Part 2

My father was engaged in forwarding supplies for General William Henry Harrison’s forces at the time of the fight with the Indians at the Battle of Tippecanoe. I was with my father at Germantown, Montgomery County, Ohio, in the summer of 1840, when he met General Harrison (afterward President Harrison) for the first time after the Tippecanoe campaign. Had I time, I could tell you other exploits of my father with the Indians, but I forbear wearing out your patience. I doubt if there is another man living whose father was in that fight with the Indians on October 22 at the ford of the Maumee.

Most of this information is traditional, handed down from father to son. I have been greatly helped in calling to mind many of these incidents and occurrences by my brother-in-law, Dr. Samuel H. Binkley, of Alexanderville, Montgomery County, Ohio. He is a geologist of high standing and is one of the noted archaeologists in the country. Dr. Binkley has one of the finest geological and archaeological cabinets to be seen in the West. This collection is closely related to historical and monumental matters.

I will mention that I, too, have some early recollections of Fort Wayne. In the fall of 1838 I passed through here, driving a three-horse team moving a relative to Whitley County, Indiana, near where Columbia City now stands. As I now recollect, Fort Wayne was then a town of log houses, principally. I think the courthouse was a square building with a roof run up to a point from all four sides. If I am not right in this, some of you old settlers can correct me. I passed through this city in 1846 or 1847 on a canalboat with Mr. Tabour, an early settler at Logansport. About the same time, I passed through with Mr. Elsworth, of Lafayette, who was at that time commissioner of patents at Washington. In 1856 Olif Johnson and Colonel Sweet of Galva, Illinois, General Thomas Henderson, now in Congress from the seventh Illinois district, and I went bathing (we called it swimming) in the Maumee River a short distance below your then small city.

Sincerely yours, JAMES McGREW

You will agree that I have some personal recollections of your city and the Maumee country. I think of Fort Wayne and the Maumee country as historic ground, baptised with the blood of brave and patriotic men. These men were as heroic as any who have lived in this country; and their toils, hardships, daring, and courage, as well as their patriotism, deserve to be kept green in our memories.

FORT WAYNE JOURNAL, August 16, 1888

Transcriber’s Notes

—Silently corrected a few typos.

—Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook is public-domain in the country of publication.

—In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by _underscores_.