view of the governor. His attention, however, was again directed towards Tecumseh by hearing General Gibson, who was intimately acquainted with the Shawanoe language, say to Lieutenant Jennings: "Those fellows intend mischief; you had better bring up the guard.' At that moment the followers of Tecumseh seized their tomahawks and war clubs and sprang upon their feet, their eyes turned upon the governor. As soon as he could disengage himself from the armchair in which he sat, he rose, drew a small sword which he had by his side and stood on the defensive. Captain G. R. Floyd, of the army, who stood near him, drew a dirk, and the chief Winnemac cocked his pistol. The citizens present were more numerous than the Indians, but were unarmed. Some of them procured clubs and brickbats and also stood on the defensive, The Rev. Mr. Winans, of the Methodist Church, ran to the governor's house, got a gun, and posted himself at the door to defend the family. During this singular scene no one spoke, until the guard came running up, and, appearing to be in the act of firing, the governor ordered them not to do so. He then demanded of the interpreter an explanation of what had happened, who replied that Tecumseh had interrupted him, declaring that all the governor had said was false, and that he and the Seventeen Fires had cheated and imposed on the Indians. The governor then told Tecumseh that he was a bad man and that he would hold no further communication with him; that as he had come to Vincennes under the protection of a council-fire, he might return in safety, but that he must immediately leave the village. Here the council terminated. The undoubted purpose of the brothers now being known, Gov. Harrison proceeded to prepare for the contest he knew must ensue. In June of the year following (1811) he sent a message to the Shawanoes, bidding them beware of hostilities, to which Tecumseh gave a brief reply, promising to visit the governor. This visit he paid in July, accompanied by 300 followers, but as the Americans were prepared and determined, nothing resulted, and Tecumseh proceeded to the south, as it was supposed, to enlist the Creeks in the cause. In the meanwhile Harrison took measures to increase his regular force. His plan was to again warn the Indians to obey the treaty of Greenville, but at the same time to prepare to break up the prophet's establishment if necessary. On the 5th of October, having received his reinforcements, he was on the Wabash, about sixty miles above Vincennes, where he built Fort Harrison. On the 7th of November following he was attacked by the Indians at Tippecanoe and defeated them. Peace on the frontiers was one of the happy results of this severe and brilliant action. With the battle of Tippecanoe the prophet lost his popularity and power among the Indians, he having previously to the battle promised them certain victory. On the first commencement of the war of 1812 Tecumseh was in the field prepared for the conflict. In July there was an assemblage at Brownstown of those Indians who were inclined to neutrality. A deputation was sent to Malden to Tecumseh to attend this council. "No," said he, indignantly, "I have taken sides with the king, my father, and I will suffer my bones to bleach upon this shore before I will recross that stream to join in any council of neutrality." He participated in the battle of Brownstown and commanded the Indians in the action near Maguaga. In the last he was wounded, and it is supposed that his bravery and good conduct led to his being shortly after appointed brigadier-general in the service of the British king. In the siege of Fort Meigs Tecumseh behaved with great bravery and humanity. (See Wood County.) Immediately after the signal defeat of Proctor, at Fort Stephenson, he returned with the British troops to Malden by water, while Tecumseh with his followers passed over by land, round the head of Lake Erie, and joined him at that point. Discouraged by the want of success, and having lost all confidence in General Proctor, Tecumseh seriously meditated a withdrawal from the contest, but was induced to remain. indications of a retreat from Malden, and he promptly inquired into the matter. General Proctor informed him that he was only going to send their valuable property up the Thames, where it would meet a reinforcement and be safe. Tecumseh, however, was not to be deceived by this shallow device and remonstrated most urgently against a retreat. He finally demanded, in the name of all the Indians under his command, to be heard by the general, and on the 18th of September delivered to him, as the representative of their great father, the king, the following speech: Father, listen to your children! you have them now all before you. The war before this our British father gave the hatchet to his red children, when our old chiefs were alive. They are now dead. In that war our father was thrown upon his back by the Americans, and our father took them by the hand without our knowledge, and we are afraid that our father will do so again at this time. "Summer before last, when I came forward with my red brethren and was ready to take up the hatchet in favor of our British father, we were told not to be in a hurry, that he had not yet determined to fight the Americans. Listen! when war was declared our father stood up and gave us the tomahawk and told us that he was then ready to strike the Americans; that he wanted our assistance, and that we would certainly get our lands back which the Americans had taken from us. "Listen! you told us at that time to bring forward our families to this place, and we did so and you promised to take care of them, and they should want for nothing, while the men would go and fight the enemy; that we need not trouble ourselves about the enemy's garrisons; that we knew nothing about them, and that our father would attend to that part of the business. You also told your red children that you would take good care of your garrison here, which made our hearts glad. "Listen! when we were last here in the Rapids it is true we gave you little assistance. It is hard to fight people who live like ground hogs. Father, listen! our fleet has gone out; we know they have fought; we have heard the great guns; but we know nothing of what has happened to our father with one arm. Our ships have gone one way, and we are much astonished to see our father tying up everything and preparing to run away the other without letting his red children know what his intentions are. You always told us to remain here and take care of our lands; it made our hearts glad to hear that was your wish. Our great father, the king, is the head, and you represent him. You always told us you would never draw your foot off British ground; but now, father, we see that you are drawing back, and we are sorry to see our father doing so without see ing the enemy. We must compare our father's conduct to a fat dog, that carries his tail on its back, and, when affrighted, drops it between its legs and runs off. "Father, listen! the Americans have not yet defeated us by land; neither are we sure that they have done so by water; we, therefore, wish to remain here and fight our enemy, should they make their appearance. If they defeat us, we will then retreat with our father. At the battle of the Rapids, last war, the Americans certainly defeated us, and when we returned to our father's fort at that place the gates were shut against us. We were afraid that it would now be the case; but instead of that we now see our British father preparing to march out of his garrison. Father, you have got the arms and ammunition which our great father sent for his red children. If you have an idea of going away, give them to us, and you may go and welcome, for us. Our lives are in the hands of the Great Spirit. We are determined to defend our lands, and if it be his will we wish to leave our bones upon them.” Tecumseh entered the battle of the Thames with a strong conviction that he should not survive it. Further flight he deemed disgraceful, while the hope of victory in the impending action was feeble and distant. He, however, heroically resolved to achieve the latter or die in the effort. With this determination he took his stand among his followers, raised the war-cry and boldly met the enemy. From the commencement of the attack on the Indian line his voice was distinctly heard by his followers, animating them to deeds worthy of the race to which they belonged. When that well-known voice was heard no longer above the din of arms the battle ceased. The British troops having already surrendered, and the gallant leader of the Indians having fallen, they gave up the contest and fled. A short distance from where Tecumseh fell the body of his friend and brother-in-law, Wasegoboah, was found. They had often fought side by side, and now, in front of their men, bravely battling the enemy, they side by side closed their mortal career. Thus fell the Indian warrior Tecumseh, in the forty-fourth year of his age. He was of the Shawanoe tribe, five feet ten inches high, and with more than the usual stoutness, possessed all the agility and perseverance of the Indian character. His carriage was dignified, his eye penetrating, his countenance, which even in death betrayed the indications of a lofty spirit, rather of the sterner cast. Had he not possessed a certain austerity of manners, he could never have controlled the wayward passions of those who followed him to battle. He was of a silent habit; but when his eloquence became roused into action by the reiterated encroachments of the Americans, his strong intellect could supply him with a flow of oratory that enabled him, as he governed in the field, so to prescribe in the council. Those who consider that in all terri torial questions, the ablest diplomatists of the United States are sent to negotiate with the Indians, will readily appreciate the loss sustained by the latter in the death of their champion. Such a man was the unlettered savage, Tecumseh, and such a man have the Indians lost forever. He has left a son, who, when his father fell, was about seventeen years old, and fought by his side. The prince regent, in 1814, out of respect to the memory of the old, sent out as a present to the young Tecumseh, a handsome sword. Unfortunately, however, for the Indian cause and country, faint are the prospects that Tecumseh the son will ever equal, in wisdom or prowess, Tecumseh the father. It is stated by Mr. James, a British historian, that Tecumseh, after he fell, was not only scalped, but that his body was actually flayed, and the skin converted into razor-straps by the Kentuckians. Amid the great amount of conflicting testimony relating to the circumstances of Tecumseh's death, it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to ascertain the precise facts. It is, however, generally believed that he fell by a pistol-shot, fired by Col. Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky, who acted a most prominent part in this battle. Springfield was the scene of an interesting incident in the life of Tecumseh, which is given at length by his biographer. In the autumn of this year [1807] a white man, by the name of Myers, was killed a few miles west of where the town of Urbana now stands, by some straggling Indians. This murder, taken in connection with the assemblage of the Indians under Tecumseh and the prophet, created a great alarm on the frontier, and actually induced many families to remove back to Kentucky, from whence they had emigrated. A demand was made by the whites upon these two brothers for the Indians who had committed the murder. They denied that it was done by their party, or with their knowledge, and declared that they did not even know who the murderers were. The alarm continued, and some companies of militia were called out. It was finally agreed that a council should be held on the subject in Springfield, for the purpose of quieting the settlements. Gen. Whiteman, Maj. Moore, Capt. Ward, and one or two others, acted as commissioners on the part of the whites. Two parties of Indians attended the council; one from the north, in charge of McPherson; the other, consisting of sixty or seventy, came from the neighborhood of Fort Wayne, under the charge of Tecumseh. Roundhead, Blackfish and several other chiefs were also present. There was no friendly feeling between these two parties, and each was willing that the blame of the murder should be fixed upon the other. The party under McPherson, in compliance with the wishes of the commissioners, left their arms a few miles from Springfield. Tecumseh and his party refused to attend the council unless permitted to retain their arms. After the conference was opened, it being held in a maple grove a little north of where Werden's hotel now stands, the commissioners. fearing some violence, made another effort to induce Tecumseh to lay aside his arms. This he again refused, saying, in reply, that his tomahawk was also his pipe, and that he might wish to use it in that capacity before their business was closed. At this moment a tall, lank-sided Pennsylvanian, who was standing among the spectators, and who, perhaps, had no love for the shining tomahawk of the self-willed chief, cautiously approached, and handed him an old, long-stemmed, dirtylooking earthen pipe, intimating that, if Tecumseh would deliver up the fearful tomahawk, he might smoke the aforesaid pipe. The chief took it between his thumb and finger, held it up, looked at it for a moment, then at the owner, who was gradually receding from the point of danger, and immediately threw it, with an indignant sneer, over his head into the bushes. The commissioners yielded the point, and proceeded to business. After a full and patient inquiry into the facts of the case, it appeared that the murder of Myers was the act of an individual, and not justly chargeable upon either party of the Indians. Several speeches were made by the chiefs, but Tecumseh was the principal speaker. He gave a full explanation of the views of the prophet and himself, in calling around them a band of Indians-disavowed all hostile intentions towards the United States, and denied that he or those under his control had committed any aggressions upon the whites. His manner, when speaking, was animated, fluent and rapid, and made a strong impression upon those present. The council terminated. In the course of it, the two hostile parties became reconciled to each other, and quiet was restored to the frontier. The Indians remained in Springfield for three days, and on several occasions amused themselves by engaging in various games and other athletic exercises, in which Tecumseh generally proved himself victorious. His strength and power of muscular action were remarkably great, and in the opinion of those who attended the council, corresponded with the high order of his moral and intellectual character. The following article upon the early history of the county was written in 1847 for the first edition by a gentleman of Springfield, who just after our visit called Messrs. Humphries, Lowry and Foos into his office and took these notes. He is spoken of in a near succeeding page. "There are three old men now living in this county, viz., John Humphries, David Lowry and Griffith Foos, from whom we have gathered the following particulars respecting the early history of Springfield, and also some incidents connected with the first settlements made in the vicinity. Messrs. Humphries, Lowry and Foos are all men of great respectability, and are well known to all the early settlers of this region of Ohio. John Humphries is now eighty-three years of age, David Lowry about seventyseven, and Griffith Foos about seventy-five. John Humphries came to what is now Clark county with Gen. Simon Kenton, in 1799; with them emigrated six families from Kentucky, and made the first settlement in the neighborhood of what is now Springfield, north of the ground on which was afterwards located the town. At this time, he is the only survivor of those of his companions and associates who were at the time heads of families. Mr. Humphries speaks of a fort which was erected on Mad river, two miles from the site of Springfield; this fort contained within its pickets fourteen cabins, and was erected for the purpose of common security against the Indians. David Lowry came into Ohio in the spring of 1795. He built the first flat boat, to use his own language, "that ever navigated the Great Miami river from Dayton down, which was in the year 1800." He took the same boat to New Orleans, laden with pickled pork, 500 venison hams, and bacon. Lowry, with one Jonathan Donnell, made the second settlement within what is now the limits of Clark county; Demint's was the third settlement. The first corn crop raised in the neighborhood of Springfield was in 1796. Two men, whose names were Krebs and Brown, cultivated the crop. Lowry hunted for the party while they were engaged in tending the crop; the ground occupied was about three miles west of the site of Springfield. He raised a crop of corn the ensuing year, and also accompanied the party that surveyed and laid out the first road from Dayton to Springfield. He and Jonathan Donnell killed, in one season, in their settlement, seventeen bears, and in the course of his life, he states he has killed 1,000 deer; and that he once shot a she-bear and two cubs in less than three minutes. Griffith Foos, with several other persons, came into what is now Springfield, in the month of March, 1801. They were in search of a healthy region, having become wearied with the sickly condition of the Scioto valley. The laying off what is now called the old town of Springfield was commenced March 17, 1801. Mr. Foos commenced the first public house ever kept in the place; it was a loghouse, situated on the lot directly opposite to the National hotel, now kept by William Werden. He opened his house in June, 1801, and continued it without intermission until the 10th of May, 1814. He states that he and his party were four and a half days getting from Franklinton, on the Scioto, to Springfield, a distance of forty-two miles. In crossing Big Darby they were obliged to carry all their goods on horseback, and then to drag their wagon across with ropes, while some of the party swam by the side of the wagon to prevent it from upsetting. In 1807, in consequence of the alarm which the neighborhood felt on account of the Indians, Mr. Foos' house was turned into a fort. This was the first building erected in the place. Saml. Simonton erected the first frame house in the county in 1807. Wm. Ross built the first brick house, which is still standing on the southeast corner of South and Market streets. These early settlers represent the county at that day as being very beautiful. North of the site of Springfield, for fourteen miles, upon the land which is now thick with woods, there could not, from 1801 to 1809, have been found a sufficiency of poles to have made hoops for a meat cart. The forest consisted of large trees, with no undergrowth, and the ground was finely sodded. Mr. Griffith Foos speaks of an old hunter by the name of James Smith, from Kentucky, who was at his house in 1810, who stated that he was in this neighborhood fifty years previously with the Indians, and that up the prairie, northeast of the town of Springfield, they started some buffalo and elk. The first house of worship built in Springfield was in 1811: one man gave the ground-Foos gave a handsome young horse ($10) towards hewing the logs and preparing the shingles. It was a place of worship free to all denominations, and was built right south of a public house which stands directly west of Mill run, on the south side of the national road. The early settlers were unequalled for their kindness, honesty and hospitality. Mr. Foos says that, at his raising, there were present forty men before breakfast, and from a distance of from seven to ten miles; and Lowry says, that at Isaac Zane's raising, there were persons from forty miles distance." SPRINGFIELD IN 1846.-Springfield, the county-seat, is forty-three miles west of Columbus on the National road, and on the line of the railroads connecting Cincinnati with Sandusky city. It was laid out in 1803 by James Demint. It is surrounded by a handsome and fertile country, is noted for the morality and intelligence of its inhabitants, and, by many, is considered the most beautiful village within the limits of Ohio. The eastern fork of Mad river washes it on the north, a stream described "as unequalled for fine mill seats, its current very rapid, and the water never so low in the driest season as to interfere with the mills now upon it." Through the place runs the Lagonda, or Buck creek, a swift and unfailing mill stream. Within a range of three miles of the town are upwards of twenty mill seats. Springfield suffered much during the era of speculation, but is now prospering, and from its natural advantages is destined to hold a prominent place among the manufacturing towns of the State. The engraving shows its appearance as viewed from the National road, a quarter of a mile east; the main street appears in front, on the left the academy, and on the right the court-house and one of the churches. The view is from a familliar position, but the village, like many other beautiful towns, is so situated that no drawing from any one point can show it to advantage. Several of the first settlers of Springfield still remain in and around it; among them may be mentioned the names of John Humphreys, David Lowry and Griffith Foos, the last of whom occupied the first house built in the town as a tavern. The Ohio Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church has a flourishing high school at Springfield for both sexes. A lyceum has been in successful operation about fourteen years, and the public libraries of the town comprise about |