Obituary.
Died, at Belpre, on the 31st January last, James Patten, one of the first settlers of Washington County, and an inmate of the Log House that was stormed by the Indians at Big Bottom, in the Fall of 1790.
The writer of this notice, had from Mr. Patten, a short time since, the substance of the following concise account: There were eleven men at the house, and they had taken lodgings on the floor for the night, unsuspicious of danger. At a late hour the Indians, (about thirty in number,) approaching by stealth, put the muzzles of their guns through the apertures between the logs, and poured in upon them a most deadly fire. The bursting open of the door and rush of the Indians into the house were simultaneous with the discharge of the guns. Such of the inmates as did not pass immediately from the sleep of time to that of eternity, by the fire, were instantly seized, one only making resistance. William James, whose limbs were as agile as they were herculean, whose undaunted soul could meet danger and even death in any form, thrust from him his first assailants, and with no other weapon than hi fist, laid several of them at his feet. But even the "Warrior Oak" cannot withstand the lightning's shock. He was assailed with tomahawks, war clubs, and knives, on the right and left, front and rear, and was literally hewn down. Mr. Patten and two others survived the carnage, and were taken prisoners to Sandusky, where, after a few years captivity, they were released by the thunder of Wayne's Artillery.
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