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THE MAUMEE VALLEY
MONUMENTAL ASSOCIATION
This patriotic
association had its origin through the action of the “Pioneer
association of the Maumee valley,” at its annual meeting held in 1885,
on the battlefield of “Fallen Timber.”
A committee was then and there appointed to take into consideration and
devise ways and means to secure the possession and control, and to
protect and commemorate the most important historical points, such as
battlefields and forts, in the Maumee valley.
The result of the deliberations of the committee, was the incorporation,
under the laws of Ohio, of the Maumee valley monumental association.
The incorporators were all residents of Ohio, and were: D. W. H. Howard,
of Fulton county; Asher Cook, of Wood county; William Baker, R. B.
Mitchell, Samuel M. Young, R. C. Lemmon, Mayor Brigham, Henry Bennett,
Richard Mott, John C. Lee, Foster R. Warren and John R. Osborn, of Lucas
county.
The articles of incorporation were filed in the office of the secretary
of state of Ohio, on the 28th day of July, 1885. Prior to this formal
organization, however, the incorporators had perfected an organization
by the election of a board of directors, and through an executive
committee consisting of D. W. H. Howard, Asher Cook, and J. C. Lee,
presented a memorial to congress, which resulted in an appropriation for
a survey of the various historical localities, which survey has been
under the charge of Gen. O. M. Poe, of the engineer corps, U. S. army,
who has rendered to congress an exhaustive report of the survey of all
the historic grounds of the valley, as well as Pet-in-Bav, and
recommends their purchase, improvement, and marking by substantial
monuments, at an estimated cost of $65,000.
Originally the membership was restricted to residents of the valley, but
that rule has been abrogated, and any person interested may become a
member on the payment of $1.
Much of the success of the association thus far is due to the
patriotism, zeal and energy of Gen. John C. Lee, of Toledo, its able,
earnest and efficient secretary.
The first annual meeting of the association was held on the battlefield
of Fallen Timber, Lucas county, Ohio, August 20, 1885. The board of
directors there elected were Hon. Richard Mott, Samuel M. Young, of
Toledo, Ohio; Hon. Asher Cook, of Perrysburgh, Ohio; Chief Justice M. R.
Waite, Hon. Thomas Dunlap, of Toledo, Ohio; Mr. Joel Foot, of Wood
county, Ohio; Hon. Reuben C. Lemmon, Foster R. Warren, esq., Col. D. W.
H. Howard, of Fulton county, Ohio; Reuben B. Mitchell and Daniel F.
Cook, of Lucas county; Peter Mangus of Defiance county; John C. Lee, of
Toledo; J. Austin Scott, of Ann Arbor, Mich., and Hon. S. H. Cately, of
Fulton county.
At a meeting of the board of directors on the 28th of August, 1885,
Chief Justice M. R. Waite was elected president; Col. D. W. H. Howard,
first vice president; Hon Richard Mott, second vice president; Hon.
Asher Cook, third vice president; Foster R. Warren, treasurer; John C.
Lee, secretary. Executive committee: Col. D. W. H. Howard, Hon. Asher
Cook and John C. Lee.
The same persons constituted the board of directors and officers during
the two succeeding years. In 1888, Hon. Richard Mott having deceased as
well as Chief Justice Waite, five members of the board were elected at
the annual meeting in Fort Wayne, the terms of regularly expiring
members being filled by the re-election of the same members, and the
vacancies from death, by the election of Lieut. Gov. Robert S. Robertson
and Hon. Franklin P. Randall of Fort Wayne.
At the meeting of the board of directors on the 28th of August, the
directorship to which Peter Mangus had been elected was declared vacant
by reason of his having failed to appear and accept the office, and
President R. B. Hayes was elected to fill that vacancy. At the same time
officers for the ensuing year were elected as follows: President, R. B.
Hayes; first vice president, Robert S. Robertson; second vice president,
Samuel H. Cateley; third vice president, D. W. H. Howard; secretary, J.
C. Lee; treasurer, Reuben B. Mitchell; executive committee, D. W. H.
Howard, Asher Cook and J. C. Lee.
At the annual meeting held August 8th, 1889, on Old Fort Defiance, the
three out-going members of the board of directors were re-elected, and
since that time there has been no meeting of the board of directors for
the election of officers for the ensuing year. This meeting will be held
at no distant day.
The prominent points sought to be protected, and marked by monuments,
are:
1. Fort Miami, seven miles from Toledo on the north bank of the Maumee
(Miami of the Lakes), established in 1680 as a military and trading post
by an expedition sent out by Frontenac, then French governor of Canada,
but abandoned after a few years of occupation. Reoccupied in 1785 by
Glencoe, British governor of Canada, as a military post, it fell into
the hands of Gen. Wayne, August 20, 1794. In pursuance of the treaty
between Great Britain and the United States, it was abandoned in 1795,
and was again occupied by the British in 1813, and became memorable for
the massacre of Col. Dudley’s soldiers when made prisoners by the forces
of Proctor and Tecumseh.
2. Fort Defiance, erected by Gen. Wayne in August, i794> confluence of
the Auglaize and the Maumee.
3. “Fallen Timber,” the site of the famous battle of Wayne with the
Indians under “ Turkey Foot,” August 16, 1794*
4. Fort Industry, built by Wayne at the mouth of Swan creek, now the
site of the city of Toledo, after the battle of “ Fallen Timber.”
5. Fort Wayne, at the head of the Maumee, built by Wayne in 1794.
6. Fort Meigs, built by Gen. Harrison in February, 1813, on the
southwest bank of the Maumee ten miles above Toledo, and. besieged by
Proctor and Tecumseh for several days in May, and again in July, of that
year.
7. Put-in-Bay, where the dead of Perry’s memorable naval battle are
buried.
It is hoped that ere long, through the instrumentality of this society,
all these historic spots will be owned by the United States, and marked
with appropriate monuments, to perpetuate the memory of the heroic deeds
bf the pioneer soldiers of America on the western frontier, and to
preserve them as sacred spots which may not only serve as memorials of
valor, but be forever object lessons in patriotism for the generations
to come.
TO THE READER
In the preparation of
this work the biographical sketches are usually arranged in connection
with those parts of the general history to which they seem most
appropriately to belong. This does not in any instance imply that these
sketches were written by the person whose name may appear at the head of
such chapter. In fact they were not written by the writers of the
various portions of the work who have composed the chapters on the
general history. The biographical sketches were compiled almost
exclusively by a corps of men trained for that particular work. The
large number of these which the book contains, needs no apology when the
most enlightened sense of our civilization has approved the growing
custom of publishing biographies of living persons, and thereby
rendering the facts of history secure while the witnesses are yet able
to judge of their accuracy.
The Publishers.
An Introduction |
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