Logan County, Ohio - Chapter 2, 1880 (part 2 of 2)

" He was the orator of his tribe during the greater part of his long life, and was an excellent speaker. The venerable Col. Johnston, of Piqua, to whom we are indebted for much valuable information, describes hdm as the most graceful Indian, he had ever seen, and as possessing the most happy and natural faculty of expressing his ideas. He was well versed in the traditions of his people; no one understood better their peculiar relations to the whites, whose settlements were gradually encroaching on them; or could detail with more minuteness the wrongs with which his nation was afflicted. But, although a stern and uncompromising opposition to the whites had marked his policy through a series of forty years, and nerved his arm in a hundred battles, he became, a length, convinced of the madness of an ineffectual struggle against a vastly superior and hourly increasing foe. No had he satisfied himself of this truth, than he acted upon it with the decision which formed a prominent trait in his character. The temporary success of the Indians in several engagements previous to the campaign of Gen. Wayne, had kept alive their expiring hopes; but their signal defeat by that gallant officer convinced the more reflecting of their leaders of the desperate character of the conflict. Black Hoof was among those who decided upon making terras with the victorious American commander; and having signed the Treaty of 1795, at Greenville, he continued faithful to his stipulations during the remainder of his life. He was friendly, not from sympathy or conviction, but in obedience to a necessity which left no middle course, and under a belief that submission alone could save his tribe from destruction; and having adopted this policy, his sagacity and sense of honor, alike forbade a recurrence either to open or secret hostility. He was the principal chief of the Shawanoese nation, and possessed all the influence and authority which are usually attached to that office at the period when Tecumseh and his brother, the Prophet, commenced their hostile operations against the United States. It became the interest as well as policy of these chiefs, to enlist Black Hoof in their enterprise; and every effort which the genius of one, and cunning of the other, could devise, was brought to bear upon him. But Black Hoof continued faithful, and by prudence and influence kept the greater part of his tribe from joining the standard of Tecumseh. In January, 1813, he visited Gen. Tupper, at Fort Mc Arthur, in Logan County, and while there, about 10 o'clock one night, when sitting by the fire in company with the General and several other officers, some one fired a pistol through a hole in the wall of the hut; and shot Black Hoof in the face, the ball entering the cheek, glanced against the bone and finally lodged in his neck; he fell, and for some time was supposed to be dead, but revived, and afterward recovered from this severe wound. The would-be assassin was not discovered, but no doubt was entertained that it was a white man. Black Hoof was opposed to polygamy, and to the burning of prisoners. He is reported to. have lived forty years with one wife, and to have reared a numerous family of children, who both loved and esteemed him. In statiire he wss small being not more than five feet eight inches in height."* He died at Wapagh-ko-netta in 1833, just before the removal of his tribe. His skidl is now in the possession of a physician at New Paris, O., and was exhibited at the recent Centennial celebration of his fight with Clarke's forces, on August 8, 1780, near Springfield.

Weyapiersenwah or Blue Jacket, as he was known to the whites, was a valiant chieftain of the Shawanoe tribe and had his residence in Logan County for a long time. He was second only to Black Hoof in influence, being at the head of the Shawanoe contingent in the fight with Harmer in 1790, and in full control of the allied forces in 1794 against Wayne. His voice was continually for war, and precipitated the battle of the Fallen Timber by his headlong eloquence and earnestness against the more prudent counsels of the other chiefs. After this defeat Blue Jacket concurred in the expediency of suing for peace, but at the solicitation of the British emissaries delayed proceedings some time. Like other great leaders of his people he saw the land of his fathers passing out of their hands, and every sentiment of patriotism and affection urged him on to relentless war so long as there seemed a possibility of withstanding the encroachment of the whites. He was soon convinced that the representations of the British were only made for their own benefit, and dismissing them gave in his adhesion to the Americans and remained steadfast to the Treaty of Greenville, where he represented his nation jointly with Black Hoof. His wife at one time was a white woman by the name of Margaret Moore. She was carried away from Virginia when a child nine years old, and live-i with the Indians until maturity, when she became the consort of Blue Jacket. By him she had a son whom she called Joseph. In the general surrender of prisoners that followed the close of the English and French war, she paid a visit to her Virginia friends, but when she desired to return to her husband, whom she sincerely loved, her white friends refused to let her return. A daughter (afterward Mrs. Mary Stewart) was born to her while in Virginia, who grew up, married and afterward settled in Logan County. The son made a visit to his mother after she had accompanied her son-in-law to Ohio. He was a thorough-bred Indian so far as habits were concerned, and was never heard of afterward. Mrs. Stewart had four children, but they

Tecumseh, whose history is better known than any of his illustrious predecessors, began his career as chief in the summer of 1795. The Treaty of Greenville, forced upon the leaders of his nation as the only alternative to the extermination of their race, had put an end to forty years of unavailing war. His haughty spirit could not accept the lesson taught by the experience of his people, and in spite of the pacific influences brought to bear upon him, he engaged in the struggle which received a crushing blow at Tippecanoe, and ended with his death at the battle of the Thames. He was a fine orator, and the chief speaker for the hostile Indians. "His manner when speaking, was animated, fluent and rapid," impressing his auditors with the high order of his moral and intellectual character. In his orations, it is said, he indulged in such lofty flights of rhetoric, that the celebrated interpreter-, Dechauset, found it difficult to translate them, though he was as well acquaiiited with the Shawanoe tongue as with

Spemica Lawba, " High Horn," or Captain Logan, as the whites named him, was a son of the celebrated Shawanoe chief, Moluntta, and was captured by the whites when a lad of sixteen years, at the burning of the Mackachack towns. He was taken to Kentucky where General Logan, being so well pleased with him, took him into his own family, in which he resided for some years. He was finally allowed to return, and later arose to the dignity of civil chief, through his many estimable, intellectual and moral qualities. He was known to the whites after his sojourn in Kentucky by the name of Logan, to which the title of Captain was afterwards attached. Logan was an unwavering friend of the whites, and lost his life in their service in the fall of 1813. Under orders from General

Harrison, Logan took a party of his tribe in November of that year,, and set out to reconnoitre the country towards the Maumee Rapids. He fell in with a party of the enemy, and barely escaped with two or three of his companions. A thoughtless officer expressed some doubt as to his loyalty, which so stung Logan's sense of honor that he organized an enterprise of his own to vindicate his fair fame. He took with him Captain Johnny and Bright Horn, and set out in quest of adventure. They were suddenly suprised by a party of seven hostile Indians, but pretending to be deserters, and ingratiating themselves into the confidence of their captors, until a favorite opportunity presenting, they arose upon their unsuspecting companions, and slew five of the seven, one of them being the celebrated Pottawatomie Chief, Winnemac. This was not accomplished without some damage to the attacking party, and Bright Horn and Logan reached camp badly wounded, the latter dying soon after reaching camp. The biographer of Tecumseh speaking of the exploit says: "It would, perhaps, be difficult in the history of savage warfare, to point out an enterprise, the execution of which reflects higher credit upon the address and and daring conduct of its authors, than this does upon Logan and his two companions. Indeed, a spirit even less indomitable, a sense of honor less acute, and a patriotic devotion to a good cause less active, than were manifested by this gallant chieftain of the woods, might, under other circumstances, have well conferred immortality upon his name.

Logan left a dying request that his two sons should be sent to Kentucky and there educated and brought up under the, care of Maj. Hardin. When peace was restored Col. Johnston made efforts to carry out this desire of the deceased' chief, but was thwarted by the unwillingness of the chief of the nation and the children's mother. They finally allowed them to be taken to Piqua, they were put to school and boarded in a religious family, but the mother of the boys, who was a bad woman, interfered with this plan, taking the boys away frequently for weeks, and on one or two occasions getting them intoxicated at their schoolhouse. She finally took them to Wapagh-ko-netta, and raised them among her own people, from whence they emigrated to the west with the Shawanoe nation in 1832.*

Captain John, whose Indian name has not been perpetuated, was a well known chief of the Shawanoese nation, and was a frequent visitor to the early settlements of Logan County. He was one of the party with Logan in the exploit just noted, and was the only one not wounded in the action. He was over six feet in height, strong and active, and was noted among the white hardly less for his happy faculty of merry making than for his bravery. Judge William Patrick, in his reminiscences, speaks of him as the merry and facetious Capt. Johnny; but there was a side to his character that was less lamb-like. Capt. John McDonald relates, that one day in the autumn of 1779, while out trapping by himself he met a trader and a half-breed near his trapping grounds, and whiskey being supplied, the two Indians got into a serious quarrel; they were separated by the trader, but they made arrangements to fight the next morning. " They stuck a post on the south side of a log, made a notch in the log, and agreed that when the shadow of the post came into the notch, the fight should commence. When the shadow of the post drew neat the spot, they deliberately, and in gloomy silence, took their stations on the log. At length the shadow of the post came into the notch, and these two desperadoes, thirsting for each others' blood, simultaneously *Howe's liislorical collection.

sprang to their feet, with each a tomahawk in the right hand, and a scalping knife in the left, and flew at each other with the fury of tigers." , After a terrible struggle of a few minutes' duration the tomahawk of John fell upon the head of his antagonist, killing him instantly. About 1800, while out with a hunting party in' the Scioto valley, he had some difficulty with his wife and they agreed to separate. After dividing the property, the wife insisted upon keeping their only child, a boy two or three years old. " The wife laid hold of the child, and John attempted to wrest it from her; at length John's passion was roused to a fury, he drew his fist, knocked down his wife, seized the child, and carrying it to a log, cut it into two parts, and throwing one half to his wife, bade her take it, but never again to show her face, or he would treat her in the same manner." This brutal behavior was never punished or apparently heeded by his campanions and he went scot-free from both oifences. After the general pacification he was a general favorite among the settlers, and seems never to have lapsed into such savage brutality afterward. Such is the record - imperfectly given - of one of the most powerful and war-like tribes of Ohio. Among its leaders were numbered some of the ablest warriors and most brilliant intellects the Indian race has produced. Quick to fathom the policy of the whites and read in its success the doom of the red man, they became the most uncompromising foes of the whites, and at last, accepted peace as the only means of deferring the day of their extermination. The tide of civilization has at last swept them away, leaving behind no monument to mark the site of their former greatness. But their traditions still possess the land and it is still the privilege of the superior race to do justice to the memory of a people whose crowning crime was an ardent devotion to kin and country.

The religious denominations of Bellefontaine occupy an important plafe in its history, and hence we devote considerable space to their notice. It has been rather difficult to obtain a full and complete sketch of all the churches, but no pains have been spared to collect all the facts attainable.

The oldest church organization in the city, perhaps, is that of the Methodist Episcopal, which is the pioneer church in many portions of the Western country. The itinerant ministers of this denomination were usually the first on the frontiers and often found in the wigwam of the savage before he was pressed back by his white neighbors. Methodist churches were built in the vicinity of Bellefontaine very early. The first regularly organized church was about the year 1819, but meetings had long been held in the pioneers' cabins, and in other convenient places. The first meeting looking to the establishing of a church here was held at Belleville, the first capital of the county, and the organization exercises conducted by Rev. John Strange, in the house of Samuel Carter. The first church edifice was built in 1823, in the town of Bellefontaine, and Rev. John' Strange, alluded to above, was appointed and regularly installed its first pastor. It prospered for a number of years, when certain differences caused a division, which,'however, were finally and amicably adjusted in 1858. "During the separation,' says a published record, "the church was known as the First Charge Methodist Episcopal Church, and the Second Charge Methodist Episcopal Church. On the 17th of April, 1858, a committee from each division was appointed to meet at the Mayor's office, at Bellefontaine, to agree to a proposition from the First to the Second Charge Church, whereby a Christian and brotherly union should be re-established. The committee from the First Charge consisted of N. Z. MoColloch, Isaac S. Gardiner, and William Lawrence; that of the Second

Charge, of Anson Brown, H. B. Lust and J. M. Kelley, all gentlemen prominently connected with the church, and of high social standing in the community. The result of this meeting was of the most flattering nature. It was agreed that the United Church shall continue as one, without reference to the past, and as though no former division had existed. The document was signed by the six gentlemen above mentioned, and also by F. Marriott and O. Kennedy ,-the Pastors of the respective churches. The church, as thus reunited, has continued its labors in perfect harmony, and the greatest success has crowned the efforts of those whose duty it htts been to conduct the religious services of it." The church at present has an elegant brick building on North Main street, large and commodious, and imposing in appearance. The membership is large, and both church and Sabbath school are in a flourishing state. Rev Mr. Kennedy is at present the Pastor of the Church.

The following history of the First Presbyterian Church of Bellefontaine was prepared by the Pastor, Rev. G. L. Kalb, and read by him at the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of its organization, on the 19th of October, 1878:

" We know of this church's birth from the testimony of its first Pastor, Rev. Joseph Stevenson, that it was in 1828, and that there were thirty original members. As the early records of the church are lost, and as the minutes of the Presbytery contain nothing definite on the subject, we do not know the month and day of our separate organization. Mr. Stevenson came to Bellefontaine in May, 1835, for this work. September 34, 1824, in the house of Thomas Scott, a committee of the Presbytery of Columbus, consisting of Rev. James Robinson and Robert B. Dobbins, organized the church of Cherokee Run, now Huntsville. The June proceeding, Mr.

Robinson had been appointed by the Presbytery to eight days' mission work in Union, Champaign and Logan Counties. At its meeting in October, 1824, the Presbytery recognized this newly formed church, and called it the ' Church of Logan.' In January, 1825, Presbytery granted leave to this church to prosecute a call before the Presbytery of Washington for a portion of the ministerial labors of Rev. Joseph Stevenson, a member of that Presbytery. Accordingly, Mr. Stevenson removed to this place, and took charge of the work in this vicinity. There were four congregations with but one session, viz: Cherokee, Bellefontaine, Stony Creek (now Spring Hill) and West Liberty. Mr. Stevenson was received into the Presbytery of Columbus January 3, 1826, and it was 'resolved that Mr. Stevenson be installed Pastor of the congregation at^Bellefontaine on the first Tuesday of April next.' The Presbytery met at Bellefontaine, April 5, 1826, and, after ratifying an arrangement between the four congregations already named, divided Mr. Stevenson's labors equitably among them, and provided for the government of them by two sessions. It then installed Mr. Stevenson over the united charge as Pastor. A year from this time, the congregation at Bellefontaine had grown so, in importance at least, that Presbytery directed Mr. Stevenson to devote to it one-half of his time. Hence, while practically this church began its existence in the spring of 1825, it was not separately organized until 1828; and we infer that this took place in the fall, from the fact that the first notice of its separate organization is in a minute of the session of Stony Creek, dated June 24, 1829.

" Mr. Stevenson had been Pastor of the church of ' Three Ridges,' Washington Presbytery, for seventeen years prior to his removal to this place, and he continued in charge of this church and Cherokee Run for nineteen years, or till the spring of 1844. In the fall of 1840^Rev. R. H. Hollyday came to assist him in his work, and continued in this relation for six months, when West Liberty was separately organized, and he became pastor of it and Stony Creek. Mr. Stevenson continued to reside at this place after he gave up the charge of the church, and, nearly twenty years after, he ended a holy and beauful life by a peaceful death, February 24, 1865, aged 86 years, less a month and a day. Of the growth of this church under him, only two notes are found: A revival in 1831 added fourteen to the church, and in 1833 the number of communicants was ninety-one.

" The next stated minister of the church was the Rev. George A. Gregg. He removed here in April, 1845, and had been supplying the church for some time previous. He died of small-pox in February, 1854, while still Pastor. No record of his work here has been found, but he is remembered for his faithfulness and self-denying labors. After him, Rev. W. H. Babbitt, now of Glendale, Ohio, supplied the pulpit for six weeks in March and April, 1854; but the next settled minister was the Rev. E. B. Raffensperger, who began his ministry here in October, 1854, and continued till June, 1859. Three things may be said of his pastorate: 1. He was the first Pastor who arave his whole time to this church. 2. A division had occurred in the church under Father Stevenson, and a second church had been formed, which had for Pastors successively, Revs. J. A. Meeks, J. L. Belleville and J. L. Polk. The practical healing of this breach occurred under Mr. Raffensperger, many of the members of the now dissolved' second church coming back to the first under his ministry. 3. Extensive revivals occurred under his ministry, and many were added to the church. With no long interval, Rev. Geo. P. Bergen took charge of the church. He closed his ministry here the first Sabbath of June,

1863. The years between these dates were years of great political excitement; nevertheless, the church had a steady growth under his ministry.

" On the last Sabbath of July, 1863, the present Pastor preached his first sermon here, on the invitation of the session. After preaching five Sabbaths, he was invited to supply the pulpit for six months from the 1st of September. On the first Monday in March, 1864, a call was made out for his services as Pastor, acting on which the Presbytery of Sidney installed him in April.

" This church has belonged to four Presbyteries, viz.: Columbus ; Miami, to which it was transferred in April, 1839; Sidney, from the organization of the same, and Bellefontaine, by act of the Synod of Toledo, reconstructing the Presbyteries. The church has built three houses of worship, all of brick, and the second church during its existence built one of wood.

" Hitherto hath the Lord helped us! May His mercy be larger still to this church, that in 1928 our posterity may, in celebrating the centenary of the church, have cause to look back on our day as the day of small things."* Referring to the church buildings of this denomination, the one at present occupied was commenced in 1868, and was dedicated in January, 1874. It is a handsome brick of modern architecture, forty-three by eighty feet in dimensions, and cost about $30,000. The church at present has 375 members, and maintains a flourishing Sunday School.

The United Presbyterian Church of Bellefontaine, the result of a union of the Associate and Associate Reformed congregations, is supposed to have been originally organized

*We find the foUowing'note appended to the history of this church as spread upon the church records : - [Ed. " Since the foregoing was recorded, the first book of records has strangely turned up, from which it appears that the resolution to organize Bellefontaine church was adopted Dec. 25, 1827; three elders were elected Februaryai, 1828 ; they were "ordained and installed March 11, 1828, and a separate enrollment of members for Bellefontaine, and the completion of its separate existence were effected August 9, 1828." about the year 1831, by Rev. John Reynolds, though the early history of the church here is involved in some obscurity. From a history of the congregation written by Rev. John Williamson, and published in the "History of the United Presbyterian Presbytery of Sidney, and the Congregations," we gather most of the facts pertaining to its history. To trace the history of the' two branches of the church which formed the United Presbyterian Church of Bellefontaine would take up more space than we can devote to it in this volume. We shall, therefore, give the main facts as briefly as possible.

From the sketch of Mr. Williamson, alluded to above, we find that Rev. James N. Gamble was installed Pastor of the Associate Reformed Congregation on the 10th of September, 1833, and that the congregation at that time numbered fifty-two members. Mr. Gamble, it appears, remained Pastor of the church until his death, which occurred on the 19th of December,, 1842, though for some time previous he was not able to perform much ministeria! labor. Says Mr. Williamson: " His name is still remembered by many who knew' him, and by some who enjoyed and appreciated his labors. To him, more largely than to any other man, the Associate Reformed Church of Bellefontaine is indebted for its existence and influence." From the death of Mr. Gamble until the Rev. Samuel Wallace was installed Pastor, June 25, 1850, the congregation seems to have been without a settled minister.

About the same time the Associate Reformed Congregation was joined, an Associate Congregation was formed in Bellefontaine, by Rev. Samuel Wilson, D. D., but was afterward incorporated with the Associate Congregation of Cherokee. " The Associate Congregation," says Mr. Williamson, "that was in Bellefontaine in 1858, and which entered into the union forming the United Presbyterian

Congregation of Bellefontaine, was organized by Rev. James Wallace, November 17, 1853." Rev. Joseph McHatton, Pastor of the Associate Reformed Congregation at the time of the union, remained Pastor of the United Presbyterian Congregation until the 13th of April, 1859. He subsequently settled near Oxford, Ohio, where he remained until 1874-5. The congregation remained without a Pastor after Mr. McHatton left it until 1862, when Rev. W. H. Jeffers assumed charge, and remained until 1865. The next Pastor was Rev. John Williamson, who is still in charge. He was ordained and installed on the 2d Tuesday in April, 1867, by the Presbytery of Sidney. They still worship in their original building, though considerable money has been spent on it in repairs, rendering it a comfortable edifice. It is in a flourishing condition, and has a large regular attendance.

The Roman Catholic Church was organized in Bellefontaine in 1853. One of the first ministers of this Church who held services in the town, was Father Grogan, of Urbana, and used to conduct church at the houses of Catholic families long before the organization of a church society. Upon the organization of the Society, Rev. Father Thomas Sheahan was installed Pastor. He was succeeded by Rev. J. F. McSweeney, and he by Rev. John Coveny, who served until November, 1869, when, as will be remembered, he was assassinated. Father Young was the next Pastor, and commenced his labors December, 1869. The present Pastor is Father Bourion, who assumed charge of the church in 1878. The church has a handsome brick building in the southeast part of town, and has a large membership, together with a good Sunday school. The First Christian Church of Bellefontaine* was organized on the 33d day of May, 1868. The same year the society built a hall on the second floor of a building on the north side of West Columbus street, which was dedicated to worship March 14, 1869. In May, 1870, the society sold the hall, and bought the old brick church, which stood on North Main street, of the Presbyterian Congregation for $1,600, and which it still owns, but is now rented to the Reformed Presbyterian congregation. The Pastors of the Christian Church were Revs. A. F. Abbot, T. A. Brandon, and William I. Lawrence ; the total membership was sixty, but, owing to death and removals, it is now reduced to twenty. Sabbath school was organized in the Spring of 1869, and continued until May, 1878, when preaching was suspended. The Superintendents were O. Hayes, H. C. Moore, H. T. Raymond, J. W. Harrington, and William I. Lawrence. The society has been without a Pastor since 1878.

The Baptist Church, of Bellefontaine, was organized in 1845 by the Rev. James French, and about 1852, the church built a house of worship. At the time the church was built, Rev. Mr.Roney was Pastor. He was a zealous preacher and an exemplary Christian, and displayed wonderful energy during the building of their temple of worship, performing the work of a regular hand. Rev. A. J. Wyant, at present Pastor of the Baptist Church of Mt. Gilead, Ohio, was at one time connected with this church. Rev. W. H. Stringer was another of the efficient Pastors, and an able minister.

An Episcopal Church was organized in 1856, and after two years became extinct, but in 1874 was again organized under Rev. A. B. Nicholas. Meetings were held in the hall over the engine house for a time. At present, we are informed, the church is without a Pastor.

succeeded Mr. Bickley. The church has had several Pastors since that time. The congregation is at present building a new temple of worship, and when completed, will be one of the finest church edifices in the city. The church is in a flourishing condition, and numbers among its membership some of the most prominent citizens of Bellefontaine.

There are, in addition to the churches mentioned above, two colored church organizations in the town, viz: The African Methodist Episcopal Church and Colored Baptist Church, but we have been unable to obtain any particulars "in regard to them. The meager notice of some other of the churches of Bellefontaine results from our inability to obtain the facts. Application was made to the different Pastors for sketches of their respective churches, but some failed to respond, and we were forced to get what information we could from other sources.