| Contributor::
|
Transcription contributed by Leah L. Furnas 1 May 2005 |
| Sources: |
The History of Warren County Ohio |
Page |
On account of the eventful career of Wm. Smalley, and the fact that he was the first settler of Washington Township and played a prominent part in the history of its settlement, we give him this extended notice. Opinions differ as to the date and place of his birth, but the most probable account obtained by much research, is, that he was born in New Jersey about the year 1759 or 1760, and lived with his father’s family in that State until 1764, when they moved to Western Pennsylvania, where a number of families had settled near Fort Pitt (now Pittsburgh). When the time came for planting and cultivating the crops, in the sixteenth year of his age, he and the aged men, women and boys of the fort were placed as pickets to notify the settlers working in the fields of any approaching danger from the Indians, who were then very hostile. Despite their watchfulness, the savages crept between the fort and the laborers, and, in the excitement that followed, young Smalley and others were captured by the Delaware Indians. He was made to witness the most horrible and revolting scenes; he saw his father cruelly tomahawked by an Indian, and most of the prisoners taken ruthlessly butchered. He, with a few others, was retained and carried into captivity. They were taken to the Indian town on the Maumee River, and there confined in a hut built for the purpose on the outskirts of the village. They were afterward taken into the town and forced to “run the gauntlet,” through which young Smalley passed alive. His ears were bored, cut and otherwise lacerated until they hung in strips as marks of cruelty which he carried to his grave, being well remembered by many of the old citizens now living. He remained with the Indians five years, in that time learning to speak their language with great fluency. After the unfortunate battle of the Indians with Col. Crawford, in which the whites were routed and many taken captives, he witnessed the burning of Col. Crawford and the torture and death of others. At this time, the Indians were unable to dispose of their furs and other articles of trade, on account of their violation of their treaty with the French, and, being anxious to renew their intercourse with the whites, they deputed Smalley (who spoke English and French, as well as Indian) to visit the French post and negotiate terms of peace, promising him his liberty if he succeeded. He undertook the mission, in which he was successful, and immediately thereafter returned to his people in Pennsylvania, where he soon afterward married Prudence Hoel. While with the Indians, he saw several prisoners burned, and, on one occasion, saw an infant snatched from its mother’s breast and thrown into the flames. Soon after his marriage, he removed with the surviving members of his
father’s family to Columbia, near Fort Washington (now Cincinnati),
Ohio. During part of the time prior to the treaty of Greenville, probably
about 1788, Smalley
was engaged by Gen. Lytle as a hunter and guide to his
surveying party, at 75 cents per day. He was also in Harmar’s campaign
and St. Clair’s, defeat, in the latter engagement discharging his
rifle thirty-five times, twenty-one of which, it is said, took effect.
When Col. Truman and Maj. Lynch were |
| Page 698 |
commissioned by the Government to make peace with the Indians,
Smalley was employed
as their guide and interpreter. While on the Auglaize River, on their way
to the Indian country, they met three Indians with whom they agreed to camp
for the night, the day then begin far spent and the savages making profession
of friendships. The party had six guns, all empty but Smalley’s.
In the night, the treacherous savages murdered the two brave officers, but
made no effort to injure Smalley.
The two officers were scalped and Smalley
forced to dry their scalps before the fire. On the following morning, Smalley,
with the three Indians, commenced their march to the Indians town, where,
upon their arrival, Smalley
was put on a stump and forced to make them a specch and explain his absence
from them. At the expiration of a year and seven months’ captivity,
he was enabled, with the assistance of an Indian friend, to escape from
his second captivity. He returned to his home at Columbia, where he remained
but a short time. About the year 1794, he engaged with Gen. Wayne as guide
and interpreter in his expedition against the Indians. Smalley’s
knowledge of the paths, roads and Indian trails, as well as his thorough
acquaintance with Indian manners and habits, made him well calculated to
act in this capacity. He remained with the army until after the treaty of
Greenville, when the soldiers were discharged. Smalley
returned to his home and devoted his remaining years to a life of less danger.
He located lands on Todd’s Fork of the Little Miami River, ten miles
above the mouth of the stream, in a survey patented to William Lytle,
William T. Barre and Duncan McArthur; he and his brother built
a double cabin in 1797, and cleared a considerable tract of the finest land
in that locality. Mr. Smalley erected a saw-mill and grist-mill about 1805
or 1806; he also built a small distillery. At this time the country was
sparsely settled, their nearest neighbor being James Miranda,
who lived at the mouth of Todd’s Fork, where the flourishing village
of Morrow is now situated.
Mr. Smalley
was the father of ten children – six sons and four daughters, viz.,
Benjamin, Freeman, a Baptist minister, John,
Rachel, William, Mary, James, Jesse, Martha and Prudence; all
married in Warren County, and lived, for a time, on their father’s
land, which lies in Warren and Clinton Counties. Rachel
married William Nelson and died in 1824, being the first
person interred in the graveyard near the depot at Clarksville; her mother
was buried at the same place one month later. William
died some years previously. Mary married Zara
Stearnes, and moved West; Prudence the youngest,
married Jonas Stump,
and now lives near Harveysburg in her seventy-second year. The brothers
all moved West in or before the year 1831. Mr.
Smalley, the father, married the widow of Thomas Kelsey,
moved West in 1832, and settled in Vermillion County, Ill., where he died,
in 1840, well advanced in years, and possessed of a comfortable estate. |
NOTICE: All documents and electronic images placed on the Warren County OHGenWeb site remain the property of the contributors, who retain publication rights in accordance with US Copyright Laws and Regulations. These documents may be used by anyone for their personal research. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or their legal representative, and contact the listed Warren County OHGenWeb coordinator with proof of this consent.
This page created 1 May 2005 and last updated
5 November, 2005
© 2005 Arne H Trelvik
All rights reserved