Centennial History of Columbus and Franklin County. William Alexander Taylor
camp—partook of jerked venison—washed and arrayed himself in his best apparel and afterwards painted his face. His dress was very rich—his hair grey, his whole appearance, graceful and commanding. At his request, the whole company drew round him at the lodge. He then observed the exertions of Mr. Sells in his behalf, and presented to him a written paper, with a request that it might be read to the company.
It was a recommendation signed by Governor Hull and in compliance with the request of the prisoner, it was fixed and left upon the side of a large tree at a short distance from the wigwam.
The Chief's Sublime Stoicism.
"The hour of execution being close at hand, the chief shook hands in silence with the surrounding spectators. On coming to Mr. Sells he appeared much moved—grasped his hands warmly, spoke for a few minutes in the Wyandot language and pointed to the heavens. He then turned from the wigwam, and with a voice of surpassing strength and melody, commenced the chant of the death-song. He was followed closely by the Wyandot warriors, all timing with the slow and measured march, the music of his wild and melancholy dirge. The white men were all, likewise, silent followers in that strange procession. At the distance of seventy or eighty yards from the camp they came to a shallow grave, which, unknown to the white men, had been previously prepared by the Indians. Here the old man knelt down, and in an elevated, but solemn voice, addressed his prayer to the Great Spirit. As soon as he had finished, the captain of the Indians knelt beside him and prayed in a similar manner. Their prayers, of course, were spoken in the Wyandot language. When they arose, the captain was again accosted by Mr. Sells, who insisted that if they were inflexible in their determination to shed blood, they should at least remove their victim beyond the limit of the white settlement.
'No!' said he, very sternly, and with evident displeasure. 'No; good Indian fraid—he no go with this bad man—mouth give fire in the dark night, good Indian fraid—he no go!' 'My friend,' he continued, 'me tell you white man, bad man, white man kill him, Indian say nothing.'
The Final Scene.
"Finding all interference futile, Mr. Sells was at length compelled reluctantly to abandon the old man to his fate. After a few moments delay, he again sank down upon his knees and prayed, as he had done before. When he had ceased praying, he still continued in a kneeling position. All the rifles belonging to the party had been left at the wigwam. There was not a weapon of any kind to be seen at the place of execution, and the spectators were consequently unable to form any conjecture as to the mode of procedure, which the executioners had determined on for the fulfillment of their purpose. Suddenly one of the warriors drew from beneath the skirts of his capote, a keen, bright tomahawk, walked rapidly up behind the chieftain brandishing the weapon on high for a single moment and then struck with his full strength.
The blow descended directly upon the crown of the head and the victim immediately fell prostrate. After he had lain awhile in the agonies of death, the Indian directed the attention of the white men to the drops of sweat which were gathering upon the neck and face; remarking with much apparent exultation that it was conclusive proof of the sufferer's guilt. Again the executioner advanced and with the same weapon inflicted two or three additional and heavy blows.
"As soon as life was entirely extinct, the body was hastily buried with all its apparel and decorations and the assemblage dispersed. The Wyandots returned immediately to their hunting ground and the white men to their homes. The murdered chief was known among the whites by the name of Leather Lips. Around the spot where the bones repose the towering forest has given place to the grain fields and the soil above him has for years been furrowed and refurrowed by the plow-share."
First a County.
The county of Franklin began its political existence, by virtue of a legislative enactment, passed March 30, 1803, and taking effect April 30, 1803.
The metes and bounds of the county as originally fixed were as follows: "Beginning on the western boundary of the twentieth range of townships east of the Scioto river, at the corner of sections Nos. 24 and 25 in the 9th township of the 21st range, surveyed by John Matthews, thence west until it intersects the eastern boundary line of Greene county, thence north with said line until it intersects the State line, thence eastwardly with the said line to the northwest corner of Fairfield county, thence with the western boundary line of Fairfield to the point of beginning." That is, bounded on the east by nearly our present line, south by a line near the middle of what is now Pickaway county, on the west by Greene county, and on the north by Lake Erie. The creation of the county of Delaware in 1808, reduced our northern boundary to its present line; the creation of the county of Pickaway in 1810, reduced our southern boundary to its present limits; the creation of Madison in 1810, and of Union in 1820, reduced our western limits to the boundaries represented by Wheeler's County Map, published in 1842; but subsequently, by an act of the legislature passed the 4th of March, 1845, our western boundary was changed by making Darby creek the line from the northwest corner of Brown to the north line of Pleasant township, as represented by Foote's Map of 1856; and by an act passed the 27th of January, 1857, entitled "An act to annex a part of Licking county to the county of Franklin," there were nine half sections taken from the southwest corner of Licking, and attached to Franklin. This occasions the jog in the eastern line of Truro township, as represented on the maps. Then at the session of 1850-51, a range of sections, being a strip one mile in width and six miles in length, including the town of Winchester, was taken from Fairfield county and attached to the east side of Madison township, in Franklin county, as represented on Foote's Map. The county is now in nearly a square form, and is twenty-two and a half miles in extent north and south, and would probably average a trifle over that from east to west.
First Judges; First Court House; First Jail; First Court Record.
On April 6, 1803, the legislature, sitting at Chillicothe, met in joint session of both bodies, house and senate, and elected the following associate judges of the court of common pleas for Franklin county: John Dill, David Jamison and Joseph Foos. The state was divided into three judicial districts.
Three presiding judges of common pleas, viz.: Calvin Pease for the first, Wyllys Silliman for the second, and Francis Dunlavy for the third were chosen as such. On the same day Return Jonathan Meigs, Jr., Samuel Huntington and William Sprigg were elected supreme judges. Associate judges were elected in each of the seventeen counties into which the state was divided, so that the state judiciary in all its branches was established at the same legislative session.
The first court of common pleas for the county, therefore, was Hon. Wyllys Silliman, of Washington county, presiding judge; Hon. John Dill, Hon. David Jamison and Hon. Joseph Foos, associate justices or judges.
The first session of this court was holden May 10, 1803. The following is
The First Court Record.
"At a meeting of the associate judges of the court of common pleas, of Franklin county, at the temporary seat of justice of said county, in Franklinton, on Tuesday, the 10th day of May, 1803,—present, the Hon. John Dill, chief judge; David Jamison, and Joseph Foos, Esqrs., associate judges of the court aforesaid; Who, having taken their official seats, were attended by Lucas Sullivant, clerk of the said court of common pleas, and they then proceeded to lay off the said county of Franklin into townships, as required by an act of the general assembly of the state of Ohio, entitled 'An act to regulate the election of justices of the peace, and for other purposes,' in the following manner, to wit: "Ordered, that all that part of Franklin county contained within the following limits, to-wit: Beginning at the forks of Darby creek, that is, at the junction of what is called Treacles creek with Darby creek, running thence south to the line between the counties of Ross and Franklin; thence east with said line until it intersects the Scioto river; thence up the same till it comes to a point one mile, on a straight line, above the mouth of Roaring run; and from thence to the point of beginning, do make and constitute the first township in Franklin county, and be called Franklin township.
"Ordered, that all that tract or part of Franklin county contained within the following limits and boundaries, to-wit: Beginning on the west bank of the Scioto river, one mile, on a direct line, above