The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1878-10-09


On the next day perhaps you would meet just
such another family following in the wake of
a cart drawn by poor old horse, whose ribs
you could count at the distance OF many yards;
the cart had no tyre except hickory withs and
not one ounce of iron entered into It's struc-
tue. where did you come from, friend?"
From the shallow ford OF the Big Yadkin,
North Carolina" Why, / became almO-J as
IA milIar with the localities OF the Carolinas as
If had lived there all my lifs. l remember
on one occasion to have heard my old friend,
James Gregory, the father of Robert Gregory,
late one of our supreme judges, canvassing for
the office OF Lieutenant governor, making
stump speech in the town of Rushville. He
said that he "was born and raised IN North
Car lima and had never seen wagon until he
was % years old, and then followed IL a mile 10
see why the big wheels did not catch up with
the little ones" OF course this was intended
as a Joke, but nevertheless was tOlerably IL
Illustrative of the early immigrants. They were
not lea ned. but no truer people ever lived;
they were the firm friends of freedom and
fought down the vile attempt to force slavery
into the territory.
These people worked hard and lived hard.
II is matter OF amazenent how they got
OF the udest kind. f7w round logs notched
down, one u pom another until they reached q
sufficient height 10 form story Of eight or
nine Ieet: a clapboard roof and puncheon floor;
'cat and clay" chimney ornamenting one of
the gable ends of the structures; not nail or
short, their dwellings. The clearing of three
or four acres of ground and the removing
therefrom the green and heavy timber was a
hard winters work. Even in the spring when
the seed was planted IL was liable to be taken
up by the birds and squirrels, and some one of
the family was REQUIRES 10 Keep consLant
depredalOns. In the fall when their scanty
crop was about maturing it was IN equal dan
ger from the raccoOn and other wild animals
roaming in the adjacent woods.
The foregoing. however, were not the only
difficulties surrounding the early settlers. The
western boundary line of Kiln, Wayne
and Randolph counties sep rated them from
the almost boundless territory of the Indians.
We were in the midst OF a war with the neigh
boring tribes, and hOstilities about TO com.
mence with Great Britain.
The savages continued to be exceedingly
troublesome until 1874 They had taken the
side of our enemies during the war with Eng
land The settler lived in daily dread, not
knowing at what moment his cabin might be
lily fall victims t. tneir cruel and relentless
warfare. Murders were frequent all along the
border, nor was 1t unusual that the settler was
house for protection. Two persons, whose
names have now forgotten, were butchered
not far above Brookviile, while working in
their field, and their horses stolen. a man by
the name of Morgan and his two brothers
were ain by the Indians on the west fork OF
the White Water. The inhabitants became
sensitive to alarm. The frequency of such oc-
currences and the hundreds of rumors of
bloody msssacres, many OF which never hap
pened, caused them to live in constant ter or.
/ recollect on one occasion n gentleman
horseback came dashing up to our cabin warn
ing US to fly for our lives 20 the house OF James
Knight, in Brookvilie, as the Indians were
killing the settlers some eight or nine miles
above, ana would soon be upon us. II was
1872. without giving me time to
more than half dress, we Were hurried
to Mr.. Knights, where we found about 50 per-
sons, men, women ana children. A dozen
Indians co uld have captured the whole party
without trouble. There were IN the crowd
few guns, but great scarcity of ammunition
Mr.. John r. Beatty, he rather of the late
David Beatty, of this city, kept the only store
in Brookville. He had aoout half a keg of
txrlaf .h xrnI off m
sion. Beatty was a brave aud generous man,
aud had command OF the citadel Children
halffrozen were crying in the arms of their
mothers, and the mot sers themselves weeping
in utter despair. IL was indeed gloomy
night. Beatty exerted himself to encourage
hope and dry their tears. The next morning
about o'clock the scouts VINO had been sent
out TO reconnOiter the movements of the en-
envy returned and reported that some hunters
on the waters of Pipe creek h ID fallen In with
a flock of turkeys, and in the night were shoot
ing them on their roostS; This circumstance
our respective homes, truly glad that We re-
tanned possession OF our scalps.
With the exception OF the battle of Tippe-
canoe, fought under the command of Gen
eral Harrison, November z, 1872, our
campaigns were generally successful. The
surrender of General Hull at Fort Dearborn in
the month of August 1871 without firing
gud; the fat ure OF the mounted expedition
that m lrched from Fort Harrison under the
command of General Hopkins; the retreat of
Colonel Campbell after the battle of the Mis-
siSSawa on the 18th OF December, 1872, and
the dis StrOuS defeat OF General winchester
on the I'D OF January, 1873, at the river Ralson,
gave holiness TO the enemy and enabled Te-
cumseh and hi brother, the prophet, to unite
almost the entire body OF the Indians OF the
northwest -gainst our people. The inhabit-
ants occupying the frontier settlements had
good reason for alarm. The bate of the
Thames and the signal deie4t of Proctor with
his British forces and Indian allies in the lat
ter part of 1878. together with a few successful
raids about that me In which the Iudian VII
lagos and their corn were burned and destroy
ed gave US great relief and improved the con-
dition of the early settlers. The poverty and
sufferrngs OF the Indians produced divisions
in the neighDoriDg tribes aud induced them
finally TO sue for peace. BY Inc middle OF the
year 1874 we began to feel secure IN our homes
L think IL appropriate, and know that
l shall be forgiven, If, just here,
Iuuote somewhat from graphic description
OF the times given by Mrs. Rebs ccl Julian.
Her communication was published In 1871 IN a
Julian, with her husband, Isaac Julian, moved
TO the White Water country in lSOS she was
the mother OF Jacob and George Julian, two
we'll known citizens OF this vicinity. Mrs.
Julian, among other things, says:
"a young man by the name OF Shortrtdge was
killed by the Indians about three miles from
our fort He had on ar the time pc ton OF
the dress of another man who had made
they mistook him for the latter. In the spring
Charles Morgan aud his two half brothers
were killed at their sugar camp, sea, ped and
one OF them thrown into the fire. This hap.
penef about six miles from our residence.
This was quite alarming. We knew not what
TO do We gathered ourselves ia small groups
i'm order 70 hold council. Finally we conclud.
ed to leave our new HON -, which we did
time after time for the space of two yenis.
We We're grateful Indeed TO see peace return
ing so that we could again enjoy our hOnes.
Tn re were many serious triats in the begin
ing OF this country with those who settled
amid the heavy timber, having nothing TO de-
pend upon for "A living but their own industry.
Such was our situation. However, We were
blessed with health and strength, aud were