gone. They are the oldest "twin brothers" in all the county, the oldest perhaps in Ohio.

They are so old and their sides so eroded that the softer parts have the appearance of having been eaten into holes, while the iron and harder parts still maintain a stout resistance to the "tooth of time." If we could unroll the scroll of their history, what a wonderful story they would tell.

SENECA JOHN, INDIAN CHIEF

HIS TRAGIC DEATH

ERECTION OF MONUMENT TO HIS MEMORY

COMPILED BY BASIL MEEK

SENECA JOHN

Not much is known pertaining to the direct biography of Seneca John. The most that we have is incidental to and related in the story of his execution. He belonged however to a prominent family of his tribe and was one of four brothers, or rather of three full brothers named Comstock, Steel and Coonstick and himself a half brother of the three named.

Comstock was a principal chief of his tribe. Seneca John succeeded Comstock as chief and Coonstick succeeded Seneca John, or became a chief after Seneca John's death. Thus it appears that the family furnished three chiefs of the tribe.

From the story mentioned, we find that Seneca John was a tall noble looking man, and resembled Henry Clay of Kentucky; and like Clay was very eloquent as a speaker the most eloquent of his tribe. If ill feeling arose in the councils he could by his eloquence and persuasive powers of speech restore harmony. He was very amiable and agreeable in his manners and cheerful in disposition. These traits combined made him popular with his tribe, and upon the death of Comstock he was made a chief. His credit at the Trading Post at Lower Sandusky was of the highest, and he often be

BASIL MEEK.

Basil Meek, the veteran historian, was born at New Castle, Henry County, Indiana, April 20, 1829. This month he therefore completes his

ninety-third year. His paternal

great grandfather came from England to Virginia. His father, John Meek, was born in 1774 near Ellicott's Mills, now Ellicott City, in the state of Maryland. The son Basil lived at different places in Indiana. In 1853 he was elected clerk of the circuit court of Owen County, that state and served two terms of four years each. In 1864 he moved to Sandusky County, Ohio, and resided for a time on a farm near Clyde. In 1871 he became a member of the Sandusky County bar and practiced until February 10, 1879, when he entered upon his duties as clerk of courts, a position that he held for two terms. He was appointed postmaster at Fremont by President Cleveland and had charge of the office from September 1, 1886 to March 1, 1891. At the conclusion of this service he returned to the practice of the law which he has followed since that time. Mr. Meek was twice married and has a number of children and grandchildren living. He is the author of the Twentieth Century History of Sandusky County, a volume of 934 pages, published in 1909. He has also written a number of historical sketches which have appeared in print. The accompanying portrait is from a photograph taken on his ninetieth birthday.

Vol. XXXI-9.

came security for the more improvident members of his tribe. He was peace loving, but by reason of his high qualities and popularity he was the victim of jealousy and envy on the part of his brothers, which finally resulted in his tragic death, near the spot where the monument erected to his memory stands.

During an expedition by his half brothers Steel and Coonstick, in the West hunting, trapping and looking for a new home for the tribe, lasting about three years, Chief Comstock died. On their return in 1828, they found Seneca John chief in charge of the tribe as the successor of Comstock. This so aroused their jealousy and excited their envy that they determined to make away with him, and accordingly preferred the false charge against him of causing the death of Comstock by witchcraft. According to the belief of the Senecas, the superstition of witchcraft was to them a verity, a magical or supernatural power, by agreement, with evil spirits, the possessor of which could bring calamity upon or even death of the victim. The penalty for its practice was death. Seneca John, being innocent of any wrong in the death of Comstock, denied the charge, in a strain of pathos and eloquence rarely equalled, in expressions of love for Comstock and grief over his death, but without avail He was condemned to die, and was killed by his brothers accordingly, in the month of August, 1828, under the semblance of the execution of a judicial sentence, and was buried with Indian ceremonies not more than twenty feet from where he fell.

Sardis Birchard, cited in Knapp's History, remembered the death of Seneca John. He said:

"The whole_tribe seemed to be in town the evening before his execution. John stood by me on the porch of my store, as the other Indians rode away. He looked at them with so much sadness in his face, that it attracted my attention and I wondered at John's letting them go away without him. He inquired of me the amount of his indebtedness at my store. The amount was given. He bade me good-bye, and went away without relating any of the trouble.

"Chiefs Hard Hickory and Tall Chief came into town the day of the killing of John, or the next day, and told me about it. Tall Chief always settled the debts of Indians who died believing they could not enter the good hunting ground of the spirit land until their debts were paid. He settled the bill of Seneca John, after his death."*

THE EXECUTION

The particulars of the tragedy as related by an Indian chief, named Hard Hickory by whose cabin it was enacted, and who was present are substantially as follows:

His brothers pronounced him guilty and declared their determination to become his executioners. John replied that he was willing to die, and only wished to live until next morning to see the sun rise once more. This request being granted, John told them that he would sleep that night on Hard Hickory's porch, which fronted the East, where they would find him at sunrise. He chose that place, because he did not wish to be killed in the presence of his wife, and desired that the Chief Hard Hickory witness that he died like a man.

Coonstick and Steel retired for the night to an old cabin nearby. In the morning in company with Shane, another Indian, they proceeded to the house of Hard Hickory who was informant - who stated that a little after sunrise, he heard their footsteps on the porch,

*This quotation is a paraphrase, in part, of the reminiscences of Sardis Birchard recorded in Knapp's History of the Maumee Valley.