Auction Date:2009 Jun 24 @ 10:00 (UTC-04:00 : AST/EDT)
Location:6270 Este Ave., Cincinnati, Ohio, 45232, United States
In the 1830s, the Ohio physician and historian Samuel P. Hildreth gathered information on the early history of the white settlement in the Old Northwest Territory, seeking out old residents and their children and assiduously recording their recollections for works such as his Pioneer History: Being an Account of the First Examinations of the Ohio Valley (1848). This collection includes some of the most lurid accounts he collected, stories of violent encounters with the Indians these settlers sought to displace. Included in the collection are drafts of the following captivity narratives:
• Moses Hewitt (13p.), accompanied by a densely written (4p.) first hand memoir of J.H. Neal of Parkersburg, dated Feb. 24, 1839, discussing the Hewitt captivity in considerable detail, despite his apologies that he was young at the time and his memory was therefore imperfect.
• Murder of Mrs. John Armstrong and her children in 1796 (10p.). In April 1796, a party of Wyandots surprised the Armstrong family in their home at Belpre, and although John escaped, his wife and two children were tomahawked and scalped and three other children were taken captive.
• Captivity and escape of Stephen Sherrod, 1792 (9p.). After he was captured by Indians near their home in Belville, W.Va., Stephen Sherrod's wife was accosted by two Indians. After fiercely defending herself, she was struck on the head and was about to be scalped when an armed neighbor drove the Indians off. Stephen Sherrod later escaped and rejoined his family.
The drafts are written in Hildreth's characteristically lively style, with considerable attention to detail, and even more to emotional impact. As an example, the narrative of the death of Mrs. Sherrod heats up as she was struck down by a blow on the head with a tomahawk. She lay quite insensible, but the noise made by Mr. Sherrod while the Indians were attacking & securing him, had alarmed the garrison, and they saw the two Indians who were employed with the old woman. One of them had hold of the hair of her head & was in the act of applying the scalping knife, when a shot from the rifle of Joel Dewey broke & shattered the Indians arm which wielded the knife at the elbow.... The narrative goes on at length to discuss the ultimately successful efforts to get medical help for Mrs. Sherrod; John Sherrod's arduous flight into captivity, and his escape.
The Hewitt narrative is one of the best known of all Ohio Valley Indian captivity narratives, and is a remarkable tale of cunning and endurance. This collection, however, includes not only a stirring version of that tale drawn from first hand accounts, but a first hand account itself, in the form of J.H. Neal's densely written letter from 1839. In one of the critical points in his recollection of events, Neal describes how it slowly dawned on Hewitt that the unpleasant reality of being taken captive to an Indian village might well be worse than he feared. Hewitt was instructed in a ceremony which he had to go through every morning before they took up the line of March, Neal wrote. This ceremony was a spritely & lively kind from which he conceived favorable hope that his life would be spared. After having traveled a few days, he observed them frequently in consultation with manifestly attended looks & gestures and often looking at him, he became satisfied that he was the subject of their deliberations. During the morning exercise, Hewitt was instructed in a grave solemn movement of the body -- a dry buck's hood placed in his hand, which he had to shake violently at every step and repeat the words "Po-haw-chee-tilling-a-wee." The meaning of the words he did not understand -- but he became impressed wit the most awfull conviction that the Indians had changed the intention towards him, and that he was to be sacrificed at the stake when they reached their Towns… The letter continues at greater length.
Indian captivity narratives are exceptionally scarce, much less of this quality. Well written, well sourced, and lively, they are important reflections of the violent history surrounding white invasion of the Ohio Valley.
Descended Directly in the Putnam-Hildreth Families of Marietta, Ohio
Condition: Good condition with expected faults for the age.
Auction Location:
6270 Este Ave., Cincinnati, Ohio, 45232, United States
Previewing Details:
Tuesday, June 23, 12:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday, June 24 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Taxes:
| Tax | Rate | Desc. |
| Ohio |
5.5% |
Ohio State Tax |
Buyer's Premiums:
| From (Incl.) | To (Excl.) | Premium |
| 0.00 |
Infinite |
17.5% |
Additional Fees:
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