Poe brothers came to Wayne County, one fought with chief
The Poe brothers, who came to Wayne County in the early 1800s, were both volunteers in the French and Indian War and had many encounters with warring Native Americans. One encounter is depicted here, as Andrew Poe, left, battles with Native American Bigfoot on the Ohio River in what is now West Virginia.
Adam Poe was born in Frederick, Maryland (or at sea, on the journey from Germany to Maryland, depending upon who you ask) in 1745. He was married twice. His first marriage bore him a daughter, Barbara. His first wife died, and he married Betsey Matthews. This marriage bore nine children: George, Andrew, Isaac, John, Barney, Adam, David, Catherine and Sarah.
Andrew Poe, Adam's brother, three years his senior, was born in Lower Palatinate, Germany in 1742. He married Elizabeth Rutan in 1780. They were married for 42 years and bore 11 children: nine girls and two boys.
Several of Adam Poe's children bought land in Wayne County, all in Congress Township, and became successful farmers there. Adam Poe eventually came to Wayne County in 1813 and opened a shoe-making shop in Wooster. After three years he purchased 60 acres from his son, George, and farmed it for 12 years. Ultimately, he became infirmed and moved in with his son, Andrew, in East Greenville, and it was there he died in 1838. He is buried at Sixteen Churches Cemetery in Massillon.
The Poe brothers were both volunteers in the French and Indian War and had many encounters with warring Native Americans. One encounter is described in Benjamin Douglass' History of Wayne County.
Following an Indian raid upon a white settlement near Fort Pitt that ended with the death of an "old man in a cabin," the Poe brothers and several others began pursuit of a group of Wyandots, a chase that ended up near the Ohio River.
Andrew Poe quietly crept down to the river bank, where he spotted Bigfoot, an Indian chief, and another little Indian. But when Poe pulled the trigger, the gun failed to fire. Sarah Poe-Kuffel shares her memories of what followed based on what Adam Poe, her father, passed on to her.
“The snapping of the gun alarmed the Indians, who, looking around, discovered Andrew. It was too late for him to run, and I doubt if he would have retreated if he could, for he was a great wrestler and coveted conflict with the Indians. So he dropped his gun, and bounding from where he stood, caught both the Indians and thrust them upon the ground. Though he fell uppermost in the struggle, he found the grip of Bigfoot to be of iron, and as a consequence, the little Indian soon extricated himself and instantly seized his tomahawk and advanced with fatal purpose toward Andrew.
To better assist and aid the little Indian, who had the tomahawk aimed at the head of Andrew, Bigfoot hugged and held him with a giant's grasp, but Andrew, when he struck at him, threw up his foot and kicked the tomahawk out of the little Indian's hand. This made Bigfoot indignant at the little savage, who soon repeated his experiment with the tomahawk, indulging in numerous feints before he delivered the main blow, which Andrew parried from his head and received upon his wrist."
Andrew Poe managed to free himself from Bigfoot, then grabbed one of the Indians' guns and shot the little Indian. Then Poe and Bigfoot began their struggle again, both plunging into the water.
“A mutual effort was at once made to reach the shore and get possession of a gun and close the struggle with powder and lead," Sarah Poe-Kuffel wrote. "Bigfoot was a glib swimmer and was the first to reach the bank. In this contingency Andrew wheeled about and swam further out into the river to avoid, if possible, being shot, by diving strategies. The big chief, lucklessly to him, seized the unloaded gun with which Andrew had shot the little Indian. Meantime, Adam Poe, having missed his brother and hearing a gunshot, inferred he was either killed or in a fight with the Indians and hastened toward him.
Adam now being discovered by Andrew, the latter called to the former to shoot Bigfoot. Unfortunately, Adam's gun was empty as was the big Indian's. The strife now was between the two as to which could load quickest, but Bigfoot in his haste drew his ramrod too violently from the gun, which accident gave Adam the advantage, when he shot Bigfoot as he was in the act of drawing his gun upon him.
So that it was my uncle Andrew that had the wrestle on the bank with Bigfoot, and the struggle with him in the river, and it was my father, Adam Poe, who shot Bigfoot when he came to shore. The wound that my father received, he got in the fight with the body of six Indians who were overtaken, five of whom were killed, with a loss of three of their pursuers and the hurt done to my father.
The locality on the Ohio River where the struggle occurred is in Virginia (now West Virginia), almost opposite to the mouth of Little Yellow Creek.”
Mike Franks was raised in Apple Creek and has lived in Wooster most of his life. A retired engineer, he developed an interest in local history and enjoys writing about his discoveries, which will be published in The Bargain Hunter and Wooster Weekly News.