The Copus massacre is a name given to a skirmish occurring on September 15, 1812, between American settlers and
Lenape
The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory includ ...
,
Wyandot
Wyandot may refer to:
Native American ethnography
* Wyandot people, also known as the Huron
* Wyandot language
* Wyandot religion
Places
* Wyandot, Ohio, an unincorporated community
* Wyandot County, Ohio
* Camp Wyandot, a Camp Fire Boys and ...
, and
Mohawk Mohawk may refer to:
Related to Native Americans
*Mohawk people, an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York)
*Mohawk language, the language spoken by the Mohawk people
*Mohawk hairstyle, from a hairstyle once thought to have been t ...
Native Americans on the
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
frontier during the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...
.
The massacre resulted from a misunderstanding between Reverend James Copus and the members of the Native American tribes. Copus was instructed to persuade the tribes to relocate to the Piqua Reservation
before the United States would force them to do so.
However, even after reaching an agreement with the tribes, American soldiers razed the tribe's homes, burning the entire village to the ground. Assuming Copus's betrayal, the Native Americans then retaliated. The massacre is named for Reverend James Copus, who died during an attack on his house.
In addition to Reverend Copus, 3 American soldiers died in the conflict;
2 to 11 Lenape, Wyandot, and Mohawk people died. The American settlers were defending
Charles Mill Lake
Charles Mill is a reservoir located in central Ohio near the junction of State Routes 430 and 603. Charles Mill Lake is a quiet and enjoyable place for boating, camping, fishing, hunting, or hiking. The lake is located in both Richland County (n ...
,
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
while the displaced
Lenape
The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory includ ...
,
Wyandot
Wyandot may refer to:
Native American ethnography
* Wyandot people, also known as the Huron
* Wyandot language
* Wyandot religion
Places
* Wyandot, Ohio, an unincorporated community
* Wyandot County, Ohio
* Camp Wyandot, a Camp Fire Boys and ...
, and
Mohawk Mohawk may refer to:
Related to Native Americans
*Mohawk people, an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York)
*Mohawk language, the language spoken by the Mohawk people
*Mohawk hairstyle, from a hairstyle once thought to have been t ...
people were most likely retaliating against multiple
forced displacement
Forced displacement (also forced migration) is an involuntary or coerced movement of a person or people away from their home or home region. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR defines 'forced displacement' as follows: dis ...
s and the Americans' destruction of their homes.
Background
In the 18th century, European
colonists arrived in what is today
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
and
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
- i.e., the land of the
Lenape
The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory includ ...
,
Wyandots, and
Mohawks. Colonist organizations such as the "New Jersey Association for Helping the Indians" forcefully expelled tribes westward via
forced migration
Forced displacement (also forced migration) is an involuntary or coerced movement of a person or people away from their home or home region. The UNHCR defines 'forced displacement' as follows: displaced "as a result of persecution, conflict, g ...
, creating Wyandot, Mohawk, and
Lenape settlements
Lenape settlements are villages and other sites founded by Lenape people, a Native American tribe from the Northeastern Woodlands. Many of these sites are located in Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Hell Town
Hell Town, Ohio is a village located on Clear C ...
in states including Ohio. However, some Lenape and Wyandots were indigenous to Ohio.
Circa 1800, Ohio was the land of the
Lenape
The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory includ ...
,
Wyandots, and
Mohawks, some of which were expelled from other territories. Occasional white missionaries and trappers would visit the forests of Ohio, but the territory was considered
Indian country.
The
War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...
led to an increase in tension between Native Americans and the increasing number of settlers. The military feared that the British Army would recruit the Native Americans as allies. Colonel Samuel Kratzer received orders to remove the Native Americans, who were mostly from the
Delaware tribe
The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory inclu ...
, to the Piqua Reservation as a precautionary measure, and he assigned Captain Douglas to the task.
Local reverend James Copus was originally from
Greene County, Pennsylvania
Greene County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 35,954. Its county seat is Waynesburg. Greene County was created on February 9, 1796, from part of Washington County and named for Gene ...
and moved into the valley of the
Black Fork in 1809 with his wife and seven children (his name is listed in the 1811 tax records of the area).
He was a trusted friend of the Native Americans and had settled several miles from
Greentown. Thus, when the Delaware told Captain Douglas that they would not leave, he tried to convince Copus to persuade the Native Americans. At first, Copus refused to interfere against them and said that he would personally stand accountable for their conduct. Douglas told Copus that they were under orders and that if the Native Americans did not comply, there would be bloodshed. Copus then agreed to accompany the soldiers to Greentown and speak with the Native Americans, but not before being assured that their lives and property would be protected if they agreed to surrender. Copus reluctantly met with the council of elders and, after much persuasion and reassurance, the elders agreed to leave their village.
After the soldiers led the Greentown Natives on their march, several soldiers straggled behind, ransacked the village, and burned it to the ground. Seeing the smoke from their burning homes, the Native Americans felt that they had been double-crossed by Copus.
Following the deaths of some of his neighbors, including the
Zimmer family, at the hands of Native Americans, Copus asked for protection and was moved with his family to a
blockhouse
A blockhouse is a small fortification, usually consisting of one or more rooms with loopholes, allowing its defenders to fire in various directions. It is usually an isolated fort in the form of a single building, serving as a defensive stro ...
. After several days, Copus decided that there was no longer any danger, so on September 14, 1812, nine militia soldiers (Captain Absalom Martin's Company of Guernsey County, Ohio) were detailed to accompany him and his family to their home.
Upon his return, he found that nothing had been disturbed, and Copus felt somewhat at ease. Later that afternoon, one of Copus' daughters Nancy Copus noticed a Native American at the edge of the woods but did not report the sighting.
Attack at the Copus homestead
The following day, seven of the soldiers left to wash at a nearby spring, leaving their weapons near the house. The Native Americans attacked the men at the spring.
Three fled to the woods. They were pursued by the Native Americans and two of them, Private George Shipley and Private John Tedrick, were
tomahawk
A tomahawk is a type of single-handed axe used by the many Indigenous peoples and nations of North America. It traditionally resembles a hatchet with a straight shaft. In pre-colonial times the head was made of stone, bone, or antler, and Europ ...
ed. The third man, Private Robert Warnock, was shot and mortally wounded.
The only soldier who regained the cabin was George Dye, who fought alongside John Shambaugh a neighbor to the Copus family. George Dye was wounded in the thigh by a
musket
A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually d ...
ball. As he came through the door, Copus was hit by a shot through his chest.
On the east of the cabin, there was a range of hills several hundred feet high covered with timber and large rocks, which afforded an excellent cover for the enemy and gave them a position from which they could fire down upon the cabin. The Native Americans besieged the cabin from the hill. The soldiers tore up the planks of the floor and placed them against the door to prevent the balls from penetrating to the interior of the cabin. Nancy Copus, a young child, was wounded in the knee by a ball that passed through the door. John Shambaugh shot and killed the attacker of Nancy Copus. One of the soldiers, George Launtz, had his arm broken by a ball and, reportedly, killed the attacker who wounded him.
The soldiers fought back from daybreak until midmorning, and as many as eleven Native Americans were killed.
The Native Americans then retreated, killing the Copus' sheep on their way. As soon as the Native Americans disappeared, one of the soldiers crawled out through the roof of the cabin and went to the blockhouse for assistance. Captain Martin and his second in command, Sgt. John Bratton (son of pioneer James Bratton, the first settler in Ohio on 1799) had agreed to call at the Copus cabin the previous evening with a number of soldiers and remain all night. But he and his soldiers, having been scouting all day and finding no signs of Native Americans, concluded that there was no real danger. Therefore, they camped on the Black Fork and reached the Copus' cabin late on the morning of the attack.
He and his soldiers attended to the wounded, and a search was made for the Native Americans but they were not found.
Copus and the dead soldiers, Shipley, Tedrick, and Warnock, were buried near the cabin. On the 70th anniversary of the battle, a monument was put up at the site of the killings by the Ashland County Pioneer Society. The unveiling of the monument, on September 15, 1882, was attended by 10,000 people including Copus daughter, Sarah Vail.
A second monument was erected nearby to commemorate the victims of the
Zimmer massacre.
Legacy
On September 15, 1882,
a group of Perrysville, Ohio residents unveiled the Copus Monument, a
mass grave
A mass grave is a grave containing multiple human corpses, which may or may not be identified prior to burial. The United Nations has defined a criminal mass grave as a burial site containing three or more victims of execution, although an exact ...
monument in memory of the white soldiers.
6,000 persons attended the event.
In 1902, Ohio
genealogist
Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinsh ...
Henry Howe described the 1882 event:
Early in the day the people began to arrive at the Copus Hill from every direction; a-foot, on horseback and in every imaginable kind of conveyance, until fully 6,000 had assembled in the forest overlooking the scene of the Copus battle. The day was balmy—one of those pleasant fall days—and the thousands present came with baskets filled ready for the pic-nic
Pic-Nic was a Spanish teenage folk-pop and sunshine pop band formed in Barcelona in the mid-to-late 1960s, composed of lead singer Jeanette, guitarists Toti Soler and Al Cárdenas, drummer Jordi Barangé and bassist Isidoro "Doro" de Montaberry ...
. The exercises opened with music by the Mt. Zion band, followed by prayer by Rev. J. A. HAIL, then music, then the address of welcome by the gentleman above named. ... Mrs. Sarah VAIL, daughter of James COPUS, who was present at the time her father and the three soldiers were killed, and who now resides hard by at the age of eighty-four years, was introduced to the multitude. ... at its close a procession of vehicles to the number of about 1,200 was formed and passed by the Copus Monument as it was unveiled. The multitude then proceeded to the Ruffner Monument, when it was also unveiled. Thus the ceremonies of the day ended; a day long to be remembered.
Per the suggestion of local author and poet
Rosella Rice
Rosella Rice (11 August 1827 – 6 June 1888) was an American author, poet, and lecturer born in Perrysville, Ohio. She was known for her direct and energetic comedy writing, her nature poems, and her vivid descriptions of folklore figure John " ...
, a
cenotaph
A cenotaph is an empty tomb or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although the vast majority of cenot ...
to
John "Johnny Appleseed" Chapman was prominently added to the monument.
Despite this, Chapman was not involved in the conflict.
Rice is perhaps best known for her prose and poetry describing Chapman; her widely published works contributed to Chapman becoming a mythologized hero of
American folklore
American folklore encompasses the folklores that have evolved in the present-day United States since Europeans arrived in the 16th century. While it contains much in the way of Native American tradition, it is not wholly identical to the tribal ...
.
References
*H.Howe's "Historical Collections of Ohio" Volume 1 .pp. 258–259 1907
External links
Copus monument at Find A GRAVE
{{Battles of the War of 1812
Copus Massacre
The Copus massacre is a name given to a skirmish occurring on September 15, 1812, between American settlers and Lenape, Wyandot, and Mohawk Native Americans on the Ohio frontier during the War of 1812.
The massacre resulted from a misunders ...
Copus Massacre
The Copus massacre is a name given to a skirmish occurring on September 15, 1812, between American settlers and Lenape, Wyandot, and Mohawk Native Americans on the Ohio frontier during the War of 1812.
The massacre resulted from a misunders ...
History of Ohio
Wars involving the indigenous peoples of North America
1812 in Ohio
Massacres in 1812
September 1812 events