Dear Sir ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS UNPUBLISHED LETTER FROM JOHN HANCOCK TO [Contributed by Hon. W. Hudson Stephens, Lowville, New York] Boston April 14th 1787. I had the honor of your Letter in reply to mine, & am much obliged by your attention in procuring Lodgings for Mrs Hancock & Myself; since which I have Altered my mode of Travelling; M" Jeffery discovering a wish to see New York with us, I have adopted my Coach, & we propose setting off early on Monday morning, and I am to request of you, Dear Sir, to engage further Accommodations for Mrs Jeffery, her head servant, & her head maid. I am sorry to give you this trouble, but I know you will excuse me. Mr Jeffery waits for advices from England before he can leave Town I Din'd this Day with our friend Jackson at Jeffery's, his Troops are not cloath'd, & a paragraph has made its appearance in the papers, that the Federal Troops are to be disbanded, which he does not relish I hope soon to see you, our best wishes attend you & yours, & am Hon' General Knox Yours affectionately John Hancock HISTORICAL CORRESPONDENCE [Contributed by Hon. E. C. Dawes, Cincinnati, Ohio] [In 1841 the Marietta Historical Association was formed. It held few meetings and made no publications, but it collected a large amount of valuable material, most of which fell into the hands of Dr. S. P. Hildreth, and is preserved with his other papers in the library of Marietta college. The following letter is among them.-E. C. D.] Fletcher, Miami County, Ohio, August 17th, 1842. To Ephraim Cutler, Esqr., President of Marietta Historical Society. Sir. I received your circular a few weeks ago. I should have answered it sooner, but my health has been such I did not think I could undertake the task. I am well pleased that you have formed your Association. I shall be glad if I can give you any information that you are not already in possession of. I will state the time and circumstances of my coming into this country, as well as I can remember, and if you find anything that deserves notice in your historical association you will select what part you please. In the spring of 1785 congress ordered seven hundred men to be enlisted for three years, for the protection of the western country, from the states of Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. I enlisted the first of June. In the course of the summer and fall there were seven companies of men on the Ohio. Two companies erected a fort just above the falls of Ohio on the western bank, two companies erected a fort at the mouth of the Muskingum, and three other companies wintered at Fort McIntosh just below Big Beaver. There was not any settlement on the western bank of the Ohio from Pittsburg to Mississippi; only a few hunters just below the falls on what is called Clark's grant, and a few squatters in the neighborhood where Steubenville is now. They were ordered to move immediately off the public land: they did not, and still refused to quit; they were determined to hold the lands by what is called tomahawk improvements, as many had in Pennsylvania and Virginia. In the spring of 1786 about one hundred men were sent to burn them out. Their thirty hunters with their rifles paraded on the bank of the river, with every appearance of an intention to defend themselves; our troops landed and marched up to them and told them if they wanted to save anything that was in their cabins they might have so many minutes to do it in. They moved what little plunder they had out of them, and the cabins were filled with rails and other combustibles, then set fire to and burned. There were some few that were not discovered at this time, that lay a little back from the river, which attempted to raise some corn that year, but it was all destroyed and their cabins burned. On the east side of the river (Ohio) there was nobody living upon its banks from Pittsburg to Wheeling. At Wheeling there was a small stockade fort with a few families. The next place was at the mouth of the Big Kanawha, where was a small stockade fort containing a few families. The next place was Limestone, which contained a few families in a small fort. The next place was Louisville, opposite to the falls of Ohio; I think there were about thirty families lived there. This year 1786 we were employed in enlarging our fort. There some few Indians came in and appeared to be friendly at that time; they would frequently cross the river in bark canoes and visit the settlements back of Wheeling and the Monongahela, and commit murder and steal horses. This spring and summer there were a great many boats descended the river, to land at Limestone or Louisville, principally from Maryland and Virginia, loaded with white and black people, wagons, horses, and all kinds of farming tools. There was a barge, and an officer and boat's crew to board every boat by night or day (that did not land), to take the number both of white and black people; VOL. XXIV.-No. 3.-15 likewise, the number of boats, wagons, horses, cattle, etc. This spring (1786) Mr. Williams and a few hundred came down the river and formed a settlement opposite to Fort Harmar, and Mr. Kerr settled the island above Marietta. About the 1st of April, 1787, Cyril Handa was that day twenty-one years old, he obtained leave to go up to Kerr's island to buy some butter and eggs; he had got but a few rods above the point by a bunch of willows, when three or four Indians who lay in ambush seized the canoe and took him. The sentinel that stood before the garrison gate saw it, but the Indians could not be overtaken, and we never heard from him again. About the first of June we all left Fort Harmar, except a few to keep garrison, and descended the river to the foot of the falls, now called Shippings-Port, and there stayed until about the first of July, waiting for boats and stores from Pittsburg, and for horses and beef cattle from the cane-brakes in Kentucky. We then took the beef and horses on board the boat, with other munitions of war, and descended the river about two hundred miles and landed at a creek called Pigeon, and there took out our horses and cattle; and those boats that had contained the horses and cattle we sent adrift. We had about twelve or fifteen keel-boats and a number of flat-boats, loaded with provisions and munitions of war, which proceeded to the mouth of the Wabash, with men to work and guard them. We left the river about 6th of July and took a straight course to Post Vincent (Vincennes). There was not the least trace; we had a pilot come and a number of spies. The weeds and grass were high; the cattle and horses being all inclosed by our front, and rear, and flank guards. Our spies came in several times and informed us that they had discovered traces of Indians that appeared in larger numbers than all our force. We expected to be attacked every day. When we came to White river it was so high that we had to carry our cartridge-boxes on the top of our heads; some short men were carried over on the pack-horses. We arrived at Vincennes about the 7th day from the river, all well. General Harmar held a treaty here with about five or six nations of Indians. We found Vincennes contained about two hundred buildings that people lived in ; there were but few that were better than a poor stable. Those of a few French families were tolerably decent. There were six families from the old states, who, I believe, went there on the same principles that most go now to Texas-to save their necks from the halter. We stayed here until about the 5th of October; the keel-boats were sent down the Wabash to the Ohio to meet us at the falls; General Harmar left two companies of men at the garrison, and marched the rest down to the falls, where we arrived safely. The boats arrived about the 20th. We started within a few days after for Fort Harmar, leaving two companies to keep the garrison. As we were ascending the river, not far from the mouth of the Big Sandy, going around a point, we discovered a large gang of buffalo that had just left the Kentucky shore for the western bank. The commanding officer ordered four or five of the smallest boats to cross the river, to cut off their landing. We rowed out into the river and attacked them. I believe we wounded the most of them; we got two or three which was excellent beef. We arrived at Fort Harmar about the 15th of November; it was with much difficulty that we got up on account of ice; the last two days were remarkably cold for the season. The river was not boatable any more until March, and we were badly supplied with provisions; contractors' boats could not descend the river. We got our meat from the hunters; we had some bread-stuff packed on the ice from Wheeling. For several weeks we had corn and potatoes instead of bread. Nothing happened worthy of notice until the 7th of April, when the Ohio company landed at that place. I presume there are some gentlemen that are living there, who know what events took place after the landing of the company. I remain, gentlemen, with much respect, Your humble servant, Levi Munsell. Note by Dr. S. P. Hildreth : "Mr. Munsell was stationed at Fort Harmar in the same company as Jos. Buell. After the arrival of the Ohio company, he with Jos. Buell settled in Marietta and opened a tavern at the point on the corner of 1st and Green street. He married a daughter of Colonel [Alex] Oliver and kept a tavern and boarding-house till 1808 or 9, when he moved to the western part of the state of Ohio. His sons Hartshorn and Philander (?) became men of distinction, one a physician and one a Methodist preacher. On my arrival in October, 1806, I boarded at this house a few days. He was a lively, cheerful man, but stammered in his speech.-S. P. H." UNPUBLISHED LETTERS FROM MARY AND MARTHA WASHINGTON [From the Collection of Dr. Thomas Addis Emmet] MARY WASHINGTON TO JOSEPH BALL, ESQ. July the 2. 1760 Dear Brother this coms by Capt Nickelson you Seem to blam me for not writing to you butt I doe a shour you it is Note for wante of a very great Regard for you & the family, butt as I dont Ship tobacco the Captains Never calls one me Soe that I Never Know when tha Come or when tha goe I believe you have got a very good overseer at this quarter now Cap Newton has taken a Large peace of ground from you which I dear say if you had been hear your Self it had not been Don M' Danial & his wife & family is well, Cozen Hannah has been married & Lost her husband she has one Child a boy pray give my Love to Sister Ball & M' Downman & his Lady & am Dear Brother I send this letter for you to your Brother Julian by M' David Randolph as a safe convenience I wished it to get to your hands soon-in it I send three Hundred dollars, one hundred dollars to your sister Polly one hundred dollars to Fanny and one hundred dollars for your self-in six fifty dollars bills-it is the interst of M' Q Lewis Bond that I gave to you and them I thank you my dear Patty for your affectionate letter. I have been and am at this time very much indisposed. Nelly has been very unwell and Washington ill, thank god he is getting better. Fanny went to the city with Mrs Low soon after christmas and has not returned yet-It will always give me pleasure to see you or either of your sister hear I have often lamented the great distance I am from you. My love and good wishes to your mother sister & Bro and believe me your ever affectionate M. Washington You must not blame me for so late an acknowledgement of the receipt of your favour of the 22d of Jany which was delivered by Genl Lincoln with whom I had some conversation upon the subject of your complaints. He told me that you |