These munificent promisers forgot to say that these forests must be cut down before corn could be raised; that for a year, at least, they must bring their daily bread from a great distance; that hunting and fishing are agreeable amusements, when pursued for the sake of amusement, when pursued for the sake of amusements, but are widely different when following for the sake of subsistence. And they quite forgot to mention that, though there be no bears or tigers in the neighborhood, there are wild beasts infinitely more cunning and ferocious, in the shape of men, who were at that time at open and cruel war with the whites.

In France, in Paris, the imagination was too heated to admit of doubt or suspicion, and people were too ignorant and uniformed to perceive where the picture was defective and its colors too glaring. The example, too, of the wealthy and repeatedly wise confirmed the popular delusion. Nothing was talked of, in every social circle, but the paradise that was opened for Frenchmen in the western wilderness, the free and happy life to be led on the blissful banks of the Scioto. At length Brissot published his travels and completed the flattering delusion. Buyers became numerous and importunate, chiefly among the better sort of the middle class. Single persons and whole families disposed of their all, flattering themselves with having made excellent bargains.

The Little French Doctor. - Behold me once more in port, and domicilated at the house, or inn, of Monsieur, or rather, Dr. Saugrain, a cheerful, sprightly little Frenchman four feet six, English measure, and a chemist, natural philosopher, and physician, both in the English and French signification of the word . . . . . . This singular village was settled by people from Paris and Lyons, chiefly artisans and artists, peculiarly unfitted to sit down in the wilderness and clear away forests. I have seen half a dozen at work in taking down a tree, some pulling ropes fastened to the branches, while others were cutting around it like beavers. Sometimes serious accidents occurred in consequence of their awkwardness. Their former employment had been only calculated to administer to the luxury of highly polished and wealthy societies. There were carvers and gilders to the king, coach-makers, friscurs and perake-makers, and a variety of others who might have found some employment in our larger towns, but who were entirely out of their place in the wilds of Ohio. Their means by this time had been exhausted, and they were beginning to suffer from the wants of the comforts and even the necessaries of life.

The country back from the river was still a wilderness and the Gallipotians did not pretend to cultivate anything more than small garden spots, depending for the supply of provisions on the boats which now began to descend the river; but they had to pay in cash and that was become scarce. They still assembled at the ball-room twice a week; it was evident, however, that they felt disappointment, and were no longer happy. The predilections of the best among them being on the side of the Bourbons, the horrors of the French  revolution, even in their remote situation, mingled with the private misfortunes, which had at this time nearly reached their acme in consequence of the discovery that they had no title to their lands, having been cruelly deceived by those from whom they had purchased. It will is well known that Congress generously made them a grant of 20,000 acres, from which, however, but a few them ever derived any advantage.

As the Ohio was now more frequented, the house was occasionally resorted to, and especially by persons looking out for land to purchase. The doctor had a small apartment which contained his chemical apparatus, and I used to sit by him as often as I could, watching the curious operation of his blow-pipe and crucible. I loved the cheerful little man, and he became very fond of me in return. Many of my countrymen used to come and stare at his doings, which, they were half inclined to think, had a too near resemblance to the black art. The doctor's little phosphoric matches, igniting spontaneously when the little glass tube was broken, and from which he derived some emolument, were thought by some to be rather beyond mere human power. His barometer and thermometer, which the scale neatly painted with the pen, and the frames richly carved, were objects of wonder, and probably some of them are yet extant in the west. But what most astonished some of our visitors was a large peach in a glass bottle, the neck of which would only admit a common cork; this was accomplished by tying the bottle to the limb of a tree, with the peach when young inserted into it. His swans which swam around basins of water amused me more than any wonders exhibited by the wonderful man.

The French Philosophers and the Savages. - The doctor was a great favorite with the Americans, as well for the vivacity and sweetness of temper, which nothing could sour, as on account of a circumstance which gave him high claim the esteem of the backwoodsmen. He had shown himself, notwithstanding his small stature and great good nature, a very hero in combat with the Indians. He had descended the Ohio in company with two French philosophers who were believers in the primitive innocence and goodness of the children of the forest. They could not be persuaded that any danger was to be apprehended from the Indians. As they had no intentions to injure that people, they supposed no harm could be meditated on their part. Dr. Saugrain was not altogether so well convinced of their good intentions, and accordingly kept his pistols loaded.. Near the mouth of the Sandy a canoe with a party of warriors approached the boat; the philosophers invited them on board by signs, when they came rather too willingly. The first thing they did on coming on board of the boat was to salute the two philosophers with the tomahawk, and they would have treated the doctor in the same way but that he used his pistols with good effort - killed two of the savages and then leaped into the water, diving like a dipper at the flash of the guns of the others, and succeeded in swimming to the shore with several severe wounds whose scars were conspicuous.

Madame Saugrain. - The doctor was married to an amiable young woman, but not possessing as much vivacity as himself. As Madame Saugrain had no maid to assist her, her brother, a boy of my ages, and myself, were her principal helps in the kitchen. We brought water and wood and washed the dishes. I used to go in the morning about two miles for a little milk, sometimes on the frozen ground, barefooted. I tried a pair of sabots, or wooden shoes, but was unable to make any use of them, although they had been made by the carver to the king. Little perquisites, too, sometimes fell to our share from blacking boots and shoes,. My companion generally saved his, while mine would have burned a hole in my pocket if it had remained there. In the spring and summer a good deal of my time was passed in the garden, weeding the beds. While thus engaged I formed an acquaintance with a young lady of eighteen or twenty on the other side of the palings, who was often similarly occupied. Our friendship, which was purely Platonic, commenced with the story of Blue Beard, recounted by her, and with the novelty and pathos of which I was much interested. This incident may perhaps remind the reader of the story of Pyramus and Thisbe, or perhaps of the hortical ecologue of Dean Swift, "Dermot and Shela."

Connected with this lady is an incident which I feel a pleasure in relating. One day, while standing alone on the bank of the river, I saw a man who had gone in to bathe and who had got beyond his depth without being able to swim. He had begun to struggle for life, and in a few seconds would have sunk to rise no more. I shot down the bank like an arrow, leaped into a canoe which fortunately happened to be close by, pushed the end to him, and, as he rose, perhaps for the last time, he seized it with a deadly, convulsive grasp and held so firmly that the skin afterward came off the parts of his arms which pressed against the wood,. I screamed for help. Several persons came and took him out, perfectly insensible. He afterwards married the young lady and raised a numerous and respectable family. One of his daughters married a young lawyer who now represents that district in Congress.

Sufferings of the Settlers. - Toward the latter part of summer the inhabitants suffered severely from sickness and want of provisions. The situation was truly wretched. The swamp in the rear, now exposed by the clearing between it and the river, became the cause of a frightful epidemic, from which few escaped, and many became its victims. I had recovered from the ague, and was among the few exempted from the disease; but our family, as well as the rest, suffered much from absolute hunger, a most painful sensation, as I had before experienced. To show the extremity of our distress, on one occasion the brother of Madame Saugrain and myself pushed a light canoe to an island above town, where we pulled some corn, took it to mill and, excepting some of raw grains, had nothing to eat from the day before until carried home the flour and made some bread, but had neither milk nor meat. I have learned to be thankful when I had a sufficiency of wholesome food, however plain, was blessed with health; and I could put up with humble fare without a murmur, although accustomed to luxuries, when I have seen those have never experienced absolute starvation turn up their noses at that which was a very little worse than the best they had ever known . . . .

General Wilkinson and Suite. - I had been nearly a year at Gallipolis, when Capt. Smith, of the United States army, came along in advance of the barge of Gen. Wilkinson, and, according to the request of my father, took me into his custody for the purpose of bringing me once more to my native place. He remained two or three days waiting for the general, and in the meantime, procured me hat, shoes and clothes befitting a gentleman's son, and then took me on board his boat. Shortly after the general overtook us I was transferred on board his barge as a playmate for his son Biddle, a boy of my own age. The general's lady and several ladies and gentlemen were on board his boat, which was fitted up in a style of convenience and even magnificence scarcely surpassed even by the present steamboats. It as propelled against the stream by twenty-five or thirty men, sometimes by the pole, the cordelle, and often by the oar. There was also a band of musicians on board and the whole had the appearance of a mere party of pleasure. My senses were overpowered - it seemed an elysium! The splendor of the furniture - the elegance of the dresses - and then, the luxuries of the table, to a half-starved creature like me, produced an effect which can scarce be easily described. Every repast was a royal banquet, and such delicacies were placed before me as I had never seen before, and in sufficient abundance to satiate my insatiable appetite. I was no more like wheat I had been than the cast-off skin of the blacksnake resembles the new dress in which he glistens in the sunbeam. The general's countenance was continually lighted up with smiles, and seemed faire la bringue of all around him; it seemed his business to make every one happy about him. His countenance and manners were such as I have rarely seen, and now that I can form a more just estimate of them, were such as better fitted him for a court than a republic. His lady was truly an estimable person, of the mildest and softest manners. She gave her son and myself a reproof one day which I never forgot. She saw us catching minnows with pin-hooks, made us desist, and then explained in the sweetest manner the cruelty of taking away life wantonly from the humblest thing in creation.

In 1807 Breckenridge again saw Gallipolis.

As we passed Point Pleasant and the island below it, Gallipolis, which I looked for with anxious feelings, hove in sight. I thought of the French inhabitants - I thought of the my friend Saugrain; and I recalled the liveliest colors, the incidents of that portion of my life which was passed here. A year is a long time at that period - every day is crowded with new and great and striking events. When the boat landed, I ran up the bank and looked around; but alas! how changed! The Americans had taken the town in hand, and no trace of antiquity, that is, of twelve years ago, remained. I hastened to the spot where I expected to find the abode, the little log-house, tavern, and laboratory of the doctor, but they had vanished like the palace of Aldadin. After some inquiry I found a little Frenchman, who, like the old woman of Goldsmith's village, was "the sad historian of the deserted plain," - that is, deserted by one raced, to be peopled by another. He led me to where a few logs might be seen, as the only remains of the once happy tenement which had sheltered me - but all around it was a common; the town had taken a different direction. My heart sickened; the picture which my imagination had drawn - the scenes which my memory loved to cherish, were blotted out and obliterated. A volume of reminiscences seemed to be annihilated in an instant! I took a hasty glance at the new town, as I returned to the boat. I saw brick houses, painted frames, fanciful enclosures, ornamental trees! Even the pond, which had carried off a third of the French population by its malaria, had disappeared, and pretty green had usurped its place with a neat brick court-house in the midst of it. This was too much, I hastened my pace, and with sorrow once more pushed into the stream.

GALLIPOLIS in 1846. - Gallipolis, the county-seat, is pleasantly situated on the Ohio river, 102 miles southeasterly from Columbus. It contains 1 Presbyterian, 1 Episcopal, and 1 Methodist church, 12 or 14 stores, 2 newspaper printing offices, and by the census of 1840 had 1,221 inhabitants, and now has about 1,700. A part of the population is of French descent, but they have in a great measure lost their national characteristics. Some few of the original French settlers are yet living. The engraving of the public square shows the market and court-house near the centre of the view, with a glimpse of the Ohio river on the left. - Old Edition.

Gallipolis is on the Ohio, 4 miles below the mouth of the Kanawha, 102 southeast of Columbus, and on the C.H.T. & T. R.R. County officers in 1888: Auditor, Anthony W. Kerns; Clerk, Robert D. Neal; Coroner, Fred. A. Cromley; Prosecuting Attorney, D. Warren Jones; Probate Judge, John J. Thomas; Recorder, James K. Williams; Sheriff, Valentine H. Switzer; Surveyor, Ira W. Jacobs; Treasurer, D.S. Trowbridge, I. Floyd Chapman; Commissioners, S.F. Coughenour, Daniel J. Davies, William H. Clark. Newspapers: Bulletin, Democratic; Gallia Tribune, Republican; Journal, Republican. Churches: 3 Episcopal Methodist, 1 Colored Methodist, 1 Baptist, 1 Colored Baptist, 1 Catholic, 1 German Lutheran, 1 Universalist, 1 Presbyterian, 1 Episcopalian. Bankes: First National, R. Deletombe, President, J.S. Blackaller, cashier; Ohio Valley, A. Henking, president, C.W. Henking, cashier. Industries and Employees: Gallipolis Steam Tannerym, 14 hands; Morrison & Betz, lumber; James Mullineaux, dorrs, sash, etc., 24; Vanden & Son, A.A. Lyon, carriages; Martin McHale, brooms, 19; Fuller & Hutsinpillar, furniture, 75; The Fuller and Hutsinpiller Company, fishing furniture, 64; Treasure Stove Works, stove, etc., 21; Ling & Co., stoves, etc., 24; T.S. Ford & Co., flooring, etc., 12; Enos, Hill & Co., machinery, etc., 25; Gatewood Lumber Company, furniture, etc., 22. - State Report for 1887.

Population in 1880, 4400. School census in 1886, 1,868; Miron E. Hard, superintendent.

Drawn by Henry Howe in 1846.

Public Square, Gallipolis

Fenner, Photo, 1856

On the Public Square, Gallipolis.

TRAVELING NOTES.

In my original visit to Gallipolis I failed of learning that the extraordinary specimen of humanity known at Mad Ann Bailey; passed the latter part of her days in its vicinity. In my travels over Virginia in the years 1843-44 taking pencil sketches and collecting materials for my work upon that State, I learned of her and inserted therein this account

"There was an eccentric female, who lived in the Kanawha region towards the latter part of the last century. Her name was Ann Bailey. She was born in Liverpool, and had been the wife of an English soldier. She generally went by the cognomen of Mad Ann. During the wars with the Indians, she very often acted as a messenger, and conveyed letters from the fort, at Covington, to Point Pleasant. On these occasions she was mounted on a favorite horse of great sagacity, and rode like a man, with a rifle over her shoulder, and a tomahawk, and a butcher's-knife in her belt. At night she slept in the woods. Her custom was to let her horse go free, and then walk some distance back on his trail, to escape being discovered by the Indians. After the Indian wars she spent some time in hunting. She pursued and shot deer and bears with the skill of a backwoodsman. She was a short, stout woman, very masculine and coarse in appearance, and seldom or never wore a gown, but usually had on a petticoat, with a man's coat over it, and buckskin breeches. The services she rendered in the wars with the Indians endeared her to the people. Mad Ann, and her black pony Liverpool, were always welcome at every house. Often, she gathered the honest, simple-hearted mountaineers around, and related her adventures and trials, which the sympathetic tear would course down their cheeks. She was profane, often became intoxicated, and cold box with the skill of one of the fancy. Mad Ann possessed considerable intelligence, and could read and write. She died in Ohio many years. since."

I have this notice of her death is kindly copied for me by Mr. James Harper, from the Gallia Free Press. of December 3, 1825, published by his father. In a note with it he wrote to me: " I saw Ann Bailey a short time before she died - the first and only time - and made a lasting impression upon my six year-old mind. She wore a hat, and her accoutrements were tomahawk and scalping knife." The account was published under the caption "Longevity."

"Died, in Harrison township, Gallia county, Ohio, on Tuesday, November 22, 1825, the celebrated Ann Bailey. From the best account we have had she must have been at least 125 years of age. According to her own story her father was a soldier in Queen Anne's wars; that on getting a furlough to go home, he found his wife with a fine daughter in her arms, whom he called Ann, after the Queen, as a token of respect. In 1714 she went from Liverpool to London with her mother on a visit to her brother - while there, she saw Lord Lovett beheaded.

ANN BAILEY, the Heroine of Point Pleasant.

She came to the United States the year after Braddock's defeat, ages then forty-six years. Her husband was killed at the battle of Point Pleasant in 1774; after that, to avenge his death, she joined the garrison, under the command of Col. Wm. Clendenin, where she remained until the final departure of the Indians from the country. She has always been noted for intrepid bravery. Col. Wm. Clendenin says, while he was commander of the garrison where Charleston, Kanawha, is now located, an attack by Indians was hourly expected. On examination it was believed that the ammunition on hand was insufficient to hold out a siege of any length; to send even two, three or four men to Lewisburg, the nearest place it could be had, a distance of 100 miles, was like sending men to be slaughtered; and to send a larger force was weakening the garrison. While in this state Ann Bailey volunteered to leave the fort in the night and go to Lewisburg. She did so - and travelled the wilderness, where not the vestige of a house was to be seen - arrived safe at Lewisburg, delivered her orders, received the ammunition, and returned safe to her post, amidst the plaudits of a grateful people.

In the April number, 1885, of the Magazine of Western History is a sketch of Mad Ann by Wm. P. Buell. It states she was born in the year of 1700, in Liverpool, England, and named in honor of Queen Anne, and was present with her parents at her coronation in 1705. She was of good family; the name Sargent. At the age of nineteen, while on her way to school with books on her arm, she was kidnapped, as was common in those days, and brought to America and landed in Virginia, on James river, when she was sold to defray her expenses At the age of thirty she married John Trotter, who was killed at the battle of Point Pleasant in 1774. The loss of her husband filled her with rage and, swearing vengeance upon the entire savage race, she entered upon a career as a scout and spy. She hunted, rode and fought like a man. She had a fine black horse called Liverpool, in honor of her birthplace, an animal of great beauty and intelligence. One one occasion, when she was pursued by Indians, she came to an impenetrable thicket where was obliged to dismount and leave him for their capture. She then crawled into a hollow sycamore log. The Indians came and rested on the log, but without suspecting her concealment within. After they had gone she followed their trail, and in the darkness of night recaptured the animal, and, mounting him, when at a safe distance from being shot or taken gave a shout of defiance and bounded away. The Indians eventually became afraid of her, regarding her as insane and therefore under the special protection of the Great Spirit.

After sixteen years of widowhood she married John Bailey, a soldier, and went with him to Fort Clendenin, on the site of Charleston, Kanawha river. This was in 1790, and when she had attained to the ripe, mellow age of ninety years. Her second husband was murdered, when she went to live with her son, William Trotter. In 1818 Trotter moved into Gallia county, became a large landowner and was justice of the peace for twenty-one years, and a highly respected man.

A Chat with James L. Newsom about Mad Ann Bailey and others was a wholesome entertainment for me while in Gallipolis. Mr. Newsom lived in a little cottage a stone's throw from the Ohio. He was rather tall, cheeks rosy, and life appeared to have gone well with him; and was a boy of fourteen when Mad Ann Bailey died. He told me that he eleven children; eight boys and three girls; that not one of the eleven had ever tasted ardent spirits, and the eight boys always voted the Republican ticket, which I concluded was a good thing for that ticket, but bad for the distilling business.

"I knew Ann Bailey well," he said, "and heard her say she was five years old when, in 1705, Queen Anne was crowned, and her mother took her up to London to see the event. She was low-set, heavy woman, not over five feet two inches high, dressed in a petticoat with man's coat over it, wore a hat, and loved whiskey in her old age; often saw her come to town with a fun and shot-pouch over her shoulder. She would no live with her son and grandchildren - was too wild. Her home was a cabin, or rather pen, four miles below town, high on the Ohio river hills. She built it of fence rails, which lapped at the corners. It was made like a she, had one door and a single window, a small, four-pane affair. The roof was without nails, of black oak clapboards say four feet long, held to their places by weight poles. The chimney was merely an excuse for a chimney; was, outside, about four feet high; the fireplace would take in sticks four or five feet long. The interstices of the cabin were stuffed with straw and old rags and daubed with mud. the only floor was the earth; she had no furniture, not even a bedstead. Mad Ann was passionate, high spirited, had excellent sense, would allow no trifling with her, and hated Indians.

CABIN OF ANN BAILEY.

It was on the Ohio River Hills, below Gallipolis, and built by her of fence rails.

She was very particular in the observance of the Sabbath; gathered in the children and taught them Sunday lessons. Her voice was coarse, like the growl of a lion, and she chewed tobacco like a pig, the saliva coming down the corners of her mouth. I often saw her in town; she sometimes walked and sometimes paddled up in a canoe, and was always with a gun and shot-pouch over her shoulder in hunter fashion.

Although spoken of as Mad Ann, no one ever had the temerity to so address her; the people fairly idolized her, treated her with great kindness, loaded her with presents and plied her well with whiskey. She died from old age, never was sick - only gave out.

She looked tough as a mule and seemed about as strong. I was a stout boy of fourteen, and one day she laid down her bundle of things which people gave her. We boys were afraid of her, as she was disposed to be a little cross, but as her back was turned I tried to lift it, but was unable. She lifted it with case, and walked all the way to her home with it, four miles away.

Mr. Newsom brought out a picture, which he gave me, saying he had kept it for years because it was an excellent likeness of Mad Ann, although not taken for her, and this is reproduced in these pages. That of the cabin is from the imagination of an artist, who being a city man has made it altogether too palatial; Mad Ann would have scorned to have lived in so pretentious a mansion.

Gen. EDWARD W. TUPPER, an officer of the war of 1812, lived in a house now standing, which faces the public square in Gallipolis. In 1812 he raised, mainly from Gallia, Jackson and Lawrence counties, 1,000 men, marched to the northwest and had a skirmish with the enemy at the foot of the Maurice Rapids. He was a large, fine-looking man, continued Mr. Newsom, and when our people attempted to establish a ferry to Point Pleasant, the inhabitants there arose in opposition. The jurisdiction of Virginia extended over the Ohio, and they threatened to kill the first passenger who crossed. Hearing this, Tupper buckled on his sword and pistols and mounting his old war horse ordered the ferryman to take him over. He landed and galloped to the fro through the village. No one ventured to molest him, and thus was the ferry established.

Mr. Newsom also related this anecdote of Col. Robert Safford, who, as stated, cut the first tree on the site of Gallipolis. "One time, said Safford to me, after the defeat of St. Clair, I was in the neighborhood of Raccoon creek with a brother scout, one Hart, when we discovered an Indian seated on a hillock mending his moccasins. I told Hart we must shoot together and I would give the word by counting one, two, three, four. When I said 'four' he was answer 'four,' then we would shoot together. I did so, but Hart not responding I looked behind me where Hart was and saw him running away. I again looked at the hillock and aw not one, but four Indians; so I followed suit."

Gallipolis was the life-home of SIMEON NASH, one of the learned jurists of Ohio; he died in 1879. He aided me on the first edition by a valuable contribution. He was one of those plain, sensible, industrious men who generally go direct for their facts and get them. He was born in Massachusetts in 1801, educated at Amherst; was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1850, and for many years Judge of the Seventh District. Judge Nash was author of various law works, as "Digest of Ohio Reports," in twenty volumes; "Morality and the State," Crime and the Family," etc.

JOSEPH DROUILLARD, now living, at the age of ninety-two years, with his son-in-law, Mr. James Harper, editor of the Gallipolis Journel, is a con of the "Peter Druyer" (as the name has been wrongly spelled) who rescued Simon Kenton from being burnt at the stake by the Indians. He was clerk of the court here for twenty-three years and is a highly respected citizen.

The cemetery at Gallipolis is unique from having so many so many monuments to French people. One of these is to the memory of JOHN PETER ROMAINE BUREAU. I met him here on my first visit; a little, vivacious, old gentleman, very urbane, graceful and smiling; evidently wanted everybody to feel as joyous as himself. A daughter of his, Romaine Madelaine, married Hon. Samuel F. Vinton, one of Ohio's most distinguished statesmen. (See Vinton county.) Their daughter MADELAINE VINTON DAHLGREN, for her second husband married Admiral Dahlgren. As early as 1859 she published "Sketches and Poem," under the pen-name of Corinne. Her reputation as an authoress and a lady of the highest culture, wealth of information and efficiency in the circles of Washington is too well known for other than our allusion. The Chapel of "St. Joseph's of the Sacred Heart of Jesus," at South Mountain, Md., her summer home, was built through the compliment of a preface from James A. Garfield, and another the thanks of Pius IX, and still another the thanks of the illustrious Montalembert. Her summer home overlooks the famous battlefield, and resembles a castle of the Middle Ages. Mrs. Dahlgren has published various works on various subjects; essays, poems, biography, magazines and newspaper articles, and nearly a dozen novels.

CHAMBERSBURG, CROWN CITY and PATRIOT are small villages in the county, neither of which have over sixty families.

Transcribed by Conni McDaniel Hall, February 2022 from images added to Gallia County OHGenWeb many years before.