OHIO STATEWIDE FILES OH-FOOTSTEPS Mailing List *********************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. *********************************************************************** OH-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest Volume 99 : Issue 560 Today's Topics: #1 Chapter 2 - Abbot's History of Ohi ["Maggie Stewart" To: OH-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <008801bed9f0$1c8c7ca0$cd4f5f18@columbus.rr.com> Subject: Chapter 2 - Abbot's History of Ohio Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Kay L. Mason kkmason@shianet.org transcriber *************************************************************************** Continued from Chapter 1 fires curled up through the forest, while the flash from the paddle of the red man's canoe glanced over the waves, and occasionally the sails of the white man's ship were seen ascending the majestic stream. George, from earlies childhood, developed a noble character. He was a handsome boy, of commanding figure and great strength. His frankness, fearlessness, moral courage and sense of justice, attracted the attention and admiration of his companions. The story of his trying the keen edge of his hatchet upon the cherry tree is known to every child. It alike illustrates the character of the father and the son. When George was but twelve years of age his father died. The grief- stricken widow was left with six fatherless children. But Mary Wash- ington was equal to the task. The confidence which Augustine reposed in his wife is shown by the fact, that he left the entire income of his property to her until the children should become of age. Nobly she discharged her task. A nation's home now gathers around the memory of Mary, the mother of Washington. George never ceased to revere his mother. She was to him as a guardian angel. She formed his character. To the principles of probity and religion which she instilled into his mind, he ever attributed his success in life. In the final division of the estate, the eldest son, Lawrence, the child of Jane Butler, inherited Mount Vernon, in- cluding twenty-five acres of land. George received, as his share, the paternal mansion, with its broad and fertile acres, which was situated several miles farther down the river. Lady Washington, before her marriage, was deemed one of the most beautiful girls in Virginia. Through life's severe discipline she had developed a remarkably sincere, well-balanced and lovely character. The influence which she thus acquired over her noble son continued unabated until the hour of her death. The first families in Virginia took much pride in splendid horses. Lady Washington had a span of iron grays remarkable for their spirit and beauty. One of these colts, though accustomed to the carriage, had never been broken to the saddle. It was said that no one could mount him. George, then a lad of thir- teen, approached the colt, soothed him with caressed, and watching his opportunity leaped upon his back. The spirited animal, half terr- ified, half indignant, after a few desparate but vain attempts to throw his rider, dashed over the fields with the speed of the wind. The inconsiderate boy, fearless and ardent, gave him the rein, and when the breathless steed began to flag urged him on, unaware of the injury he was doing, until the nervous, high-blooded animal burst a blood vessel and dropped dead beneath him. George, greatly agitated, hastened to his mother and informed her of what he had done. Her characteristic reply was- "My son, I forgive you because you have had the courage to tell me the truth at once. Had you skulked away I should have despised you." In a common school George was a diligent scholar, though he did not develope any brilliance of genius. He had simply a good, well- balanced mind. There is now extant a manuscript book, in which he carefully copied out promissary notes, bills of sale, land warrants, leases, wills and other such business papers, that he might be ready, at any time, to draw up such documents. Another manuscript book he had collated with great care, entitles "Rules for Behavior in Company." Thus was this boy of thirteen preparing for the future by the care- ful culture of his mind, his manners and his heart. He could hardly have made better preparations for the illustrious career before him had some good angel informed him of the responsibilities he was to brave and the renown he was to attain. At sixteen years of age, George, then a man in maturity of charac- ter, left school. He was fond of mathematical studies and excelled in them. His tastes led him to enter upon the profession of a civil en- gineer. In a new country, increasing rapidly in population, there was great demand for such services, there were but few men capable of performing them, and consequently the employment was highly renumerative. George Washington was even then an accomplished man. Whatever he undertook he did well. His handwriting was plain as print. Every document which came from his pen was perfect in spelling, punctuation and capitals. These excellent habits, thus early formed, he retained through life. Upon leaving school he visited his brother at Mount Vernon. It was then, as now, a lovely spot, commanding an enchanting view. Mr. William Fairfax, an English gentleman of education and refinement, resided about eight miles from Mount Vernon. Lawrence had married one of his daughters. Lord Fairfax, a brother of William, had purchased an immense estate in Virginia, extending over unexplored regions of mountains, rivers, and valleys. Lord Fairfax met George Washington at his brother William's. He was charmed with his intell- ignece, energy and manliness - a boy in years, a man in maturity of character. He engaged this lad, then but one month over sixteen years of age, to survey these pathless wilds, ranged then by ferocious beasts and savage men. It may be doubted whether a boy of his age ever before undertook a task so arduous. It was thus that George Washington entered upon the stern duties of his eventful life. It was the month of March, 1748, when young Washington commenced the survey for Lord Fairfax. The cold blasts of winter were still sweeping the ridges of the mountains which were crested with ice and snow. The mountain streams were swollen by the spring rains into foam- ing torrents. The Indians, however, inhabiting the regions he was to traverse, were generally supposed to be friendly. There were also to be found, scattered here and there through the wilderness, the huts of rude and fearless frontiersmen. Through almost pathless solitudes, this heroic boy undertook to thread his way. It was a journey full of toil, romance and peril. There were no paths through the wilderness but the narrow trail of the savage. He floated down the silent rivers in the frail birch canoe. There were towering mountains to be climbed, and morasses to be pen etrated, which had never been traversed by the foot of a white man. Generally, at night, he slept in the open air, or in such a rude shelter as he could in a few moments construct. Sometimes he would find a resting place in the log cabin of a settler, and again an Indian would give him hospitable welcome to the fire in his wigwam. This must have been a strange experience for this quiet, thoughtful boy, who had been so tenderly nurtured in his Christian home. We can but faintly imaging his feelings, as at midnight, wrapped in his cloak, with his feet to the fire, in the wigwam, with slumbering sav- ages all around him, men, women and children, he listened to the storm as it breathed its requiem through the surging forest, blending with the cry of wild beasts. The following extract from his journal under the date of the 15th of March, 1748, gives us a little insight into some of his experiences. It is describing a night in a settler's log hut. "Worked hard till night and then returned. After supper we were lighted into a room. I, not being so good a woodman as the rest, stripped myself very orderly and went into bed, as they call it, when, to my surprise, I found it to be nothing but a little straw matted together, without sheet of anything else but one thread-bare blanket, with double its weight of vermin. I was glad to get up and put on my clothes, and lie as my companions did. Had we not been very tired, I am sure we should not have slept much that night. I made a promise to sleep in the open air before a fire." Again he wrote, on the 2d of April: "A blowing, rainy night. Our straw upon which we were lying took fire. But I was luckily preserved by one of our men awaking when it was in a flame. We have run off four lots this day." Again he wrote in terms characteristic of this noble man; "The receipt of your kind letter of the 2d instant, offered me unspeakable pleasure. It convinces me that I am still in the memory of so worthy a friend - a friendship I shall ever be proud of increasing. "Yours gave me the more pleasure as I received it among barbarians and an uncouth set of people. Since you received my letter of October last, I have not slept above three of four nights in a bed. But after walking a good deal all of day, I have lain down before the fire, on a little hay, straw, fodder or bear skin, whichever was to be had, with man, wife and children, like dogs and cats, and happy is he who gets the berth nearest the fire. I have never had my clothes off, but have lain and slept on them, except the few nights I have been in Freder- icksburg." Washington gained so much reputation on this tour that he was em- ployed by the State of Virginia as state surveyor. For three years he was employed in these arduous and responsible duties. We can hardly conceive of anything more attractive than such a life to a young man in all the vigor of youth and health, and with a soul capable of appreciating the beauties and sublimities of nature and the romance of wild adventure. The Indian paddled him in his fairy-like canoe, along the river or over the lake. Now he stood in the bright morning sunlight upon the brow of the mountain, gazing over an interminable expanse of majestic forests, where lakes slept, and streams glided, and valleys opened in Eden-like beauty. Lord Fairfax, who had become the warm friend of George Washington, had reared for himself quite an imposing mansion of stone, in a lovely valley of the Alleghenies, beyond the Blue Ridge. He was living there in baronial splendor, and in his spacious saloons George Washington was ever a welcome guest. The tide of emigration was slowly working its way over the moun- tains, into the vast valleys beyond, which had then no recognized boundaries or limits. Though the French in Canada were far more favorably situated to enter this region, through their lakes and rivers, than were the English on the Atlantic coast, in population, exceeded the French eight or ten to one. Unprinciples desparadoes, from the English frontiers, armed with the deadly rifle, were continually exciting the vengence of the peacefully-inclined Indians, by the most atrocious crimes. The war whoop echoed through the forest. At midnight merciless savages, with hideous yells, assailed the lonely hut of the settler. Speedily his whole household fell beneath the tomahawk, and around the burning dwelling the maddened Indians indulged in their horrid orgies. No pen can describe the horrors which then ensued. Tragedies were en- acted, in the solitudes of the wilderness, which the revelations of the judgement-day can alone bring to light. The whole military force of Virginia was called into requisition to protect the frontier. The ignorant savages could make no discrimination between the innocent and the guilty. The state was divided into districts, over which a mili- tary commander was appointed with the title of major. George Washington was one of the majors. With tireless energies he devoted himself to the study of military are, with especial reference to the peculiar warfare essential in a conflict with savages in the depthe of the wilderness. He saw clearly that the tactics of European armies would be of little avail under these novel circumstances. The State of Virginia was then, as now, bounded, according to the claim of the English, for a distance of several hundred miles by the waters of the Ohio River. When Washington, a young man not yet twenty-one years of age, vol- unteered his services to convey the remonstrance of the governors against the French, it was universally regarded as an act of great heroism. The sobriety and dignity of his character were such that no one could ever accuse hime of boyish foolhardiness. He knew perfectly wekk what he had undertaken, of he had already experienced and tri- umphed over the perils and hardships of the wilderness. Lord Dinwiddie, the Governor of Virginia, a sturdy old Scotchman, as he accepted the proffered aid of this heroic young man, said to him: "Truly you are a brave lad, and if you play your cards well, you shall have no cause to repent your bargain." Is was the 14th of November when Washington left Williamsburg on this difficult and arduous enterprise. The following narration on of his adventures by the way is given mainly in the words to be found in Abbott's "Lives of the Presidents." There is something sublime in the calm courage with which he set out, well knowing that he was to pass through the region of hostile Indian tribes, and that it was their practice not merely to kill their prisoners, but to prolong their sufferings as far as possible, through the most exqui- site and diabolical tortures. He took with him but eight men, two of them being Indians. They soon passed the few sparse settlements which were springing up near the Atlantic coast, and plunged into the pathless forest. Winter was fast approaching, and its dismal gales wailed through the tree tops. The early snow crowned the summits of the mountains, and the autumnal rains had swollen the brooks and the rivers. Guided by the sagacity of the Indians, they threaded the forest un- til they reached the Monongahela River, which, as we have said, flow- ing from the south, unites with the Allegheny from the north and forms the Ohio. Here they took a birch canoe, and in eight days paddles down the river a distance of nearly three hundred miles, to the mouth of the Allegheny, where Pittsburgh now stands. The sublime solitudes of these realms was then broken only by the occasional cluster of a few Indian wigwams upon the bank, and now and then the shouts of children playing in the water. No blows of the settler's ax reverberated through forest. No report of the hunter's gun was heard. The birch canoe glided noiselessly by over the waves, and the arrow of the hunter gave forth no sound in its flight through the air - this dead silence of the wilderness! At the junction of the two rivers Washington commenced descending the Ohio, a distance of one hundred and twenty miles, to the principle post of the French commandant. It was necessary for him to practice the utmost caution, as the Indians were proverbial for their treachery, and he was liable at any time to drift into an ambush. He at length reached the French fort in safety and delivered his message. The French commander, St. Pierre, received Washington at Fort Le Boeuf with much courtesy. He respectfully read his remonstrance, and gave him a written reply, in which he stated that he must obey the commands of his government; and that he could not vacate his post until his government should give him orders to that effect. Washington saw very clearly that force alone could drive the French from the Valley of the Ohio. he was also surprised to see how strongly they were intrenching themselves there. Having accomplished this much of his mission, and fearing that the Indians, of their own will or instigated by the French, might inter- cept his return, as he should paddle up slowly against the current of the Ohio, he decided to leave the river, and with one only companion, to make their way back through the wilderess on foot. They would be compelled to construct their lodgings with their hatchets for the stormy day or the tempestuous night, and to live upon such game as they might take by the way. It was a very weary journey to take, with the rifle upon the shoulder and the pack upon the back. Washington's suspicions that he might be waylaid by French jealousy were not unfounded. Some Indians were put upon his trail; but even Indian sagacity could not follow two pair of moccasined feet over pathless wastes. Washington was familiar with wilderness life, and with all the Indian arts and cunning. He succeeded in eluding his pursuers. Still he came very near losing his life through savage treachery. One Indian, employed, it is supposed by the French, met him as it were accidently, and offered his services as a guide through a very intricate part of the way. He could lead through a narrow defile which would save many leagues of toilsome journeying. At night this Indian of iron sinews, seeing his companions so much fatigued by their day's tramp that he supposed they could not possibly pursue him, fired at Washington, at a distance of not more than fifteen paces, and missed his aim. Instantly he sprang into the woods. Fleet of foot as he was, his indignant pursuers were more fleet, and he was soon caught. Washington's companion urged that the would-be assassin should instantly be put to death. But Washington shrunk from thus taking life in cold blood, and having disarmed the wretch, let him go. Still, thinking it not im- possible that he might have some confederates near, he thought it ex- pedient to push on as fast as possible through the long December night, taking especial care to leave no trace of his path behind him. They followed up the south side of the Ohio River, a few miles from its banks. When they reached the Allegheny River, nearly opposite where Pittsburgh now stands, there were no signs of civilized or even fringed with ice, and immense solid blocks were floating down the middle of the stream. It took them all day with one hatchet to con- struct a frail raft. It was bound together with flexible vines and boughs. Upon this they endeavored to cross the rapid stream, encum- bered as it was with the swiftly drifting ice. Half-frozen as they both were, and drenched as was Washington, they hastily found some slight shelter, built a roaring fire, and, with the wintery blast sweeping by them, found such warmth and com- fort as the circumstances could afford. Their situation, however, was not so very uncomfortable as many sitting by their own warm fireside might imagine. Experienced woodmen will, open on one, which, with sheathing of overlapping bark, will afford a very effectual shelter against the wind. A few boughts of the hemlock make a very soft and fragrant matrass. Then, wrapped in blankets, with a crackling fire which illuminates the whole forest blazing at one's feet, a degree of real comfort can often be enjoyed which is sought for in vain in ceiled chambers. The night was so cold that in the morning the river was frozen over, and they crossed upon the ice. The remainder of the journey home was uneventful. Williamsburg was then the capital of Virginia. Washington made his report to the Governor. It was published, and was extensively read in this country, and by statesmen in England. The one prominent fact which it established, and which arrested universal attention, was that France would resist, with all her military force, any attempts on the part of the English to establishe settlements in the valley of the Ohio. The Legislature of Virginia happened to be in session, at Williams- burgh, when Washington returned. This modest young man seemed entire- ly unconscious that he had accomplished any feat which would give him renown. A few days after his return he went into the gallery of the House, to witness the proceedings of the Legislature. The speaker chanced to see him, and rising from his chair, addressed the assembly, saying; "I propose that the thankds of this house be given to Major George Washington, who now sits in the gallery, for the gallant manner in which he has executed the important trust lately reposed in him by his Excellency the Governor." The homage thus called forth was instantaneous and unanimous. Every member rose to his feet. There was a burst of applause which almost shook the rafters of the ceiling. Washington was immediately conduct- ed to the speaker's chair. Every eye was fixed upon him. He was quite overwhelmed by this enthusiastic greeting. Being entirely unaccustomed to public speaking, he knew not what to say. The speaker perceived his embarrassment, and very happily relieved him by saying: "Sit down, Major Washington. Your modesty is alone equal to your merit." Governor Dinwiddie was a reckless, headstrong man, who acted first, and then reflectd, if he ever reflected at all. He not only hated but despised the French. In his judgement the insolence of the French in claiming territory which the King of England claimed, was not to be tolerated for a moment. He would not condescend to take any consid- eration the forces which France had gathered in the great valley. They were all to be driven out instantaneously, neck and heels. He raised a regiment of four hundred men, who were to march across the mountains, with orders "to drive away, kill of seize, as prisoners, all persons not the subjects of the King of Great Britain, who should attept to take possession of the land on the Ohio River, or any of its tributaries." George Washington was appointed colonel of this regiment. In his previous tour, his military eye had selected the point of land at the junction of the Monongahela and the Allegheny, for a fort where England should concentrate her strength. Having built this fort, garrisoned it, and supplied it with ample military and commisary stores, he would then construct several flat-bottomed boats, and, with the remainder of his little army, drift down the river, destroying all the trading posts of the French he might encounter by the way. In a military point of view there could not have been any better plan devised. But the French officers had military skill as well the English. They also selected that very spot for a French fortress, and were already very energetically at work throwing up its ramparts. As Washington, with his feeble regiment, was hurrying along through the forest-covered defiles of the mountains, he learned, greatly to his dis- appointment, and probably through the Indian runners, that the French had anticipated him. A large working party was already on the ground, under the direction of the most experienced engineers, and were erecting a fort, which his little band could not think of assailing. The tidings which reached the ears of Washington, were alarming in the extreme. They indicated that the only prudent course for him to pursue, was an ignominious and precipitant retreat. The French had sent a force of a thousand well armed men to the designated point. They had descended the Allegheny River in sixty flat-bottomed boats, and three hundred birch canoes. They had already taken with them eighteen pieces of cannon, which were already in position. They had also quite a numerous band of Indian allies. The French had kept themselves informed of every contemplated movement of the English. They had watched the discussions in the legis- lature, and knew, as definitely as did the English themselves, the number of men whom they had sent across the mountains, their destination, and the time of their expected arrival. To prevent, if possible, any hostile collision, they had sent so overwhelming a force that an attack could not be thought of. Washington had found his march through the rugged passes of the moun- tains extremely exhausting. His men had suffered both from fatigue and hunger. It was reasonably supposed that, in the rich valleys beyond the mountains, abundance of grain would be found. Experienced hunters accom- panied the little band, whose duty it was to range the fields, for miles around their path, to procure food. The little army had just emerged from the rugged defiles of the Alle- ghenies, and were entering these fertile and well-stocked pastures, when the appalling news reached them. They were then within two or three days' march of Fort Duquesne, as the French named their works. To add to their misfortune, rumor, though false, said that an outnumbering party of the French, accompanied by numerous Indian allies, were on a rapid march to destroy them. This rumor led, as will be subsequently be seen, to very deplorable consequences. Washington was then but twenty-two years of age. In contemplation of his apparently hopeless condition, his sufferings must have been dreadful. The thought of attacking the French, who were behind their ramparts, in such overpowering numbers, was madness. Retreat, in their exhausted state, through the rugged, barren, pathless gorges of the mountains, was almost impossible. Two-thirds of their number would probably perish by the way. The thought of a surrender, without striking a blow, of the whole force, was humilitating beyond endurance. Washington was ready for almost any act of desparation rather than this. France and England were at that time at peace with each other. Though, as usual, they were regarding each other with jealousy, there was no declaration of war whatever. The French, in building a fort on territory of which they had been for nearly half a century in undisputed possess- ion, had merely anticipated the English by a few days. The rumor that the French were on the march to attack the English was, as we have said, false, and as unsustained by any appearance of the foe. Subsequent developements established the following facts. The French were very anxious to avoid any collision on the distant banks of the Ohio, which would involved the two great kingdoms, of France and England, in a desolating war. By their spies they had kept themselves correctly informed the daily progress of the English. Washington and his band were entirely in the power of the French, who could crush them at a single blow. But that one blow would be the signal of a conflich which would encircle the globe. The French commandant at Fort Duquesne sent a peaceful embassage to Colonel Washington, seeking to avert hostile action. M. Jamonville, the peace commisioner, was a civilian. He took with him, as his escort through the wilderness, but thirty-four men; not one to ten of the soldiers in Colonel Washington's regiment. This fact seems conclusive proof that the French declaration, that no hostile demonstrative was intended, should be credited. About nine o'clock of one dark and stormy night, when the rain was falling in torrents, some friendly Indians came into Washington's camp and informed him that the French soldiers, who, it was supposed, were on the march to attack him, had encamped at the distance of but a few miles. They were in low bottom land, near the Monongahela River, in a place shut in by rocks, where they could very easily be taken by surprise and fired upon by an invisible foe. They also stated that there was a band of Indian warriors near by, who would gladly join them in the attack. Washington doubted not that this party was advancing to attack him by surprise. Within an hour he was on the march, led by his Indian guides through the dripping forest. They soon reached the camp of the Indians, who were all ready to join them. The assailants, their movements being concealed by the darkness and the storm, crept stealthily into the thick- ets, so as to attack the French in two separate parties. Just as the day was beginning to dawn, so that they could see to take ailm at their sleeping and unsuspecting foes, there was a simultaneous discharge of musketry, and a storm of deadly bullets fell upon the French. M. Jamonville and ten of his men were killed outright. Others were wounded. The French sprang to their arms and fought bravely. But they were soon over- powered, and the survivors, twenty-five in number, were taken prisoners. This unhappy event, the result of a mistake, resulting in one of the most cruel wars which ever desolated humanity. Continued in Chapter 3 -------------------------------- End of OH-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest V99 Issue #560 *******************************************