A H I S TORY of JONAT H A N A L DE R ) This page intentionally left blank A H I S T ORY of JONAT H A N A L DE R His Captivity and Life with the Indians BY HENRY CLAY ALDER TranscribedandwithaforewordbyDoyleH.Davison Compiled,annotated,edited,andwithan introductionbyLarryL.Nelson THEUNIVERSITYOFAKRONPRESS Copyright©2002byLarryL.Nelson Allrightsreserved Allinquiriesandpermissionsrequestsshouldbeaddressedtothepub- lisher,TheUniversityofAkronPress,Akron,OH44325-1703 ManufacturedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica Firstedition2002 13 12 11 10 5 4 3 LibraryofCongresshascatalogedthehardcovereditionofthisbookasfollows. Alder,HenryClay,19thcent. AhistoryofJonathanAlder:hiscaptivityandlifewiththeIndians/ byHenryClayAlder;transcribedandwithaforewordbyDoyleH. Davison;compiled,annotated,edited,andwithanintroductionby LarryL.Nelson.—1sted. p.mcm.—(SeriesonOhiohistoryandculture) “TheversionwithinthesepagesistheDoyleDavisontranscript oftheHenryClaymanuscriptheldbytheOhioHistorical Society.l.l.l”—Introd. Includesbibliographicalreferences(p.)andindex. isbn1-884836-80-1(hardcover:alk.paper) 1.Alder,Jonathan,b.1773.m2.Indiancaptivities—Ohio. 3.ShawneeIndians—Sociallifeandcustoms.m 4.MingoIndians—Sociallifeandcustoms.m 5.Frontierandpioneerlife—Ohio. I.Davison,DoyleH. II.Nelson,LarryL.(LarryLee),1950– . III.Title.mIV.Series. e99.s35a45m2002 974.004'973—dc21 2001006416 isbn978-1-884836-98-5(pbk.:alk.paper) ePDF 978-1-935603-10-8 ePUB 978-1-935603-11-5 ManufacturedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica Thepaperusedinthispublicationmeetstheminimumrequirementsof AmericanNationalStandardforInformationSciences—Permanenceof PaperforPrintedLibraryMaterials,ansiz39.48—1984. Contents ) Foreword/vii Acknowledgments/ix Introduction/1 A HISTORY OF JONATHAN ALDER: HIS CAPTIVITY AND LIFE WITH THE INDIANS/27 Notes/181 Bibliography/207 Index/217 This page intentionally left blank Foreword ) OutofthedimpastcomestheromanticstoryofJonathanAlder, so engrossing, so improbable as viewed from our twentieth-century standpoint,thatwemaybepronetofeelthatthenarratorhasdrawn uponhisimaginationindealingwiththelifeofthisremarkableman, or that possibly, he has selected him as a romantic figure around whichtobuildacolorfulstoryofthepioneerdaysofMadisonCoun- ty.Butinrefutationofanysuchtheory,anddisclaiminganydesireto add unearned luster to the memory of Jonathan Alder, the writer points to the old “round log” cabin on Big Darby in which he dwelt with his Indian wife, and the hewed log cabin adjoining it to which hetookacharmingbrideinthepersonofMaryBlont,stillstanding at this late date, one hundred and twenty-four years afterwards, as mute evidence of the truth. Add to these the old moss-covered slab intheFosterCemeterylyingbrokenontheground,havingbeenre- placed in the year 1916 by a fine granite stone with suitable inscrip- tionbythechildrenofHenryClayAlderasatributetotheirfather. In1927,theoldlogcabinwastorndownandmovedtotheAlder ChapelChurchyardbyallthegreat-grandchildrenofJonathanAlder, asitwashiswishthattheoldcabinbepreserved,andhereitishoped itwillstandforanotheronehundredyears. In 1928, a flagpole and flag was placed by the cabin, the gift of a great-grandson,JamesW.AlderofChicago. In1922,achapterwasformedbythewomenofMadisonCounty and named the Jonathan Alder Chapter, Daughters of 1812, which has met once a month ever since. Each year on September 17th, his birthday, this chapter, with relatives and friends from the surround- vii ing country, meet at his last resting place and cover his grave with a blanketofflowers. In addition to these visible relics of the past, there is Jonathan Alder’sownstoryofhislifeastoldtohissonHenrynearlyonehun- dredyearsago,andwrittendownbythelatter.Thisstory,whichcov- ered over one hundred pages of manuscript, was loaned to Henry HoweinthepreparationofHowe’sHistoricalSketches,butitafterwards waslostforalongtime.Howedidnotprintitinitsentiretybuttook onlythemainfactsand,therefore,muchwaslost. The following manuscript, a copy of which is the one that was lostformorethaneightyyears,wasaccidentallyfoundbyagrandson, Henry Betts, with the aid of Henry Alder, a great-grandson—so we herewithpresentittoyou. DoyleH.Davison (1935) viii Foreword Acknowledgments ) Many people assisted me as I prepared Alder’s narrative, and it givesmegreatpleasuretoacknowledgetheirhardworkonmybehalf. LouiseJones,DureaKemp,andTomStarbuckattheOhioHistorical Society’s Library/Archives Division responded promptly to numer- ousrequestsforreferencematerialsandadministrativehelpasIpre- paredthemanuscriptforpublication.AmyJohnsonassistedwiththe manuscript’searlycopyediting.RandyBuchmanofDefianceCollege, MikePrattatHeidelbergCollege,ChrisDuckworthatTimelineMaga- zine, Don Rettig at Toledo Metro Parks, and Adam Sakel, my col- league at Fort Meigs State Memorial, all read and commented on early drafts of the book. Will Currie and his staΩ at the Firelands College library were very responsive to my requests for interlibrary loan materials, as were the OhioLINK staΩ at Bowling Green State University’sJeromeLibrary.AlGutchessgavemetheopportunityto refinemythinkingaboutAlderbyallowingmetodiscussmyworkat his annual Eastern Woodland Indian conference. Gretchen Green, thedirectoroftheMadisonCounty(Ohio)HistoricalSociety,Cath- erine Alder of Fort Worth Texas, Bill and Rita Alder of Newport, Oregon, and Dorothy Walley of Waterville, Ohio, assisted me with Alder’s genealogy and in tracking down the still elusive Henry Clay Aldermanuscript.Toallofthemgomysincerestthanks. LarryL.Nelson ix