The Pioneer Recollections of J. B. Heatley - Fire and Shootings

 

More Heatley Memories on Sharing the Land With the Indians

Excerpts from the Defiance Democrat, December 19, 1878, p. 3

J.B. Heatley explained that when he lived in a cabin on the Hudson farm,(about 1827) Elias Shirley built a cabin on forty acres in the wilderness near where Heatley lived. It was a thick woods above Three Mile Creek with mostly sugar maples. Elias had been married about a year and they had their first child. The cabin was also built alongside an Indian trail.

"One day Mr. Robert Shirley had called on the whole country around to get hands to help him on a certain day to raise a cabin on the bluff on the south side of the river (Auglaize) from H.C. Bouton's farm. All the help he could find in the neighborhood was James Hudson, John Hudson, Mr. Hudson, James Shirley, Nathan Shirley, Robert Shirley and Elias and Moses Heatley. Of course, I had to stay home that day because mother would not stay alone.

About eleven or twelve o'clock, we heard someone hollowing on the other side of the river, Mother told me to run down to the foot of the island and see what was wanted. I ran down and saw it was a woman standing in the tall grass at the mouth of the creek, close to the water's edge. I asked if she wanted over.

'No, run down and tell Elias to come quick; the Indians are burning our house.'

My, how I did run; the distance is about one and a half miles. When I got there, I told Elias the Indians were burning his house, enough said, they all jumped off the house and every man got his gun and ran to the burning house. Mrs. Shirley still remained in the tall grass at the mouth of the creek until they came.

They proceeded to the house, and there they found the two Indians had piled their bedding and bedsteads, and all their dishes and clothing of all description in the center of the floor.. They had taken a new ax and torched fire to the bedding and eloped for Openoxey's Town, which is now called Charloe.

There was ten or twelve white men following them with their guns. Every once in awhile they came to an Indian wigwam; they inquired if they saw the two Indians pass, giving the description of them as well as they could. At last they found then at the head of Six Mile Creek.

Mrs. Elias Shirley came down the next day and pardoned one of them, she called him the friendly Indian, she said he saved her life. His partner was kept in jail for a few days longer. Oppoxkey, their old chief, came down to reprieve him. He offered Shirley

$500 in gold and silver if he would let him go; he concluded he would, so the Indian was discharged. That is what made that large farm above Three Mile Creek."

The other incident Heatley described took place in 1840 when the canal was being dug south of Defiance. An Indian on pony back saw some Irishmen digging in the canal, and he asked them what the best way was to go through the woods to river.

The Irishmen purposely led him astray and soon the Indian found himself in the swamp. The workers could be heard making fun of the drunk and, now angry, Indian. He got off his pony, raised his gun and began shooting at the Irish man who made fun of him the most. The other Irish went after the Indian and captured him without resistance.

He was put into jail, the old log jail which was about 10 x 12. There he sat for several weeks. 

"One day a man named James Laflan, who lived here at that time and who spoke good Indian language, went to see him and talked to him through the window and told him that they were going to hang him. It scared him; he told James they would not, and for several weeks, he ate but little. The jailor always gave him a rough case knife to feed himself with. So one day he thought he would save them the trouble; he took the old case knife strapped it a few times across the stove and then commenced sawing across his throat, squealing each time he did it. "

Finally, someone heard him and by that time, the young man had cut his windpipe. A doctor was called who sewed it up to the best of his ability, leaving a small hole in the throat to feed him. But it was too late. The young Indian lived nine days before dying. Two squaws were allowed to sit with him in his final days.

Dianne Kline, Researcher