Page:History of Richland County, Ohio.djvu/215

 HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY

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��Eyes," " Between-the-logs," and other noted Christian Indians. They were Methodists, and supported a church established by Rev. James B. Finley, about 1820. The first person to preach to them was John Stewart, a mulatto, a member of the Methodist Church, who came to the Wyandots of his own accord in 1816, and gained much influence over them. His efforts on their behalf paved the way for the estab- lishment of a permanent mission by the church, the first of this denomination among the In- dians in the Mississippi A' alley.

The mission church building was built of blue limestone, in 1824, from government funds. Rev. Mr. Finley having permission from the Secretary of War, John C. Calhoun, to apply $1,333 for this purpose. The church still re- mains, and around it the graves of many of the Indian converts, who became most excellent citizens, many of whom were very loath to go farther West when their final remove was made

in 1842.

Speaking of the Shawanees or Shawanoes, Col. Johnston, a most excellent authority on such subjects, says: "We can trace their his- tory to the time of their residence on the tide- waters of Florida, and, as well as the Delawares, they aver that they originally came from west of the Mississippi. Blackhoof, who died at Wapaghkonnetta, at the advanced age of 105 years, and who, in his day, was a very influen- tial chief among the Indians, told me that he remembered, when a boy. loathing in the salt waters of Florida; also that his people flrmly believed white or civilized people had been in the country before them, having found in many instances the marks of iron tools, axes upon trees and stumps, over which the sand had blown. Shawanoese means "the South," or - people from the South."* After the peace of 1763, the Miamis removed from the Big Miami River and a l)ody of Shawanees established themselves at Lower and Upper Piqua, which


 * Howe's Collections.

��became their principal headquarters in Ohio. They remained here until driven off by the Ken- tuckians, when they crossed over to the St. Marys and to Wapaghkonnetta. The Upper Piqua is said to have contained at one period over four thousand Shawanees. They were very warlike and brave, and often were quite formidable enemies.

In the French war, which ended in 1763, a bloody battle was fought near the site of Col. Johnston's residence, at Upper Piqua. At that time the Miamis had their towns there, which on ancient maps are marked as -Tewightewee towns." The Miamis, Ottawas, Wyandots, and other northern tribes, adhering to the French, made a stand here, assisted ])y the French. The Delawares, Shawanees, Munseys, parts of the Senecas, residing in Pennsylvania; Cherokees, Cataw]ias, and other tribes, adhering to the English, with English traders, attacked the French and Indians. The latter had built a fort in which to protect and defend themselves, and were able to withstand the siege, which lasted more than a week. Not long after this con- test, the Miamis left the country, retiring to the Miami of the lake, at and near Fort Wayne, and never returned. The Shawanees took their place, and gave names to many towns in this part of Ohio.

The part assigned to this nation by Col. Whittlesey, extended to the line before men- tioned, i. e., to the center of the county east and west, and north as far as the southern line of the Hurons, a short distance north of the site of Mansfield. The only village of the tribe known to have existed here was in the edge of Crawford County, at a place known as Knise- ty's Spring, now Annapolis. The water of the spring is highly impregnated with sulphuretted hydrogen, tarnishes silver, and deposits a sul- phurous precipitate a short distance from the spring. Dr. William Bushnell says the spring was a favorite resort of the Indians after he came to the county. He says also that the

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