Stark County, Ohio - Chapter with an unread heading (no. 9 of those read), 1881

IN June, 1812, war was declared against Great Britain. Befure this, an act was passed liy Congress, autliorizing tiie increase oi" the regular army to thirty-five thous;»nd troops, and a large force of volunteers, to serve twelve months. Under this act, Return J. Meigs, then (JovtM-nor of t)hio, in April and May, 1812, raised three regiments of troops to serve twelve months. They rendezvoused at Dayton, elected their officers, and prepared for the campaign. These regiments were numbered First, Second and Third. Duncan Me- Arthur was Colonel of the First ; James Findlay, of the Second, and Lewis ('iiss, of the Third. Early in June these troops marched to Urbana, where they were joined by Boyd's Fourth Regiment of regular troo]is, under command of Col. Miller, who hail been in the battle of Tippecanoe. Near the miiMIe of Juno, this little army of about twenty-five hundred nun. under command of Gov. William Hull, of Michigan, who had been authorized by Congress to raise the troops, started on its northern march. By the end of June, the army had reached the JIaumee, after a very severe march, erecting, on the way, Forts McArthur, Necessitj' and Findlay. By some carelessness on the part of the American Government, no official word . had been sent to the tronticrs ng:inlini: the war, while the British had taken an early precaution to prepare for the crisis. Gov. Hull was very careful in military etiquette, and refiised to march, or do any offensive acts, unless commanded by his superior officers at Washington. While at the Maumec, by a careless move, all his personal eflfects, including all his plans, number and strength of his army, etc., fell into the hands of the enemy. His campaign ended only in ignominious defeat, and wtll-uigh paralyzed future cft'urts. All Jlichigan tell into the hands of the Brilish. The commander, though a good man, lacked bravery and promptness. Had Gen. Harrison been in command no such results would have been the case, and the war would have probably ended at the outset.

Governor of Indiana Territory, to visit Frankfort, to consult on the subject of ditcnding the Northwest, (rov. Harrison had visited (iov. Scott, and in August, 1812, accepted the appointment of Major General in the Kentucky militia, and, by hasty traveling, on the receijit of the news of the surrender of Detroit, reached Cincinnati on the morning of the 27th of that month. On the HOth he left Cincinnati, and the next day overtook the army he was to command, on its way to Dayton. Afler leaving Dayton, he was overtaken by an express, informing him of his appointment by the Government as Commander-in-Chief of the armies of the Indiana and Illinois Territories. The army reached Piqua, September 3. From this place Harrison sent a body of troops to aid in the defense of Fort Wayne, threatened by the enemy. On the Gth he ordered all the troops forward, and while on the march, on September 17, he was informed of his appointment as commander of the entire Northwestern troops. He found the army poorly clothed fi)r a winter campaign, now approaching, and at once issued a stirring addre.ss to the people, asking for food and comfortable clothing. The address was not in vain. After his apjiointment, Gen. Harrison pushed on to Auglaize, where, leaving the army under command of Gen. Winchester, he returned to the interiorof the State, and establishing his headcjuarters at Franklinton, began active measures for the campaign.

Early in March, 1812, Col. John Miller rai.sed, under orders, a regiment of infantry in Ohio, and in July assembled his enlisted men at Chillicothe, where, placing them - only one hundred and forty in number - under command of Captain Angus Lewis, he .sent them on to the frontier. Thcj' erected a block-house at I'iqua and then went on to Defiance, to the main bod)' of the armv.

In July, 1812, Gen. Edward W.."Tupper, of Grallia County, raised one thousand men for six months' duty. Under orders fmni Gen. AVinchester, they marched through Chillicothe and Urbana, on to the Maumee, where, near the lower end of the rapids, they made an inefl'ectual attempt to drive off the enemy. Failing in this, the enemy attiicked Tujiper and his troops, who, thougli worn down with the march and not a Httle disorganized through tho jealousies of the officers, withstood the attack, and repulsed the British and their red allies, who returned to Detroit, and the Aiuericuus to Fort McArthur.

In the fall of 1812, Gen. Harrison ordered a detachment of six hundred men, mostly mounted, to destroy the Indian towns on the Missisineway River, one of the head-waters of the Wabash. The winter set in early and with unusual severity. At the same tiiue this expedition was carried on, Bonaparte was retreating from ^Moscow. Theexpeditiiin accomplished its design, though the troops suffered greatly from the cold, no less than two hundred men being more or less frost bitten.

<Ti>n. Harrison determined at once to retake ^Michigan and establish a line of defense along the southern shores of the lakes. Winchester was sent to occupy Forts Wayne and Defiance; Perkins' brigade to Lower Sandusky, to fortify an old stockade, and some Pennsylvania troops and artillery sent there at the same time. As soon as Gen. Harrison heard the results of the Missisineway expedition, he went to Chillicothe to consult with Gov. Meigs about further movements, anil the best methods to keep the way between the Upper Miami and the Maumee continually open. Ho also sent Gen. Winchester word to move forward to the rapids of the jVIaumee and prepare for winter quarters. This Winchester did by the middle of January, 1813, establishing himself on the northern bank of the river, just above Wayne's old battle-ground. He was well fixed here, and was enabled to give his troops good bread, made from corn gathered in Indian corn-fields in this vicinity.

While here, the inhabitants of Freni-litown, on the RaLsin River, about twenty miles from Detroit, sent W^inchester word claiming protection from tlie threatened British and Indian invasion, avowing themselves in sympathy with the Americans. A council of war decided in favor of their request, and Col. Lewis, with .550 men, sent to their relief. Soon aft«r. Col. Allen was sent with more troops, and the enemy easily driven away from about Frenchtown. Word was sent to Gen. Winchester, who determined to march with all the men he could spare to aid in holding the post gained. He left, the 19th of January, with 250 men, and arrived on the evening of the 20th. Failing to take the necessary precaution, from some unexplained reason, the enemy came up in the night, established his batteries, and, the next day, surprised and defeated the American Army with a terrible loss. Gen. Winchester was made a prisoner, and, finally, those who were intrenched in the town surrendered, under promise of Proctor, the British commander, of protection from the Imlians. This promise was gi-ossly violated the next day. The savages were allowed to enter the town and enact a massacre as cruel and bloody as any in the annals of the war, to the everhisting ignominy of the British General and his troops.

Tliiise of the American Army that escaped, arrived at the rapids on the evening of the 22d of January, and soon the sorrowful news spread throughout the army and nation. Gen. Hamson set about retrieving the disaster at once. Delay could do no good. A fort was built at the rapids, named Fort Meigs, and troops from the south and west hurriedly advanced to the scene of action. The investment and capture of Detroit was abandoned, that winter, owing to the defeat at Frenchtown, and expiration of the terms of service of many of the troops. Others took their places, all parts of Ohio and bordering States sending men.

The erection of Fort Meigs was an obstacle in the path of the British they determined to remove, and, on the 28th of February, 1813, a large band of British and Indians, under command of Proctor, Tecumseh, Walk-in-the-water, and other Indian chiefs, appeared in the Maumee in boats, and prepared for the attack. Without entering into details regarding the investment of the fort, it is only necessary to add, that after a prolonged siege, lasting to the early part of May, the British were obliged to abandon the fort, having been severely defeated, and sailed for the Canadian shores.

Next followed the attacks on Fort Stephenson, at Lower Sandusky, and other predatory excursions, by the British. All of these failed of their design; the defense of Maj. Croghan and his men constituting one of the most brilliant actions of the war. For the gallant defense of F'ort Stephenson by Maj. Croghan, then a young man, the army merited the highest honors. The ladies of Chillicothe voted the heroic Major a fine sword, while the whole land rejoiced at the exploits of him and his band.

The decisive efforts of the army, the gi-eat number's of men offered - many of whom Gen. Harrison was obliged to send home, much to their disgust^ - Perry's victory on Lake Erie, September 10, 1813 - all presaged the triumph of the American arms, soon to ensue. As soon as the battle on the lake was over, the Briti.sh at Maiden burned tlicir stores, ami fled, while the Americans, under their g:illant couuuander, followed them in Perry's vessel to the Canada shure, overtaking them on the Kiver Thames, October 5. In tlie battle that ensued, Tecumseh was slaiu,and the BritLsh Army routed.

The war was now practically closed in the West. Ohio troops had done nobly in defending their northern frontier, and in regaining the Northwestern country. Gen. Harrison was s<ion after elected to Congress by the Cincinnati district, and Oen. ]>uncan IMcArthur was appointed a Brigadier General in the regular army, and assigned to the command in his place. Gen. JIcArthur made an expedition into Upper Canada in the spring of 1814, destroying considerable property, and driving the British farther into their own dominions. Peace w;i3 declared early in 1815, and tliat .spring, the troops were mustered out of service at Chillicothe, and peace with England reigned supreme.

The results of the war iu Ohio were, for awhile, similar to the Indian war of 1795. It brought many people into the State, and opened new portions, before unknown. Many of the .soldiers immediately invested thi;ir money in lands, and became citizens. The war drove many jjyople from the Atlantic Coast west, and as a result much money, for awhile, circulated. Labor and provisions ro.se, which enabled both workmen and tradesmen to enter tracts of land, and aided emigration. At the conclusion of Wayuj's war in 179."), probably not more than five thousand people dwelt in tiie limits of the State ; at the clo.se of the war of 1812, that number was largely increa.sed, (!ven with the odds of war against them. Aft«rthe last war, the emigration was constant and gradual, building up tlie State in a manner that betokened a healthful life.

As soon as the effects of the war had worn off, a period of depression set in, as a result of too free speculation indulged in at its close. Gradually a stagnation of business ensued, and many who found themselves unable to meet contracts luade in " flush " times, found no alternative but to fail. To relieve the pressure in all parts of the West, Congress, about 1815, reduced the price of public lands from S2 to 81.25 per acre. This measure worked no little hardship on those who owned large tracts of lands, for portions of which they had not fully paid, and ius a consec|Ucnce, these lands, as well as all others of tliis class, reverted to the Government. The general market was in New

Orleans, whither goods weie transported iu flatboats built especially for this jjuposi;. This commerce, though small and poorly rejiaid, wa.s the main avenue of trade, and did much for the slow prosperit}' prevalent. The few banks in the State found their bills at a discount abroad, and gradually becoming drained of their specie, either clo.sed business or fiiiled, the major part of them adopting the latter course.

The steamboat began to be an important factor in the river navigation of the West about this period. The first boat to descend the Ohio was the Orleans, built at Pitt.sburg iu 1812, and in December of that year, while tlie fortunes of war hung over the land, she made her first trip from the Iron City to New Orleans, being just twelve days on the way. The second, built by Samuel Smith, was called the Comet, and made a trip as far south as Louisville, in the summer of 1813. The third, the Vesuvius, was built by Fulton, and went to New Orleans in 1814. The fourth^ built by Daniel French at Brownsville, Penn., made two trips to Louisville in the summer of 1814. The next vessel, the iEtua, was built by Fulton & Company in 1815. So fast did the business increase, that, four years after, more than forty steamers floated on the Western waters. Improvements in machinery kept pace with the building, until, in 1888, a competent writer stated there were no less than four hundred steamers iu the West. Since then, the erection of railways has greatly retarded ship-building, and it is altogether probable the number has increased but little.

The question of canals began to agitate the Western country during the decade succeeding the war. They had been and were being constructed in older countries, and presaged good and prosperous times. If only the waters of the lakes and the Ohio Kiver could be united b)' a canal running through the midst of the State, thought the jjeople, prosjierous cities and towns would arise on its banks, and counnerce flow through the land. One of the firmest friends of .such im]irovemcnts was De Witt Clinton, who had been the chief man in forwarding the " Clinton Canal,'' in New York. He was among the first to advocate the feasibility of a canal connecting Lake Erie and the Ohio River, and, by the success of the New York canals, did much to bring it about. Popular writers of the day all urged the scheme, so that when the A.ssembly met, early in December, 1821, the resolution, offered by Micajah T. Williams, of Cincinnati, for the appointment of a committee of five members to take into consideration so much of the Governor's message as related to canals, and see if some feasible plan could not be adopted whereby a beginning could be made, was quickly adopted.

The report of the committee, advising a survey and examination of routes, met with the approval of the Assembly, and commissioners were appointed who were to employ an engineer, examine the country and report on the practicability of a canal between the lakes and the river. The commissioners employed James Geddes, of Onondaga County, N. Y., as an engineer. He arrived in Columbus in June, 1822, and, before eight months, the corps of engineers, under his direction, had examined one route. During the next two summers, the examinations continued. A number of routes were examined and surveyed, and one, from Cleveland on the lake, to Portsmouth on the Oliio, was recommended. Another canal, from Cincinnati to Dayton, on the JMiami, was determined on, and preparations to commence work made. A Board of Canal Fund Commissioners was created, money was borrowed, and the morning of July 4, 1825, the first shovelful of earth was dug near Newark, with imposing ceremonies, in the presence of De Witt Clinton, Governor of New York, and a mighty concourse of people assembled to witness the auspicious event.

Gov. Clinton was escorted all over the State to aid in developing the energy everywhere apparent. The events were important ones in the history of the State, and, though they led to the creation of a vast debt, yet, in the end, the canals were a benefit.

The main canal - the Ohio and Erie Canal^ was not ciiuipleted till 1832. The Jlaumee Canal, from Dayton to Cincinnati, was finished in 1834. They cost the State about §G,OU((,000. Each of the main canals had branches leading to important towns, where their construction could be made without too much expense. The IMiamiand Maumve. Canal, from Cincinnati northward along the Mianu River to Piqua, thence to the Maumee and on to the lake, was the largest canal made, and, for many years, was one of the most important in the State. It joined the Wabash Canal on the eastern boundary of Indiana, and thereby saved the construction of many miles by joining this great canal from Toledo to Evansville.

The largest artificial lake in the world, it is said, was built to supply water to the Miami Canal. It exists yet, though the canal is not much used. It is in the eastern part of Mercer County, and is about nine miles long by from two to four wide. It was formed by raising two walls of earth from ten to thirty feet high, called respectively the east and west embankments ; the first of which is about two miles in length ; the second, about four. These walls, with the elevation of the ground to the north and south, formed a huge basin, t(j retain the water. The reservoir was commenced in 1837, and finished in 1845, at an expense of several hundred thousand dollars. When first built, during the accumulation of water, much malarial disease prevailed in the surrounding country, owing to the stagnant condition of the water. The citizens, enraged at what they considered an innovation of their rights, met, and, during a dark night, tore out a portion of the lower wall, letting the water flow out. The damage cost thousands cif dollars to repair. All who participated in the proceedings were liable to a severe imprisonment, but the state of feeling was such, in fiercer County, where the offense was committed, that no jury could be found that would try them, and the afiair gradually died out.

The canals, so efficacious in their day, were, however, superseded by the railroads rapidly finding their way into the West. From England, where they were early used in the collieries, the transition to America was easy.

The first railroad in the United States was built in the summer of 182G, from the granite quarry belonging to the Bunker Hill Monument Association to tlie wharf landing, three miles distant. The road was a slight decline from the Cfuarry to the wharf, hence the loaded cars were propelled by their own gravity. On their return, when empty, they were drawn up by a single horse. C)ther roads, or tramways, quickly followed this. They were built at the Pennsylvania coal mines, in South Carolina, at New Orleans, and at Baltimore. Steam motive power was u.sed in 1831 or 1832, first in America on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, and in Charlestown, on a railroad there.

To transfer these highways to the West was the cjuestion of but a, few years' time. The prairies of Illinois and Indiana offered superior inducements to such enterprises, and, early in 1835, they began to be agitated there. In 1838, the first rail was laid in Illinois, at Meredo.sia, a little town on the Illinoi.s River, on what is now the Wabash Railway.

"The first railroad made in Ohio," writes Caleb Atwater. in his "History of Ohio," in 1838, "was finished in 183G by the people of Toledo, a town some two years old then, situated near the mouth of Maumee River. The road extends westward into Michigan and is some thirty miles in length. There is a road ahout to bo made from Cincinnati to Springfield. This road follows the Ohio River up to the Little Jliami River, and there turns northwardly up its valley to Xenia, and, passing the Yellow Springs, reaches Springfield. Its length must be about ninety miles. The State will own one-half of the road, individuals and the city of Cincinnati the other half. This road will, no doubt, be extended to Lake Krie, at Sandusky City, within a few short years."

'- There is a railroad." continues 3Ir. Atwater, "about to be made from Painesville to the Ohio River. There are many charters for other roads, which will never be made."

Mr. Atwater notes also, the various turnpikes as as the famous National road trom Baltimore westward, then completed only to the mountains. This latter did a-s much as any enterprise ever enacted in building up and populating the West. It gave a uaticmal thoroughfare, which, for many years, was the ]irincipal wagon-way from the Atlantic to the [Mississippi Valley.

The railroad to which jMr. Atwater refers a.s about to be built from Cincinnati to Springfield, was what w;ls known as the Mad River Raih'oad. It is commonly conceded to be the first one built in Ohio.* Its hustory shows that it was chartered March 11, 1830, that work began in 1837; that it was completed and opened for business from Cincinnati to Milford, in December, 1S42; to Xenia, in Augu.st, 184.^, and to Springfield, in Augu.st, 1841). It was laid with strap rails until about 1848, when the present form of rail was adopted.

()ne of the earliest roads in Ohio was what w;ls known as the Sandusky, Mansfield & Newark Kailroad. It was chartered at first as the Mom-oevillc & Sandusky City Railroad, March 0, 183.5. March 12, 1836, the Mansfield & New Haven road was chartered; the Columbus & Lake Erie, March 12,

* Hon. E D. Mansfield states, in 1873, tli«t tlie " flmt a/-tiiai piece of milroaJ liii.l in Ohio, was made on thn Cincinnali A Sandusky Railroad; but, .al»>ut the same time we tiavo tlie Little Miami Railroa.l, which w.is surveyed in 18;!G and LsriT. If this, the generally accepted opinion, Is correct, then Mr. Atwater*8 statement as given, la wrong. His hittorv is, however, generally concede<l to be correct. Written in 1838, he surely ought to know whereof he was writing, aa the railroads were then only in construction ; but few, if any, in operation.

It is unnecessary to follow closely the history of these improvements through the yeare succeeding their introduction. At first the State owned a share in nearly all railroads and canals, but finally finding it.solf in debt about 815,000,1)00 for such improvements, and learning by its own and neighbors' experiences, that such policy was detrimental to the best interests of the people, abandoned the plan, and allowed j)rivate parties entire control of all such works. After the close of the Jloxican war, and the return to solid values in 1854 or thereabouts, the increa.se of railroads in all jiarts of Ohio, as well as all parts of the West, was simply marvelous. At this date there are more than ten thous;md miles of railroads in Ohio, alongside of which stretch innumerable lines of telegraph, a system of switt messages invented by Prof Slorse, and adopted in the United States about 1851.

About the time railroad building began to assume a tangible shape, in 1840, occurred the celebrated political campaign known in history as the " Hard Cider Campaign." The gradual encroachments of the slave power in the West, its arrogant attitude in the Congress of the United States and iu several State legislatures : its forcible .seizure of slaves in the free States, and the enactment and attem])ted enforcement of the " fugitive slave" law all tended to awaken in the minds of the Northern people an antagonism, terminating only in the late war and the abolishment of that hideous system iu the United States.

The " Whig Party" strenuously urged the abridgm<>nt or confinement of slavery in the Southern States, and in the contest the party took a most active part, and elected William Henry Harrison President of the United States. As he had been one of the foremost leadei-s in the war of 1812, a resident of Ohio, and one of its most popular citizens, a log cabin and a ban-el of cider were adopted as hLs exponents of popular opinion, as expressive of the rule of the common ])eo)ilc represented in the cabin and cider, in turn representing their ])rimitive and simple habits of life. He lived but thirty days after his inauguration, dying on the !»th of April, 1841, when John Tyler,' the Vice President, succeeded him as Chief Executive of the nation.

The building of railroads; the extension of commeree; the settlement of all part>s of the State; its growth in commerce, education, religion and