Thursday, April 30, 2015
The Drum Defiance Crescent News 10-7-1931 UGF
The big Vallandigham meeting in Defiance on 15 Aug. 1863, when Farmer and Washington Twp. delegates rode down on a big hay wagon decorated with hickory boughs, and a large U.S, flag bravely flying.
There was a "Buckskin Band" at Ney and some of the instrument were community owned, at least the bass drum was. A big man Grif Hatfield a red-hot Republican swore that drum should not be carried to "no dam copper head meeting " John Campbell a wiry little scotchman, he said the drum should go, and it was agreed that if he licked Hatfield the drum should go, and other wise not. They sailed into each other and soon John had Grif on his back thumping him vigorously with both fists.
Soon Grif squealed "enough".John was little hard of hearing and kept pounding Grif's mug, and a grinning by-stander leaned over and said loudly to John "Grif says he had enough" John said "oh all right, I did not here him", and got up and so the drum went to the big Vallandigham meeting. John's 12 year old son John played the drum.
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Recollection Of Pioneer Life in The in Maumee Valley By Mrs. Ruth (Shirley) Austin Part 3
Very few white people lived in that vicinity at the time of our arrival. Four French families were living in log cabins on the banks of the Maumee, above the point, and three American families on the Augliaze, one mile above the fort-two of these by name of Driver, one a silversmith, the other a shoe maker. Six miles below Fort Defiance, at Camp Number Three, there lived three American families, namely: Mr. John Perkins, Mr. Montgomery Evans, and Mr. Hively. Two of these families had looms, and wove flax and tow linen. Every farmer's wife took her spinning wheel with her to the new country. There were no sheep in that region then. In 1824, my brother James bought three sheep in Urbana, and drove them out to Defiance. There were two trading houses; one of these was just outside the fort, on the banks of the Maumee, and was kept by a Frenchman; the other was on the other side of the Maumee and was kept by Mr. Rice. The latter was quite a store; with everything for the Indian--blankets, bright cotton shawls, beads, ribbons, cloth (such as was worn by the squaws for strouds), and bright calicoes, used by the squaws for short sacques that came below the waist. The calico was 50 cents per yard. The Indian men wore calico shirts.
The traders made the most profit from selling whiskey to the Indians.
Mr. Burroughs was a blacksmith, and lived near r ice's.
The Ottawa Indians brought most of their trade to Defiance. It consisted of fur pelts of the otter, beaver, raccoon, bear, muskrat, mink, fox,and wild cat, also dressed deer skins; and besides these, beeswax (from the wild honey), ginseng, cranberries, and wide gooseberries.
The squaws made beautiful floor mats out of the large rushes which grew on the islands and at the river's edge. They colored some of the rushes black, other yellow. The mats were from one and a half to yards long and one yard wide.
All the travel, of both white and Indians, passed through the fort, except that which went on the river in pirogues or in bark canoes.
At that time, there was not a white person living between Fort Defiance and Fort Wayne, Ind.
Travelers planned so they could go through with the mail-carrier who carried the mail from Piqua to Fort Meigs (now Maumee City), or went in companies.
There was a great deal of travel from Detroit to Fort Wayne, Green Bay and Chicago.
All this passed through Fort Defiance.
All the travel, of both white and Indians, passed through the fort, except that which went on the river in pirogues or in bark canoes.
At that time, there was not a white person living between Fort Defiance and Fort Wayne, Ind.
Travelers planned so they could go through with the mail-carrier who carried the mail from Piqua to Fort Meigs (now Maumee City), or went in companies.
There was a great deal of travel from Detroit to Fort Wayne, Green Bay and Chicago.
All this passed through Fort Defiance.
The Government paid the Miami Indians their annuities at Fort Wayne. The money, all silver, was carried on pack-horses through Defiance. Four or five gentlemen, with the men who drove the pack-horses, made up the company. They had to camp out in the wilderness, but I never heard of any being molested in any way. Our fears in regard to the hostility were groundless. There were very few depredations committed by the men on the property of the whites, and when they did, it was when drunk on the whisky sold to them by the traders. Sometimes pigs would be found with arrows in their sides. If any white man's property was damaged by Indians, the amount of damage claimed and sworn to was paid by the Indian Agent out of the annuities of the whole tribe to which the offenders belonged.
Monday, April 27, 2015
Recollection of Pioneer Life In The Maumee Valley. By Mrs. Ruth (Shirley) Austin Part 2
The next morning we started early, in the hope of finding fire, but were disappointed; so at noon we stopped and unloaded the wagon until we reached the chest and got the flints, when we soon had a fire made. My eldest sister quickly prepared nourishing food for our dear mother, who was almost overcome by her fast of thirty hours and her care of her nursing babe, ten months old. After we were all refreshed by a good dinner, we started on. When the sun was getting low, we came to a little stream that was difficult to cross. While looking and planning what to do, an Indian on foot came up the bank. Father made understand, by motions of the hands, that he wanted to cross.
The Indian was soon in the brushes, blazing trees as he went; after awhile he came back, saying, "Howshka!" (Come on). Our team followed, as he directed, and made the crossing safely and back to the trail, where we encamped for the night. The Indian lighted our fire. He was invited to eat supper, and after he ate he pointed upward, saying "Heap bish" (rain); then pointing to the calf, "Heap anemoose" (wolves). He then took up a brand of fire, and, making a circuit, set fire to several dry logs to protect us from the wolves, and left for the village.
It rained a little, but the next morning was bright and beautiful.
The stream that we had just crossed was Three Mile Run, so we were only three miles from the end of our journey, and this was the last night of our camping out.
We reached Fort Defiance that forenoon, to our joy and the great delight of brother Robert, who had been there several days. My parents were pleased to find Mr. William Preston, a gentleman of intelligence and of pleasing manners, in possession of the fort. He had been there most of the time since the war.
There were two good log houses in the fort, built for the officers, one Mr. Preston's family occupied; in the other, my father's family found narrow but quite comfortable quarters.
The fort was all standing in good preservation, excepting the barracks on the banks of the Auglaize. The banks here was very steep, and commanded a fine view of the low land on the opposite side of the river. The block-houses, the four large gates with sentinel boxes over them, were good, and the pickets were in good order, and strong enough to be a protection even then. The block-house on the northwest corner of the fort, had a good cellar, that had been used for a magazine during the war. From the cellar an under ground way led to the river, by which the soldiers could get water without being seen by the enemy. In the block-house at the end of the barracks, facing southeast, were two or three iron bound chests, full of written documents of the war, left by the army officers.
We reached Fort Defiance that forenoon, to our joy and the great delight of brother Robert, who had been there several days. My parents were pleased to find Mr. William Preston, a gentleman of intelligence and of pleasing manners, in possession of the fort. He had been there most of the time since the war.
There were two good log houses in the fort, built for the officers, one Mr. Preston's family occupied; in the other, my father's family found narrow but quite comfortable quarters.
The fort was all standing in good preservation, excepting the barracks on the banks of the Auglaize. The banks here was very steep, and commanded a fine view of the low land on the opposite side of the river. The block-houses, the four large gates with sentinel boxes over them, were good, and the pickets were in good order, and strong enough to be a protection even then. The block-house on the northwest corner of the fort, had a good cellar, that had been used for a magazine during the war. From the cellar an under ground way led to the river, by which the soldiers could get water without being seen by the enemy. In the block-house at the end of the barracks, facing southeast, were two or three iron bound chests, full of written documents of the war, left by the army officers.
In the block house was a hand mill, with a buhr mill stones, that ground quite good meal when the corn was ripe and hard. There was also a large grater, which we could grate corn just out of the milk this did not make bread, but mush and griddle cakes. This fort was built for the war of 1812, by Gen. Winchester, but came to be spoken of as Fort Defiance. This fort (Winchester's) stood on the bank of the Auglaize River, about two hundred yards above the point where Wayne's old Fort Defiance stood. Some of the stumps of the pickets, and some of the embankments of Wayne's old fort (Defiance) were still plainly to be seen
Saturday, April 25, 2015
Recollections of pioneer Life In The Maumee Valley. By Mrs Ruth (Shirley) Austin
My father,Robert Shirley Sr., moved with his family from Ross County, near Chillicothe, Ohio, to Fort Defiance in the spring of 1821
Our family numbered nine people,namely,my parents,Robert Shirley,Rachel,Shirley,my brothers James,Elias and Robert,my sisters Mary and
Nancy,myself (Ruth)and my baby brother John Gilbert. My brother Nathan,the eldest of the family,was at this time married and settled in
Ross County. At the of our removal, I was eleven years of age. I have a vivid recollection of the journey,and of the appearance of the
country. We started for Fort Defiance in March,1822 and arrived at our destination in April ,having been three weeks on the way. The first
place we saw Indians was at Wapakonetta. They were Shawnees and a partly civilized. John Johnson was Indian Agent. Through his influence,
Government established a blacksmith shop,and a store to supply the Indians, and appointed Mr. Broadex to superintend the work of teaching
the Indians agricultural and mechanical pursuits. Some of the Indians lived in log cabins, others lived in wigwams. The next place of interest was Fort Amanda. I do not remember seeing any remains of the
fort. A family by the name of Russell entertained travelers. The next was Fort Jennings no fort standing here. One family lived here, and were the last white people we saw until we reached Fort Defiance. We were now truly in the wilderness. On one side the River Auglaize, on the other a vast,
wooded country, with no roads, only an Indian trail along the river. It required a man to go ahead
with an ax in order to cut away trees that had fallen across the trail, and to blaze the trees, and often
to cut through the brush some distance to get a place to ford the streams tributary to the Auglaize .
The weather was unusually fine, so the family did not suffer much inconvenience in camping out.
After we left Fort Jennings, brothers James and Robert took all the cattle and hogs (except one cow
with a calf too young to travel with the herd) forward to Fort Defiance, where brother Robert, a lad
thirteen years of age, remained to take care of them, and brother James returned to the family, meeting us at the mouth of the Little Auglaize, fifteen miles above Fort Defiance. After assisting
us to ford the stream, he left us for Fort Finley, for the purpose of conveying the provisions stored
there, to Fort Defiance, for the subsistence of the family. Brother James made the journey through the unbroken wilderness alone, on foot, provided with his compass,gun,ammunition, flints,and his blanket. Our parents had great fears that James would fall a prey to wild animals or Indians, but he got safely through, and, purchasing a pirogue, took the provisions down Blanchard's Fork to the Auglaize, and from thence on that river to Fort Defiance. These provisions had been raised the previous summer, with the expectation that the future home of the family would be Fort Finley. My father and two other farmers of Ross County, Messre and Moreland and Beaver, when viewing the country, had selected Fort Finley as the place of their settlement, and in the spring of 1821 they each sent out a four horse wagon with plow, seed corn and potatoes, also a stock of provisions and a few hogs. Two men were sent with each wagon, making a patty of six men. My brothers James and Elias took father's team. They cleared and fenced land, and put in corn and potatoes. When the summer's work was done, one man each, with the wagons returned home, leaving a horse apiece for the three men remaining. Brother James remained, and brother Elias returned.
Now, to fatten the hogs, slaughter and pack them down, and store the corn and potatoes for the winter,was the work of those remaining; then they left all in the care of Mr. Cox's family the only white resident there and returned to their homes. The horse left for brother James got away and went home. The alarm at home was very great when the horse came without its rider; all were sure he had been killed until s letter explained.
Having heard much of the Fort Defiance region, brother James went there before coming home, and was so captivated with it that, on his return, he persuaded father to change the location of his future home from Fort Finley to Fort Defiance.
Nothing of interest transpired after brother James left us for Fort Finley, until we came to Okonoksee;s village, on the Auglaize, thirteen miles above Fort Defiance, where Charloe now stands. These Indians were of the Ottawa nation, called by the whites Tawas
They had here a reservation of five miles square. Okonoksee was the chief, and the village was called after him
The Indians were all at home, it being the close of hunting and sugar making seasons. Many came out men, women and children to see us. They were civil, and manifested a curiosity to see the big horse and the big wigwams on wheels, examining the cover, how it was kept on, and often exclaiming "Ugh! big pashekoksee;" meaning big horse. This was a great day with them, being the day for their yearly feast and dance to celebrate the close of the hunting and sugar making seasons. (It was their custom to also celebrate yearly their corn harvest.)
Brother Elias and sister Mary went into the village to see the big bear roasting. The bear was skinned nicely, all except his feet, and rested on his hind-paws on the ground, while the fore-paws were suspended to upright poles. The fire almost surrounded him.
Their corn-fields were on the opposite side of the river, where the farm of Robert Shirley,Jr., is now located.
After we left the village, we hastened on as fast as possible, to get out of the reach of the Indians before they began their drunken dance. At noon we halted for rest and dinner, to our great discomfiture, we found we were without anything to strike fire, James having been given all the flints and powder, excepting what was packed in the large chest at the bottom of the wagon.
Mother had given the little Indian papooses at the village all the bread we had, and we could not have any dinner. We let the horses rest and eat and then pushed on, hoping to come to an Indian camp,or fire left by them, but were disappointed. Night came on, and we prepared to spend it the best we could. The horses were tied and fed; the feed-box was always taken from the rear end of the wagon, and firmly fixed on the tongue of the wagon, and the horses tied on either side of it. The family, without supper and without fires to keep off the wild animals, were arranged as follows; Father and brother Elias lay under the wagon, mother, the three daughters and baby brother slept in the wagon.
The cow, perceiving danger, got her calf close to the wagon, and then lay close to it on the outer side. The w olves howled alarmingly near, frightening the horses so that our young teamster, brother Elias, needed to be up most of the night to keep them from breaking loose.
fort. A family by the name of Russell entertained travelers. The next was Fort Jennings no fort standing here. One family lived here, and were the last white people we saw until we reached Fort Defiance. We were now truly in the wilderness. On one side the River Auglaize, on the other a vast,
wooded country, with no roads, only an Indian trail along the river. It required a man to go ahead
with an ax in order to cut away trees that had fallen across the trail, and to blaze the trees, and often
to cut through the brush some distance to get a place to ford the streams tributary to the Auglaize .
The weather was unusually fine, so the family did not suffer much inconvenience in camping out.
After we left Fort Jennings, brothers James and Robert took all the cattle and hogs (except one cow
with a calf too young to travel with the herd) forward to Fort Defiance, where brother Robert, a lad
thirteen years of age, remained to take care of them, and brother James returned to the family, meeting us at the mouth of the Little Auglaize, fifteen miles above Fort Defiance. After assisting
us to ford the stream, he left us for Fort Finley, for the purpose of conveying the provisions stored
there, to Fort Defiance, for the subsistence of the family. Brother James made the journey through the unbroken wilderness alone, on foot, provided with his compass,gun,ammunition, flints,and his blanket. Our parents had great fears that James would fall a prey to wild animals or Indians, but he got safely through, and, purchasing a pirogue, took the provisions down Blanchard's Fork to the Auglaize, and from thence on that river to Fort Defiance. These provisions had been raised the previous summer, with the expectation that the future home of the family would be Fort Finley. My father and two other farmers of Ross County, Messre and Moreland and Beaver, when viewing the country, had selected Fort Finley as the place of their settlement, and in the spring of 1821 they each sent out a four horse wagon with plow, seed corn and potatoes, also a stock of provisions and a few hogs. Two men were sent with each wagon, making a patty of six men. My brothers James and Elias took father's team. They cleared and fenced land, and put in corn and potatoes. When the summer's work was done, one man each, with the wagons returned home, leaving a horse apiece for the three men remaining. Brother James remained, and brother Elias returned.
Now, to fatten the hogs, slaughter and pack them down, and store the corn and potatoes for the winter,was the work of those remaining; then they left all in the care of Mr. Cox's family the only white resident there and returned to their homes. The horse left for brother James got away and went home. The alarm at home was very great when the horse came without its rider; all were sure he had been killed until s letter explained.
Having heard much of the Fort Defiance region, brother James went there before coming home, and was so captivated with it that, on his return, he persuaded father to change the location of his future home from Fort Finley to Fort Defiance.
Nothing of interest transpired after brother James left us for Fort Finley, until we came to Okonoksee;s village, on the Auglaize, thirteen miles above Fort Defiance, where Charloe now stands. These Indians were of the Ottawa nation, called by the whites Tawas
They had here a reservation of five miles square. Okonoksee was the chief, and the village was called after him
The Indians were all at home, it being the close of hunting and sugar making seasons. Many came out men, women and children to see us. They were civil, and manifested a curiosity to see the big horse and the big wigwams on wheels, examining the cover, how it was kept on, and often exclaiming "Ugh! big pashekoksee;" meaning big horse. This was a great day with them, being the day for their yearly feast and dance to celebrate the close of the hunting and sugar making seasons. (It was their custom to also celebrate yearly their corn harvest.)
Brother Elias and sister Mary went into the village to see the big bear roasting. The bear was skinned nicely, all except his feet, and rested on his hind-paws on the ground, while the fore-paws were suspended to upright poles. The fire almost surrounded him.
Their corn-fields were on the opposite side of the river, where the farm of Robert Shirley,Jr., is now located.
After we left the village, we hastened on as fast as possible, to get out of the reach of the Indians before they began their drunken dance. At noon we halted for rest and dinner, to our great discomfiture, we found we were without anything to strike fire, James having been given all the flints and powder, excepting what was packed in the large chest at the bottom of the wagon.
Mother had given the little Indian papooses at the village all the bread we had, and we could not have any dinner. We let the horses rest and eat and then pushed on, hoping to come to an Indian camp,or fire left by them, but were disappointed. Night came on, and we prepared to spend it the best we could. The horses were tied and fed; the feed-box was always taken from the rear end of the wagon, and firmly fixed on the tongue of the wagon, and the horses tied on either side of it. The family, without supper and without fires to keep off the wild animals, were arranged as follows; Father and brother Elias lay under the wagon, mother, the three daughters and baby brother slept in the wagon.
The cow, perceiving danger, got her calf close to the wagon, and then lay close to it on the outer side. The w olves howled alarmingly near, frightening the horses so that our young teamster, brother Elias, needed to be up most of the night to keep them from breaking loose.
Thursday, April 23, 2015
Free Drinks Rural Rambler 1934
Al Dickey, who seems to have been one of the famous of canal boat captains, always tried to get down to Defiance before the saloons closed. However, he quite often failed to make it and the members of the crew would lift the top hoop on one of Dotterer's 20 gal. whiskey kegs, bore a small hole in the keg beneath where the hoop was, draw off what liquor they desired. Insert a pine plug and drove the hoop back in place.
There were cheap drinks for the crew and although Dotterer accused his distiller of giving him short measure on his whiskey purchases, it wasn't until a boat hand fell out with Dickey and went to Dotterer and told him to lift the top hoop on all the 20 gal. kegs, Dickey's theft was discovered. Reports still has it that several boat loads of goods were hauled free of charge from Toledo before Dickey's liquor bill with Dotterer was cancelled.
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
A Bear Story Weston A Goodspeed page 433
A Bear Story
In the summer of 1835, several different parties came up Bean Creek (Tiffin River) in canoes, and stopped for the night at Rev. Thomas J Prettymans. They had a pleasent chat until late in the evening, then retired for a quiet rest; but no sooner had they done so, than Mr. Prettyman heard his hogs make a fuss. He had twelve or fifteen fine hogs in a pen on the bank of the creek. As he looked out, he saw a large bear jump out of the pen. Mr. Prettyman, who was quite sick and somewhat delirious, ran out in his bare feet, and kicked the bear on the nose. This made the bear growl, which aroused Mr. Prettyman, who ran to the house. By this time, the men who were stopping for the night, got up, took their guns and ran out after the bear, which had entered the pen again, and was just climbing out with a hog in its arms. It let the hog drop and ran. The men shot at it several times, but it disappeared the woods. No doubt their excitement, together with the darkness of the night, enabled the bear to escape.
History of Williams County 1882 page 433
Monday, April 20, 2015
Friday, April 17, 2015
Thursday, April 16, 2015
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
Scalp Level
Scalp Level
Scalp level acsending the hill on the north side of the Maumee River, at Defiance, Ohio,the surface covering several acres is unboken by ravines.Upon this flat,and not far from the base of the hill,two Indian traders James Wyman Wyman and Hugh Mc Kane erected each a cabin for trading houses,the Indians were the main customers.Upon one occasion the they made a party of Indians drunk and then cheated them out of their furs. When the Indians became sober, they found them themselves hungry and destiute. They held a council and determined to whip the traders and take their goods back, The squaws concealed the weapons of the Indians and the fray commenced. The Indians men went into a square, the squaws crawled on the ground to catch and hold the traders feet. McKane was active and by kicking, striking and shifting position, kept the Indians at bay, and the squaws could not get hold of McKane's feet. Wyman was strong and heavy and maintained his position until the squaws fastened his feet and he fell. The Indians were now on the winning side but the fight was heard on the Defiance side of the river and James and Robert Shirley and another man hastened to the river and arrived just in time to relieve Wyman and McKane .The Indians retired with some bruises, added to their hunger and distitution, to begin anew in the forest. For many years this flat was known as "Scalp Level" Thomas Warren eye witness 1 June 1872
Monday, April 13, 2015
Saturday, April 11, 2015
Friday, April 10, 2015
Thursday, April 9, 2015
Wednesday, April 8, 2015
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Monday, April 6, 2015
Thursday, April 2, 2015
Dave's History Corner: Aqueduct near Blue Creek photograph :: Ohio Histor...
Dave's History Corner: Aqueduct near Blue Creek photograph :: Ohio Histor...: Aqueduct near Blue Creek photograph :: Ohio History Connection Selections
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
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