault, inhaled the odor of Tommy's breath. He straightened up, looked Tommy square in the face, and lo! Mr. Indian's colloquial powers were now complete, saying in as good English as Lord Mansfield ever could have uttered: 'Where you get whisky?' "

In the fall of 1830, a young brave of one of the Wyandot tribes killed another of the same nation. The murderer was arrested, tried, found guilty and shot. However, this affair is best told by the chief, Mononcue, in a letter addressed to Mr. Finley, as follows:

UPPER SANDUSKY, October 29, 1830.

DEAR SIR:

One of our young men was killed by another about two or three weeks ago. The murdered was John Barnet's half-brother, the murderer, Soo-de-nooks, or Black Chief's, son. The sentence of the chiefs was the perpetual banishment of the murderer and the confiscation of all his property. When the sentence was made known to the nation, there was a general dissatisfaction; and the sentence of the chiefs was set aside by the nation. 01, Thursday morning, about daylight, he was arrested and brought before the nation assembled, and his case was tried by all the men (that vote) over the age of twenty-one, whether he should live or die. The votes were counted, and there were 112 in favor of his death, and twelve in favor of his living. Sentence of death was accordingly passed against him, and on the second Friday he was shot by six men chosen for that purpose-three from the Christian party and three from the heathen party. The executioners were Francis Cotter, Lump-on-the-head, Silas Armstrong, Joe Enos, Soo-cuh-guess, and Saw-yau-wa-hoy. The execution was conducted in Indian military style; and we hope it will be a great warning to others, and be the means of preventing such crimes hereafter.

I remain, yours affectionately,

MONONCUE.

REV. J. B. FINLEY.

After the departure of their old neighbors-the Delawares-for the West, the Wyandots were the only considerable body of Indians remaining in the State of Ohio. Meanwhile the white settlers had encircled their reservations at Upper Sandusky and the Big Spring with towns and cultivated lands, and each year were asking Congress to purchase these reservations, and thus open the way for their occupation by the whites. Hence, in acting upon these unceasing urgent petitions, agents of the General Government had endeavored to open negotiations with the Wyandots for the purchase of their lands as early as 1825. But they firmly resisted all blandishments and pleadings to that end for nearly twenty years thereafter. However, it seems that such a condition of affairs could not always exist; they had sadly degenerated from the prosperous state in which they were left by Mr. Finley in 1827. A majority of them bad gone back to their old habits of intemperance and heathenism, and at last, when poor in purse and character, they were induced to give up their narrow possessions here in lieu of a great sum of money, and thousands of broad acres lying west of Missouri. Col. John Johnston, of Piqua, Ohio, conducted the negotiations on the part of the United States, and concluded the purchase at Upper Sandusky on the 17th day of March, 1842. In speaking of this transaction and the proceedings which led to it, Col. Johnston has said:

" About 1800, this tribe contained about 2,200 souls; and in March, 1842, when, as Commissioner of the United States, I concluded with them a treaty of cession and emigration, they had become reduced to less than 800 of all ages and both sexes. Before the Revolutionary war, a large portion of the Wyandots had embraced Christianity in the communion of the Roman Catholic Church. In the early part of my agency, Presbyterians had a mission

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among them at Lower Sandusky, under the carp of the Rev. Joseph Badger. The war of 1812 broke up this benevolent enterprise. When peace was restored, the Methodists became the spiritual instructors of these Indians, and continued in charge of them until their final removal westward of Missouri. The mission had once been in a very prosperous condition, but of late years had greatly declined, many of the Indians having gone back to habits of intemperance and heathenism; a few continued steadfast to their Christian profession. Of this number was Grey Eyes, a regularly ordained minister, of pure Wyandot blood, a holy, devoted, and exemplary Christian. This man was resolutely opposed to the emigration of his people, and was against me at every stop of a long and protracted negotiation of twelve months' continuance. I finally overcame all objections; on the last vote, more than two thirds of the whole male population were found in favor of removal. The preacher bad always asserted that under no circumstances would he ever go westward. His age was about forty-eight years; his character forbade any approaches to tampering with him; and although I felt very sensibly his influence, yet I never addressed myself to him personally on the subject of the treaty. But as soon as the whole nation, in open council, had voted to leave their country and seek a new home far in the West, I sent an invitation to the preacher to come and dine with me and spend an evening in consultation; he came accordingly." As a result of this interview, it appears that Grey Eyes changed his purpose, for he removed West with his people.

By the terms of this treaty, it was stipulated that the chiefs should remove their people without other expense to the United States than $10,000, one-half payable when the first detachment should start; the remainder, when the whole nation should arrive at its place of destination. Further, that the Wyandots should receive for the lands ceded another tract of land west of the Mississippi. It contained 148, 000 acres; a permanent cash annuity of $17,500; a permanent fund of $500 per annum, for educational purposes, and an appropriation of $23,860 to pay the debts of the tribe. They were also to be paid the full value of their improvements in the country ceded, and to be provided in their now home with two blacksmiths and a black. smith shop with necessary steel, iron and tools, and with an agent and an interpreter. However, instead of the 148,000 acres promised, the Wyandots received by purchase from the Delaware Indians 24,960 acres, and by a subsequent treaty (which will be referred to in a succeeding paragraph) received in lieu of the balance of the 148,000 acres, $380,000, in three annual payments.

In the spring and summer of 1843, in accordance with the stipulations of the treaty concluded the previous year, the Wyandots under the lead of Jacques*, their head chief, completed their arrangements for the removal to the new reserve in the thou wild West. The parting scones at Upper Sandusky were most affecting. Consultations were hold in the council house, and religious worship in the church, almost constantly for days before the final departure. Meanwhile, the remains of the chief, Summundewat, who was murdered by two white men in Wood County, Ohio, in the fall of 1841, also those of the colored preacher, John Stewart, were brought hither and deposited in the burial ground attached to their church. The last resting places of other loved ones were likewise tenderly cared for, and

*After the death of Deunquot, some difficulty occurred In making choice of his successor, and as a result of it the Wyandots changed their form of government and mode of choosing their governors. Instead of being obliged to take their head chief out of the royal tribe, they then agreed to have the head chief and eight counselors chosen by election, on New Year's Day of each year. The first head chief elected according to the new plan was Warpole.

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marked with stone or marble tablets. Just before their strange and motley procession unwound its length on the highway leading southerly, Squire Grey-Eyes bade an affectionate farewell to the large number of whites present. He exhorted them to be good Christians, and to meet him in heaven. In a most sublime and pathetic manner he discoursed upon all the familiar objects of a home-no longer theirs. He bade adieu to the Sandusky, on whose waters they had paddled the light bark canoe, and in whose pools they had fished, laved and sported. He saluted in his farewell the forests and the plains of Sandusky, where he and his ancestors had hunted, roved and dwelt for many generations. He bade farewell to their habitations, where they had dwelt for many years, and where they would still wish to dwell. With mournful strains and plaintiff voice he bade farewell to the graves of his ancestors, which now they, were about to leave forever, probably to be encroached upon, ere the lapse of many years, by the avaricious tillage of some irreverent white man. Here, as a savage, untutored Indian, it is probable Grey-Eyes would have stopped, but as a Christian he closed his valedictory by alluding to an object yet dearer to him; it was the church where they had worshiped, the temple of God, constructed by the good white men for their use, and within whose walls they had so often bowed down in reverence under the ministrations of Finley and his co-laborers.

At last, all being in readiness, all the sad duties having been performed, the train, consisting of horses and wagons hired from settlers living in the vicinity, Indian chiefs upon horseback, and many men and women on foot, began wending its slow way toward Cincinnati, where boats were waiting to take its members to the mouth of the Kansas River. This movement beg ' the last, days of July. and was participated in by nearly 700 of the Wyandot nation, Many ludicrous occurrences took place en route, but we have not space, in a topic already largely drawn out. to recount them. The end of the first day's journey found the Wyandots at Grass Point, in Hardin County; the second, at Bellefontaine; the third, at Urbana; the fourth, at Springfield; the fifth, at Clifton; the sixth, within four miles of Cincinnati, and the seventh at the wharf of the latter city. The remainder of the distance to the new reservation, as before stated, was accomplished by steamboats via the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. The Wyandots left Cincinnati on the eighth day after leaving Upper Sandusky. Among their leading men at that time were Jacques, Bearskin, Blue Jacket, Big Tree, Black Sheep, Big River, Bull Head, Big Town, Curly Head, Caryhoe, Chop-the-logs, Lump-on-the-head, Peacock, Porcupine, Providence, Split. the-log, Stand- in- the-water, White Wing, Mudeater, Warpole, Squire Grey-eyes, William Walker, a quarter-blood, who died in 1874, John Hicks and Washington.

While the main body of the Wyandots was moving toward Cincinnati, Jacques, the head chief, accompanied by a few other leading men of the nation, visited Gov. Shannon at the State capital, when very feeling and interesting parting addresses were delivered by the chief and the Governor. Jacques' address, as printed in the Ohio State Journal of that date, was as follows:

" We have several objects in view in visiting you, the Governor of the State. First, it was due him, as the chief magistrate of this great State; and, secondly, it was due to the people of Ohio, to whom, through their Governor, we speak, and bid them an affectionate farewell.

"We came bore, also, to ask for the extension of executive clemency to

300 - HISTORY OF WYANDOT COUNTY.

an unfortunate brother of our nation, and we thank you for granting our prayer in their behalf.

" We part with the people of Ohio with feelings the more kind, because there has not been any hostility between your people and ours ever since the treaty of Gen. Wayne, at Greenville. Almost fifty years of profound peace between us have passed away, and have endeared your people to ours; whatever may be our future fate beyond the Mississippi-whither we are bound--we shall always entertain none but feelings the most kind and grateful toward the people of Ohio. Before Wayne's treaty there had been one long war between our fathers and your ancestors. At that treaty our people promised peace, and they have kept that promise faithfully; we will forever keep that promise as long as the sun shines and the rivers run.

" When we arrive at the place of our destination, surrounded, as we shall be, by red men less acquainted with them than we are with white men, we shall always take great pleasure in telling the Indians of that western region how kind, how peaceful, how true, faithful and honest your people have been to our people. If, at any future day, any of oar people should visit this State, we hope that your people will see that they do not suffer for food or any of the necessaries of life; that, when thirsty, you will give him drink; when hungry, you will give him food; or naked, you will give him clothes; or sick, you will heal him. And we, on our part, promise the same kindnesses to any of your people should they visit as in our far western future home. Our original intention was to have passed through Columbus as a nation on our departing journey from Ohio to the West; but for the purpose of shortening our route on so long a journey, the principal part of our people have passed through Urbana. But although, for the reason stated, our people have passed through Ohio by the shortest route, yet they could not forego the pleasure of sending you their chiefs and addressing you, and through you the people of Ohio, in the language of truth, friendship and sincerity.

"Our fathers have ranged this valley with your fathers in peace and friendship, and we wished your people to know that we have the same kind feelings that existed in times past, and we wish you to know that we wish to perpetuate and keep alive the same brotherly feelings. In other States and Territories the Indians have lived, surrounded by white men, with whom they had occasional outbreaks, wan and difficulties; but between us and your people the chain of peace and friendship has always continued to be bright, smooth, and free from rusty or bloody spots. You are the representative of your people; therefore be so good as to tell your people what we say on this final parting occasion, and say to them to believe us to be always hereafter-what we always have been-the friends of the people of Ohio,"

From the report of the United States Commissioner of Indian affairs for the year 1843, we learn that the number of Wyandots who removed to their now reservation in July and August of that year, was 664 and that 50 still remained in Ohio who were expected to emigrate the next spring. The following year (1844), the sub-agent reported only 585 Wyandots on the now reserve. During the year 1855, another treaty was concluded with that nation, wherein it was stipulated that in lieu of the 148,000 acres (less the 24,960 acres purchased for the Wyandots from the Delawares in 1942), granted by the treaty of Upper Sandusky, the Wyandots were to receive $380,000, in three annual payments. By this treaty, also, all provisions of former treaties guaranteeing permanent annuities, etc., were annulled. The Wyan-

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dots who remained in tribal relations and were located in the Indian Territory on the 1^st day of January, 1879, numbered 260.

We conclude this chapter, likewise our account of the Indians, by adding the following poem, which, whatever its merits or demerits of demerits as a literary production, has been widely copied, frequently in works, where its mention of localities obtained for it no special significance. It was written, we believe, by a resident of Wyandot County, and was first published in The Democratic Pioneer, of Upper Sandusky, under the date of October 24, 1845.

THE WYANDOT'S FAREWELL SONG.

"Adieu to the graves where my fathers now rest!

For I must be going afar to the West.

I've sold my possessions; my heart's filled with woe

To think I must lose them. Alas! I must go.

"Farewell, ye tall oaks, in whose pleasant green shade

In childhood I rambled, in innocence played!

My dog and my hatchet, my arrows and bow,

Are still in remembrance. Alas! I must go.

"Adieu, ye loved scenes, which bind me like chains!

Where on my gay pony, I chased o'ver the plains

The deer and the turkey I tracked in the snow,

But now I must leave them. Alas! I must go.

"Adieu to the trails, which for many a year

I have traveled to spy out the turkey and deer!

The hills, trees and flowers, that pleased me so,

I must leave now forever. Alas! I must go.

"Sandusky, Tymochtee and Broken Sword streams,

Never more shall I see you except in my dreams.

Adieu to the marshes, where the cranberries grow;

O'er the great Mississippi, alas! I must go.

"Adieu to the road, which for many a year,

I travel'd each Sabbath, the Gospel to hear;

The news was so joyful, and pleased me so,

From hence where I heard it, it grieves me to go.

"Farewell, my white friends, who first taught me to pray,

And worship my Maker and Savior each day.

Pray for the poor native, whose eyes overflow

With tears at our parting. Alas! I must go."