for a participation in the purchase of Baron Bastrop's land on the Washita, as he had addressed a letter to him on that subject before leaving home in December, wishing to become a partner in any purchase he might make of western lands; also offering to aid in the Mexican enterprise, as was afterward ascertained in the trial at Richmond. The next August we find Aaron Burr at Pittsburgh, in company with his accomplished daughter, Mrs. Theodosia Alston, on his way down the Ohio river. He again visited the island, with his daughter, where she spent several days: he in the mean time taking up his abode at Marietta, where several of the inhabitants him with marked attention, while others looked upon him with contempt and abhorrence, as the murderer of Col. Hamilton, especially the old officers, friends and associates of that excellent man. It was in September, at the period of the annual militia muster; the regiment was assembled on the commons, and Col. Burr was invited by the commander to exercise the men, which he did, putting them through several evolutions. In the evening there was a splendid ball, at which he attended, which was long after known as the "Burr ball." Early in this month the contract was made for boats to be built on the Muskingum river, six miles above the mouth, for the purpose, as was said, of conveying the provisions and adventurers to the settlement in the new purchase. There were fifteen large batteaux, ten of them forty feet long, ten feet wide, and two and a half feet deep; five others were fifty feet long, pointed at each end, to push or row up stream as well as down. One of these was considerably larger, and fitted up with convenient rooms, a fireplace and glass windows, intended for the use of Mr. Blennerhassett and family, as he proposed taking them with him to the new settlement; which is an evidence he did not then think of any hostile act against the United States. To these was added a "keel-boat," sixty-six feet long, for the transport of provisions. A contract for bacon, pork, flour, whisky, &c., was made to the amount of $2000, and a bill drawn on Mr. Ogden, of New York, for the payment. The boats cost about the same sum, for which Mr. Blennerhassett was responsible. One main article of the stores was kiln-dried or parched corn, ground into meal, which is another evidence that the men engaged in the expedition were to march a long distance by land, and carry their parched meal on their backs; of which a pint, mixed with a little water, is a day's ration, as practiced by the Western Indians. Several hundred barrels of this article were prepared, some of which was raised on the island, and parched in a kiln built for that purpose. The boats were to be ready by the 9th of December, rather a late period on account of ice, which usually forms in this month; but they were tardy in making the contract. Col. Burr remained in the vicinity three or four weeks, making a journey to Chillicothe. His son-in-law (Alston) came out and joined his wife at the island, and with her and Mr. Blennerhassett, who accompanied them, proceeded on to Lexington, Kentucky, early in October. Many young men in the vicinity of Marietta, Belprie, and various other points on the river, were engaged to join in the expedition, of which Col. Burr was the leader. They were told that no injury was intended to the United States; that the President was aware of the expedition and approved of it, which was to make a settlement on the tract of land purchased by the leaders in the Baron Bastrop grant; and in the event of war breaking out between this country and Spain, which had for some time been expected, they were to join with the troops under General Wilkinson, and march into the Mexican provinces, whose inhabitants had long been ready for revolt, and prepared to unite with them. This was no doubt the truth, as believed by Mr. Blennerhassett and those engaged under him, whatever may have been the ulterior views of Burr. Not one of all the number enlisted on the Ohio would have hearkened for a moment to a separation of the Western from the Eastern States; and when the act of the Ohio Legislature was passed to suppress all armed assemblages, and take possession of boats with arms and provisions, followed by the proclamation of the President, they almost to a man refused to proceed further in the enterprise. The batteaux were calculated to carry about 500 men, and probably a large portion of that number had been engaged, expecting to receive one hundred acres of land for each private, and more for officers. As to their being required to furnish themselves with a good rifle and blanket, it was of itself no evidence of hostility; as it is customary in making all new settlements, for the men to be armed, as was the case with the forty-eight pioneers of the Ohio Company settlers in 1788. In the mean time a rumor had gone abroad that Col. Burr and his associates were plotting treason on the Western waters, and assembling an army to take possession of New Orleans, rob the banks, seize the artillery, and set up a separate government, west of the Alleghany mountains, of which he was to be the chief. From the evidence on the trial at Richmond, and other sources, it appears that Mr. Jefferson was acquainted with the plan of invading Mexico, in the event of a war with Spain, and approved it, so that Burr had some ground for saying that the government favored the project. But when no war took place, and the parties had become deeply involved in building boats, collecting provisions, and levying men, to which the baseness and treachery of Wilkinson directly contributed, it was thought a fitting time to punish the archenemy of the President, who, by his chicanery, had well nigh ousted him from the Chair of State, and had since taken all opportunities to vilify and abuse him. ing her husband immediately to return, where he had gone on a visit with Mr. Alston. The history of this journey, as related by Peter, in his evidence on the trial, is an amusing sketch of simplicity and truth. He was the gardener on the island for several years, and was a singlehearted, honest Englishman; who, after his employer's ruin, purchased a farm at Waterford, in Washington county, Ohio, where he lived many years, much respected for his industry and integrity. During the month of September and fore part of October, there appeared a series of articles, four or five in number, published in the Marietta Gazette, over the signature of " Querist," in which the writer advocated a separation of the Western from the Eastern States; setting forth the reasons for, and the advantages of such a division. These were answered in a series of numbers, condemning the project, over the signature of "Regulus." They were well written, spirited articles, and both are now understood to have been furnished by Mr. Blennerhassett, to ascertain the public mind on this subject in the West. As one of these neutralized the other, no direct proof can be adduced from them of his designing such a measure. The result, however, was unfavorable to his project, and roused the public mind in opposition, both to the man and the cause he had espoused. Some of the articles by "Regulus" were much applauded by the editor of the Aurora, a leading government paper of that day, who considered the writer a very able and patriotic man. The last of November, Mr. Jefferson sent out John Graham, a clerk in one of the public offices, as a spy or agent to watch the motions of the conspirators in the vicinity of the island, and to ask the aid of the Governor of Ohio in By the last of October, rumor with her suppressing the insurrection, by seizing on thousand tongues, aided by hundreds of the boats and preparations making on the newspapers, had filled the minds of the Muskingum. While at Marietta, Mr. people with strange alarms of coming Blennerhassett called on the agent once or danger, to which the mystery that over- twice; talked freely with him on the object shadowed the actual object of these prep- of the expedition, and showed him a letter arations greatly added; and many threats which he had recently received from Col. were thrown out of personal violence to Burr, in relation to the settlement on the Mr. Blennerhassett and Colonel Burr. Washita, in which he says that the proAlarmed at these rumors of coming dan- ject of invading Mexico was abandoned, ger, Mrs. Blennerhassett dispatched Peter as the difficulties between the United Taylor to Kentucky, with a letter, request-States and Spain were adjusted. He also Another evidence that the government was supposed to favor the enterprise, is the fact, that nearly all its abettors and supporters in the West, until the Proclamation appeared, were of the party called Republicans, or friends of Mr. Jefferson, who hated and despised Burr and all in which he was engaged, as from the character of the man, they thought it boded nothing good. ments, and waylaying the river, a little above the town, took possession of them all but one, which the superior manage mentioned his arrest and trial before the Federal Court, on a charge of "treasonable practices" and "a design to attack the Spanish dominions, and thereby endangerment of the young men from Belprie ena the peace of the United States," of which he was acquitted. bled them to bring by all the guards, in the darkness of the night, and reach the island in safety. Had they all escaped, they would have been of little use, as the young men engaged had generally given up the enterprise, on the news of the President's Proclamation and the Act of the Ohio Legislature. But all this would not satisfy Mr. Graham. He visited the Governor at Chillicothe, laid before him the surmises of Mr. Jefferson; and the Legislature, then in session, on the second day of December, with closed doors, passed an act, authorizing the Governor to call out the militia, on his warrant to any sheriff or militia officer, with power to arrest boats on the Ohio river, or men supposed to be engaged in this expedition, who might be held to bail in a sum of 50,000 dollars or imprisoned, and the boats confiscated: $1000 were placed at the disposal of the Governor, to carry out the law. Under this act a company of militia was called out, with orders to capture and detain the boats and provisions on the Muskingum, with all others descending the Ohio under suspicious circumstances. They were placed under the command of Captain Timothy Buell. A six-pounder was planted in battery, on the bank of the Ohio at Marietta, and every descending boat examined. Regular sentries and guards were posted for several weeks, until the river was closed with ice, and all navigation ceased. Many amusing jokes were played off on the military during this campaign, such as setting an empty tar barrel on fire and placing it on an old boat or raft of logs, to float by on some dark, rainy night. The sentries, after hailing and receiving no answer, fired several shots to enforce their order; but finding the supposed boat escaping, sent out a file of men to board and take possession, who, approaching in great wrath, were still more vexed to find it all a hoax. On the 6th of December, just before the order of the government arrived, Comfort Tyler, a gentleman from the State of New York, landed at the island, with four boats, and about thirty men, fitted out at the towns above on the Ohio. On the ninth, a party of young men from Belprie went up the Muskingum to assist in navigating the battered a party of men to watch the river teaux and provisions of parched meal, from that place to the island. But the militia guard received notice of their move Mr. Blennerhassett was at Marietta on the 6th of December, expecting to receive the boats, but they were not quite ready for delivery. On that day he heard of the Act of Assembly, and returned to the island, half resolved to abandon the cause; but the arrival that night of Tyler, and the remonstrances of his wife, who had entered with great spirit into the enterprise, prevented him. Had he listened to the dictates of his own mind, and the suggestions of prudence, it would have saved him years of misfortune and final ruin. In the course of the day of the 9th of December, he had notice that the Wood county militia had volunteered their services, and would that night make an attack on the island, arrest him with the boats and men there assembled, and perhaps burn his house. This accelerated their departure, which took place on the following night. They had learned that the river was watched at several points below, and felt serious apprehensions for their future safety; although the resolute young men on board, well armed with their rifles, would not have been captured by any moderate force. The Ohio river, from the Little to the Big Kenawha, is very crooked and tortuous, making the distance by water nearly double that by land. Col. Phelps, the commander of the Wood county volunteers, took possession of the island the following morning, and finding the objects of his search gone, determined not to be foiled, and started immediately on horseback across the country, for Point Pleasant, a village at the mouth of the Big Kenawha, and arrived there several hours before the boats. He directly mus all night, and arrest the fugitives. It being quite cold, with some ice in the stream, large fires were kindled, for the double purpose of warning the guard, and more easily discovering the boats. Just before daylight the men, being well filled with whiskey to keep out the cold, became drowsy with their long watch, and all lay down by the fire. During their short sleep, the four boats seeing the fires, and aware of their object, floated quickly by, without any noise, and were out of sight before the guard awoke. They thus escaped this well-laid plan for their capture -arriving at the mouth of the Cumberland, the place of rendezvous, unmolested. On the 13th, Mr. Morgan Neville and Mr. Robinson, with a party of fourteen young men,arrived and landed at the island. They were immediately arrested by the militia before the return of Col. Phelps. A very amusing account of the adventure is given in the "Token," an Annual of 1836, written by Mr. Neville, in which he describes their trial before Justices Wolf and Kincheloe, as aiders and abettors in the treason of Burr and Blennerhassett. So far was the spirit of lawless arrest carried, that one or two persons in Belprie were taken at night from their beds, and hurried over on to the island for trial, without any authority of law. This was a few days before the celebrated move in the Senate of the United States for the suspension of the act of Habeas Corpus, so alarmed had they become, which was prevented by the more considerate negative of the House of Representatives. After a detention of three days, these young men were discharged for want of proof. Mrs. Blennerhassett, who had been left at the island, to look after the household goods, and follow her husband at a more convenient period, was absent at Marietta when they landed for the purpose of procuring one of the large boats, that was fitted up for her use, and had been arrested at Marietta; but he was unsuccessful, and returned the evening after the trial. The conduct of the militia, in the absence of their commander, was brutal and outrageous; taking possession of the house and the family stores in the cellar, without any authority, as their orders only extended to the arrest of Mr. Blennerhassett and the boats. They tore up and burnt the fences for their watch fires, and forced the black servants to cook for them or be imprisoned. One of them discharged his rifle through the ceiling of the large hall, the bullet passing up through the chamber near where Mrs. B. and the children were sitting. The man said it was accidental; but being half drunk, and made brutal by the whiskey they drank, they cared little for their actions. On the 17th of December, with the aid of the young men, and the kind assistance of Mr. A. W. Putnam of Belprie, one of their neighbors, and a highly esteemed friend, she with her children was enabled to depart, taking with her a part of the furniture and some of her husband's choice books. Mr. Putnam also furnished her with provisions for the voyage, her own being destroyed by the militia, in whose rude hands she was forced to leave her beautiful island home, which she was destined never again to visit. They kept possession for several days after her departure, living at free quarters, destroying the fences, letting in the cattle, which trampled down and ruined the beautiful shrubbery of the garden, barking and destroying the nice orchards of fruit trees, just coming into bearing; and this too was done by men, on many of whom Mr. Blennerhassett had bestowed numerous kindnesses. It is due to the commander, Col. Phelps, to say, that these excesses were mostly perpetrated in his absence, and that on his return, he did all he could to suppress them, and treated Mrs. Blennerhassett with respect and kindness. This spot, which, a short time before, was the abode of peace and happiness, adorned with all that could embellish or beautify its appearance, was now a scene of ruin, resembling the ravages of a hostile and savage foe, rather than the visitation of the civil law. Before leaving the island, Mr. Blennerhassett, not expecting to return, had rented it to Col. Cushing, one of his worthy Belprie friends, with all the stock of cattle, crops, &c. He did all in his power to preserve what was left, and prevent further waste. Col. Cushing kept possession of the island one or two years, when it was taken out of his hands by the creditors, and rented to a man who raised a large crop of hemp. The porticoes and offices were stowed full of this combustible article, when the black servants, during one of their Christmas gambols in 1811, accidentally set it on fire, and the whole mansion was consumed. The furniture and library, a portion of which only was removed with the family, was attached and sold at auction at a great sacrifice, to discharge some of the bills endorsed by him for Aaron Burr a few months after his departure. With her two little sons, Herman and Dominic, the one six, and the other about eight years old, she pursued her way down the Ohio to join her husband. The young men, her companions, afforded every aid in their power to make her situation comfortable, but the severity of the weather, the floating ice in the river, and the unfinished state of her cabin, hastily prepared for her reception, made the voyage a very painful one. Late in December, she passed the mouth of the Cumberland, where she had hoped to find her husband, but the flotilla had proceeded out of the Ohio into the rapid waters of the Mississippi, and landed at the mouth of the Bayou Piere, in the Mississippi territory. The Ohio was frozen over soon after the boat in which she was embarked left it, and was not again navigable until the last of February, the winter being one of great severity. Early in January she joined the boats of Col. Burr a few miles above Natchez, and was again restored, with her two little boys, to her husband, who received them with joy and gratitude from the hands of their gallant conductors. The whole country being roused from Pittsburgh to New Orleans, and the hue and cry raised on all sides to arrest the traitors, Col. Burr abandoned the expedition as hopeless, and assembling his followers, now about one hundred and thirty in number, made them a spirited speech, thanked them for their faithful adherence amidst so much opposition, and closed by saying that unforeseen circumstances had occurred which frustrated his plans, and the expedition was at an end. All were now left, at a distance of 1000 or 1500 miles from their homes, to shift for themselves. Several of the young men from Belprie, six or eight in number, returned in the course of the spring. Two brothers, Charles and John Dana, remained and settled near the Walnut Hills, purchased lands and entered into the cultivation of cotton. Some time in January, Col. Burr and Mr. Blennerhassett were arrested, and brought before the United States Court at Natchez, on a charge of treason, and recognized to appear in February, Blennerhassett did appear, and was discharged in chief, no proof appearing to convict him of any treasonable design. Burr did not choose to appear, but soon after the recognizance, he requested John Dana, with two others, to take him in a skiff, or row-boat, to a point about twenty miles above Bayou Piere, and land him in the night, intending to escape across the country by land. The better to conceal his person from detection, before starting, he exchanged his nice suit of broadcloth clothes and beaver hat with Mr. Dana, for his coarse boatman's dress and old slouched white wool hat, which would effectually disguise him from recognition by his intimate acquaintance. He proceeded safely for some days, but was finally arrested on the Tombigbee river, and with many taunts and insults taken into Richmond, where he arrived the 26th of March, 1807. No bill was found by the grand jury until the 25th of June, when he was indicted on two bills, one for treason, and the other for a misdemeanor. After a long and tedious trial he was acquitted, on a verdict of "Not Guilty." Mr. Blennerhassett, supposing himself discharged from further annoyance, some time in June, started on a journey to visit the island, and examine into the condition of his property, which, from various letters, he learned was going fast to waste and destruction. Passing through Lexington, Kentucky, where he had many friends and acquaintances, he was again arrested, on a charge of treason, and for some days confined in the jail, as an indictment had been found against him, as well as Burr, at Richmond. He employed Henry Clay as his council, who expressed deep indignation at the illegality of his client's arrest. "He had been discharged already in chief, and why should he be again arrested on the same supposed offence?" But the government was unrelenting, and nothing but the conviction of the offenders could appease their wrath. He was taken, with much ceremony and parade of the law, to Richmond, where he again met Burr, the originator of all his troubles and misfortunes. The magnanimity of the man is well shown, in that he never recriminated, or accused his destroyer with deceiving him, |