Gathering commemorates site of Delaware Indian village near Perrysville

Mark Caudill
Mansfield News Journal
Jan Lowe demonstrates how to make dye and weave fabrics during the Greentown gathering south of Lucas on Saturday.

PERRYSVILLE - It's easy to drive along a stretch of Ohio 39, just north of Perrysville, and have no idea of the historical significance of the area.

The Delaware Indians settled Greentown — in what is today Ashland County's Green Township — as early as 1782. It was presumably named for British loyalist Thomas Green.

By 1812, there were more than 150 family dwellings in Greentown. Although they were considered peaceful, the Greentown Indians were questioned during the War of 1812.

They were removed from Greentown by American militia on Sept. 2, 1812, for fear they might help "unfriendly" Indians.

A faction of the American militia stayed behind and set fire to the village.

The Greentown Preservation Association held a commemorative gathering this weekend at the site of the historical Delaware Indian village. 

"We want people to know what their culture is around them," Matthew Bottomley said. "They need to know they had a lot of history in their backyard."

Bottomley, of Wooster, was among about a dozen re-enactors taking part Saturday. They set up a camp on the same grounds once inhabited by the Delaware Indians.

Bottomley portrayed Green.

"He and three other British soldiers helped form this camp with the Indians," Bottomley said before he chopped some wood.

Green was not the most upstanding of men. He was an American military deserter, renegade and murderer. According to a column in News Journal archives, Green enlisted in the American army on Feb. 18, 1776, and deserted the same day.

Across the camp from Bottomley were fellow re-enactors Jan Lowe, of Whitehouse, and Peggy Dolinger, of Upper Sandusky.

They were portraying white women captives.

"We love the native ways," Lowe said of her character. "The white captives did not want to go back (to their own people)."

Lowe cooked goldenrod for an hour to make a yellow dye, which she used on several pieces of cloth.

She talked about her involvement in re-enacting.

"I did it for the love of cooking over a fire," Lowe said. "Now I'm getting into the history."

Dolinger was already into the history.

"I've been teaching wild food foraging for 20 years," she said.

Dolinger used a staghorn sumac to make a beverage.

"It's a refreshing drink, tart, kind of like lemonade," she said.

The sumac also can be used to make a purple dye.

Amy Cox, left, along with Dan and Angela Schafer make clothing accessories during the Greentown gathering south of Lucas on Saturday.

Music also was a part of the lives of Native Americans of that era. Jeff Casey, of Indiana, said Indians initially used hollowed-out logs for drums.

"They (later) learned if they used hides from animals, they'd get a very good sound out of it," Casey said.

He also showed off a whistle made from an eagle bone and flutes.

Tom and Dana Brost, of Canton, came away impressed with the gathering.

"These people are very knowledgeable about the time frame when all this took place," Dana Brost said. "I love American history, and I think the Indians got a raw deal."

The gathering, the first of its kind since 2012, will continue from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday with displays, children's crafts, a Delaware football game, live flintlock and traditional archery demonstrations.

Tony Smith is the vice president of the Greentown Preservation Association. He said it would be hard to top the 2012 gathering, which included an appearance by a sub-chief of the Delaware Indian tribe in Oklahoma.

mcaudill@gannett.com

419-521-7219

Twitter: @MNJCaudill