Knox County, Ohio - The First White Men, 1881

The First White Men

CAPTIVITY OF JAMES SMITH - HiIS Lire AMONG THE LNDIANS - CHRISTIAN FAST, Sk. - H1s CAptivity AND I's- CAPE - J. LEETH AND HIs ADVENTURES - JOHN STILLEY THE BEAUTIFUL KOKOSING - INDIAN LIFE AND MANNERS - SETTLENMENT OF MR, STILLEY IN KNOX CountrTy - THE MORAVIANS - THEIR PASSAGE THROUGH 'THIS COUNTY AS PRISONERS - -CAPTAIN SAMUEL BRADY AND His Scours. - THE PRISONERS DELIVERED 'TO GENERAL BOQUET GIRTY AND OTHER RENEGADES,

Simon

OLLOWING the Mound Builders and Indians came the superior race to occupy the soil of Knox county. 'The first permanent settlement of the county was made in 1803; prior to this, however, a few white men passed across, or occupied, for a short time, this territory. These may be unnoticed so far as history gives any account of them.

James Smith, a native of western Pennsylvania, is supposed to have been the first white man to set foot on the soil of Knox county, although other captives among the Indians, or white renegades among them, may have been here before Smith; but the latter is the first, so far as is certainly known.

He was captured near Bedford, Pennsylvania, when about eighteen years of age, by three Indians on a marauding expedition in the spring of 1755, a short time before the defeat of General Braddock. He was taken to the Indian village on the Allegheny, opposite Fort DuQuesne, and compelled to run'the' gauntlet, where he nearly lost his life by the blow of a club from a stalwart savage. After his recovery and the defeat of General Braddock, he was taken by his captors on a long journey through the forest to the village of Tullihas, on the west branch of the Muskingum river (Walhonding), about twenty miles above the forks, in what is now Coshocton county. This village was occupied by Mohicans, Caryhnewagas, and Delawares. Here he was adopted by the Indians into one of their tribes. The ceremony consisted in first plucking all the hair from his head except the scalp-lock, which they fixed according to their fashion; in boring his ears and nose, and placing ornaments therein; in putting ona breech-clout and painting his body and face in fantastic colors, and in washing him several times in the river to wash out all the white blood in his veins. 'his last ceremony was performed by three young squaws; and as Smith was unacquainted with their usages, he thought they intended to drown him, and resisted at first with all his strength, to the great amusement of the multitude on the river's bank. One of the young squaws finally said: ''Me no hurt you," and he then gave them privilege to souse and rub him as much as they desired. When brought from the river he was allowed other clothes, and in solemn council, after an impressive speech by one of the chiefs, he was admitted to full membership in the tribe. He says in his journal that he always fared as they did, no exceptions being made.

He remained in Tullihas till the next October, when he accompanied his adopted brother, Tontileaugo, who had a Wyandot wife on the shore of Lake Irie, on a visit to that nation. On his journey he passed through Knox county. Smith remained among the Wyandots, Ottawas and Mohicans about four years, traversing all parts of northern Ohio. He undoubtedly hunted over what is now Knox county, as the streams in this section of country afforded good hunting grounds, and was probably the first white man who saw these valleys in their pristine beauty. If any preceded him they were I'rench traders, of whom no records or legends exist in this part of Ohio. At the end of four years he escaped and made his way to Pennsylvania, where he published a memoir from which the above facts are obtained.

settlement of this territory by the whites, was Christian Fast, sen. He often narrated the incidents of his capture and captivity, which are preserved in Knapp's History of Ashland County, as follows:

When a boy of sixteen, Mr. Fast was captured by the Delaware Indians near the Falls of the Ohio. He had enlisted in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, in a company of two hundred men, organized for the purpose of chastising the Indians for depredations committed upon the frontier settlement. This force descended the Ohio in boats, and some distance above the falls, separated into two parties, young Fast being among those in the rear, The forward party were attacked a short distance above the falls, by parties of Indians on both sides of the river. The largest boat in the fleet, in which was Mr. Fast, had landed, and the others were making preparations to do so, when the attack commenced. The smaller boats immediately put up stream, but the larger one was hard aground and could not be got off. Of the one hundred on that boat all were killed except some thirty. Young Fast jumped into the water, receiving, at the same instant, a flesh wound in the hip, and swam to the opposite shore, where he was met by three Indians, who demanded that he should surrender, assuring him of friendly treatment. He declined their request, and again plunged into the stream, the three Indians firing on him as he swam, one of

"the balls grazing his cheek, momentarily stunning him. Reaching the middle of the stream, he took observations to determine the course of safety, and concluded to strike the shore several rods below where the large boat was grounded ; but on approaching he again encountered the bullets of the Indians, and again made for the middle of the river. Some distance below he discovered a horse-boat belonging to his party, and at once resolved to reach and board it. Just as he had succeeded in getting aboard, the captain received a wound in the arm, and waved his hand to the Indians in token of surrender. The boat was immediately boarded by the Indians, and the whites were all made prisoners.

An old Indian took charge of Fast, by whom he was taken to Upper Sandusky. The prisoners were divested of their clothing, and, as their march led through a rank growth of nettleweeds, the journey was indescribably painful. Fast, becoming maddened with pain, at length refused to go forward, and, baring his head to his captor, demanded that he should tomahawk him, and thus put an end to his sufferings. The Indian took compassion on him and restored his clothing. During the remainder of the journey he was treated with great kindness. At Upper Sandusky he was adopted into a distinguished family of the tribe. He visited the lamented Colonel Crawford after the failure of the expedition, and during his imprisonment, and was within hearing of his cries during the horrid cruelties he suffered at the stake.

About eighteen months after Fast's capture, an expedition left Upper Sandusky for the purpose of attacking the white settlements and fortifications at Wheeling. Connected with this expedition was the notorious James Girty. Fast, who now possessed the full confidence of the Indians, was also of the party. The expedition reached its destination and besieged the fort at Wheeling three days and two nights. On the third night Fast determined upon an attempt to effect his escape. Approaching his adopted brother at a late hour of the night, he awoke him, complaining of thirst, and urged his brother to accompany him to a place where they could procure a drink of water. The Indian pleaded weariness, and urged him to go alone, insisting that no harm would befall him. Fast, taking his camp-kettle, started directly for his father's house in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, about thirty miles distant. The night being excessively dark, he made slow progress, and at daylight was yet within hearing of the guns at Wheeling. As soon as daylight appeared, he pushed forward, and soon discovered, by a fresh trail, that about thirty Indians were in advance of him, making for the white settlements in Washington county, Pennsylvania. On reaching a spur of a ridge he discovered that the trails separated, and that the Indians had formed two parties, each pursuing parallel lines through the valleys. He hoped, by vigorously pursuing the middle and straight course, to get in advance of the Indians, and in this effort he was successful. Before night he reached the margin of the settlement in Washington county, the Indians being a shert distance in the rear. A few rods in advance of him and advancing on his own trail, Fast discovered a white man, with a couple of bridles on his arm, evidently in search of horses. Placing himself behind a tree Fast waited until the white man was within a few feet of him, when he suddenly. placed himself in his path, and gave a hurried explanation of his name, object, and the immediate danger that threatened the white settlement. The man was paralyzed with fear, he could not believe that the savage looking man before him, with his painted face, his ears and nose filled with broaches, his hair (all except a tuft in front, which was passed through a silver tube) nearly plucked from his skull, was anything else than a veritable Indian. Mechanically, however, the man obeyed his directions, and each, seizing and mounting horses, which were near at hand, inade for the settlements with all practicable speed. They gave the alarm to all the families in the neighborhood, and succeeded in securing all the settlers in the fort except one boy who was killed at the instant he reached the gate which was thrown open for his ingress.

After the beleaguered fort was relieved by the retirement of the Indians, he sought his father's house; but so completely was he metamorphosed by his Indian costume that his parents could not, for a considerable length of time, recognize him. At length his mother, recalling some peculiar spots near the pupils of his eyes, gave a scrutinizirig look, and at once identified her son. She sprang forward to embrace him, and would have fainted in his arms, but he repulsed her, explaining that his person, as was the case with all the Indians, was covered with vermin. He retired from the house, committed his Indian clothes to the fire he had made, purified his body as best he could, and then clothed himself in garments furnished by his father.

On the very day of his return to Orange township, Richland county, in 1815, he met Tom Lyons, a chief, and one of his original captors, and a party of Indians, by whom he was recognized. The Indians had no suspicion that he had deserted, but believed he had been drowned in the river. They evinced much joy at the discovery of their lost ''brother,'' and ever afterward offered him numerous tokens of their friendship.

John Leeth was a captive among the Indians and traversed this region long before any white settlement was made. He was born in South Carolina in 1755, ran away from home when a boy and went to Pennsylvania. At Fort Pitt he hired out to an Indian trader who had a stock of goods at New Lancaster, Ohio, then an Indian town, and where he sent young Leeth to take charge of the stock. Here he was taken prisoner by the Delaware Indians April 10, 1772, and the stock of goods divided among them.

When Dunmore invaded Ohio with his army, the Indians considered the matter of killing young Leeth to get him out of the way, but his adopted father, who had taken a liking to him, saved his life and he was taken along with the Indians when they abandoned their towns and retreated before Dunmore's advance. During the journey he made several attempts to escape but failed.

After the war Leeth's Indian father voluntarily gave him his freedom, providing him with a gun, ammunition and blanket, and the young man spent two years or more hunting and trading with the Indians, during which time he accumulated furs and peltry to the amount of several hundred dollars. During these years his favorite hunting ground was in this county, along the beautiful Kokosing, where he spent much of his time among the Delawares in their villages hunting deer and bear around the banks of the lake, known in later times as 'Gotshall's lake."

Mr. Leeth married for his second wife a widow lady named Sarah McKee, his first wife being a white girl, a captive among the Indians. Mrs. McKee was living on Middle island, near Marietta. This last marriage took place in 1802. Mrs. McKee was the maternal grandmother of Lyman W. Gates, of Miller township. During the summer of 1825, Mr. Leeth visited the family of Mr. Gates' father, and spent some time there. Wishing to visit Mount Vernon, old Mr. Gates accompanied him. When they had reached the Gotshall place, Mr. Leeth got off his horse and pointed out places where he had lain in wait for the wild animals to come and drink, and where he shot them. He also pointed out other localities along the road where he had hunted successfully. As late as thirty years ago, Gotshall's lake was a considerable body of water, and was a famous place for wild ducks. By successful drainage the water has since been drawn off and the land cultivated.

About two years after obtaining his freedom, about twenty Indians came from another tribe, and while young Leeth was dealing with a trader and his assistant, took them all prisoners, with all their property. They took him some distance through the wilderness, and finally, after several days, sold him to another tribe. His purchaser told him he was not bought for the purpose of being enslaved; it was only because he loved him and wished him to stay with him; and gave Leeth his liberty on a promise not to run away. Again he became a hunter and trapper, and during the following fall and spring accumulated furs and skins to the value of seventy-five or eighty dollars.

During the Revolutionary' war, he is found at Detroit, where he engaged with an Indian trader to take some goods to Sandusky. While at the latter place he witnessed the murder of a prisoner brought in by the Wyandots, the murder occurring in front of the door of his employer. As the poor fellow was passing the house, they knocked him down with tomahawks, cut off his head, placed it on a pole and began dancing around it.

Sometime after this the Indian who took him prisoner at New Lancaster came along and told Leeth he must accompany him to the forks of the Muskingum, now Coshocton. .

He remained at Coshocton some time. The spring following he married a young woman, seventeen or eighteen years of age, who had been taken prisoner when only twenty months old. At the time of his marriage Leeth was twenty-four years of age. This was in 1779. He resided in the Moravian towns on the Muskingum some two years, and upon the removal of the Moravians to Sandusky, in 1782, was taken with them. In this journey they passed through this country along the Kokosing. At Sandusky Leeth was engaged by five of the British officers, who had formed a stock company, to attend to their business. While in their employ (1782), Colonels Williamson and Crawford marched with an army against Sandusky, during which the Indians closely watched Leeth to prevent him from communicating with the invadingarmy. Being told the Americans were within fifteen miles of Sandusky, Leeth gathered together his employers' effects, about fifteen hundred dollars in silver, furs, powder, lead, horses, and cattle, and

Started for Lower Sandusky. After travelling about three miles, he met Captain Elliot, a British officer, and about fourteen miles further he met Colonel Butler's Rangers. They took from him his cattle and let him pass. That night he encamped about fourteen miles above Lower Sandusky. A French interpreter for the Indians came to the camp and was granted permission to stay all night. Next morning, after the horses were loaded and ready to Start, they heard the sound of cannon at Upper Sandusky. breast, and said, "I shall be there before the battle," and started. He went to where some Indians were painting and. preparing for battle, put on a ruffle shirt, and painted a red spot on his breast, remarking, "Here's a mark for the Virginia riflemen," and, shortly after, marched with the Indians to battle, where he soon received a ball in the very spot, dying instantaneously. Leeth reached Lower Sandusky safely. Colonel Crawford is a matter of history.

After this battle his employers moved their goods again to- Upper Sandusky, where Leeth remained about three years, when the partnership was dissolved, the goods divided, and each one entered into business for himself. One of the partners informed Leeth that he was going to establish a store at New Coshocton, on the head waters of the Muskingum river, and would engage him at the same wages to go with him. This proposition was accepted.

Some time the following fall Leeth accompanied the Indians to Fort Pitt, leaving his wife and children at New Coshocton. After matters were settled and articles of peace signed, he entered into partnership with two others, in a trading association; and in a short time he started west with thirtyfour horses loaded with several hundred dollars' worth of goods. Leeth went to the Tuscarawas river and remained about nine months, in which time he sold out nearly all their goods. About three months after his arrival at Tuscarawas, Captain Hamilton, an American officer, came there about the same time Leeth's wife and children came from New Coshocton. While Captain Hamilton was absent at Fort Pitt after goods, several Wyan- his clerk and carried away all the goods. This event alarmed Leeth very much, as he expected the same fate, but a Delaware Indian, one of his old acquaintances, came to him at this time and said, "T will die by you." Preparations for a hasty departure were made, and Leeth and his family started with the Delaware Indian for Fort Pitt. They were captured, however, before they had proceeded far, and taken to the Indian towns on Mad river. The goods and other property left at Tuscarawas were taken away and secreted by the Indians. After some time he was again released from captivity and proceeding to Fort Pitt, he purchased horses and went in search of his hidden goods. He found them all and took them to Fort Pitt,where he left them, and returned to his family on Mad river. After remaining with them some time he returned to Fort Pitt with the intention of dissolving partnership. He told his partners that the times were very dangerous, and trade very uncertain, and if they were willing he would retire from the concern, and quit busines, at least for the present. His partners had just purchased a large assortment of goods, and were not willing to dissolve. They told him "'if he would venture his body, they would venture the goods." He yielded, and on the fifteenth of January started out with a stock of goods and opened a store in the woods, at the mouth of Whitewoman creek, where Coshocton now stands. In a short time he collected about fourteen horse loads of skins and furs, and the hand he had with him started with them for Fort Pitt. After getting about two-thirds of the way, the Mingo and Wyandot Indians overtook the caravan, killed the man, and took the horses and all the goods off with them. Leeth continued at Coshocton with his family and seven horses until about the first of April, under great apprehensions for his life. He then moved to Tapacon, twentyfive miles from Coshocton, where he left his family and went on horseback to Fort Pitt, to consult with his partners about quitting the business, as they had already lost all their profits. But they thought best to continue the business until all their goods were sold. He then returned to his family at Tapacon; but just before his arrival there two Indians had visited his wife and told her they had had killed the two traders they had left at Coshocton and carried off all their property. Leeth left his goods with the two Indians, and went with his family to Fort Pitt. Soon after he returned to Tapacon with five men, and found the skins where the Indians had hidden them; but they had taken the horses and goods with them. He returned to Fort Pitt with the skins, and soon after set out for the Shawnee towns, where he found his horses and goods. On his route back to Fort Pitt he passed through Knox, Licking and Muskingum counties, trading his goods for furs and peltry, disposing of all of them by the way. He was accompanied by an Indian hunting party of seventeen warriors. Shortly after his arrival at Fort Pitt he settled up with his partners and gave up the horses. He then left Pittsburgh with his family and settled on the Huron River, northern Ohio, in a Moravian town, where he remained some years.

The Moravians, however were continually between two fires, and were all the time in danger of being murdered by one party or the other, and were therefore frequently on the move. Leeth was compelled to take his family and flee for safety to Fort Pitt, where he arrived after a hazardous journey through the wilderness. From Fort Pitt, he proceeded with his family to Bird's ferry, where his wife's relatives resided, and who received the wandererers with great kindness. Mr. Leeth settled among them as a farmer.

Mr. Leeth died about 1850, in the ninety-fifth year of his age. His father was born in the city of Leeth, Scotland, and his mother in Virginia.

In the year 1781 there was a small settlement on Raccoon creek, some sixty miles above Wheeling, in what are now Beaver and Washington counties in Pennsylvania. Some thirty miles southeast was another settlement on Peter's creek, in what is now Allegheny county, same State. The latter settlement was much larger than the former, and possessed a good stockade and block-house, to which the pioneers could resort in times of danger or invasion by the savages of the territory of Ohio.

In the year 1777 the settlers on Raccoon creek were. compelled by Indian invasion to abandon that region and seek refuge in the block-house on Peter's creek, where most of them remained several months. About this time, John Stilley, sr., who had located in the settlement in 1773, accompanied an expedition against the Indians on Beaver creek, where he was killed by the accidental discharge of a gun in the hands of a comrade. Mrs. Stilley and several children were left helpless by the unfortunate circumstance.

Among those who fled from Raccoon creek was a young man by the name of Kennedy. When the others returned to the settlement he remained at the block-house on Peter's creek. In the meantime he had married Rachel Stilley, the oldest daughter of Mrs. John Stilley. In the Spring of 1781, Mr. Kennedy concluded to return to the Raccoon settlement. He took along a good team of horses, and his family, consisting of his wife, a small child, Sarah, and John Stilley, sr., youngest brother and sister of Mrs. Kennedy. Some days after his arrival his horses disappeared. He searched the bottoms in the vicinity of his cabin for them, but without effect. As was the custom among the pioneers, he had placed a small bell on one of the horses before turning them out, that they might be traced by its sound.

Early one morning some six weeks after the disappearance of his horses, just before rising, he heard a horse-bell approaching his cabin, and remarked to his wife: "There they are." He dressed, and on opening his door, was confronted by ten savage warriors of the Wyandot nation, who had used the horse-bell as a decoy to draw him out. These Indians had been skulking about the neighborhood for some time, and had now stealthily approached the home of Kennedy to secure new prizes in the way of prisoners and scalps. The horses were Kennedy's, and they had now returned with new owners.

Resistance was useless. The whole family surrendered at once. The Indians then plundered the house of such articles as they desired, and set it on fire. They then started for the Ohio river with their prisoners and their plunder. Fearing pursuit, they prepared to cross without delay. At the river they were joined by two other Indians who had separated from the rest to plunder a neighbor of Mr. Kennedy, by the name of Wilson They had crept upon Mr. Wilson just as he had hitched his horses to the plow. They fired at and woundec him, and he fled to his cabin, one of the

On reaching the door of the cabin Wilson fell from exhaustion, and would have been killed by the pursuing savage but for the providential appearance of Captain John Slack, a noted Indian fighter and scout, who rode up and fired at the Indian and hit him on the back of the head just as he leaped the fence, making an ugly gash. The Indians instantly mounted the horses and rode rapidly in the direction of the Ohio river where they were joined by the ten who had captured Kennedy and his family.

Captain Slack, Wilson, and a number of others gave pursuit and arrived at the Ohio just as the Indians and their prisoners, who were mounted on horseback, reached the opposite shore. They saw the Indians enter the forest and disappear with their helpless captives. Further pursuit was abandoned. It was fortunate for the terrified prisoners that Captain Slack and his party failed to overtake the Indians before they reached the river; otherwise the prisoners would have been instantly tomahawked and scalped. As it was they passed on without being maltreated in any way. John Stilley was then about eight years of age, and Sarah, his little sister, between five and six. After the Indians had conducted their prisoners some distance into the forest they checked the rapidity of their flight and halted some two hours. They killed a few wild turkeys and roasted them after the Indian manner, sharing them equally among their captives. Although much depressed in feeling, Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy put on an air of cheerfulness, and assumed a willingness to accompany the savages. This seemed to please them, and led to a relaxation of their vigilance. The captives were treated kindly and suffered but little. It was then about the first of June and the weather was delightful. The forests abounded in a luxuriant growth of pea vines, wild flowers, and flowering shrubs. The party crossed the river not a great ways from the mouth of Yellow creek, and passed through what are now Jefferson, Carroll, and Tuscarawas counties, north of the Moravian villages, thence near the present village of Coshocton, and from thence up the Walhonding to the mouth of the Kokosing, or what is now known as the Vernon river,* thence up that stream to where Fredericktown now stands, thence up the west branch and across the counties of Marion to the Olentangy, and thence to Upper Sandusky, the principal seat of the Wyandots.

Mr. Kennedy and his little family were kindly treated all the way, and they were permitted to ride most of the time. At night they slept on the leaves. They had plenty of wild meat, which, by the aid of Mrs. Kennedy, was roasted to suit their taste. They were greatly pleased with the scenery along the Walhonding and the beautiful Kokosing. They encamped one night on the present site of Mount Vernon. At that period, and for many subsequent years, the Kokosing was a favorite resort for the Wyandot and Delaware hunters. They cleared a few small fields, which they cultivated in corn, and the hills, made by hoeing, were to be seen as late as 1806.

They travelled up the banks of the Kokosing, which Mr. Stilley states was the finest region he ever saw. It abounded in wonderful growth of timber and exhibited a soil unsurpassed for richness. 'The undergrowth was very rank; wild game existed in great abundance. As the lonely captives attempted to slumber on a cot of dry leaves they were often serenaded by wolves and owls. Their mingled voices made night hideous.

When the Indians arrived at Upper Sandusky they divided their prisoners. They were parcelled out according to the fancy of the Indians and separated. Mr. Kennedy, wife and child weré taken in the direction of Detroit. Sarah was adopted by another family and removed to the same neighborhood. John Stilley was adopted by an old Indian and his squaw, who treated him with much lenity, and taught him the Wyandot language, which he acquired very rapidly. He was very apt and spry, and made an impression upon his new parents that grew into a very warm attachment. The old Indian was very grave, and evinced a disposition to make his adopted son contented and happy. He reciprocated these attentions by being obedient and prompt.

* The late Hon. R. C. Hurd, some years since, wrote to Mr. Schoolcraft concerning the definition of Ko-ko-sing, which Mr. Stilley said the Wyandots pronounced Ko-ko-san. Mr. Schoolcraft says - ''The habitation of the little owl.'' From this Vernon river has always been called, in English, ''Owl creek."

The first care of this mild old Indian father was to teach him the first principles of hunting. The Indian boys erected a sort of bower of fresh cut brush and leaves in an open space in the forest, and procuring a wild pigeon, tied it to the top of the bower, and concealing themselves within, with bow and arrow, occasionally alarming it; and those flying over, perceiving the fluttering, alighted so that the boys could easily shoot them with their arrows. In this way they secured a great many. The sport furnished them much amusement. The pigeons, at the proper season, were fat, and in such abundance as to be easily taken. The flesh was very palatable.

One morning the grave old father left the wigwam, and after walking a few hundred yards returned. Before leaving the wigwam to hunt, he told young Stilley there was a rabbit within the circle and he might catch it while he was absent. After the old hunter had departed young Stilley proceeded to search for the rabbit. He finally found the track, and soon traced it to a hollow log. Returning to the wigwam he procured a tomahawk with which he soon cut a hole large enough to extricate the cony. Being certain that the animal would not bite, he thrust his hand in and seized it by the head and neck and dragged it from the hole. As soon as its hind legs were released in commenced a series of struggles to extricate its head from his grasp, during which his hands were severely torn by its hind feet. Being too plucky to give up the contest, he held on until finally he succeeded in killing it. When the old hunter came in young Stilley informed him with much pride that he had found and captured the rabbit. The old father asked the young hunter to show him his hands. Upon doing so the old fellow laughed heartily, saying: "Bad hunt; take him by hind leg next time, and he no scratch." This was his first lesson in hunting rabbits, and he remembered it as long as he lived.

His next lesson was on trapping raccoon. These animals in the wet season are said to be remarkably fond of live frogs, and haunt the ponds where they are to be found. They walk on the fallen ten feet long, which was placed on the log, and stakes driven on each side to keep it from rolling off. One end was then elevated fifteen or eighteen inches, and held up by a short treadle, to which a piece of frog or deer meat was fastened. When the raccoon approached the bait and attempted to remove it, the sappling fell and killed it. In this way large numbers of raccoons were caught. They were generally quite fat, and when roasted, made desirable food.

Young Stilley often accompanied the Indian boys on their fishing excursions along the Sandusky and other streams. He soon learned this art; and when the fish came up from the bay, made himself quite useful to his Indian father and mother, by aiding them in supplying food. They always flattered and caressed him in his successful excursions ; and soothed and sympathized with him when he failed. For these acts of kindness he always felt grateful, and redoubled his exertions to win their esteem and confidence. In his lonely hours - for he often thought of his little sister, and of Mrs. Kennedy, the cheering words and counsel of his Indian parents revived his drooping spirits.

He entered freely into the sports of the Indian boys. Their principal amusements were wrestling, foot-racing and playing ball. He was strong and active for one of his age, and was equal in strength and courage to Indian boys much older than himself. In a general way, hegot on smoothly, but occasionally was compelled to use his strength and fists in self-defence. These little quarrels were soon reconciled, and all went on merrily again. The most exciting amusement was their game of ball. It resembled very much the game known among boys of modern times, as "Shinny." They used a crooked stick to strike the ball, which was generally made of wood two or three inches in diameter. The stick had a head or curve at the lower end, with which the ball was hit. The alley was generally two or three hundred yards long, and was perfectly smooth and clear of obstructions. The parties divided, and the ball being cast up was struck by one of the players near the center of the alley, and the trick consisted in driving it in the direction of the opposite ends of the alley. In doing so, the boys offen became badly huddled, and their shins, and sometimes their heads, suffered trom the misdirected blows of the players. Whenever the ball was carried by either party, to a given point, the game was won. The young men had a game of ball resembling that of the smaller boys, with the exception that there was a sort of hoop and net on the bat, and the party getting it in his net, attempted to carry it to his end of the alley, while the rest used their efforts to prevent him from accomplishing the difficult feat.

The wigwam in which young Stilley's Indian parents resided the first and second winters of his captivity, was a plain affair, and was constructed of poles, after the Wyandot plan. The poles for the sides were cut ten or twelve feet long. The stakes were driven into the ground about four inches apart at each end of the proposed wall. They were about six feet high, and tied at the top with elm bark or thongs of elk or buffalo hide. The poles being straight and neat, were laid one upon another until a wall of sufficient height was raised. About nine or ten feet from :this wall another similar one was constructed. They then dug a sort of trench at each end, and set poles, upright, so as to make the end walls, leaving a space large enough,for a door. A ridge pole was placed over the center of the building, and elm bark over it to form the roof. The cracks were plugged with dry moss. A small space was left in the roof for thesmoke to escape. A fire was built near the center of the wigwams, and a bear skin generally served fora door. Their beds were made of deer and bear skins spread around the fire. Upon these they slept. All in all, these rude huts were quite comfortable in the winter season.

Their winter food consisted of such wild game as they could capture in the forest. Deer, bear, and turkeys, were moderately plenty at some distance from the Indian villages. In the fall season, for two or three years, the band to which young Stilley belonged, hunted along the Ko-ko-sing and Walhonding, and generally brought in a good deal of game. When their wild meat was scarce, they used hominy, and a sort of soup made of beans, corn, and a little bear or deer flesh. Young Stilley accompanied his old Indian father on his hunting excursions down thair favorite Ko-ko-sing two or three times. Their encampments on these occasions were not a great distance from the present site of Mount Vernon. At that period there was not a white man, except the Canadian traders and a few captives, within the present limits of the State. The valley of the Kokosing existed in ail its original grandeur. Its luxuriant forests towered almost to the heavens, while wild game ranged in native freedom among the undergrowth.

Young Stilley occasionally met Mr, and Mrs. Kennedy, and his little sister, as they travelled with the bands to which they belonged. These tribes hunted mostly within the present limits of the State of Michigan, and traded at Detroit. The furs and peltry secured by the Wyandots of Upper Sandusky were mostly purchased by French and Canadian traders in exchange for ammunition, blankets, tobacco, trinkets, and that bane of the Indian and white man, "fire-water," or bad whiskey. The route from Sandusky to Detroit was difficult, and the Wyandots preferred to trade at home. When war was threatened, their chiefs and leading men made frequent visits to Detroit to talk with their "English Father." Though often in the neighborhood of the river Raisin, young Stilley was not permitted to see Detroit until his release from Indian captivity.

In the summer of 1782,-the noted Wyandot chief, Big Foot, with his four brothers, and four or five warriors, left Sandusky for a raid on the settlements opposite the mouth of Yellow creek, along Raccoon and Peter's creek. They killed an old man in his cabin, and perpetrated other crimes in the settlements, and with their plunder and scalps crossed the Ohio. They were followed by the famous Indian fighters and spies, Adam and Andrew Poe, and some six others, and overtaken on Yellow creek, where a fight ensued, and the Indians were all killed but one. When the surviving Indian reached the village of Upper Sandusky he raised a dismal howl. The solitary and griefstricken savage remained in the forest one day and a night, howling like a wolf. He then approached the camps and related the contest between Big Foot and the "Long Knives." The Wyandots lamented the death of Big Foot and his brothers by much groaning and many tears.

Young Stilley knew the Poes very well, and says the strength and size of Big Foot was greatly exaggerated. He and his brothers were ordinary size of Indians - were very fine looking, courageous and active. Both the Poes were much larger than Big Foot. He thinks the reason why Big Foot held his own, arose from the fact that he was nearly nude, and Poe could not grip him, while Poe's clothing furnished Big Foot an advantage.

At the close of the Revolutionary war in 1783, an arrangement was made with the British and Indians to bring the white captives to Detroit, to be delivered to their friends. Detroit was a small village, and had a fort and stockade. The Wyandots soon brought in Mr. Kennedy, his family, and little Sarah; but retained John Stilley, who was then regularly adopted in his tribe. He had become so much attached to his Indian parents, and the wild roving life of the Wyandots, that he had no desire to return home. He was then dressed in the Wyandot manner, his hair all plucked out save a small scalp-lock, which was ornamented with gay colored feathers. They had pierced his ears and the cartilage of his nose, and inserted rings and a brooch therein. When painted he resembled the true Indian. He was then something over twelve years of age, full of life and adventure.

When the prisoners were all brought in'there were over ninety. They remained several months at Detroit awaiting an opportunity to return heme. In the spring of 1784, after the Indians had become pacified, and understood the terms of the treaty between the United States and Great Britain, Mr. ana Mrs. Kennedy determined not to return home without John. Mr. Kennedy and a few friends, learning that he and his tribe were encamped near where Malden now stands, determined to visit, and if possible, rescue him from his Indian allurements. On reaching the camp, they found him more an Indian than a white boy, painted, dressed in deer skin, hair worn in true Indian style, rings in his ears, with bow and arrow, and deeply fascinatec with his present condition. He loved his grave old Indian father and mother, and had nearly forgotten his own language! It was difficult to persuade him to return. After many interviews, he finally accompanied Mr. Kennedy to Detroit.

The prisoners were shipped to Sandusky Bay, and upon landing employed two Indian guides to conduct them to the settlement east of the Ohio. They all - ninety-two or three - passed up the Sandusky river, across the Olentangy, through what are now Marion and Morrow counties, to the west branch of the Kokosing, and thence down said stream through the present site of Mount Vernon; down the Walhonding near where Coshocton stands, thence by Indian paths across Tuscarawas and Jefferson counties, to the Ohio river. Before reaching the Ohio river, by comparing destinations, they learned that nearly all their fellow captives belonged to Kentucky, Virginia and Pennsylvania. Very few crossed the river with Kennedy and young Stilley. Most of the captives never met again. At this time they found no improvements between Upper Sandusky and the Ohio.

Young Stilley remained on Peter's creek, with his mother, some five years. Learning something of the wilds of the territory of Kentucky, from returning adventurers, he determined to abandon his home and visit the hardy pioneers and hunters of the "dark and bloody ground." He and a friend built a large pirogue which they launched, and placing therein such provisions, clothing, and ammunition as they might need, and taking their rifles, they descended the Ohio,' and landed, in 2708, without accident, at Limestone, near where Maysville now stands. They found a small settlement at Wheeling, Marietta, and Gallipolis. The forests on the banks of the Ohio were dense and in full leaf, and seemed to press upon the shore like a mighty wall. Although the Shawnees had often crossed the beautiful Ohio to harrass the settlements of Kentucky, they met no hostile bands on their trip down the river.

Mr. Stilley remained at Limestone a short time, and upon learning that there was a settlement on the Elkhorn, he determined to visit it. In company with several hunters, he passed through the forest to that region. He had been there but a short time, when he became acquainted with the brave hunter and Indian spy, Simon Kenton. Kenton, at that time, had command of a small company of spies and scouts, who patrolled the Elkhorn for a distance of fifty miles to guard the settlements against surprise by hostle bands of Shawnees and Miamis, who refused to be pacified or submit to a recent treaty. He joined Kenton's company, and became an active minute man. During his stay on the Elkhorn, some three years, owing to the vigilance of Kenton and others, the settlements remained nearly undisturbed by the savages. Elk and buffalo were yet quite plenty, and Stilley often joined parties on hunting excursions. He passed down Licking river on one of his hunting trips, to where Covington now stands, and thinks he shot a panther within its present corporate limits. The animal had treed, and had a peculiar white spot on its breast, at which he aimed and struck, killing the ferocious beast almost without a struggle. While-in the Elkhorn settlement, he also became acquainted with a noted hunter named Neal Washburn, and a Mr. Robinet who kept a pack of fine hunting dogs.

After the repulse of General Harmar in 1790, and the disastrous defeat of General St. Clair in 1791, and General Wayne was ordered to the west, John Stilley determined to become a soldier. He volunteered in a company commanded by Captain Rollins, raised near Paris, Kentucky, for a term of four months; and passed with the Kentucky troops, by Fort Washington, (Cincinnati) and up the trail of St. Clair to Fort Recovery. Atthe expiration of his service, he returned with his comrades to the Elkhorn settlement, where he remained buta short time, and re-enlisted for a tour of five months. The Kentucky troops were hurried forward, and participated in the noted battle of "Fallen Timbers," where the Indian army was overthrown and compelled to submit to a humiliating treaty, which deprived them of a vast amount of territory, and crushed their military prestige. Mr. Stilley regarded General Wayne as a courageous and far- " seeing commander; and just the man to strike terror into the heart of the blood-thirsty savages led by Little Turtle, Captain Pipe, and other wily chiefs.

At the expiration of his second term of service, he again returned to the Elkhorn settlement. He remained there hunting and farming until about 1797, He describes the hunters and pioneers of that time as being the most courteous, hospitable, whole-souled and brave people he ever knew. Their cabins, to use the old phrase, "had their latch-strings always out." They traversed the forest for miles to aid each other in putting up cabins, rolling logs, planting corn and clearing fields. They divided their surplus grain for seed, and thus contributed to the enlargement of the settlements, and the general prosperity and happiness of all.

In 1800 he married Rebecca Thompson, of Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, and remembering the beautiful country along the Kokosing, determined to find a home there. In 1805-6 the lands along that stream, within the present limits of Knox county, were being surveyed into tracts of eighty and one hundred and sixty acres. In 1805, Moses Craig, a relative, settled about one mile west of the site of Mount Vernon. Mr. Stilley, in the spring of 1806, visited Mr. Craig, and located a military tract adjoining him, and clearing a field, planted it in corn, and remained through the summer months cultivating it. In the meantime he cut logs, and by the aid of the neighborhood settlers, erected a cabin. In the fall he returned to Peter's creek.

children and his mother, John Stilley (a nephew late of Morrow county), and a colored boy by the. name of Benjamin Truesser (who died in Janesville a few years since, well advanced in years), with teams and covered wagdns, loaded with such household articles as were needed, started for the wilds of Ohio. Their route was from Peter's creek to Cannonsburgh, Pennsylvania, thence to Wellsburg, Virginia, thence to Steubenville and Cadiz, thence to Cambridge, thence along Zane's old track to Zanesville and Newark, and thence to the present site of Mount Vernon. They were detained several days at Wills creek in consequence of high water, and had to camp out between Zanesville and Newark. The trip took thirteen days, and they were much wearied.

As soon as John Stilley had fully rested from the trip, he took two horses aad returned to Peter's creek for his wife and a small child (now the wife of Benjamin F. Smith), who were unable to come with the former company. He proceeded down the Kokosing and Walhonding to where Coshoc- ton now stands, thence to New Philadelphia, thence to Steubenville and thence to Peter's creek. He had most of the way but an Indian trail to lead him; but this being the route he had travelled to and from his captivity, it was somewhat familiar. On arriving at his old home, Mrs. Stilley mounted one of the horses and undertook the journey. They travelled the same route and came through with but a single accident. When they were crossing the Walhonding, the horse of Mrs. Stilley being a poor swimmer, became alarmed and turned down stream, and was about to reach a steep bank, where Mrs, Stilley would have been thrown and probably drowned. Fifteen or twenty Greentown Indians were encamped near the bank, and Billy Montour, seeing the danger, mounted a pony and rushed into the stream, pursuing, overtaking, and safely conducting the horse of Mrs. Stilley out. As long as Billy Montour, Tom Lyon and the Greentown Indians visited the Kokosing to hunt, they. were kindly regarded for this generous act.

John Stilley served creditably in the war of 1812, as adjutant of Colonel Kratzer's regiment, and as a volunteer in defence of Fort Meigs. He was a brave, active, and able soldier.

After the close of the war, Mr. Stilley, like his thriving neighbors, entered actively upon the task of clearing up his farm, which was handsomely located, and is now one of the most desirable homesteads in Knox county; and, like a true pioneer, always had his latch-string out. As the population increased, his good judgment, business qualities, and integrity, gave him weight with his fellow-citizens. The records of Knox county show that John Stilley was more frequently, perhaps, than any other pioneer of the county, selected upon the juries drawn to deal out justice between man and man. In the spring of 1824, he was elected justice of the peace, and in the fall of the same year, county commissioner. These trusts were faithfully executed.

In 1852, he was attacked with paralysis, with which he lingered a short time, and died March toth. He sleeps by the side of his faithful wife, (who survived him a short time), near his loved Kokosing, where he had so many adventures in his youth.

west Territory, in 1781, there was not a settler in it. When he died, in 1852, this territory had over two millions of people. Two sons, Gilman and Morgan, reside on the old homestead.

Probably the next white men to pass across this territory were the Moravians, who, as prisoners, were taken from the Moravian towns on the Tuscarawas river to Upper Sandusky, by British emissaries. These peaceable Christian Indians were charged with being spies, and with holding treasonable correspondence with the Americans at Pittsburgh and perhaps other points, and of harboring other Indians friendly to the American cause. Upon these charges they were arrested by Captain Matthew Elliottt, of the British army, who had under his command about three hundred hostile Indians. Making no resistance, they were made captives, September 11, 1781, and by this overpowering force compelled to leave their muchloved homes and take up their line of march for the Sandusky river. Upon this march they followed the Indian trail down the Tuscarawas to the mouth of the Walhonding, in Coshocton county; thence up that stream to the mouth of the Kokosing; thence up the Kokosing, passing over the spot upon which Mount Vernon now stands, and on to the Wyandot town, near the present site of Upper Sandusky. The missionaries thus forcibly removed were Revs. Zeisberger, Senseman, and Jungman, of New Schonbrunn; Revs. John Heckewelder, and Jung, of Salem, and Rev. William Edwards, of Gnadenhutten.

The point at which they were left to take care of themselves, their wives, children and Indian captives, was on the banks of the Sandusky river, not far from where the Broken Sword creek empties into it, about ten miles from Upper Sandusky. Here they selected a location, and, without delay, built a village of small huts to protect themselves from the inclemency of the weather. This village soon took the name of ''Captive's Town," and was situated on the right bank of the Sandusky river, about a mile above the mouth of the Broken Sword, in the present township of Antrim, Wyandot county.

These expeditions were made in the interest of the military authorities at Fort Pitt, both for the purpose of obtaining information regarding the hostile Indians, and to chastise such small parties as might fall in their way.

About 1792 Brady with a party of scouts crossed the Ohio at Wheeling, and directed his course to the forks of the Muskingum (Coshocton), moving thence up the Walhonding and up the Kokosing or Owl creek, to the present site of Mount Vernon. From this point the party turned back, going over to the headwaters of the North fork of Licking and down that stream to its junction with the South fork at Newark; thence they continued down the Licking and Muskingum to Marietta.

Shortly after the treaty at Greenville (1795) rumors of peace reached Wheeling, and to ascertain their truth, the commandant of that post dispatched six men of Brady's scouts in the direction of Sandusky. One of the Wetzels was in this party. They crossed the Muskingum at Dresden, came across to the Licking, up that stream to the present site of Newark, where they turned north along the North fork, and passed over onto Owl creek. After going a short distance beyond the present site of Mount Vernon, they became satisfied that Indians were watching them with hostile intent, and turned back. Following the route they came, they encamped one night in the eastern edge of Licking county, where they were fired upon in the night and one of the party killed. They thereupon scattered and made their way separately to Wheeling.

It is believed that many other white people passed through the county before any one came to settle permanently. In the treaty which General Boquet made with the Indians at the forks of the Muskingum, in 1764, two hundred and six white captives were given up to him by the Indians. A large number of these captives were among the Wyandots and other tribes in the western and northwestern parts of what is now the State of Ohio, and there is little doubt that a number of these passed along the Indian trail, which followed the Walhonding and Kokosing rivers, from the towns on the Muskingum to those on the Sandusky plains, both while they were being carried into cap_ tivity and while on the return journey to be delivered to Boquet.

The renegade Simon Girty and probably his brothers, as well as the notorious British agents, Elliott and McKee, were without doubt through this territory many times while making journeys to and from the eastern part of the State and Fort Pitt. Girty was born about 1745, and was consequently in the prime of life during the half century prior to the first settlement of this part of Ohio. No doubt also the Wetzels, Brady, McCulloch and other scouts and spies, were many times through this territory in the prosecution of their business. This territory was also an excellent hunting ground and much used for that purpose by the Indians at Greentown, among whom were white renegades as early as 1785, who no doubt often accompanied the Indians on their hunting and trapping expeditions to the beautiful valley of the Kokosing.

Just prior to the first settlement of the county Andy Craig seems to have located temporarily on Owl creek, and William Leonard in company with a party of scouts came into this territory as early as 1799. Leonard purchased some land on Owl creek and returned with his family and became a permanent settler some years later.