Morgan County Democrat. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1886-1943, 1937-03-18

would have been just as sensible to
have built Campus Martius over
along side of Fort Harmar. 1t was
undoubtedly needed much more on
| the east side But how are we to
|reconcile this fact with the theory
that the fort was above Waterford,
this settlement being on the west
side? Here is our conclusion, un-
| til it is clearly proven to be wrong
The settlement up there 1--WE are
speaking as from Marietta) was
called Waterford, no matter which
side Of the river it was on; it was
all Waterford, not separated, in
name, only by the river, Beverly not
yet being named. This east side set
tlement, which we are presuming
as Waterford, may have been strung
along down the river quite dis
tance from where Beverly was laid
out, and this fort could have easily
been up the river above what was
be half mile below the present
town Of Beverly. We cannot imag-
inc those first settlers hugging those
hills and bluffs when there were
long stretches of level river bottoms
at their command. Another thing,
we do not believe those early set
tiers, considering their intelligence,
backed by wise counselors, would
build stockade against or ad-
jacent to hills, or bluffs. The lay
of the land below Beverly would be
much more suitable. If the stock
ade was built up the river above
Beverly, they would have to go
quite little distance for suitable
location In this case it would coin
eide with the story Of Abel Sher-
mans death and burial near the
mouth of Sherman's run, within
gun-crack of the fort, in the vicinity
of the mouth of Olive Green. An
other discrepancy in the two &C
counts is the number of men at the
garrison. Nye has it commanded by
only about eight, which would seem
a mighty few for the perilous times,
while DR.. Hildreths account gives II
as about 40 men, with families.
! These statements can be reconc1led;
this large number would likely fol-
low the hasty construction OF the
fort, and later dwindle down to
mere handful
Another thing we must take into
consideration, on,-distance. Although
much of the travel was on foot,
they had their way of describing
mile. but what did men like Jona-
than Meigs and others think OF only
mile? Like La Sale, the Frencf
explorer, who skirted the Great
Lakes border of our country, even
to the Mississippi basin, when he
got within three leagues (about ten
miles) of a place, he was nearly
there. However, the distance from
anywhere near the mouth OF OllVe
Green, as recorded by Nye, and the
reputed site below Beverly, is ap-
parently too great a discrepancy, to
be reconciled, and unless we accept
DR.. Hildreth as the only authority,
II, like Dr. Naylor, think the true
site lost. The site of the block
house up at Big Bottom was once al
most lost.
We visited Obadiah Brokaw near
lily so years ago, and he pointed OUT
the place where the fort was sup
posed to have stood, but in ploW1ng
a piece of ground little distance
farther down, he discovered evl-
dence of common grave, anu
marked the spot with sandstone,
and later it was proven beyond
doubt that he was right. A monu-
ment marks the place where Col.
Crawford was burnt at the stake,
but the exact spot is not known.
Yes indeed friend Van Fossen,
we are glad you have taken this
| nottor IN and for one would be
glad to hear more, but Editor Dur
bin must be the judge as to what
will be best to dish out to his read