The Pioneer Recollections of J. B. Heatley - Points in his Indian Experience

 

An Early Settler - James B. Heatley 

James B. Heatley came to Ohio from Virginia in 1821 with his father, Moses, mother, Mary (Polly) and sister, Elizabeth, settling first in the Dayton area and arriving in Defiance in the fall of 1824. The family spent their first night here with the Robert Shirley family at the blockhouse cabin they inhabited. The choices for a habitat were slim as there were only three houses here at the time, all former blockhouses. The story of their early years here can be found in the Defiance County 1883 history. 

James had little early education just because there was none available. He was the oldest son and helped his father clear the land and do whatever work was necessary. Later, Mr. William A. Brown taught him to read and write, and he served his new community as township treasurer, assessor, recorder, and over thirty years as township constable.

He married Rebecca Garman and the family grew to four children: Lorenzo, born in 1851 who died at the age of 30; George A. born in 1853; Millie, born in 1855, and Rebecca, born in 1857. 

In the Defiance Democrat of December 19, 1878, he was interviewed about his early pioneer experiences for a column called Pioneer Times. Heatley recounted:

"In 1827 we lived on Abraham Hudson's place, which is known by almost everyone in this country. Our residence was in a small cabin on the bank of the Auglaize, on the upper part of the farm, and stood on the southwest corner of the old orchard, east of what is called Hudson's Island. It was a very lonely spot.
Members of the red-face tribe exchanged civilities with us nearly every day, and, at times, four or five times a day would call to see us. They would ask mother for food; though frequently would walk in and silently go to the cupboard and help themselves to what they would find and then pass out. Their wigwams were in sight of our cabin. South and southeast of us were their broad hunting grounds.

Abram Hudson went to their camp one day and told them that they were upon HIS hunting ground, and they must leave within a few days or he would make them. They paid little heed to him.

He took down his old rifle one day: 'I am a sure shot, and I will never forget them. I hunted them in the War of 1812. They massacred my grandfather's whole family, and I will have a bit of revenge now,' and saying this, he went away into the woods. He was not long before we heard several reports of his rifle. When he returned, we asked him, 'Where is your game?" and he said he had left it in the woods.

Father asked him if he was not afraid they would catch him out someday, to which he replied, 'When I hunt, I am hunting Indians; I can see them as quick as they can see me.' The result was that they became afraid of him - there being so many of their tribe missing, and they suspecting what had become of them, they all left the country, and he was never bothered more with red faces."

Forest Sporting

"Mr. Hudson was a good hunter - always a dead shot and scarcely ever missed a deer. He would go out in the morning before breakfast and kill from two to four before returning. Uncle Abram was an industrious man. When engaged in cleaning his land, he could not spend time to hunt in daylight hours; so he made a bark canoe that would hold two men, and father or myself would accompany him. That was what we called 'fire hunting.' The mosquitoes were very numerous - the whole country being wilderness and swamp. When we started on a fire hunt, we always went early in the evening, and in the dark of the moon."

The man who sat in the back would do the steering, while the one in front would handle the blind they built. They used a beeswax candle that would last all night.

 "This blind keeps the persons in the canoe all in the dark. One can hunt but not as well as two. There should be a steersman and he should hold the paddle in the water all the time and skull his boat and not let it touch a rock, keep his thumbs between the paddle and canoe...If your light should strike a deer and you should touch your paddle on the bottom of the canoe, it's gone without a shot.

It is the most fun I've ever had; two of us have killed as high as four or five in a night. It was no trouble to kill a deer. That time is past and gone forever in this country now."

(To be continued...)

Dianne Kline, Researxher

Spanish - American War Soldiers - Private Frank G. Korn

 

#14 Private Frank George Korn

Private Korn was a resident of Defiance when he enlisted in Company M, 6th Regiment O.V.I. at the age of 29. He served in Cuba and mustered out with the rest of the company in May 1899, in Augusta, Georgia. According to his death certificate, he was born on June 20, 1869, the son of Johann Adam (Adam) and Margaret (Wolsifer) Korn.

On December 28, 1899, he married Hattie Mae Wahl in Defiance. The family moved around, mostly in Indiana and Illinois, with their children: 

Elizabeth May (Bessie), born in 1900; Franklin J. 1903, Everett W, 1909; Virginia Marie, 1916, and Vernon Howard,1917. The last three children were born in South Bend, Indiana, which was their residence in the 1910 Federal Census. Frank worked as a harness maker.

The family was still in South Bend for the 1920 Census, but now Frank had a job as a "metal man" in an auto factory. Hattie was a homemaker, and two children, Bessie, 19, and Franklin, 17, had jobs outside the home. Bessie was a bookkeeper at a laundry and Frank was a clerk at an auto body shop. The rest were in school.

Their next move , according to the 1930 Census, was to a rented house on Maypole Street in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois. Frank, 60, was back to leather work again as a harness maker, and Hattie, 50, was minding the house. Most of the children were still living at home: Bettie (Bessie), 29, was a bookkeeper; Everett, worked as an electrician; Virginia, 14, and Vernon, 12 were in school.  This last move might have been due to Frank's health.

In September 1931, Frank was admitted to the U.S. Home for Disabled Veterans located in Danville, Illinois; he was 62 years old at admission.

His disabilities included dental cavities, defective vision, hemorrhoids, and a heart condition, myocarditis. His pension of $50 a month may have been used to cover his care. Unexplainably, he gave his next of kin, Hattie, as living at Route 1, Elkhart, Indiana. In 1936, their son, Franklin, passed away.

The family could not be located in the 1940 census, but in 1950, Frank G., 80, and Hattie, 70 were enumerated in Elkhart, Indiana, now retired. Frank died that same year on May 2, 1950. His obituary appeared in the Defiance Crescent-News on the same day:

Hattie ordered a military bronze marker for Frank, which was the only kind permitted in the Rose Hill Cemetery in Chicago, his burial place. It took until October, 1951, to have it approved.

Hattie lived on until 1969, remarried and moved back to South Bend. Her obituary appeared in The South Bend Tribune on April 18, 1969:

MRS. HATTIE M. HODGES

Mrs. Hattie M. (Korn) Hodges, 98, of 619 Park Ave., South Bend, died at 12:15 p.m. Wednesday in Memorial Hospital after an extended illness.

She was born Nov. 1, 1870, in Defiance, Ohio, and came here 13 years ago from Elkhart. On Dec. 28, 1899, in Defiance, she was married to Frank G. Korn, who died in 1950.  In 1958, she was married to Elmer Hodges, who died in 1959.

Surviving are two sons, Vernon H. Korn of South Bend and Everett W. Korn of New York City; one daughter, Mrs. Virginia Thompson of Elkhart; three grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; and two sisters, Mrs. Mabel Gallagher and Mrs. Ethyl Bullard, both of South Bend...

Burial will be in Highland Cemetery. She was a member of the church (First United Methodist), Naomi Rebekah Lodge of Elkhart; The Royal Embroidery Club of Elkhart; and the Jones-Darling Auxillary 44 of the United States War Veterans."

Highland Cemetery, South Bend, Indiana

Dianne Kline, Researcher

 

Spanish - American Soldier - Private Albert L. Rollins

#11 Joseph Hesselschwardt, #12 E. Gleason (not on the roll)

#13 Albert L. Rollins  #14 Frank G. Korn

Albert L. Rollins, 21, of Defiance, enlisted into Company M, 6th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry for the Spanish-American War in 1898. He was the son of James A. and Elva Ann (Woodcox) Rollins. As it turned out, he made the military his career, primarily fighting in the Philippiines.

Albert re-enlisted a second time for a three year term in the infantry that took him until June 24, 1902. He enlisted a third time under Major Browne, again for three years. This enlistment gave his birthplace as Defiance, Ohio; he was 25. His description noted that he was 5'6" with blue eyes, light brown hair and a dark complexion. On his last enlistment, he became a Captain in the 1st Regiment, Company K. His military career ended on February 17, 1906, with a discharge at Cuartel de Espanila, Manila, P.I

After mustering out, he soon married Nora Eva Delap on April 8, 1907, in Denver, Colorado, but they first resided in Nevada, Missouri. She was only 16, and Albert was more than ten years older. By the Federal Census of 1910 in Rawdon, Ellis County, Oklahoma, they were renting a home there. With them, lived an eleven year old nephew, Edward L. Sawyer, born in Kansas.

They were in Harrison, Nemaha County, Kansas by the 1920 census.  Albert had become a partner in a farm with his father-in-law, George Delap, 57, and wife, Elizabeth, 55. with the children of Albert and Nora - Minnie A., 7, and Elvia A (Elizabeth)., 5.

The rambling family had moved on by 1930, back to Center, Vernon County, Missouri. Albert, now 54, owned a farm and lived on it, but he named house carpenter as his occupation. Their two children, Minnie - 18 and Elizabeth - 16, were home with them. Sadly, Albert and Nora divorced some time after this, probably around 1936 in Reno, Nevada.

Albert moved to California and died there on Friday, November 20, 1939. He had resided at Fort Wiley, Orville, California and died in the Veterans' Administration facility there. The obituary appeared in the Defiance Crescent-News on January 31, 1940:

"BURY FORMER RESIDENT WITH MILITARY HONORS

Albert L. Rollins, former Defiance resident who served in Company M during the Spanish - American War, was buried with full military honors in the Presidio of San Francisco, a (national) military cemetery, it was learned by relatives here today. Mr. Rollins died in the Fort Wiley Veterans Hospital in San Francisco on November 20, 1939.

Besides Company M, he also served in the 19th and 21st Infantry in the Spanish-American War and was a member of the U.S.W.V. and V.F.W. in Missouri.

Survivors include his daughters, Mrs. Perry Bedsoe, Orville, California and Mrs. H.L. Hood, Yuba City, Colorado, two grandchildren and a brother, F. D. Rollins, Nevada, Missouri; James Rollins, Defiance, his cousin and Mrs. Mitchell Moore, a niece."

San Francisco National Cemetery, The Presidio

The Presidio

Albert's wife, Nora remarried to George L. Ackerman on December 18, 1936. She was 44, and George was 58 years old. They also made their home in Orrville, California. The local newspaper, the Oroville Mercury Register, announced the Reno, Nevada divorce from Albert Rollins on December 1, 1936.

Nora Delap  Rollins Ackerman died on March 2, 1958, in Oroville at the age of 67. She was survived by her husband, George Ackerman and one daughter, Mrs. Betty (Elizabeth) Glidwell of Sacramento, California. (The Enterprise Record, Chica, California, March 3, 1958)

Nora was buried in Memorial Park Cemetery in Oroville, CA.

 
Dianne Kline, Researcher

An Old Settler - Robert Shirley, Sr. PART TWO/ Settling in at the Fort

 

The Shirleys settle in at Fort (Defiance) Winchester

"We reached Fort Defiance that afternoon to our joy and the great delight of our brother, Robert, who had been there several days. My parents were pleased to find Mr. William Preston, a gentleman of intelligence and of pleasing manners, in possession of the fort. He had been there most of the time since the war.

There were two good log houses in the fort, built for the officers, one of which Mr. Preston's family occupied; in the other my father's family found narrow but comfortable quarters.

The fort was all standing in good preservation excepting the barracks on the banks of the Auglaize. The bank was very steep and commanded a fine view of the low land on the opposite side of the river.

The block houses, the four large gates with sentinel boxes over them, were good, and the pickets were in good order and strong enough to be a protection even then.

The block house on the northeast corner of the fort had a good cellar that had been used for a magazine* during the war. From the cellar, an underground way led to the river, by which the soldiers could get water without being seen by the enemy. In the blockhouses at the end of the barracks, facing southeast, were two or three iron bound chests, full of written documents of the war, left by the army officers."

*Magazine - a safe, dry place to store ammunition and anything explosive

*The fort where they actually stayed was at the Fort Winchester location, built for the War of 1812 by General Winchester. It was on the Auglaize River banks but down the way. At the time, there was almost nothing left of the old Fort Defiance, shown above.

Ruth Shirley Austin went on to say:

"Only a few white people lived in the vicinity at the time of our arrival. Four French families were living in log cabins on the banks of the Maumee, and three American families on the Auglaize one mile above the fort - two of these by the name of Driver, one a silversmith, the other a shoemaker. Six miles below Fort Defiance, at Camp Number Three, there lived three American families, namely, Mr. John Perkins, Mr. Montgomery Evans and Mr. Hivel. Two of these families had looms and wove flax and tow linen. Every farmer's wife took her spinning wheel to the new country. There were no sheep in that area then. In 1824, my brother, James bought 3 sheep in Urbana and drove them to Defiance...

Much was told of their dealings with the Ottawa Indians with whom all was well nearly all of the time, except for times when drunkenness took over, especially with Chief Okonoksee.  One night in a drunken rage, the Chief killed both his son-in-law and grandson. This brought him contempt from all the neighboring chiefs who decided to take away his role as chief, A new chief was named, but the people still listened to the advice of Okonoksee.

Eventually this family moved to the Charloe area where they were well-known in Paulding County.

Further information on the Shirleys was printed in an article by Maryetta Bowyer in the Crescent-News of March 10, 1961 on page 8:

"One of the earliest families to live in Defiance was that of Robert Shirley Sr. who came to this area from Ross County, Ohio in 1821. They found it difficult to build a house with the supplies on hand, and so first living in one of the log houses at Camp Winchester.

The Shirleys had come to Ohio from Culpepper County, Va. in the Shenandoah Valley in the early 1800s. The family had lived in England, where they had been honored for their valor by knighthood.

An Old Settler - Robert Shirley Sr. - PART ONE/ The Trek to Defiance

 

An Old Settler in Defiance - Robert Shirley, Sr.

The story that follows appeared in The History of Defiance County 1883 and again in the Crescent-News on August 23, 1915. The story of Robert Shirley was presented by his daughter, Mrs. Ruth Austin, who was deceased by 1915 when it appeared in the newspaper. The old Fort Defiance referred to, actually Fort Winchester, was standing when they came to Defiance in 1821, and the Shirley family moved in there. They were one of the last families to live in one of the block houses.

"LIVED IN THE OLD FORT BLOCK HOUSES

Said Mrs. Ruth Austin, Deceased, Who Came to Defiance in 1822.

My father, Mr. Robert Shirley, Sr., moved with his family from Ross county, near Chillicothe, Ohio, to Fort Defiance in the spring of 1821. Our family numbered nine persons, namely my parents, Mr. Robert Shirley, Sr. and Mrs. Rachel Shirley, Sr., my brother(s) James, Elias and Robert; my sisters Mary and Nancy, myself (Ruth) and my baby brother, John Gilbert. My brother Nathan, the eldest of the family was at that time married and settled in Ross county. At the time of our removal, I was eleven years of age. I have a vivid recollection of the journey and of the wild appearance of the country.

Tecumseh, Shawnee chief

We started for Defiance in March, 1822, and arrived at our destination in April, having been three weeks on the way. The first place we saw Indians was at Wapakoneta. They were Shawnees and partly civilized. Mr. John Johnson was the Indian agent. Through his influence, the government established a blacksmith shop, and a store to supply the Indians, and appointed Mr. Broadax to superintend the work of teaching the Indians agricultural and mechanical pursuits. Some of the Indians lived in log cabins."

The family next came to Fort Amanda and then to Fort Jennings. Ruth did not remember any buildings being at either place. They were entertained by a white family who lived at Fort Jennings, and, as she recalled, they were the last white people the family encountered until Fort Defiance.

"We were now truly in the wilderness. On one side was the river Auglaize, on the other, a vast wooded country with no road, only an Indian trail along the river. It required a man to go ahead with an ax in order to cut away trees that had fallen across the trail and to blaze the trees and often to cut through brush some distance in order to get a place to ford the streams tributary to the Auglaize.  The weather was unusually fine, so the family did not suffer much inconvenience in camping out."

Robert Shirley and two of his friends had originally planned to live at Fort Finley, so the previous summer in 1821, they took provisions there, including plows and seed corn and potatoes. Two older brothers, James and Elias, cleared some land there before returning home. James' horse got away and returned home without him, worrying the Shirley family greatly. James decided to visit Fort Defiance before going home and, "was so captivated by it... he persuaded his father to change the location of their home" to Fort Defiance. Now, on the journey to Fort Defiance, James was sent back to Finley to bring back the stored goods.

Pontiac, Ottawa chief

"Nothing of interest transpired after James left us for Fort Finley, until we came to Okonokee's village on the Auglaize, thirteen mlles above Fort Defiance, where Charloe now stands. These Indians were of the Ottawa nation, called by the whites, Tawas. They had here a reservation seven miles square. 

Okonokaee was chief, and the village was named after him. The Indians were all at home, it being the close of the hunting and sugar-making seasons. Many came out to see us. They were civil and manifested a curiosity to see the big horses and the big wigwam on wheels....

This was a great day with them, being the day of their yearly feast and dance to celebrate... The next morning, we started early in the hope of finding fire, but were disappointed; so at noon we stopped and unloaded the wagon until we reached the chest and got the flints when we soon had a fire made.

My eldest sister quickly prepared nourishing food for our dear mother, who was almost overcome by her fast of thirty hours and her care of her nursing baby, ten months old. After we were all refreshed by a good dinner, we started on. When the sun was getting low, we came to a little stream that was difficult to cross."

About that time an Indian came down the path on foot and helped them cross safely and get back to the trail. There they camped for the night and invited the Indian to dine with them. He warned them of the wolves and the rain to come. "He then took a brand of fire and, making a circuit, set fire to several dry logs to protect us from wolves, and then left for his village." At that point, the Shirleys were only three miles from the end of the journey which they reached the next forenoon.

Their son, Robert Jr., had been there several days ,waiting on them at Fort Defiance.

To be continued...

Dianne Kline, Researcher